|
Update time again...
Took a break from the beetle on sat. and just had a lazy day. Long days at work and long build days on the weekends is really taking a toll on me. Worked on the beetle a little bit today going from one project to another because any progress gets me that much closer to driving it. Started with the steering colomn, it never sat right since i pulled it out of the car and I needed to swap out the turn signal switch anyway. It took me a while to get everything back together and working smoothly but the new switch is in. Finished up the front brake system with new braided stainless lines and installed the brake clips. After turning the wheel through it motions I discovered that the tie rod was crushing the brake line against the strut body at full lock and the tire was rubbing on the inside fender well. I readjusted the steering stops to give about 1" clearance on the body and that was enough to solve the brake line problem as well. Installed the wiper assembly to check for clearance problems behind the dash and continued with wiring. I put some wiring on hold while I get the megasquirt wiring ready and check to see if the subie sensors can drive dash idiot lights. I'm considering hooking up the oil and alternator warning lights to the subie parts but I need to check for compatability. Also if I can drive said warning lights from the autometer gauges that frees up a couples of wires that go back to the engine. started connecting the rear brake system and got the long center hard line in place only to realize I forgot to swap out the vw flared end for the 3/8 inverted flare end to connect it to the master cylinder. it was a bit of a pain but I got the new end on with the line in place. |
Took the day off from work today to take care of a few things and hopefully I'll be back home in time to get some good pics. I finally decided to get my custom plates while they're still available and I can't believe they were. 1,000,000 bonus points to anyone that guesses correctly! I think it's very fitting especially on the track :D
In other news I've started a final checklist of things to do before the beetle is done and it's not as big as I thought. |
Not much has been happening these past few weeks for a few reasons, some good some bad. One of the better ones is I finally got a tow rig for the beetle so I won't have to worry about getting home from the track anymore! I picked up a 2002 dodge ram 2500HD quad cab diesel for a steal. It's in great shape only had 60k on the odo and is already wired for towing. Unfortunately having a truck means doing things only trucks can do, so I made a run to the dump with it already. With the upcoming holidays spare time is really coming up short and I don't have as much time for the bug as I'd like.
|
Update with pics! though it's not much to look at....
Spent some much needed time on the bug again this weekend to take care of a few things and mark off others as done. Spent most of the day saturday tearing down the rear suspention to add a slpine to the rear torsion bars. Should help clearance and add a bit of rake to the stance. It's been a while since the last time I did this and I forgot what a PITA is was. I can't wait to get a rear coilover setup. http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...0.jpg~original Speaking of a pain to work on... While I had the rear end apart I decided to button up the ebrakes since I finally had all the springs I needed. Installed the cables, ebrake handle, shoes, swans, springs, adjusters... and remembered why I hate drum brakes so much. With the ebrakes done I could now put the rear calipers on and finish plumbing the rear brakes. They look great throught the phone dials. http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...5.jpg~original Another shot of the phone dials during the day before I put the rear brakes together. These are the '86 944 turbo low offset (23.3mm vs 52mm) phone dials and I love the dish on these wheels! http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...1.jpg~original |
But wait there's more!
Today I finally changed the timing belt on the EJ20 and for anyone who hasn't seen one of these timing belts they are long! Like 6ft.+ if you roll it all out. New belt went in without any problems thanks to markings on the pulleys, cams and crank. I wish all timing belts were this easy. The reason I decided to change it was because I'd heard to many stories about jdm motors grenading because the timing belts failed due to the motors sitting in warehouses for too long letting the rubber dry rot. I'm sure driving the piss out of them doesn't hurt either. While I was working on the motor I decided to start installing sensors for the megasquirt and all the gauges. For the oil temp sender I pulled the subie oil pressure sender right at the front of the block by the EJ20 stamp and the sender threaded nicely right into the hole. The water temp sender for the gauge replaced the old subie part in the water cross-over pipe. http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...4.jpg~original For the oil pressure sender, I removed a plug next to the inspection cover and used one of the adpaters that came with the gauge kit to thread the pressure sender into the hole. http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...1.jpg~original Here's a couple more shots of progress at the front of the bug showing wiring so far, brake resivoirs, and low pressure lines to the MCs. http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...2.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...3.jpg~original |
Hope everyone had a good turkey day, we had quite the to do with 25 people people here. I deep fried a 20lb turkey since nobody here had done that before and we cooked a 15lb turkey the slow way as well. Had some fun lowering the turkey into the frier with the engine hoist and overall everything went well.
