Me neither! Hope to see that Bad Boy next Saturday! You can do it! :laugh:

vrmmm...bmmm...bmmm...bmmm...bmmm...bmmm

IT'S ALIVE!!!!!

got the header installed today. i had to clearance a sizeable amount of my apron which no one else i know has had to do. could be signs of a wreck in the back, but see no indications any other place. but that was definitely a factor in the header being so difficult before.

got a little helping hand from an engine builder who happened to be in the neighborhood. don't know many willing to do house calls. :D (and i am sure that was not setting any precedence) it cut my time down dramatically though.

filled with fluids. checked for pressure. cranked it and...(see top of message).

one thing worthy of noting. carbon fiber is conductive. what does this mean to me? if you have a terminal block with hots screwed to c/f even on rubber mounts...and a terminal block of grounds screwed to c/f even on rubber mounts...they find their way through the screws to each other due to the carbon and tend to make smoke and a nice burning smell. luckily it was caught quickly and no real damage (just some brownish looking c/f and melted rubber mounts). so what do we learn from this boys and girls? don't screw terminal blocks directly to c/f...bad things happen. told you it was smart to pick up that fire ext. didn't need it though luckily.

also got it back down on all fours. bad news there is i get to reindex the rear. i set the plates one click below the lower stop, but the car is about on the ground and killer camber / \. i will get some pics. best guess is one click on the inside and one on the out should fix it. downside to 944 suspension is the arms have to come out to deal with the spring plates.

i also have to extend my brake pushrod. i am at the end of the threads and still have about 1" travel. has anyone else experienced this? we will see what bias looks like. hopefully good as i have no more time for errors and fixes to make it to Dyno Day this weekend.

sorry for the length.

Make a new brake rod from a long bolt(cut the head offand round it with a grinder). You will still be able to use a jam nut.

i mentioned that to jake while he was over and he warned heavily against that due to wear and breaking. i figure a grade 8 bolt would be solid enough, but he didn't feel it would. he recommended welding onto the existing rod and reshaping. i have no clue. thoughts?

I would think a correct size socket head cap bolt that was cut down would be okay, those are pretty hard and come in about any size you could want.

I would think a grade 8 would work, remeber that 8.8 metric is a grade 5 SAE and a 10.0 is a grade 8 SAE. You will have to get it very round and smooth. I would cut it off with the ziz-wheel and then put you drill in a vice and chuck the bolt in it and use the drill as a lathe(locked at a medium speed) and round it with a file then smooth it with sandpaper.

Have you tried adjusting the spring plates. They are supposed to be adjustable for ride height aren't they.


I would go with a high grade bolt for now and replace it later if it bothers you.

will look into those bolt options. i can run it as is for now. still plenty of pedal.

genius, the spring plates aren't going to make up this difference. will take some pics when i get home. i now have dropped spindles on the front and it is about 2" higher than the rear. my header is about 2" off the ground. i was WAY off. seems stock preload would have been the way to go. best guess anyway...and it better be right since i only have time for one more crack at this.

Do you have beetle torsion bars or the thicker 944 torsion bars???

beetle torsion bars. never heard of them not working for people so didn't see any reason to change. have you heard of issues? i will do another search in a minute to check. i only had the plates indexed one click below the stop. hardly any pre-load.

pics never seem to do justice to angles. here are two shots of it. i already have the right side back off. just trying to decide how much i should move it. i forget what each click gives you (my second search to do). also in new light it looks like the left is defintely lower than the right. so probably an extra click there.

the camber is obviously way off.

http://www.volksport.net/images/proj...stsetting5.jpg

http://www.volksport.net/images/proj...stsetting1.jpg

Gee, do I see a hint of yellow coming from inside those wheels?

I seem to remember a web site that had the degree change for which spline you move, I'll see if I can find it.

nice, ain't they? :D

Here are a few hints I found:

<<<<Here comes the real leap of faith. Let’s image you are at the driver’s side rear facing the spring plate. If we fix the outer spring plate on the outer end of the torsion bar and then move the torsion bar inner by one spline (in the counter-clockwise direction - moves the spring plate up and lowers the car), we will have changed the position of the spring plate (relative to the ground) by 9 degrees. Now if we fix the inner splines and now relocate the spring plate (in the opposite direction, clockwise - moves the spring plate down raising the car) we will be essentialy removing 8 degrees 10 minutes from the 9 degrees we advanced on the inner splines, thus resulting in a net 50 minute change in the spring plate position. Think about it, and reread this paragraph until you get it. Due to the 4-spline difference between the inner and outer splines of the torsion bar, adding then subracting these relative angles allow us to adjust the ride height to within fractions of an inch.

