The Baja Bug - First Timer's Thread

[EnjoyNukaCola]

[EnjoyNukaCola]

I'm getting clear fluid at all wheels when I pump the pedal a bit, wedge it, and crack open the valves. My dad helped me bleed it some yesterday. There's still a lot of pedal travel until close to the floor when it gets harder. When I feel it get harder I can hear the springs inside the rear drums groan a little bit so I know its building pressure there (I adjusted all the shoes to no travel by the way). I've tried adjusting the push rod to that 1mm free play but then it feels like its way too short. When I elongate it and depress the pedal, I can feel it tapping close to the floor, I'm not sure if it's bottoming out now. Can someone provide a poor mans measurement? Like, shorten it up completely until it bottoms out and them lengthen by X amount of turns?

[ORANGECRUSHer]

Did you get that switch sealed up COMPLETELY? Anything you do before that is absolutely not leaking is pointless. I'm not trying to be negative but I've had plenty of problems bleeding brakes on my VW's and sometimes it came down to a joint that wasn't visually leaking but was still able to suck air back and forth. Don't ask me how, I think it has to do with these crappy double bubble flares they use. If that switch was leaking and it took a lot to get it to stop I would prolly consider just getting a new one and starting over. Not a bad idea to check the mating threads on the MC too but I think the switch is made out of the yeilding metal, not the MC.

If your pedal is going half way before making any pressure, the rear end prolly has a leak or air bubbles.

I think one of the things that makes bleeding these things such a pain is the fact that the MC is either level or sometimes even lower than the wheel cylinders which can make getting every last air bubble out a pain. I have jacked the car up inorder to get the MC higher than the wheel cylinder I was working on just to see if I can get some trapped air free and moving out. Just an idea.
_________________
Brian H.
I may not know everything,but I will try to help if I can
OrangeCrushER Berrien Warrior 2.4L Quad4
LAZY MARY 1970 Baja 1835cc

[winchin73blazinbaja]

did your lines run dry? if so leave the bleeders open to sit for a while and fill the master cylinder. let them gravity bleed.

[EnjoyNukaCola]

Lets also say someone tinkered with the pushrod (maybe it was me, maybe it wasn't?)

EDIT: Okay I took the spring off and the stop plate. Pulled the push rod out and its right around that 5.4" from the center line of the hoop. I can feel when it contacts the piston and set it to a little play. So I actually had it very close. Know that I know the push rod is okay, the pedal is still spongy. I also took that leaky 3 prong switch out and put in the old 2 prong, its holding fine know. Those were made by SKP and had an EMPI bar code on it, so I don't recommend them. I think they were from Chirco Ebay store.

I've pumped the pedal, wedged it and bled at the three lines coming out of the master. I've bled right rear, left rear, right front, left front. The pedal gets hard near the floor, so the first piston (rear) is still very spongy. I pulled the rear bleeder valves out and they are now collapsed too. Mind you, I've been snugging these up the same as the ones in the front, which are (Autozone?) wheel cylinders with 8mm metal valves. To be clear, I have these installed in the rear. Nothing wrong with the piston, but the valves are weak.

http://www.socalautoparts.com/product_info.php/ind...re-p-13459

[EnjoyNukaCola]

I STILL have no brakes and, get this, the pedal gradually becomes softer as I pump it. When I just lightly apply foot pressure it gets hard quickly and I can hear the wheel cylinders pressurizing. As I push harder it gives a little bit and if I pump it, it becomes softer after a while. I don't have any leaks and clear fluid comes out and the master cylinder and all wheels.

[winchin73blazinbaja]

Hmm puzzling let me talk to my dad and see what he thinks did you try gravity bleeding yet? It could be because the pedal hen pushd softly does not push th air enough to compress it and when you push it hard it is finally compressing the air.

[EnjoyNukaCola]

[flashho]

Tried bench bleeding the MC, to see if is ok? A pressure bleeder will solve the low MC problem, easy to make using an insect plant pump spray., see youtube vids. Or you can purchase one at any auto parts store. Makes bleeding 10 times easier and you can do it solo.
Hth
_________________
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[EnjoyNukaCola]

[flashho]

Very possible. Use new bleeder screws. The hose seeps? Not good at all. Lucily all these parts are relatively cheap. I would replace all the flex lines, hose, bleeder screws and rebuild the MC.
_________________
rant _ classified ads with out pics are almost worthless

[winchin73blazinbaja]

it also could very well be the leaky line connections. if fluid can get out air can get in.

[EnjoyNukaCola]

So today I went to a local aircooled shop Vintage VW Parts Inc. and picked up a TRW/Varga master, ATE wheel cylinders for the rear, and good brake switches. I recommend going there for anything, very fair prices. I put everything on and got to bleeding. I asked if it came with a bleeder kit and I told to install it dry and bleed like normal. I got tons of air out in the beginning and its nice to not have any seepage around the brake switches or wheel cylinders. I'd say the pedal is better. While bleeding I adjusted all shoes tight in the drum and at that point there was probably 10-15m of slightly hard pedal then a tough pedal that didn't budge a lot with my foot. There was still a lot of room before it hit the back wall. By the time I adjusted the rears to the best of my ability the pedal went to the back wall a little more. Tomorrow I'll probably take a drive around the block and see how it does. The e-brake and shoes in the rear are really tricky to get right. Muirs book said 2 clicks - some resistance and by 4 clicks unmovable by hand. That parts not so hard but getting the wheel to spin freely with it disengaged is a struggle.

