[VelovetAndy]

And the next little curve. These are prototype electric 4 pot rear handbrake callipers . 4x28mm pistons and 140mm centre radial mount so a direct swap for my existing rear mechanical handbrake callipers. And the snag: no controller and the VAG one is a non starter as it is integrated into the ABS , so transplanting one of those into an R32 would be , err, tricky . Plan ‘b’ is to develop one form an aftermarket controller . Watch this space .

 

[iooroiidvd]

Always annoying.

What are these steel rim protectors you speak of? Seen some things on ebay but they look plastic and quite.... colourful

 

[VelovetAndy]

They come fitted as standard on BBS Ch-R rims and are stainless steel They do a great job unless the driver is a complete and utter Pratt and gives a kerb not a kiss bit a really good head butt . My defence is that I did not even see the kerb as I made my exit . Oh.Forgot . Not seeing something is no defence .

 

[Mk5fpos]

Ouch on the wheels. Good to hear about MOT. As for the rear brakes, is it a simple 12v on/off? If i am not mistaken, there are a couple of blanks in the center console, get a button for that? Alternatively, use the signal from the existing handbrake switch? It would still provide the appropriate signal to the abs that was too. Trying to remember but i believe when the brake is disengaged, that switch is open.

 

[VelovetAndy]

Hi. Nowhere near that simple. First , the design needs to take note of the stalling current and then ramp down that current at a set interval after stalling ( say 1 second ) so that the pads are fully pressed onto the rotor. Then , on disengagement, the pads need to be retracted by a set amount ( ie the motor needs to wind back by a set number of rotations . ) At pad change , there needs to be a protocol that fully retracts the piston . And to ice the cake , the hydraulic pistons are not actuated by the motor: the latter actuates a centrally mounted single piston , which means that that the hydraulic circuit is not in any way integrated into the parking brake, so having this parking brake operated via the ABS circuit is of no use or value .
Stalling current and current sensing are not too bad with a few transistors and a MOSFET on a nice big heat sink . Timer delay using a standard timer chip. The other bits are causing a bit more head scratching, hence the idea of using an aftermarket controller( one or two designs available from places in the States , Pantera electronics being one of them . ) That one is designed for the Brembo /Tesla calliper which has a different drive motor ( I have the TRW one ) but that alteration is easy as per the above
Anyway , nothing quite like taking something that works, removing it and putting in its place something that doesn’t . 😀😀😀

 

[Mk5fpos]

Sweet jesus that seems painful to sort, just stick with the cables lol!

Edit: for what it's worth, i suspect nfg ebrake is what caused the passat to fall into my hands. There was what was clearly a replacemet module in the car but equally clear was it was the wrong one as it wouldn't program properly. This is what caused the driveability issues (traction conteol interfereing with acceleration) and (when i recived it) non functioning haldex. I could get the engine to run well with it disconnected and haldex would work with it partially programmed.

Basically, it's up to you but i can't see how it's worth the effort. And even if you get it working, what are you gonna do about the handle in the cabin?

 

[VelovetAndy]

I know. But I have these bad boy electric jobs as a prototype development job at no real cost for the callipers . But I need to come up with the electronics . If I can get them to work, they will be an improvement on my existing handbrake , which would be absolutely fine on a lighter car, but at 1600kg on a 15% slope , the net torque applied by the weight on the rotor exceeds the torque that can be developed by the clamping forces and friction on the rotor. On a car a few 100kg lighter, they would be absolutely fine , and as rear brakes now they are brilliant , so I am not desperate to change them by tomorrow morning !

 

[illegalr32]

Long time no see I see Andy is still good old Andy who builts things on his own 😁 Loved reading back all the post's I've missed in my absence 👍

 

[VelovetAndy]

Hi Klemen .Hope you are well. Your R32 will have and a quiet few months .

 

[illegalr32]

Yep, my R32 is still collecting dust, nothing new at the moment.

