Long time since I posted....and gross brakes.

[Aerindel]

So its been an embarrassingly long time since I worked on my woods rail/doombuggy.

But given the current collapse of the supply chain....ie, a 500% increase in the cost of building materials....this may be the summer of working on the buggy given that I can't build the rest of my house.

The biggest obstacle to enjoying the buggy has been that it's not registered and so that is going to be my focus this summer. Checking all the boxes and jumping through all the hopes to get it platted.

So far what I am missing are:

Fenders.
Windshield.
Windshield wipers
Front brakes.
Parking brake.

Luckily...perhaps, a few days ago I found someone local giving away a VW front end and pan.

I picked it up and drug it home. The shock towers are rusted out where they meet the axle tubes so the front end is useless, which is okay, because I have a front end. But unlike the pile of parts that I was given years ago and turned into a buggy, this one has front brakes of a sort.

So begins the process of trying to recondition..re-use....etc:

On one had, the parts where free....on another....they aren't great:

I have no idea what I'm doing, having never had front brakes before...but it looks pretty simple to figure out.

_________________
Homemade woods/street, bug out rail. IRS, Balljoint front end. 1967 1600cc DP, Weber 32/36 progressive, tri-mil quiet pack. Rear only cutting brakes.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=630046

[dirtkeeper]

It is pretty simple . Clean everything up, maybe replace the bearings and cylinders and pads if you think needed but heck those pads still look like the got some meat on them. Turn the drums maybe too.

[Aerindel]

I've ordered new piston cylinders, new shoes, new hoses (the pad material fell right off the old ones when I removed them and am going to have the drums turned as there is a lot of rust pitting on what was the lower surface where it had been sitting for probably 20 years outside.
_________________
Homemade woods/street, bug out rail. IRS, Balljoint front end. 1967 1600cc DP, Weber 32/36 progressive, tri-mil quiet pack. Rear only cutting brakes.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=630046

[Aerindel]

hmmm....

Well, after starting to clean them up, I'm not sure this is such a good idea.

Turns out there is pretty heavy rust pitting on everything to the point where I think I should probably buy new parts.....which prices out to pretty similar to a disc brake conversion....

_________________
Homemade woods/street, bug out rail. IRS, Balljoint front end. 1967 1600cc DP, Weber 32/36 progressive, tri-mil quiet pack. Rear only cutting brakes.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=630046

[Aerindel]

Frustrations abound on my project.

So, I gave up on the stock front brakes as I decided there was just too much rust on those parts to put them on....

Decided while I'm deciding on front brakes, I'd work on installing parking brakes.

Ordered new parking brake cables from Amazon, and got two different styles even though I ordered them at the same time and the same product page....one of them is probably wrong, but I have no idea which one.

Took apart the rear brake drums to get a look and try and figure out what I needed....and discovered the previous owner had installed the back plates backwards...ie, swapped the left and right plates so the opening for the parking brake cable was facing the rear of the vehicle.

Stayed up until five in the morning swapping brake sides, ordered parts since I'm missing all the internal hardware to make the parking brake work it seems.

Had to work on my moms subaru (exhaust is rusted out) today so I had to move the buggy out of my shop, decided to take it for a short test drive....and 1/2 mile later, one of the rear wheels flies off!!!

Guess who forgot to tighten the lug bolts last night at 5 am?

Luckily the wheel hit a tree in someones yard rather than going through their front window. Called my wife and had her come rescue me with a jack and 19mm socket. Took two bolts of the front wheels and rebolted the rear on and slunk home with my tail between my legs.

So, for my brake cable problem.

I ordered two of these.....

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F0SL4IY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


what I got was this:

Any idea which one is the right one for a 1970? (I think 1970....like I said, I built this buggy from a half completed rolling chassis so I'm not 100% sure what anything was)

Aslo, just a pic of the buggy:

_________________
Homemade woods/street, bug out rail. IRS, Balljoint front end. 1967 1600cc DP, Weber 32/36 progressive, tri-mil quiet pack. Rear only cutting brakes.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=630046