If you understand the meaning of the preceeding paragraph you are ready to index your own torsion bars. If you’re lost or confused at this point, get help. Your next question will probably be "But how much do I raise or lower the spring plate in order to get the ride height I’m looking for?" If you are not changing the torsion bars and you are starting from the factory torsion bar position (you did take notes when you took it apart didn’t you?), you can ‘estimate’ the ride height change (approx 6.5mm for a 50 minute change) by using basic priciples of geometry a the rules of the great queen SOH-CAH-TOA. If you are replacing the torsion bars with ones of different rates or did not note the location of the spring plate (dumb-dumb) before removing the torsion bar, the answer to this question, I’m sad to say is: "Trial and error my friend, trial and error." When I bought my new torsion bars, and dared ask this ‘stupid’ question, the customer service rep at Automotion gave me that answer. I thought he was nuts! He also told me it would probably take three tries to get right. I whimpered then cried. My better half Kristine smacked on the head and snapped me back to reality. "Thanks Kris, I needed that."

Nothing wrong with the beetle torsion bars its just that the 944 ones are thicker and stiffer. I was just wondering.

if i am calculating that right, that means that each degree is 7.8mm. best guess is i need 1" on the right and 1.5" on the left (get the strange feeling i will be doing this a few times). SO, following the method above:

i need 25.4mm or 3.25 degrees on the right. that means four clicks CW on the inside and four on the outside CCW.

i need 38.1mm or 4.88 degrees on the left. that means six clicks inside and out.

does that sound right? am i even close? or am i over thinking this and i should just do a click or two on the outside?

Zen please take measurments when you adjust your rear suspension. Measure the angle of spring plates so the rest of us have it a little easier. :)
Remember to measure the angle of your frame tunnel so you will know the spring plate angle in relation to the cars chassis. :)

well, just got the suspension back together. overshot the right side and WAY overshot the left. it is probably back at stock height. had that feeling, but whatcha gonna do. guess is should have known with as much as i had to do to compress the suspension on the left. did you know there is no great way to ask your wife to sit in the car because you need enough weight to compess the suspension so you can put it together? :rolleyes: i ended up with her, a butcher block, and 5 gal gas can in there.

time to take it all back apart again and try to find a happy medium.

genius, measurements are pretty much impossible since i don't have the tools to do it. i'm guessing and it showed.... :mad: :bawling:

not sure what my next guess is going to be. probably one click back on the inside on the right and maybe two outside on the left. dunno. :confused:

Since you don't have a angle gauge could you measure the distance between the top of the spring plate and the bolt hole in the shock tower for a starting point.

Zen,

Look around the neighborhood and borrow a bigger wife from a neighbor...

Sorry couldn't help myself.


Randy

well, left side is back on with a new setting. i took pics and measurements. the right side is another story. there is so much tension on the spring plate that i can not pry it away from the shock tower. 3 hours worth of effort and i have it just about flush with the lower stop. then i have to figure out how i am gracefully going to release the cargo straps and jack to let it down. i hate days like this. took the whole day off work to finish this thing up and spent most of it on one piece that still isn't any further. :mad:

I am going to assume that you don't have the special tool to release the tension on the spring plates. I used a chain to secure my floor jack to the chassis. Put the shock bolt through the chain and secure the chain around the base of the floor jack. The chain will keep the body from moving up. Use two flat head screwdrivers or pry bars to wiggle the front half of the spring plate out.

oh, been doing that. the little bastard just won't pry off. i ran out of juice. will be trying again tomorrow.

Wish I could be there to help today, work sucks.

How's the list coming?

well, well. where to start.

i had a bunch of the VKG guys come up on Friday with a huge helping hand to get my car together. what a great display of what a club is about and of friendship from friends and strangers. combined those guys gave me like 32 man hours in that one day. and we got it together enough that it was ready to roll. it was minus most of the fit and finish and some more desirable things (swaybars, passenger seat, pro alignment) but was good enough to get to Dyno Day.

got up saturday morning. did some systems checks and had to fix wipers and brake lights. all else looked good. then took it out for its maiden voyage. it was a light rain and wet everywhere which was a little scarey, but most checked out well. a little front heavy on the brakes in the rain (was better later in the dry). suspension was nice considering no swaybars.

then there is the engine...

