Hi guys

I am using my old motor for mock up to check that everything will fit for when I fit the new motor from Rod and have come across the following issue.

I fitted the new Vintage Speed exhaust and I have clearance issues on the left hand side of behind the beaver panel....see the attached photo. I have elongated the flange holes but still have a problem.

I took some measurements from the centre of the engine block to the inside edge of the engine bay where the engine seal sits and the left hand side is about 10mm narrower than the right hand side.

I am thinking that the previous owner who did a complete body off restoration on the car wasn't too accurate with the tape measure or perhaps this is normal for all 1967 type 1's.

Whilst I can simply cut of the top of the muffler and weld in a small piece (I have already elongated the flange holes) I would like to know if there is a simple way to simply either:

1. Unbolt the body from the chassis and nudge it over to the left or,
2. loosen the gearbox a bit and nudge it over...I recently fitted new gearbox mounts

Any other ideas would be welcome.

Regards
Greg

check to see if the gear box is in the middle of the frame horns, how does the engine sit in the engine bay, access were everything is sitting, this will determine what you have to move, if the gearbox is not central you could slot the holes for the two large bolt that attach the gearbox craddkle to the frame a small amount sideways to center the gearbox.

I'm gonna bet it's a case that both body and trans are off slightly... especially since trans mounts have just been replaced.

Best places to assess the body alignment are:
- bolts and clearance at the rear shock towers
- the curve around the tunnel under the back seat
- measurement from tunnel to A piller door bolts
- the two big (M12?) bolts underneath either side near the framehead
- the two M8 bolts under the fuel tank into the front beam.

Can't trust the pan to body bolt locations since pans have probably been replaced. Plus also realize all of the above had elongated holes from the factory - adjustment has always been designed in.

To shift the body slightly is pretty easy - just loosen all the body and pan bolts by 10mm or so, lift each end of the body separately to break the seal to the pan and then just jiggle away !!!

Just check the location of the engine in the engine bay, make sure it is on center,

Thanks guys
Looks like I have some more checking to do.
Regards
Greg

that's easy,
just cut a small piece out of body to give you a little clearance. or even dolly it over a bit ,After all its only a daily drive.

It's gotta look nice

Quote:

Originally posted by hellbugged Quote: Originally posted by ian.mezz that's easy, just cut a small piece out of body to give you a little clearance. or even dolly it over a bit ,After all its only a daily drive. Belt it with a sledge

do it right and do it once.

That's my motto!

its a highly modified vw , who is to say that the muffler is just a bit big as its a after market part, nothing every fits right once you put a 1600 in a 1500 place eg simple things like tin ware dont even fit

I would try a stock muffler and see if it dont hit .
You just seem to making a lot of work for yourself.
undoing all the body seems a bit of over kill.

Hi Ian

I'm leaning toward simply cutting off the top corners of the muffler at an angle and welding in a small piece.....,problem solved!

Regards
Greg

Yep you could do that to .
sometimes when you put a 1600 in a early bug , the drivers side tappet caver sits close to the body to.

This is the reason that I am using my old motor for mocking everything up so that when I install the new motor there shouldn't be too many surprises

Regards
Greg

Hi Greg,

Could it be that the opposing gear box mount is out (to long). I'm guessing it would only need to be about 2mm for it to make a 5mm (+5, -5) difference at the back.

Thinking along those lines could you just add a 1.5 - 2mm spacer onto the mount on that side to square things up?

This is assuming that the body and chassis are square.

Joel

Hmmmm, I'll take a look and take some measurements when I remove the mockup motor over the weekend.

If the gearbox is not centred on the frame horn then perhaps it is a simple matter of "nudging" the gearbox a little bit.

I still have a feeling that I will still need to lop the top corners off the muffler so as to provide plenty of clearance from the body.

Regards
Greg

Ok...I removed the engine and took a lot of measurements...bottom line is it looks as though the body is not sitting on the chassis 100%.

Instead of mucking around trying to straighten everything up I will be lopping the top corners of the muffler off to provide plenty of clearance...problem solved!

Thanks everybody for you suggestions and input.

Regards
Greg

1600 or bigger engines in pre 67 bodys require to small cuts to make the engine fit

Two small cuts where???

Do the wheels look ok under the guards, or does one side stick out more than the other ?

Its not that much work to loosen the body bolts and move the shell over

Make certain that the engine is central in the engine bay, this should fix the other issue if the car has not had a hit. worth the effort to do it now.

Taken a measurement at the rear shock towers yet by any chance ???

Requires a tape measure and about 10 minutes under the car....

Hi Dave

I just dived under the car and took some measurements and photos of the shock towers and the clearance.

See attached photos.

There is about a 7-8mm difference in the clearance between the top bolt of the shock and the body.

Regards
Greg

PS: I wasn't sure what you wanted me to measure when you said "the curve around the tunnel under the back seat" so I took a photo!

Why wouldnt you cut the car instead of cutting the muffler?

Wouldnt you just be cutting sheetmetal rather than cutting stainless that need to be welded airtihjt again??

Right, Ok - cool... 7-8mm difference at the shock towers would work out to close to your 10mm right at the back of the car... so assuming it's in the same direction (body too far right ?) then you may just have found a big part of the cause !!!



The bolt holes at the shock tower mounts are all elongated, by around 10mm from memory... so there should be a bit of adjustment.

Re the tunnel curve thing... well bit hard to tell from the pic, but often that curve can highlight if the shell is off to one side or the other. Similar to a curved spirit level bubble really... the corners of the curve would sit closer to the edge of the tunnel one way or the other.

VW body shells weren't all perfect from the factory, but still would've generally been better than 10mm... shock towers probably the most reliable point to check, but if you check all the other points I mentioned you'll get a consistent picture.

But yeah - shifting the body on the pan that amount shouldn't be too hard, tho could also go the sledge or dolly route as others have suggested.

Depends how much you'll care about it down the road really for the effort it'd take.

Hi Bizarre

I would prefer not to cut the car as I don't really want to damage the paintwork etc and even then I don't think that there will be enough clearance.....

Hi Dave,

I'm going to wait until I get my hands on the final motor that is going to be installed as I still think that even if I move the body the muffler will still have a clearance issue and I will still need to cut the top of the corners of the muffler.

I am also concerned with how things such as the custom running boards will be affected by moving the body.

I'll keep everybody updated.

Regards
Greg

who's going to see under the car ,
shit people cut holes under guards etc to set Weber carbs and to make it easier to get to spark plugs with webbers fitted.
if you pull the back of car over 5ml how much is the front going to move.??
you may also make the body seal leak
Like some one said there was no computer designed Vw in 1967 they were made by a bloke with a hammer
worst case scenario is that your VW is a little bent