1973 Sports Bug

[CWAVE]

I have to concur with this. I've been comparing 175, 185 and 195's and I've come to the conclusion the 185's are as close as we can get.

185's are what's going on my car! Good to hear your view, thanks!

Thomas

[CWAVE]

Another productive day behind me.

The majority of the day today was getting my ducks in a row so to speak. I've been buying parts for this project since about 2014, and just stacking the boxes in the garage. By this point, I really didn't know what I had anymore, so it was time take inventory. So after cleaning up years of crud and dirt off my workbench, and getting a PC set up in the garage again, I got to work inventorying everything I had.

Not surprisingly there were some duplicate purchases in there... Duh...

Was actually alot of fun, as most of the boxes I'd never even opened. For the first time I opened up my TopLine boxes containing all of the front and rear suspension parts. Felt like Christmas.

I couldn't resist throwing a disc on the back to see what it'll look like:

Ended up getting a bit late, but did want to see how the Dynamat applies, so I ended up spending a couple more hours in the garage, and got the front part of the floorpans layed down. It certainly is tedious work, massaging the mat into all of the grooves of the floorpan. But persistence paid off and it turned out really well. Knocking on the underside of the pan before and after sure does reveal a difference. The floor now sounds completely dead.

In-between this work, I also came across the lower control arms, and pressed the bushings out of them. I had not gotten around to having the powdercoated, so I'm going to have to find some time to take them to get done.

That ended up being my work for the day. One other bit of news is that I received notice end of last week that my Pro Street transaxle has shipped! Hopefully it'll be here in the next week or so.

I also plan on calling the bodyshop beginning of next week to get an update on when they're going to be starting on the body. I don't expect the pan is going to take me much longer to complete if I can keep up the momentum.

Thomas

[CWAVE]

Looks like I'm going to have some progress shots of the body in the coming weeks. The bodyshop called me up this morning (before I had a chance to call them). Wanted to know the paint code, as they're going to start work on the car after our Thanksgiving long weekend (next weekend).

Super pumped!

Thomas

[Epilog79]

Great work as always. I have enjoyed watching your progress. If thought you the dynamat was great on the floor pans, wait till you do your doors. I was so amazed, the solid sound of the door closing is now very satisfying. No more tinny sound. I know that is down the road still as the paint shop still has your project, but it will be ready soon enough. Keep up the great work.

[CWAVE]

Thanks Epilog79 for the kind words! Yes, I am very much looking forward to hearing the difference once I apply the dynamat in the door.

My Pro Street transaxle from Rancho arrived today! Looks great! Bet you can guess what I'm putting into the pan this coming weekend!

Thomas

[CWAVE]

Thanksgiving weekend update.

I didn't get quite as much work done on the car as I had hoped/planned. I always think I'm going to get more work done than I actually do. With all the visiting and turkey eating... I didn't make that much progress. Only worked two out of the three days.

This evening I finished up the Dynamat on the back half of the tunnel. I may fill in a bit here and there later, but I'm satisfied for now with what's done. I really want to get that transaxle in and get the brakes installed...

Here are some photos of the finished dynamat'd pan.

Thomas

[VW_Jimbo]

Thomas,

Bueatiful work! Looking forward to your next post! Keep up the the great job!
_________________
Jimbo

There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!

[CWAVE]

Got some more work done on the Sports bug this weekend. The rear disc brakes are now installed and I'm pretty pumped about it! I've never had a beetle with disc brakes before, and these look awesome. I still have to put the brake pads on, run the brake lines, and the handbrake cables and of course tighten everything down... I had never installed discs on a beetle so I took my time.

I have however noticed that the pan is (obviously) beginning to put on a bit of weight now. With the dynamat and disc brakes, the pan is starting to get heavy. I was planning on putting the transaxle on the pan while it was on the saw horses, but I'm beginning to re-think that. I need to be able to lift it off the sawhorses myself (ya, no mates near to help). Everyone I know aren't anywhere near me...

So, I think tomorrow I'm going to run out to the tireshop after work, and drop off my sportrims to get tires put on them. Once I have tires, then I'll be able to drop the pan down on the ground where it belongs.

These are the skins I'm planning on buying:

Of course I couldn't resist throwing on one of my rims to see what it'd look like.

So, even though the plan was to get the transaxle in this weekend, I'm kind of glad that I'm holding off until I can get the pan down on the ground. I did pick up 3 liters of 80W90 gear oil today, and my CIP1 order came in last week with my shifter bushing, new shift coupler, CV bolts and drain plug tool for the transaxle, so I'm pretty much ready to move on getting the transaxle in place.

I do have a few cans of this stuff, that I'm going to use first inside the tunnel to coat and seal the metal in there:

Going to try to do that on Tuesday so I can give it some time to cure before the coming weekend.

And finally, here are a few progress shots before I finished up on the disc brakes...

Hopefully more good news to come next week.

Thomas

[vamram]

Looking really good Cwave. What brand/vendor are your disk brakes?
_________________
Eventually, "we are what we pretend to be.’”
Give peace a chance - Stop Russian-Soviet Aggression!!

'74 Super 9/16 - present, in refurb process.
'73 Super - 6/18 - Present - Daily Driver!
'75 Super Le Grande...waiting it's turn in line behind '74.
Click to view image
Save the Supers!!

[CWAVE]

Hey there.

Thanks very much.

