jonathan,
Bus Depot has new units for $50.
 http://www.busdepot.com/catalog.jsp?model=58&category=5&group=56
Why drive around worrying if the rebuild is good enough? Life is short
enough.

Ken Lewis
86 Transporter Crew Cab
60 356 T-5 Porsche
http://neksiwel.20m.com/
Vanagon tech, pixs, O2 monitor gadget
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jonathan Farrugia" <jfarrugi@UMICH.EDU>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Thursday, June 17, 2004 2:30 AM
Subject: [VANAGON] Brake Master Rebuild

> so i would like to get the opinion of the people out there that have
> rebuilt vanagon brake master cylinders.  this is my situation, on monday i
> had to make a super panic stop with a load and internally blew the seals
> in my master cylinder.  the history of the van is this.  the master is
> probably factory (84).  it worked well for the year that i pushed it hard
> including mountain passes and such.  it showed no signs of internal bleed
> down before the sudden failure.  the whole system was flushed twice last
> year.  one very through flush when i put the van on the road and once
> about five months later during a clutch master r&r.
>
> i drove the van with the internally leaky seals for about another hundred
> miles to get it home.  i would guess that there is not much pitting in the
> casting given the good performance over the last year and the fact that it
> was flushed twice during that interval.  my theory is that the old seals
> gave out under the sudden drastic pressure, so this "should" be a decent
> core to rebuild.
>
> my question is if you have rebuilt a vanagon master cylinder how long did
> you get out of your rebuild and what did your cylinder look like inside
> when you took it apart?  if you have rebuilt cylinders to but on the shelf
> for spares what lube did you use as brake fluid is hydroscopic and will
> attract water and promote corrosion?
>
> jonathan
>