Project Slowly Underway: Berrien 295

[Vanapplebomb]

Drums got skimmed on a lath to true them up. Bearings cleaned, packed, and installed. Feels good to make progress again. Finally have a drum to drum assembly. Next it's off to the frame and mount the tires/rims.

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1800 Type 4 Berrien 295

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=487021

[heywebonya]

Very nice front beam.
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If I knew what I was doing; I wouldn't be building a buggy!

[Brian]

No FAGs?
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Wash your hands

'69 Bug
'68 Baja Truck
'71 Bug
'68 Camper

Only losers litter

[Vanapplebomb]

Thanks Heywrbonya. I'm taking a lot of cues/inspiration from the guys I would ride with in the UP. Simple and cheap buggies, mostly beefed up stock parts rather than buying aftermarket equivalents. Mine will differ largely because I am using a purchased frame from Berrien, where as most of them use VW pans with added tructure to the perimeter plus a roll cage...basically a sand rail with a VW pan underneath....tough as nails but a bit on the heavy side.

Brian, no FAG bearings. I use Timken (and their suppliers) for pretty much everything. Timken, fag, skf, ina, etc are all part of the world bearing association and are all made to the same specs with near identical quality. Timken just happens to be the easiest for me to source. Price is usually a little better as well.
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1800 Type 4 Berrien 295

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=487021

[dustymojave]

FAG...

Fleming Achtein Gesellschaft

Excellent bearing manufacturer company.

For those who weren't quite aware of what our friend was referring to.
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Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet.

[Vanapplebomb]

They sure do make good bearing Richard. Top notch. Can't go wrong with any manufacturer in the world bearing association really. All of them are pretty much the gold standard of bearings.
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1800 Type 4 Berrien 295

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=487021

[heywebonya]

VanAppleBomb,

How are you going to limit downward motion of the front arms?

This is my concern since I removed the front stops and added adjusters. When I cycle the front (or lift it up on a jack) the brake lines are at the limit (even with the longer superbeetle brake lines.

Thoughts?
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If I knew what I was doing; I wouldn't be building a buggy!

[dustymojave]

heywebonya...Where are the flex brake lines anchored? Moving that might fix the issue. Stock, the lines mount to a long tab that stands up from where it's welded to the edge of the pan. Cutting that tab off short and welding to to itself so it's shorter might do the trick. But make sure it doesn't make the hose too short when the suspension is compressed.

Do you just have longer arms or is the beam wider too? It's best to cycle the suspension and the steering at the same time to ensure the hoses are good throughout possible movement.
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Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet.

[Vanapplebomb]

Heywebonya, there are no hard limiters for the down travel on my set up. I allow the torsions to completely unwind. I designed the shock towers in such a way that when there is no load in the front end, I still have about an inch of extension on the shocks to make sure I never top them out.
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1800 Type 4 Berrien 295

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=487021

[heywebonya]

Dustymojave and Vanapplebomb,

Great input, always learning new techniques. I will be shortening the mounts and run through the full cycle.

Stock beam with adjusters, just an inch or two too short at full drop IF the wheels are fully turned in either direction.

Be joyful! Jeff
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If I knew what I was doing; I wouldn't be building a buggy!

[Vanapplebomb]

Well, looks like the drums will need to come back off. While torquing the wheels, I noticed one of the studs started to turn in the drum.

I'll tack weld each one of them to make sure none will turn on me again. That should solve my problem...Richard?
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1800 Type 4 Berrien 295

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=487021

[dustymojave]

If press-in studs turn on the drum, you CAN weld the stud in place. Make sure its in a the right place 1st. The holes may have been reamed too big before pressing. Tack welds should be what my welding instructor way back when called "structural tacks". In other words, enough weld that it will hold and not pop off at the 1st twist of the lug wrench or bump of the wheel.

Also, make sure the heads of the studs don't bump the brake shoes as the drum rotates.
_________________
Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet.

[Vanapplebomb]

Thanks Richard! I have some old brake drums laying around. I'll test it out on one of them first to see what it takes. I haven't tried welding steel to cast iron before, so this will be a good test before I try it on the real deal.
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1800 Type 4 Berrien 295

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=487021

[dustymojave]

Yeah...Cast iron doesn't like welding. If you have a stick welder and use Ni-Rod, it will work well. Brazing works well too. I HAVE done it with MIG and it held for a couple decades until the drums were used up. But the studs popped right out, weld and all, when the drums were replaced. Not sure why it worked OK that time, but it did. Maybe because it wasn't doing any structural work. I don't count steel to cast iron with MIG as structural welding.
_________________
Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet.

[Brian]

Richard, they were welded from the inside correct? If so, the weld probably prevents the studs from pulling.
_________________
Wash your hands

'69 Bug
'68 Baja Truck
'71 Bug
'68 Camper

Only losers litter

[dustymojave]

The head of the stud prevents it from being pulled through the drum. The weld around the head of the stud to the inside of the drum keeps the stud from rotating in the drum and from pushing inward when the wheel is being put on and bumping the stud.
_________________
Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet.

[Vanapplebomb]

I did a couple practice rounds on a scrap brake drum and a couple bolts. You are right Richard, welding cast iron to steel with a mig sucks. It looked pretty dirty, so I swapped in a spool of 0.030 flux core wire, and things seamed to work much better.

I left the wheels on to keep the studs straight. Final result...

Thanks Richard, you have been really helpful!


With everything back together I put the steering box on. That's the last I can do with this until I mount it to the frame! Next up, sleeving the passengers side tie rod. More to come...

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1800 Type 4 Berrien 295

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=487021

[Vanapplebomb]

I sleeved the stock tie rods today for the buggy. The sleeves were cut 1.5" shorter than the stock tie rods from 11 gauge 1" tubing. I drilled three staggered 3/8" holes in the long sleeve and a single 3/8" hole in the short sleeve. A wire wheel on the bench grinder made quick work of stripping the paint from the stock tie rods at the ends and also where the holes in the sleeve overlap. Then I hauled out the welder and zipped up the ends and puddle welded through the holes in the sleeves. The tie rods are much stiffer with this mod, maybe not a big deal on the short tie rod, but definitely worth the time and effort on the long tie rod which is notorious for bending with off road use.

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1800 Type 4 Berrien 295

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=487021

[Vanapplebomb]

Stopped by the Michigan Buggy Builders Show. No big ticket items, but I did find a few small that I will need comming up soon, so I suppose that was worth the price of admission and parking.
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1800 Type 4 Berrien 295

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=487021

[Vanapplebomb]

Tie rods got painted with black epoxy yesterday. I also got some mounting hardware for the front shocks. Pics to come shortly.
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1800 Type 4 Berrien 295

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=487021