Re-Engineering brakes and steering

[Dan Cordon]

> Greetings folks,
> I've been off line for a while and am now jumping back in with the addition
> of the 3rd 5KTQ....
> 1. Has anyone successfully replaced the hydraulic brake booster with a
> vacuum booster, or a non-boosted system?
> If so, any details would be appreciated. Some "other" turbo cars don't seem
> to need a non-vacuum boosted system.
>
> 2. Has anyone successfully retrofit the power steering rack/system with a
> non-assisted, or non-audi system?
>    (or, for that matter, driven a 5KTQ with the power steering disconnected
> or inoperative)
>

Welcome back to the list, and congrads on the triplets of 5k's.

These two mods are something I've been planning to look at. IIRC, the
earlier type 43's had manual steering and vacuum boosted brakes.

I think that adapting vacuum brakes could be pretty simple. You'd want a
pretty large vacuum storage container with a one-way diaphram, but that
should be good for many pedal pumps w/o engine or w/boost. Or, one could
try to adapt a hydroboost system that used traditional power steering
fluid and pump.

The steering is much trickier. With the engine/tranny location, it would
be difficult to put in a traditional rack and pinion. Audi was thinking
out of the box when they built the pentsin brake boost/steering assist.
I appreciate that, but the system seems to be less reliable than more
traditional systems. I'm still undecided as to what my plans are. More
than likely I'll get a complete parts car, and replace the problematic
components with lifetime warranty versions.

--
Dan Cordon
Mechanical Engineer - Engine Research Facility
University of Idaho