I don't understand the q...

well, you know how the beetle trailing arm bolt has a bigger diameter than the porsche one, and that you need to pull out the porsche bushings and replace them with the beetle ones, to make that bolt fit through.
Now, from your pictures, that hole looks to be too small to use the beetle bolt. That's why I was wondering, if you made some modification to your chassis, to be able to use the porsche bolts :)

Ah, yes, now I understand what your saying: yes, I did convert to the 12mm Porsche 944 bolt by welding in 12mm nut(s) deep within the forks ;)

This weekend I have welded in the cage. Its not 'bolt-out' anymore, but the extra structural stuffness by welding the A- and B-pillars to the cage had my priority ;)
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...2.jpg~original

Cage is really close to the A-pillars which I really like. It makes welding easy.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...4.jpg~original

I made a bracket to bolt to the former seat belt mounting points so I can keep the head liner and inner trim intact:
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...2.jpg~original

Next making the dash fit...

looks like you;ve got your hands full there wally - the poly bronze bushes look interesting - im keen to know how theyl turn out for you this year :)

ive just fitted the weltmeister (sp?) ones to my spring plates - theyl do for now :)

out of interest have you considered uniball / coil over set ups.....i like the idea of the adjustability.

keep up the good work

deano

Wally, regarding your A-Pillar mount you should consider re-doing this or removing it. You need a much larger bracket (on both the A-Pillar and Main Hoop side) to spread the loads. Small brackets break off the cage or a-pillar and become a significant safety issue.

Wally, very nice job indeed ,but i agree with owdlvr for re considering the A-Pillar mounts and if the welding will be kept massive especially when the weight distribution changes drammatically in a race track.

The A-pillar got two places now where it is attached to the body: one midway (top door hinge) and up top, just before the head liner begins (the one in the picture). The B-pillar is connected as pictured.
I really fail to see how and why this would tear off other than in an accident...:confused:
Could one of you two explain how a force great enough, even in 'extreme driving' could/would cause this?

I would really need to see that happen to believe it myself, so I am NOT going to weld in any bigger supports, but do thank you guys for the concern. It would help though if I could picture it why/how your scenario could arise.

Not to mention I have seen this near exact way of connection in some welded 911 cages/cars, at least the A-pillar points and welds..:confused:

Wally, You will not use slicks, I assume (at least for now), so I can't see why would this welds break. They will be OK.

But, using slicks with alot of grip and applying too much force can tear those tiny connections off.

It ususally breaks when breaking hard. I was driving many race cars and those cages have more welded connections.

I can't speak for the others, but _my_ comments were in reference to the tab on your b-pillar breaking off in an accident. They have the potential to kill you if they do break, as it leaves an exposed cut piece of metal. I doubt you would find a racing body that would log book a cage with those tabs, as they aren't safe. Considering a cage is for safety, those small tabs are going backwards.

Your A-Pillar welds don't pose a safety concern, so there is no problem there.

You are correct that plenty of cages tie the main hoop into the b-pillars, but the surface area for attachments should be much larger. Here's an EVO6 cage (sorry for the small photo) that should give you some idea of the surface area used at the contact points:

http://www.fourstarmotorsports.com/P..._4_290x218.jpg

-Dave

Ah, see what you mean now Dave. I'll look into it.

Tnx,
Walter

Getting the dash adjusted for the cage bars:

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...ngepast010.jpg

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...ngepast011.jpg

Trial fit of the dash:
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...ngepast015.jpg

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...ngepast016.jpg

This is the kind of cage I had in mind! Awesome craftsmanship! I really want one of these cages now.

I can't tell from the pictures but how long are the welds on the A-pillar? I like the bolt in nature of the B-pillar additions and I don't think they will break free, but they will probably bend and deflect.

Thanks man! welds are not long enough probably, but I stopped at about 2 to 3 inches. That was also the length of which they were really close to the body, so that coincided ;)

Hey Walter,

Somewhere I saw you mounted polybronze bushing on your spring plates. Someone mentioned the lack of the knobs that are on the VW bushings, you replied that you were going to give it a try. I feel the same way, yet, I have new Porsche springplates with the stock vulcanized-on rubber bushings, everyone replaces them with the VW parts, but since mine are new I'd just like to use them the way they are and not bother with them.. have you had problems without the knobs?

Well done Wally!!!

Nicely done Wally

Hey man;) here is your front top mounts, just waiting for the bottom struts to come back from the platers and the hole lot can be shipped mate :D
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...6.jpg~original
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...5.jpg~original

Awesome Lee!

I have a track day on the 5th of March, so with any luck, I could try them out on the track after welding and aligning.

Looking forward to using those ;)

TIA,
Walter

Wally, the fit of the cage is awesome! As good as any I have seen anywhere including the factory race cars. I assume that the cage legs sit on reinforcing plates as it isn't quite clear in the photos. Also is there a cross brace at bottom dash level and if so is that point braced back to the A pillar?

Unfortunately I must go along with Owdivr especially regarding the B pillar locations although the amount of flex that you will see in the brackets with such a tight fitting cage will lessen any fretting that could occur.

I still can't get over how tight your front cage is to the A pillar - it's brilliant. Just don't break a windscreen!

