Date:         Thu, 17 Jun 2004 02:30:45 -0400
Reply-To:     Jonathan Farrugia <jfarrugi@UMICH.EDU>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Jonathan Farrugia <jfarrugi@UMICH.EDU>
Subject:      Brake Master Rebuild
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

so i would like to get the opinion of the people out there that have
rebuilt vanagon brake master cylinders.  this is my situation, on monday i
had to make a super panic stop with a load and internally blew the seals
in my master cylinder.  the history of the van is this.  the master is
probably factory (84).  it worked well for the year that i pushed it hard
including mountain passes and such.  it showed no signs of internal bleed
down before the sudden failure.  the whole system was flushed twice last
year.  one very through flush when i put the van on the road and once
about five months later during a clutch master r&r.

i drove the van with the internally leaky seals for about another hundred
miles to get it home.  i would guess that there is not much pitting in the
casting given the good performance over the last year and the fact that it
was flushed twice during that interval.  my theory is that the old seals
gave out under the sudden drastic pressure, so this "should" be a decent
core to rebuild.

my question is if you have rebuilt a vanagon master cylinder how long did
you get out of your rebuild and what did your cylinder look like inside
when you took it apart?  if you have rebuilt cylinders to but on the shelf
for spares what lube did you use as brake fluid is hydroscopic and will
attract water and promote corrosion?

jonathan