My toy 1969 BUG-Racing Orientated... SHE LIVES! :)

Hi All a few months ago i purchased my newest addition ot the family and have set about dismantling reconditioning and putting back together

I will be hoping to make it roll, stop and handle well andthen work on the engine, with the biggest plans to have a successful car that i can drive to hill climb and supersprint events and then drive home.

I will be adding images of my journey along the way, and while it may not be the fastest project i will be keen to get it done as i have spare time available.

I have previously owned a 69 beetle for 14 years (a baja, and while it looked great it wasn't my thingin the end), i also built a very tidy and very exciting beach buggy (MaxFX from Beach Buggy Australia) with a group of students from the Yorke Pensinsula SA.

These two projects have set me well for knowing a fair bit about these cars and this time i hope to finish with a very successful build and end up wit a tight car that drives very well and gives me a lot of fun to drive.

I will post pics and ino as they come available.
I'm keen for any feedback as i go along too.

QUOTE: From previous thread...

My susmension improvement plan - help please


Hi Guys,
I am in the process of planning my resto and build but want to head down the circuit car/ track day car route (Would like to drive these and home too if achievable). I have just purchased a straight and seemingly rust free 1969 BJ/ SA 1500 beetle (RHD AUS), and want to separate the pan and redo all the suspension and braking mods so I know the car will roll well, stop well and handle as best it can. It (at this stage will be left in full street trim (does anyone know the street weight of this model?)
Reading what I can I am finding a few conflicting ideas about what would be the best way for me to go... I am considering replacing the following parts and would like suggestion about quality or rubber V polyurethane components. Thanks
Steering Donut DONE
Steering Damper DONE
Ball Joints (German) DONE
Tie Rod Ends (German) DONE
Dropped Spindles 2 1/2” (yes or no) NO
Swayaway adjusters top and bottom (yes or no – as well as dropped sp???) advice here SWAY AWAY
Super Eccentric Camber adjuster (where to get this and what spec?) NOT YET
Castor shims (how many and what length bolt replacement?) 2 EACH SIDE
(Whats the recommendation for beam needle bearings V Polyurethane)NEEDLE
Beam Dust covers Polyurethane or rubber? STOCK
Anti roll bar (is 19mm enough or do I need bigger and adjustable version?) STILL LOOKING

Rear
New torsion beam outer bushings(4) rub V Poly? POLY

Shocks (what options front and rear (costs???)) Adjustable? NOT YET PROB GOING KONI

Any cheapish but necessary gearbox improvements while its out would be appreciated ?
Geabox solid mount rear (yes or no) YES
Mid mount support (advice here too please) YES BERG STYLE
Shift rod bushing YES
Shift rod coupling (poly?) NO BUT WILL TIGHTEN
Bearings??? (all round? Are they expensive/ worthwhile or just re grease old ones) YES ALL REPLACED


NOW... I am getting to settings of the suspension and there a differences in what works. Here are two different suggestions comments would be great...
__________________________
FRONT
Discs all round YES
2 Castor shims per side YES
Extra camber adjustor BENT TOP TRAILING ARMS
Anti RB for lowered car
Adjustable shocks set half way
Bridgestone RE720 185/50/15” Tyres NONE YET
Set toe at ride height to ½ deg toe in NOT SET YET

REAR
Discs all round YES
Z-bar adjusted to be “on” full time, not Camber compensator CONVERTED TO IRS
Adjustable shocks set half way
Bridgestone RE720 185/50/15 NONE YET
Set toe at ride height to ½ deg toe in NOT SET YET
__________________________
FRONT
Swayaway adjuster top and bottom YES
2 super eccentric camber adjusters YES
-2 degrees negative camber HOPING FOR UP TO -4*
3-5 degrees castor
5mm toe out (6/32 – 7/32”)
18mm (3/4”) Sway bar
195/60/14” tyres PROB GOING 195 OR 205 X 50X15
Front 1” higher than rear? WENT FOR 28MM REAR T BARS INSTEAD
Cofab/ KYB gas shocks

REAR
Sway away camber compensator IRS
Cofab/ KYB Gas shocks
-2 degrees Camber
2-3mm (3/32 – 1/8”) Toe in
205/60/14 tyres
Shimmed up Z bar
1’ lower than front
__________________________

