fastbug.net

Beetle Challenge

2010-03-16T08:24:00.003Z

The 2010 Beetle Challenge season starts at Brands Hatch on the 27th March, then the cars head up to the Volksworld show at Sandown Park on the 28th.

For more information visit beetlechallenge.com.

Urban

2009-07-06T13:26:00.002+01:00

Some pictures by the old Elizabeth Shaw chocolate factory in Bristol, UK.

Oil leak

2009-05-08T13:21:00.003+01:00

I had a bit of an oil leak yesterday. I got onto the motorway, and suddenly I had a huge cloud of white smoke behind me. :( I knew it must have been oil on the exhaust, so I turned round and headed home, keeping an eye on the oil pressure gauge. At one point it started to dip a little so I stopped and topped it up with oil again.

Anyway, the cause was this:

As you can see the gasket decided it wanted to be the wrong shape, and oil escaped out from under it. So now with a new gasket it should be ok. I have used a new rocker cover clip too, just in case. Not sure if this was the cause or not, but at some point in my rocker cover's life, someone used a silicone sealant on it. That's stupid for two reasons, one its quite slippery and might cause the gasket to move out of position (did that happen here?), and two, bits of it might end up in the oil system which is not good (although they will be filtered out). Anyway I cleaned it all off. NO sealant should be used at all, only good gaskets and clips, and clean dry sealing faces.

Previous development

2009-04-21T21:01:00.003+01:00

A few development shots. Here you can see my garage, and the front wheel and strut without the wing (fender) on.

More shots of the removeable rear section, and interior.

Germanlook Forums

2009-04-14T08:06:00.003+01:00

www.germanlook.com was a great source of information on the Germanlook VW scene. A lively forum packed with a huge amount of quality content with sections on engines, suspension, brakes etc. However it did recently disappear, for one reason or another. The good news is its all back, at a new url: www.germanlook.net.

Horray - new content!

2009-03-17T15:32:00.008Z

So my last update was back in may 2008. Oh dear.

Quite a lot has happened since then. Basically the car is finished to the point where I got it MOTed, and am now driving it around! Here are some recent pictures. Note that its still missing the front airdam, and running boards.

The next job after finishing the front brakes was to fit them, then plumb together the brake lines, and fill it with brake fluid. Unfortunatly this didn't go totally to plan, as when I filled it with fluid, it leaked out of most my connections. I worked out that the brake pipe nuts i had used were incorrect. I had used 10mmx1mm nuts, but the threads covered the entire length of the nut. What was happening was when these where screwed in, they were running out of thread before they had suficiently squashed the flair on the end of the pipe. I basically had to replace all the fittings with new ones, that weren't threaded to the end. Once filled and leak tested, I could test the pedal travel. I am using the stock master cylinder, and with the much large piston area of the brakes there was the possibility that the pedal would not be able to pump enough fluid and would run out of travel. However its fine; travel is a little more than stock, but not a great deal more. Some road use has shown it to brake very well, although the rears are getting very hot. That either means that they are binding, or doing more work than they should be doing.

I hope to post some more posts in the future on how i got to this point, but just needed to get these pics up so you can see that the project is still alive!

Front brakes finished

2008-05-24T20:06:00.003+01:00

I have now made the calliper mounting plates for my front brake assembly. Ages ago I made a template out of an old drum brake backing plate. Then I transferred that to a cad drawing. I printed that off, and made an MDF version, just to check everything was in the correct place. Then I made some steel versions. One of the things I was nervous about was cutting the central 70mm hole. I bought a hole cutter, but wasn't sure it would get through the plate without the teeth wilting! However it did cut though quite easily! I used a friends pillar drill with a nice slow speed, plenty of oil to keep it cool, and it worked fine. The mounting bolt holes where drilled, and the calliper mount holes were drilled and tapped.

As you can see I painted it all black to protect it all, and I am very pleased with the final result. When I filled the system with brake fluid I had a few leaks. Well every joint on to the Goodridge brake lines leaked. I eventually worked out that I had used the wrong fittings. I had used the fully threaded nuts instead of the partially threaded ones. Once I had re-made most of my brake lines, I had no leaks and was able to bleed the system. Now bled and the original master cylinder looks like it will be ok. Pedal travel is obviously further than stock, but its not too bad, and has plenty of reserve travel. Can't wait to try them!

**Edit**
Here is the caliper bracket cad file in .3dm format.
caliperbracket.3dm (42KB)

Readers?

2007-09-24T20:51:00.000+01:00

I often wonder if anyone reads this blog? Maybe no-one does! I know I don't update it very often, and it would be much better if I did, but I just don't make much progress very often. Anyway, if you read this, let me know. I have enabled comments.

Sparkling Graphite Metalic Grey

2007-08-17T15:38:00.000+01:00

This is a 2006 BMW colour, and doesn't it look fab! So I have finally got it back, actually it hasn't taken that long. The bodyshop still have the panels, but at the moment I don't need them back, and have nowhere to put them. Seeing a car transform from the multicoloured dirt covered object it was before, in to this, is quite amazing. Next task is to re-unite it with the chassis.

Primer

2007-07-17T11:04:00.000+01:00

The beetle is now in etch primer at the bodyshop. Its been a lot of work for them, but the results are good.

