- Thread starter PhillipM
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PhillipM
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Oh, and we re-made the front mudguard mounts too, the surplus steel tube is gone, it's now on ally mounts inside the guard instead of those big external mounts - also realigned them as the new suspension and wider track meant they weren't quite right at full bump any more:
You can see the other side being mocked up there before the angle grinder chops the steel bit off.
This was before we made the new side panels, obviously....
You can see the other side being mocked up there before the angle grinder chops the steel bit off.
This was before we made the new side panels, obviously....
Shox Dr
Chief Engineer to Carlos Fandango
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You’ve better eyesight that me. Istr you didnt like the Kemmpi MIG?
PhillipM
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So, we've had it running, why isn't it outside yet?
Well, been hunting down some issues with the engine for mapping (turned out to be an intermittent air leak on gasket but took ages to hunt it down), and we're still having some problems with the dash that are being worked on atm.
And, whilst we were putting the front suspension back together....well, the front fell off. I know it's not supposed to fall off but...for those unfamiliar with the old Beetles, the front uprights are a link and kingpin setup - basically there's a big Kingpin vertically that sits inside needle bearings, which allows the steering to happen. Then on the end of the front arms, two pins stick out horizontally into some bronze bushes for the upright to pivot on when the suspension cycles up and down.
Now, that's a relatively robust setup, as it's basically just some huge hardened steel pins taking the loads, but it also means you have to deliberately leave the pins loose to allow the suspension to cycle, which means even in perfect condition there's always some slop in the system, and also as the loads change and things flex, the friction in the front suspension jumps up and down as the bronze bushes get pinched, the pins rock in them, etc, and general wear and tear makes it a lot worse as dirt can get in easily.
The steering effort also changes a lot, as the kingpin runs against a hardened steel washer - so the friction there changes a lot with load - if you look back through the old photo's you'll see I replaced it with a bronze+acetal thrust washer when I rebuilt them the last time to help it out, in order to give more consistant feedback through the wheel.
After a lot of trial and effort to get the required angles and clearances, we've managed to get just about get enough room to switch out to a new upright using a pair of spherical bearings instead, which means everything can be bolted up tight, camber can be adjusted easily by just shimming behind the upright, and friction should be a bit more consistant as all the loads are taken through the bearing surfaces with no pinching/rocking effects like the old link pins had.
Whilst we were at it I took the opportunity to correct some of the VW front geometery at the same time - so we have less castor gain, less mechanical trail (as we have a fair amount with the castor we run and the big off road tyres give quite a bit of pnuematic trail as well), and I've corrected a lot of the scrub offset issues the Kingpin setup had
The axle has also been shifted down to the lower arm point - this lifts the arms further out of the dirt if running in deep, soft mud/peat, etc, and also means we can have a bit more travel up front (as we were only limited by arm angles in droop)
We're just waiting for the parts back from the laser cutters and the actual ones can go together:
Well, been hunting down some issues with the engine for mapping (turned out to be an intermittent air leak on gasket but took ages to hunt it down), and we're still having some problems with the dash that are being worked on atm.
And, whilst we were putting the front suspension back together....well, the front fell off. I know it's not supposed to fall off but...for those unfamiliar with the old Beetles, the front uprights are a link and kingpin setup - basically there's a big Kingpin vertically that sits inside needle bearings, which allows the steering to happen. Then on the end of the front arms, two pins stick out horizontally into some bronze bushes for the upright to pivot on when the suspension cycles up and down.
Now, that's a relatively robust setup, as it's basically just some huge hardened steel pins taking the loads, but it also means you have to deliberately leave the pins loose to allow the suspension to cycle, which means even in perfect condition there's always some slop in the system, and also as the loads change and things flex, the friction in the front suspension jumps up and down as the bronze bushes get pinched, the pins rock in them, etc, and general wear and tear makes it a lot worse as dirt can get in easily.
The steering effort also changes a lot, as the kingpin runs against a hardened steel washer - so the friction there changes a lot with load - if you look back through the old photo's you'll see I replaced it with a bronze+acetal thrust washer when I rebuilt them the last time to help it out, in order to give more consistant feedback through the wheel.
After a lot of trial and effort to get the required angles and clearances, we've managed to get just about get enough room to switch out to a new upright using a pair of spherical bearings instead, which means everything can be bolted up tight, camber can be adjusted easily by just shimming behind the upright, and friction should be a bit more consistant as all the loads are taken through the bearing surfaces with no pinching/rocking effects like the old link pins had.
Whilst we were at it I took the opportunity to correct some of the VW front geometery at the same time - so we have less castor gain, less mechanical trail (as we have a fair amount with the castor we run and the big off road tyres give quite a bit of pnuematic trail as well), and I've corrected a lot of the scrub offset issues the Kingpin setup had
The axle has also been shifted down to the lower arm point - this lifts the arms further out of the dirt if running in deep, soft mud/peat, etc, and also means we can have a bit more travel up front (as we were only limited by arm angles in droop)
We're just waiting for the parts back from the laser cutters and the actual ones can go together:
Wightsparks
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You knew it was coming 
Wightsparks
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There goes the last little bit of Beetle !
Shox Dr
Chief Engineer to Carlos Fandango
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- 18,011
- Location
- East Yorkshire
Wightsparks
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That's the only bit of beetle left on mine too - oh and I suppose the rear torsion tube (not the bars though)...
PhillipM
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Been chasing down an intermittent, annoying issue for the past month or so where the car would only fire up 50 percent of the time - and sometimes would cut out for no apparent reason, eventually traced it to a dicky cam sensor and some split wiring on the only original part of the cars loom we kept - the coil connectors, doh. Anyway, after taking allsorts off finally found them, repaired 'em and turned the key, boring video but god was I happy!
Sound is a bit funky as the phone clips hard on the audio that close and the exhaust's blowing from the elbow there 'cause it just got slapped on.
Sound is a bit funky as the phone clips hard on the audio that close and the exhaust's blowing from the elbow there 'cause it just got slapped on.
