[DRIVING] Leaf to VW Type 2 Campervan

[Jacobsmess]

Just the bolt spacings etc. For mounting and the master cylinder attachment is needed.

[ianlighting]

I thought the brake fluid reservoir part of the ibooster install might be the easier part of this. So I didn’t really put any effort into researching options before I purchased my bargain ibooster. I assumed either eBay or maybe new Chinese tanks might give me what I needed. But not so…

What I’m after is a local / remote pair of tanks. The VW T2 brake system is under the chassis, so VW placed a remote reservoir under the front seat to allow refilling. So ideally I find a way to replicate that.

If anyone happens to have a spare small reservoir that attaches to the ibooster’s master cylinder, and which has a spigot for a tube to run off to a remote tank, please let me know. You can have my gratitude or a bag of cash, whichever you find more appealing.

Other options
- 3D print something. From what I read nylon pa12 is best for handling brake fluid.
- try modifying the existing single medium size tank I have to accept an inlet tube from the remote tank. But any adaptation needs to not leak, so that takes me back to the corrosive nature of brake fluid.

…

I’ve also checked the voltage of all my unused wires and nothing gives me +12v when the pedal is pressed, so I’ll need to investigate how to trigger brake lights with this arrangement. It’s probably obvious because i know I’m not the first to tread this path.

[Jacobsmess]

I ended up swapping the Master cylinder to the same used on my T5, thus keeping the reservoir and brake lines. I did have to make a plate and slight rod extension to convert between the renault Zoe ibooster and the MC from my VW T5. But I think this is the nearest approach.

[ianlighting]

I ended up swapping the Master cylinder to the same used on my T5, thus keeping the reservoir and brake lines. I did have to make a plate and slight rod extension to convert between the renault Zoe ibooster and the MC from my VW T5. But I think this is the nearest approach.

Ah. Neat idea. I’ll have to investigate if that’ll work with my T2. Be great if I can avoid mucking about with the brake lines.

[Jacobsmess]

It should do. The issue for me was the connecting rod for the ibooster to the brake pedal was a clevis and my T5 setup was a ball joint so I had to extend and modify this. I then extend the push rod on the Ibooster to the master cylinder and use a mounting plate adapter. This was as easy as buying another brake booster and harvesting parts from it for the pushrod. Angus at Brat did a similar thing and a nice writeup.

[Jacobsmess]

When is get chance I'll get some pics

[Bratitude]

im working on an ibooster reservoir adapter. as i need them for the vanagon builds, but! these beetle parts might work for doing a remote res!

part number: 113 611 810

[ianlighting]

im working on an ibooster reservoir adapter. as i need them for the vanagon builds, but! these beetle parts might work for doing a remote res!

part number: 113 611 810

Interesting. Thanks for that.

[ianlighting]

Chademo pins.

I’m carefully dissecting my vehicle side Chademo connector. This is with the intention to make some minor adjustments to mount it to the VW. This is from a 2015 Leaf.

I’ve seen pin out diagrams, but on the backside of the connector that holds the 2 HV cables it looks like there’s some EMI shielding that is not included in the pin out diagrams I’ve seen.

On each side, there’s a pair of wires, one light grey, one dark grey (maybe black), that go to a small metal bar about 15mm x 5mm. Each bar is held against the orange insulation of each of the HV as they exit the socket.

My space is tight, so the 20mm depth of this plastic part that holds the metal bar is a problem. I’m probably considering making the HV exit at right angles downwards instead of straight out, and then reusing this EMI piece (or a new 3D printed alternative) about 20mm further along the HV.

Am I right in thinking this is for EMI or is it doing something else?


Edit - might be current sensing.

[ianlighting]

I discarded plan A above. Plan B kept the Chademo connector as original but expanded back into the passenger area. Where the HV cables are exposed will be enclosed with furniture.

I’ve really wanted to have an outside fuel flap holding my DC socket since I started this project, so this brings me an unreasonable amount of joy.

[ianlighting]

I was working out my ibooster options before. @Bratitude pointed me at the master cylinder spigots you get on beetles. They’re easily found in UK classic VW shops so thought I’d get a couple as they’re cheap.

https://www.heritagepartscentre.com/uk/ ... -12mm.html?

The ones I got were 12.5mm - 13.00mm diameter (not completely round!). But that fits snugly into the rubber of the ibooster master cylinder inlet which I measured on mine as 12mm. Whether that slight mishape is going to be a potential source of leaks I won’t know til I try.