Mounting Porsche discs on Beetle spindles

2007-06-28T15:46:00.002+01:00

The brake parts I had collected were a pair of rear calipers from a 95-98 Porsche 993 (911) with their corresponding discs, and 944 NA aluminium hubs. I wanted to get the hubs to fit stock beetle spindles, as this was much easier than trying to modify the 944 ones which are a different size, and different strut angle to the beetle ones. Making the Porsche hubs fit the beetle spindles could be done it two ways: Use beetle bearings and machine the hub to take spacers, or use Porsche bearings and machine spacers to fit over the beetle spindle. As the beetle spindle is shorter than the Porsche one, it was easier to machine the hubs and fit inserts. Then I can keep the beetle bearings and seals and still use beetle struts etc.

fastbughub.dwb - 0.57MB
fastbughub.dxf - 0.88MB
fastbughub.igs - 2.23MB

I approached a friend of mine who also happens to be an excellent machinist and engineer. He stepped up to the challenge, and the first job was to make some accurate technical drawings of the parts. I created these with help another friend at my place of work.

Using the CAD images the hub was superimposed on the spindle showing the size of the required spacers. Notice the 2mm (approximate) gap either end of the bearings; this was increased to 4mm by machining out the hub to give the spacer more material.

The base of the hub was machined to clear the spindle, and provide space for the seal. An aluminium spacer was pressed in to hold the seal in the correct position.

In order to machine the hub accurately in relation to the disc mounting face, tools where made up to hold the hub on this surface, rather than just mounting the hub in a chuck:

The finished hubs showing inserts and also bearing shells pressed in:

The total run-out of the assembled system is less than 0.01mm.

The next task is to create a metal plate to bolt to the drum brake spindle and hold the caliper.

Paint!

2007-06-20T09:27:00.001+01:00

I have finally made it to the point that its now paintable. All welding has been done, and all holes cut. It got to the point that I just wanted it gone, so some areas I haven't cleaned up as much as I would like, but the body shop can do that.

The front spoiler is completed. I cut the hole for the oil cooler, and drilled all the rivet holes. Covering the hole will be an aliminium surround with a mesh screen. I joggled the hole to hold the mesh in place. I cut the fuel filler cap hole using a holesaw of exactly the right size.

Looking for a body shop was an interesting experience! I had a couple of places give me massive quotes for doing the work. One quoted around £7000 for the work, but that sounded like a 'I don't want to do it' quote. One place quoted me around £3000 for it, but once the paperwork came through it was £3000 + VAT! At least they came round; One body shop near me said they would come round on a Monday night. I waited around for them, but no-one turned up. Next day I called them, and the guy said 'oh sh*t, sorry, will be around tonight'. Waited around again, nothing. Now, I don't know about you, but that really p*sses me of. Thats two hours of my life I will never get back! Called them the next day:

Me: Hello, you were supposed to come out and give me a quote again
last night?
Them: Oh, he must have forgotten again. Are you there now?
Me: No, I am at work, and to be honest, I don't really want a quote now, I would just like to know why you stood me up twice?
Them: You won't get far with that attitude!
Me: Huh? What attitude, you stood me up!
Them: Well your attitude sucks..
Me: You can't understand why I am a little p*ssed off?
Them: No, and I expect your car is a bit of a pig anyway!
And with that, he put the phone down! Well thanks, but no thanks. Quite how he expects to run a business like that I don't know. Anyway I had a look around their workshop and its a pretty small dirty place, so I don't expect the work would have been any good.

Eventualy I found another body shop who were quite happy to do it for a much more reasonable fee, so got the business. I borrowed a flatbed trailer from a friend, loaded it up and took it down.

There is quite a pile of things to paint as well as the body: four wings, 2 doors, a bonnet, decklid, airdam, spoiler, engine fan shroud, rear valence and a bucket of smaller things such as headlight rings and door handles. In order to paint the chromed items such as headlight rings you really need to remove the chrome as the paint will eventually come off it. To do this I mounted a zirconium flap disk on the grinder then mounted the grinder in the vice, using a bolt in the handle hole. This then allowed me to hold the part in two hands, and carefully take all the chrome off.

Now all I can do it wait for the painting to be done, I can't wait!

We're getting there, slowly.. :)

2007-04-22T16:46:00.000+01:00

I have decided to hand the bodyshell over to a bodyshop to finish it all off. I no longer have the time, nor the inclination to finish it myself. The weather has been excellent recently, and I am now desperate to get it done so I can get out in it. I have been doing some fiddly little bits, like drilling holes in the doors for the mirrors, cutting the front valence for the oil cooler, patched a few little holes, add on some tabs to hold front speaker kick panels, etc.

I have started to mock up a front airdam. Its essentially a big piece of steel wrapped around the front. I created a cardboard template, transferred that to the steel, then cut the steel out. The airdam will bolt onto the front valence and wings, and will have a metal structure behind to hold it out. It will be painted body colour. I am not sure how well it will work out, but I can but try. A better solution would have been completely re-shaped body panels, but that's beyond me really.

Rear valence

2007-03-19T10:25:00.000Z

I replaced the rear valence with a new Mexican style one, because the old one had a few holes in here and there. This was a nice simple job as it was all very easy to get too, especially as the whole thing is removable!

