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Old June 28th 2003, 21:00
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MattKab MattKab is offline
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Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: NW UK
Posts: 371
I just love the way we spell Aluminium :)

I got both the sexy '87 951 cast arms and the '86 944 steelies. I will get past the output flange issue so I got the early arms with hope of obtaining T181 O/F's or finding a Quaife in my cornflakes and The longer, more springy 951 axleshafts.

I learned they require use of the spring plate off the same car or some normalising (welding) of a spring (Plate). The springplate bolt holes on all (Porsche and VW) steel arms go like ,' , on the cast arms they go , ' , the corresponding springplate must be wider I believe the end of the '03 torsion housing needs modification to take the 951 springplate?

I cut a sourced spring plate for a mock-up, rather than machine the 951 (THIS IS NOT A VIABLE MODIFICATION AND IS AGAINST THE PHILOSOPHIES OF BOTH MYSELF AND TRUE GL!)

The rear track was increased and wider rear wings would have been necessary to clear my lovely 7.5*17/et52mm 225/45.

Please bear in mind my Beetle gets decomissioned Friday evenings and put back to stock by Monday morning for work. This goes on until developments are figured out for satisfactory execution. Only the fasteners and faces get detailed at the mo.

From memory (March '02) the bushes are a straight swap for the Bug ones and it bolts straight up. nice and light. The '03 single plate springplate is in the right location but only top 2 holes line up (LOOK 4" /\ ).

The shock absorber bolts on the 951 arms are M14 fine thread, a serious bolt requiring a simple lathe job to make a shouldered stud for the 12mm bottom damper eye.

When the shocker is bolted up at the bottom, I noticed that the top eye was off axis to the bolt hole in the '03 shocker mount by a degree or so? I checked my work and concluded the shocker on the 951 shocker travels about a different centre.

The top bolt will go in but I didn't like the feel of the loading in the top bush. It doesn't fit. Easy sorted with a new M14 thread in the shock tower and a 14mm ID bush in the top eye of a Bug shocker.

Does this line up when the 951 springplate is used?

Matt
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