Today was the first time I could get to the bug since turkey day and I sent the day fabbing up the exhaust. I ordered a combo 180 and 45 degree mandrel bent 304 stainless 2.25pipe to modify the existing header. I hacked off a straight cut by the flex pipe to make life a little easier then added about a 100 degree bend out of the 180 to put the turbo next to the engine brace. I also welded a tab to the engine brace to support the weight of the turbo. http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...9.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...7.jpg~original I'm really running out of room back there! One of my worries is that the slave cylider is too close to the turbo and it'll boil the brake fluid in the slave. I've already got header wrap and a turbo blanket but i think i might need something t\on the slave cylinder as well. http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...8.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...5.jpg~original |
Also fabbed up a new down pipe by cutting up a $150 part from ebay. It's a 3" bellmouth downpipe and it had all the bends I needed so under the knife it went. I cut off the bellmouth right where it meets the 3" pipe and cut out a couple of 90ish degree bends and put them all back together again. I did have to cut into the fender well a bit to make room but everything clears. An added bonus is that the borla muffler just slips right over the down pipe so i'll probably cut a small slit in the muffler pipe and clamp it on. That way if it's too noisy for some tracks I can slip on a super trapp.
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...3.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...1.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...0.jpg~original |
nice work there humble:agree:
|
looks good so far, once your done you should come up here to sacramento and gimme a hand installing my new engine and tranny....my roommate is useless :( lol.
|
Heh, I know how that goes. I'm always up for a night of wrenching with beer and pizza :D
|
Wow, where does time go? Things have been crazy around here since x-mas and only this month have started to settle down. I got the first chance since my last post to work on the bug (no I'm not kidding) and was able to get a few things done this weekend.
Moved the bug around the drive way to clear some room by the garage. This is the first time it's been on the ground since I added a spline to the rear end to pick it up a bit and I love the stance now. http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...5.jpg~original Also wrapped the header and bolted it on. While I was at it I put the oil pan back on for the last time. http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...8.jpg~original better shot of the new ground clearance http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...1.jpg~original This weekend I got the clutch pedal plumbed and bled. Also put the last touches on the rear brakes so as soon as my EBC Yellow pads get here I can bleed them. Picked up an aluminum dash panel so I'll try to get my gauges wired up soon. Speaking of gauges, I have an autometer electric speedo since I no longer have the cable drive front spindles. I just odered a porsche abs wheel speed sensor that looks like it works like a VR (variable reluctor) sensor. Has anybody used an electric speedo before? |
Long weekend and nice weather bring updates!
Spent a few days working on the bug, trying in vain to make a race at the end of April. Got my intercooler radiator mounted and intercooler water lines run through the tunnel (that took a day by itself :P) Finished the exhaust so all it needs is a support at the muffler exit so the whole thing isn't hanging from the turbo. Spent another day cutting the existing metal dash out of the bug, and putting the new aluminum dash panel together. After getting the gauges in place I started the gauge wiring which will have it's own loom to the back of the car. I've always liked the idea of center mounted tach/speedo in the dash. The idea here is to make them easily readable at a glance and high visibility for the roll cage mounted camera. I was hoping to have my brake system bled but the pads that showed up were for the wrong car. I ordered the EBC yellow brake pads for an 89 turbo 944 from thepartsbin.com but non-turbo pads showed up (1/2" difference in width). When looking up the correct part#'s I discovered that I need pads for a porsche 930 turbo (same size all around) whereas the late model 944 turbo had larger front pads. (oops) So I ordered the correct parts in hawk pads this time, and I'm still waiting for an RMA# for $250 in brake pads I can't use. The joys of frankenstein cars....
