Burying the Brake Reservoir

This shorter-than-normal-but-actually-reasonably-length'd post was originally included within the second Hapy Seating post (See Hapy Seating - Part 2). I pulled it out into it's own post because the content stands on it's own, and the seating post was pretty long even without this. So, today, I will document the moving of the upper brake reservoir in the 1972 VW Bus.

Stock Reservoir

before image

Consider the original location of the upper brake reservoir on the 1972 bus is a tab/perch that juts forward from the driver seat partition. I clarify it by year because from the pictures I have seen, the reservoir appears in different places for different years. In Hapy's case, this perch sits, maybe, 6 inches off the seat floor with an opaque hard plastic hose attached to the bottom. The hose has a bulb at the top, allowing it to fit over the nipple on the reservoir. It is held on with a plastic clamp, and there is a rubber sleeve between the inside of the hose/bulb and the outside of the nipple on the reservoir. This opaque plastic hose runs down to the seat pedestal floor, and passes through a special hole in the floor of the pedestal. Within the pedestal, there is a cavity about 4 inches across between the inner wheel well of the driver front wheel and the outer edge of the pedestal. The opaque hose runs downward into this cavity and out a hole in the floor of the bus. Underneath, the hose runs forward about a foot to the master cylinder, upon which is another reservoir, that the hose attaches to. The hose connection to the lower reservoir is the same as the connection to the upper reservoir: bulb, clamp, rubber sleeve. Between the bulbs, the hose is narrower. The picture on the right, here, is from Hapy before I replaced the hose the last time. Note the rust, but more importantly, note the tab on the partition. Also, near the lower right corner of the rear-most square opening is the round hole through which the original brake reservoir hose passes. I do not have a picture of my original, complete, assembled set up, nor can I find any examples on the interweb. Trust that a square-ish reservoir hangs on that tang and connects to an opaque hose that passes through that round hole.

Gimme a Brake... Reservoir... Hose

pre-paint test mount

A while back, when I took that picture above, I purchased and installed a replacement opaque plastic hose between the remote, upper, brake reservoir (behind the driver seat) and the sitting-on-master-cylinder lower reservoir, but I did not shorten it to fit. It was "the" hose that was available, and was described as the right part for all buses and Vanagons. One size fits none again as the upper reservoir did not sit where it was supposed to. Just to hold it still, I zip-tied it to the driver seat partition through a pair of factory threaded holes near the top crossbar. It was not pretty, but it was functional and it didn't leak. So long as the driver seat was pushed back, no one could see how ratty the solution was. 

I wanted to fix this ugliness. I had mentioned the location of this reservoir in passing in the first post about the Sprinter seats (See Hapy Seating). I thought about the reservoir, it's location and the hard plastic backside of the 2016 Sprinter seat, concerned whether the brittle plastic reservoir in the original position would get run into if the seat was pushed back to the partition. Fairly sure the two unforgiving plastics would hit each other, potentially cracking the much older reservoir, I moved it inside the pedestal of the front seat. It can now be accessed through a pre-existing square-ish hole in the pedestal, near the rear of the seat. The picture on the right, here, shows the new location. I may get creative with a cover when I do the carpet or I may leave it exposed, but that's a decision for another day.

Re-Locating the Brake Reservoir

I started by MityVac'ing a bunch of brake fluid out of the hose, down below the stock mount point. Before I made the decision to simply move the reservoir, I tried to shorten the plastic line. I cut the hose, heated it up and tried to force-jam it onto the filler. Yeah, that doesn't work. I could not figure out how to make the "one-size fits Vanagon - otherwise you're on your own" hose to fit. Additionally, the plastic is too hard to wedge a 2-sided nipple in a line breach, so a simple cut and double-barb solution wouldn't work. I abandoned that plastic line and started seeking a rubber line solution.

reservoir in service

The hose barb on the original reservoir accepts a 12mm hose. Flexible 12mm brake hose is not easy to find in lengths greater than 4 inches around the usual online sources for some reason, and those short sections are crazy expensive (like $8US before delivery charges). However, a half-inch hose is only .7mm bigger, and those are plentiful, here in the US. So, I ordered a 2 foot length 1/2" Department of Transportation (DOT) -rated brake hose, and ran it from the master cylinder up under the driver pedestal, through the original hole in the floor. The hole through the floor needed to be expanded, however. I do not have drill bits that big so I used a sledge-hammer and an old 2-ton floor/trolley jack's removable handle (as a chisel) to smash the hole larger. Yeah, that felt a bit destructive, but it only took about 4 or 5 whacks with my small sledge to drive the jack handle through. The jack handle was completely unmarred by it. Once expanded, the hose slid through the hole.

I fit the upper connection first, and completed with a clamp. The hose settled onto the plastic nipple, but I unexpectedly needed to use a touch of force. I had thought that .7mm would have allowed the hose to slide on and slop around. I was pleasantly mistaken. Then, I slid underneath and figured out the correct length of hose. Once the length was decided, I cut it with tin snips, and mounted with a clamp. I mounted the upper reservoir to the side of the seat pedestal last, filled it with brake fluid and checked for leaks. I stepped on the brake pedal a few times to create some pressure. Finding no leaks, a firm brake pedal and feeling quite satisfied, I called it complete.

Oh, the 2016 Sprinter seat easily slides back over the top of the reservoir with plenty of room to spare. Like multiple inches to spare. As to what would have happened had I pushed the seat all the way back, I'll never know for sure. But, the rear of the seat comes within an inch of the little tab thing, so they would definitely have collided.

That's it for today. More next time-