rear brake regulator, mk1 gti tin top

Anyone have any advice as to weather I need to keep the rear brake pressure regulator when I am keeping with rear drums. at present it has a leak and at £156 to replace it, is it needed?. Is there a cheaper alternative?. Reading some posts, a few people are saying that they are next to useless anyway? The car is set up on fairly stiff coil overs so there isn't much travel in the rear beam anyway. There are already in line regulators under the master cylinder. Thanks in advance for your help.

I only have the regulators attached to my master cylinder and no regulator on the rear beam fitted to my Mk1 Golf cabriolet and that is how it left the factory from new.
Does your 's look like this?

They are proportional valves that use the spring weight  or action to increase or decrease the amount of fluid that the rears use for the wheel cylinder to operate the rear breaks, and to stop the brakes from locking up.
More Weight More Braking needed.  Less weight the less braking needed.

Proportional valves on the Cabbies are on the MC.
Rabbits had them at the rear, or off the fender where the 2 lines are off the mc going to a distrubution/valve block.

They had this on a few cabbies, but I don't think one in the rear is needed…

I had some on a Mini-van I owned, and I had to replace the rear leaf spring to replace the valve.

On my Rabbit Diesel I had 1500lbs overload springs to prevent the rear end sag… and I only had the proportional valve at the front…

I never try to re-design the braking systems…they were made that way for a reason.  

Brakes are the number 2 safety feature of the car, the way you drive is number 1.

mark1gls said

I only have the regulators attached to my master cylinder and no regulator on the rear beam fitted to my Mk1 Golf cabriolet and that is how it left the factory from new.
Does your 's look like this?

not quite the same, regulators are further down the brake lines. Thanks

Briano1234 said

They are proportional valves that use the spring weight  or action to increase or decrease the amount of fluid that the rears use for the wheel cylinder to operate the rear breaks, and to stop the brakes from locking up.
More Weight More Braking needed.  Less weight the less braking needed.

Proportional valves on the Cabbies are on the MC.
Rabbits had them at the rear, or off the fender where the 2 lines are off the mc going to a distrubution/valve block.

They had this on a few cabbies, but I don't think one in the rear is needed…

I had some on a Mini-van I owned, and I had to replace the rear leaf spring to replace the valve.

On my Rabbit Diesel I had 1500lbs overload springs to prevent the rear end sag… and I only had the proportional valve at the front…

I never try to re-design the braking systems…they were made that way for a reason.  

Brakes are the number 2 safety feature of the car, the way you drive is number 1.

Briano1234 said

They are proportional valves that use the spring weight  or action to increase or decrease the amount of fluid that the rears use for the wheel cylinder to operate the rear breaks, and to stop the brakes from locking up.
More Weight More Braking needed.  Less weight the less braking needed.

Proportional valves on the Cabbies are on the MC.
Rabbits had them at the rear, or off the fender where the 2 lines are off the mc going to a distrubution/valve block.

They had this on a few cabbies, but I don't think one in the rear is needed…

I had some on a Mini-van I owned, and I had to replace the rear leaf spring to replace the valve.

On my Rabbit Diesel I had 1500lbs overload springs to prevent the rear end sag… and I only had the proportional valve at the front…

I never try to re-design the braking systems…they were made that way for a reason.  

Brakes are the number 2 safety feature of the car, the way you drive is number 1.

ok thanks

When you fit lowered suspention you should really adjust the rear regulator (if you have one fitted) as they work from a spring which adds more braking force when the car is full eg the back end lowers if on normal springs and if you don't adjust the regulator the brakes will think the car is full of stuff and add more force the rear brakes which can mean the rear wheels will lock up before the fronts and you may end up spinning around…
If you are not sure what you are doing with brakes its best to have a good garage have a look.

Cheers, I understand how it works and what it is there for, just wondered if anyone on here has removed the regulator completely or had an alternative? Some posts say that some cars never had them in the first place so thats why i asked if its really needed. The mk2 looks different but would that work?  Probably best just to cough up and go for new. Anybody got one for sale? lol. Thanks

The whole purpose of the valve was to regulate pressure to prevent the rears from locking up when braking.