I also sourced some more welding wire as I am getting low, paint on seam sealer, and a tin of panel wipe. This panel wipe is excellent stuff, it was very effective and removing dirt and grime from a test area I tried it on. I guess it does exactly what it says on the tin! No more using my expensive carb cleaner aerosol for cleaning.

Next job will be to dig out my front wings, bold them on, and start to create my front spoiler.

I'm a daddy!

2007-02-07T10:27:00.000Z

Elliott, Born 26th Jan. I'm pretty stoked, what an amazing experience! Now to train him up on the spanners.. :)

Out of the blue

2007-01-19T21:56:00.000Z

One of my bugs previous owners contacted me the other day, after seeing the car on the website. It was good to catch up on some of the history behind the car, and he sent me some old photos of the car. If you are curious about your cars previous owners, you can write to the DVLA and for a small fee they will send you a list of names and addresses. Most will be very happy to remaniss about the car... Anyway here are the pictures.

Recent progress

2006-12-25T13:43:00.001Z

What better time than Christmas day to spend updating the website! :) Work has been slow again recently, but some major work has been undertaken. The existing front scuttle panel (under the windscreen) was covered in filler, and when that was taken off, several rather crusty areas were exposed. I decided it was going to be easiest to replace the whole panel. I cut in along each side and unpicked the spot welds along the window frame. I then did the same on my other bodyshell, which was in much better condition in this area. Then it welded in it. It worked really well, and there were no tricky areas.

The next big job was the removable rear valance. Again my other bodyshell was in better condition in this area, so that's what I used. I want the whole back to be removable, from the firewall backwards. This will allow for maximum engine access.

The valance will be attached at the top with two bolts, then the side panels will bolt together, and more bolts at the bottom. More detail in that to follow. You can see on one of the images the repair I had to make under the vent above the wheel arch. This will be covered with filler.

Oh, and Merry Christmas!

Kafer-cup brace clearancing

2006-10-17T20:53:00.000+01:00

I have replaced the right inner wheel arch body to chassis mount panel. In order for the kafer-cup brace to clear this panel I had to cut a bit of it out. I hope this doesn't weaken this area too much?

Welding

2006-09-09T13:30:00.008+01:00

I have been very busy welding up the body shell. I have replaced a lot of old, thin and rusty metal with good metal, and its been quite a journey. With the help of my friend Jason, we replaced both heater channels. Having someone experienced help you with these things makes a massive difference, and he was able to get both channels in pretty quickly and accuratly. The door gaps are spot on and we had no major problems. Then it was just a case of finishing everything else off. I am not there yet, with plenty more welding required, but I have probobly done around 80% of the welding.

I have my welder set up now, so it welds well every time, even with C02 gas. I have found one of the things that influences how well a panel goes in is the ammount of preparation that you put into the panel first. If it fits well, and is clean, it will go in nicely. I have tried to use weld-through zinc primer where ever possible so hold off the rust as long as possible.

Anyway, pictures tell a thousand words, so here they are..

Once I have done all the welding I can with the car in its current position, I will need to lift it up of its chassis, and be placed on some stands. This will allow me to get under it and finish of the underside.

Body Shell Shenanigans

2006-05-20T11:53:00.001+01:00

I have sourced another bodyshell to replace my white one (thanks guys)!

I made this decision because my white shell had been rolled in the past (not by me!), and had some accident damage to the right roof seam, and right rear quarter. This red shell needs the same work as the white shell, without the roof and rear quarter damage. The work its going to need is as follows:

Heater channels
Front lower bulkhead
Rear inner arches
Rear valence
Some minor repairs to front strut towers

As you can see above I have cut out the right heater channel. It was very easy, because there wasn't much of it left! Unfortunatly my grinder gave up the ghost on me, so I am currently waiting for a replacement. I also got myself an airpowered hacksaw, cause I am lazy.. :)

I think my calipers foxed the guys at PorscheTech because they turned out to be rear calipers. Thanks to Mikey at www.germanlook.com, who correctly identified them as rear calipers from a 95-98 Porsche 993 (911). I got the relevent rotors for this caliper, and they fit perfectly, and also come cross-drilled as standard (yum). I will use these as a template for drilling my rear disks too.

I also cleaned up my gearbox, as it was pretty grubby. I couldn't move it around the garage without putting a bio-hazard suit on! So I removed all the corrosion, dirt and oil using a variety of wire wheels in my drill and grinder. I then sprayed it with Por Metal Ready to neutralise any remaining corrosion. It was then given a coat of zinc primer, followed by normal primer, then finished with a topcoat of matt black paint. Looks nice eh? This is a twin sideplate AT box, which replaced my 1300 box quite a few years ago. I need to replace the drive flange seals really, as it leaks a little.

Shifter

2006-03-25T18:36:00.000Z

Bit of eye candy for you! Purchased last year, this neat shifter comes from CAE-Automobiltechnik. Can't wait to bolt this in.

