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Fri Aug 07, 2020 8:22 pm

Ok, yes I see what you are referring to. The closer the center of the tread is to the king pin center line the less effort ot takes to steer. Also rocks and chuck holes have less chance of jerking the wheel out of your grip. Reduces steering wheel shock.

This issue of tow out on turns came up years ago when I was looking for a replacement front spindle for my Chevy pickup. My question to the parts guy was "Is it the same spindle for a short box as it is for a crew cab long box?" He said "Yes." without looking it up of course. When I asked him to double check the part numbers for me he looked at me like I was mentally deficient and moved on to the next customer.

I still don't know the answer but in theory it should not be the same part as your wheel base dictates the ideal angles as does track width. Yes I believe our shortened Buggies do not track properly through a turn. The outside edges of the front tires on mine are showing some scuffing inspite of several wheel alighnments and meticulous air pressure optimizing.

Sat Aug 22, 2020 11:19 am

EVfun wrote: oprn wrote: By scrub radius I am assuming you are talking about what I call "toe out on turns" which compensates for the two different radii the front wheels take when turning a corner.
Actually, I was referring to where the king pin rotational axis hits the ground under the tire. It can hit outside of the center of the tire, at the center of the tire, or inside the centerline of the tire (most common.) If the center of the turning axis at the road contact point is inboard of the center of the tire tread you have a positive scrub radius. When turning the outside tire swings forward slightly. Tires with a smaller diameter or wheels with a less positive offset would make a positive scrub radius become larger. This is why most aftermarket wheels noticeably increase stationary steering effort in a Bug.

My buggy went the other way. Stock 15 inch wide 5 Bug wheels are 15x4 ET+33. I'm running 14 inch Bus wheels up front, they are 14x5 ET+47.5. I should have a turning circle like a double cab long bed full size pickup as they run a lot farther inboard and hit the front of the trailing arms with less steering input -- about 2 turns lock to lock with a stock box and steering arm. I'm curious to see the effect on higher speed stability.

Do you have the steering at lock angles? That is the toe out on turns. I cannot find them right now, but remember the ones for the Bug being interesting because they are different left and right (due to the non-symmetrical steering linkage.) With those numbers and the front track I could calculate the factory designed Ackerman steering correction. It is usually set to an imaginary steering point somewhat less than the actual vehicle wheelbase. They try and over-turn the inside front tire just a bit to remove a little weight (and outside tread wear) from the outside front tire. I have wondered if that is still true in a beach buggy with an 80 inch wheelbase.
I found some info about the toe out on turns. Here are a couple of posts in the same thread showing the alignment numbers for king pin and ball joint Bug front ends. Using the 2 degree difference at 20 degrees steering input I can calculate the Ackerman correct wheelbase is about 3 times [1] the scrub radius track width (like the front track width, but measured at the steering point under the tires instead of the outside of the front tires.)

This would provide less than full Ackerman correction leaving the inside front tire pushing the outside front tire a little when turning. That would suggest that VW was trying to encourage understeer. Since rear heavy cars are prone to oversteer when pushed past their limits this would be understandable.

[1] Using the king pin alignment number of 2 degrees toe out on turns at 20 degrees for the inside tire, the exact calculation is 1/(tan72 - tan70)

Sat Aug 22, 2020 7:23 pm

I finally mustered up and went downtown to get my tag and insurance. Took it out for a short ride. I still need to replace my rear tires but it was a nice ride. Any recommendations which ones in 275/60/15?

Mon Aug 31, 2020 6:37 am

Rebuilt the whole thing yesterday and the last year.

Wed Sep 09, 2020 8:00 pm

tcmia wrote: I finally mustered up and went downtown to get my tag and insurance. Took it out for a short ride. I still need to replace my rear tires but it was a nice ride. Any recommendations which ones in 275/60/15?

B.F. Goodrich Radial TA is probably the nicest looking tire out there if you like whitewalls. You can turn the whitewalls inside if you want the blackout look.

Summit Racing carries BFG TA tires and ships them quickly if you have a way to mount and balance them.

You can also order them through Walmart online and ship them to the nearest store in your area.

Thu Sep 10, 2020 7:43 am

Thanks for the info. Drove the Bad Bug yesterday again. Tweaked the carbs a little and drove it again. I think I have a bad ground up front since I replaced the beam. Gotta check that next weekend. It was fun finally getting to drive it!

Tue Sep 15, 2020 6:01 am

Here is a quick overview of my buggy work the past couple of months.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HS-Vn3hr3io&t=15s

Thu Feb 11, 2021 12:51 pm

Bought this shiney new oil filler extension:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BBJT9GA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And then, install'd it on my spare engine:

But it look'd too good to just sit there while the one on my buggy could use an upgrade. Plus, I wanted to try out a new path for the crankcase breather tube; even tho it would have a tight turn, which of course caused my new thin vinyl tube to buckle. So I found an old spring (probably was once in a wheel cylinder) to use as a "stent" helping keep the tube open:

No, the hose is not white; it's clear. The whiteness is tiny beads of condensation that would soon form dropletts which collect up into drips that run down and out. After awhile, the new vinyl tube will yellow and become stiffer; I'll remove the 2 "training" clamps at stent ends, probably leave the stent in there, and ultimately cover the hose with plastic conduit sleeving.

Edit - I later noticed that some of the drops in the first inch of tubing could drip back into my engine! So I went ahead and put sleeving over the first several inches of tube, in an effort to keep it warmer than the lower tubing. That way, relative coolness closer to the end of tube should get condensation to be forming where it drips out away from engine.

