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dlyle
Samba Member
Joined: March 22, 2019
Posts: 313
Location: Morgan Hill
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 Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2021 5:27 pm Post subject: Re: Just brought home a Vopard Vokaro |
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| MrGoodtunes wrote: |
| dlyle wrote: |
| MrGoodtunes wrote: |
| ... gap tells me that the spring is being compress'd and so trans is in reverse ... |
... My car is in neutral in that photo so I assume I need to adjust that locknut. Thanks for the pointers. I've only driven it about two hundred yard. In that time I went from 1st to second ... |
You must've shifted 1st to 2nd in a steady pull straight back on shift lever; 'cuz if you had stop'd at neutral along the way, you could've ended up going on to 4th or reverse.
This should help get the reverse lockout spring set correctly:
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Thank you so much for posting this info. I'll try adjusting after I get it all cleaned up. It's way to stiff right now to get a feel if it is out of adjustment or not.
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Letterman7
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Joined: March 14, 2004
Posts: 3228
Location: Downingtown, PA
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| Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2021 6:41 pm Post subject: Re: Just brought home a Vopard Vokaro |
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| dlyle wrote: |
| Letterman7 wrote: |
| I'm wondering why they put plywood as a spacer under the body. That's just weird. It isn't rocket science - find all the bolts/screws/whatever they used to fasten the body down along the perimeter, get them off and shift it back to where it needs to be. Personally, I'd pull the body off and redo the entire pan (sandblast, repaint, put all new suspension bushings, brake line and master cylinder) while the body is off. Simple to do. |
The plywood is there because the inner body liner is wider than the pan. I've got pictures of it further back in this thread. Whether or not the fiberglass can be persuaded to bend in a little to properly meet up with the pan perimeter remains to be seen.
There are also body supports and a gas tank that are in place in the back. On top of that the inner body liner only has 1.5" before it hits the torsion plates in the back. As it sits now the inner liner is situated close to dead center on the admiral's hat and rear portion of the pan. The clutch at full travel is hitting the inner liner so there is not easily room to move the inner liner and body back. So there may be lots of reasons why it ended up like it did.
The real problem I'm faced with is somebody got a little crazy when they were trimming the wheel openings so the body looks offset to the front. Getting it to where I want it to be will require reworking a lot of structure under the car. I'm game to give it a try but as I said earlier there may have been a reason it ended up like it did. I think the most I can hope for is moving it about an inch back. Any more than that may require cutting the inner tub. An inch would center the front wheels in the opening so it would help.
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Yeah, I was looking at the photos and couldn't quite put it together. Then I realized that a) the original builder did not shorten the pan correctly (cut it too short) or b) someone else had the body and a shortened pan from a dune buggy and did what they needed to do to make it work. That said, I'd ditch all the plywood and weld a nice wide 1/8" steel flange on the outside of the VW frame for the body to rest on. You can adjust as necessary to center the wheels. If the pedal assembly interferes with the front bulkhead.. cut the bulkhead in that area and box it out so it doesn't interfere. |
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dlyle
Samba Member
Joined: March 22, 2019
Posts: 313
Location: Morgan Hill
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| Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2021 8:38 pm Post subject: Re: Just brought home a Vopard Vokaro |
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| Letterman7 wrote: |
| dlyle wrote: |
| Letterman7 wrote: |
| I'm wondering why they put plywood as a spacer under the body. That's just weird. It isn't rocket science - find all the bolts/screws/whatever they used to fasten the body down along the perimeter, get them off and shift it back to where it needs to be. Personally, I'd pull the body off and redo the entire pan (sandblast, repaint, put all new suspension bushings, brake line and master cylinder) while the body is off. Simple to do. |
The plywood is there because the inner body liner is wider than the pan. I've got pictures of it further back in this thread. Whether or not the fiberglass can be persuaded to bend in a little to properly meet up with the pan perimeter remains to be seen.
There are also body supports and a gas tank that are in place in the back. On top of that the inner body liner only has 1.5" before it hits the torsion plates in the back. As it sits now the inner liner is situated close to dead center on the admiral's hat and rear portion of the pan. The clutch at full travel is hitting the inner liner so there is not easily room to move the inner liner and body back. So there may be lots of reasons why it ended up like it did.
The real problem I'm faced with is somebody got a little crazy when they were trimming the wheel openings so the body looks offset to the front. Getting it to where I want it to be will require reworking a lot of structure under the car. I'm game to give it a try but as I said earlier there may have been a reason it ended up like it did. I think the most I can hope for is moving it about an inch back. Any more than that may require cutting the inner tub. An inch would center the front wheels in the opening so it would help.