Rotors

2006-03-15T18:16:00.000Z

In order to complete my front brakes, I need to get some rotors that would fit my calipers. As I don't know what they are from (and there are no part numbers on them), I headed down to PorscheTech in Bedminster, Bristol. The guys down there were very helpful and identified the calipers as belonging to a 944S2 or 968. With this information I could determine their part numbers, and what rotors they need. The caliper part numbers are 951 351 421 03 and 951 351 421 03, and the rotors are 951 351 041 02. These rotors are 298x28 in size, which sounds right for the calipers.

All I need to get now are the hubs.

Por15

2006-03-07T20:45:00.000Z

After getting the chassis back from the blasters I spent a manic few days working on the chassis. One of the main things I wanted to do was put a large chamber behind the drivers seat suitable for housing an exhaust silencer. As I had to cut the battery tray out anyway as it was rusty, I thought this would be quite neat. Although there will be an anti-roll bar in the way, if I can get round this, it would allow me to bring the whole exhaust system forward of the engine. If not I am sure I can use it for something else, like an oil cooler or something.

The fact that I only needed to replace the battery tray, and a small area at the rear of the floorpan on the other side, just goes to show what amazing condition this chassis is. Nothing suggests that these floorpans are not the original ones, and for a 1303, this is just incredible. Pity the body is not in such good condition!

So next was the paint. For this task I used POR15, which I had heard great things about. I made sure I covered up well, because once its on your skin it just doesn't come off, it really just stains the skin. It was a very thick paint and went on very well. Time will tell though as to how good it really is. I am not sure if I would use it again. It took me much longer that I expected to do the welding, and in that time it started to rust a little (not that that should bother POR15). If I were to do it again I would probably have just covered it in zinc primer, done the welding, then painted it with black 2-pack.

Now its all black and shiny I can start plumbing in brake and fuel lines. I am putting in two new fuel lines, one main and one return line, for future fuel injection. I will just use one for now. The following picture just show one, but the other is now next to it. Both brake and fuel lines are kunifer which is a copper nickel alloy. This is much stronger than pure copper, and doesn't harden with vibration.

Trailer

2006-01-18T21:30:00.000Z

I have borrowed a flatbed trailer from a friend in order to take the chassis to the shot blasters. I had to rebuild the brakes, and swap the tyres in order to use it. However I will need it all year, so its a fair trade. :)

VZI Calendar

2006-01-04T08:50:00.000Z

My Volkszone Calender was waiting for me when I got home after a recent holiday. It was created to help aid the Brad's Cancer Foundation, and features the girls and VWs of Volkszone. The girls and dubs look fantastic, and they are such good sports. If you haven't got yours get, please purchase one fromwww.vzicalendar.com. Well done all those involved in its creation.

Volksworld Dyno Shoot Out

2005-12-09T15:18:00.000Z

This weekend I am going to RaceShack for the Volksworld Dyno Shoot Out. I have a new camera (a Sony DSC-H1 Cybershot), and am looking forward to getting some cool shots of hi-po dubs on the dyno. I might be going up in a friends buggy (cold!), or I might take the van (warm!).

Big brakes

2005-10-03T07:31:00.000+01:00

I have sourced a good pair of Porsche Brembo 4 pot brake calipers. As you can see they dwarf the stock brakes. They will obviously need an adapter plate to mount them, but I am hoping there will be space for a simple peice of laser cut plate steel.

Ready to blast

2005-09-23T15:32:00.000+01:00

I have now stripped the chassis completly, and it is ready for shot blasting. I will leave the floorpans on for now and get them blasted too. They are in pretty good nick, and it would be pointless to cut them off if all they need are some new corners. After blasting I will be able to see areas that need attention, and I can also throw some paint on it.

To prepare the chassis for blasting I will need to cover all the holes to stop blast medium from entering. Then its just a case of carting it down the blasting shop.

The smaller items, like trailing arms for example, I will get shot blasted and powder coated. I like the finish and hardwearing properties of powercoat, and it saves me the effort of painting them.

Body now off

2005-08-10T07:31:00.000+01:00

Last night with the help of some friends, I lifted the body shell of the chassis. It went without a hitch, well, one fuel pipe was still connected which I missed!

The chassis is as good as I thought. The original floor pans are still excellent, and all the important bits like the frame head and rear suspension is mint.

I am really looking forward to getting stuck into the resto. First job will be to make up something to hold the struts in place so I can move the the chassis about without the front wheels flopping about the place.

Separating body and pan

2005-07-24T20:16:00.002+01:00

I have now done the following to disconnect the body from the floorpan:

Taken out all the bolts down either sill
Undone the two at the front on the chassis on the inside.
Undone the four behind the battery compartment on the inside
The bolts near the rear shocks
The four large bolts at the front behind the frame head
Undone the centre steering tie-rod at either end This was easier than taking the arm off the steering box
Cut the brake fluid pipes feeding the master cylinder
Made sure the front flexy brake pipes were disconnected from the body
Pulled the speedo cable out of the hub

I then put a jack under the rear valance, and jacked the rear of the body up. The rear jacking points had been tacked to the under sill closing panels, so I sliced them free. However there is something sticking at the front to sort out.

Rust

2005-07-19T07:53:00.001+01:00

Well I did it. The bug is definitely off the road now. It is SORNed, so I can't drive it anyway. I have taken all the wings off and there are no nasty surprises waiting for me. All the rust found was what I expected. It will probably need a complete rear quarter as this picture shows.

