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Thu Jul 30, 2015 7:41 am

So I get back from vacation to find my VW with three oil spots under it... Two front and one in the rear... It appears my Jeep has been a bad influence on the Beetle during my absence. :x

The rear axle seal was one culprit and is now fixed, the front was a different story.
I drained and pulled the gas tank to get a better look (I knew the brake lines were leaking somewhere). The two soft lines from the reservoir to the master cylinder are old and need replacing.., and never had hose clamps on them, thus have a steady drip. :shock: glad I inspect my vehicles before driving them!

What is used for the soft brake lines? Is it just braided fuel line?

Thu Jul 30, 2015 8:02 am

You MUST use the correct brake line material - usually blue in colour. Fuel line is not suited to brake fluid.

Those lines from reservoir to MC dont really need clamps as there is no real pressure in them. Wont hurt if you want to use clamps though.

Thu Jul 30, 2015 8:07 am

Aussiebug wrote: You MUST use the correct brake line material - usually blue in colour. Fuel line is not suited to brake fluid.

That's what I figured, I know brake fluid is pretty harsh on material not suited for it.

Those lines from reservoir to MC dont really need clamps as there is no real pressure in them. Wont hurt if you want to use clamps though.
any idea what diameter hose is needed?

Thu Jul 30, 2015 11:21 am

Try this stuff, ad on Samab, no affiliation, BUT this does appear to be the right stuff for brakes.

LINK....http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1665841

Thu Jul 30, 2015 11:27 am

part 113611805b Wolfsburg West

Thu Jul 30, 2015 12:48 pm

I found a local place that is nothing but a brake and hydro line fabrications shop, they sold me som cheap. :D

Thu Jul 30, 2015 2:41 pm

Now I need to figure out how to get these F$@%in rubber hoses on. :evil:

Thu Jul 30, 2015 8:38 pm

This is seemingly a simple question about brake M/C feed hose on a '58-'67 Beetle, right?

Wrong!

Once I looked at your profile...
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=597385&highlight=
... and found out you have a US '67 with dual circuit brakes, that changed it to a more complex question :lol:

Your US '67 one-year-only transitional dual circuit brake fluid reservoir has two short 5mm outlet pipes, and two long 5mm intermediate pipes that go the M/C.
Most importantly, the original '67 dual circuit M/C's had plastic 5mm inlet port fittings.
Originally all connections between the pipes and fittings were made with sections of bulk 5mm Blue cloth braided hose rated for brake fluid.

With the coming of the US '68 models, a larger dual circuit reservoir was relocated up higher and farther away and it's fittings, the feed pipes and subsequently larger but still Blue hoses, were all increased to 7mm.

This immediately made the '67 one-year-only dual circuit 5mm system obsolete.

VW eventually ran out of OE style replacement 5mm inlet M/C's in the 70's, so the '67 only M/C was superseded to'68- style M/C with 7mm fittings.

As a go between "plus item" to make it work, they made a Blue cloth braided adaptor hose that went from 5mm on one end to 7mm on the other.

This is the real key, no one makes that 5mm to 7mm adaptor hose anymore.

So, you can use early 5mm hoses on the reservoir and intermediate pipes, but you need to come up a way to transition between the 5mm pipes to the larger 7mm inlet fittings on most all new M/C's.

That may be by forcing the 5mm hose over the larger 7mm fittings, as it sounds like you are trying to do...
...or by using the larger late model 7mm hose that fits the M/C inlet supplemented with clamps on the smaller 5mm pipe end to squeeze them tight.

You can also get creative in metal shop and make the steel intermediate pipes do the transition from 5mm OD on one end and 7mm OD on the other end :) :wink:

Thu Jul 30, 2015 11:06 pm

That is interesting information!

I ended up doing it the knuckle dragged way by using a round file to widen and stretch the hose out at both ends and then using fuel line hose clamps to tighten the, down... I got the hoses on about a 1/4" on the lines leading to the MC, they weren't moving on any more so I clamped them down and they didn't leak or move during a wiggle test then full round of brake bleeding.

Gotta love German engineering, even on a "simple" car. :lol:

Of course now I see slop in my steering knuckles as well as a steering dampener that should probably be replaced before the gas tank goes back in. My wife is going to kick my ass. :oops:

Fri Jul 31, 2015 6:01 pm

2T2-Crash wrote: That is interesting information!

I ended up doing it the knuckle dragged way by using a round file to widen and stretch the hose out at both ends and then using fuel line hose clamps to tighten the, down... I got the hoses on about a 1/4" on the lines leading to the MC, they weren't moving on any more so I clamped them down and they didn't leak or move during a wiggle test then full round of brake bleeding.

Gotta love German engineering, even on a "simple" car. :lol:

Of course now I see slop in my steering knuckles as well as a steering dampener that should probably be replaced before the gas tank goes back in. My wife is going to kick my ass. :oops:

1/4 inch engagement of the hose is a bit too little, that is barely one pipe diameter. Maybe the hose you bought is not the best fit? You can lube the hose and pipe ends with brake grease, that really helps a difficult hose get on further. make sure it is brake grease suitable for hydraulics.

The tight fit of course is one reason the factory never put hose clamps on them back then I suppose, but still, the hose should be put on further if you can. Was this hose you have be one of the blue cloth wrapped hoses?

PS you can also sometimes help a hose get on a pipe by inserting needle nose pliers into the hose end, and spread the hose end open, stretching it slightly (avoid damaging the hose, just spread a little, no more than a typical pipe barb end might be in diameter) after you have spread the hose for a bit of time, quickly remove the pliers and install hose before it fully relaxes back to original diameter, use grease at same time.

Good Luck, Good braking too you!!!!!

Fri Jul 31, 2015 8:44 pm

61SNRF wrote: You can also get creative in metal shop and make the steel intermediate pipes do the transition from 5mm OD on one end and 7mm OD on the other end
I took this route when I replaced the M/C on my '67 Ghia. Had a machinist make up a couple of stainless steel 5mm to 7mm adapters for the brake hoses. Worked perfectly.