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Let's go play .... Bluey... a '59 Beetle. Vids added 13.4.14

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hellbugged 48's and straight cuts

5,080 posts · joined Apr 2003 ·

#884056
Convoy to Sydney then!!!!!..... Or risk CLA expulsion I think

Spoke to the illustipious leader this arvo.... And it's thursday at mine before Friday road trip.... Or die 🙂

matberry Moderator Go hard or go home

8,114 posts · joined Mar 2006 ·

#884090
mmmm, I don't like the options, looks like I am traveling light......
Matt Berry Motorsports...air cooled advice, repairs and mods Ph 0408 704 662
OFF-ROAD,CIRCUIT,DRAG,STREET,ENDURANCE

matberry Moderator Go hard or go home

8,114 posts · joined Mar 2006 ·

#884095
Smiley wrote:Looks fantastic. Try not to break it!


Smiley 🙂
vassy66T1 wrote:The magic of Mr Butler

At least I know you will be kind to it Matt 🙅🙅🙅
In the context of the above smarty pants comments, that really I feel have no real relevance to the way I drive or treat my cars so I have no idea why they would have said such things... 😉 here is a pic of what I prepared today fo Bluey

From this...std VW short axle (thanks Rick)




to this




this



to this




still std VW, but hopefully the polishing helps stress relieve the axles for a little longevety, I'm only running radials and a little motor so everything should be sweet as.
But, if anyone knows of some old Sway-a-way short axles that need a home I'd like to talk to them.
Matt Berry Motorsports...air cooled advice, repairs and mods Ph 0408 704 662
OFF-ROAD,CIRCUIT,DRAG,STREET,ENDURANCE

Smiley Veteran Volks Folk

2,125 posts · joined Oct 2008 ·

#884110
Shiney!!!

What's the new weak link in the system now? 😂


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

matberry Moderator Go hard or go home

8,114 posts · joined Mar 2006 ·

#884128
Smiley wrote:Shiney!!!

What's the new weak link in the system now? 😂


Smiley 🙂
The new weak link is negative camber and old BFG radials.....hopefully set before the 4 dowel crank lets go....after all, I fitted a Berg nut and washer and torqued to 450 ..... she'll be right 🤪😂🤪😂
Matt Berry Motorsports...air cooled advice, repairs and mods Ph 0408 704 662
OFF-ROAD,CIRCUIT,DRAG,STREET,ENDURANCE

vassy66T1 Wow ... are U reading this?

2,120 posts · joined Jun 2003 ·

#884145
Smarty pants comments ??? ... now don't let it hurt your feelings😏

Burrelli Officially Full-On Dubber

244 posts · joined Oct 2008 ·

#884167
Looks good Matt.

What ratios did you get in the tranny?

matberry Moderator Go hard or go home

8,114 posts · joined Mar 2006 ·

#884173
vassy66T1 wrote:Smarty pants comments :
said in the nicest possible way 🙂
Burrelli wrote:Looks good Matt.

What ratios did you get in the tranny?
Hi Ritchie, ratios that Dave recommended and could supply after a few trade-ins and whatnot
Final drive: 3.875
First gear: 3.80
Second gear: 2.0588
Third gear 1.412
Fourth: 0.931

puts 3rd where my 4th used to be so should cruise well.
Matt Berry Motorsports...air cooled advice, repairs and mods Ph 0408 704 662
OFF-ROAD,CIRCUIT,DRAG,STREET,ENDURANCE

Burrelli Officially Full-On Dubber

244 posts · joined Oct 2008 ·

#884179
Good compromise ratios.

No laying down in 3rd .3rd is going to be the fun gear. 🤪

matberry Moderator Go hard or go home

8,114 posts · joined Mar 2006 ·

#884181
Yeah mate, looking forward to running it. I think 2nd & 3rd will be fun, 3rd's nice and close, just hope the tall diff doesn't take the edge off overall, should be ok as it sure is too low now with the 4.3.
Matt Berry Motorsports...air cooled advice, repairs and mods Ph 0408 704 662
OFF-ROAD,CIRCUIT,DRAG,STREET,ENDURANCE

mactaylor Custom Title Time!