I have taken the engine out already, then its seats and fuel tank, then I will get the lads round and lift it off the floorpan and put it outside under the car port. I can then get on with the floorpan. In the following pictures you can see the engine out, my new struts in place, and a nice garage scene!

Resto time?

2005-06-27T13:13:00.000+01:00

I am starting to have serious thoughts about taking the bug off the road completely and doing its full restoration. I started thinking like this as a result of playing around with the rear disc brake kit.

In order to try out the kit, I needed to take the rear drum and backing plate off. In order to that I needed to disconnect the brake line etc. So now to get the bug back on the road, I need to bleed the brakes, use yet another split pin in the hub castle nut, and I am just sick and tired of doing modifications, and having to get the bug back on the road so I can drive it.

Modifying my bug the way I am doing it is so inefficient. I am better off just taking it off the road and doing it all at the same time. Its so long overdue anyway!

Disc re-drilling

2005-06-24T08:27:00.001+01:00

Well, my attempts at re-drilling my old disks for a Porsche stud pattern was only partially successful. I used a ready made jig to position the holes which went well, however my attempts at tapping the holes to take conversion studs was less successful. I didn't get them straight enough, so when I screwed the studs in they where not quite true, and I couldn't get the spacers on!

So now I need to drill out the holes for some push through studs but this means milling the backs of the disks where the holes are, so more hold-ups!

However I did manage to pick up a rear disk brake kit last night which looks good. It's this CB Performance kit, and it uses Porsche 914 discs and Mk4 Golf callipers. I am looking forward to bolting that on. The kit was missing the handbrake cables, so I will need to sort that. I would also need to add a residual pressure valve in the rear brake line.

Porsche discs and studs

2005-06-16T13:10:00.001+01:00

The struts are now on, but I still don't know if they are any good. However I do know that they easily support the weight of the car, and look like they will provide ample adjustment of ride height.

At the same time of fitting the struts I am also swapping my disks and drums with some drilled with a Porsche stud pattern, to enable me to fit my wheels. I got these cheap from a friend. However, it turns out the disks are odd, and one of them won't fit my caliper, it has a slightly different offset. I never knew that was possible. It turns out the previous owner of the disks had some odd calipers on his bug, which would explain it! So I am just going to drill my old 4 stud discs, at least I know they will fit then.

Struts MK2

2005-06-06T15:40:00.001+01:00

Back in April I built a set of adjustable struts, and I had a few issues with them. Well now I have built another set! This time I have mounted the threaded sleeve much nearer the top of the strut, which will enable me to use a much shorter spring. This will enable me to get springs more easily (I had a problem getting 12" springs), reduce the unsprung weight of the struts, and reduce the chance of spring wobbling about and hitting the shock retention cap.

Here is a picture of the new strut in parts (on the left). Compare with the old strut on the right.

I was limited to how close I could get the threaded sleeve to the shock retention cap because the shock has a flaired section at the top. The flaired section of the strut has to go over this, but then thats too wide for the sleeve!

Also, in order for the shock retention cap to fit in the spring I had to reduce its diameter a little. I did this by fitting the cap in my piller drill, then spinning it while taking material off it with a softpad in the grinder. Its pretty thick so you can take off quite a lot. It flairs out quite a bit at the bottom, so this is where you need to take most off. I also rounded it off, so if the spring does touch it, there is nothing to catch the spring on.

In order to use the top spring cap, I had to use early strut top bearings. The late ones require a deeply dished cap, which would just not work with the caps you get with the sleeves. The springs are 10.5" by 130lbs. This should be the right length, and hopefully the right stiffness, though I can easily change them if need be. The sleeves and springs where sourced from Rally Design, and the yellow bump-stops are from Hoopers here in Bristol.

Oil cooler

2005-04-21T10:32:00.001+01:00

The other night I fitted an oil cooler to the engine. This I did to control the oil temperature a little better on the motorway, and on the track. I found that sustained high RPM caused the oil to heat up beyond 100°c. I would really rather keep the oil temperature below 100°c, so an oil cooler was the solution.

This consisted of a 16 row square shaped cooler which I mounted vertically to the left of the gearbox. Stainless steel braded oil hose carries the oil from a take-off plate which fits between the oil filter, and boss. This take-off plate contains a thermostat that allows oil to flow through the cooler when its above 80°c. All this kit was purchased from Think Automotive. It is top quality kit, and hopefully where I have installed it should get a good airflow at speed, and keep the oil temp under control.

Porsche cup-2 rims

2005-04-15T09:34:00.003+01:00

I have recently purchased some new wheels for the bug. They are cup 2's, 7.5"x17" ET65 and 8"x17" ET52. It is my intention to make them fit! Here is a picture, on the left is one of my existing Porsche 2-litre alloys, and on the right a cup 2.

