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Alyce the Baja

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Smiley Veteran Volks Folk

2,125 posts · joined Oct 2008 ·

#1018506
bevelhead wrote:Great ongoing build mate, i enjoy seeing your engineering solutions every month or so when i check back on progress 🙂
Thank you for the kind words 😀


Got a little bit done in the last few days.

Got to work mounting up the dual handle cutting brakes. I cut the front of the mount frame off and left it bolded to the arm pivot. And then put everything in place on the pan so I could work out how it's going to fit.





Made up some mounting plates for the cylinders which will be welded o the tunnel.





Next up I dug out the handbrake that I will be using to check clearances. Going to be tight. I had to move the cutting handles forward a touch on the tunnel and notch the underside of the handbrake out a bit. But it all fits and the handbrake works like normal. You can see I will have to trim the handles back a little as the left side one doesn't clear the gearstick anymore with them moved forward on the tunnel.








And here is everything in place and welded up. I made some extended pushrods by welding a pair of nuts onto the head of some bolts I got to suit the length. The fit is all very good and All the handles work as they should. I'm thinking I might cut the handbrake length down a bit to give more room to grab the ends of the cutting handles.











Next up flip the pan over again so we can finally get onto mounting the stuff in the tunnel.





I started from the back and worked forward. Welding in the stauff clamps for the aircon lines first up.








Once we got up under the pedals I cleaned everything up and added a few strengthening plates across the seam where I welded the framehead on. Should be super strong now! Then the lines could be looped around the pedals. I cut the hook off the clutch pedal to give some more room, and stop it rubbing on the hoses.











I also added a doubler plate on the framehead where the bulkhead fittings are coming through.





Then I welded the plates to the other side of the tunnel for the oil hoses. And the smaller ones below this for the fuel hardline.











I ordered some sexy AN fittings for the fuel hardlines. I drilled the lift kit at the back for the bulkheads. Sorry about the shoddy picture, the pan was still upside down. You can still get an idea of where they exit out the back.











Last thing I got down was to drill holes along the tunnel and weld nuts onto the inside. These are for the clamps that will hold my brake and clutch hardlines in place. The brake is on the right of the tunnel and the clutch down the left. You can see the spots along the tunnel where I buffed the paint off. I need to get some shorter bolts though, cause the ones I have stick into the tunnel too far where some of the hoses are going to be.
I also discover that my floorpan can stand up all by itself, even with the gearbox bolted into it 😀











Things are getting a little busy up the back here. I still have to add a new accelerator cable tube too. But I am confident that everything will fit! I still need to work out some way of sealing the shift linkage to the floorpan where it comes through the lift. Does anyone have any good ideas for this??





Lastly, I bought a new second battery for the car. This one will be dedicated to running the fridge and camp lights. Whereas the other will be for most everything else.





Still a few things I need to do in the tunnel before I paint it up and weld it shut again. Mostly fitting the front bulkheads fittings and making up the oil hoses and fuel lines. And adding the new accelerator tube. In addition to this I have picked up my rear guards which have been repaired, as well as the engine scoop. The front guards that I had widened turned out to be rubbish So I have taken another set to a different guy that has been doing my glasswork and he is widening them for me again.

Still heaps to do but things are falling into place slowly.
Thanks for looking.

Smiley 🙂
If you said I was a Volkswagen man, you'd be right.

Smiley Veteran Volks Folk

2,125 posts · joined Oct 2008 ·

#1019918
bevelhead wrote:For sealing your linkage you could try a round linear bearing or a marine bulkhead seal, bit over the top but it would make the shift slop free

http://www.linearbearings.com.au/products/linear-round-shaft-series/linear-ball-bushes/

http://www.pacificmarine.net/engineering/shaft-seal-systems.htm
Hey mate. I only just saw that you had posted. Both of those seals look great only issue is that because the shift is angled where it goes through the pan neither of those will work. It would be perfect for a stock setup where the shifter goes straight though.


Smiley 🙂
If you said I was a Volkswagen man, you'd be right.

