Pedal Assembly, Master Cylinder, and Brake Lines Installed – 1966 VW Beetle Project

I  reinstalled the pedal assembly, master cylinder, and brake lines today.  Attaching the clutch cable to the clutch pedal is a bit tricky.  While attaching the clutch cable to the clutch pedal and mounting the assembly to the tunnel, you’ll want a helper (Thanks Aly!) to keep the cable nice and taut by pulling on it from the other end of the cable (back near the transmission).  If you don’t do this, you run the risk of the cable unhooking itself from the clutch pedal.

The car came with an aftermarket VW Bus master cylinder.  It’s the kind where the brake fluid reservoir is attached to the master cylinder itself.  I thought hard about whether to leave it as is, or replace it with the “correct” stock German master cylinder for the Beetle.  I decided to swap it out.  As much as I don’t like the thought of brake fluid dripping on the paint inside the front compartment, I also don’t like the idea of having to get up under the gas tank whenever I want/need to add more brake fluid.  The stock fluid reservoir holds a bit more fluid than the reservoir on the VW Bus master cylinder too.  I’m not sure if this is the correct decision, but it feels right to me at the moment.  Looks like I’ll have a Bus master cylinder to sell now. 

I’ll bleed the brakes tomorrow.  Here are some pics:

2 thoughts on “Pedal Assembly, Master Cylinder, and Brake Lines Installed – 1966 VW Beetle Project

  1. glenda

    Please help have brake but the brake light does not come on. replace switch and when the wire are touch together brake lightl work but when I conntect the aire to master switch and press the pedal the light does not work . Could it be a fault switch.

    Thanks
    Glenda

    Reply
    1. Wolfy Post author

      Hi Glenda,

      So you replaced the brake light switch, and that did not resolve the problem? I guess it’s possible the new switch could be bad. Stranger things have happened anyway. Is there any debris in the hole where the switch screws into the master cylinder?

      Wolfy

      Reply

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