1,005 posts · joined Aug 2007 ·

#884199
why not 8 dowelll the crank while its out?
EVERLAST CONCRETE TANKS
1800 552 123

matberry Moderator Go hard or go home

8,114 posts · joined Mar 2006 ·

#886258
mactaylor wrote:why not 8 dowelll the crank while its out?
Because doing an 8 dowel job with a hand drill is not the way I do things.
Matt Berry Motorsports...air cooled advice, repairs and mods Ph 0408 704 662
OFF-ROAD,CIRCUIT,DRAG,STREET,ENDURANCE

matberry Moderator Go hard or go home

8,114 posts · joined Mar 2006 ·

#886262
Latest upgrade to Bluey is this wonderful custom built transmission by the one and only DB




Fitted fulcrum plates and axles


















A few more tweeks to the engine.... converted to electric fuel pump so removed the stock pump and relocated fuel lines behind fan housing



Matt Berry Motorsports...air cooled advice, repairs and mods Ph 0408 704 662
OFF-ROAD,CIRCUIT,DRAG,STREET,ENDURANCE

vassy66T1 Wow ... are U reading this?

2,120 posts · joined Jun 2003 ·

#886301
Now that looks tidy 👍

hellbugged 48's and straight cuts

5,080 posts · joined Apr 2003 ·

#886337
Cool side plate 😉
.....and is that a " poor mans posi" slipping in there too?

matberry Moderator Go hard or go home

8,114 posts · joined Mar 2006 ·

#886392
Yes Daimo, your goodies helped out in a big way. Cheers dude

I did a more detailed post originally but somehow lost it, so only a few words this time.

The ratios are fantastic, a very nice compromise of performance and highway cruising, it has transformed the car.
Matt Berry Motorsports...air cooled advice, repairs and mods Ph 0408 704 662
OFF-ROAD,CIRCUIT,DRAG,STREET,ENDURANCE

Special Air Service Chief "Gunna"

1,769 posts · joined Oct 2004 ·

#886410
I'm liking the fuel hose routing at the back of the fan housing👍

Did you skim the axles on the lathe first, then polish them to finish off or just polished from the start?
Calling all NSW Mid North Coast Veedubbers

Click Below
Mid North Coast VW

matberry Moderator Go hard or go home

8,114 posts · joined Mar 2006 ·

#886413
Special Air Service wrote:I'm liking the fuel hose routing at the back of the fan housing👍

Did you skim the axles on the lathe first, then polish them to finish off or just polished from the start?
Thanks mate, I didn't want to reduce the material too much so I just polished them with an 80G disc sander, then 120 then by hand with emery and then wet&dry. Overkill really but I enjoyed experimenting as I haven't had the lathe all that long.
Matt Berry Motorsports...air cooled advice, repairs and mods Ph 0408 704 662
OFF-ROAD,CIRCUIT,DRAG,STREET,ENDURANCE

hellbugged 48's and straight cuts

5,080 posts · joined Apr 2003 ·

#886433
did you need to take that thrust ring out of the pressure plate for the later throw out bearing..........❓

matberry Moderator Go hard or go home

8,114 posts · joined Mar 2006 ·

#886434
hellbugged wrote:did you need to take that thrust ring out of the pressure plate for the later throw out bearing..........❓
Yep, KEP clutches they are removeable. Took some modifing to get the late clutch fork with the big shaft into the small shaft housing, machined shaft and modified early bush. 🙂
Matt Berry Motorsports...air cooled advice, repairs and mods Ph 0408 704 662
OFF-ROAD,CIRCUIT,DRAG,STREET,ENDURANCE

matberry Moderator Go hard or go home

8,114 posts · joined Mar 2006 ·

#896663
Been ages since an up date so.......here we go.

Thanks to the fellow AVD members whose pics I stole. 🙂

Bluey ran at the VW Showdown at WSID in Feb.

Had a great trip down, although I admit to being a self confessed trailer queen.....The engine and front suspension both need a few tweeks/rebuild before I would be comfortable driving and racing over that distance.






Ran a best of 16.223 @ 78.62MPH. Full weight all interior, worn out bottom end 1915 with Vintage Speed Muffler and 42mm headers, 48 IDA's with 37 vent's. Daves trans is great on the street, but fourth gear is a bit too tall for good 1/4 mile times with the 3.88 CW/P, but worth it for nice street cruising.

Here's Bluey dusting Birch in his Orange smoothy, also 1915, but fresher with efi 😂😂








And here he is as of tonight. I did some mods to the IDA's on the weekend. Tricked them up with a clean up, inside and out, a bit of polish even here and there. Also enlarged the fuel bowls, profiled the throttle shafts and shortened the butterfly screws. Also did a mod to the secondary venturi that has really cleaned up some top end and smoothed out the already nice power delivery. Very happy with the modifications. Sorry no detailed pics, but here's the engine after refitting the IDA's




Bluey has some cool friends at the moment.

