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  #31  
Old February 2nd 2007, 05:19
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Alex has put 944 A arms on his strut converted ghia (the white French oe on here that is being converted to G50 and 993 flat 6). Maybe he can share some info on here too? I saw some pics on his build thread on german-spirit.
Rich
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  #32  
Old February 3rd 2007, 20:11
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Thats essentially the same setup S1fter (Mark) is using on his. I posted a couple of pics on the first page. Look him up here or check him out at http://themetricnut.co.nz/
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  #33  
Old February 6th 2007, 03:58
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Ok so I now know that the part between the sway bar and the A arm is a drop link. What I need to know now is where to get some. Next question that needs to be aswered is: What is the type of ball joints these A arms are using? I have not seen them before and do not know where to obtain them. Next is: What are these threaded A arm piviots these supensions are using and where to get them? Are these performance parts? This is my first BIG all out complete custom suspension rebuild so some of these parts are unknown to me but I want to learn and rapidly. My main idea here is to make a series of low cost high quality, modded super beetle suspension options that use common off the shelf bushings, ball joints and other parts for easy low cost rebuild.
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Pirate VW Services is looking for weber IDF and IDA carbs "to far gone to repair". We are also looking for 74 Super Beetle and later controll arms that are to badley bent to use or repair. PM for details.

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  #34  
Old February 6th 2007, 10:11
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They are spherical bearings or rod ends that you mean. People call them rosejoints, uniballs etc. by the brand name. Try to search the web with words like those or manufacturers like Aurora, National, SKF,...
Easiest way to make a droplink or a "dogbone" is to use a male and a female rod end bolted together.
Good rod ends arent cheap. And you should study the load ratings of differend ends capable to handle the forces your front suspension creates. I am not he one to advice you here, maybe someone knows mats and physics better?
Use only bearings with a PTFE liner, or not liner at all (grease needed). The cheapest bearings have brass liner in them which breaks soon under heavy loads.
J.
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  #35  
Old February 6th 2007, 14:44
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thanks for the info. yeah these A arms are not going to be for racing. Just an upgrade for street use. I may later try to develope a set for races and roders but not just yet. The arms will be made of metal that is the same thickness as the original beetle I arms if not a little thicker, plus the metal will be of a bettter quality. For ease of replacement the ball joint is a 944 bolt on replacement. The pivot point bushings are out of a 1982 Audi 4000. The sway bar bushings will most likely be the beetle ones. I may have found an existing drop link on BMW that may fit the set up. After I have one arm properly welded up and ready to go, I am taking it to a local fab shop to have it bend and torque tested. They have a machine there that bends and twists fabricated items to see if and where they would fail. I have a freind that works there so he is sliping me in early morning to use tha machine.
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Pirate VW Services is looking for weber IDF and IDA carbs "to far gone to repair". We are also looking for 74 Super Beetle and later controll arms that are to badley bent to use or repair. PM for details.

Sevice with a yarrhhhh!
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  #36  
Old July 20th 2007, 22:03
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So here is what is going on with my set up. I have had to battle my way through some family issues this year culminating in a trip to Germany around October or November to settle an estate. I have been working from a friend’s garage as I do not yet have one of my own so this has also limited my access. Currently most of my extra money is going toward the trip so it is slow going on the suspension front. However after getting back I will have my own workspace and more time and money to throw at the project.


I have a front jig finished that holds the front suspension on the super as if it were on the car. I finished one prototype A arm several months ago but it failed the off car stress tests. The new one was designed with the help of a local speed shop and is similar to one used on an extreme off-road buggy they race. So this time round I foresee it passing the off car stress tests and I can move on to fabricating its mate and get them on the car.

The overall goal of these arms is not for racing just a handling and ride upgrade. The A arms will be mirror to each other so they can be used left or right side. They use 1985 Audi 4000 control arm bushings and bolt on ball joints for use with Porsche or Beetle spindles. They are just a tad bit shorter than the standard control arms by like 2cm and are set up to put the wheels at absolute neutral camber by default. Camber adjustment is re added at the strut spindle interface. On the later super beetle struts the top spindle bolt holes can be ovaled out for the addition of a cam bolt. A set cam bolts from a 1985 944 struts work perfect. This set up mirrors the same amount of camber as the factory set up.
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Pirate VW Services is looking for weber IDF and IDA carbs "to far gone to repair". We are also looking for 74 Super Beetle and later controll arms that are to badley bent to use or repair. PM for details.

Sevice with a yarrhhhh!
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