Aircooled VW South Africa

A few more odds and ends have been taken care of:

- Wiper motor sorted out and operational again.
- Hooter sorted and operational again. (Not working great though. I think they're ready to be replaced.)
- New peanut indicators fitted up front to replace the faded and cracked ones.
- Fuse box retainer clip fitted to hold fuse box in place properly.
- New front brake cylinders fitted.
- New rear brake shoes fitted and drums given light skim.
- New brake fluid reservoir. (The old one had the top superglued together and was leaking brake fluid everywhere.)
- New steering box.
- New tie-rod ends.
- New king & linkpins.
- Wheel alignment done.
- New set of front tyres only. 185/65 15's. (I want to go with widened steelies for the back end so I'll fit new rear tyres after that's done.)
- New steering wheel Wolfsburg crest to replace the old scratched and cracked one.
- Pedal cluster stripped, cleaned and re-assembled.
Suspension changes:

Up front we fitted a pair of 2,5" dropped spindles for drum brakes. I'm happy with the stance and there are no clearance issues at all with the 185/65/15 tyres.

At the back we first dropped the back end by one outer spline but I hated the (too low) stance so we decided to experiment a bit. We finally ended up with a +4 inner and -4 outer spline drop which gave us about 2.20cm drop. At the moment I still feel that it's too low but I want to see how things look after I fit the widened rear rims and new tyres. I am thinking of going 215 to 225 in rear width to fill out the arches. I will decide on the correct profile closer to the time.

Depending on how it looks after I fit the rear tyres, I think I may possibly raise the settings to +3 inner and -3 outer splines to bring the total drop to around 1.65cm.

Anyway, this is how the car looks on its stock rear tyres at the moment. I'll post again once the rear is done.

Today I handed a set of standard 4 inch by 5 x 205 rims in for widening. I had a chat with Dave at FFR and we settled on the idea of leaving the inside of the rim as standard but widening the outer lip by 1,5 inches to bring the rim up to 5,5J. That way we will 100% eliminate any clearance issues behind the wheel and with a 215 we should be quite safe on the fender side too.

I also fitted a set on stainless wheel trim rings to the standard rims just to finish off the look I am after. I will report back with some pics of the widened rims after they are completed.

Love the color
Want to do my Bug the same once all the mechanical work is sorted!

Rims and tyres are done.

Front: 185/65/15
Rear: 205/60/15

I'm happy with the way the rear arches have filled out but I definitely want to jack it up by an inch or so. I think that will be about two outer and two inner splines. We'll have to experiment but that's next week's job.

In the meanwhile, this weekend we are going to get out and enjoy the ride.

looks good Richard. Cant wait to see it.

That does look good.. Very cool..

Sunday morning drive through the back of Durbanville on the way home from Philadelphia. The perfect spring day to be out and about in this car. Aircooled Culture boys Waiting for TonyZ

Nice Ride.......Im currently building my '61

Looks amazing, I love how the chrome on the wheels just pop!

Stütz wrote:
Up front we fitted a pair of 2,5" dropped spindles for drum brakes. I'm happy with the stance and there are no clearance issues at all with the 185/65/15 tyres.

At the back we first dropped the back end by one outer spline but I hated the (too low) stance so we decided to experiment a bit. We finally ended up with a +4 inner and -4 outer spline drop which gave us about 2.20cm drop. At the moment I still feel that it's too low but I want to see how things look after I fit the widened rear rims and new tyres. I am thinking of going 215 to 225 in rear width to fill out the arches. I will decide on the correct profile closer to the time.

Excuse my ignorance, I'm pretty unfimiliar with anything suspension wise on the beetles. Can you explain what you mean with the +4 inner and -4 outer spline drop? And is it hard to do or have done?

Also, in regards to the dropped spindles, are they bolt on or will one need to change the current suspension at all to accomodate a 2,5" drop.

Thanks

Rob

The Rob wrote:

Stütz wrote:
Up front we fitted a pair of 2,5" dropped spindles for drum brakes. I'm happy with the stance and there are no clearance issues at all with the 185/65/15 tyres.

At the back we first dropped the back end by one outer spline but I hated the (too low) stance so we decided to experiment a bit. We finally ended up with a +4 inner and -4 outer spline drop which gave us about 2.20cm drop. At the moment I still feel that it's too low but I want to see how things look after I fit the widened rear rims and new tyres. I am thinking of going 215 to 225 in rear width to fill out the arches. I will decide on the correct profile closer to the time.

Excuse my ignorance, I'm pretty unfimiliar with anything suspension wise on the beetles. Can you explain what you mean with the +4 inner and -4 outer spline drop? And is it hard to do or have done?

Also, in regards to the dropped spindles, are they bolt on or will one need to change the current suspension at all to accomodate a 2,5" drop.

Thanks

Rob

Hi Rob.

Regarding splines, there are inner splines on the sideshafts which slot into the side gears of the differential, and outer splines which slot into the drum housing on the wheel side and secured with a castle nut and split pin. By altering the position of both the inner and outer splines from their standard positions, you can either raise or lower the rear end of the car. This is NOT a job for someone who does not know what the job entails and you are cautioned that this is a very dangerous job. Get a knowledgeable mechanic to assist you with this. Depending on how low you go you will need shocks with a shorter travel as well as reduced/removed bump stops.

The dropped spindles are straight bolt on and available from various sources in SA depending on where you live. Despite the 2,5" drop, you retain the stock travel so a stock shock can be used.

There are quite a few write ups about this on the forum so knock yourself out and do a search. Hope this helps a bit.

Very very nice,is that a original vw colour and how did you get it to shine like that apart from hard work.

Hi Terry,

I believe this was the original colour but it had been resprayed before I bought it. It definitely needs a respray again. There are problematic things that you can't see in the photo but for now I am just enjoying the car as is.

Long story short ... the shine = elbow grease.

Cheers,
R.

Stütz wrote:Hi Terry,

I believe this was the original colour but it had been resprayed before I bought it. It definitely needs a respray again. There are problematic things that you can't see in the photo but for now I am just enjoying the car as is.

Long story short ... the shine = elbow grease.

Cheers,
R.

Ha-so ... Wax on ...Wax off.....

Herman