Whew! Almost a year, a British car project, 18 driving events and I’m back in the garage for a little bit. Crazy how time disappears with work and the house. Reality has set in a little bit when it comes to this car, I simply just don’t have the time to devote to it like I did on the Rally Bug when I built it.
So, today I took stock of the situation to try and figure out what I should do. As Classic Car Adventures continues to grow, I’ve had the opportunity to drive a number of excellent classic cars, and my calendar of events keeps growing. Hagerty has me put together a large number of their “Hagerty Touring Series” events, and I put together The Drive Home with the LeMay museum. With it, and perhaps a little bit of age, I’m less inclined to build another stripped-down race car that needs hearing protection to drive. I’ve really enjoyed some 911’s on events, and even a 914 with a smaller motor. You could talk to the co-driver without problem, the heat works, and one of the 911s even had a stereo that added to the enjoyment. Hmmmmm…
Okay, so I have a relatively rust free 73 shell. I’ve bought all the bits for converting a Subaru transmission to work in the Beetle. I even just retired my 2.5RS sedan, by upgrading my winter car to the wagon. I really wanted to take the time to put the EZ30 3.0L six cylinder engine I have, but I think I need to be realistic about my time and go with the easy option. It’s just a SOHC 2.5L in the 2005 sedan, but it will drop in pretty easy.
I
really didn’t want to use the Porsche brake setup and wheels, for the sole reason that “everyone” does it. But, reality is setting in. I already own the kit, it’s already bolted to the car, and it we know it works. The AP-Racing callipers I have stored away in the shop? Yeah, they would be damned cool…and I might still decide to use them…but I have to re-engineer the mounts from the ground up, and I checked on the price of pads. Oh-my. Okay, for the moment lets concede that we’ll use the Porsche setup thats already on the car.
Suspension? Well, I’m not overly stoked with the MaXX struts (I’d have gone full coil-over)…the truth is I have adjusted the height of the Rally Bug _maybe_ five times over the past 5 years. Honestly, it basically runs the 2” drop at all times…and even if I got rally crossing, I’m often too busy or lazy to raise it up! Okay, maXX struts will do just fine on the curved-window. So how about the rear?
The car I have is equipped with 944 steel rear arms, and what I believe to be a combination of early 944 and 996 brake setup. But hidden on my property I have that alloy-arm rear setup. Early 944 Alloy arms. Hmmm…that should also have some nice 944 torsion bars in it! Okay, stripped all that down tonight, need to pop the wheel bearings out and do some brake research to figure out exactly what transfers over, and if I need to order anything.
So, I think, after a long period to decide, I want a car I can drive without hearing protection. Something that is as fun as the Rally Bug on tarmac, but has heat and some creature comforts. I will need to toss some “Dave” into it though, and already have some bits decided upon. You’ll see another Hargett shifter in the car, presuming Mark is still in business. I also picked up a pedal set from the Subaru Racing program I do some work with. It uses under-foot master cylinders, which will make it a heck of a lot easier to mount over the Rally Bug’s setup. One thing I don’t have is a balance bar setup for it, which is pretty important. It also needs to be raised a minimum of a 1/2” off the floor, possibly an inch, but it’s already pretty “tall” for a Beetle. Going to change the driving position significantly!
-Dave