TheSamba.com :: View topic - '70 Convertible

Sat Oct 01, 2005 9:16 pm

I removed the front shocks today to send them out for a rebuild. I found one of them was bent... :evil: Is it more cost effective to have it rebuilt with a new shaft, or just buy a new one? They are Fox 2.0" coil over w/reservoir -12" long. They have the 5/8" shaft.

The other thing I am wondering is whether or not the front suspension geometry is correct or contributed to the shock shaft bending... :(

Sat Oct 01, 2005 11:02 pm

Rich Fersch, at McKenzies used to do shocks on the side, he really knows his chit. He built my 2.0s w/ 7/8 shafts for my 5/16 many moons ago.
Give him a call, he'll hook ya up.

Sun Oct 02, 2005 4:54 pm

I finished fabricating the rear suspension bump stops today. Here are a few shots...

I left about 3/8" between the trailing arm and stop plate for the rubber stop. I decided on rubber stops for a softer compression - urethane is too hard of a stop in my opinion. Now I need to weld in the limit strap mounts and I will ready to start the firewall fabrication. And I need to do a LOT of firewall fabricaiton!!!

Sun Oct 02, 2005 6:09 pm

Poly is not as soft as rubber, buuuuut....when you hit so hard that you come up against your stops, are you really going to notice that they are a bit more stiff than rubber :shock: ? If you hit them without pushing your car hard over the big stuff, then you need to stiffen up the suspension some. If you already bought the rubber ones...no big deal, but I would go with poly if you haven't.

Sun Oct 02, 2005 7:16 pm

The pads themselves are cheap. I already have the rubber ones, if they don't work well I will put some urethane ones on...

Sun Oct 02, 2005 7:35 pm

I finally trimmed the rear sheet metal so it is symmetrical as well. I finally had enough looking at that crooked torch job the PO had done in the back. I will post more pics when I start to lay out the firewall.

Mon Oct 03, 2005 4:36 am

I've been wondering how to do mine. Those look like just the ticket. Glad I thought of it. :lol:

Mon Oct 03, 2005 6:22 am

Yeah, I appreciate your idea, too. :wink:

Thu Oct 06, 2005 9:57 pm

I have started to lay out the firewall using cardboard. The patterns will be transferred on to 18 ga steel and welded or fastened in.

Thu Oct 06, 2005 10:11 pm

Thats going to look great. It looks like you are going to gain some serious travel from all that metal being gone. I bet it looks alot more aggressive than a car with more body on it.

Thu Oct 06, 2005 10:37 pm

The car is coming along great. It has given me some inspriation of things to do to my car.

Its going to be an awesome ride when done.

Fri Oct 07, 2005 6:02 am

I sure as hell hope so... I anticipate around 15K upon completion, but I don't think that will even come close to the hours of labor it will take!!! :shock:

Fri Oct 07, 2005 11:18 am

No it won't!

I just went through my parts list and factored in my labor. I got just over a million five in mine.....lol

SHMO

Fri Oct 07, 2005 4:38 pm

I just keep repeating my mantra....

"This is fun, honest..."
"This is fun, honest..."
"This is fun, honest..."

My wife even got me a new sign for the garage:

Busted Knuckle Garage
Repair and dispair under one roof

I like it... but then again I am usually bleeding from at least one knuckle a weekend. :roll:

Fri Oct 07, 2005 5:07 pm

Those bumpstops look good. as for rubber vs. urethane it seem that it is getting harder to find good urethane bumpstops. i had a set on my car and they broke off on the first trip out. i have since put a set of rubber stops from a 2001 f150 4x4 and they have been fine.

Fri Oct 07, 2005 5:15 pm

McKenzie's has a wide selection of urethane bump stops in different shapes. The guy I talked to there said he uses the rubber ones from Ford (which they sell) and he liked them better since the are more flexible. Those are the ones I bought. You can just make them out in the rear picture of the firewall mock up...

Sat Oct 08, 2005 1:58 pm

Hey Skid,

the car is really coming along. I have one question regarding those bump stops though. Did you mount a tire or take any measurements in regards to tire clearance? Judging by your pics, there isn't going to be much radius on your wheel well areas. No radius and hard tire contact would mean BODY BENDAGE in my book. You might want to take a look at that before you wrap things up.

SHMO

Sat Oct 08, 2005 6:18 pm

Yeah, I did think about that... I haven't got my wheels yet, so I can still fool around with off sets. With the arms all the way up, I have put a straight edge on the drum to see where that plane would come in contact with the body. I don't think the wheels will hit the body that far into the wheel well. The fenders will be made to clear the wheels at max travel too. Since I sold the rims that came with the car, I don't have rear wheels to fit check. I am still shopping for wheels. I didn't want to have the same Centerlines you see on most Baja's... McKenzie's has some new rims that are pretty cool, but even the non-bead locks are not DOT approved. Just another ticket if you get into an inspection situation with the fine men in blue.

I went to the 4x4 show at Pomona this morning. Cool stuff at that show. Had a rock crawling demo, tons of manufacturers, Walker Evans was there, even saw Jesse Combs from Extreme 4X4. That chick is a babe! And she can weld better than me! okay, most people weld better than me, but she is cute!! :shock: Definitely better looking in person. The film crew was interviewing people on what trucks they were building or driving, so I got a nice baja plug in there. Truck, I'm not building a truck... we're talking baja here, dude! It would be cool if I got a five second bit on Extreme 4x4...

Sat Oct 08, 2005 6:27 pm

Quote: No radius and hard tire contact would mean BODY BENDAGE in my book.

I thought that's what they made Sawsalls for... 8)

I haven't started the inner fender wells yet. Just laying out the straight pieces. I was planning on slip rolling the radius for the inner piece so it will match the cut line. I still need to do some trimming on those bits of cardboard before I start transferring the patterns to sheet metal. I am going with 18 ga. for the whole firewall / fender area. Definitely heavier than stock, but that will help reduce the engine noise and vibration. Hopefully I can avoid the body contact, but that will get tested prior to going to the paint shop anyway.

Thanks for the heads up.... I need all the suggestions I can get!

Sun Oct 09, 2005 2:45 pm

I found a rear wheel in my pile o' stuff in the backyard. It is too big, a 32 x 11.5 x 15 on a stock 15 x 7 rim w/ 2-1/2" to 3" offset. I will run some new 31 x 10.50's that I have, but it doesn't hurt to fit check with oversized stuff. It let's you know where you stand...

full droop

full compresison

closer view

top view

As you can see, I don't think I will have to worry about the inner fender well and contact. The sheet metal I install will be well out of the way. These shots give a better perspective.