Smiley Veteran Volks Folk

2,125 posts · joined Oct 2008 ·

#1019919
I haven't worked on the car for a few weeks. Spent a week at Fraser and then down south for Warwick VW drags etc.

But prior to that I got a bunch of stuff done.

Firstly I got a care package from USA. Porsche CVs!! Thanks Rich!








Then I got to work mounting up the stainless hardlines I had made. And fitting up the bulkheads where they come out the front and back of the pan. Unfortunately I measured a tiny bit short and the clutch line didn't quite reach. I had to have to remade about 50mm longer. I had the same issues with the brake line to the cutting brake. But was able to fix this with a banjo that has a longer end.




















Next up I fitted the new accelerator cable tube into the tunnel. And welded in the last hose mount plates.











Then I started making and fitting up the new fuel hardlines for in the tunnel.














Once that was done I did another trial fit of everything to see that it all clears and fits around the shift rod etc.















Smiley 🙂
If you said I was a Volkswagen man, you'd be right.

Smiley Veteran Volks Folk

2,125 posts · joined Oct 2008 ·

#1019920
I soon discovered a new issue that I had created.

It was impossible to get the shift rod out through all the hoses to change the bushing.








So I went and got a new gearstick tunnel piece off a spare scrap pan I have.








And cut the original shift hole out of the tunnel.





I welded flat bar around the perimeter of this new hole and made the tunnel piece into a cover/removable shifter bushing. Very much like what a Type 3 has.





Then I had another issue. I could now remove the shift rod out the top of the tunnel. But it would hit the firewall inside the car before it came all the way out of the tunnel. Easily fixed, just cut it in half!!





I welded a nut into one side and a bolt into the other. A locknut holds it all in place. This allows me to break it in half, but also gives me a little length adjustability and I am able to rotate the splined end to wherever I want it too.








So the new shift bush replacement instructions are to disconnect the linkage. And remove the gearstick and then the shifter plate.





Pull the shift rod out and crack the locknut.





And then unscrew the front half and change the bushing. Simple!





Got my new clutch line back. Right length this time!!








Made the line up to the master cylinder.





[


This line was fixed with the longer banjo.





And started making up some of the rear lines.






Smiley 🙂
If you said I was a Volkswagen man, you'd be right.

Smiley Veteran Volks Folk

2,125 posts · joined Oct 2008 ·

#1019921
I was trying to get all of the welding on the pan finished off that needed doing. Next up was the battery, solenoid and compressor mounts.

I picked up some good rubber matting to put under the batteries. And I cut some bit of angle to weld to the pan to stop them moving around. I put 2 on each battery on diagonally opposite corners.











Next I fitted a cut down piece of angle to the tunnel for the dual battery solenoid.








Then I welded on a couple of tabs that I drilled and tapped for my battery hold downs. Cut some more angle to use as the strap. Just need to get some bolts and it's ready to go. I will probably also add some rubber between the strap and battery too.








Then I made up a little frame for my ARB compressor that will be going next to the battery. Took me a little while to get the height and fit right but it all looks sweet now and fits perfectly next to the battery.











Next stop was the front beam. I added plates front and back to both beam tubes. This is where the beam support will bolt on. And where the front barwork will bolt to in the future.











Unfortunately I cooked my inner beam bushings while doing this so they had to come out. Took a bit but I got there with the slide hammer eventually.





I fitted the outer bearings and assembled the suspension so I could cycle it for the stops.





I cut a hole in the plate and welded a cut up rear swinger snubber mount on to the plate. So I will be running rear snubbers on the front too. Added a gusset plate. to the back too. I don't seem to have taken many pictures of this. I'm not sure if I like this setup yet. I might cut it all off and change it yet...








I cut and ground the hole in the front of the framehead as big as I can. Not I can fit my whole arm in there. Not sure if I can with the beam on though.





Fitted up my rear support frame and cut the tubes down to the new length needed and welded them on.





Put a plate in to block the last gap between the torsion housing and lift.





Filled in this stupid idea of a hole under the rear torsion housing. All bugs have this, I'm not sure why but it does a great job of letting crap into your tunnel. I welded a little plate over it.