Continues the quest to find a solid brake pedal...

[winchin73blazinbaja]

unless your brake lines are leaking somewhere you should be there soon. and i would always bench bleed the master cylinder before install. you do not have to but it makes the process a lot easier.

[EnjoyNukaCola]

Question: The brake pedal return spring, that returns the pedal back to you, sitting in the seat, right? I currently have it hooked to pull the pedal back to the wall, against the push rod. I was trying to set free play, but I could only see it by pulling the pedal back towards me and letting it go. So if I reverse the spring it will pull the pedal back to me against the stop plate, and I then will have a little tapping free play? I don't know how I installed it wrong. Are there any tricks to do it without having to pull that sumbitch out again? I read the book but its hard to tell, any diagrams/ other photos?

In other news, I stopped taking pics because of greasy fingers. I did the front brakes and re-greased the bearings, which looked really good. Front drums look almost brand new, shoes were a little past halfway, but I replaced everything because it was dirty. Adjusted the fronts, much easier to do. Put the whole front end back together.
This was the scene outside of my parents house for a couple weeks. They put up with me, just barely.

[dustymojave]

I can't imagine HOW in the HE** you got that spring backwards!!!!!


It should DEFINITELY push the pedal back towards the driver. The pedal end of the spring should have a hook that snags the forward side of the lower part of the pedal arm. The other end should stick out mostly straight with a slight bend near the end to hook under the head of the bolt that mounts the pedal assembly to the tunnel.

I just spent a couple days in Santa Clarita last week taking care of my niece and nephew (3 yo twins) while their daddy took off on a business trip and it would have been cool if I could have hooked up with you to swing by your place and see if I could have helped. Not that a pair of 3 year old twins would have been a lot of help. Oh well, very busy now with buying a different house out here in the desert and getting ready to move all of my VW shtuff.
_________________
Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet.

[EnjoyNukaCola]

I adjusted the rears okay but the parking brake just isn't working. I can get it to hold, but then it wont release and vice versa. The drum on the right rear must be out of round because it holds good in one half and gets looser when I spin it to another half. Rear was up on jack stands while doing this (this where I learned that the wheels spin in neutral while the motor is running). So they were spinning freely. Went to drive it around the block. I really only made it down the street and back because it does not brake that good at all and its doing a weird chugging thing. When I press the clutch in it seems to roll smoother. Clutch free play? Something smells hot even in the car, not sure if drums, clutch, or just the motor.

I JUST adjusted the drums to slight drag so I don't think they were dragging hard but they were a little warm from going just down the street and back. The front brakes were a breeze to adjust so why would they be warm too? The brake pedal probably goes about half way down and its pretty solid but it's nowhere near being able to lock up or anything. Maybe its just me being spoiled with new cars. I've driven some old cars but not recently so I don't even know how its supposed to be normally. It's been sitting for a week with the brakes complete and its dry everywhere. I bled the rears and its immediately clear fluid. I don't know if something is wrong with the clutch now or what, and to top it off the motor is running really bad its been missing when I start it since I pretty much owned it. It's into R, is it just low on gas? I don't really know. 3 months of work and I don't even feel comfortable driving around the neighborhood.

[Bakerby]

Assuming that you now have a decent pedal ? It is going to take the new brakes a while to bed in properly and give you the ability to stop better. Also if your not used to unassisted brakes it is a little bit scary. Also new brake pads will stink like crazy at first and smell like something is burning. Hang in there.

[EnjoyNukaCola]

[EnjoyNukaCola]

Lengthy post here. Back to looking at the motor again. It's really frustrating when I'm following Muir's book and nothing is the way it should be. (Maintenance Chapter X page 97)

1. Get Ready

2. Mark Pulley
Aftermarket, paints fading. TDC is readable but not lined up with dist notch. Brand new belt I put on looks like its fraying already and it slips as I'm cranking the generator pulley nut near the top of the compression stroke. Moving on.

3. Get No. 1 Into Firing Position
Takes cap off. This is an 009 no vacuum advance. "Okay, notch should be about 5 o'clock (or 7)? Hmm." So it seems the dist is just turned incorrectly while the firing order is consistent with 4-3-2-1 in THIS position. With that being said, I've read on here it can be 180 degrees out and still run correctly, so if this were the case mine should be near 7 o'clock AND its turned 180 degrees outright, if that makes sense. Confusing for a noob like myself. Of course if you start at the notch its completely wrong. It's real dirty in there, and I have no idea how these points work yet.

4. Expose Valves
Car leans towards the curb a little bit so some oil came out. Dirty and cruddy all on the outside... inside? Remarkably clean given how the outside looks. I've stopped here because its just really hard to stay in sync with finding no. 1 TDC, watching these rocker arms move (which don't seems to make sense in their order), and with the pulley slipping, etc.

(Photo soon)

I'm supposed to start with the valves but its hard when the dist is not lined up right, and I'm concerned with doing more harm than good. I don't have a timing gun or anything. I have one of those cheap HF multimeters so I was thinking I could hook that up and use a voltage reading to check continuity. I just want to "check" everything right now before I go around messing with everything. My spark plugs were completely blackened again and had a visible wetness from gas on them, which smelled really strong of gas and oil. There is NO info on tuning this Holley carb anywhere. It's not like the fuel pump is just pouring fuel in there because I can see in the filter that it comes in spurts. Then my dad said the clutch felt off and I've already set the free play. Still chugging, not brakes. Lots going wrong here and it's Sunday so it will be yet another week until I can get to it again.