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1969 360 Van, new to forum.

Posted: Mon May 22, 2017 5:01 pm
by Orenjisan
In the last stages of an almost 4 year restoration on my 1969 Subaru 360 Van.

Rebuilt motor runs awesome. Body was cleaned up and re-painted with a bit of pearl added.

Now I'm stuck on a lower front wheel cylinder which has been giving me a headache for the last 2 months. It's the only thing keeping me off the road at the moment. It's leaking just a little bit from behind the cup and piston, but it's enough to shut down the whole brake system. After taking it apart the components look nothing like the piston and cup in the 360 Van repair manual or the cups I got for the rebuild. The piston I pulled out had a completely flat back that sits against a flat cup as opposed to the "nipple" style piston that sits inside the donut style cup. I've managed to find some 15/16 flat style cups on ebay, so I'm hoping that solves the issue and gets me out rolling (or stopping, rather) around town.

Once the brakes have been sorted, the next step is tidying up the interior. The dash needs some TLC and a good clean up to the wiring wouldn't hurt, either. Once that's completed it's on to sealing up all the doors, getting some floor upholstery done, and perhaps designing a nice little stereo. And lastly I'm building a rack for her to carry around some toys.

Any advice on the brakes or comments are greatly appreciated.

THANKS!

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Re: 1969 360 Van, new to forum.

Posted: Mon May 22, 2017 5:28 pm
by oldone
Nice Van... :D
The ORG style piston can be turn out on a lathe, a club member in NJ had some made out of stainless steel. I sold him some of the cups that I sold to Garm, But he doesn't get on the forum..

Re: 1969 360 Van, new to forum.

Posted: Mon May 22, 2017 10:01 pm
by rogerbhp
Nice looking van !!! There's another very nice van in San Diego that's owned by a guy named Tony. His van is for sale on Craigslist now. You can get his phone # from his ad if you're interested. Looking good !!!

Re: 1969 360 Van, new to forum.

Posted: Mon May 22, 2017 10:35 pm
by Candy4602
The flat style cup alone will not fix your leak. The cup will bottom out at the back of the bore and it will deform which will allow it to leak. I know this from experience. There would have to be a secondary piston behind the cup to act as a stop. This is the setup I have been running for for about six months now with no leaks.

Re: 1969 360 Van, new to forum.

Posted: Tue May 23, 2017 11:41 am
by rogerbhp
Do you know what Bobby DeCola has available for the T/V? As I remember, he has made up all new quarter window rubbers, new gaskets for all the running lights, backup lens and gasket, Subaru star emblem, Subaru nose script (I think), new gaskets for brake lights, etc.

Re: 1969 360 Van, new to forum.

Posted: Tue May 23, 2017 2:36 pm
by subaru360nut
Some members used to cut the back off the piston and use
cups instead of the original seals.
To do this you MUST put a spring behind the cup to hold
it against the piston. If yours is missing the spring you
MAY be able to correct it - go to NAPA and get a wheel cyl
kit 15/16" - if they have one for a half-cylinder use the one
seal and one spring in the kit.; If they have one for a
double-ended cylinder cut the spring in half and use one
half spring behind the cup when you assemble it.

Be sure the bore is free from scratches and pits, if there
are small ones they may polish out with a brake hone, if
not you will need to get the cylinder sleeved.

WELCOME TO THE CLUB! Your van looks great.

Ed

Re: 1969 360 Van, new to forum.

Posted: Wed May 24, 2017 10:22 am
by jcimino
Good looking van. Welcome to the club, if anyone can help you out, it would be these guys.
Jim

Re: 1969 360 Van, new to forum.

Posted: Fri May 26, 2017 12:00 am
by carlofsumner
Welcome to the club. I was just in San Diego the beginning of this week. Sorry I didn't see your notification then, I would have stopped buy and looked at and loved your van. Beautiful.