I bought the entire package (front and back)... pretty much everything suspension and brakes wise from TopLine. Still have to order a few things from him. Think I'm going to go with the adjustable struts for the car. I have the original struts cleaned up and powder coated, but I like the look of his struts, and what the heck... Everything else is new. Heh.

One thing I see he doesn't have are the lower control arms. If I have to I'll have my originals powdercoated, but wouldn't mind getting those new as well. Can't seem to find anyone selling those... Probably just end up going with the originals. I am however going with a 1974 front end. Heard that it's a little more robust.

Thomas

[vamram]

I'm not sure if it's more robust or not. I have both - a '72 super and a '74. The '74 steers easier and is easier to work on. But the '72 with the 3-bolt ball joints feels like a smoother ride over so-so city roads. I have topline front bushing kits on both. It may just be my car, though.
_________________
Eventually, "we are what we pretend to be.’”
Give peace a chance - Stop Russian-Soviet Aggression!!

'74 Super 9/16 - present, in refurb process.
'73 Super - 6/18 - Present - Daily Driver!
'75 Super Le Grande...waiting it's turn in line behind '74.
Click to view image
Save the Supers!!

[CWAVE]

I'm just going by what a buddy told me. It'll be what it'll be, as I've invested all my cash in a 74 front end. I'm sure it'll be fine. Thanks for your comments!

Thomas

[Tim Donahoe]

I have a '74 Super Beetle with a '74 front end, of course. Once I restored the front end and got new Sachs/Boge oil-filled struts, the ride is very smooth while going over bumps. Much smoother than my Honda del sol. I can't compare it to a '72 Super, but I'm pretty satisfied with the ride on mine.

Tim
_________________
Let's do the Time Warp again!

Richard O'Brien

[CWAVE]

Hey there.

Thanks for the comment, that's good to know. Everything about my suspension is going to be new, so I'm hopeful that mine will be as smooth as yours. I picked up a really nice strutbar as well, so if those things actually work, it might make the front end a little stiffer too.

Looking forward to experiencing the ride of the car next summer if all goes as planned!

Thomas

[ach60]

_________________
Good Luck
Al

[ach60]

[CWAVE]

First off, thanks for your comments guys.

Ya, I'm going to go with the 185/65/15's on my car. As for the Rancho transaxle, I went with stock gearing.

I never got around to picking up my tires last week (wish that I had... but the week was too hecktic). Shooting for this coming week to make that happen (maybe Tuesday).

Got some work done on the car today.

First off, I clean everything out of the tunnel (pulled all of the cables and shift rod), then coated the inside of the tunnel and frame head. The product works REALLY well. I made sure to tape off all of the openings and allow all of the suspended paint to settle in the tunnel before removing the tape. Ended up using about a can and a half in there. I tried to shoot some pictures, but it was pretty difficult given the confined space. Here's what I got.

Put the new bushing in for the shift rod. That's not a fun job... Getting that spring clip on the bushing isn't something that I've succeeded at yet, but I won't give up... Had to quit working on that today out of frustration. Think I'll try picking up a pair of really long bend needle nose pliers and try again. Also put on a heavy duty shift rod coupler that I bought for the car. Need to get a tube of locktite as I couldn't find mine anywhere... so finishing that job has to wait too. Geez. So the shift rod/linkage is almost done.

After that, I moved on to plumbing the brakes and running all the cables I have on hand. At the same time, I noted the cables that I still need to order. Glad that I deployed a PC in the garage, so I can quickly jump on CIP1 and set up my next order as I discover what parts I'm missing. As soon as I hit $100 I fire off the order as that's the free shipping threshold. Nice they have that offering.

By the end of the day, I had the emergency brake cables hooked up, and the brake lines to both rear wheels run all the way up to the front of the car. Also installed the new heaterbox cable.

Tomorrow the plan is to work on cleaning up the pedal assembly and install the master cylinder.

Monday after work, I'm heading out of town to visit the bodyshop working on my Sportsbug's body. Don't think they've gotten to far, but if there's anything to take a photo of, I will.

Thomas

[Tim Donahoe]

I install the shift-rod bushing circlip (wire clip, whatever) to the shift-rod bushing first. Then I install the bushing, complete with the circlip. I can't imagine how you'd do it after the fact.

Brakes are looking good!

Tim
_________________
Let's do the Time Warp again!

Richard O'Brien

[CWAVE]

Thanks for the tip. Reason why I attempted doing it the way I did initially was that with the clip on the bushing, I couldn't get the rod through the bushing (with no helper). Today I pulled it all apart, and with the help of my son holding the end of the shift rod against the bushing, I was able to give the shift rod a tap from the other end... and I was off to the races. The shift rod is now in the bushing with the clip as it should be. Slides nice and smooth. Should provide me with nice shifts.

Installed the master cylinder today, and finished the "plumbing" to it.

Then I turned my attention to the pedal assembly. Cleaned it up and painted it with POR-15. I'll leave that to dry for a few days. Also placed my next parts order to cover off more missing bits that I discovered during this weekends work.

Tomorrow it's off to the bodyshop after work, and if all goes well, to the tire shop Tuesday after work...

All in all I think a successful weekend. What I'd like to do next weekend, is install the rest of the cables (that should arrive next week), install the pedal assembly and install the transaxle.

Thomas

[heimlich]

Amazing how much work you've done on it.

Do any of you all weight the dynomat/etc before you install it? I think it ends up adding a few hundred pounds to your car. My brother always installs it but I don't.
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