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Thanks for all the great information Dave. I live in the Pacific Northwest, and we have similar road surfaces. Lots of twists, turns and elevation changes, coupled with rather uneven pavement in many places.
Your car rides that low?!?! You're running dropped spindles and a lowered beam correct? HOw level are your front trailing arms to the ground? |
Drop spindles and a lowered beam. I wouldn't think twice about taking it on _any_ paved road in the Pacific Northwest...and once Covid ends I'll be taking it on all the roads in in WA/OR for sure. The only one I'd be concerned about is Old Blewitt pass, but that pretty much stands for any classic car.
No idea how level they are, I can't get in to see them on a good angle without a drive-on lift. I'd estimate they aren't quite parallel with the ground, still sloping slightly with leading edge higher than the trailing edge. |
I look forward to connecting. I live 35 minutes away from Portland, toward the coast!
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Sept 21st 2020...
I've put over 21,000km on the car so far this season, and tomorrow morning I start my final event for the year. We're exploring the Banff Corridor as part of the Hagerty Touring Series: Banff event. The route is done by Classic Car Adventures, and hosted by CCA & Hagerty. It's been an interesting 20,000km. There's an all new front beam, the rear suspension locked up on the right-rear corner on one event, and I've somewhat sorted the tire rub issue. More in a couple of weeks once I'm home and recovered! https://classiccaradventures.com/wp-...2020d2-009.jpg https://classiccaradventures.com/wp-...fc2020-011.jpg https://classiccaradventures.com/wp-...cday3s-008.jpg -Dave |
Awesome pics Dave! Tnx for posting.
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I can't wait.
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Well, I didn't update as promised. Sorry about that! As Covid-19 regulations relaxed a little in the summer, and small group gatherings became an option I started back up with some CCA events. Over the course of a few weeks I managed to put over 15,000km on the German Look beetle, 2,700 on my dad's 1979 Convertible and an unfortunate 1,500km on a buddies truck when one of my event cars failed (more on that later). We toured Vernon to Rossland, to Fernie and Golden on Classic Car Adventures' events the Hagerty Fall Alternate and Hagerty Fall Classic. And then we toured gravel roads from Merritt to Oliver, and Oliver to Kaslo and back to Vernon on CCA's Rush to Gold Bridge event (which, doesn't always go to Gold Bridge.)
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e2401510_b.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/c...g?format=1500w In between the Hagerty Fall Alternate, and the Hagerty Fall Classic, I decided to put the new narrowed beam I had into the German Look. I went from rubbing badly on the left front fender, to rubbing lightly on the right front fender. Sigh. I ran out of time to modify the mounting bolts to center it, but will do that over the course of the winter. The final event for my motoring year was an event I ran in the Banff Corridor for Hagerty. We started in Calgary at Ken King's collection. He owns Concept 1, and has a pretty incredible aircooled collection. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...dd62e898_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...77e5a15d_b.jpg From there it was up through Banff, over to Radium Hot Springs for an overnight. We toured through Lake Louise and back into Banff for night number two. The whole time I was taking people off the beaten path, and onto some of my favourite off-shoot roads that make excellent driving experiences. The long way 'round to Calgary is about 4.5 hours, and includes some of the best driving roads Canada has to offer. Following the event, I went up to Jasper and back...just because I haven't been there in a few years and wanted to stop and see some things...and then made my way home. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c17f7152_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e83b9554_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...850ce8f5_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3b1b5188_b.jpg To help with the tire rubbing issue on the German Look, I've picked up a new set of wheels which will help the problem, and basically made modification plans that will keep me from flying to Germany to buy wider front fenders. I've clocked 32,400km onto the car since building it, and overall I would say it was pretty bulletproof. I think I have one pushrod tube leaking now, related to a road hazard that got kicked up, but otherwise it's excellent. On the Hagerty Fall Classic my girlfriend Taylor was co-driving for her first ever event. I knew that somewhere in the route book a double-caution “Dip” was coming up, but couldn’t remember exactly where it was. Taylor was a bit unsure what mileage we were at, when we hit it. Now, a double caution should be taken at a reduced pace. At the time, we happened to be travelling at a very spirited pace…so I now know how the German Look beetle feels in the air. My friend driving a heavily modified Mercedes behind us was floored at how high we went. Interestingly enough, the sway bar link went “beyond center” on landing, and actually locked the right rear suspension fully compressed. I have some minor engineering to work out to fix that, though I am tempted to remove the bar all together to see how the car handles. Once the issue was identified (first reaction was broken torsion bar), it was relatively easy to fix. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...4fc576e6_b.jpg Since getting back I’ve managed to knock off about 50% of my winter list for the car. The exhaust stud which disappeared somewhere in Banff was replaced, along with all new exhaust gaskets. I swapped out the tach for a 914 unit, so I can now see the turn signal warning lamps and stop driving like an old-man with my signals on for miles. I’ve reassessed the rear sway bar mounting, transmission mounts, and given the car a nut-and-bolt check. I also made a few other ****pit changes which are either ergonomic in nature, or to eliminate things that were reflecting in the windscreen. Still have some other work to do, including swapping the front wheel studs, now that I've sorted out the front end fit...but it’s coming along. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...9b4ff24c_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...73c7891b_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...81df1650_b.jpg On the Banff event, someone asked me if I was using the brakes at all on a section of road he followed me on...because my brake lights weren't coming on much, if at all. After a bunch of testing, I've come to the conclusion that my pressure switches work perfectly, but in 'normal' driving I'm often not putting enough pressure into the system to trip the old-school switches. Once we start driving spiritedly, the brake lights seem to work fine. Hmmm, seems I don't really need to do a lot of slowing down if I'm just driving 'normally' :P We can't have someone rear-ending my car though, so combine one micro switch, a scrap of aluminium, some model airplane hardware, wire, and an hour plus...we now have a brake switch which activates the tail lights as soon as the pedal moves. Factory wiring remains, so I can swap back if this switch fails. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...1dd940a2_z.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...99d79472_z.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...206f8f70_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...995fb863_b.jpg -Dave p.s. going back to check it posted correctly, and I have to say...I'm really glad I had my professional photographers along for these events! hahaha. |
I've not been happy with the paint on the German Looker. After finding out from the pros it was 'checked' and needs to be repainted, I never tried getting it polished. My friend Bob finally convinced me we could at least make it way better, and came over to teach me how to do it. Another friend Laurence talked me through the shopping list while I was standing in Canadian Tire, so when Bob arrived I was ready with a new polisher, foam pads, and various compounds and waxes.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...8ce5eb48_c.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...4977c705_c.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...ab7d6d04_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...10dcae2c_b.jpg While it will never be show-quality, after compound, polish, IPA bath, and wax...it's looking much better and I'm definitely stoked. Totally understand why the experts charge what they do though, my hands are gonna hurt all week! https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...54776aa2_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3b70a8d9_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...2175a8c9_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...a6607db2_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...cd90b81a_b.jpg -Dave |
Love this thread.
Had to read it all again.. Any chance you could get a pic of how you did your removable rear apron? Is it just held in place by the smash of the fender beading/boots? Those microswitches are pretty much mandatory with big brakes, But i had one putting -just- enough pressure it was pre-loading the pedal and covered the inlet port on the master. FYI. Do the Weber windows keep the muck out? Always see those with a bunch of bolts and even a seal sometimes.. Love it! |
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Cheers! Thanks for the kind words. |
Hmmm...a little hard to update this from Feb 2021. The car did about 35,000km in 2021. I took it from Vancouver Island to Banff, twice. Did our "Island Adventure" event and a few other events. Then in 2022 we took the car on a road trip to Denver, through Yellowstone National Park. In Colorado we did the Classic Car Adventures Silver Summit, a three day collector car tour. From there I road tripped the car to Ottawa Canada, where I was hosting a Ferrari annual gathering, and then it was to Toronto where we did the Classic Car Adventures Maple Mille...another three day collector car tour. Super rad was getting the car together with my dad's 1979 Beetle. He restored the yellow convertible when I was a kid, doing a full tear-down and restoration. Because I live over 3,500km away on the otherside of the country...we've never had any of our Beetles in the same spot together, until this moment. After he drove the German Look, he pulled back into the driveway and said, "now I understand why you put big motors in these." heh heh.