Brakes????
Car I fit front callipers to the rear as well and have a proportioning valve to bring the bias into play. Nothing worse than having brakes lock up at the front while the car isn’t actually slowing down (recommendations here for handbrake or options otherwise braking great!) PROB LOOKING AT RE BONDING NEW PAD MATERIAL GREEN STUFF OR SIMILAR

So hopefully you can see where I am heading and I would love advice from numerous people in the know please. I also read somewhere about polyurethane boots on the front suspension??? NO

Also as I said above I want to separate the pan get it blasted and powder coated and then commit as many improvements as I can so I have a car that rolls and stops and handles well, anything I have missed would be great.

Thanks Aaron




SEE the rest of the thread here
http://forums.aussieveedubbers.com/viewtopic.php?tid=83910&page=1#pid781818

VIEW Thread here
http://forums.aussieveedubbers.com/viewtopic.php?tid=84301&page=1#pid784980

Camber... Bending Top arms


Anyone done this??? I am trying to purchase eccentric Camber adjusters for my 68 bug BJ beam and have been told not to worry about the extra adjuster but to get the top arms bent... has anyone done this??? and is it safe/ good??? Can i still get adjusters, looking for -4/5Deg camber

I Hvae been doing some research for a while and have doen some other posts too. You can search under Aussie Dubbin if you need to.

I do have the pan plasted and primed and now i am just waiting to ge the rear stiffened and need to make a rear KAFAR style brace. Craig Torrens makes and supplies an excellent kit but maybe 550 bucks will cut into my budget too much???

I have also had the rear end converted to IRS by Peter Debiasi ( the workmanship looks great) and hope to have the car back together and drinving in the... er... not toooo distant future.

I still need HD or at least Type 3 wagon torsion bars and Type 3 Drums 3x130 if anyone has any lying around?

I will post some pics soon

Anyone got any other suggestions for things to do to the pan before painting and re-assembly???

looks good mate....nice work! 👍

Scarab (aka: Paul)

This is me up to date at the moment, Has anone made their own style KAFAR Bar??? Craigs kit looks tops but pricey??? Looking for something like the 5 bar triangulation of the rear frame horns...

Shaping up to be a very nice build thread this one... keep it up.

👍

On the Kafer brace... well I've got a 3 bar that I got before Craig started doing his kits, but if the timing was different reckon I would've gone with one of his 5 bar kits for sure... great on both quality and value from what I've seen.

Oh and the black version looks damn sexy IMHO.

😉

Thanks Sides,
If you want to 'donate' your Gbox to a good cause... LOL Ha Ha

Any suggestions for best way to clean that GBox? Apart form scrape and spray and srape and brush etc...

Hey mate. Your pans look in good nic. Are you replacing them?

Heyluke, it was a pretty good find... no rust that i can see

Heh heh, yeah - happy to donate the box if you donate appropriate amount of coin !!!

😂

Cleaning that box tho... well first plug up the breather hole with a toothpick or similar to reduce chance of stuff getting in (it's up the front in top area of nose cone)... then just go to town on it. Way I've done it is to scrape away as much as possible, brush on some kero or degreaser to soak, the scrub, hose off (gerni) and repeat. Remember to unplug the breather when all done.

Oh and yeah - do it on top of a tarp to collect all the crap that comes off rather than soaking into the grass or driveway.

👍

The beam preped and ready to cut and put in adjusters

Aussie Dubbin wrote:Craigs kit looks tops but pricey??? Looking for something like the 5 bar triangulation of the rear frame horns...

LOL......a clevis joint is around $45-$50 retail, and my kit has 10 of them....then the material costs for the bars, fasteners, laser cut tabs, laser cut and welded brackets on the shock towers, plating and all the time machining up the kit !!!........I reckon the VW community is getting a bargain for the quality these kits provide 😎

Its worth spending the money now, as you are at the best stage to fit it............and it will certainly be worth (all 5kg!) its weight in gold if you intend to do ANY type of racing.

You are absolutely right! I canot come up with any type of solution close just yet... NIce kit Craig, i can see the workmanship is spot on and it is very easy to use... Don't take my attempts to make my own in offense, just a guys wanting to have a crack.

Cheers for looking at the thread, i appreciate your input.

