Doh! Had the door panels off again tonight, and I totally forgot to weigh them. Sorry about that.
Storage in the Rally Bug is a definite problem. There's obviously no back seat, and there is less trunk room than a regular Super Beetle. For the most part, on road trips, I've figured it out...but it's surprising how handy the door panel pockets have become. Even just little things like house keys, wallet, gas receipts, etc. all need a spot. On the co-driver side they've got cell phones, pens, navigator crap I don't really pay attention to. We're gonna need some door pockets.
Cut some ABS to fit inside the door pockets and keep 'em stiff, as well as some strips to support them on the backside of the door panel. The rivets will hold them in, big flange on the one side, two washers on the other to keep them from pulling through the door panel.
Three rivets across the top, one in each lower corner (which was fun to install).
Yup, that will work nicely.
With the door panels done, I tore out the co-driver seat, drained the rear brake circuit and started working on replacing the hand-brake master cylinder.
The old cylinder was 5/8 diameter, and is actually a Honda clutch master cylinder. It was easy to obtain and has metric fittings, so I had all the fittings to swap it over to AN fittings. The new master, as you can see, is quite a bit larger. I had to source the 3/4" master from Willwood, and work out the fittings to get the inlet and outlet down to the -3AN sizing that I'm using. Fitting this bigger cylinder under the shifter, above the valve for the Accusump and without hitting the driver's seat is going to be a challenge and a half...
I had to cut off and grind down the casting corner at the back of the master, taking about 3/8" of material off, but it
just fits above the valve for the accusump. Banjo adapters to -3AN look a bit odd with the bends, but I don't have to cut and make new lines, and you'll only ever see it in this photo anyways. Things are TIGHT in here!
I pressurized the system with a motive power bleeder, and bled the rear circuit without issues. I should have remembered to bleed the circuit before mounting the hand brake master, as you can see from the mounting angle it traps air. A quick manual bleed moves the air from the hand brake into the rear line, and a second power bleed empties the system. At this stage of my evening, things started to go sour. The handbrake feels wonderful. It's got a good short stroke, and while it does require more effort than my pre-winter setup, it's not bad. I hit the foot brake, no air, and then a second pump and the pedal started to sink. What?! I pumped a couple more times, and that's when I heard it...the tell tale squirt of brake fluid leaking somewhere. Of course, to find the leak required a couple of more pumps...and that's when I realized...I've emptied half a reservoir of brake fluid INSIDE the Rally Bug.
Funny part about having all your brake lines run inside the cabin. You don't have to worry about rocks cutting them, you don't have to worry about them corroding due to road salt. You do, however, have to worry about leaks! The brake fluid was pooling under the driver's seat, which normally wouldn't be an issue except I had been adjusting the seat belts with the new seat. The 6pt belt extras were lying on the floor, instead of wrapped up and ziptied as they usually are. Sigh. Well, didn't need the last 6" of brake-fluid soaked belt tails anyhow, so I cut em off.
Closer inspection of the leak, however, determined that it was actually a pin-hole, and squirting high pressure brake fluid onto the center tunnel, and was then spraying everywhere like a garden hose. A whole roll of blue towel and a can of brake clean later...and I think the interior is clean :P
Cause? A casting flaw in the 7/16 banjo bolt I bought. The sealing flange, had a nick in it.
-Dave