Hi Mike. Yes, any beams with torsion leaves you can get your hands on will be useful to me. If you can get the steering arms and tie rod ends too that'd be awesome. Thanks.
i'm an hour north of brissie, just near the big pineapple. If you can get your hands on another beam (I don't mind if I have to pay for it/them) then I can do all the mods to it while your car is still driveable.
Thanks again.
Tim.
😂 my Bugs in pieces mate so no worries on letting you have the beam for a while.
As for those 2 link beams at the scrappies, do you want me to ask em how much they'd want for the whole beam including spindles, steering box the whole lot or do you just want the beams and steering arms?
The big pineapple? That's past the Mooloolabah turn off heading north right? Been ages since I drove further north than Mooloolabah 😊
Cheers,
Mike
madness is in the eye of the beholder 👍
Hey Mike. Yes it's past the mooloolaba turnoff, about 5 minutes or less.
If you dont mind asking how much they want for the whole lot that'd be cool. If it's really expensive just get the beams and torsion leaves.
Do you want the beam narrowed and adjusted or just adjusted?
Cheers.
Tim.
Hiya Tim,
I shall ring the scrappies tomoro for ya. Mine will need 40mm off it plus the adjusters. That should be enough for the disc conversion I have planned.
I'll let you know the price when I can get onto a computer next as off to Warwick tomoro arvo 🙂
Laters,
Mike
madness is in the eye of the beholder 👍
nice work, really got me thinking about getting mine narrowed and lowered. I love the narrow look on a beetle too.
Your instructions are great, would be very easy to follow, shame I have zero welding skills!!
I'm in north brissie so you might hear from me in the near future if you wanted to do another? When you get time can you PM me the approx. $$ damage and what parts I would need to source so I can get an idea what I need to save/buy first? I've got a '62 running a disc brake conversion kit..
1962 Deluxe Beetle
1970 Low Light Microbus
Thanks Mike, much appreciated.
Hey Nickster. Is your 62 your daily transport or can it be off the road? All I'd need to lower and narrow it is the front beam and torsion leaves and the steering arms and tie rod ends. To fit adjusters and narrow the beam and steering arms will be $450 all up, including the cost of the adjusters. I'm hoping to get some link pin beams from Mike (psimitar) so I can do exchange beams, rather than having to leave yours with me, but that's still getting sorted out (Thanks again Mike)
Let me know if that sounds fair to you and if you want it done. I can do small jobs like that pretty much straight away so you wont have to wait for a week or anything like that.
As for things you'd need to buy - if you wanted to replace and of the tie rod ends or swing arm bushes now would be the time I guess, but you don't need to get anything for me to do your beam. Does that make sense?
Cheers,
Tim.
Thanks Tim, yep all is clear and $$damage sounds ok. I'll be in touch soon to organise something, will probably be towards the end of the month. Can you PM me a contact number and I'll call you when ready?
👍
1962 Deluxe Beetle
1970 Low Light Microbus
oh and the old girl isn't my daily driver so no worries there.
1962 Deluxe Beetle
1970 Low Light Microbus
Sounds good Nickster. Number is 0423 818180 or (07) 5441 5991. Look forward to catching up.
Cheers.
Tim, now it's on my mind I had to take a trip out to the garage with a cold one to study the front beam (to figure out how I will approach taking it off etc).
I noticed that my shock mounts don't match those shown on Jack, nor do they match the pictures shown in my trusty Haynes manual. I've attached some pictures below to show you what I mean... the shock mount actually appears to be touching the inner guard so it looks like I cannot narrow it unless I cut into this guard, but the fuel tank is behind this bit.... any suggestions?
1962 Deluxe Beetle
1970 Low Light Microbus
another view (geez that 60 second gap between posts rule is a pain in the ass!)
