Darn,

        Now I have break lever envy. 

I have the 85 with the old version.  Mine is a metal lever with the rubber boot.

The boot is nice.  the lever not so easy to grab and very wide spacing between clicks.

One more thing for my wish list.

Man reading these posts can be dangerous!

Eric Caron 
85 GL Auto 

On Jul 2, 2018, at 12:51, vw_van_fan_Mark <madvws@COX.NET> wrote:

Yes, it bolts right in the same way and I have done it lots of times.

The majority of 85 vans have the newer lever too.

IMHO the later lever is improved in 3 ways.
Better hand comfort, more leverage, closer spacing of the notches.

Suggestions:Make sure the cable adjuster is free to be adjusted. Lube
the threads and loosen it a few turns. Attach the cable to the newer
lever BEFORE bolting the lever down to the floor.

Also, the later lever uses a hard plastic partial cover rather than the
full coverage flexible boot. The old boot won't fit it properly.

Mark

pickle vanagon wrote:
> I've heard that he 86 and up vanagons have a different style e-brake lever
> that offers more mechanical advantage.  Does anyone know if this can easily
> be installed in an earlier model vanagon as an upgrade?
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> (Just to head of any questions: My rear e-brake works well---everything is
> nicely adjusted.)
>