That's cool, I make NO money from it so I have no probs at all if you make your own.

With your front beam, remember to "trim" the top of the shock towers so the tyres clear when you run neg camber 😎

Oh yeah - good point about the shock towers Craig... funny how rarely that one get's mentioned hey !!!

👍

Ok cheers for the info... how much should the tower be timmed by? any guides/ pics? Are you guys stiffening the shock towers too? i was considering a front 'truss' type bar from tower to tower or something like that???


Craig you may not want to say, but why the adjustment in the Torque bar? is it ease of fittment or is there another feature?

Sides wrote:Oh yeah - good point about the shock towers Craig... funny how rarely that one get's mentioned hey !!!

👍

There's lots of tricks that rarely get mentioned !!

Where the texta line is.....cut that away and then weld the join all the way around the shock tower.

Cheers... Thats a lot of material. Have you then stiffened her up further elsewhere???

Tension on the Kafer bar kit???

In primer anyway. Will turn over and do the underside tonight.

Just an update.

So i have got the top arms bent on the front beam.
I have secured 4 wheel discs all new ut had to go cheaper than i wanted too so time will tell
Ive got one racing seat and just waiting to put the body back on top to see how it fits...
Installed an 8mm fuel line in addition to the original... other side
Stitch welded the pan and frame head and frame horns and torsion beam frame horns
Installed sway away style front beam adjusters
Trimmed the top of the horns on front beam as photo above...
Solid mounted the gearbox at the rear mount (thanks Richard at V Force)
Solid intermediate mount also thanks rich. (berg Style)

Bought parts too will post pics.
Got 28mm rear torsion bars to sort out the rear end. Cant wait to see how they feel.
Went with Empi short shifter and will replace the rivets for nut and bolts... apparently will feel nice. Might pull apart and lube properly before install.
Have painted the gearbox, no real service there as Gbox is unknown. Will change oil and cross fingers see where that leads?
Have pulled steering box apart and cleaned inspected and lubed back together. (Wow - feels so smooth)
Instead of craigs 5 bar kit (great but no spare cash) will bolt the frame horns to the fire wall.
Still have to make an engine support cradle but will do that insitu


I'm sure there is heaps i have forgotten ut will post as i remember. Nice to finally have something to put up😎

Pan came up a treat!

Well done. 👍

Cheers,
I used a black etch primer... i think next time ill probably just get grey... Im thinking the black gloss coat may be i little difficult to see coverage wise?

just primed the underside tonight, and the front beam.

So yesterday i 2pc painted the underside and will do the reverse tommorow night. Fairly happy with the result. 2pc is so easy to paint with which is nice, could have been a little more fussy and rubbed the pan up to a smooth finish everywhere and boged up any issues but as it stands it should be coated evenly and well.
Hope you like it.

Pan looks great!

New thicker torsion bars Wahoo!

Nice work.

I always paint the edge of the disc rotor to stop it rusting there too.

Cheers, it was pretty easy to strip as i didnt do a 'propper' paint job... Might as well do the outside too and then strip off the face like the front rotors.

Cheers

PS removed the excess paint off the back rotors now too.

Got one arm together tonight. Not too hard really and feels pretty goot too. replaced all bearings. Can't wait to get a rolling chassis back.

whats with the 10 bolt holes for wheels? how thick are those rear hubs/discs on the mounting face...

theres tonnes of meat ill get a pic up soon

5x130 and 5x120.5

Here is an idea that might help some others. 1 Meter of 10 x 1.5mm threaded rod cut into 4 equal lenghts. A bit of copper pipe and some washers and a nut. It enables really easy setting of IRS cover plate. Let me know if i can help.

Leave the front brake backing plates off, it will give you better cooling to the discs.

done a few things since my last post.

4 rotors fitted
pedal assembly reassembled and fitted
clutch cable and accelerator cable fitted
wheel fitted and car rolling again

yay!

PS wheels are "just for now" wheels but its a pretty good felling to see her rolling again.

Congrats dude - rolling pan is a significant milestone, and I reckon you probably a have a decent sense of achievement too hey. Nice work !!!

👍 👍 👍

Hope you do better than my build timing... Jezebel was a rolling pan in Feb 2001, first event wasn't till Feb 2007 !!!