Now for the pics! 2 pass intercooler radiator from a Ford Lightning in front, Koyo rx7 turbo radiator behind it http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...8.jpg~original same thing from the top, not much room in there... http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...4.jpg~original Finished exhaust from the side, 36" or so turbo back 3" diameter. I'll probably cut some sheet aluminum to make a small heat shield for the fender and protect it from flames/fire of the exhaust. http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...7.jpg~original And finally the new dash panel, all the gauges are electric due to engine location. The gauges are oil press, oil temp, water temp, boost, and fuel level, with speedo and tach in the middle. The speedo is a gamble, I'm going to try and use the signal from a vr sensor on the front hub that used to be for abs. I have to check with autometer to see if this is a viable solution otherwise I need to find a different sensor and mount it elsewhere. The notches cut into the dash panel are for the stock grab handle, I think the passenger will need it. http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...6.jpg~original |
Looks great, Do you think you will be able to see the tack? lol
|
yeah, I made sure to check each step of the way before making things final. The edge of my hand on the steering wheel blocks part of the 1-2k range but the rest of the tach is very readable. who needs to see 1-2k anyway :laugh:
|
Any pictures off your turbo intercooler
|
Are you going with the suby swap simply because it's cheaper and easier or what? :confused:
put some vids up once on the track :D |
Sorry for the delay, been really busy this week both at work and at home.
brujo65: The intercooler isn't plumbed yet but I'll see if I can get some pics tonight. badassbug: I went with the subie swap because it was both cheaper and more reliable. $1000 gets me a stock base motor that makes around 275-300hp. After pricing out type 4 motors with turbo options that could withstand regular track days the choice was easy. Add to that the much larger after market support for the subie vs the type 4 and that was the nail in the coffin. That being said, the subaru is definitely not the easy route by any stretch of the word. It would have been far easier had I gone with the type 4. I still have my old race motor and a spare type 4 kicking around that I plan to use in another street bug someday. |
I'm not dead, and neither is this project!
Thought I'd check back in (only 6 months later) and let you guys know that this project is alive once more. In late april/early may life got really hectic for me, between long work weeks, being the friend who's a mechanic or the friend with the truck, and a lengthy divorce, I just got burned out. But life has a funny way to make you sort your priorities.
In late June I found out I was going blind, fast. I'd developed multiple retinal tears and detached retinas in both eyes due to extreme myopia. For those in the know I had a -11 correction factor and retinal tears can develope around -6/7. I was already half blind in my right eye when I went in for emergency surgery in July and have been in and out of the eye docs office since. Things are finally looking up and though my vision is a lot worse now that is was, I can still see. So today was (hopefully) my final laser surgery, and I can finally kick start this project again. Work has technically already resumed since I've been working the wiring harness but I'll save that for the next update. :D |
Geezus-you have had a bad run lately-good luck with your recovery though-hope all goes well for you.Keep us posted on your project-you are doing an exceptional job there.Wishing you all the best.
|
Quote:
I know your probably past this point, but I thought I'd mention that Motul has a high temp DOT 4 Brake/Clutch fluid called "Racing Brake Fluid 600". It has a high boiling point of 585º F, 307º C, and mixable with std DOT 3, 4 and DOT 5.1 (not the silicone or mineral based types). You should be able to get it at any motorcycle shop selling brake fluid from the motorcycle parts distributor "Parts Unlimited" - Part # MOT36. It isnt cheap, I think the last time I bought some for my ZRX1100, it went for about $15-$16 bones for a 500ml bottle. Works great for racing applications though. You've already wrapped your exhaust, and I expect you've already researched the various high-temp fluids out there, but I thought I'd suggest it for you. Good luck on your recovery. |
Holy smokes!!
Good luck mate Wiebrand |
Any progress mate??
|
Oh man time flies, there has been progress but not as much as I'd like. Most of the stuff happening isn't picture worthy and some is but I haven't taken the pictures yet. A lot of wiring and test ideas that were a $200 gamble, some worked and some didn't. I haven't had a lot of time between turkey day, becoming a new uncle, and planning an early xmas for the newborn/family while everyone is together. Some of it is my fault too I'll admit :rolleyes: I got a new toy and I'll put up a new post elsewhere for it.
