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Mon Oct 30, 2006 6:20 pm

im a baja guy but i am planning on building a street bug rat rod style chop the top take of all the fenders. i heard you can put the front beam on backwards so the arms go forward. to give you that longer look. has any one done that. im still shopping for the doner car so i don't know if im going to run linkpin or ball joint.

Mon Oct 30, 2006 6:22 pm

I suggest you ask the hardcore Volks Rod guys.

http://www.volksrods.com/forum/

Mon Oct 30, 2006 6:25 pm

kbwakesk8 wrote: i heard you can put the front beam on backwards so the arms go forward. to give you that longer look. .

That is one of the most Darwinisk things that I have ever heard

Mon Oct 30, 2006 8:38 pm

I've seen it done but it don't look right ! ! !

Tue Oct 31, 2006 12:13 am

kbwakesk8 wrote: im a baja guy but i am planning on building a street bug rat rod style chop the top take of all the fenders. i heard you can put the front beam on backwards so the arms go forward. to give you that longer look. has any one done that. im still shopping for the doner car so i don't know if im going to run linkpin or ball joint.

The Beam stays on the car the same way, It's the control arms that get swapped to the opp. sides.

Tue Oct 31, 2006 7:53 am

IMO it doesn't look right. Buy the kit to put an early Ford Beam on it, thats what looks right.

Tue Oct 31, 2006 10:14 am

I feel I must make it clear that Rat Rodding and Volks Rodding are two different things. Rat Rod is when you let your care exists. These are normally and naturally developed. Of course slamming it low also helps. VolksRod stems from Hot Rod in a volkswagen way, is clean cut, but modified heavily.

I just feel I need to clear that up, because people ask about one thing, but they mean the other.

-Phibertek

Tue Oct 31, 2006 11:06 am

Flipping the trailing arms is very very iffy. The majority of the volksrods guys are against them since they can be potenitally dangerous. There is ALOT of things that you need to figure out to make it safe, etc, not just flip it and be done with it as most people do them.

Other alternatives for the extended axle look:
-frame extension adapter to push forward the beams (cheapest safe route)

-get a dropped axle kit ($$)

-permanently extend your framehead

-relocate your body back (safest route since it's the only route where the suspension is untouched, but hardest since you need to relocate the drvier seats, pedals, shifter, etc).

Tue Oct 31, 2006 5:50 pm

im picking the car up friday its a 69 balljoint frontend but they put a swing axil trans in it. im going to start by chaneling 4 inches out of the car and maybe chopping 3 or 4 " off th roof i was also planning on sliding the rear suspention back 3" and lifting it up 3" to slam the car. but i still not shure how i want to handel the front end . my friend was pushing me to put my extra 6" wider beam on there with the beam extention. i also have 3x3 it would give the car one crasy stance.
just thinking out side the box. looking to turn heads

Tue Oct 31, 2006 6:47 pm

i would just get something like this where someone has done alot of the work for you.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=379647

Tue Oct 31, 2006 8:30 pm

but that takes all the fun out of it.

Wed Nov 01, 2006 6:08 am

check ou my site: www.runtrod.com
I gave some basic info on how to channel a VW, etc. And join volksrods.com forums if you haven't already.

Wed Nov 01, 2006 11:56 am

sweet thanks that is a great site i have so many ideas.

i'll post picks when i pick up the car.

Wed Nov 01, 2006 3:25 pm

Even with a half-finished rod project linked above, you are still many months ahead compared to doing something similar yourself. Look at that roof chop and the door work- how much time would it take for you to get it RIGHT? You might even throw in the towel if you tried it and it did not come out. With a project like the one listed, you still can do alot to personalize it to your tastes. If you want to chop off the roof on that car if it were yours and just keep the low windshield to make a roadster, well, for the $ you can't go wrong. Nice that that project is on an IRS pan; keeps the rear wheels level compared to a swingaxle project.

Wed Nov 01, 2006 4:31 pm

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=197346&highlight=

the above link is pic's of my baja. i am no stranger to body work. I actualy just got my hands on a 70 that is going to be a parts car for the baja and the rod.

Mon Nov 06, 2006 2:31 pm

the body is off the pan. im lifting the rear suspention 4 inches. and welding in new floor pieces.
not bad for the first weekend

Fri Nov 10, 2006 12:56 pm

So I have looked into the volks rods for some time cause im such a fan of both hot rods and volkswagens. anyway here are some sites you may enjoy and i posted many ideas (pictures) to the following site just have a look...

http://s99.photobucket.com/albums/l314/nick_701/Volkswagen/

So Calook - http://www.socalook.com/index.shtml -(For front end conversion kit)- (http://www.socalook.com/products_parts.html)
Speedway Motors - http://www.speedwaymotors.com/default.aspx

Bay Area Hot Rods -(beam extention)- http://www.bayarearods.co.uk/index.html

VolksRod -(beam extentions)- http://volksrods.com/

Sat Nov 11, 2006 5:34 pm

flippin the control arm is pretty sketchy, braking is going to cause the front end to raise instead of drop. cause some interesting handling issues.......

Sat Nov 11, 2006 6:55 pm

There is more to it than (fliping the control arms). I did mine that way and it drives like a stock bug. Doee not rise up when you hit the brakes. Stops normal, rides great, drives great.

Mon Nov 13, 2006 10:59 am

can i fix that by changing the caster angle shimming out the top or bottom of the beam.
i just picked up a 2" narrowe balljoint beam with drop spindles and disc brakes.

do i have to go rack and pinion or can i turn the searing arm 180* on the stock stearing box probably have to heat it up a bend it abit.