1979 vw rack or porsche rack

[mrjacksonsvws]

hey i have a 1302 and a 1303, and was going to do a rack and pinion conversion on both of them . I heard of people putting porsche 944 racks in their beetles. l was wondering if there is any advantage in the porsche rack , or should i stick with the vw 1979 rack. maybe one is easier to retro fit than the other, or is one of them is just better than the other one.

[Astromic]

Originally Posted by mrjacksonsvws

l was wondering if there is any advantage in the porsche rack

well, i'm no expert but i think it's obvious that the porsche rack is better because it's a "porsche" rack , and for the fitment, i don't know if it works, but i've seen a lot of people here converting 1303 boxes into golf(rabbit) r/p, and it seems that it runs better, i'm not sure of the fitment either, and what needs to be done to convert, as i didn't do it before(i'm willing to), so if anyone done this or know how, please reply...

Michael

[1303R]

jus cus it's porsche rather than vw dont make it any better!! using a rack that will work PROPERLY is far more important than where it came from! 1302's and 1303's need a special rack to suit there needs, mainly cus of the length of the track control arms, plenty of people have fitted later 1303 racks, '75 on, on to earlier super beetles. including me.do a search on this site.

[mrjacksonsvws]

I was starting to think that no one was going to reply.I got some picks of the project, check out some attachments.this is jays 1972 super.

[mrjacksonsvws]

hey 1303r, did you have any problems with the steering shaft? i was wondering because it looks like i have to cut away some of the body around the steering nuckle. one more question, do you have the brackets for the rack on yours? i was just wondering what they look like so i can fab one up.
maybe there some angle that we don't know about that makes the rack work properly.

[1303R]

hey, the second pic you got up is the 1303 rack with brackets. i aint got any pics of mine. yeh had to wack the hole a lill bigger for the steering shaft and also dent the bulkhead a lill too. lol. not much is nessercary thou! on early 1303's and all 1302's you gonna have to make your own captive nuts to bolt the rack to anyways, not to hard but one more job. al

[andy1303]

Originally Posted by mrjacksonsvws

hey 1303r, did you have any problems with the steering shaft? i was wondering because it looks like i have to cut away some of the body around the steering nuckle. one more question, do you have the brackets for the rack on yours? i was just wondering what they look like so i can fab one up.
maybe there some angle that we don't know about that makes the rack work properly.

I had to get the complete steering column for the year of the rack when I did the conversion because it's slightly longer and then all the clearances came good....

[1303R]

yeh, i forgot to mention that. i also used the complete column for the steering rack car. it is about an inch or so longer. still had to make hole bigger thou.

[mrjacksonsvws]

thanks guys, we were just talking about how far away the steering shaft is from the rack. i think were only about 1-1.5 away. does anyone know if the 1303 column steering shaft is longer than the 1302? and if its going to fix the problem? still working on it ,maybe something will come to mind soon..

[1303R]

eh? yeh see above. the rack and pinion equiped cars had a longer steering column! don't think there is a difference between 1302's and early 1303's. only the rack equiped later 1303's. mind is an early 1303 and i had to swap the whole lot over.

[mrjacksonsvws]

:agree: thanks guys , the steering rack is in. i have to try to talk to someone who has a steering column shaft for sale. we welded a extention on old shaft, but scared to try to do any real driving on it. man, i got to say, installing the rack in the bug was the best thing you could do to the suspention. it is really nice, and it hasen't been out of the garage yet.