But you need to trim off the lip off the bottom of the Vw adaptor. That extra lip makes it impossible to push in. Trimming it off shouldn’t be a problem because the original reservoir doesn’t have lips on its connectors to the MC. But I need to be sure vibration wouldn’t work them loose.

So that’s an option. Think I’m getting underneath next week to work out what I’m actually doing with this brake plan. @Jacobsmess’s idea of switching over the master cylinders was good aswell. Need to stare at it for a while to decide.

[ianlighting]

No more bbrrrrrrrr….!

The ibooster is in and working now. Bit of a pain to work on because I don’t have a nice easy bonnet to lift up to look down on it like on most cars. So I’ve been mostly on my back looking up and trying not to get dripped on by brake fluid.

In the end I went down the mix n match suggestion from Jacobsmess. Used the electric assist section from the ibooster, but kept the original VW master cylinder (actually I bought a new replacement MC cos the old one was pretty cruddy after 50 years).

I’m no master machinest. For the MC adaptor I just used 4 stacked bits of 2mm steel I had around. Used a couple of thin head hex bolts to tie the adaptor back to the MC. Then bolted the whole lot to the main booster section as normal.

The other bit of highly technical bodging was needing to bring the touch point on the inside of the MC’s piston close to the rod that pushes out from the booster. I used a 20mm M6 bolt with added nut and washer, dropped into the piston, and did the trick!

Advantages of using the VW MC for me…

- Same brake lines could be used with only minor adjustment to fit the slightly different position.
- could keep the dual reservoir mounted on the MC with its remote pipe up to the refill under the front seat.
- could keep the VW brake light wiring using the pressure switches on the MC instead of having to rig up something mechanical on the brake pedal.

The ibooster’s 4 mounting bolts are very close to the VW bracket. Just had to grind maybe 1mm each out from the 2 lower holes to fit.
Then, there’s only 1 of the 4 possible orientations that doesn’t conflict with some other gubbins under there, but it works out well because it coincidentally keeps the electronics bit furthest from the road.
My only worry is now about the ibooster’s electronics being relatively close to road surface water. There’s much more road flooding these days (because climate change), so there’s potential for shorts I guess if I go through some deeper water. I’ve added some offcut EPDM sheet (rubbery stuff from a pond I made a few years ago) under the cable connections (not shown in photos). Won’t help going through proper floods but may help with excessive surface spray.

Done a few miles now and all seems good. So if anyone can make use of just the MC from an ibooster let me know. Maybe swap for something spare you’ve got? And of course the whole point of all this effort was to get rid of the vac pump. So if you think you might want one (there’s some pictures of the one I used a while back) it’ll be up for sale when I get round to it.

[ianlighting]

Made a panel to hold my D, N, R knobs.

Wanted something in keeping with the style of the bus, so the knobs match others on the dash.

The mini panel mirrors the shape of the glovebox and gauge cluster. Then I wanted the matching classy 70s texture. So took a photo, worked it, applied as a texture and extruded it.

The orange buttons are tallies from CANbus status and show the 3 levels of regen. The blue light is confidence that I’ve pressed the brake pedal far enough. The VW master cylinder has pressure switches which need to be pressed sufficiently before the brake circuit is triggered and this lets me know when it’s allowed to switch DNR.

Not quite finished - I need to make end caps on the knobs.

Then next stage will be to work on the main gauge clusters.

Here’s the control box for ESP32 and some other bits.

One of the other things it monitors is charge status. And that makes my indicators gently throb on and off green during charging. This makes me happy

Credit to @cera for the original knob model. I’ll post a link to hers and my versions when I’m finished,
Credit to @AliBro for his vid on getting started with ESP32 on his YouTube. A great help!

[jerrykco]

Ian, do you have disk brakes in front? I am adding front disk brakes. Wasn't planning to use the i-booster at first until I drive it and see.

[ianlighting]

Ian, do you have disk brakes in front? I am adding front disk brakes. Wasn't planning to use the i-booster at first until I drive it and see.

Yes, on the actual brakes themselves I am stock - discs at front, drums at back. The reason I went with the I-booster is because I am used to the Vw vacuum servo assist which went away. I don’t think I would be happy with just raw foot power. Maybe depends on how much battery weight you intend to add.

Electric Classic Cars told me they don’t add an I-booster to theirs, just upgrade the brakes - wilwood I think - so that’s another route.