On this project though, here's whats been happening: Got a new intake from an ej25, larger TB and different layout, so i've modified it to make it work. Wiring is the bane of my existence, everytime I think I've thought of everything a new circuit is needed. Took some parts to a machinist to modify for megasquirt and edis, also getting the top water manifold modified so i can spin it around backwards. |
anything new?
|
are you planning on driving your car on the streets and doing some occasional racing or will it just be a track car?
|
I have a few updates, some good some bad. Life has been up and down for me lots of good and lots of bad. I hate to say it (cause everyone else said it first) but I've been spending more time and money on my newly acquired sports bug than I should. While it's a really nice daily, it's pulling resources from the race car. More bad news, my recent divorce filing got snarled when the company handling it folded so I've been trying to kick start that again. Only to find out my ex had to go in for emergency surgery for spleen and kidney failure. Finally have paper work on the way and I found out last week she may have breast cancer (her family has a history). So while I may not love the woman anymore I don't wish that on anyone, and I've been trying to help her pay off bills from before we separated. In retrospect I've had a lot of time to think about this project and my current situation and my plans needed "adaptation" After 2 years of interrupted fabrication, fits and spurts of progress and no real progress I decided to axe the project. I can assure you there are several reasons, all of them good.
The Good part: There's an old saying that says you can take a horse out of the wild, but you can't take the wild out of the horse. Well racing is kinda like that, especially if you've ever tasted victory. I'm starting a new project, no motor swaps this time, and going with what I know. I started all this to go racing and then kinda lost sight of what was going on (literally and figuratively). So the goal here is to go racing, and the sooner the better. I've already started work with a new chassis and there's a lot of "bolt-on" stuff already being transferred over. I'll continue this tread since this new project was born from the ashes of the old one. mccarthy: The plan here is to make a race car first, so it will still be street registered but only because a couple of classes I want to participate in require it. It's not the kinda of car you'll want to drive to work, but I'm sure I'll try it at least once. |
sorry to hear it. this build up thread was one of the projects that inspired me to do a subaru swap. what are you going to do with all of your conversion parts?
|
The list of parts that won't be recycled is pretty short.
subaru motor kep flywheel and adapter plate koyo radiator radiator lines link v3 ecu I think just about everything else will go to the new car. I'll probably end up selling those parts and feed that cash back into the project. So if anyone is interested shoot me a pm. I never thought I'd be anybody's inspiration, especially after this long. I finally realized that I'm a driver not a fabricator, so why am I building when I should be driving? That's the driving force for the new car. |
So here is the new girl, her name is Lucy (the daughter of the devil). I bought her off an old lady and I'm the second owner! I wasn't out to buy another sport bug, in fact I know 2 other people looking for them specifically, it just happened by accident. She's a 73 sport bug, 86k miles, original interior and wheels. At some point she was given a bad rattle can red paint job so a trip to the paint booth is it store for the future. Here's a couple "before" pictures.
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...4.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...3.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...7.jpg~original |
Had Lucy for 2 weeks and already got the porsche stuff on her. One thing I didn't transfer over yet was the front strut bar and camber plates from the old car. I really need to since I can only get down to +1.2 camber on each side. I also have some shorter/stiffer springs coming for the front as well. Here's a couple in progress pics
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...7.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...8.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...0.jpg~original I don't have any pics of her on the ground yet but I'll grab some today. I've been reading and memorizing the competition rule book for NASA paying particular attention to the time trial rules. One of the reason I'm switch back to a type 1 is a weight/power limit I found. Originally I was after an hp target of 350hp and 1800lbs wet with driver for weight. That gives me a 5.14lb/1hp weight to power ratio and puts me right out of all competition classes. In reality I'm limited to 8.7lb/1hp for a total of 206hp, but since the car is so light I have a penalty modifier of -1.5 so my actual target number is 10.2lbs/1hp, or 176hp. Now the thing is they go by hp not torque, so I can make a peak of 176hp anywhere. So I've been considering different motor ideas and I'll put a couple up here when they're fleshed out. |
Racing update!
