Tesla Tech? In a VW Bus?? Oh yea!

[Balidas]

In the not to distant future I will be acquiring my third Baywindow Bus, '68 - '71. I love those models. The first two busses I had to give up for various reasons. For this third one I'm planning a number of modifications to systems I was never really happy with.

One of those systems was the vacuum assist power brakes, You have a hose going from the engine to a metal tube running the length of the bus, along the passenger side I believe to the front, where another hose is attached running from the passenger side to the driver side, finally attaching to the booster.

In my second bus I found a number of rust holes in the tube. That was fun. But it ended up I didn't get the chance to address that, so this time around I figured to deal with it right off. Not finding any replacement tubes I initially thought to use 3/4" emt.

After some time I decided that wasn't the way to go. Then I considered using grey pvc conduit....for about 2.3 seconds. Then I had to tirn my attention to other aspects of life and more or less shelved those thoughts.

One day I remembered helping a friend with his project car and we installed an electric vacuum pump. That thing was noisy but he loved it. So I did some research anyway and found one that was said to be reengineered to be more powerful and quieter....for $560.

Several weeks after that I got a notification that a new video just dropped from a fellow I subscribed to. His previous videos, "How to make your own brake lines" and "How to wire your own car" were very good. This one was "How to install a Tesla electric brake booster in any vehicle" I was like "In ANY vehicle?" He said "Yep. In ANY vehicle" I was like "Cool" and watched, and then watched 4 -5 times more.

What I will do in the following posts is detail what I have learned using pictures, text and various Youtube videos different aspects of the electric brake booster and how I feel it can help us with our busses, solving various issues, especially with our need for suitable parts.

In the meantime, I have have to eat, I am starving.

[airschooled]

Cool. You can still be the first one to do it and document it! I’ve been hoping someone would finish one on a bus by now and report back.

Robbie
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[busdaddy]

[Balidas]

[Balidas]

[Balidas]

Ok so. The Youtubber that sent me down this trail of late night reading, burning eyes and blurry vision is SuperfastMatt. Here is the link nto that video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRZ8XDNz2vU

In an earlier video he stated that he used to work at Tesla, so I figured he should know what he's talking about.

These Iboost units are made by Bosch for Tesla but they are also in so many other vehicles. Many of those vehicles have a slanted firewall so the iboost has to accommodate that, For us we need the iboost and master cylinder to be level, and the best unit for our busses comes from the 2018 - 2020 Honda Accord. There are four models of the Accord but the iboost units are all the same so either one will work. They also have a remote brake fluid reservoir which is what we need.

In the beginning I went looking for new units. I didn't find any listings. After a while I decided to look through junkyards, Surprisingly, nothing there, even in surrounding states. Finally I found an Accord being parted out about n30 minutes south of me. I contacted the guy and asked how much. $550. Dude! This is for a Honda, not a Tesla. $550.

I kinda got frustrated at that point and turned my attention to other projects. About a month ago I was on the bay searching for something else and decided what the heck and looked up parts for the Honda Accord. Wow! What a goldmine! There were a lot of them. Pretty much all under $150 with shipping, so I bought one.

[Balidas]

And here she is...

[Anchovy]

Way ahead of you. '' ''

[lil-jinx]

i once thought of adapting a non vw booster to a bus,and was told that there may be a probem with keeping dirt out of the front seal ,considering that most car have the seal inside the cab,where vw has it out in the elements.do you see his as a problem?
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https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=620186
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=668799
1974 Bay Westfalia. she likes to be called Ethel.
1968 Dune Buggy sold dec 2024

1974 parts bus
A smart man learns from his mistakes,a very smart man learns from other's mistakes.

[Abscate]

I fell asleep last night to a vision of Elon in the rear seat of a VW Buzz, struggling to undo his middle seat belt, as he orbited the earth.

I awoke well rested.

#respect to the people on this thread making this happen....
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[Balidas]

[Balidas]

[Balidas]

[Balidas]

I don't know if the original mount plate for the vacuum boost will accommodate the iboost. The mount studs on the iboost are 60 mm apart from each other.

I figure if nothing else I could make a pattern and have Send Cut Send make me a plate to replace the original.

[Balidas]

If someone else were to do this mod, I would highly recommend using the iboost master cylinder. It is way easier and cheaper to do. You could use the stock VW mc but an adaptor plate will need to be made as the mount studs for the iboost are way wider then the stock mc.

Hopefully you can see the difference in the pic. Plus a custom pushrod extension would have to be made from the iboost to the mc. There is a company who makes adaptor kits for various mc's but I haven't found anything for our busses.

Using the iboost mc is just less of a headache.

My bus will will have 4 wheel disc brakes so I won't need a proportioning valve as the iboost is made specifically for 4 wheel discs. If someone is going with a front disc rear drum setup, they can install an inline 10lb residual pressure valve for the drums. I suspect the same could be done with a 4 wheel drum setup.

[Balidas]

In the pic below we see the outlet for the brake line on the iboost mc is pretty big..

So a pair of reducers are needed;

Female M10x1.0 Inverted to Male M12x1,0 bubble

These were not easy to find. I found only three companies that sell them and this one had the cheapest price;

https://www.agscompany.com/products/brass-adapter-female-m10x1-inverted-male-m12x1-bubble

Two of these with shipping and some tax, around $25. If you go for the new customer first order 20% discount, like I certainly did, $22 and some change.

These adaptors will allow for the stock brake lines to mate with the iboost.

[Balidas]

Naturally the iboost doesn't accommodate pressure brake light switches. If someone wanted to keep that system, I suppose they could plumb a couple of T's into the hardlines to accommodate the switches but I won't do that.

Someone could wire in a mechanical switch to work with or instead of the pressure switches like this member did here....

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0

But instead what I'm thinking to do is use a switch that's found in all the cars and trucks on the road today. Of all the years and all the different vehicles I've driven, I've had to replace only one switch. So I know they last.

Looking at the pic below...

I'm thinking to fashion a mount for the switch attached to the back beam, then weld a tab to the pushrod so when the brake pedal is pushed, the tab will move off the switch and complete the circuit. This right now is just a rough idea until I can get hands on.

I've also thought to wire in a warning light on the dashboard to tell when the brake switch is no longer working but I have no idea how to wire it like that.

[lil-jinx]

a L-bracket and a hose clamp instead of welding ,would be adjustable,
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https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=620186
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=668799
1974 Bay Westfalia. she likes to be called Ethel.
1968 Dune Buggy sold dec 2024

1974 parts bus
A smart man learns from his mistakes,a very smart man learns from other's mistakes.

[KTPhil]

Most mechanical brake switches mount inside the car, and therefore are not sealed from the elements. Also, some had a reaction of the switch contacts to (I think) teflon in the switch body, causing early failure. So choose your switch carefully, and check it often!
If I used an electric vacuum pump, I'd add a '80s-vintage vacuum reservoir to assure me of multiple powered stops should the pump fail, or I was forced to turn off the ignition (like stuck throttle).

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-g1464b?seid...RYEALw_wcB
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Current Fleet:
- '71 Fastback
- '69 Westfalia
Retired:
- '67 Beetle
- '65 Beetle (x2)
- '65 Bus
- '71 Squareback

[SGKent]