Thanks for the reminder. I recall the early days where a single piston from a caliper would launch across the room if I didn’t put a piece of wood to catch it.
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Getting the ‘57 beetle back on the road in 2024
- Thread starter bosco659
- Start date
Yup!
The annual tool migration from out in the shed back down to the basement garage has begun here.
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I have a permanent set for the garage. Last year I kept the garage at 6C min with electric heat so there wasn’t a high level of humidity. Felt safe to leave more out there. This year is the same but heat will be supplemented with my diesel heater.
Had another look at the wheel cylinder. Even if I can get the bleeder out I’ll need to rebuild them. Kits plus a cylinder hone will cost the same as one cylinder, so I’ve decided to order a pair of new aftermarket pieces.
Well I lied.
Had another look at the wheel cylinder. Even if I can get the bleeder out I’ll need to rebuild them. Kits plus a cylinder hone will cost the same as one cylinder, so I’ve decided to order a pair of new aftermarket pieces.
. The cheap gene in me overcame my decision to buy wheel cylinders so I had a go at taking the one apart. The pistons wouldn’t budge with compressed air so I made an adaptor for my grease gun out of a brake line fitting and grease fitting. The grease pushed the pistons out and once removed it was no wonder they wouldn’t move. Decades of gunk had them bonded to the wheel cylinder walls. A bit of work with the Dremel tool and the pistons will drop through the wheel cylinder without obstruction. The bore of the wheel cylinder (where cups ride) was actually in pretty good shape. A polish with the Dremel too and some light abrasive (scotch brite like material) cleaned the bore up well. I may be able to borrow a wheel cylinder hone and clean them up further.But… the broken bleeder screw was still stuck in there. Since the wheel cylinder was apart and clean, I drilled the bleeder to the appropriate size for a screw extractor, then poured on the heat (only a propane torch with Mapp gas). Several attempts and no go. I was about to give up then I thought I’d try it one last time. The propane torch doesn’t have enough heat to get the area red hot but it did get quite warm. I heated it up then doused it with water. I heated it up one last time and carefully worked the extractor and eureka - the darn thing started turning! Got the piece out now it’s nearly ready for a rebuild. Only three more to go but now I have a bit of experience with them.
I felt pretty good about this small victory and thought to myself is this fun? Maybe a bit and as I get further into it my interest and enthusiasm may increase.
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Well after all my valiant efforts to reuse the wheel cylinder, I find out the rebuild kits aren’t available anymore
. Rock auto lists a kit but says it’s for a 5/8” bore cylinder and mine are 11/16”. Ended up going back to the old plan and ordered the wheel cylinders.
. Rock auto lists a kit but says it’s for a 5/8” bore cylinder and mine are 11/16”. Ended up going back to the old plan and ordered the wheel cylinders.
Bummer on the wheel cylinder rebuild kit. Just found the thread and will be watching. 
What a cool project!
What a cool project!
Had this year model while stationed in Germany..... took forever to deice the windshield .... had to replace the clutch .... a couple of wires.. cable.... hoses... four bolts.. 15 minutes... easiest clutch job I ever did. Never got on the Autobahn with it.... couple years ago we picked up a 2017 VW Beetle ragtop... great car... 
Mentioned earlier I should dig out my oxy acetylene torch set to heat up some of the rusted bits, but sometimes a small torch may serve me better to pinpoint the heat in a certain area. I started looking on line and found this Chinese Mapp gas torch that apparently has a 3 speed transmission. lol
Yeah, Mapp works pretty good most of the time.
Viewing the detailed pics of your rear hubs / brake parts took me back to my youth. Lived and breathed Beetles for at least 7 or 8 years, until I discovered BMW 2002's. If I may suggest, break out that oxyacetylene set. Everything will come apart with a combination of heat and lubricant. I think you already know that, though.
I also think you should really consider a sandblaster, even the smallest possible cabinet. It'll make a world of difference to the finish of the parts you are working on. I made my first blast cabinet; a plywood box, a piece of plate glass on top, an extraction port connected to a small shop vac pulling through a dust cyclone, a basic siphon blast gun (Princess Auto, Amazon etc.) and a pair of long-sleeved gloves stapled to the front face of the box. Then again, there's probably a number of used cabinets on Marketplace in your area... The real trick is having a compressor to power it!
You may also want to consider an electrolytic rust removal tank. Very easy to setup (5-gallon bucket, re-bar electrodes and a battery charger) and very effective, just doesn't get you immediate results like sandblasting.
Good luck with the project!
I also think you should really consider a sandblaster, even the smallest possible cabinet. It'll make a world of difference to the finish of the parts you are working on. I made my first blast cabinet; a plywood box, a piece of plate glass on top, an extraction port connected to a small shop vac pulling through a dust cyclone, a basic siphon blast gun (Princess Auto, Amazon etc.) and a pair of long-sleeved gloves stapled to the front face of the box. Then again, there's probably a number of used cabinets on Marketplace in your area... The real trick is having a compressor to power it!
You may also want to consider an electrolytic rust removal tank. Very easy to setup (5-gallon bucket, re-bar electrodes and a battery charger) and very effective, just doesn't get you immediate results like sandblasting.
Good luck with the project!
Thx. I have an ok compressor that could be used with a small blast cabinet but space for the cabinet is a challenge. I’ll have a look to see what I can rearrange to make things fit. The electrolytic rust removal tank is interesting. I’ll research that too.
A wire wheel on a bench grinder also makes pretty quick work of rusty parts.
Look what I just spotted while looking nationwide at RD350's.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1736823136744911
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1736823136744911
Yes, its that simple, although there are a few details that could be approved upon. Electrolysis works by line-of-sight, so you want your part to be surrounded by cathodes (the sacrificial steel in the video). My setup is in a 5-gal. pail, with 5 pieces of rebar the full depth of the bucket attached to the inside perimeter with a zip-tie. The cathodes are then all wired together, so iron oxide is drawn from the part all around it. I use a piece of PVC to suspend the parts from. Works great. The vinegar bath at the end is just a neutralizing bath; it doesn't require immersion of the part, IMO. The power supply matters, as I believe the power requirement is a function of the surface area of the part. I haven't done any further research, as a battery charge is what I have and is what works for me!
This for me requires further research and understanding. Questions I have:
- what is the ideal concentration of baking / washing soda to water?
- I know it uses 12V but what amperage is needed? I trust that too low amperage will result in the process not working at all (or too slow) but what happens with too much amperage?
- if the part is left in too long, is it damaged by the process?
When I have a chance I’ll Google some intel. This looks quite interesting.
Some intel. Gives a rough idea of concentration of baking soda to water, but nothing about amperage. The process gives off hydrogen gas. Wonder if it enough gas to cause concern about open flame a sparks in the area?