Rewelded the hooks onto the outer edge of the pan. And plated them up too. I will probably add an extra plate between the torsion housing and the pan too.






Smiley 🙂
If you said I was a Volkswagen man, you'd be right.

Smiley Veteran Volks Folk

2,125 posts · joined Oct 2008 ·

#1019922
Time to seal the tunnel up! Started by making up some plates to cover it up. I decided to do it in three pieces. One weird shaded piece at the back, the main longer piece along the tunnel and the large one up the front that is also the base fro the framehead. I staggered the front join in a different spot to where the framehead has been welded to the tunnel for maximum strength. I'm using the same 2.1mm checkerplate that my floorhalves are made from.














Then the inside of the tunnel was buffed, ground, wirewheeled etc until I had it as clean as possible. Then I painted it all with weld-through primer.





Next up I fitted all the hoses and lines. I added a drop of medium strength Loctite to the clamp bolts. Hopefully it all stays there for a very long time.











I added some flatbar across the tunnel where the 3 plates were going to join each other for some extra support.








Then the painstakingly slow process of welding it all in. I first painted the inside edge of the plates with primer too. I also fitted them with the 'checks' facing inside the tunnel to give a completely smooth underside.
I welded very small sections at a time and worked my way round and round the plates. I didn't want to cook any of my hoses.
The end result is super tidy. So smooth under there now, nothing to get caught up on. And I think I picked up about 5mm more ground clearance as it doesn't bulge out quite as much as the stock one with the cross hatches on it.
















Smiley 🙂
If you said I was a Volkswagen man, you'd be right.

Smiley Veteran Volks Folk

2,125 posts · joined Oct 2008 ·

#1019923
I added these plates to the lower tubes so I can make up the beam supports.





Welded on. I'm planning to add a triangle gusset plate that runs up to the upper edge of the lift kit.








Front end all assembled. It's a roller! I ended up using those stupid red urethane beam bushes for the time being. All I can say is they are the worst, shitest, most annoying wastes of time ever invented. Never use these things. I will be changing back to needle rollers bearings when I have time.





Rack fitted up. Put boots on it but still have to do an alignment yet.





On to the back. Started bolting everything on.





We have a rolling pan people!! Very happy with how it is sitting. But I certainly need to go up to 33s on the back. The front is a touch higher.
I just need to blow the bags up a little and put the upper bolts in.








Fitting up all the clutch and brake lines.








Pedals are all sorted.








Gearbox got new seals, caps, side adjuster locks etc.





I fitted up the handbrake and adjusted the cables. But I am not happy with the late model pivot plate on the tp of it. When you pull up on the cutting brake handles they hit it. I'm not sure if it is going to be an issue once there is pressure in the system, the handles might not come up as far. But I think I will piss it off and make something different.





And then I had to throw the body on the pan and move it out of the way to do some work on my dad's bug. I'm very happy with the way it is looking. Nice and massive!!








Anyone else's bug clear a bucket?





That's all for now everyone, thanks for reading. I'm hoping to get stuck back in after this swing of work.



Smiley 🙂
If you said I was a Volkswagen man, you'd be right.

grazza7755 Wolfsburg Wizard

458 posts · joined Dec 2010 ·

#1019925
Simply amazing
🙂
What great creativity and great work.

adlbeetle66 Under the car.........again!

1,476 posts · joined Aug 2014 ·

#1019930
X2. Amazing Car!! Do you think you can get it out the roller door?? 😂

bevoracing Officially Full-On Dubber

327 posts · joined Jan 2009 ·

#1019935
Hi Daniel
I noticed your quote “I ended up using those stupid red urethane beam bushes”. Funny you should say that, I had the same issue.
A bloke bought me a beam with no bushes and a set of the full length (both inner & outer bushes in 1 piece) urethane trailing arm bushes to install. After cleaning up all the damage in the beam, from removal of the old bushes, I found these things just wouldn’t go in. They were way too big.
The bloke was still keen so we bought another set, they were exactly the same. Ended up pressing them over a mandrel and grinding the outer diameter in a lathe until it was round and to the correct size. Hell of a job.
NEVER again. Acetate (black bearing plastic) bushes are the way to go, easy & cheap to make, work properly, don’t squeak. The off road blokes have been using them for years. I’m with you, urethane is crap for this job. (That should get a few responses)
Cheers
Tony

