Sorry my english is no't good, I don't understand your message

So, after all this time I finally get the wiring harness.... ITS THE WRONG ONE!!!!!! I'm really getting tired of this. So, ANOTHER phone call tomorrow :mad:

Wath harness you need?

I have one from a Beetle Turbo 2002 (150 hp) may be it's the rigth for you.

Thanks for the offer Hugo, but I'm owed these parts, I'm just waiting and waiting for them. He'll get it squared away eventually, but we all die someday and I'm not sure which will come first!

Jason

Not much progress lately. Been very busy and its hot, so I've not been to motivated. Have worked out a removable rear strut mount design, so as soon as I get off my a$$ things should start rolling again. The strut mounts will become part of the car, while the superstructure can be removed after being unbolted from the strut mounts.

I went to pickandpull and got a Jetta steering rack. It will have to be locked so it doesn't turn at all and I'll use that in the back for now till I fab up something lighter.

Jason

Last night the car finally hit the floor. It's been on jackstands for 3 years now, so it was quite a momentous occasion. Here is the rear end on the ground:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/235293.jpg

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/235295.jpg

I should mention, at this point in time the rear end still has the ability to steer! So it makes this thing easy to move around the garage

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/235296.jpg

Obviously this is temporary. The C-clamps should do just fine for moving it around, but I put the zip ties on just as a safety precaution.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/235298.jpg

Here's my Boo Boo. I had a preview of this over a year ago, but I was beyond the point of no return, so I had to keep it going. The wheel is set back slightly, I'm guessing about 15mm. A longer wheelbase will be better for high speed stability anyway, right?! If I get too upset about it, I'll reshape the front inside edge of the fender to make the gap look better.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/235299.jpg

This one is a little fuzzy, sorry. Better pics to come.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/235300.jpg

Lookin great Jason :) nice to see you are still on it great work that man! way to go

Hey Paul,

Do you know what happened to your project?

Jason

Verry nice update!!!!

How wide are your rear fenders?

Greetings Wiebrand

I dont Im afraid Ill see if i can find out who the new owner is and where theyre up to.

I can't remember for certain, but they are the widest ones CCC makes, I think 3"? maybe 2"

Sorry,

Jason

Very nice. :agree: :)

amazing car, amazing thread!!! Here is my question, I have a 00 1.8t beetle wrecked, i have been planning a subaru swap for sure, but seeing this thread makes me want to rip the motor out of the new beetle, and the harness, and everything else, and put it in my 73 beetle. would you recommend it? is there any info you could give me to either persuade me to do it or not do it? I really like the idea of the swap, because the transmission is a strong unit, the motor is stout as hell, it would be completely mid engine, more or less, and would make a VERY nice setup.

I'd like to say go for it, but I can't prove that it will be any good! Sure it will be powerful, and the weight will be more forward, but it will also be taller. I would think maybe my next conversion will be STi with an Audi tranny, really mid-engine. Even the 1.8t with an Audi tranny would be a great option. It will involve a lot more cutting of the pan, but much less of the body. You'd need to figure out a new rear suspension. I've been eyeing these guys' rear end(no, I'm not gay)

http://www.sakermotorsports.com/gall...ry_theCar.html

They use a Suby mid-engine and they've figured out the suspension and GET THIS, it's the right width for the bug as well. OK, you may have to use wider fenders, but still.

I'm not done with mine, and if it works out great, I might stick with it for a long, long time, but if it's just OK, that will be my next move. Heck, I might even go with an Audi 2.7t!

If you want to use your 1.8t, you'll probably have to do the same thing I did, or hook it up to an Audi tranny and build your own rear suspension. I didn't have the stomach for it at the time, so I figured I stick with what VW did, but in the end, the front suspension was designed for a FWD car, and that geometry may come back to bite me in the butt. If you could make the Saker guys talk or get parts from them, you'd be able to build yourself some sweet rear suspension. It may be OK, but like I said, I really don't know how it will work out yet.

Jason

i think the fact that it sits higher, is about a 1.618 on a scale of 1-10 in drawbacks. the good things are the transmission is strong, the motor is in the middle, the front vw suspension can be used on the rear (i bet it would work well), the transmission is strong, the transmission is strong, the transmission is strong, and .... well, yeah.

the fabrication needed to make it all fit will be a bitch, and ill have to learn fast, or wouldhave to if i do this, but i really think it should be a tear your hair off fast, and really well balanced overall.

i think youre just being humble.

you deserve props.

