Replaced all rotors/pads with zimmerman/mintex and rear calipers (thanks to Nononsense joe) rebuilt my G60's up front (sandblasted/painted new seals guide pin boots etc).

Took out the bomb and associated parts and replaced it with a vac assist from 034. This was a little bit of a project, but after a call to Nate at 034 I got it all straightened out. This was a pretty straight forward conversion, just a tight space to make it all happen in, not to mention fun times laying on my back under the dash taking the brake pedal apart.

New stainless brake lines from blauparts.com.

Bled the brakes through with ATE super blue to finish the brake system.

Replaced my injectors with the 034 kit...with the wiring adapter, the whole process took about 10-15 minutes.

After all of this...all I have to say is wow. My brakes sucked sooo badly, just having properly working stock brakes feels good. And the injectors make the car run so smoothly. Some noticeable power gain, but most noticeable is the power curve. The 2500 rpm hit that it used to have is gone, and now the power curve seems very even, and it pulls well through the whole rpm range.

Anyhow, thanks to:
Joe (nononsense)
034 motorsports (nate)
and Blauparts
for making my coupe way better than it was!

Jake

 

Well, obviously you re-did all the brakes so you can't really judge how the vacuum conversion is....but any thoughts on that?

If you eliminated the bomb, what do you do with the pump - specifically the fitting where the hose went from the pump to the bomb? Also, rack return line....does this just go straight back to the reservoir?

Nice work Jake!

 

Been wanting to do this for a while.

 

my brakes were bad, really bad, rear rotors were badly pitted, and carriers were totally frozen, and the fronts were OK, but still pretty grooved/rusted due to the car sitting a lot outside last winter. Also, the bomb was bad, if I pumped the brakes a couple of times, the brake warning light came on. So as far as the how well the vacuum assist works, it's hard for me to judge, the brakes work exactly like they should (I haven't really gotten on them since they are still seating). I'm not sure if there is a way to test the operation of the vacuum assist?

The way the hydraulics work is like this- The bomb gets totally disconnected, the brake assist that is bolted to the firewall is removed at the same time. The high pressure line that goes to the hydraulic pump from the bomb gets removed. I took the banjo bolt out, ground a flat spot on it, and welded over the hole, then replaced with a little bit of teflon tape to seal it up. The only other thing that you have to do to the pump is to remove the plug that is right next to the fitting that you just removed, and pull out the little pin/rod thing that is inside (this is what I had to call Nate @ 034 about this afternoon) so that it is not pumping through that fitting anymore. This is the plug that has a big X on it. It's a bit of a PITA to get out but I used a hammer and a punch on the outside of the X to tap it counterclockwise.

The other hydraulic line that goes to the bomb is a low pressure return line from the steering rack. This has a 4-way "t" in the middle. One line from the rack, one to the steering res, one to the bomb, one to the assist on the back of the MC. Just take the 2 lines that have to do with braking off, then make a loop that connects both sides of the "t" together with some hose clamps and line is taken care of.

The real PITA is fitting the vac cannister in place, and getting all of the bolts/nuts tightened. I had to relocate that metal bracket next to the cruise control vac pump that has 4 wire connectors on it to make room.

Also, if you measure and make the length of the new(vac cannister) rod the same as the length of the old one, it will be wrong. This needs to be about 3 inches longer for some reason, so you can put it together while it's out of the car, but don't tighten the lock nut cause it's a pain to loosen when you are laying under the dash. You will see what I mean when you start looking at the two systems together. Bentley has a measurement for the rod length to the center of the clevis...I think like 8.9", but it's wrong, it should be more like 12", otherwise your brake pedal is on the floor.

No, I didn't do all of it today. I sandblasted, rebuilt and painted the front brakes last week. I just put everything together today.

Let me know if you have any questions, or if I was unclear on anything. I can make some illustrations and do a writeup if it is something that a lot of people are considering. It seems like a mod that is worthwhile since a new bomb is $$$ and you can get them recharged, but how long is that going to last? I plan on keeping the coupe for a long time, probably past the time when a bomb will be available, but vacuum assist is way more common.

Jake

 

...to replace this SOB, which gives almost no brakes when really cold. Didn't see anything on the 034 website, though.

Also, which injector kit did you go with?

 

on the <a href="http://www.034motorsport.com/product_info.php?products_id=431">034motorsports website</a> and I got this fuel injector adapter <a href="http://www.034motorsport.com/product_info.php?cPath=24&products_id=329">also from 034</a> with the plug adapter cause I felt like being cleaner (read *lazy*).

I guess I got used to the crappy brakes, cause just stock working brakes feel great to me.

Hope that helps

Jake

 

All new hoses, rebuilt bomb, rebuilt rack. Pump is still old one but it was just fine so no need to touch that.

if my bomb fails I will convert and at the same time eliminate the OE pump for a electric unit, like from a new A3 or something.

 

I agree though, if everything is freshly rebuilt, let sleeping dogs lie. No need to re-do everything.

On a different note...I have a used bomb that could be rebuilt, the hydraulic line from the pump, and the assist unit if anyone needs that stuff for a project. I also have 5 injectors, at least 2 leaked before I removed them, and I may have damaged more when removing, so if anyone wants those let me know.

Jake

 

the worse part was laying under the dash and adjusting the brake pedal, but the thing is that when i called Nate he told me that all i had to do is remove the piston on the back of the pump that would do the trick and until today it still shoots fluid 5ft high, so what is the pin that has to be removed?..........? that is my Q

 

Glad to hear everything worked out, Jake! ;-)