Mk1 golf! Poor brakes any ideas? Thanks!

[Mufc1999steve]

Hey all just bought a fully original 77 mk1 golf gl. It's been sat for a few years, she runs well but doesn't stop! feels like there's a brick under the pedal. Is there any chance they've seized a little, any way of freeing them/ greasing the pistons with out a recon? Just looking for a quickish fix to get her road worthy!

Looking for some rims for him pref 15 of some shape or for! And slamming it 40 or 60!

Thanks everyone!

[AUC-05L]

Hey all just bought a fully original 77 mk1 golf gl. It's been sat for a few years, she runs well but doesn't stop! feels like there's a brick under the pedal. Is there any chance they've seized a little, any way of freeing them/ greasing the pistons with out a recon? Just looking for a quickish fix to get her road worthy!

Looking for some rims for him pref 15 of some shape or for! And slamming it 40 or 60!

Thanks everyone!

does it actually stop? if the pedal is firm, check the vacumme hose running to the brake booster.

[GRN_VAGN]

Put fresh fluid in and bleed them properly, get all the air out.
New pads and a rotor machine wouldnt hurt, then adjust rear brakes and handbrake.

If you read around, the stock brakes aint nothen special!
Good luck,

[static1800]

Putting gti spec front brakes on my mk1 was the best thing I ever did, the standard brakes arn't the best.

If the pedal is hard I'd say something is up with the booster, check the vacuum line and give everything a good bleed up with fresh fluid as mentioned above.

[Mufc1999steve]

Yeh it stops eventually! It's not horrific but it isn't great! Aparrently it had new discs and pads not long a go and I have checked the pads but discs look good! Going to get stuck into it the weekend! Quite a lot of the vacuum hoses are kinked which is to sort out! Does one go to the brake servo.? Do they check how well your brakes work in a road worthy? Thanks guys

[AUC-05L]

Yeh it stops eventually! It's not horrific but it isn't great! Aparrently it had new discs and pads not long a go and I have checked the pads but discs look good! Going to get stuck into it the weekend! Quite a lot of the vacuum hoses are kinked which is to sort out! Does one go to the brake servo.? Do they check how well your brakes work in a road worthy? Thanks guys

there should be a hose going to the brake booster. if the brakes work, but the pedal is hard as nails then the vacuum hose connected to the booster is either perished or missing, or the booster is buggered. I would imagine brakes would be looked at in a roadworthy.

[Campaign]

It does sound like the vacuum boost is the main problem.
However, not all brake pads are equal. Using pads with a higher coefficient of friction makes a big difference to Mk1 Golf braking. An FF rating seems to be the starting point.
From my experience it can be difficult getting good enough pads for a Mk1 Golf - pads from regular brake suppliers seem to be cheap but lack stopping power. For a standard Mk1 I found pads from my local VW specialist parts supplier - ATE brand - that matched original VW specs, made for quite sharp and reliable braking. And would stop the car even without boost.
On my GTI I am using Ferodo DB2500 and they give a light and responsive pedal.

[Mufc1999steve]

It seems to slow the car down but even if I jump on the pedal it doesn't slow it down quicker! It sort of comes to a gradual stop, Checked the hose to the servo where the brake lines connect and it was fine. But it ran through a box on the engine to another hose which was kinked. I think that is a breather for the oil tho. Gonna run it at the weekend as battery is buggered see how I go. May also try the ferodo pads. Are they cheap enough?

[hiho]

Try this - remove the vacuum line from the manifold and suck on it. If you can draw air, the booster diaphram is perished. If it holds, its not.

[sports racer]

What are you comparing the brakes to? If you're comparing them to a modern car then the Golf brakes are way worse, even when they do work properly. Standard MK1 brakes with the solid disk and rear drums are crap. GTI brakes (ventilated disks and bigger pads) are much better but still not as good as a modern car.