Keep in mind that what I have is a combination of many years of VWs for the drivetrain. There is a MkIII subframe, MkII control arms, MkIII tranny, MkIV engine. If you tried to make your MkIV stuff fit in, you'd have a rear end that is about 3" wider than what I already have. On top of which, MkIVs have a pendulum mount for the motor, and unless you are interested in cutting more body than I already have, the pendulum mount won't fit, though it is much better for handling high HP. The main thing is the track of the drivetrain, and MkIV is WAY wider than MkII.

I was at Infinion Raceway this weekend for BMW CCA track "school" with my M3. Parked next to me was a Noble M12, a Lotus Elise, and a Ford GT. It was rough. Anyway, I got a chance to spend a lot of time looking at the Noble and the Lotus. The Lotus is almost exactly the same layout as my bug, but it has a much shorter wheelbase. They just put a Toyota motor in there, but it sits exactly where mine 1.8t does in relation to the rear wheels. It made me feel better. I just hope my suspension geometry lends itself to some good handling.

Jason

Walked up to the neighbor's yesterday, he's got a Noble M12... with get this- 115 miles on it! Says he's about to sell cuz who needs a silly car like that !!! said his brother talked him into building one because the brother had one on order too. There are actually 3 here... kinda funny, we've got more Nobles per capita than anywhere in the US. Anyway, neat car. Still, eighty grand is a lot of cheese.


Jeff-

mmmmmmmmmm cheeeeeeeese........

I think mine might be more fun. The trouble with high performance cars like that is where to drive them. It doesn't surprise me he only has 100 miles on it. It's sad. I'm going to thrash my bug as often as possible until it begs me to stop. That's fun. I went for a few laps in a couple of other older M3s, still E36s, but '95s. They had springs and shocks and R compound tires. OMG, it was insane. I could barely hang on. There is very little guilt in thrashing an older, not that expensive car. When the Ford GT was out on the track, do you think he could stomach giving it 9 or 10 10ths? I don't think so. Thats why I want to build a car that is relatively inexpensive and very unique.

My 3 cents for the day.

Jason

I'll back up your 3 cents and raise you 3! Bang for the buck is what we're sayin'. As my wife and I were walking away from the Noble, she asked if I would build one of those... same philosophy as you, for 80 g's I could build a couple of fun cars and have a blast doing something different. There's 3 Nobles here, but how many Eco powered panels? :D

It's over at Walt's Custom Services now. He has a nice trailer and was nice enough to come over an pic it up today. Having the rear steer right now makes for easy moving around.

Walt's Custom Services

He'll be making up the rear strut mounts. They have to be removable from the main superstructure so the whole think can actually come out of the car without splitting the body from the pan.

He thinks it will be done pretty quickly! :)

Jason

I'm thinkin' you need to incorporate the rear steer as a permanent option!


Jeff-

I went down and talked to Walt on the clock today. In a way it's nice to see him sweating over the details. I was just not getting anywhere, and I think he'll be able to get us a great result. I can breathe easy for a bit till it's done. Apparently the wiring harness(now from another source) will be arriving tomorrow and the radiator this week as well. Things are starting to move along.

Here's the plate that may be used for the strut mount, but the whole idea may be scrapped due to spacial issues

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/237712.jpg

Jason

Well, she's back home now. Walt did a great job on making these strut mounts. There is adjustment for strut angulation front/back and then there is camber adjustment. Everything is tacked up, so I'll need to pull it all apart and do the final welding, throw on a coat of paint, then get the motor back in and see how she looks.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/238883.jpg

The hole got a little bit on this side, but when your doing things for the first time, a little elbow room goes a long way to keep the nerves settled!

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/238884.jpg

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/238885.jpg

Here is is on the welding table. It's not perfect, but when all was said and done, this thing ends up being pretty close!

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/238886.jpg

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/238887.jpg

The welds are VERY nice. This will have a collar welded to it along the main plate to minimize flexing.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/238888.jpg

Walt says he's an old man, but as you can see here, he still works very fast, he's just a blur!

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/238890.jpg

Here's the radiator. I had it made by Brian McCullough at Custom Aluminum Radiators in AZ. He did a great job.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/238881.jpg

I had him make up this bleed srew as well. It will reside in the drivers front inner fender. It will allow me to bleed the air from the line up front, while the stock cooling system will bleed itself in the rear, or so the theory goes!

