| How
the hell do Type 2's work ? Stop
that bus, I
wanna get on..
Movin on up -
the gearbox
It's an explosive mixture - the
carb and ignition.
It does it's thing
like this...
Home
Workshop
Contact Us |
The horn, isn't it great?, go out
to your bay bus or van and honk it. They always sound good and all have a personality of
their own. Ever played that game where you have a round loop of wire on a stick and you
have guide it around another piece of wire, and the box it sits on lets out a screech if
you touch the two together...That's how your horn works, one wire goes from the battery to
an Electro-magnetic device (the horn).Another wire winds upward
waiting for your thump on the centre of the steering wheel you thump,
it makes the circuit...whammoI was travelling
down the high street of a little picturesque Warwickshire
village called Kenilworth (UK) in my 71 custom VW camper . It was a busy rush hour with
lots of traffic. The traffic lights in front of me turned red,
I pressed my foot on the brake pedal, sickeningly my foot continued to the
floor with none of the customary resistance. Luckily in this instance
I got away with it. Anyway, they are supposed to stop the VW Type 2 bus.
There are brake drums on the bus which you'll see when you get your
bus wheels off.Inside are semi circular brake shoes which are
pressed against the drum to stop the bus. They are operated by hydraulic slave cylinders
(I like to think of them more as child cylinders)
These child/slave cylinders are operated by the master cylinder
(parent cylinder in my scheme of things). The master/parent
cylinder is urged into action by your foot on the brake pedal in the cab.
So you're cruising down some bumpy old lane and you notice
the glint
of a VW badge in an old barn, you push your foot on the brake pedal,
this moves the master/parent cylinder which puts pressure on the brake fluid.
The brake fluids like "aargh it's too crowded in here" then
"oi you spilt my pint" then "I need a quick exit". Now if everything's
working OK the brake fluid pushes its way equally in all directions on
the slave/child cylinders at the wheels, the brake lining is shoved against the
drums which stops the wheel and after a short skid on the dusty road
you stop. Giving you the opportunity to investigate the old barn further.
You might have a slight variation on your VW bus which is disc brakes,
but the theory is the same.
Hey what about that other bit of the braking system, which is
neither
oppressed by your foot or it's terminology. The hand brake is slap bang in the
middle of your dash, this means that in my VW Type 2 camper I'm prevented from changing
gear by a large dog (jake) who stands where a traditional hand brake would be. Attached to
that lovely black handle is a pair of cables which pull the front shoes of the rear brakes
onto the drums . Here's a tip, don't drive with it on, if necessary tie furry dice onto it
to remind yourself, that what ever state your in, you don't want your van to suffer.
back / next |
|