2 attachments · Log in to view

Country Buggy King & Link Pin Overhauls, Type 1 & 2 King Pins, General Machining.
http://forums.aussieveedubbers.com/viewtopic.php?tid=74138
My car is KO813

bevoracing Officially Full-On Dubber

327 posts · joined Jan 2009 ·

#1019936
Can anyone see the 2 photos attached to that last post of mine?? Please someone let me know.

I can see they're attached in the "edit" mode but I can't see them. This happens often, some threads I can't see attached photos (linked photos are OK) while other people can. If I log on with another person's computer I still can't see them, seems to be my profile? This forum has some very strange issues.
Country Buggy King & Link Pin Overhauls, Type 1 & 2 King Pins, General Machining.
http://forums.aussieveedubbers.com/viewtopic.php?tid=74138
My car is KO813

bevoracing Officially Full-On Dubber

327 posts · joined Jan 2009 ·

#1019943
So I go to "Test it out here" same photo, same network connection, same day, and I can see that one.
Admin, WTF is going on????????????????????????
Country Buggy King & Link Pin Overhauls, Type 1 & 2 King Pins, General Machining.
http://forums.aussieveedubbers.com/viewtopic.php?tid=74138
My car is KO813

Smiley Veteran Volks Folk

2,125 posts · joined Oct 2008 ·

#1019967
grazza7755 wrote:Simply amazing
🙂
What great creativity and great work.
Thanks mate.

adlbeetle66 wrote:X2. Amazing Car!! Do you think you can get it out the roller door?? 😂
They are 3m doors, I should be safe 🤪

bevoracing wrote:Hi Daniel
I noticed your quote “I ended up using those stupid red urethane beam bushes”. Funny you should say that, I had the same issue.
A bloke bought me a beam with no bushes and a set of the full length (both inner & outer bushes in 1 piece) urethane trailing arm bushes to install. After cleaning up all the damage in the beam, from removal of the old bushes, I found these things just wouldn’t go in. They were way too big.
The bloke was still keen so we bought another set, they were exactly the same. Ended up pressing them over a mandrel and grinding the outer diameter in a lathe until it was round and to the correct size. Hell of a job.
NEVER again. Acetate (black bearing plastic) bushes are the way to go, easy & cheap to make, work properly, don’t squeak. The off road blokes have been using them for years. I’m with you, urethane is crap for this job. (That should get a few responses)
Cheers
Tony
Hey mate. I can see your pictures fine.
I know what you mean about the bushes. I had to hammer them into the beam. And then fitting the arms was an even harder job. It's just a shitty half measure solution in my opinion. Surely it isn't that hard to measure a beam and make stuff to fit inside of it.
I have ordered new micarta bushings and needle roller bearings which are on their way. But I will probably drive it for a bit with the red ones and change them when I pull the car down for paint.


Smiley 🙂
If you said I was a Volkswagen man, you'd be right.

jobie Slammed & Awesome Dubber

77 posts · joined May 2011 ·

#1019969
Did I see an episode of Mega Structures feature this car?

Smiley Veteran Volks Folk

2,125 posts · joined Oct 2008 ·

#1019974
jobie wrote:Did I see an episode of Mega Structures feature this car?
😀


Smiley 🙂
If you said I was a Volkswagen man, you'd be right.

bevelhead Seriously Crusin Dubber

161 posts · joined Aug 2008 ·

#1020127
Awesome work! its going to be a tuff looking rig 😎

baghall Ben Hal Outlaw Bushranger

1,021 posts · joined Jan 2010 ·

#1020444
Wow Smiley the fabrication and engineering just keeps on going, but with all that extra weight is it still gonna be any good on the sand?
68 Baja - It's a growing pain!
58 Baja ute - and the pain spreads!
85 T3 Kombi - still growing
89 T3 Kombi - parts car

Smiley Veteran Volks Folk

2,125 posts · joined Oct 2008 ·

#1020450
baghall wrote:Wow Smiley the fabrication and engineering just keeps on going, but with all that extra weight is it still gonna be any good on the sand?
Of course it will! She is still way way lighter than any 4WD!
And will be especially good once I sort my engine upgrade down the track 🥷


Smiley 🙂
If you said I was a Volkswagen man, you'd be right.