1962 Deluxe Beetle
1970 Low Light Microbus
Interesting : ) I think there is a simple way seeing as you said you only wanted to go 40mm narrower all up. See in the second photo, the shock tower is 2 pieces joined via that seam. I can cut the tower back to the seam, removing the half of the tower closest to the car, or cut the seam off too, fill the whole remaining tower with a piece of 10mm plate plug welded in, then a piece of 3 mm over the top where the seam was. If I drill and tap through the 10mm and 3mm plates you wont need the nut hanging out there either. There's your 40mm. The other thing I'd like to know though is how far away from the inner guard is the fuel tank? It's hard not being able to just see it in font of me. If the lower shock mount can be fiddled with it might be easier to make a whole new shock tower that comes away from the body like a ball joint one does???
Does anyone know what's involved in just changing it to a ball joint front end? I assume it's been done a million times before? Help anyone?
Hiya Tim,
The most you can narrow a link beam is 20mm each side. This will bring the shock tower within mm of the inner wing. There Shouldn't be a nut on the inside of the shock tower as the boss welded into the shock tower where the shock mounting bolt goes is threaded for the correct size bolt, M12 I think.
If you wish to go more than 20mm each side then for pre 60 bug you can cut a notch into the inner wing as the tower sits below the petrol tank, i think, 60 onwards you will have to notch the petrol tank too or you replace the shock tower with 10mm steel plate and crank the tower around the inner wing. Seen this done in the UK.
PM sent regarding the beam price from the scrappies.
Laters,
Mike
madness is in the eye of the beholder 👍
Thanks for the handy info Mike. I'm learning stuff every day on this site. It's excellent.
I haven't received a PM, can you try again?
Thanks,
Tim.
Excellent writeup.
What sort of welder were you using? I'd love to put a set of the toothed adjusters on my bay to give it a bit of a lift (what. I want it high) and wasn't sure if what I had is up to the job.
If at first you don't succeed. Build, build again.
Vehicle: 1975 Special order delivery walkthrough panel based LCA pop-top camper. Motor: Nippon 1.8L Single port Wasserboxer, Transmission: 3 rib 002.
Hey Tristan. My welder is a 240 amp Unimig. It's been pretty good. It's done a lot of work and is on it's second handpiece, but it has some balls.
Tim,
New PM sent. Hope it works this time. I'm learning all the time too 🙂 These types of forum are great sources of help when needed.
Laters,
Mike
madness is in the eye of the beholder 👍
Cheers Mike, it all worked this time. I've sent a PM back.
Dirtbag wrote:Hey Tristan. My welder is a 240 amp Unimig. It's been pretty good. It's done a lot of work and is on it's second handpiece, but it has some balls.
Next related question. How hard did you have to push it go get the right penetration? I have a 185 amp Weldmaster MIG and I'm curious if it's up to the task of welding the beams. I suspect it is well and truly as those beams aren't mega thick.
Continuing minor derail
😉 I'm considering getting a pair of those solid steel shock towers at some point which are sold by CVD I think? I'm assuming they'd have significant strength advantages over the OEM units. How I haven't snapped a tower yet I don't know.
So yeah it'd be good to have a feel of what is needed. If only I could get my hands on a spare beam for just in case...
Are you going to document any other suspension mods etc? I really found your writeup useful. Thankyou!
If at first you don't succeed. Build, build again.
Vehicle: 1975 Special order delivery walkthrough panel based LCA pop-top camper. Motor: Nippon 1.8L Single port Wasserboxer, Transmission: 3 rib 002.
Hi Tristan. Yes, your welder should be well and truly up to the task. My welder has a power dial that goes from 1 to 8, and I only use 6 to get the good penetration in the beam. When welding tube I find it easier to do it in sections. Get in a comfy position, start the weld at the top of the pipe and run the weld down as far as you can reach, then turn the pipe and continue. Does that make sense?
As for the solid shock towers, I don't know anything about them. I have seen other threads of people doing narrowed link pin front ends and have used quarter inch (6mm) plate to make the shock towers, and they say it's strong enough. I guess anything that's at least as thick as that should be fine. I guess it also depends on how high you're going too. If the shock towers need to be extended, they might need to be thicker.
