so soon?

[cbeck]

So here goes. Last week I finally got my settlement for the h@r drunk driver. Finally touched it for the first time since july and stared to take it apart. Already sold poly seats, dented fuel tank, and dual carbs.Starting to get a idea how bad the frame is.
Bent fuel tank mounts. 3/16x1" flat stock bent.

Roll bar over passenger started to collapse on top while tearing on bottom.

Both rear shock hoops started to flatten on bottom outside of bend.

Failed engine cage flange.

Working on it was kind of depressing so I made myself feel better by ordering a set of corbeau baja xp seats. Trying to get to trans so I can take a ssc and a dsc irs t1 trans to my builder and figure out what to have rebuilt or bought. Leaning towards something with a 4.57 r@p to get in rpm range I want with 31" rear tires.

[Axitech]

Without being too nosy, did you get enough that you'd be better off just ordering a new kit?
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He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. Luke 22:36


The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.-Thomas Jefferson

[cbeck]

Yes I did. I still have not ruled that out. need to find out just how far it goes after I strip it down. Frame has sentimental value, belonged to a deceased friend. Somebody just mentioned how they are attending more funerals than weddings. It was not difficult to register, but I did miss 3 days work to do it. Time to change most of the stuff that bugged me. The plan is for a remote fill tank, 3x3,mid travel beam, and my nice new seats. And I might have mentioned new windows to my wife, but that memory is still a little fuzzy.

[cbeck]

Seats arrived today. My head touches top of seat proper, the harness slots are about 1" below top of shoulders, and the removable seat bottoms mean no more sitting in puddles.
Dropped of my double side cover type 1 yesterday. Besides the typical rebuild stuff it should come back with hd side covers, super diff, 4.37 r@p, 1.48 3rd gear, and welded 3 and 4. Should pull harder in third and still raise my rpm at cruise a little. Don't pay any attention to the rams pillow, I've suddenly became a chiefs fan Kronke and Bidwell can both suck it!

[EnjoyNukaCola]

Nice seats! How do they compare to a standard suspension seat?
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"when i go to drive it i get to like 5-10 mph it is at high rpms and gets higher the faster i go when i shift up to second the rpms drop is this normal or what and this is my first vw please help"

[cbeck]

The xp like I bought are 5.5" taller than the ss , it has a removable seat cushion, seems like the harness slots are higher up than the ss or jp and separated, and weigh about 8 lbs more each. Seems like they also flare out under the headrest a little. That flare falls right at my arm pits,hoping they don,t restrict my arm movement to much. I have a 38" waist and I don't think any larger will fit. The xp seat back is 75 degrees vs the ss at 70 degrees. My kids give them a thumbs up.

[MacLeod Willy]

Nice seats!
What is your sightline going to be when installed?
Do they add height

[cbeck]

Thanks
I won't know until I mount them.
Yes, the top of seat cushion is going to be taller than the poly seats I removed. I had my polys mounted similar to sandjunkys. This time I will use the same 1"od x .125 I used before but this time no bend. I will mount the rear flush with the bottom of the torsion and the front flush with the top of the crossbar to create a little lean back and then fab new rollbar[or two] to fit me. I hope to leave windshield hoop in place. I already intend to raise dash bar for more knee room.

[cbeck]

Stripped my buggy this past week. Torsion is straight, the left arm is bent. The 3x3 arm kit I ordered today should fix that. The first piece I will remove is the 1" bar between the nerf bar kickers. I will use 120 dom there to match the nerf bars. After that is done, I will cut off all the bent tubing.

I found a new toy in my garage, a bender not a kinker. I will have my buddy fab most of the frame in his shop,but maybe by the time I am ready for a engine cage...

[cbeck]

Chop chop, no stopping now.

[enjoyther1de]

How does that bender work? Have you tried it?
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HBB took me to BBV.

[cbeck]

This is the second one my oldest has brought home.He swears it is supposed to do round but, I was looking at the flat die. My buddy said that die is for flat stock. Maybe if I dig deeper I might find the rest of the dies.