(and yes... I have plenty of excuses... but it was still 6 years... 😊)

Shit that sounds like my first betle. It was of the road for 7 years n various stages of i'm getting to it. I am going away for a few weeks and when i get bac i hope to put the body back on... as a am not doing any body work yet it should be a 'simple' bolt back together... famous last words?

Only time will tell.

Back end still needs some work

nice one 😁

That's the idea.
Get it going and enjoy it.

sweet as bro, must feel good.....what are doing for a engine etc.....

😂😂great team effort nice work fellors

Thanks Guys,
cnfabo i am just using a 1600 stock for the meantime. I want to get her moving and see what issues comeup. Make sure it turn in ok, stops when and how i want her to etc... then eith 1916 or wrx. I am in two minds. Can't get a decent 1916 for less than 2-5 thousand and could do a 160-200hp wrx conversion for 5 thosand. So engine is up in the air... obviously the whole reason of building your own car is so that yo can do all the work yourself, and for that reason i will probably stay air cooled.
simple straitforward additions to the stock donk will be 1:1.25 0r 1:1.4 rockers 40mm spanish twin throat webers, merged exhaust (ignition?) anyone with spare coin feel free to donate... 🙅

So guys haven't completed heaps but have been working,

there is brake fluid in the lines, but still having a few issues bledding up a good pedal

Bought a merged exhaust and 75 amp Alternator

replacing a few seals in prep for engine
gearbox and flywheel mainly

have to look at clutch think it was pretty weak last time i drove it...

handbrake works

installed extra eccentric camber adjusters, they offer a lot more tuning

all chassis bolts are in nicely and graphite lubed

pedal assembly in in nicely

Steering box has been overhauled but needs adjustment

Fuel tank needs 8mm outlet but should be able to sort that in brass

got another CV joint today as i broke one, should be installed this week

need to paint engine tinware to make it look nice, just black

got racing seat and harness just need to fabricate frame

Not going for a roll bar just yet ($$$😠)

thinking about removable rear valance but just installing engine for now

still need to pull empi shifter apart and lube properly, but is ok for now

Nice work on that pan - looks very cool 🙅

What body to pan seal did you use - it looks nice a thick?

My neighbout got me some made up, its more rubber foam than rubber, self adhesive on the bottom, very easy to use and glued where it joins so very weatherproof. I think from memory its 8mm thick, and 35 or 45mm wide, it has definately allowed me to get a clean seal.

Cheers Aussie its getting closer!

So guys a little update,
Got the bug rolling around. Found a leak from the right rear brake line, loose fitting, only found it when had all three lines clamped, and pushed on the pedal. Fn thing, stripped a lot of paint off the diagonal arm!!!! amazed i hadnt noticed the paint bubbling. (something to be said for cleaning the shit off the floor regularly).

Brakes are bled up, but pedal is not great. Consistent but just ok. Will haver to drive it and see.

Got the seat and slider in, took a bit of stuffing around, and a lot of in out work. But pretty happy with the result. Will post pics soon. Still need to plate up the seatbelt and harness.

Hoping to put the engine back in this week. Not really doing too much. Might pull the heads off and replace the rings, just to ensure compression. Neighbour said he will look at the heads for me. Give me some indication if the valves have been pounded out.
***Anything you can suggest to have a look at while the heads are out? I thought i might clean the ports while i'm going.

Will replace engine bay seal and add a degree pulley. Stock donk what degree are you all setting your 1600tp at and at what revs.

Still need to find an 8mm fuel outlet for the fuel tank. Currently i have taken the 6mm out and have not got anything to replace it with (line taken out of securing nut). Any help here. SOmeone suggested type 3 had an 8mm but cant find anything. Might post in tech talk

There is the VW show at Port adelaide next weekend...

Cheers

With the Empi shifter, drill the 4 rivots out that holds it together and replace them with bolts............the rivots will "let go" if you are agro on your gear changes!

Cheerss Craig. That's the plan. Just anothe job to do. Really glad you told me to trim the top of the front horns. Made a big difference, and saved me a job after paint. Cheers for the advise

Looking good 👍

New chrissy wheels

Sitting nice with those wheels..👍 Do the tyres scrub on the front of the guards with the amount of positive castor that you are running?..or is it the tyre profile?