Bone Officially Full-On Dubber

299 posts · joined Aug 2009 ·

#1020643
[/quote]

Of course it will! She is still way way lighter than any 4WD!
And will be especially good once I sort my engine upgrade down the track 🥷


Smiley 🙂 [/quote] Subaru ?????

Smiley Veteran Volks Folk

2,125 posts · joined Oct 2008 ·

#1020646
Bone wrote:
Of course it will! She is still way way lighter than any 4WD!
And will be especially good once I sort my engine upgrade down the track 🥷


Smiley 🙂 [/quote] Subaru ????? [/quote]

I said upgrade, not downgrade!!


Smiley 🙂
If you said I was a Volkswagen man, you'd be right.

Smiley Veteran Volks Folk

2,125 posts · joined Oct 2008 ·

#1020887
I had to pick up some slightly shorter bolts for my airbags as the ones I had were bottoming in the holes. Getting them in was a little bit of a paint with the suspension assembled. But I got there in the end with a chain over the shock tower and jacked up the rear suspension to compress it a little. Then I used a screwdriver through the frame to guide the bad into place while a pumped a little air into them with an air gun. Once I had one bolt in the second one was easy.





While the body was off I had to finish the fuel tank frame off.





Here is the rear tank frame that I had in the car previously. It raised the tank up off the rear shelf a little with the two feet and the back edge was bolted through the firewall. I'm basically going to build the new frame the same as this but out of 25mm box steel instead of angle.





New frame made up. But then I ran into some fitment issues. On the old frame I trimmed the inside edge of the angle so the frame was only as wide as the tank. On this one I couldn't do that with the box so it ended up being wider. And doesn't quite fit in between the wheel wells.








I trimmed the outside edge off the box to suit. The gap between the wheel wells is tapered towards the back so they are cut on an angle to match.





Once I got the frame where I wanted it I marked out where I had to cut the floor to match. (unfortunately I ended up cutting slightly too much)





The body was back on the car by this point so I could check clearances etc. The frame is a nice tight fit and takes a few taps with a soft hammer to get it into place. Here it is with the fuel tank sitting in place.





And you can see here I have JUST enough clearance to bleed the hydraulic clutch.





Before welding it into the car I had to add some nuts to the inside of the frame to hold the tank down. I also opted to add a few along the back edge of the frame that faces the firewall. I can use these to mount rubber or engine sealing tins etc.








This picture shows the little plates I made with nut on them. I cut sections out of the frame and welded these in for the mounting nuts. For the ones along the back edge I used angle that did both the tank nuts and rear firewall nuts.





Body is back off the car now so I can weld the frame out. I guess this is what it is like to have one of those lowered bugs? 😀





I have been taking little projects out to work with me that I can do when I have some spare time. One of them is this.
I bought some 4mm shock cord and tied it into a sort of cargo style net. It was measured up to fit in the roof of the car. I'm planning to use this to store light stuff like pillows and towels etc. And the roof of the bug has enough room with no headliner that it shouldn't be in the way of my view out the rear window at all. These cars are pretty small so I am always looking at ways to use the space that is available.





As for the mounts I simply used 6mm nutserts along the top edge of the roof. And used 6mm wire ring terminals with the yellow plastic cut off and the net tied through them. Cheap and simple. I still have yet to try it out and see f there is enough tension in it yet. But I can always pull the cord through more and tie it off tighter.