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Yeah, I was looking at the photos and couldn't quite put it together. Then I realized that a) the original builder did not shorten the pan correctly (cut it too short) or b) someone else had the body and a shortened pan from a dune buggy and did what they needed to do to make it work. That said, I'd ditch all the plywood and weld a nice wide 1/8" steel flange on the outside of the VW frame for the body to rest on. You can adjust as necessary to center the wheels. If the pedal assembly interferes with the front bulkhead.. cut the bulkhead in that area and box it out so it doesn't interfere. |
The wheelbase is exactly 80" which is what the Vokaro manual specifies as the correct length. Now that I've got it all unbolted I need to get a few friends to come over and help me lift the body off. Don't think the wife will be enough help.
All options are on the table right now. The body is going back 1" will center the front wheels in the openings. It would need to move 2" in the back to center it there so another option is to cut the pan an additional inch. I'm kind of looking for other pans as a start over option.
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dlyle
Samba Member
Joined: March 22, 2019
Posts: 313
Location: Morgan Hill
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| Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2021 8:50 pm Post subject: Re: Just brought home a Vopard Vokaro |
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Spent a little bit of time and took the shifter out. First thing I noticed was that the reverse lockout plate had the ski jump on the driver's side. I removed it and cleaned it up and also cleaned the shifter and everything else. I do need that reverse lockout right?
The shifter out of the car moves freely. Seems like the shift rod moves side to side without too much effort too but when I put it all back together it is still very stiff. Moving the shifter side to side I can see there are three distinct detents. One for reverse, then 1st and 2nd, and then 3rd and fourth. The problem is it's so stiff that it will stay wherever you leave it. If I pull it over to the far left for reverse it will stay there (without pulling to the rear to actually put it in reverse).
That's why in that one earlier picture it was in neutral but it was all the way to the left so there was the gap by the locknut.
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dlyle
Samba Member
Joined: March 22, 2019
Posts: 313
Location: Morgan Hill
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| Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2021 8:56 pm Post subject: Re: Just brought home a Vopard Vokaro |
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Another day another tire comparison. In these photos I have the 205/75-15 on the rear and the 205/70-15 on the front. The front is on the 5.5.rim. I'll be sticking with all 4.5 rims for the final fit.
I obviously wouldn't drive with the tire this close. Just wanted to see how the 27" tire helps fill the gaps. If it were on the 4.5 rim and the body moved back and centered it would actually fit. Surprisingly it actually can turn lock to lock even though it's so close on the back there. It's so close but yet so far from being where I need it to be.
In the view below you can see that there is about half an inch between the 205/75-15 tire and the spring plate.
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Teeroy 
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Joined: April 20, 2003
Posts: 3823
Location: Eastern WA
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| Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2021 10:02 pm Post subject: Re: Just brought home a Vopard Vokaro |
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Ski jump faces up, not down into tunnel. Thats plenty of room between tire and springplate.Try the 165 on the front again, but adjust the beam down some. This after you get the tires centered in the openings. You could extend the front end of the pan you have instead of doing a new.
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dlyle
Samba Member
Joined: March 22, 2019
Posts: 313
Location: Morgan Hill
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| Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2021 10:13 pm Post subject: Re: Just brought home a Vopard Vokaro |
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| Teeroy wrote: |
| Ski jump faces up, not down into tunnel. Thats plenty of room between tire and springplate.Try the 165 on the front again, but adjust the beam down some. This after you get the tires centered in the openings. You could extend the front end of the pan you have instead of doing a new. |
I do have the ski jump facing up. Not sure if I mentioned it but this car sat for 26 years without running. Could there be something else making the shifting so stiff? If I had a stock shifter handy I'd throw that on there to see if it was better. I think I need a curved shifter though or it will hit the dash.
I may go with a slightly taller tire in the rear to fill the gap. That's a 205 on there now that is 27" tall but I may be able to get one that is 27.7" tall.
This was lowered all I dare until things are centered. I've been looking in to spacing the beam forward 1". Anybody know if there are spacers to do that?
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Teeroy
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Joined: April 20, 2003
Posts: 3823
Location: Eastern WA
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| Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2021 11:53 pm Post subject: Re: Just brought home a Vopard Vokaro |
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The picture you show, the ramp is going down into the bole on the driverside, its supposed to stick up and be on the passenger side of the hole
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Teeroy
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Joined: April 20, 2003
Posts: 3823
Location: Eastern WA
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| Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2021 11:58 pm Post subject: Re: Just brought home a Vopard Vokaro |
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You will need to cut the frame head off, they make castor shims, but they are only about 1/4" thick
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Teeroy
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Joined: April 20, 2003
Posts: 3823
Location: Eastern WA
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| Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2021 12:03 am Post subject: Re: Just brought home a Vopard Vokaro |
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I had a shifter like that in my old buggy when I cirst got it, was terrible. You can use a stock shifter, just heat it and bend to fit. You can shorten it too if needed, to make it cofortable.