The car then slept for the winter in Toronto, at Hagerty Garage+Social. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...1a2c9599_c.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...aeaff8e9_c.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...33094334_c.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...4f8cc145_c.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...6a33f5a8_c.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...8923378f_c.jpg In May of 2023, my buddy brought the car from Toronto to Denver for me, where Taylor (my girlfriend) and I did the Classic Car Adventures Silver Summit once again. This year's event T-Shirt is pretty rad, and I should probably do a second run of them to sell to my VW friends. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...292d70a7_c.jpg And if we happen to run into each other anywhere, be sure to ask me if I have any keychains on me. I made these ones for 2023 as well. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...fc44992b_c.jpg Taylor and I road-tripped the car home from Colorado, back through Yellowstone again...because why not?! https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...86ab2aab_c.jpg Home at last... https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...1e025a5e_c.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...24cc1a03_c.jpg In September Taylor and I took the car down to Portland for the Classic Car Adventures Fall Classic. Because, well, why not? Three days of driving fantastic roads in Oregon. Portland to Bend, Bend to Eugene, and Eugene to McMinnville before we headed home. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f41958fd_c.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...0ba1fae9_c.jpg Side note: If you can't find your trouble light before leaving the shop...look harder. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3167ed48_c.jpg We did have one oops while on the Fall Classic. We couldn't avoid some fallen tree debris in a corner...and this is the result. Not going to be easy to repair without paint! https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e847ee54_c.jpg I'm missing a bunch of events, road trips and other news...but the car did roughly another 38,000km in 2023. When in doubt, mile them up! I've got a fairly big list to tackle on the car this winter, but it's mostly minor items or niggly things that I'd like to improve. I installed a Bug-Tech shifter this year, for instance, which meant I had to remove the center console and cup-holders. That is driving me nuts so I need to come up with a cupholder solution. Minor items, but big list. -Dave |
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The winter list is small.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...063a173d_c.jpgUntitled by Dave Hord, on Flickr |
Love to see how much you drive your cars Dave, hoping to join you at some point!
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https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f8714b64_c.jpg Making drastic decisions that I might regret later... https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...59b11a5d_c.jpg First off, I need to swap out the silver-dot 914 tach for a different one. The silver-dot is needed for the family heirloom...but the only one I have is this rough looking late model. The late model would be perfect, so time for a quick restore. Fortunately Beetle glass is just a touch smaller in diameter, but still works. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...081b5afd_c.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...52e8c189_c.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e63a149f_c.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...6a1334f8_c.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...4ca9cfb0_c.jpg Risky choice of the day number one: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...efc92bfb_c.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...84393317_c.jpg Blaupunkt Bremen, but the modernized version they sold a few years back. Tape deck has been replaced with SD/USB/Media inputs, and the radio has bluetooth. I'm not entirely sure I want the radio upfront and centre...but it would be super nice to have controls without opening the glovebox. Risky choice of the day number two: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...7c6a0703_c.jpg[/url] I know we want the rally odometer for events, and the Brantz is definitely my odometer of choice, but I'm not totally sold that I love it in the German Look car yet. It will grow on me, I'm sure. Possibly risky choice of the day number three: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...93f10c2d_c.jpg I've been saving the Tag Heuer (and Nixon) for the Family Heirloom, and originally put them down on the glovebox just to see how it would look. Now I'm not sure. I think I may need 'loan' them to the German Look until the Family Heirloom is done... |
