Time attack beetle

[Humble]

Still no definitive answer on my previous question, just too many variables. I was told that the force needed to release the clutch varies due to clutch plate thickness, flywheel wear, flywheel surface depth and so on, and that the force needed is not linear with wear or different clutch plates. So I went ahead and ordered a 1" dia titon master cylinder, to be continued...

Work has been progressing, little bits here and there. I had taken more pictures but our net access hass been down for the past week (we're on a long haul wireless setup) so I couldn't update or upload till now.

I've been waiting for some time for a bus-into-bug transmission adapter kit, about a month now, and it's kinda holding up everything else. I realized that A) I was probably gonna hack it up to make it work how I wanted and B) judging from the kit I could make a better one for less. So off the to metal supply I went. With stock on hand I started playing with how the transmission would sit in the car, how high and how far forward I could put it. The goal here is to raise the transmission and tilt it forward a few degrees so that maybe I don't have to modify the oilpan or exhaust or modify them very little (optomistic I know). I had to cut into the body to clear the nosecone and to make room for the new front mount. I also replaced the type 1 cv's with new bus cv's on my old axles and test fitted them to see if they will still work. They are 21.5" long from a late model vanagon and were perfect for the porsche swap and type 1 tranny. They felt okay-ish but i'll need better measurements (and pictures) once everything is set in stone.

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I started fabbing up the nose cone mount from some 2"x1/8" flat stock and ended up drilling the holes a little too far apart. A little bit of grinding and its a clean fit. Then welded it together and I'll grind it down tomorrow. Here's what I'm thinking for a main transmission mount similar to a bus to hang the 091 from. Then I'll fab up mounts on the bottom from the motor to the tranny saddle.

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Next, I hacked into the firewall behind the pedals to make room for the tilton floor mount unit. I also need to raise the pedals to clear the body and strengthen the floor so I made a spacer from 1/2" square tubing. Pardon the welding, I never welded before tonight. Somewhere a purist is crying, I can feel it...







I haven't decided if I need to brace the floor pan from underneath or not. I could tack in a couple strips of the 2x1/8" flat stock length wise for support if needed. Anyone else running floor mount pedals?

A couple of other odds and ends, I ground off the studs for the heater controls and finished removing the rest of the forward part of the spare tire well to prepare for the radiator/intercooler mounts and ducting.

Thoughts for another day...
As a result of the new transmission and mounting the shiftrod will now be above the tunnel. It will probably want to occupy the same space as the ebrake handle. No shiftrod in the tunnel frees up the tunnel for coolant lines.

[Humble]

All my parts are in so now the only thing standing between me and a finished beetle is... me. Our connection here on the mountain is doing a little better so I try to upload some pictures tomorrow. Made some progress since the last update but not as much as I would have hoped.

I started fabbing the new hanging tranny mount welding it into place in the car. When I welded the tabs in place the left one was 1/4" too high and then I final welded it before double checking. So I had to cut the welds and grind everything smooth and try it again with 4 part harmony. 2nd time around I used a laser level to line everything up to car center, measured about 10 times, then final welded. Now that its fixed I've started on the rest of the mounts, and I'm almost done with the nose cone mount. I had bounced a few ideas off a friend who specializes in fabrication for a living and he suggested a couple of changes to my hanging mount design. I took some of those suggestions to heart and redesigned it with a few ideas I picked off of drag cars.

Started some sheet metal work for the area behind the pedals and fabbed up a radiator frame/housing. Played with the housing a bit in the front of the bug, there's only a little bit of clearance on each side. Also looked at where air is going to go once it's past the radiator and while I think there's plenty of room for the air to sort itself out, it's not smooth flow. Anyone else with a radiator in front have any air flow problems?

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Things haven't been going as fast as I'd like this past week or so but for good reasons. I got a new job building and configuring server/network equipment. I've been working long days so by the time I get home it already dark and I'm arleady tired from moving heavy equipment all day. On the plus side, It gives me extra money to spend on the bug and a sense of urgency on the weekends, so it's not all bad.

On to the good stuff... Finished fabrication to the motor/tranny mounts, I really need to work on welding upside down, I just can't seem to get it. Spent all day final mounting the motor and tranny. All in all they were in and out of the car no fewer the 5 times and each time I did it, it got a little bit harder to get them in or out. I can and did jump around on the motor and it ain't goin' nowhere.





Overall i think the combo is 3-4" higher and 2-3" further forward than stock. The subie oil pan is now about an inch lower than the tranny saddle which I'm really happy with but the exhaust sill gives me worries.

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A few more pictures...

It's really starting to get tight behind the motor on the drivers side. I can't get a turbo to fit in the stock location so i'll have to mount it higher but I'm worried what that's going to do to my under hood temps since there's no real air flow there.



Forgot to show pics of the front mount so here they are. Once the cage is in I want to tie in a couple of bars to the front tranny mount to stiffen things up more.



Test fit the new deck lid, re-fit the fenders (which need to be trimmed again), and set the rear apron in place to see how things are coming, looking good so far.

[ricola]

Coming on nice and quickly I presume you cut through the torsion housing to move the trans that far forwards or did it fit over the top? Have you tied the front mount in to the chassis and body so you can still seperate the two?

I'd have thought it would be easier to mod your rear mount than relocate a turbo..

Rich