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NJ John
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Joined: September 21, 2007
Posts: 2796
Location: HdG, MD & NJ
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| Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2021 6:27 am Post subject: Re: Just brought home a Vopard Vokaro |
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That’s a Sparkomatic shifter. Lots of pics in the gallery and probably forum topics, too.
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dlyle
Samba Member
Joined: March 22, 2019
Posts: 313
Location: Morgan Hill
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| Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2021 9:25 am Post subject: Re: Just brought home a Vopard Vokaro |
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| Teeroy wrote: |
| The picture you show, the ramp is going down into the bole on the driverside, its supposed to stick up and be on the passenger side of the hole |
That was a picture of how it was installed wrong. I talked about that in the in the post above where I had the picture... 
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dlyle
Samba Member
Joined: March 22, 2019
Posts: 313
Location: Morgan Hill
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| Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2021 9:29 am Post subject: Re: Just brought home a Vopard Vokaro |
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| Teeroy wrote: |
| I had a shifter like that in my old buggy when I cirst got it, was terrible. You can use a stock shifter, just heat it and bend to fit. You can shorten it too if needed, to make it cofortable. |
Yeah, need to try something different and that will eliminate or confirm where the problem may be.
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Teeroy
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Joined: April 20, 2003
Posts: 3823
Location: Eastern WA
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| Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2021 9:31 am Post subject: Re: Just brought home a Vopard Vokaro |
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Missed that part, doent help I've been reading and posting from my instead of my computor
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dlyle
Samba Member
Joined: March 22, 2019
Posts: 313
Location: Morgan Hill
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| Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2021 9:35 am Post subject: Re: Just brought home a Vopard Vokaro |
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| Teeroy wrote: |
| You will need to cut the frame head off, they make castor shims, but they are only about 1/4" thick |
Trying to avoid that if possible. I shouldn't need to if I can move the body back one inch. Anything can be done it's just a matter of how much pain it's going to take.
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Teeroy
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Joined: April 20, 2003
Posts: 3823
Location: Eastern WA
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| Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2021 9:36 am Post subject: Re: Just brought home a Vopard Vokaro |
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Not a stiffness problem, but a lot of shifting problems on shortened pan cars come from the end of the shift rod not getting clocked correctly in the shortening process
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dlyle
Samba Member
Joined: March 22, 2019
Posts: 313
Location: Morgan Hill
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| Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2021 9:39 am Post subject: Re: Just brought home a Vopard Vokaro |
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| Teeroy wrote: |
| Not a stiffness problem, but a lot of shifting problems on shortened pan cars come from the end of the shift rod not getting clocked correctly in the shortening process |
When I had the shifter out it seemed like the shift rod in the tunnel went side to side easy enough. The shifter out of the car moved easily side to side too. When I bolted it back up that seemed to be where I got the binding. I'll try and find another shifter and see if it has the same problem.
It seems like lots of people of had problems with this kind of shifter. Assume they have to be installed right or they can cause problems. What's a good shifter to use.....preferably with a bent handle?
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dlyle
Samba Member
Joined: March 22, 2019
Posts: 313
Location: Morgan Hill
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| Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2021 9:50 am Post subject: Re: Just brought home a Vopard Vokaro |
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| NJ John wrote: |
| That’s a Sparkomatic shifter. Lots of pics in the gallery and probably forum topics, too. |
That's it! I noticed mine did not have the FV on the side so it must be the Sparkomatic. Thanks for the info!
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Teeroy
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Joined: April 20, 2003
Posts: 3823
Location: Eastern WA
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| Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2021 10:02 am Post subject: Re: Just brought home a Vopard Vokaro |
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In my buggy I just used a early stock beetle shifter that i heated and bent for clearance. Later I put in a cheap cast T handle Bugpack clone
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dlyle
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Joined: March 22, 2019
Posts: 313
Location: Morgan Hill
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| Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2021 10:26 am Post subject: Re: Just brought home a Vopard Vokaro |
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I've got a stock shifter on the way. It is curved but can bend it more to clear the dash if necessary. Was only $29 so I can always get a fancier one later or fix the Sparkomatic.
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