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https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c64ff3d6_c.jpg Have I mentioned how much I'm loving the dash in this car? I should probably dig up some photos of it lit up at night... https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...bda855c2_c.jpg On its last event/run home it was developing a wheel bearing or CV noise on the right rear, and inspection showed the wheel bearing definitely had some play in it. Pulling the tire off, I also noted some odd wear that suggests the wheel bearing got quite loose or a bad shock is developing. I seem to think I may have tightened the axle nut at one point in Colorado...so I definitely needed to dig deeper. I don't think the video will post here, but feel free to follow the link. The stub axle on that side, which should require a tool to press out / remove, pushed out with my thumb. Eek. [a href="https://flic.kr/p/2pzs8x8[/img]https://live.staticflickr.com/31337/...a6398797_c.jpg[/a][a href="https://flic.kr/p/2pzs8x8[/img]Untitled[/a] by [a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/dhdynamics/[/img]Dave Hord[/a], on Flickr The wheel bearings, CV joints and brake pads...which were all brand new when I built the car in 2020...appear as though they are coming off a 30 year old car. Black, dry, and waxy CV grease. Pads about 2/3rds done, wheel bearing grease that is brown/grey not red. Weird. And then I checked the mileage. The car has done just over 90,000mi since I built it. This is all making sense now! Hmmm, perhaps the car needs a little more than just a 'start of year' turn around... https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...08012113_c.jpg If the rears are showing this much use, the fronts should probably be done as well? They appear to be in much better shape, but will get cleaned and re-greased regardless. The rears, I think I will replace. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...405db430_c.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c4f6fd4a_c.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...cf96c4af_c.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...152dba52_c.jpg KYB recommends 50-80,000mi as the life for their shocks...so I'm thinking I better just swap those out as well. Rear rotors, which were used when I built the car, are getting replaced. The fronts, which were new, still have lots of life. I might replace them anyways and keep this set (and their pads) as a bedded-in swap. I've also yanked the pushrod tubes (and thus the pushrods and rockers) to take care of a couple that were leaking. A smarter man would have pulled the shocks before pulling the valve covers and opening up the engine. Gotta put those parts back in and seal it up before I remove any other bits off the car. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...01a2af0b_c.jpg Also waiting for my latest prototype 'center console' to come off the 3D printer. In the dash photos at the top you can see a very early setup. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...fd6d85a5_c.jpg -Dave |
For most of my builds, I've got a notebook or similar somewhere that keeps track of what's on the car, and what parts came from where. But when a question arises while I'm working on the car, I often just search my own build thread. The Rally Bug is pretty well documented, but I've discovered this thread is missing a number of the things I wanted quick access to. So...here's a "what the heck did I use" post.
Brakes • 996 Calipers front and rear. 1997-2006 non turbo calipers (and associated caliper parts: pads, clips, etc.) • 1985 944 Turbo rear brake rotors • 1975 Porsche 911 front rotors Front Hubs • Bearings are odd. USA Fractional bearings with an inner adapter. (note: need to cut new hubs / or get Lanny 944 hubs) • Seals are SKF 15851 -> Not a common automotive seal. (Lordco for me, have to order) • Front outer (with 'orange 73 hubs') -> FAG LM11949 • Front inner (with 'orange 73 hubs') -> FAG LM67048 • MUST pull out the inner adapter on each bearing (x4) and put in new bearings. Note they are about 1mm thick and may be "stuck". Plugs NGK 5129 (DPR7EA-9) Shocks Front - KYB GR-2: 343143 Rear - KYB Gas-a-Just: KG5529 Rear Bearings Currently standard Beetle setup. However, I recently learned the trick to putting tapered bearings in on the rear. My car has the right rear consistently coming loose (like, every 15,000km) and Mark Huebbe suggested the taper bearing trick as the solution. After I bought all the bits, but before I started the work, I discovered the outer bearing seat on the right side had some damage from a previous owner missing with a punch and hammer. I cleaned up the damage, and tossed standard bearings in for now. Should I need to go to the tapered setup, here is the trick: 4x SKF BR30206 1) Assemble the the bearings and rear stub axle dry. Torque nut to 200ft-lbs If possible, measure the free play with a micrometer, or just get a feel. 2) Begin milling the center spacer down on the lathe a bit at a time, you're aiming for 0.00 free play, but JUST getting 0 freeplay. Keep assembling, measuring/feeling, milling and reassembling. 3) Once you've got no play, take an additional .002" (0.0508) off the center spacer. This is for "bearing crush". When torqued, the stub axle will go from freely spinning to having some light drag. It feels like a properly setup front wheel bearing essentially. 4) Dissassemble, grease, reassemble, torque. Problems The 30206 Bearings will add 1.5mm to the track width of the car, and give 1.5mm less distance flange-to-flange for the CV joints. In my case, this won't actually work for the German look, unless I get the wider fenders I've been planning on. I haven't had time to compare the bearing specs to what is out there to find a different part number. But essentially the inner race width is the problem. It is 1.5mm wider than a stock beetle bearing. Mark runs his without cotter pins, and feels that the 250lb torque will ensure the rear axle nuts never come loose...heck, he raced his at WRC Mexico with no issues. But I think making a nut with an allan bolt like the fronts might be smartest. Ultimately, if the nuts did come loose, you could damage a hub/wheel on one side because the threads aren't reverse-cut. The only thing holding the wheel from coming off would be the brake caliper and pads... Double nutting with a thin nut would also work. |
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