Something I've catched. You mentioned ALU front wheel hub housings, which are apparently different dimensions and longer control arms are needed. What about combinating these on MK5 with ALU lower control arms from Passat B6? Considered that option? I believe the alignment would in that case, be perfect.

I have both the upgrades ready for my car but didn't really thought that ALU housings are in any case different than alloy ones (measures wise).

 

[R32hell4]

Looks great, lovely car.

 

[VelovetAndy]

Morning,
The hubs are from the Passat . I already had the Superpro alloy arms which were correct length wise. The steering arms needed to be lengthened by 15mm but otherwise everything was fine. And yes, the Passat lower arms with the hubs will also work, but just beware of the steering .

 

[VelovetAndy]

Handbrake update . The controller lives, works and is now in a little cobbled together box. Away on a weeks holiday then time to fit the calipers , electrics and the hope .

R

 

[VelovetAndy]

Well.Holiday over. Then a week underneath my sons Mazda MX5. Then a dose of Covid , then back to handbrake controller. Sorted out all the switch wiring , then mocked it up in the car but with the callipers just sitting in the boot , press the button , left hand calliper activated and the driver chip for the RHS calliper spat out its dummy . How could I tell? Because the little sod looked me in the eye and then caught fire . I took the hint and switched off. Slight pause whilst I sort this one out . And in the meantime , got a very slight misfire so ordered and fitted some new plugs and coils ( TPS o.e stuff) . Absolutely transformed the car . I should have mad a video of the Lund coin standing on its edge on the inlet manifold with the engine ticking over . Well done VW . Still have all the coolant hoses, clips, pipes and thermostat to change but not today . A tad warm

 

[VelovetAndy]

Interlude whilst I visited the VW festival last weekend. An awesome show with so much to look at and so many folk to meet and chat to . Awesome day . And the downside to all this automotive porn? See attached photos. Inlet manifold appeared on Facebook and the seller very kindly delivered it to me . As I have to change my rad , coolant pipes and hoses etc, I had sort of planned to pull the inlet manifold off anyway , and now I have a newly painted replacement to bolt on .

 

[Andy]

Nice job

 

[VelovetAndy]

Thanks. The tart in me I am afraid . Just need the Supercharger to match !!!!!!!!

 

[VelovetAndy]

Went to play at Blyton Park track on Saturday . And a fun day it was too. First the good points : Car went well, engine and box survived and the brakes were absolutely awesome. Very effective, no fade despite getting seriously hot so I was very pleased with amount of time and cash I had poured into them . The suspension coped well with taking some kerb, though the spring rate is way too low for track use .However, this car spends most of its time on the road so a spring rate increase is not on the cards . The rear end behaved very well so extremely pleased with the solid subframe and all the rose joints . .
And the bad points?
I had rebuilt / replaced 3 of the 4 driveshafts , so the 4th one (front nearside ) decided so split a boot and dump its oily contents all over the place . That ended the track hooliganism at about 2.30pm and the drive home was steady and cautious . The other slight snag is that the front tyres rubbed on th e wheelarch . Not happened on the road but a real problem on the track . I am going to try a gentle roll of the wheel arch lip followed by an increase in negative camber ( o.e at the moment ) I really do not want to start buying SRSTEC wings etc.
Oh, back to the drive shaft . J and R do the relevant drive shaft for £53 delivered. It arrived this morning and seems very well built with the proper boot clamps and o.e like finishes on the shaft and inner joint . By the time I had bought 2 new boots for my old shaft , plus the grease , and the clamps , I would be in for nearly half that ,hence the new shaft .
The electric parking brake project is still on the go . When it finally works without catching fire I will update the story .

 

[Mk5fpos]

Nicely done. And murphy and his laws can stuff it. Of course the boot split!

I'll live vicariously through your trackdays for now i guess!

 

[VelovetAndy]

Dead keen to do another one before the weather turns, so I have to now follow your example and get my finger out . Cycle race season finishes in a fortnight so a bit more time for garage indulgences .