How is it going dude? No update since a few months ago..
By the way, good job on the chassie. Your vdub looks great with those wheels.

Hi mate. Cheers, still check in here all the time. Had a baby born got in the way a bit. Brake brakes brakes !!!!!! Having trouble getting the brakes sorted without spending more dough. Ditched the empi kit for EA Falcon rear discs and have the rear circuit working satisfactorily. BUT the front which are new Chinese calipers can't get sorted. It was an ordering mistake not to check if they were ate but now it's just crappy. Going to try pressure bleed first then pull the new MC apart and try to resolve issue. Cheers for the heads up. Getting really keen to get it sorted

Aussie Dubbin wrote:Hi mate. Cheers, still check in here all the time. Had a baby born got in the way a bit. Brake brakes brakes !!!!!! Having trouble getting the brakes sorted without spending more dough. Ditched the empi kit for EA Falcon rear discs and have the rear circuit working satisfactorily. BUT the front which are new Chinese calipers can't get sorted. It was an ordering mistake not to check if they were ate but now it's just crappy. Going to try pressure bleed first then pull the new MC apart and try to resolve issue. Cheers for the heads up. Getting really keen to get it sorted

Ohh congratulations, big smile. I'm also there very soon (I mean my wife).
Hope you can sort it out in the front as well. Cheers

Congrats and good luck get some sleep in while you can.

Yeah!!! Brake brakethrough! Turns out it was a dodgy master cylinder by all conclusions. Couldn't be too much in such a simple system but not having an endless pit of trial and error money got me to a very long snag.

Finally bought a type 2 master cylinder, 21 or 22mm bore, standard twin pin fronts and ea rears. Haven't road tested yet, but pedal is high hard and consistent. Just like it should be.

Bought a set of koni reds adjustable versions. Put fronts in tonight, rears over the weekend if I get a second.

So all I have left after that is...
Alignment x4
Muffler not stinger
Carb adjustment and general oil/ lube change
In time will need to make some anti roll bars like someone did on here.

Feels like now it's only me holding it back.

Finally

Just at my brothers house.

I think it's time I put that alternator in too! Thought I stop take a photo look and let her cool down, poor girls hardly moved in the last 4 years. And she wouldn't start dead as a door nail. I think she mustn't be charging.
Oh well quick jump and off we go.

good job on the build! The stud pattern your using is that a holden/ford stud pattern?

Thanks Fella,
They are Holden/Chev at the moment. Chev being 120.5 and Holden being 120, I am running BMW 5x120 PCD.

Had a few more drives over the weekend and pretty happy with how its feeling so far Needs a wheel alignment but runs pretty well.
Brakes work great, but as I suspected it is a little over braked in the rear, so cautiously driving it at the moment. Planning on putting a willwood proportioning valve just off the master cylinder with a rotary dial. Chime in if you have any better ideas.

Konis feel tight as, great but wouldn't want to be a family drive on a bumpy road.

Could fix the charging issue on the generator but have an alternator sitting in a box.

I take it by reading that you haven't really got a chance to try it out (racing). I am in the process of doing something similar with a 69. Will start a thread later when I get home. I will be using a Subarugears 5 speed, with an ej20 pushing somewhere in the 600hp range. The shop that is doing the work AVO Turbo (Thailand) wants to put a different front end on it. The one I have is like yours and has been modified.

So I guess my question is do you think that your front end will meet most of your expectiations? What type of racing will you be doing? I leaning towards 1/4 mile, but we have a lot of road courses over here in Thailnd that I might like to try.

Really like the way yours turned out.

Chalee

Hi Chalee,
So the car hasn't seen much use. I had it back on the road for about 6 months, and had some ongoing brake issues. Ended up changing the rears to EA Falcon Discs and that was much better. The engine is still massively under powered so it feels very heavy. I still need to make some adjustable sway bars, but feels good so far. I am running 15x 7 front and rears. I think I will make some changes there in the future, there is not much of a turning circle before I start hitting the inside wheel arch/ framehead.

So yes I am happy with the outcome but some more fine tuning is needed, and some extra dollars. I don't have any dates planed to have it a finished product and therefore kids and house extensions are tying up some free cash. let me know If I can help some more.