First things first though... I got the new springs in for the front end, settled on QA1 10" 125 lb./in. springs. While I had the front suspension apart I put the strut bar and camber plates in. The minimum settings previously in the old car were -1.5 degrees camber so it should be close to that now. Once everything was back together I did a ghetto alignment by tape measure and got it within 1/8th to 1/16th of an inch of toe out. I also stripped out the front carpet, floor mats, back seat, spare tire, and jack to get ready for race day. http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...0.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...1.jpg~original Last sunday I was able to get Lucy out for an autox down in Marina. First impression, it takes a couple runs to warm up the front tires. For the first couple of runs all I did was push the front end around. It didn't help that I was running in the morning so both the tires and the course were cold. Secondly, I really need more HP, the poor stock motor just doesn't cut it but it was still fun none the less. Class wise they stuck me in FSP, I'm not sure how accurate that is but the group is pretty laid back. Afterwards I realized I probably had too much pressure in the front tires and after checking it (28lbs in both front tires) I put them back down to 20lbs. The rear tires I left at 24 lbs. since it seemed to work well there. As promised heres a couple pics of the car so far. http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...2.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...1.jpg~original |
Motor Update
Thought I'd spill the beans on the new setup as parts arrive. Got most of the long block so far and the rest is coming. Here's what I decided to start with :) 2165cc turbo CB super case, 7.0 deck, 10mm head studs 78mm forged race crank 94mm forged pistons w/ total seal 2nd ring CB 5.7" super race rods, chevy journal CB 044 cnc mini wedge port heads, ls1 springs, cb forged 1.3:1 rockers K8 cam, 107 lc, 308 dur, .491" lift with 1.3:1 rockers 28mm light weight lifters straight cut gears 4 gear dry sump pump giant oil cooler w/ fan 3gal sump tank dtm shroud CB quick tune turbo/efi kit turbo tbd Right now I have everything but the cb efi/turbo kit and I'm still deciding on what turbo to use. I'm still working numbers for a big T3 or a T3/T4 hybrid or possibly something else. I want to have it together, tuned, and broken in before memorial day because there are a good number of track days comin :) |
Latest update:
Been awhile since I updated on this build so here's what's going on... I've been collecting parts for the chassis while I build the motor and now that the motor is more or less finished, work on the chassis is progressing. I've been fitting the RLR roll cage over the past couple of weekends when weather permits and once that is done I'll fit the new motor and tranny. I only needed to add a diagonal bar to the main hoop to bring it up to FIA spec which is a relief since that has been one of my biggest worries. Unfortunately weather and wild fires have been interfering with the build. There was a wild fire 7 miles from our house 2 weeks ago, last weekend it was over 100 degrees outside and now there are tornado warnings, wild fires and severe thunder storm warnings :shocked: My to-do list: Roll cage Mount dry sump tank Mount water injection system Mount FI computer Install 091 race tranny Replace inner type 1 cv's with type 2 cv's Install race motor Install fuel cell Install dash/gauges Plumb fuel system Plumb oil system Plumb water injection system Break-in Street tune Dyno tune |
hiya mate...very intresting thread. on one of the first pictures i noticed the pedal assembly, where is that from ?
|
Like the stance of the car as well! and love the home made camber plates.
Any pics of what she looks like now? |
The pedal assembly is a Tilton 600 series. I love the floor mount setup but I may end up trading these pedals for a top mount unit. The top mount is a little more space friendly in a bug and the master cylinders are easier to deal with.
I don't have any good overall pics (because the paint is terrible) but I don't want to show it until the aero is on anyway :p Actually I can't wait to paint it but thats last on my list. I did find a great satin black paint to use for the hood and decklid however. I used my phone dials to experiment on and they came out much better than I anticipated. I was working on the cage more this weekend and got the main hoop, and down bars tacked in. I started working on the head and dash bars but I ran out of daylight. If all goes well I can have the cage ready for final weld next weekend. |
Cool build! Can't wait to see more progress!
|
The roll cage is finally in! I had a 5 day weekend over the 4th so I spent just about all of it finishing the cage. I added the diagonal in the main hoop and also beefed up the x-brace to 1.5" instead of the 1" that came with it. I decided to copy the x-brace for the passenger side as well for equal protection.
Me hard at work roasting in the sun http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...1.jpg~original Interior shots http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...0.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...2.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...4.jpg~original Now that the cage is done, the race motor and tranny can go in. I'm counting the hours now, compared to the cage everything else is cake. |
Nice cage.
|
very Nice Work :)
Keep us Posted Chris. |
| All times are GMT -4. The time now is 17:31. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
© www.GermanLook.net 2002-2017. All Rights Reserved