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/238897.jpg

Coming on great Jason!

Rich

More surgery. This JUST fits in here with the fans installed. It's butted up against the back of the spare tire area, but fortunately it's angled so airflow should still be great once the ducting is done.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/241581.jpg

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/241582.jpg

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/241584.jpg

Ahhh, radiator in the front. I like! :cool:

Sweet design for the rear struts. :agree:

Looks like it's really taking off. Can't wait for the next step.

1.8 T
 

This looks awsome!!

You would! How's yours coming anyway? Is the house and the wife giving you enough play time? If your still having trouble, think about having Brian build you a really wide but short one. You could mount it at the front almost flat and duct air in from a front lip maybe?

Thanks guys, I think I'm still on target for it running sometime in the spring. It will be a rolling monstrosity, but I'll leave it rough till all the tweaks are done then rip it apart and make it look purdy.

I just got a call from Bruce at Eyeball Engineering and he's done with my chassis stiffeners, so apparently those will be shipped out shortly. $450 for 2 sets of jig bent stiffners and hardware ain't too bad I don't think. If you have been following along, I tried to build my own a long time ago and it was really difficult and not nearly as strong as jig bent ones, so I'm very happy to part with the cash.

Jason

I have been working on it. Not the cooling part, mostly front suspension re-do. My front control arms are at the fabricators now, getting gussets and new lower shock mounts. Once that's done, it's cooling time!
I wish I could do something like yours! The big hurdle on buses is the steering box. It's big and right smack in the way. Ditching it and going to a rack would be awesome but there's the whole deal about the steering being so far in front of the front wheels... :rolleyes: I have yet to see anyone design anything different on bus steering. I do have some room on the passenger side, enough for something like a motorcycle rad... which I just happen to have coming :D . It wouldn't be enough to handle all the cooling, but I'm thinking pre-rad kinda setup.


Jeff-

Hi Jeff

Sorry to highjack the post. Regarding the steering on the panel. Do you have Mitsubishi L300s in your neck of the woods? They are a forward control van that uses a rack & pinion. At the base of the steering column they have a small gearbox that changes the shaft direction, another shaft then runs back to the rack & pinion.

Steve



They look like this

http://img.drive.com.au/drive_images...m/2989_1_m.jpg

Thanks Steve!
I'll be on the lookout for one. Come to think of it, the early toyota vans have a similar look. I need to get my head under one and see whats what.


Jeff-

Panelfantastic, have you not thought about using a T25 transfer box

have a nose here

http://www.bug-box.de/index.php?opti...=115&Itemid=98

use a vauxhall (GM) Astra rack

Have a nose here

http://www.volkszone.com/VZi/showthread.php?t=198821

Good info! Thanks!


Jeff-

More details. It would seem that after years of trying to get it, I have the correct wiring harness heading my way in the next week. I purchased the O2 sensors today. Amazing, a local "european" parts store wanted $350 for the pair, went to the VW Dealer, $100 for the pair. AMAZING! More than triple for the same parts. The VW Dealer has surprised me a few times with how little their prices are. Also purchased a glass pre-filter for big chunks, and the stock 1.8t fuel filter for after the fuel pump, and some fuel-safe thread sealand for the fittings onto the fuel pump and to the bottom of the gas tank..

On the cooling side of things, I purchased the fittings for my air bleed extension. I drilled a hole on the side of the area behind the spare. A stop****(that's what I call it, but it may be called something else) is bolted into that hole. A hose leads to the high point of the front cooling setup. After the system is filled, any trapped air should find its way to this high point, then I can just reach in end undo the stop**** and let the trapped air out. That's my theory at least! Pics to come.

Jason

better late than never:

http://www.megasquirt.info/PWC/lsupur.htm

VolksWagen dealers in North America sell a Bosch LSU4 wide band sensor for a ~$30. However this sensor is only inexpensive when purchased from North American sources. The Bosch part number is 0 258 007 057 or 0 258 007 058 (these are the same sensor, but they have leads of different length), and it can be purchased as a VW part number 021-906-262-B.

I've been watching one of those street tuner shows that featured a new Jetta. They had a ECU team come in to do a piggyback system. Name of the company was 034EFI .
This is probably not much help if you already have a system on the way... but for future reference.


Jeff-


...and I almost forgot, TPIWWP! :D