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Mon Jul 23, 2007 6:13 pm

After all the setbacks I finally drove this thing yesterday!
It has alot more power than I expected from a 1600DP. My former street legal rail didnt move out or have the top end this does. Neither did my former Manx 2 with a tired 1500SP (imagine that?)
Still have a few bugs to iron out.Has a shake in the front end around 55 and up,one of the e brake cables popped out (held in by the smallest Allen ive ever seen),etc but all basically minor.
Have about 40 miles logged now and didnt need to call for the tow bar once!

Mon Jul 23, 2007 6:17 pm

came out beautiful!!! got a lot to be proud of right there!!!

Mon Jul 23, 2007 6:22 pm

Looks like you did a good job...the maiden voyage is the best..I've logged close to 2000 miles on mine since Dec 2006...the shake could be tie rod ends ball joints or shocks..replaced all that and mine handles fine now even at 70 mph..

Mon Jul 23, 2007 6:27 pm

Oh yea....run 12-15 lbs in the tires....seriously....smoooooooth like a Cadillac.

Mon Jul 23, 2007 6:29 pm

It caught alot of eyes thats for sure.
I think the shake may be the pass tie rod.It seemed pretty solid while I was building it but now im not sure.The drivers side is brand new.It WAS without a doubt gone!
Odd thing is it kinda of "comes and goes" some.I can be cruising along at a good clip and the wheels shaking in my hand...hit a bump or after going into a turn..and it may smooth out for a bit!
But it shakes alot more than it doesnt.

Mon Jul 23, 2007 6:31 pm

Damn..You know I played with the air a little yesterday..But im still running way too much! That could be part of it......
You think 12-15 for the rear and front?
Its about 25 in the rear now and 20 up front.

Mon Jul 23, 2007 6:36 pm

LOOKS ABSOLUTELY AWESOME! That thing looks so nice. I love the color with the white wheels. Your engine looks great, detailed nicely. I can't believe how well the paint came out, you did a great job.

I'm just glad it actually drove straight and didn't break into! The frenched taillights and punch bowl on the back really look great.

When are we going for a cruise?

Mark

Mon Jul 23, 2007 6:43 pm

try 15 front and rear...take two asprin and call me in the morning :lol: :lol:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=174635&highlight=tire+pressure

Mon Jul 23, 2007 6:58 pm

We make custom length emergency brake and clutch cables that install just like stock. None of that cable shortening kit crap.

If you're interested, Email [email protected]

Remember, they're called EMERGENCY brakes for a reason.

Mon Jul 23, 2007 7:56 pm

Thanks.I'll have to drop you a email on the e brake cables.And I'll play with the tire pressure more.Surprisingly,it takes a hell of a bump to skip the CD player how it is now.And im sure it drives like a log truck with this much air in the tires compared to most.
For those of you who may not know,ygubenud was the "starter" of this car.He field stripped the Bug,shortened the pan,and then got wise and sold it in favor of buying a SWEET runner! I didnt buy it from him though.Someone else had it in between but I dont think he did much with it. I found him here after buying the project upon seeing a archive photo of it in a thread.
I need to get the front tires turned around.They are rasied letter too and match the rears.Will add a little more white trim to it.
Then I need to persuade ygubenud to trade my state of the art 4 wheel drums for his "ancient" 4 wheel disc setup......

Mon Jul 23, 2007 8:02 pm

Looks real nice. 8)

You may have posted this in another thread, but what size are those rear tires?

Mon Jul 23, 2007 8:06 pm

275 60 R15's rear on 10 inch rims 215 70 15's front on 6" in a effort to balance out the body lift somewhat.
Speaking of the bodylift, I dont know how the engine would have fit in there without it...Unless you did some cutting.

Tue Jul 24, 2007 5:31 am

Quote: Remember, they're called EMERGENCY brakes for a reason.

Really?! Does anyone know why?

On this side of the atlantic it's a handbrake (makes sense to me).

Using it as an emergency stopping mechnism would surely be pointless. By the time you realised you had no footbrake it would surely be too late to stop on the hand brake :shock:

Maybe it's a leftover from the early days of motoring?

Tue Jul 24, 2007 6:18 am

Well it will stop you.Especially in somthing light like a buggy.
BTW, does LoCash offer shortened throttle cables as well?

Tue Jul 24, 2007 6:18 am

great job! congrats!
it looks awesome. glad its finally on the street. now you can start enjoying it.

i run 15psi rear and 10 front btw.

Tue Jul 24, 2007 6:33 am

Zcarnut,
Great job and congrats!! I know how hard you worked on it. Mine should be done by the middle of next week. Let me know when you can be down and we will cruise.

Tue Jul 24, 2007 7:04 am

Cool.Im making plans for the weekend after next.Might go to Hatteras (in laws have a house there).
Cant wait to see yours.Post some pics when its painted.

Tue Jul 24, 2007 11:03 am

Nice buggy! It's simple, elegant, well thought out!

My buggy used to shake at 55-60 MPH. It wasn't just the steering wheel, the whole column / dash would shake. It would shake for a few seconds, get smooth, then shake again. It would do this as long as I was above 50 MPH. Sometimes it was worse than others. I had multiple alignments and wheel balances done. ALL suspension and steeting parts were NEW. It turned out to be chassis flex. Building a roll cage solved the problem 100%. Adding a roof rack actually fixed the problem before we did the cage. The rack tied the roll bar and the windshield together, which made the car much more stiff. The new cage has the rack attached to it, leaving the windshield alone, but the shake is still gone. If you go through the suspension and steering and can't find anything wrong, your buggy might be experiencing the same thing mine did. Just sharing my experince.

Again, nice buggy!

Lee

Tue Jul 24, 2007 11:23 am

Hmm..Well what you described is what mine is doing.
That gives me another avenue to persue.Perhaps I can add some reinforcements to the roll bar before resorting to a full cage.Its basically a showbar mounted to the frame currently.
I have not formely lined it up (it doesnt pull) and everything up front isnt new,but somthing tells me I may have your old problem.
Thank you for the info.

Tue Jul 24, 2007 6:15 pm

Ok..I brought the fronts down to around 14 psi and rears to 15.Seemed to help the ride alot but still had some shake.Then it hit me...How do these muffler clamps look that I used to support my column?
The "top" one Clamped onto the (Berrian column support) seemed tight but my "firewall" one was loose.Were talking I was able to tighten one nut by hand a few turns loose. The clamp was just along for the ride.
So I quickly gave it a few turns with a wrench (didnt want to overtighten and mash my tube) and ran down the road again.
Man what a difference!
So I need to double bolt that clamp or somthing.
It still gave me a hint of shake at certain speeds/conditions...But that could be due to some of the old components I never changed out,slightly cupped front tires,etc.Or that I can get a few more turns on that clamp?
Considering all that,even as it is now I would consider what I did feel on this side of "acceptable".65 MPH came up and it felt pretty darn good.
I think that clamp would move into certain positions at times and "hold" temporarily causing my "why the hell is it doing OK now" sensation.
Alot of buggies ive seen only have one clamp holding the steering column in place near the "firewall".I figured with one high and low it would be overkill.But the top one apparantly doesnt do as much.