I am considering putting an APV in my 914 street / DE car. Idealy, It would be in reach of the driver. I have an A/C center console with gauges, and a center arm rest pad. I could either mount it below the board by the shifter, or on the gauge panel in the console. Either way, There would be a lot of plumbing involved.

What is the best way to do this?

Should I replace the brake line from front to back or splice into the existing?

Will vertical sections of tubing cause beading problems?

What APV is your favorite? It looks like the Tilton Lever would be user friendly and allow the driver to change the bias for different conditions, True?

Pictures?

Hey, I will trade you a lever type for a dial type......

I have mine in the original position.. Hard to adjust, although I only do that when I change tires.

The brake lines go through the center tunnel, so you should be able to cut in there.

I was thinking about removing the center arm rest and inserting it there.

go go go......herb

An APV is on my to-do list as well. Was thinking of getting the lever one, mounting it in the stock location, and fabbing a short shaft to manipulate the lever arm (with a little forked elbow thingy) and poking the shaft thru the rear firewall / backpad, terminating in a black knob. Since the firewall down there is double walled, it will support the shaft nicely. That should minimize plumbing and put the adjustement within reach of the driver (reach around back of the driver's seat), but out of harm's way. I'll make pix when I get my a$$ out to the garage and get started on the list.

There is already a break in the stock lines. Just inside the firewall at the rear of the center tunnel there is teh juction between teh center tunnel line and the line that goes to the proportioning valve. You put a T at the vavle then you get adapters (that they sell at any VW shop) to put the APV in the place of the current union in the center tunnel. You can just rear down and adjust it to your hearts content.

If you want to put an adjuster on the dash you can replace your brake pedel with a tillton dual master cyl setup with a ballance bar. Then you get some nice adjustability.

-Aaron G>

I installed mine in the stock location so I wouldn't be screwing with it all the time.
And if I ever get around to doing the turbo I'll definitely not put the boost control in the cab either. I already change radio stations at the rate of 20 times per minute. Putting more adjustable controllers within reach would not be a good idea.

-Ben M.

So is there a consensus as to WHAT APV is best suited or actually works? I hear too many anecdotes that once installed and set to wide open they seem to be useless. Or is that because of a mismatch in brakes?

If you are racing the car, read the rule book first.

Driver adjustable pro. valves are not allowed in some classes.
(you can have the APV, just not within reach of the driver)

If your fronts lock before your rears with a T in the line, then no.. it isn't going to do anything. If your rears lock before your fronts then you can dial that out with an APV.

Which is why dual masters with an adjustable balance bar are nice.. you can adjust it any way you want.

so is your suggestion to leave the rear PV in and add an adjuster?

Which dual Master Cylinder rigs fit in a teener? How much hacking and fabbing?

No, you have to take the stock valve out no matter what. Though I understand it is possible to adjust the stock vavle. Never done it. If you are going to put anything else in you need to put a T in the place of the stock valve.



there is a lot of fabbing, not a huge amount of cutting.. there are no drop in replacements i know of.

I have a dial type that I put in the junction area mentioned above. I think I have a pic somewhere, but I will dig it up again and post it tonight. I did have to re-flare the brake lines to make it work...which was a major bitch cause you are so close to the firewall that there is no room to work (oh and don't even try if you have seats/backpad in the car). But after a few hours of cussing it is in and works well...I still need to fine tune it, but I am waiting for race tires to do that.

and in the event that a race rule won't allow it to be that close to you, a simple sheet metal cover could be made and screwed in place so it couldn't be adjusted in the heat of a race (not that you would want to)...

HTH,

Tony

This is why I love this board. Everytime I'm about to embark on a new project is seems someone else has already jumped in. We removed the original PV and put in a T, but I was locking my rear brakes at the last track event and have been thinking about a APV. Now that I know the easy place to put it is at the center tunnel, firewall union I'm going to go for it. Thanks guys.

I put this up on the other thread earlier. If you get my valve then you can screw it right in where the union was - it already has the correct threads.

James, if you locate as you suggest, I guess you can only fit the Dial version ?! Seems like there isnt enough room for that lever throw.

James; a friend has an APV he took out of his wrecked 911 that he wants to give me. Can't say no, but if it looks like it will be too much of a hassle your site will be my first stop. I appreciate that you are accumulating good 914 specific products. Keep up the good work.

That's correct. The lever style is quite large.

What I offer allows you to buy lines with german fittings (available in many lengths from your FLAPS) and hook it up without having to deal with flaring brake lines. Buy two different lengths from stock tunnel lines (a shorter front and longer rear) and you can position it any where you want. The flaring is the stumbling block for most people.