Mo progress

Buzz Saw got hit with the cutting wheel again. She is on a diet to lose as mush as she can. Fitting the engine, transmission, and new shiny shifter this week end. don't think Buzz Saw is a s low as Sloval.

one step forward, two steps back....

got it down, it's LOW, but it'll work for now, might have to raise it a bit eventually... unfortunately, the shock is hitting the brake line for some reason, so i'll have to bend it out of the way, but at least i have some suspension again!!


here's how it sits now... hooked up the tie rods too, looks like it'll be ok, probably rub a bit at a sharp turn, but it's worth it!! i might still switch 145/65's though and gain a little more space...


also, i am dumb and figured out how to get the wolfsburg emblem to sit right... looks cool...



ok, last thing... i was gonna paint the fenders to match the rest of the body, so i took off the glove box door to take to the paint shop for them to scan, but, as you can see, the paint on the outside doesn;t quite match the inside (i am pretty sure the interior is still original paint)... oh well, i'll have to carry the rear deck in....

Rear suspension, take 2

Mo better

rear suspension, take 1

Its on the floor..well kinda. Needs to be lower!!!

Urethane bushings, disk brakes, whiteline sway bar, 28 mm torsion bars.

not so fast...

so, went to put the notched spring plates on last weekend, and it looked like this.....



as you can see, the notch isn't long enough to clear the chassis... mike used his template, which works great for 60's swing axle bugs, not so much for early cars though... he's been really appalogetic about it.. i tried to cut the extra notch with jim's bandsaw, but it wouldn't even make a dent in the spring plate (and i bought a metal cutting blade)...

so, now i am going to send them back to mike for him to fix... like i said, he's been cool about it, but i am ready to get this thing down....

smothered, covered and chunked

well, notched, extended and painted actually... got the spring plates back from mike in greensboro, but he painted them green for some reason, so i painted them black.... which means i couldn't put them in... might have some time this week... probably adjust the rear up a tad, and i should have some suspension now...

he also adjusted my adjuster in the 5 inch beam, so.... yeah... that might go back in...

Quiet the beast

Slow and steady

Working on the rear suspension

Front end mock up

Can you say rails! 2" Raised front bulkhead, adjustable front beam with urethane bushings, dropper spindles with increased caster adjusters and disk breaks, White line sway bar, rack and pinion steering and Bilstien shocks.

droopy draws and more useless accessories...

dropped the rear another outer spline... looks great!! just don't have alot of travel left in the suspension... oh well, i'll have to get some notched spring plates at some point... there's actually still plenty of ground clearance in the back though, with the stock exhaust (i might eventually re-index the rear to somewhere between 1 and 2 splines, but it's good for now)... may have to raise the front up a bit though...

oh, and of course had to add another useless accessory... i like the big fog lights, but i assume they are 12v and oh yeah, they aren't hooked up... but they look cool!!

one spline, ah, ah, ah...

dropped what felt like one outer spline (and measured one according to the angle), but it looked like the spring plate was up kinda high (the spring plate was already over the lip)... so i put everything together to see where it was...

well, it looks like one spline... i'll take it apart again and see if 2 is too low... if it is, i'll play with the inners, outers and the inclinometer till i get it where i want it... hopefully there will be enough travel left in the suspension...

at least the it looks better with the raders on the back... killer rake too!!!

discovered one of the bolt holes on the rear drum is stripped out... guess i'll be getting a new one...

salami!!

swapped out the 5 inch beam for the 4 incher... can go lower now, it's pretty slammed (maybe not by some peoples standards, but to me it's pretty low)... probably doesn't look too different in the pics, but i've got about 2 inches of ground clearance now.. may need to make a ramp to get into the garage...

shocks are for chumps, but since this beam has shock mounts, i suppose i'll put them in, right now they aren't in there, and neither are the tie rods... i wanted to get it on the ground first..

i'll probably rub tires on some turns (on the fender and the headlight buckets)... don't think i can put the spacers on, but i'll play with that later and see what kind of room i have with them on....

Slow and steady

More work

Raised trany mount

Welding is about done

massive, tremendous mechanical progress...

so, let's see, i have to actually finish the front end, drop the back end, go through the brakes, adjust the clutch, hook up the electrics, etc., etc., etc..... so, naturally, the next step would be to.... put on some aftermarket side mirrors and the bullet turn signals (because that's what i need to do right this second).. of course the turn signals aren't hooked up, and don't even have bulbs in them, but they look badass... one of these days i'll do some real work....

oh, and the hand print is subhashni's idea of a joke.... yeah, i know, it's been sitting, and it's a little dusty...






i still think i want it an inch or so lower... the lowest part of the pan head is 3 inches off the ground, but not sure that'll change after i drop the rear...

I dont want to be in it in this position

fun with tie-rod and dremel

cut the tie rod to get a clamp on it... the original idea of a hose clamp didn't work, but the OG clamps fit on there nicely and keeps the tie-rod end from moving.... had to grind a little dimple in it for the screw to slide into the clamp... unfortunately, my car only had clamps on the long tie-rod, so now i've got to find another 2 clamps... the search begins...

Buzz Saw makes progress

Looks fast sitting still

as low as she'll go...

dropped it as far as it'll go with this beam... looks better, but i am a little annoyed that it won't go any lower... i want another inch or 2 to be perfect... it'll have to do for now... and when i get the back end down, maybe it'll look better... guess i'll have to settle for "kinda cool" for now instead of "sick!!!"

wheels on ground.... temporarily... sort of...

threw the brakes and wheels on to take a look, needs to go WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY LOWER.... still have to hook up the steering and go through the brakes... still cool to see it off the jack stands... although it's back up already... gotta get it lower too.... on the flo... fo sho.... did i mention it needs to be lower???

oh yeah, and check the killer windshield wipers... maybe they'll wipe some of the dust off...

spindliscious

got the dropped spindles on, glad i tried to fit the brake backing plate on before i put them on though... had to grind off a corner for it to fit the early backing plate (hopefully it's not a "load bearing" part of the spindle)... this will drop the front end 2.5" by itself, then with the adjustable beam i can put it on the flo yo...

beamtastic

5 inch narrowed adjustable beam... no shocks... it's gonna ride like a phat caddy... shocks?? we don't need no stinkin' shocks....

More...

here's a few more shots of tom's ride... a nice cleaned up and primed body... and how it looked before the sheetmetal work... you can get an idea of what it'll look like though... wide fenders front and back, chopped windshield, permanent vert 2 seater...