[heywebonya]

Bender looks like the HF unit. http://www.harborfreight.com/compact-bender-38470.html
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If I knew what I was doing; I wouldn't be building a buggy!

[cbeck]

Son said he got the bender off fleabay. Bender fail. He put a piece of 2x120 dom in the bender. First he bent the handle. Then he used a piece of the 2" and bent the bender.

[enjoyther1de]

Yeah, I have never tried that bender but I did try the other pipe kinder they sell. I found that you gotta pony up and get a real bender if you want any sort of quality look to your work.
I just bought a jd2 model3 and love it. Around 700 for the bender and a 1.5"x4.5" radius die. Great investment as far as I'm concerned.
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HBB took me to BBV.

[ORANGECRUSHer]

I got the $3-400 Affordable bender and while it is adequate I now wish I had something that could do tighter bends and be more accurate. It's actually hard to get 90 degrees out of mine with thicker tubing because of the spring-back and lack of travel in the die. It's a good starter bender if you are really strapped like me but if you can afford a JD or better don't waste your time.
just my 2 cents
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Brian H.

OrangeCrushERBerrien Warrior-2.4L Quad4-2x3 arms-1.5Fox coilovers-094-930CVs
LAZY MARY1970 Baja 2110cc-82mm CB forged crank-AA pistons/cylinders-Grant rings-1.1 vw rockers-CB serpkit-CB chromoly PRs-CB maxiflow filter pump-wix51515 filter-cut/turned front beam-AEM wideband-Auber CHT

[cbeck]

Being sick sucks almost as bad as 10" of snow after being near 80 all weekend.
So I did a first attempt at mounting seats. I had the poly seats mounted like sandjunky's. Removed the mounts to get started. These seats seem much larger. Can't move them back due to the frame kicking back in. Won't drop in between torsion and the floor cross bar. Mounting pattern is 14' wide x 18" long. I tacked the front mounts on top of the cross bar and stuck in a piece of 1" x 125 running across the frame for the rear mounts with it being flush with the the bottom of the the frame. It would be quite a bit more work to relocate the cross bar since it is tied into the nerf bars and the double bottom bars that convert to a single bar running to the torsion. After sitting in the seats for a while[insert vroom sounds here] I think I can live with the way they are. With my ass no longer 6" below the pedals, the sitting position seems more natural and comfortable. Guess I won't be the first person to raise the top of the windshield hoop.The dash bar probably needs to go up about 4".
I will be helping? my buddy do the tubing work in his shop. It's heated and cooled. I was hoping I would not have to drag my frame up to his shop for every little thing, fuel tank and cooler mounts, ect.

[ORANGECRUSHer]

Just a suggestion. Seats are a real sore spot for me because if I were to put a comfortable seat in I would be staring at the windshield hoop and my legs would be in the steering wheel. This looks like it may be similar to your situation.
As long as your cutting out frame I would redo the windshield hoop and put your steering shaft either through it or above it. You'll be a lot happier later on. I wish I had when I was doing all my cage work.
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Brian H.

OrangeCrushERBerrien Warrior-2.4L Quad4-2x3 arms-1.5Fox coilovers-094-930CVs
LAZY MARY1970 Baja 2110cc-82mm CB forged crank-AA pistons/cylinders-Grant rings-1.1 vw rockers-CB serpkit-CB chromoly PRs-CB maxiflow filter pump-wix51515 filter-cut/turned front beam-AEM wideband-Auber CHT

[cbeck]

Going to raise the hoop maybe 3", and the dash bar at least 4". Got to make it fit me. Even with the poly seats the dash bar was too low for me. Short, fat legs and a lot of torso.
The brown truck stopped at my house again today, forced me to get out of bed. My boss wants me back at work, told him I still have a fever and he might get a couple of hours out of me tomorrow before I need another nap.

[cbeck]

Had to go to work today so I stopped by my flaps and picked up some items I need to fab the the rear of the frame the right size the first time. I will mock these up on the bad engine and bolt to new trans that should show up next week. I still want to start on the windshield hoop and b roll bar hoop this weekend. Still need to fit the other seat and make sure they work out with my shifter mount and ebrake lever mount.