1959 Karmann Ghia Coupe: Brakes

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The original front and rear axle assemblies were lost to history, so suitable period pieces were found and made serviceable. First, the drums. These are all originals, and period correct. You can tell from the distinctive "swirl" cast into them - and the fact that the fronts are 40mm wide while the rears are only 30mm. These were first "turned", which is a machining process to give a fresh braking surface. Then, they were media blasted and finally painted with high-temperature paint to preserve them.

Once the chassis was ready, the front and rear axles were mounted, then the brakes rebuilt.

Lefts and rights were done identically. Here we see one of each, fronts and rears. In all cases, new wheel cylinders were fitted, new shoes, new hoses, and new "spring kits" which retain the shoes.

These parts are for the rear brakes and the black parts are originals that were replated with cadmium and given a black-colored wash.

One thing not well photographed - but visible more in the chassis section in images of the completed chassis ready for the body, are the "hard-lines" - the metal lines - all of which are in great condition or new, and all were painted to protect them for the ages.

As noted on the main web page, in 1986 this car had been merged with a 1974 Ghia, and one of the benefits was a dual-circuit brake system. If one brake circuit should fail, the other should still work - it's an important innovation, and I decided to retain it. However, the original master that came with the car did not survive moving from one chassis to the other, so it was replaced with a new German made unit.

BELOW LEFT & RIGHT: The right image is merely a "zoomed in" closeup of the image at left and shows the new German production master cylinder.

Finally, here is the brake fluid reservior. This is where it was put in 1986, and, as it was a reasonable job, I just left it in place. The minor paint damage from brake fluid (which is a powerful paint remover) is "original" to the 1986 paint job - it was left alone, too.

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