So I think that using the Valves off a Cabriolet would work fine.  

As they are similar to the picture above but located on a different MC in a different position.  I don't know why you couldn't take the lines and MC off of a breaker cabby and graph them on to your ride.  

My 81 only had 2 lines out of the MC, going to the Proportional valve located on the lower fender.  

I didn't have a load sensing unit on my 81ls at all.
I do know they weren't installed on latter years so it may have been a one time thought about when the CADDY's appeared on the scene…

I have had rear brakes lock up, it isn't fun…. but I can laugh about it now…..

The picture I posted is from my 1988 Mk1 golf cabriolet and they are the original VW ones as I've owned the car a long time.
If you do fit a Mk1 cabriolet master cyinder with the regulators fitted you may need to change the wheel brake cylinders in the rear drums as I believe they are different.

cheers guys, think i'm gonna temporarily bypass the rear regulator and see how it behaves, it still has the in line ones so i'm hoping it should be ok. a bit of messing about but worth trying, if it don't work then its back to standard and £156 lighter!

if you remove the regulator replace the rear wheel cylinders for smaller non-regulator ones:
http://www.vwspares.co.uk/g1brakes.php

On my cabrio 16v I made a bracket to allow the use of a mk2 golf regulator as the mk1 units were very expensive at the time and I happened to have a new mk2 one in my bits box.

I used it with rear discs though and removed the regulator thingies which are near the chassis leg as mk2s never had them.  Not sure if the valve would be ok on rear drums, mk2s had the regulator on bigger engine carbs with rear drums though so I'd assume its ok

Thanks for that rubjonny.

I will tell you flat out that all the different types of rear brakes I have ever changed, and that is a lot of differnt makes and models, the worst were my inboard rear disks on my rover.

All I can say is the VW way they have the adjuster is oh so nice… easy to install and easier to adjust..

Briano1234 said

I will tell you flat out that all the different types of rear brakes I have ever changed, and that is a lot of differnt makes and models, the worst were my inboard rear disks on my rover.

All I can say is the VW way they have the adjuster is oh so nice… easy to install and easier to adjust..

Cheers. gonna have a think on it.

Sorted,Thanks to abfmk1. Brand new 1 for half price. Now fitted and sorted    

Hey Gents,
Been reading lots of these posts the last few days.

my rear brake load valve is completely seized up.
Cant find a replacement .
Need to upgrade to the mk2 version like
rubjonny done here:
https://www.clubgti.com/forums/index.php?threads/custom-mk1-bracket-for-mk2-bias-valve-update-bracket-made-oppinions.186900/page-2

Can anyone suggest getting the bracket made up?
else can i use the inline ones that fit on the MC directly?
If so what is the psi or ration i need please?
Mk1 golf GTI 1.6 1981

Cheers!

its just a bit of flat steel cut to shape, easy peasy. mine was way overkill but its what my mate had to hand spare so thats what he used

or you can use inline cabrio/rocco versions

Will have a look at getting an old bracket for a mk2 and fitting if possible.
Did the brake lines need to be changed or did you get away with bending them ?

what you think on getting these
https://www.bks-tuning.com/vw-golf-mk1-pressure-reducer-g60-16v-vr6-brake-pressure-regulator-brake-pressure-reducer.html

Was thinking bypass totally and wack them on the MC between rear?
thanks!

edit:
 inline cabrio/rocco versions are what i have posted right?

the mk2 bracket is built into the beam pivot, its possible you could chop it off and use it looking at the pic…


Yeah the old lines are fine to re-use, you'll probably have to redo some of them anyway though have a look. my line over to passenger side was shot, the exhaust bakes off the paint

those inline valves would be ok but pricey, could probably find a mk1 valve for similar money. 1.4 mk3 golf uses inline valves not sure on the spec but if you go bigger up front prob do you fine

Cheers mate, I cant find the mk1 inline ones anywhere tbh.. I look on fleabay etc..
part number is this: 533 612 151
(i have drums on the back)