Bruce, my front beam spec is nothing too special, the trick i believe is how its set up for different tracks/conditions, and getting the best from the tyres, there's many common knowledge mods that i wont use, stiffeners is one thing i avoid, at least untill i find i cant do without them, as i have no understeer whatsoever, i know its working well and so i am working on a new arb for next season, increasing from 22mm to 25, but tubular, also the rear 20mm bar robbed from a 996 is going to be replaced by a high mounted bar where the z bar would be on a standard, this bar and its fixings and the frame horns are the lowest part of the car, so i intend axing the frame horns, also to reduce weight further, ive been using a yoke for many years and ran with no frame horn fixings as a test this season to expand the feasability with no problems so far.
Anyway, to the beam, it uses split torsion bars for corner weighting purposes and to increase the poundage, i play with caster, usualy 12* but never less than two shims, some times more, to do this it needs drop spindles to prevent the tie rod bottoming on the frame. Camber is 3 1/2* with 're set' arms.. front arb is 20 mm adjustable. shoxs i play with, but keep coming back to gas spaxs. rear is 1303 with reduced camber by raised pivots, it needs reducing more so an arm flip is needed, 24mm rear tb with 20mm 996 tubular arb, i fancy 22mm short tb with saw adj' spring plates would be good too.
thats the crux of it really, nothing too special on back order to make down time painfully slow, as i do go to the edge with it and visit the wall for a chat on occasions, and most parts still have the VW logo on them. thanks for your interest.:cool:

spanners, just goes to show a b/j irs set up can be made to work very well. to many folk get hung up on "trick" bits and dont learn how to set up and drive what they have.
The set up on my 03 is nothing trick, mostly stock 1303 parts. Dont have any big problems with the handerling and it can keep up with most things on the hills.

Hi Rob, thanks mate, and you are bang on as usual, most problems are basic, starting with incorrect tyre pressures and how to read them, then braking, and most are over braked and therefore not getting them up to temp' which again comes back to getting the tyres working at the right temp, mainly at the front, then the corner weights, WITH driver weight of course, which completes the circle, as corner weights dictate stopping ability directly, ie, the brake performance, i'm lucky being jockey sized.:lmao::lmao:cheers.

Hey Spannermanager,

I've got a few questions if you don't mind.

1. What's the benefit of the wider front beam?
   
2. What is meant by split tb front beam?
   
3. 2.5L Wasserboxer? Watercooled or an Oxyboxer

?

Hi Mate, no probs, cool, the wider beam means more Lock can be used with bigger wheels and tyres, its more stable on bumps and trackside kerbs, and it generally helps improve turn in and handling, the t/bars are two piece like the rear, 4 swayaways are used to achieve this and stretch the beam , each bar can be set up separately for correct corner weights and heights. the Okrasa motor is 82 x 98, and its still a proper wasser boxer. hope that helps you.

I'm still having trouble visualizing what you mean for the front. I've got a Ghia and I think the wider beam may cause an issue, but its still intriguing to me.

Is this an 'adjustable' beam that you've cut the torsion bars in half and are using the center adjuster lock-thingie to secure them? Any pictures of the setup?

How has the WBX performed for you? Any reliability issues or tips for me in recreating what you've done?

I purchased a 1.9L WBX that I'm looking to build up and would like to hear about what you did to make your Beetle competitive with that engine. Exh size, cam choice injection / carb setup c:r: etc.

Feel free to PM me if you like.

Best regards,

i have not seen the beam on spanners car but i'm guessing its like the Baja beams.
http://www.actiongrafix.net/images/cbeam.jpg

I see said Stevie Wonder

Hi dorgitt, the pic shows the concept of my beam, but the Wasser build variations would fill a forum on its own, it all depends
what its use will be as that governs the planning and layout as im sure you know already, heres a link to stf wasser forum so you can pick up on the basic requirements to build them. http://www.shoptalkforums.com/viewforum.php?f=37
I would source a 2.1 crank over the 1.9 that you already have, just for the extra torque it will provide, or you can stroke it with a T1 crank, but hey, its all on there anyway, and will keep you reading for a while, and thanks for your interest, i will post up some more pics of the motor install as i get time.:cool:

So with that beam setup, you're using 2 sets of torsion bars or cutting the one set and just seperating them and securing each set / side with adjusters?

Yes, you could use the stock bars, shortened and re drilled to suit your desired spacing of the swayaways, this makes them stiffer, but i chose to use uprated bars to start with, if you go over a 2" stretch, it will likely need bracing, you will need to reposition the mounting brackets and mod the tie rods, lock stops, arb, and wings, (fenders). i run drop spindles to keep all the travel i can in the suspension at the minimum 40mm ground clearance i'm allowed to run at. Hope thats a help.

Here's a clip from the kaffer cup days, the class of the very large grid is a beam axle equipped car being chased by hordes of supers, needless to say the b/j car does a vanishing act and wins the race.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXcks...eature=related

They seem to have forgotten about him because he was so far ahead.

Must've been cheating...you know a super charger and a rail system to keep him glued to the track:D

I suppose he did have an advantage with the b/j front end and all, i noticed how much more stable it looked under braking than the strutter's, which were locking up the inside wheel, he even had the cheek to 'buffalo' them, "round the outside"..:lmao:

I still hold to the theory that its the nut behind the wheel that gives the greatest performance improvment. put a great driver in a poor car and it'll still be fast.

Agreed, I remember when Road Rallying was Pre-Plot (aka road racing) there were a couple of guys who did remarkably well and occasionally winning events with bog standard cars from the local car rental! They were up against specialist RS2000's, TR8's, HS Chevettes etc. Andy Dawson did the same in a Ford Sierra and won a National Series event.

Of course being quick doesn't always apply as Vicki Butler-Henderson found on Fifth Gear (Brit TV show) when she teamed up with IRC champ, Andeas Mikkelsen to do our car club's 12-Car rally in a Fabia vRS coming 7th o/a (I think) out of 12.

Hey Spannermanager,

In doing research on drop spindles, there's been concern expressed over their strength. You've been using them in the most harsh of conditions, so what have your experiences been with them. Which are you using?

Thanks,

Kevin

Hi Kev', cool, mine are CB, nice strong uprated steering arms on them too, very robust fillet area blending into the ball joint mounting area, no problems at all, and i'm bouncing it across the saw tooth track kerbs whenever i can get away with it, one tiny gripe, the stubs are a little short on the threaded portion, not a full clamps width on them, but enough to do the job. And I was moaning about the weight of them too!:lmao:

Heres an update, the OKRASA bug did a full track day at Brands Hatch back in July, running some 50 odd laps trouble free, i reached a point with the handling that had been expected sooner or later so it was no surprise to run into some power understeer, i ran it minus the exhaust restrictors and with the full throttle travel as its not a new build anymore! , it was peaking at 7300 rpm. i only had time to click up the rear shocks but it did reduce the p/u, reducing the rear toe is already done ready for next months race at the same venue. slider blocks will help on the rear ARB also.
Heres a vid clip from another cars point of view, and i have very good company, a turbo MK1 golf, the northelle one,? a BTCC turbo Golf and a lightweight full on 911 that tried his luck while i was warming the oil, he paid the price for bullying the bugs :), mines the black one. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kllTd...eature=related