Beetle pedal cluster - Help!

[hambone]

Bad master cylinder and brake line, so I had to pull the pedal cluster. Only problem is, I can't figure out which way the coiled spring for the brake pedal goes.
One end of the spring/wire is hooked to the master cylinder push rod shaft (in a loop), but what direction does the other end of the spring wire go??? Facing forward seems like too much tension, under the accel pedal braket seems too loose. The end of the spring wire has a right angle on it, that's the part I'm talking about.
THANKS!!!! Another major freakin' project.
#11:


Also: the center tunnel is thick with brake fluid from the leaks, should I flush it out with Gumout? It's actually dripping from the drain hole at the rear of the car.

[ruckman101]

I think mine ended up on the floor, but I don't recall off-hand, and Cheryle has Gretchen up in Amboy, so I can't reference it until Saturday. I remember being puzzled myself, with no obvious solution, and my replacement cluster spring was gimped and modified by someone.


neal

[Amskeptic]

Facing forward. There cannot be enough tension to keep the brake pedal firmly in the "off position. It is easier to get the floor end squared away and then hook the pedal end of the spring and prrrrrrrrrrrrry it over the end of the pedal.
Colin

[hambone]

Thanks Colin. What about the center tunnel question, full of brake fluid?
I have to go by some brake line, so round 2 tomorrow. Always a project!

[Amskeptic]

Thanks Colin. What about the center tunnel question, full of brake fluid?
I have to go by some brake line, so round 2 tomorrow. Always a project!

It is a pia to clean the tunnel. I would merely overwhelm the brake fluid with a replacement, like a baptism of WD-40 to help drive the brake fluid out. It is a shame that brake fluid is a paint eater. It will make the inner chambers of your bug susceptible to rust. I would actually go absolutely nutso with clear Waxoyl through the front access plate after the brake fluid drive-out.
Colin

[hambone]

I will do that very thing, and thank you a zillion times!!!!!!

[hambone]

Done, and done. Spent 1/2 the nite imagining how a zillion pieces go back together, and lo and behold they did! What a nasty job, I'm not fond of working on Beetle brake line stuff but how rewarding when it works.
Remember that drawing in the Muir book, where the guy is lying in bed with the exploded diagram above his head? Funny stuff, and true.
BTW hooking the spring and dragging it over afterwards worked out very well, thanks for the suggestion. Couldn't find Waxoyl but flushed most of a can of WD40 thru the tunnel.

[spiffy]

What is Waxoyl??

Is that like a can of steam?

[karl]

What is Waxoyl??

Is that like a can of steam?

Real stuff, not like a henway:

http://www.waxoyl.com/en/themen/korrosionsschutz.htm