In order to do this I need to make some modifications. Firstly at the rear I need to cut the bump stop down a little, and remove one of the bolts from the spring plate, probobly by turning it into a stud threaded into the trailing arm. At the front its a bit less straight forward. I need to reduce the diameter of the springs, so the wheel can tuck under, because they would touch the springs at the moment. Here I have a few options:

Solution	Pros	Cons
Kerscher struts	Best solution, with excelent quality and adjustability	High cost
Bugpack or similar struts with toplineparts.com slimline springs	Simple solution, as I already have Bugpack struts	Not sure they are thin enough
toplineparts.com Maxx strut	Similar to Kerscher strut, but cheaper	Fixed adjustment steps
Home made slimline struts	I can make them how I like, and they will be cheap	Not as easy as I thought!

Well I started to make my own. Below is a picture. I used a threaded sleave welded over a shortened late 1303 strut, with a MK1 Golf (Rabbit) shock absorber insert. The MK1 golf shock is about 25mm shorter than a 1303 one. The welding is not as neat as I would like, and because the top of the strut is flaired, it will be very close the spring, which might rub on it. I also wish I had welded the sleave on further up, so I could use a shorter spring. I am probobly going to get the springs and try them anyway, they might be ok. Got to try haven't I?

Raceshack

2005-03-09T22:32:00.002Z

I visited RaceShack today. First we weighed the car. In total it weighed 939kg, and the following at each wheel:

	Left	Right
Front	200	213
Rear	246	279

We did a run and it was suggested that the 162 main jets be swapped for 170 jets. This we did and power was up 8bhp for a total of 75bhp @ 4750rpm and 85ft/lbs @ 4500 at the wheels.

Overall I was very pleased with the few hours I spent there, and very pleased with the engine output.

Clutch slip

2005-02-17T09:07:00.000Z

The other day after a long run, the clutch started to slip. It was a rather tired clutch when I built the engine, but I thought it would be ok. Obviously now I regret not forking out £80 for a new clutch kit at the time. So the engine had to come out again. What a pain! It takes ages to take everything off again, the carbs & manifolds, the exhaust, the breather pipes, even the oil filler tube had to come off to pull the engine back far enough, which ment the oil had to come out too.. Well its done now. The new clutch is much lighter than the last one, hope it holds up.

Carbs fixed

2005-02-06T18:59:00.000Z

After having the carbs off again, I have found the blockage that was causing the lean mixture. Well actually I didn't actually find anything wrong, but I stripped them down again, took all the jets out, and made sure they were clear. I worked out that the blockage must have been between the main and idle jet chambers. So I got some welding wire and pushed it though carefully, with lots of carb cleaner. Although I didn't see any dirt come out, it solved the problem. Then engine runs much better now, very smooth and with much more power.

Vroom!

2005-01-17T16:09:00.000Z

I have now swapped the fan and carbs over. The new fan unit I have is much nicer. It has an internal regulator, so I had to bypass my existing regulator. I did this by connecting the G light pin on the alternator to a wire on that goes to the regulator, but then straight onto the G light. The alternator also needed a dedicated earth.

I have now done nearly 100 miles on it now. The DLRAs are much nicer than the webers. The power is smooth, although until recently there was lots of popping through the exhaust and the carbs on idle, but I richened up the idle circuit and its much better now. I still have a little bit of popping through the carbs, but only on number one. Pulling the spark plug showed that this cylinder was leaner than the others (not dangerously so). I am guessing there is a blockage in the idle circuit for that barrel.

I did a compression test. All cylinders were 100psi and all within 1 or 2 psi of each other, which is great. I would be happier if they were all 150psi, but then its a low compression engine, with second hand rings.

So whats it like to drive? Well up till now It hasn't been driven on more that 3/4 throttle and not over 5k. However even with those restrictions its a joy to drive. Considering its got quite a racey cam in it, its very drivable at low revs, having loads of torque. It just pulls hard right up to 5k and I expect it will go much higher if I let it. The need for self control is immense!

Last night I made up some rear tinwear. I borrowed a nibbler from a friend, and cut it out from 1.5mm stainless. Its not as neat as it could be, but will do the job.

Bye bye Weber, hello Dellorto

2005-01-04T14:41:00.000Z

I have sourced another set of carbs. This time a pair of Dellorto 45 DLRAs, in nice condition. I have cleaned them up and they are ready to go. Before they go on though I am debating cutting some access panels in the inner wings, to make tuning the carbs easier. I have another 911 alternator and fan comming to me, and when that arrives and the carbs are on I intend to start putting some miles on her and fixing any teething troubles that might develop. Then I might make a trip to RaceShack and get them setup properly. :D

Carb problems

2004-12-20T16:18:00.000Z

Well although the engine is running, I have had some problems with my Carbs. We had real trouble getting them to behave themselves. Even with the air bypass screws closed, and the throttles backed right off, it would tick over way too fast. I believe the jets are all ok for this engine, so I don't really know. I think they have just had a hard life, and been messed around with too much. They will be useful for someone, but just not for me.

Anyway to test this, I borrowed a pair of 36 Dellortos from a friend, bolted them on and the engine runs so much better. I didn't have to fiddle with them at all. So the Webers will get put on the shelf, and I will source a good pair of Dellortos.

Engine support

2004-12-14T08:53:00.001Z

I have another theory on the oil priming issue (as suggested by Jeff). Because the oil filter was filled with oil, for the pump to prime it would have had to push air through the (oil filled) filter, which would have been quite difficult. So if I were to do it again, I would have removed the filter before cranking to prime the pump, then replace the filter and continue.

