Oval Bugster

[volkdent]

Front and back are joined again.

Jason

[NO_H2O]

Nice work.

[70Turbobug]

Awesome welding! Looks very solid!

[wrenchnride247]

Nice progress Jason! The welds do look nice

[Humble]

Making progress, slowly but surely. Looking at the front strut mount it looks like it will interfere with the fender, or maybe it's just the camera angle?

[TSAF]

You welding skills are extremely good. You are welcome to work in a shipyard at any time.

Seriously now top work.

[volkdent]

Hey guys, thanks for the kudos, but I'll have to pass them on to Eric, I've got neither the time nor the skill to work this area right now, so I've farmed this out. It's back in my possesion now so I can work on non-structural things like moving the steering column and the pedals over about 5cm.

I'm worried it's a little too beefy, but I guess better stronger than not strong enough. This car will be seeing the race track regularily, so I want to feel comfortable about my chances of good health should a shunt occur.

Will, the strut top and the fender literally touch each other, that's another part I have to work on, I may have to grind on that mount just to clear the fender!!! It's a problem that is not really a problem for supers, but I'm the only guy I'm aware of that's attempted this union with a standard beetle so I have additional challenges to face.

Jason

[volkdent]

I'm Lovin' it....



Jason

[Humble]

That's a very RWB (Rauh-Welt Begriff) look, is that the direction you're leaning?

[volkdent]

I do like the look, I just don't think it will work for the street, track or show only, doesn't have the travel for a decent street car. I'll have to play with the fenders when I get there, but I wouldn't mind incorporating the look.

Jason

[volkdent]

This would be cool!





Precision Chassis Works

Jason

[Humble]

I've been looking at air jacks for years but haven't been able to justify the cost... yet. I may end up with a set down the road if I ever pull the trigger and go tube chassis but for now I just dream

[owdlvr]

Same here. Seriously want a set on my next ride (which will be tarmac oriented).

-Dave

[volkdent]

This turned out to be one of the largest problems I didn't even realize I would face. Turns out the steering wheel needed to be moved to the centerline by 3.25". Well, also turns out the steering column and the pedals are one unit. Also turns out the steering shaft is sitting very near the gas tank. Also, the master and accompanying booster aren't really the moving-type. SOOOO

I took a wild guess and tried a step in the right direct by just moving the whole assembly over by the distance between the 2 main mounting studs, 1.75".

The hole on the right is the new one, the other 2 are backed by some sort of aluminum casting that transmits the load right to the MC. I figured half is better than none.



Well, my decision turned out to be a good one, as the steering shaft just clears the gas tank by the width of a zip tie, the master cylinder extender arm just clears the steering column if you turn it 90 deg, and the heater/ac core just fits back in next to the assembly with less than a 1/4" to spare.




I had to hack open the hole for the steering shaft as it would have fouled now, and I have to figure out some sort of reasonably safe way of transmitting the brake pedal motion to the MC extension arm. This is what I'm most worried about, I'm taking a really well designed double-shear and perfectly centered brake pedal system and building a single shear and slightly side loaded force vector. I've got a couple of ideas, rod ends to be exact, but I will have to play it by ear and get the opinions of a couple of the engineer types on GLF when I get that far.

Jason

[volkdent]

My first plan included using a male heim, but I just couldn't let myself feel comfortable with that in a single shear load. I'm not worried anymore, the pedal will break before this thing does.



This is my friend Michael who has done the beautiful lathe work. He's from the old school and can machine ANTHING! Thanks Michael!!!