Aus/NZ only - Brake servo needed

Best suggestion I can make is to fit a late Series 3 master cylinder, booster and pedal assembly. You will have to modify the splash guard to clear the longer assembly if you use the dual master cylinder, and probably have to change the plumbing as well - as well as the dual cylinder factor, the threads will be metric.

An alternative is that the brakes may be adequate without the booster if you fit the six cylinder (wider) front brakes, or if your 2a is an 88, just upgrade all round to lwb brakes (11" instead of 10"). JD

Thanks - but that'll cost more than the job's worth, I fear! It is an 88", btw.

I've just bought a new standard master cylinder, waiting for new reservoirs to arrive from Beamends before I fit it though to avoid having to bleed everything too many times! And also just fitted four new pairs of brake shoes & wheel cylinders of the standard type. Pity I didn't realise earlier that the VH44 is no longer available, and nor is a service kit. I might be able to get a specialist to do it though, if they can do it at a reasonable price.

When the clutch slave let go last year, I priced a new slave to getting the old one sleeved - new one was half the price of a rebuild!

It's not supplying a servo, that's easy - it's the cost of getting it to Oz from the UK without it taking 3 months (approx.) to get there!

Richard

If you have a cheaper freight alternative, Richard, I may well take you up on it - I am only replacing the booster 'cos I'm replacing everything else in the brake system - when it comes to brakes a little paranoia is good :)

So I could (hopefully) afford to wait three months for one to arrive from you if you can offer me sea freight instead of air mail (which is, I presume, what the GPB178 was.

I'll be in touch off group again if necessary, Richard. And thanks for the legendary service.

|| G'day all, || || I'm just replacing all the hydraulics on my S11a after a near || catastrophic incident.

Hope you're OK...

Oh yes, apart from needing a fresh pair of knickers. Had to do an emergency stop on the Pacific Highway, & the old Series pulled very hard to the left - a clear sign of contaminated brakes.

I got home & pulled the brake drums off - one hub oil seal shot, another two showed early signs of wheel cylinder failure (rusty fluid inside the cylinder dust cover) and I'd noted the brake pipes were pretty much due for a change. So I'm not keeping any part of the old system, the whole lot's being replaced.

I count myself very lucky.

Right - that's an entirely different - £44, still not exactly cheap, but somewhat better!

Richard

Have you tried contacting these folk

|| Richard Brookman wrote: ||| Karen Gallagher wrote: ||| ||||| G'day all, ||||| ||||| I'm just replacing all the hydraulics on my S11a after a near ||||| catastrophic incident. ||| ||| Hope you're OK... ||| || Oh yes, apart from needing a fresh pair of knickers.

Can't help with the part number there, sorry.

|| Had to do an emergency stop || on the Pacific Highway, & the old Series pulled very hard to the || left - a clear sign of contaminated brakes.

Glad you're OK though.

On or around Sat, 19 Aug 2006 14:29:29 +0100, "Richard Brookman" enlightened us thusly:

ditto - you really don't need to replace that servo unit unless it's suspect, though - your problem was contaminated brakes and or failed seals, plus brake lines that are a bit iffy. Unless the servo has been misbehaving, I wouldn't replace it.

Putting LWB 11" drums on the front makes a big difference, if it's not already got 'em (later SWB series did, I think) - apart from anything else, the earlier series SWB brakes are single leading shoe, whereas the 11" ones are twin [I think they all are]

If you really want to replace the servo, then fitting one from a later series makes sense, provided you can find one, you'll also get dual circuit with that if it's currently single circuit.

I'll check out the BPA people first, then proceed from there - I really would be happier changing the servo - unlike the ones that were sold in the UK, the Repco ones do not fail safe - apparently when the hydraulics fail on the VH44 you lose the brakes & fluid leaks into the vacuum chamber. Having just installed new standard cylinders this week I'm reluctant to throw away the money I've just spent.

Thanks everyone for all the advice :)

Reconditioned VH44's listed for AU$100 here.

Ive got a servo and LWB brakes on the front of a SWB. Great when they work, but it still pulls like a bastard when something goes wrong ;). I think ive got a buggered slave cylinder on mine which makes it try to jump into a hedge under hard braking. I almost had to change my trousers when it first did it too. I also got a headache from my sliding window falling out of the runner and hitting me...

EMB, you're a legend :)

Many thanks

I had a Girling remote servo on Wonda - at least when it failed I had plenty of warning - when I'd finaly worked out where all the white smoke was comming from!

Richard

By the way, EMB, that turned out to be not the price, but the deposit - actual price is $450 with no exchange, $350 or so with exchange. Thought I'd wait till the old one expires, with that price!

Holy f*ck - that's evil. I've just phoned my friendly brake specialist

- he's can supply a "Major rebuild Kit" for a retial price of NZ$175+GST. If you're interested I'll chase it up further. Seeing as it's an export job I should be able to leave the GST off the price.

I'll bear that in mind, thanks very much. Currently I'm struggling with installing the new master cylinders, they're in but making up the 1/4" pipes for the new reservoirs is trying my patience no end. Lots of fiddly bends & hard to get the threads to start and all the crap of making it all fit.

Lots of sludge in the old brake system, I'm more than a tad embarrassed that I let it get so bad without noticing it - the 88" only does around 700 miles a year so service tends to be neglected as a result.