Last shift I also bought my dash out and put some holes in it for my gauges. I didn't have any hole saws and I'm not sure that the would have cut very nicely through the titanium anyway. So I just ended up cutting around the edge with the cutting wheel in the grinder and cleaning them out with a rotary burr on the die grinder.





Don't throw these offcuts out! This stuff is hard to come by. Maybe I can use it for brackets or something?











Trial fitted all of the gauges. Looking good!





I still need to add a hole in the middle of the dash for the light switches. But need to get some more measurements first and work out where the stereo and warning lights are going.





That's all for now.


Smiley 🙂
If you said I was a Volkswagen man, you'd be right.

Smiley Veteran Volks Folk

2,125 posts · joined Oct 2008 ·

#1021488
I have gotten a little bit more done on the car in the last week or so.

Added these gusset plates between the lift kit and the beam support tubes. Then added the front brake line tubes on top of that and bent and fitted up the last of the front brake lines.





After that I dropped the body back on and found that I had some clearance issues. I had the fuel filter bolted to the air bag frame with a right angle bracket (You can see the holes). This was contacting the body in the position shown in the picture. So I had to move it. You can also see the air line in this shot for my air bag. Fill point will be a schrader valve under the backseat that I can easily top off with my compressor.





So I swapped the fittings around and swapped it to the other side. I also had some concerns with the trailing arm hitting the drain valve it the previous position on full compression. The new spot fixes all of this. I welded up the holes in the frame and welded a new bracket to the top of it too.








While I was at the back I had a few more things to work on too. I added a small bracket in the centre of the frame to mount my fuel changeover solenoid to.





Next I cut up a piece of angle that ties into some bolts on the side of the gearbox for the clutch line mount. First I made it fit and then cut it to the height I needed and welded the bracket on top.








Trimmed the handle to length. Still might need some more, I will use it first then decide.





Got my old front bar to fit with a couple of small mods. This is just temporary, I am planning to make a new one later that fits better with the bodylift and has mounts for a winch.





Put the axles together with the Porsche CVs. Thanks again Rich, I can't get over the quality of these things! The cages are incredibly thick! Only one of the CVs had a little bit of galling on the star and that's it. And I installed it so it wasn't the load bearing side when driving forward. Will certainly have to chase down some more for spares when I get spare time.
The angle was a little more extreme than I was expecting, nudging 25-26° at full droop. But I clocked them when assembling and the wheels spin freely so will run them and see. I think that they should be fine, I was running 20° with the old CVs so these good Porsche ones should handle it ok. The extra angle has developed from having to move the trans rearward and up slightly to get it all fitting nicely. I think it should all work quite nicely if I ever get 3x3s or the like under the back of this thing.





Finished welding out the tank frame.





After lifting the body onto the pan all by myself, it was time to put some sealer between it and the pan and get them glued together. This is where I ran into a few dramas with bolts not fitting/lining up etc. So I ended up lifting the body back off the pan. It was parked under the mezz floor in my shed so I just ran some straps up to that and hoisted it clear. Then I die ground the offending holes into submission before redoing the sealer and lowering the body back down into place. Both times I used long M8 bolts with the heads cut off as guides studs to lowert the body into position. After many hours of stuffing around and setbacks I tightened the last bolt and the body was mounted.








Once this was done I dropped the engine in it too, and ran into more problems. Seems that the engine mounts I have chosen are too soft and the way they are mounted exacerbates this condition. With one finger I can rock the engine back and forward about 100mm. I am going to add a rear engine support bar like a bus has with 2 more mounts on it. I am also going to mount them sideways which gives them a better load holding ability. It this doesn't work I will have to go back to square one and come up with something better for the drivetrain mounts.
The rear barwork was also bolted into place. I had to move it back close to 75mm to get it to clear the engine now that it is further back because of the way the gearbox is mounted. The plan is to redo the rear barwork also, but I am going to wait until after my engine change and make it to suit.





