First I want to somewhat apologize for my 'occasional' very anal
questions regarding whatever the problem of the moment is. I can only
assume that by now those who have no interest have learned to hit the
delete and/or scroll 'buttons'.
Now...Dick Stachowiak, please tell me if you've personally used the 2#
VW valves. They appear as if they'd solve the problem in this particular
situation. I'll interrupt myself for a moment to say that I'm about 95%
sure I have all of the air out of the lines. My MityVac isn't working in
this situation. I'm sure it is because the pads are too far away from
the discs. What I do use is a clear hose with a one-way valve at the
fluid end, a stick to hold the pedal down along with a pair of thick
leather welder's gloves to protect the seat pad. I am getting absolutely
no air out of any of the calipers. And as mentioned, I have a lot of
grease around each of the bleed screws to prevent air from going down
the threads. Additionally the pedal doesn't feel all that soft, but
simply won't become firm until it is about an inch from the floor. That
said, all of the discs turn easily unless the pedal is pressed all the
way down.
Back to the VW valves. Why would they be specifically for dune buggies?
Or is it another way of saying, "For off-road use only?" [I'll add here
that Dick sent me to the eBay listing (200394055421)]. Do the
threads/diameter fit the Alfa MC's on each end? I gather one needs three
for a Spider and assume that the lines going to the MC need to have
roughly 30 mm cut from each. I'll add that I can't do bubble flares. I
have a terrific (correct) 37 degree brake flare unit, but bubbles are
beyond me. Also, once the lines are cut, one is pretty much committed to
these valves. I'm concerned that once the seals break in that they might
hold the pads too close so that they not only drag, but wear quickly.
Comments?
Hindsight: I have some vintage (but looks good) ATE brake grease. I
understand it is essentially thick brake fluid. Boy do I wish I'd used
it on the pistons and seals. Also in retrospect, I might well have used
the old seals along with the new dust covers. I used brake fluid to
lubricate both the seals and the rounded edge of the pistons, but feel
the tightness - not to mention the apparent 'stickiness' of the new
seals - pretty much insure they'll take a long time to break in. The
only other time I've rebuilt calipers was for the fronts on a '69 Spider
and I did reuse the seals after thoroughly cleaning the bores. Along
with rebuilding both brake boosters (that was an 'interesting' learning
experience), the brakes worked fine and I don't recall any problems
bleeding the brakes.
Brian, others, I agree that the Spider needs to be driven and it
'should' stop. It is those quote marks that are holding me back. The car
is well insured, however the liability of purposely driving it with
virtually no brake pedal isn't covered.
Biba
Irwindale CA USA
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