Un-freakin'-believeable power

truly scarey kind of torque. i didn't want to work it too hard considering the wet roads and being cautious with all of the other systems. so i can only imagine what all it has in store.

just before getting to the event a lifter failed. mine was early in a batch that is since known to have some failures. this makes the third engine for jake alone and FAT has lost 7 i believe due to these lifters. it was just a long time before i had my engine installed.

jake was amazing (luckily he was at the Dyno Day). he immediately jumped on my car and was diagnosing. we dragged the car to a buddy's house nearby and pulled the engine and jake just took it home with him. raggs also lent me his truck and trailer to get my car home. you can't beat the people in this hobby.

jake is top notch and has truly shown and earned a great deal of respect. my engine will be back in shortly with a possible subtle change. we will see.

between no_h2o's car and mine, the GL definitely got some attention yesterday.

Wow, good and tough luck in the same time. I'm sure Jake will have you up and running soon enough.

Pictures, we need pictures.

I can attest to most everything Zen has said, I only wish we could have made it up there earlier in the day on Friday to help out more when we werent so tired from the trip up.

It was awesome seeing Jake do whatever it took to get the job done.

I also was impressed with Raggs offering up his garage and then later on his truck and trailer to Zen and would personally like to thank him for helping out like he did. That was truly one of the nicest gestures Ive seen from anyone in the Volkswagen scene. (BTW, I think Raggs is a closet GLer. I gave him lots of info on Sunday on how to fit 17 x 7 Twists on his Ghia :D )

it was definetly a shock to some for the vkg cars to be out. i Think it was something BETTER for the spectators to look at. something fresh. I do hope your car is back soon and pulling strong. Just remember THINK VW NOT PORSCHE. :laugh:

neil

You can't ask for a better bunch of folks than the West GA. chapter of the SEVWC. Raggs is a great guy and would give you the shirt off his back. I helped him out with his 53 Split once (calculate a 12v to 6v resistor for his semiphors) and he gave me a 82mm scat crank and some rods he said he didn't need.
As for pix. I did my normal job of leaving the camera in the car most of the day but did get a shot of Smack on the roller and a few other shots before the low battery syndrome set in.

dyno day was going great till I heard that Clicket clack from Zens engine....

I can only do as good as the parts that we use, thats why ALL I run now are ceramic lifters...

Zen's engine was rather odd. It failed AFTER my dyno session, none of the other have. They all died on the dyno. He and I beat on it for a solid 4 hours and the symptoms never showed up.

I was so worried that we had lost another cam/lifter that I hurried under the car and scorched myself in about 6 different places trying to get the valve cover off.

It was a true disappointment not to get Zens car on the dyno. It was a worse disappointment to have to rip it back down....... Things happen.

Jake, it really sux that it happened like that to Zens engine. We were all really pumped to see how that thing would perform.

I will tell you this, I was impressed with how you stand behind your work.
Your level of dedication is truly to be admired. :agree:

genius, here is a pic with the measurement that i last used. i would like it slightly higher to match the front better but think the camber adjustment and spring plates can make up the difference.

here are a few shots when i just got it home from Dyno Day. dirty thanks to the morning rain and a little high in the back since the engine was already back out, but you get the idea. better pics coming in a month or two.

That's off the spring plate stop.

Cool, that should save me a whole lot of trial and error.
Thanks.








P.S. clear your PM's

yep with the spring plate fully relaxed. the bottom of it sits just below the bottom stop.

Looks good Zen. You know what I want to know, how are the brakes? :) I think you said something about feeling the bias a little. I've found some part numbers on porsche bia valves that bolt in the system, had to get one for the carrera brakes on the 912-6. Guess you got the alt figured out?

they seemed to the front in the wet. seemed better in the dry. i still need to do more bleeding and testing before i form a hard opinion though. most likely i will want to put a proportioning valve in.

didn't have time to complete figuring out the alt. just ran without it.

Looking at the front shot of your car, noticed it needed something. Maybe a stainless insert in the shift rod hole cover with VKG laser etched into it?

EUREKA! :agree:

Zen, love the look of your car. Real clean and well executed. Well done! As with the engine, the weak part that breaks and is fixed will only make the engine stronger..

Zen, any updates yet?

What did you finally do for your rear axle/cv combo?

Thinking of putting the gl vert on the road with t1 power and tranny to start to get it on the road. Do the uber motor later.