I enlisted my girlfriend as slave labour to help with bleeding the brakes. That was a bit of a mission in itself. But we ended up getting them to bleed up nicely after raising the back of the car to get air out etc.. I could work out why we weren't getting good pedal even though there was no air coming out of the system. So I said let me had a feel of it and jumped in to try the pedal, I instantly noticed that half the pedal travel was free play as I hadn't set the pushrod on the brake pedal. Adjusted that up and it is very good now, not as good as it was in the past but I am blaming the cutting brakes for that, I might give it another bleed once I drive it a little.











I bolted the seats in and the shifter. it changes gear nicely and I really like the long shifter, I think I'm keeping it. Sitting in the car just feels right 🙂
The drivers position is good, the seat height is god, the shift is good. I think I might have fluked it and got some stuff right 😀 It's nice to know I am slowly dragging myself closer to be able to drive this thing after 2 and a half years downtime.





This is how she sits presently. The front is on the stops and needs to get loaded up so it will come down, and the back is way too low. I think I got the torsion bar settings very wrong and they will need to be reset. the rear tanks, spare tyre etc still need to go on so it will drop plenty more. I also need 33s on the back too.
Oh, and I fitted the side windows too.





Thanks for reading.



Smiley 🙂
If you said I was a Volkswagen man, you'd be right.

beetleboyjeff Custom Title Time!

1,790 posts · joined Feb 2009 ·

#1021491
Great work as usual Smiley. You must nearly be able to taste the finish now.
From your ole' mate Jeff

Bone Officially Full-On Dubber

299 posts · joined Aug 2009 ·

#1021563
I also need 33s on the back too.!!!!!!!!!
33"s on the back of a beetle is crazy talk Smiley! Who would do that?

Smiley Veteran Volks Folk

2,125 posts · joined Oct 2008 ·

#1021587
Bone wrote:I also need 33s on the back too.!!!!!!!!!
33"s on the back of a beetle is crazy talk Smiley! Who would do that?
Dave has run them for about 10 years. So I figured it was time I caught up. I have more suspension travel then him, but he has bigger wheels, so we have pretty well identicle clearance under the back. This might give me the edge 😀

Will worry about it after it is on the road cause I will have to cut down some springplates.


Smiley 🙂
If you said I was a Volkswagen man, you'd be right.

pv370 Officially Full-On Dubber

272 posts · joined Apr 2014 ·

#1021593
great build going on there...............
love looking at what people are up to and thinking wish i had the time ,the patience and the knowhow to do all this stuff.

did you sort out your handbrake lever problem ??????
dont know about beetles but early type 3 handbrake lever has 2 loops eitherside for the cable to go through.
would be better than scratching sh** out of your hand on the bracket thingy....
the early loop ones are longer in the handle than the one you have by the look of it....
might be able to weld some loops on the side of the later lever you have there.....
just my 2cents worth

cheers Peter

Smiley Veteran Volks Folk

2,125 posts · joined Oct 2008 ·

#1021597
pv370 wrote:great build going on there...............
love looking at what people are up to and thinking wish i had the time ,the patience and the knowhow to do all this stuff.

did you sort out your handbrake lever problem ??????
dont know about beetles but early type 3 handbrake lever has 2 loops eitherside for the cable to go through.
would be better than scratching sh** out of your hand on the bracket thingy....
the early loop ones are longer in the handle than the one you have by the look of it....
might be able to weld some loops on the side of the later lever you have there.....
just my 2cents worth

cheers Peter
Yeah mate. That's the plan.

I had the early bug one in previous to this one and I swapped to the late one to give me some room up the front to grab the cutting brake handles. The later handles are shorted than the early ones. But it is still a touch too long at the moment. I'm going to pull it and probably shorten it up a bit more. And then will add little loops for the cables to keep them in tight to the the handle so they don't catch the other handles. I also have some little spacers to put in the back which will shorten the amount of cable sticking out the front. Or I might even just pull them and get some new shorter cables to suit.

Thanks for reading and thanks for your input. It is always appriciated.


Smiley 🙂
If you said I was a Volkswagen man, you'd be right.

pv370 Officially Full-On Dubber

272 posts · joined Apr 2014 ·

#1021608
keep up the good work