Since I have an liquid to air intercooler and the engine and transmission oil coolers are watercooled also, I needed an large cooler in front of the van and I thought that instead of mounting it in front of the radiator and adding more heat to the engine radiator, I could mount it in the luggage rack on top of the roof.
I never carry anything up there anyway and it is out of the way, so I cut two luggage racks up so that I could extend it about six inches and create a air scoop. (just like the early vans have)
I ran two 3/4" lines from the intercooler and oil coolers up though the tray and out through the roof to a VW Jetta radiator, an electric waterpump circulates the cooling fluid and pumps when the diesel engine runs.
A screen keeps the crows out and the over hang also keeps the sun out of my eyes.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Bigger brake booster
To improve my brakes, I have installed Audi G60 brake calipers and vented rotors on the front and vented disc brakes on the back but I thought that I could improve the brake system even more by installing a bigger brake booster.
After scrounging through a lot of wrecking yards and looking at brake boosters I found a 10" booster that will fit the Vanagon without any major modifications.
The original Vanagon brake booster has a 9" diameter so an upgrade to a 10" means that it is like putting about 20 percent more force on the pedal with the same effort.
The brake booster came from a E30 (3) series BMW, which is easy to find in wrecking yards, made from 1982---- 1990, and until 1993 for the convertible.
To make it fit, a 1/4" piece has to be cut off the threaded rod, then the original clevis from a Vanagon has to be drilled out and tapped to M10x1.5 (drill with a 11/32" drill) and mounted onto the threaded rod.
Adjust the length of the rod to 111,5 MM or 4 3/8" from booster mounting face to the center of the clevis. (see Bentley page 46.10)
I took the instrument panel out, removed the master brake cylinder, unbolted the aluminum pedal frame and took the booster out.
While I was in there I also took the clutch pedal out and checked and lubricated the pin.
In order to get the clutch pedal out, the main pin has to be partially slid out, just enough to get the clutch pedal out.
Check and see if the hole in the pedal is not wore out and that the pin is in good shape.
Here is a link that describes it:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=401822&highlight=bigger+brake+booster
After scrounging through a lot of wrecking yards and looking at brake boosters I found a 10" booster that will fit the Vanagon without any major modifications.
The original Vanagon brake booster has a 9" diameter so an upgrade to a 10" means that it is like putting about 20 percent more force on the pedal with the same effort.
The brake booster came from a E30 (3) series BMW, which is easy to find in wrecking yards, made from 1982---- 1990, and until 1993 for the convertible.
To make it fit, a 1/4" piece has to be cut off the threaded rod, then the original clevis from a Vanagon has to be drilled out and tapped to M10x1.5 (drill with a 11/32" drill) and mounted onto the threaded rod.
Adjust the length of the rod to 111,5 MM or 4 3/8" from booster mounting face to the center of the clevis. (see Bentley page 46.10)
I took the instrument panel out, removed the master brake cylinder, unbolted the aluminum pedal frame and took the booster out.
While I was in there I also took the clutch pedal out and checked and lubricated the pin.
In order to get the clutch pedal out, the main pin has to be partially slid out, just enough to get the clutch pedal out.
Check and see if the hole in the pedal is not wore out and that the pin is in good shape.
Here is a link that describes it:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=401822&highlight=bigger+brake+booster
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