I want to lift the front of my 76 beetle a few inches instead of fitting adjusters or cutting and turning could I just fit some coil over shocks?
I guess I'm a bit concerned about the insurance aspect of fitting adjusters or cutting and turning the beam
marcel

dont worry so much buddy just do it

Do it as long as you can live with a stiffer front end. The extra spring strength will give a stiffer ride on the front, which could be balanced with coil overs on the rear which don't lift, but give more springing strength.

its also more pressure on the single shear shock mounts than they were designed to handle........ essentially you are putting hte wieght of the front car on the mounts as the coil overs are taking the strain off the torsion bars. beware.

a set of gas shocks would have a similar (but slightly less of an) effect for less money and less stress on the shock towers and mounts. I've got adjusters, and they are engineered with everything else so it's not a drama for insurance. alternatively, if you want proper lift, get some 181 THING spindles. just remember, do it once do it properly. don't be dodgy to save $50 on insurance if it's going to make the car unsafe or harder to drive. stiffening the front suspension on an otherwise stock bug is not going to make for better handling. to give you an idea, my buggy weighs 900kg (about 50kg more than your bug) and I have the softest offroad shocks I could get on the front. Coilovers should be a serious, expensive, offroad upgrade not a cheap fix to avoid adjusters or thing spindles.

Where can I get some thing spindles without having to sell a kidney?

thanks for all the info
unfortunately I no longer have the 76 as i bought a 74 kombi instead with pretty much the same idea as the beetle to lift it up a little bit
i bought a lifted front end the other day and am going to lift the back as well
marcel