I was moving the bracket that holds the rear brake dampner (pressure regulator to some people). I loosened up the 4 bolts that hold the dampner to the bracket and I pulled my head out just before it came all the way apart. I have no fluid in the system yet so I had no leak. Is there fluid on this side? Do I need to re-seal this thing? There was a small amount of surface rust between the parts. Or do I screw it back together?
Thanks

I don't know ....

At least you have one answer.

Don't some folks do without those? Like when going to the BMW calipers in front?

Quite a few people do not use them. I decided to go with one.

...that's what happens when you call it a brake dampner....

Hey Krieger,

I thought I'd throw my .02:
The part is a brake-proportioning valve or differential pressure cylinder.

During easy braking, brake fluid flows freely through the valve and it is transparent to the brake system.

Under HARD braking the pressure in the system builds and moves the cylinder, closing off the free-flow port and the proportioning valve becomes active. The valve is a low-cost approach to achieving "perfect "rear non-locking brake pressure. Perfection would be a "perfect curve", however, this valve kicks in at a fixed point the the "curve" is actually graphed with only 3 points.....NOT Perfect.

The rear brakes will BLEED just like any brake system, so there is no issue there.

For most, the valve is sufficient to keep them from spinning the car under hard braking. For me, as a long-time road racer, I found it just put too much braking on the front for MAX braking. An engineer friend did the calcs and the answer he offered was the replace the standard spring under the stamped metal crown with a Chevy valve spring that generated 100 - 115 lbs at-the-seat pressure. Since the valve spring is shorter than the Porsche part, so a spacer will be needed. The solution worked pretty well and kept the front from locking too early.

Basically, I HATE the proportioning valve because 1/2 the pedal travel is due the the valve travel and I HATE the squishy pedal. In my current 914V8, I've upgraded to Wilwood monster brakes and replaced the rest of the brake system with a dual- master cylinder and balance bar pedal design the eliminates the proportioning valve. With the Aeroquip steel flex brake lines, the brake pedal is hard as a ROCK! I LOVE that!

Of course, the choice is yours.

Best,
Terry