66 front beam clarification - urgent.
KalgoorlieGreg - April 26th, 2017 at 11:11 AM
Hi all,
What front beam should a 1966 Aussie Standard have?
Mine has a King/Link Pin beam, which is damaged and needs replacing.
Found one in another 1966, but it's a Ball Joint beam.
What's going on? I know they aren't a straight swap.
Cheers, Greg.
Governor - April 26th, 2017 at 02:00 PM
As far as I was aware all had K&L till after 67?
vwo60 - April 26th, 2017 at 02:09 PM
Does it have four stud wheels all round and discs on the front end, 68 on have the ball joint front end but the US model had the 67 with a ball joint
front end with 5 stud drums. Link pin and ball joint front ends are not interchangeable as they have different tube spacing. it would require the
frame head change to fit the latter beam
http://www.clubvw.org.au/austvw001
psimitar - April 26th, 2017 at 10:06 PM
Aussies are terrible at whacking one year of body onto another year of floorpan and then say it's a whatever based on the body. If you look up the
chassis number that will tell you fairly certainly what year floorpan you have and hence whether it should be a KP or BJ beam. Well unless someone
decided to do a framehead swap but that's somewhat unlikely.
Oh, and whatever beam you currently have fitted. Well a KP/LP beam has straight upright shock towers that only angle towards the rear of the vehicle.
BJ beams have the shock towers lean backwards and outwards.
KalgoorlieGreg - April 27th, 2017 at 07:38 AM
I have upright shock towers, drum brakes and wide 5's.
I don't know what hubs were on the other 66 beam I was looking at because they were gone. Shock towers were leaning out.
Both are 66 Beetles. Mine must be early in the year, his must be late and started using the different 67 setup.
vwo60 - April 27th, 2017 at 08:41 AM
68 was the first year of the BJ beam and 4 stud wheels, the 67 I had was LP and 5 stud wheels, if it has the BJ beam some one has changed the frame
head, how is the pan, you could do a pan swap and use the BJ beam. swapping the pan is very straight forward.
KalgoorlieGreg - April 27th, 2017 at 02:33 PM
Pan isn't available. Only the beam was for sale.
dangerous - April 27th, 2017 at 07:43 PM
66 Euro bugs had ball-joint beam and wide five drums.
From memory the tie rods' taper and thread are smaller than the 68-on,
and the stub has at least one size smaller than the later ball joint stubs.
psimitar - April 27th, 2017 at 10:01 PM
| Quote: |
Originally
posted by KalgoorlieGreg
I have upright shock towers, drum brakes and wide 5's.
I don't know what hubs were on the other 66 beam I was looking at because they were gone. Shock towers were leaning out.
Both are 66 Beetles. Mine must be early in the year, his must be late and started using the different 67 setup.
|
I be surprised if someone went the extent of doing a frame head conversion. More likely it's a later entire pan under a 66 body. Doing a pan swap is
extremely simple compared to a framehead swap. Not that I'm saying it isn't an option.
Anyhow, from what you've said you now have a BJ beam that is of no use to you unless you either change the pan to a BJ pan or do a framehead
conversion.
If you really want disc brakes then for the LP beam you'll have to look at kits specifically for the wide 5 wheel bolt pattern.
KalgoorlieGreg - April 28th, 2017 at 07:34 AM
| Quote: |
Originally
posted by psimitar
| Quote: | Originally
posted by KalgoorlieGreg
I have upright shock towers, drum brakes and wide 5's.
I don't know what hubs were on the other 66 beam I was looking at because they were gone. Shock towers were leaning out.
Both are 66 Beetles. Mine must be early in the year, his must be late and started using the different 67 setup.
|
I be surprised if someone went the extent of doing a frame head conversion. More likely it's a later entire pan under a 66 body. Doing a pan swap is
extremely simple compared to a framehead swap. Not that I'm saying it isn't an option.
Anyhow, from what you've said you now have a BJ beam that is of no use to you unless you either change the pan to a BJ pan or do a framehead
conversion.
If you really want disc brakes then for the LP beam you'll have to look at kits specifically for the wide 5 wheel bolt pattern.
|
I didn't end up buying the beam. We spotted the difference before money changed hands, luckily.
I'll keep on looking for a LP beam. Not in a rush but would like everything sorted, just for piece of mind.
Massive thanks to everyone for their inputs.
AA003 - April 29th, 2017 at 06:42 AM
All 6v wide 5 Australian Beetles had king pin beams.
Ball joints were on 12v fully imported and CKD Beetles. ('68-'76 )
psimitar - April 30th, 2017 at 01:08 AM
| Quote: |
Originally
posted by KalgoorlieGreg
I didn't end up buying the beam. We spotted the difference before money changed hands, luckily.
I'll keep on looking for a LP beam. Not in a rush but would like everything sorted, just for piece of mind.
Massive thanks to everyone for their inputs.
|
What's wrong with your current LP beam? Maybe it'll be better to rebuild it rather than get a second hand one that may need new bearings and seals
too.
KalgoorlieGreg - April 30th, 2017 at 01:42 AM
Bent beam.
It's bent. You can't straighten pipe properly. It'll always be bent out of shape.
HappyDaze - April 30th, 2017 at 08:52 AM
Easy enough to straighten...I've done quite a few of 'em. 
All you need is a good quality chain, and a hydraulic jack.
psimitar - April 30th, 2017 at 11:36 AM
| Quote: |
Originally
posted by KalgoorlieGreg
Bent beam.
It's bent. You can't straighten pipe properly. It'll always be bent out of shape.
|
Ah, I see. It could be straightened but unless you have the time, tools and experience then a good second hand one is definitely the simpler option
KalgoorlieGreg - April 30th, 2017 at 02:03 PM
I have the tools at work, but as it's a multinational mining company with restricted site access, I can't take it in!
And starting with a fresh beam let's me build it up while keeping the pan rolling.
psimitar - April 30th, 2017 at 07:29 PM
| Quote: |
Originally
posted by KalgoorlieGreg
I have the tools at work, but as it's a multinational mining company with restricted site access, I can't take it in!
And starting with a fresh beam let's me build it up while keeping the pan rolling.
|
Yup, I know how that goes. All the best with your search