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posted on May 26th, 2013 at 11:02 AM
New to it all
Hey, First ever post and suspect first of many questions. Ive got a 74 beetle (114) and am about to start stripping for a respray and a semi restore.
wanted to know in Sysdney where i could take it and ask a beetle expert on lowering, whats width i can go to on the rears, can i get the seat bases
looked at and where as i sit too high or is there new lower seats. Sat ongthe flor in gfgarge nexst to ity and m,ade a list of all the things i need.
First of many questions i guess
waveman1500
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posted on May 26th, 2013 at 04:54 PM
Welcome! Please have a look through the search function, as I'm sure all of your questions have been answered before. There is a lot of useful
knowledge on these boards, from people who know a lot more than me!
A professional respray and restoration work will be very expensive, so before you commit to that, make sure that you have the car you want. If it's
roadworthy, I would recommend driving it as is for at least a year to get to know it and see if it suits you before you get into a restoration. If you
would prefer a pre-1967 Beetle or whatever, then please go and buy one of those to restore, as the cost of paint and labour will be the same in either
case. If it doesn't need much body work I would budget an absolute minimum of $2000 for the respray, but for that you would probably have to sand it
back yourself before sending it to paint. If it has rust and dents which need repairing then start adding on extra cost.
Replacing/lowering the seats legally requires an engineering certificate and a mod plate, so if you take it to a workshop they will probably refuse to
do it, or will charge a fortune. If you're not after originality then you may as well get some new aftermarket seats fitted as it would probably be
easier.
Lowering is cheap and easy, you can do it yourself if you're handy, otherwise any mechanic should be able to do it. At the rear you just need a new
set of torsion bar rubbers and adjust them down. I'm not sure what a 114 actually is, but if it's a super beetle you can buy lowered struts and/or
springs, and if it's a standard 1300 then you need to get adjusters welded into your front axle beam. This needs to be done properly by someone who
knows what they're doing.
In terms of width, that depends largely on offset, but you can easily get a 6" wide rim under the fronts and rears, and I think 7" will squeeze in
if you're careful. I only run 195s on a 6" rim.
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The artist formerly known as blue74l
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posted on May 26th, 2013 at 05:08 PM
G'day and welcome
Probably help is you put a pic up
Also where are you located??
I am assuming, if its a 114, that you have a beam front
Lowering and width are all connected.
Pict the wheels you would like to run and build around that.
If you have a beam, and want to run wide rubber and lower it, you will more than likely need to narrow the beam