A few random shots taken tonight.





Matt Berry Motorsports...air cooled advice, repairs and mods Ph 0408 704 662
OFF-ROAD,CIRCUIT,DRAG,STREET,ENDURANCE

matberry Moderator Go hard or go home

8,114 posts · joined Mar 2006 ·

#896665
Oh... here's the business end of the run with Dave

Matt Berry Motorsports...air cooled advice, repairs and mods Ph 0408 704 662
OFF-ROAD,CIRCUIT,DRAG,STREET,ENDURANCE

SebastienPeek Custom Title Time!

1,657 posts · joined May 2011 ·

#896671
Hey Mat!
Looks awesome, Bluey is definitely one clean car!

I have a question though, the car behind the bus/in front of Bluey.
The exhaust looks a little lop sided. Now, Zelda has the exact same issue. It isn't as bad of a lean, but has one nonetheless.
Is this caused by a faulty engine mount or something like that?

This is the image I'm talking about if I didn't make it clear enough...
The sold one, '73 VW 1303 - Zelda
The project, '74 VW 1303 - Gretl

matberry Moderator Go hard or go home

8,114 posts · joined Mar 2006 ·

#896674
Clear as in the pic. I was thinking it was in the pic as I hadn't noticed in the flesh. That car only hit road yesterday after having the exhaust fitted with engine out due to needing trans mounts done as well. Being quite low in the rear we don't get to see the muffler unless way back like in the pic. I'll measure up tomorrow and come back with the results. If it is lopsided, you should be able to loosen the rear engine mount to frame horn cross brace bolts and rotate engine/trans some.
Matt Berry Motorsports...air cooled advice, repairs and mods Ph 0408 704 662
OFF-ROAD,CIRCUIT,DRAG,STREET,ENDURANCE

SebastienPeek Custom Title Time!

1,657 posts · joined May 2011 ·

#896678
Yeah, I noticed it first thing, only because I have the same issue in Zelda. Mine isn't as bad as what it looks like in the picture but is definitely noticeable from a distance.
I'll have to talk to a mechanic down here as to what needs to be done to get it all fixed up, I hate not having the tools to do stuff myself!

But regardless, Bluey is looking awesome.
The sold one, '73 VW 1303 - Zelda
The project, '74 VW 1303 - Gretl

matberry Moderator Go hard or go home

8,114 posts · joined Mar 2006 ·

#896684
SebastienPeek wrote:Yeah, I noticed it first thing, only because I have the same issue in Zelda. Mine isn't as bad as what it looks like in the picture but is definitely noticeable from a distance.
I'll have to talk to a mechanic down here as to what needs to be done to get it all fixed up, I hate not having the tools to do stuff myself!

But regardless, Bluey is looking awesome.
Mate, the job I mentioned only needs two 13mm spanners. That's it. You could even park over a gutter and do it without even jacking up the car. (Might be awkward but hey, nothing free is meant to be easy 🙂 )

Thanks for the nice words.
Matt Berry Motorsports...air cooled advice, repairs and mods Ph 0408 704 662
OFF-ROAD,CIRCUIT,DRAG,STREET,ENDURANCE

SebastienPeek Custom Title Time!

1,657 posts · joined May 2011 ·

#896685
Well if that is the case Mat, I might be able to get it done myself.
Will still give my mechanic a call, want to get the oil leaks fixed and that is a heads off kinda job...

Anytime, been watching your cars for a while, love them all.
Your baja is epic, like, extremely epic.
The sold one, '73 VW 1303 - Zelda
The project, '74 VW 1303 - Gretl

matberry Moderator Go hard or go home

8,114 posts · joined Mar 2006 ·

#896688
SebastienPeek wrote:Your baja is epic, like, extremely epic.
Ha ha, cheers mate. Be more epic if I could find a starter motor with enough grunt to start it !!!! 🙂
Matt Berry Motorsports...air cooled advice, repairs and mods Ph 0408 704 662
OFF-ROAD,CIRCUIT,DRAG,STREET,ENDURANCE

Craig Torrens 6 times Australian, 7 times State Hillclimb Class Champion

8,040 posts · joined Jan 2003 ·

#896689
Any plans for the motor Matt ?