Here are some pictures of the engine support bar that was made up (thanks again DrDub), and then powder coated (thanks Jeff). As you can see it goes up above the j-tubes and is solid mounted on the bumper mounts (i don't plan to run bumpers, if you did you could weld the bar supports onto the bumper irons). The bar mounts to the engine with the stock rubber mounts.

She lives!

2004-12-13T16:41:00.001Z

Well the engine has now been run! I had some friends to help me out (thanks DrDub and Jeff!). We had a bit of trouble building oil pressure before we started it. First of all the engine was filled with oil (Quantum 15W/40), and the oil filter was filled. The spark plugs were removed and the engine cranked over, but no pressure showed on my gauge, and the idiot light didn't go out. So, I took the oil pressure sender off, and cranked over again. No oil appeared. Next the oil pressure relief valve was removed and checked, it was found to be OK. Next the pump cover was removed. There was a bit of oil in there, but I pumped some more on and around the gears before replacing the cover. Next the filter was removed. This time oil came out of the filter mount. So the filter was screwed back on, and oil was now appearing at the pressure sender. The sender was screwed back on and hay-presto; fuel pressure! So I don't really know why we had this problem, it could of been a pump priming problem, but the pump had graphogen on the gears so it should have. Next time I would probably try and rig up some kind of vacuum priming system, as the engine had to be cranked over without oil pressure much more than I would have liked.

Exhaust

2004-11-23T12:49:00.001Z

Me and DrDub have knock up an exhaust system. It is based on some shortened J-tubes, a BAS header and a custom silencer setup. Actually the J-tubes I had were too short, the header fowled on the pully, so they had to be lengthened again, which was done in situe so we could get everything right.. I think its very neat. The weight of the header is taken by a bracket welded onto a rear support bar bracket. The silencer is fixed by another bracket to one of the J-tubes. The silencer tucks up very neatly in the wheel arch, and the tip of the exhaust has an angled end so you can hardly see it under the car at all.

Engine installed

2004-10-27T16:31:00.001+01:00

Last night I put the engine into the bug! Its taken a year...

I used my standard procedure for putting an engine in a beetle: Use a massive jack under the rear section of the floorpan, and jack it right up. Place the engine under the car, using a smaller jack. Rest the engine on blocks of wood (so the smaller jack can remain under it). Lower the car down onto the engine (careful!), then use the smaller jack to fine tune the engine height to slide it on to the gearbox. I have done it enough times with not enough jacks or not big enough ones, to know that a very large jack for jacking the entire car up makes life much easier. Once I had realised i needed to tip the engine up slightly to clear the fan ring, and that I needed to cut a small section out of the valence, it was much easier.

Good head

2004-09-20T16:31:00.001+01:00

I received the heads a few weeks ago from Microgiant. The work looks good, although one of the rocker shaft retainers was broken! Although the rocker geometry is not spot on I have decided to use the standard length pushrods, I believe the lengths are within acceptable limits.

I have fitted my electric fuel pump to the bug, which was a bit fiddley, as space is very tight down there.

I have now got the pistons and barrels on, and the heads on. I have also put in the followers and pushrods on one side. Now left to do is finish off the carb linkage, which is causing a bit of a headache, and install the cooling system. I have decided not to use the deep sump for now, there is no point when I am running the engine in, and will just get in the way when I am putting the engine in the car. I also have a problem with my exhaust. The BAS header doesn't get anywhere near the shortened J-tubes without fowling the pulley. It could be that the j-tubes were intended for another style of header. Either way I am going to have to think again about the exhaust.. :(

Bottom end together

2004-08-20T16:30:00.000+01:00

After a long period of little progress I have taken a large step forward. With a help from a good friend Dr Dub (www.ultimate-engineering.co.uk), I now have the bottom end together. There were no problems with it, especially when it came to torqueing the case up. The crank turns smoothly with no tight spots. We used a product called Graphogen on the bearing surfaces, which should really help in those critical first couple of seconds.

I still don't have my heads back from Microgiant, they have had to go abroad to get the inlet valves as they couldn't get them in that size in the UK. I sent them a set of 1700cc rocker assemblies which have allowed him to fit Ford Courier swivel foot adjusters which, according to Microgiant are better lubricated than the Porsche 911 type. Looking forward to getting them back, as its holding me up now. When they are back I will cc them and work out my compression ratio.

Fan ring

2004-06-09T16:30:00.000+01:00

I have sanded down the fan ring a little and it now fits into the shroud much better. I have a slight problem in that the fan ring sits a little too far out, so I will have to space out the lower pulley a little. There is nothing stopping me putting the bottom end together now. Trouble is once I start doing that, i need the place to be very clean, but I am worried that I will need to do more mods to the case etc after putting it together.

Goodies in the post

2004-06-01T16:29:00.000+01:00

I have picked up a great breather box from CSP in Germany, as well as a few other things (like flywheel centre bearings, rocker cover breather vents etc). I also picked up some air filters and fitting for my carbs, and a CB Performance electric fuel pump from VW Speedshop. This pump is great, it puts out at about 3.5 psi and therefor there is no need for a fuel pressure regulator.