I hope to be doing a link pin front end soon for Mike (psimitar) as he wants it narrowed and adjusters fitted. I'll post another thread on that one if you like as it'll be a bit different to the ball joint front end.
Can I ask why you choose the avis style adjusters over the sway a way style ones?
It's a pity you're so far away, it'd be fun to do a raised beam with massive shocks on it : )
I'm glad you found this thread useful.
If you want info on the back suspension, Joel posted a really good link on how to lower a beetle. I know it's not what you want to do, but the process is the same.
Cheers.
tristan if you want to raise your beam and not narrow it you don't need to cut the beam you just need to weld the adjuster plates on and cut a slot. go here for detailed instructions:
http://www.bus-boys.com/instruct-beam-pg1.htmAwesome thread Tim! I cant wait to get to the beam in my new single cab, low and narrow is definately the look im going for.
Cheers Mitchell
"Bad News" travels fast
General_Failure wrote:Next related question. How hard did you have to push it go get the right penetration? I have a 185 amp Weldmaster MIG and I'm curious if it's up to the task of welding the beams. I suspect it is well and truly as those beams aren't mega thick.
Continuing minor derail 😉 I'm considering getting a pair of those solid steel shock towers at some point which are sold by CVD I think? I'm assuming they'd have significant strength advantages over the OEM units. How I haven't snapped a tower yet I don't know.
So yeah it'd be good to have a feel of what is needed. If only I could get my hands on a spare beam for just in case...
Are you going to document any other suspension mods etc? I really found your writeup useful. Thankyou!
Technically speaking your 185amper should be good for welding 4mm steel. How many settings does it have? hopefully 6 or more. On 6 settings level 5 should work but you may have to go to 6. on 8 setting the top two again.
Always play with scrap metal first to check the penetration and for thick butt welds you will probably have to bevel the edges to be welded and leave a 1mm fill gap but really depends on the welders balls.
Those solid towers are only 10mm thick steel plate if you have access to some hole saws or even better a plasma cutter you can make your own
🙂 As you in NSW try performance VW or is it VW performance. They are good at sourcing VW parts and may be able to help you out.
madness is in the eye of the beholder 👍
Sweet. To be honest I'd love to add towers strong enough for coilovers if I wanted them. If I understand correctly the main issue with adding them is the OEM towers aren't strong enough for that (or even some rough times with normal shocks).
Been doing some welding practice on the trailer. I have a long way to go, but at least I fixed some of the broken bits on it in the process. It also helped me find the lower limits, Gasless I can easily do 1mm. Probably 0.8mm, and I fillet welded some 5mm or so plate. Admittedly I didn't get much penetration but that was on purpose. It was for a jockey wheel bracket that I'll probably end up cutting off in the future.
Having the potential to do some of the mods I have been wanting to do has got me all excited 🙂
If at first you don't succeed. Build, build again.
Vehicle: 1975 Special order delivery walkthrough panel based LCA pop-top camper. Motor: Nippon 1.8L Single port Wasserboxer, Transmission: 3 rib 002.
Gasless is OK for 0.8 bodywork but for the thicker stuff the gas works much better to help with the penetration then what the fluxed gasless wire does.😉
Keep practicing as remember, this is suspension you are dealing with so it must be good and strong 🙂
The 100mm plate towers would probably been great for the coilovers too.
madness is in the eye of the beholder 👍
Tim - I've finally got my front beam off and am now searching for the right spanners to get the steering arms off!
Man I got filthy getting it off, so much crap and oil to wipe off (of me and the beam!)
Hope to be in a position to bring it up either next weekend or the one after, is that okay with you?
Nick
1962 Deluxe Beetle
1970 Low Light Microbus
Hey Nick, that sounds fine. Just give me a quick call/sms on 0423 818180 to double check when you know when you'll be coming up.
Gotta love getting covered in crap hey : )
See you soon,
Tim.
Hi all. I'm going to do another post on how to do this to a link pin beam, if you're interested.
It's in the same Tech talk section and it's called "Second timers guide to beam modification". I know, pretty original huh? : )