Mon Mar 01, 2021 9:19 am

Got my dash plate cut from stainless on a plasma cnc, missing a gauge but it should be soon. Installed it, now the fun of wiring everything up.

Mon Mar 01, 2021 10:05 am

I am still building on the buggy we will race in Baja '22 and later today going to paint store to buy painting supplies.

Already bought everything for my Wife's buggy except paint, (color agreed upon) that will get started in late Spring and be done for Fall.

Now buying parts for my Towd to be built in Winter 21-22. Just bought some customized air shocks from Down South Motorsports in San Diego. Have all suspension parts now for long travel front and rear. Rounding up parts for custom transaxle that will get built later this Spring. Purchased Flake for it. Need to decide on windshield, roll bar or traditional frame.

Also buying parts for a Ecotec Clone X-body buggy build for '22. Have engine, header, adapter/flywheel/clutch, wire harness and ecm, wheels, custom Trans already built. Need suspension pieces yet.

Fri Jun 11, 2021 1:51 pm

Received front end/steering/suspension/brakes parts. It's about to get serious.

Tue Jul 06, 2021 2:39 pm

Front beam has been rebuilt with new leaf springs & seals, 2.5" drop spindles, new ball joints top & bottom, new tie rods with tie rod ends, new pitman arm and beam adjusters, new drilled & slotted rotors, bearings etc and new calipers. Also removed the transaxle for delivery to the local trans shop.

Wed Aug 11, 2021 2:51 pm

We went to a large car show in the next town & ran into another cool ride.

Wed Aug 11, 2021 6:52 pm

The things you see....

Rosemarie and I came across one of those coming out of a tunnel on the Blueridge Parkway as we were entering. The closing speed was too great to get a picture but needless to say it was an unexpected surprise!

Mon Aug 23, 2021 11:31 am

Front end done and awaiting tires

Rear end is done and awaiting tires

Brakes are done, but I'm not sure I won't take them apart for something else, so no fluid yet.

Wed Oct 20, 2021 6:25 pm

I blew out my original German brake light switch, and replaced it with a motorcycle part.

As another Samba member said, "You're never too old to learn something the hard way." Do NOT connect brake lights wire to one terminal of brake light switch while +12 volts is connected to the other terminal when there's pressure in master cylinder. (I had the pedal prop'd.)

First thought for a fix was to go with the slick pedal switch kit by Gearhead Keith. But it won't work for my buggy, 'cuz its location is where my foot needs to be in order to use accelerator pedal.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2140061

Searching Samba, I found this thread by @toxicavenger with a post by @sjbartnik that gave me the Harley switch idea.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9319372

Now that I have a more sensitive (i.e. quicker) brake light switch, I'ma make it even quicker by replacing incandescent bulbs with LEDs. I already have an LED, but currently only in my high center 3rd brake light which is shown here:

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9448122

Wed Oct 20, 2021 6:44 pm

MrGoodtunes wrote: I blew out my original German brake light switch, and replaced it with a motorcycle part.

As another Samba member said, "You're never too old to learn something the hard way." Do NOT connect brake lights wire to one terminal of brake light switch while +12 volts is connected to the other terminal when there's pressure in master cylinder. (I had the pedal prop'd.)

First thought for a fix was to go with the slick pedal switch kit by Gearhead Keith. But it won't work for my buggy, 'cuz its location is where my foot needs to be in order to use accelerator pedal.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2140061

Searching Samba, I found this thread by @toxicavenger70 with a post by @sjbartnik that gave me the Harley switch idea.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9319372

Now that I have a more sensitive (i.e. quicker) brake light switch, I'ma make it even quicker by replacing incandescent bulbs with LEDs. I already have an LED, but currently only in my high center 3rd brake light, shown here:

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9448122

Mon Jan 17, 2022 8:40 pm

So here’s what I did yesterday. I put on the new front plate with a glitzy chrome frame and acorn nuts.

I trimmed off the ugly mismatched fender tips on the front of my car with a cut off wheel and then sanded them smooth with a long board-sander, so everything looks straight now.

Before the trim, I marked the ugliness with blue tape and a sharpie.

After, it’ so much straighter!

I also broke out a little brush & did touchup painting where the fiberglass was chipped here and there. I was very lucky that I didn’t make a bunch of new chips in the gelcoat as I was trimming the fiberglass, but it was not all luck. I went at it very carefully.

Sat Mar 12, 2022 1:31 pm

Put a 1600 decal on my angle'd fan shroud, to cover an ill-placed hole drill'd by the shroud's previous owner:

Getting ready for this, last week I removed the shroud to take off my earlier hole blocker; as well as doing some other things, including a clean-up of this unexpected mess:

Angle'd shroud is much smaller than stock or even 36hp, allowing for one of the great cornerstones of owing a kitcar; namely, being able to take it appart and reassemble easily.

Thu Mar 17, 2022 9:55 pm

Still cold here in Bavaria, but after a short trip up to go ski touring, the clutch cable popped a couple strings at the pedal end, think the notes of the plink were about an A flat, but gave more air for the G String. :lol:

So pulled it all apart last week, and tried to run a new cable but couldn't get the to the tube on the far side of the tunnel ('56 long nose pedal assembly) so fish taped from the rear, of course pulling back through gets hung up on the bowden tube, so used a persuader to pop off the front end of the bowden tube, got it all through, added shortner adapter, clipped and zip tied loose end. Replacement parts on order: Oval clutch hook upgrade from classicbugparts.com (hook is wearing) machine swaged shortened clutch cable, bowden tube and wing nut...will keep those on hand until next winter so it may last more that 12 years.

Adjusted, started, shifted fine, but no drive yet, still below 45 during the day and have to go get gas, will wait a bit on that.