Hey all,
Did some communing with the '81 Westy yesterday.

I ordered an emergency brake cable and a right-side heater cable from
Ron at Bus Depot, along with some Vanagon custom-fit floormats.  They
all arrived yesterday.

First thing I did was put the floormats in, replacing the generic FLAPS
mats that I had.  The ones I got from Ron are black ribbed rubber, and
say "Vanagon" on them in big white letters.  They are custom-cut for the
Vanagon's footwell.  They were $30 for the pair.

Next was the emergency brake cable.  This looked quite simple but in
practice turned out to be a royal PITA.  I got the van up on jackstands
and removed the rear wheels.  The right-side cable had broken, but I
took both wheels off and drums, as I figured I may have to do some
disassembly on the right side and wanted the intact left side as a
reference when I put it back together.

OK, the first step is to remove the cable from the equalizer bar under
the car.  This is pretty easy when the cable is broken :-) .  Then the
theory is that you unhook it from the lever attached to the brake shoe
and then pull it out through the backing plate.

I got it off the brake shoe actuating lever no problem, but it wouldn't
pull out of the backing plate.  I got some pliers on it to twist but
that only broke the damn thing, leaving a big chunk still in the hole
that the cable and housing pass through.  I had to get the brakes mostly
apart and then to some weird stuff with various screwdrivers and hammers
to get that piece out.  It took about an hour and a half of persistance,
but I finally got it!.  Then I installed the new cable (Italian made),
which was a nice piece of work.  It had the same rubber sleeves around
the cable as the original.  Those sleeves keep the cable sheath from
wearing through where the cable rubs against suspension parts or the
vehicle frame.  I hooked it around the actuating lever and then went to
put the brakes back together.

Those who have had both late Buses and Vanagons will realize that the
late Buses do not have the spring, washer, and pin that hold the brake
shoes to the backing plates, and most cars have.  However, the Vanagons
do have this wonderful little device, and I had a wonderful time getting
them re-installed, using a variety of tools at once, including
screwdrivers, pliers, and vise-grips.  That night, when I had wheels
again, I went to Sears and bought a brake spring washer
installation/removal tool.  $5.99 and well worth it if it simplifies the
process like it should.  I think I'll get to test it soon as I noticed
that a couple of the brake shoes are getting a little thin.  May be time
for brake work soon.

Anyway, once I had the brake cable in, I went ahead and replaced the
heater cable while the van was in the air and on jackstands.  Having
done this before, I am now an old pro and it only took about a
half-hour, including disconnecting the battery and removing the
instrument cluster, and re-installing it all.

After that I put the dash back together and put the drums and wheels
back on so I could adjust the parking brake.  I used the excellent
procedure in the Haynes manual and it's working great now.

And now I can shut the heat off from inside the car!  Woohoo, simple
pleasures :-)

If anyone else is contemplating the heater cable job on an air-cooled
Vanagon, I believe I have a write-up on the tech page,
http://www.type2.com/bartnik/tech.htm .  I will try to write up a
parking brake cable procedure ASAP.

Sean
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