Straight-cut timing gears

2004-05-25T15:28:00.001+01:00

I have sourced some straight cut timing gears! They were a good price otherwise I wouldn't bother, as I know they won't get me much but a wicked whine! However it causes more bolt to oil pump clearance problems. I have had to machine the pump down even more, and also the bolt faces (I took a couple of mm off them all). They now clear the oil pump again. I have peened the rear off the oil pump to stop the pressed in shaft coming out and wiping out my engine (hope it works!).

I have decided not to use my windage tray, but will use a deep sump instead. I have heard reports of the windage tray causing problems with the oil backing up on top of the tray and not returning to the sump quickly enough. To fix this you have to cut the tray up a little. I managed to pick up a deep sump at the Volksworld show back at the end of march. That will allow me to run with a lower oil level (but still more oil than stock), which should discourage the oil to slop into the pistons and up into the heads. Eventually I would like to run a dry sump system.

Enthusiasm :(

2004-05-20T16:27:00.000+01:00

I have had trouble keeping my enthusiasm going recently, however I do have some updates. I made up an aluminium block that will allows me to mount the fan strap in the send place on the dizzy side. It utilises the bolt that goes through the front of the breather tower (well i will need a longer bolt), and then has a stud in the top of it for fixing the strap. I am now able to bolt the fan on straight and true. :) I have also finished the fan rear support bar too.

Something that I forgot to mention was that a while ago I decided to machine down the fan ring myself. Well 'machine' is too strong a word, I just got the grinder out with a soft pad on it! I took the ridge out that runs all the way around it, allowing me to use the wide strap I have. I also flatted off the area at the base of the ring so it sits snugly on the breather tower cover plate.

Fan mounting options

2004-04-28T16:26:00.000+01:00

I have now made up a metal cover plate for the breather tower and a rubber pad for the fan shroud to sit on. I also played with the strap a little more. The mounting on the right side (other side to the distributor) is fine, but the other side is not so good. The strap fixes on one side to the distributor clamp stud, but the other side needs some support. I might put in an aluminium block, held by the case through bolt, with another stud to fix the strap to. Any suggestions would be most welcome. Here are some more pictures of the engine. You can see my shroud placed on the case. Notice it has provision for the oil cooler in the stock location. Opinions are divided on how well these work, but I am willing to try.

Pretty fan

2004-04-20T16:25:00.001+01:00

I started to clean up my fan last night, its pretty dirty and has some minor surface corrosion, but underneath its loverly and shiny! :)

Microgiant

2004-04-19T15:15:00.001+01:00

I have sent my heads off to a company called Microgiant to have a bit of work done on them. I know I need new valves, but I also wanted them checked over and ready to bolt straight on when I get them back.

I have also sourced a fan strap so I have started playing around with the fan positioning. I have decided that I will use some thin galvanised metal that I have to cover the breather tower under the fan, probably glued on. I will then put a rubber sheet on that which the fan can sit on. I will also support the fan from the middle, down to the engine case, just to keep things rigid.

Oil pump

2004-03-22T16:23:00.000Z

At the weekend I sorted out an oil pump for my engine. Type 1 and type 4 pumps are constructed differently. The type 4 is a better design which doesn't need a cover plate. The gears are inserted into the pump from inside making it much less prone to leaking. However new type 4 pumps are very difficult to get hold of, so the solution is to use a type 1 pump, which luckily for us expects the same stud pattern and cam position. The downside is the type 1 pump needs to protrude much further into the case (the oil gears in a type 4 pump are half outside the engine case), and so needs some clearancing.

Decisions..

2004-03-05T16:22:00.000Z

After talking to some friends I might send my fan ring off to be machined down to sit better on the case, and also allow for the fitting of a wider strap. Any decision I have to make is whether to send my heads off to have new valve seats fitted. If I do then do I get anything extra done, what about new valves? Porting and polishing? Oh decisions, decisions!

Fan Strap

2004-03-04T15:47:00.000Z

I have started to think about the strap to hold the fan ring down. I have some stainless steel bits of metal given to me by a friend that look to be ideal for holding the fan ring on. They are exactly the right width. I will probably use 2 lengths of box section steel and a nut and bolt to make a clamp at the top.

Case issues

2004-02-27T15:46:00.000Z

I brought the case ready machined, but it wasn't quite right, the fan was slightly skewed, so I had to finish that off. I used a large sanding drum in a drill, which worked very well and gave a nice finish. Unfortunately I went through the case! Doh! However I believe I can still use it as I plan to cover that area with a stainless steel sheet.

Dubfreeze

2004-02-19T23:42:00.000Z

At Dubfreeze I was able to buy a Eurorace G grind cam, a Scat lube-a-lobe lifter set and a windage tray from Stateside Tuning.

Parts

2004-01-20T23:37:00.000Z

I have started collecting bits and pieces for my engine. So far I have:

Porsche fan assembly
Fan shroud allowing for cooler in stock position
Engine case, machined to seat the fan on the breather tower
2 litre crank and rods
1800 cylinder heads
94mm Pistons and barrels
Weber 44IDF carbs and manifolds
Shortened heater manifolds
BAS exhaust header
050 and 009 dizzys

Most of these items were brought as a job-lot from a friend of mine. I picked the carbs up at Vanfest last year, for £200!