Clive

Tnx, yeah, the front pillars sit on reinforced boxes. Those boxes are welded to the channels and the pillar is bolted to the boxes.
No, there isn't a brace under the dash with these bolt-in version. If you order the weld-in cage, there is is iirc and also braces to the top strut mounts. The weld-in involves leaving your car at Heigo, so that may be a little problamatic for most here ;)
I did consider making the under dash bar myself, but that would involve some redirecting of certain drains to make that possible in a nice way. The harness bar I will weld in afterwards however.
Ah, yes, the windscreen was really my concern when welding the A-pillars up top there...fortunately, the laminated and green tinted windscreen survived :)

Tnx,
Wally

Hi Brian,

I haven't driven the car yet, but there is a significant difference with what your asking/suggesting and what I am/will be running:

The original bugs inner torsion housing has not only the holes for the knobs of the bushings, but the whole outer diameter of this torsion housing where the bushing resides, is concave in shape!
The 944 inner torsion housing is plain, so a circular bushing fits perfectly.
Now, we want a plain, straight (rubber) bushing to fit the concave housing... Thats the reason it doesn't exactly fit. The knobs are just 4 parts where the bushing doesn't mate flush, but thats minor imo.

However, the 944 bushing does mate the VW torsing housing at one point exactly and thats the most inner part of the concave part of the housing.
So, the bushing sits at just half a cm snug and not the full 5 cm or about 2 inches (width of bushing approx.).
Now, with the hard poly-urethane outer rim of the poly-bronze bushing I use, this may just work (or not). I also filled up the rest of the space with a sort of hardening glue. With an already soft original rubber bushing, this is much more of a concern I would think.
The whole idea that you are using porsche parts for suspension upgrades, but are keeping the rubber bushings and now let one of the bushings carry on only its outer rim in the housing, is counterproductive regarding thinking about suspension upgrades imho.

So, in conclusion, I think a black urethane VW IRS inner bushing would be a good upgrade from the stock rubber. The red urethane usually squeecks too much for my taste and the black may not squeeck or less. I have bought (very cheap, Topline) a set already if the inner polybronze doesn't work, but the set is too nice not to try it out at least ;)

Hope it made sense; difficult to describe from here...

Your car is definitly ready for elevens this year.:-)

Tiki

Thanks Michael!

Now the question is: Is yours??

The squeaking of the urethane bushes is down to the formulation. The common bushes from Bugpack etc are formulated for hot Californian use in that the amount of the self lubricating silicone fluid that leeches from the urethane is noticeably less in cold climates. If the squeak is a problem then the use of 'local' urethane bush suppliers ought to solve the problem.

Clive

I have good hopes

Michael

As some of you mentioned, there isn't a 'harness bar' with this set-up, nor can it be ordered, so made my own. Also adapted some of the interior parts and placed them back:

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...1.jpg~original

And to show what the extra bars are for:

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...stiging001.jpg

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...stiging002.jpg

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...stiging004.jpg

Nice! That's the ticket.

I assume you haven't installed that harness 100% yet, just for photos?

-Dave

I know this is a trick question right? :lmao:

What can be done better?, pls spill it out already ;)

Your harnesses aren't "finished up" around the harness bar. The end of the harness strap needs to wrap back over and into the clip. This "locks" the strap and ensures they cannot come loose.

From my rally car:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/53/13...89e4f7fa_b.jpg

If you were to leave your harnesses as you currently have them, in an accident the strap can slide out of the clip and you'll lose the shoulder belts (not good!). You need to follow the instructions on page 24 and 25: http://www.schrothracing.com/sdocs/2...structions.pdf I wouldn't worry about the wrap instruction on page 27, it's difficult to do and the style on pg 25/25 is perfectly fine if you have the clips close to the bar like you do.

Looking at your harness I think you may need to go back to Schroth and/or the shop you bought them to get harnesses that have longer shoulder straps. It's a pretty common request, so I don't think you'll find them difficult to get.

Can you take some photos of your lapbelt mounting? Might as well tell you if they're safe at the same time ;)

-Dave

Good points! Yeah, they are actually a little too short for my liking as well.
The red ones are bought second hand on ebay, but look like new. I may probably better install the black 3" ones as they are long enough (a little too long actually).
The red ones are 6-point ones also. I have the bottom part as well, but no point installing that one as the seat hasn't got a hole for it..
Tnx!

Dave nailed it before I could but yeah you should re-do the shoulder straps if you can. Also, I prefer a submarine strap (5 or 6 point harness) mainly because they help keep the waist belt from riding up. If you switch to a 3" belt you may want to get belt pads if you have wide shoulders. I'm 24" across at the shoulders and my 3" belts really wear on my traps.

Wally are those Recaros SR?

Yes, I believe so, but its only one, it was cheap back then and it will be replaced sometime in the future by a lighter bucket seat.

These are the same seats that were used for the E30 M3 Evo III.

This will replace it. Luckily, the alu seat brackets I had for years, also fit the Sparco's :D:

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...5.jpg~original

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...6.jpg~original

Very good and very light as well.

The Evo2 Plus was the only Sparco that I could get my bum in also! ;) The English (Corbeau) and German (Recaro) seats also cater for the broader beam as I can testify.:D

I hear you bro :D I just couldn't afford the Recaro...