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Just brought home a Vopard Vokaro
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dlyle
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 31, 2021 8:47 am    Post subject: Re: Just brought home a Vopard Vokaro Reply with quote

NJ John wrote:
Narrow the beam and hide them fronts up in the fender!


Thought about that but the tire is close to the pan at full lock. I had to add that 1.25" square tube on each side so the body will mate up. I think I'd have to narrow the beam at least 2-3" to make a difference. Also tried to find a similar Porsche wheel with more backspace but there isn't one that would sit any further back.

How tough is it to narrow a beam? Is it easier to just buy one already done? The pictures below show the 205/65 tires. The body is bolted down in the back but not the front. The body is tweaked a bit and offset to the passenger side about an inch or two so when the front gets bolted down I'll need to pull it a bit to the driver's side.

Now that the body is lower I am seeing reasons that they lifted the body. Even with the seat on the floor and all the way back my knees and shin are very close to the bottom of the dash fiberglass. When pushing in the clutch my foot is touching the steering column. My right foot gets tangled in all the wiring and the speedo cable. The wiring will get fixed and I'll have to get used to the rest. Another concern is that by moving the body back it has brought the steering wheel closer to the windshield. It's going to be very close. I probably need to order a windshield and do some test fitting.


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DeathBySnuSnu
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 31, 2021 11:09 am    Post subject: Re: Just brought home a Vopard Vokaro Reply with quote

It is looking good......all lower and more centered.
I understand the un-even fight. I am bending tube for mine and have to work around all the whop sided mess. Every time I measure something it is out of position an inch in some random direction.
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NJ John
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 31, 2021 11:18 am    Post subject: Re: Just brought home a Vopard Vokaro Reply with quote

You can buy all sizes of narrowed beams nowadays. But, it’s not that hard to do. I grind of the mounts. Use a pipe cutter to cut center out and use the pan as the jig. Cutting the leaves is easy, also. However, the spring stack has to be stock number of leaves in the center and ends. The center can be tapped or zip tied to initially hold in place. The ends can be slid in through the arms. I never did a link pin myself.
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dlyle
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 02, 2021 10:07 pm    Post subject: Re: Just brought home a Vopard Vokaro Reply with quote

Spent the last two days working on the Vokaro. I cut off the old outer pan pieces and fabricated some new pieces to take the inner pan liner. The pan didn't line up with it before. I'm still working on the center piece.


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Yesterday I took the shift rod out. Took quite a bit of effort. This is a 60 so there is no shift bushing but it was tight in the shift rod holder. Does this look like too much of a bend?



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It has a couple of kinks in it. I don't think these are supposed to be there.



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I'm going to weld on the screw type adjuster on the end.


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dlyle
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 02, 2021 10:26 pm    Post subject: Re: Just brought home a Vopard Vokaro Reply with quote

Getting ready to cut in to the tunnel to fix the clutch mid tube mount. There were lots of things rattling around when the shifter moved side to side or when the clutch was pushed in.

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The tube was loose in all three mount locations. I removed it for clean up. The tube had shifted forward and the clutch cable had mushroomed the front of the tube. Pulling the tube out allowed me to weld it back to round and get it ready for welding back in.

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Used an abrasive wheel to remove the shiny black paint.

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The front mount was loose on top. I pushed it back in to place and welded it before the tube went back in.

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I bought a mid mount. Modified it a bit and added a loop over the top and sides of the tube. It's not going anywhere now. Very solid.


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I put a piece of 1/8" steel under the clutch and throttle tube at the back and tacked it back in to place. Nice and sturdy now.


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These are all the heater control, gas, and whatever other line that were in the tunnel. They were still wearing a shiny coat of black paint.


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I really was a shade tree mechanic. It was hot out so it helped.

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dlyle
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 15, 2021 9:50 am    Post subject: Re: Just brought home a Vopard Vokaro Reply with quote

Made a little bit of progress recently. Partially painted the rear cage and frame rails. I have some more welding to do so didn't want to hit the weld ares with paint yet.

I put the bod on and started taking measurements for the front body supports. Came to the conclusion those will have to wait until the body is mounted.


A few weeks ago I trimmed a couple corners off the inner body tub. Yesterday I figured out I could send those away to have the gel coat color matched. So I sent a package off to Sherfab in Ontario CA to get a quart of gel coat mixed up. If it matches I can see about getting rid of that black strip down the side of the car.

I've also decided to move the shifter back a few inches. I don't want to move the hand brake so I'm limited on how far back it can go.





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Cleaned up the driveline a bit and painted it too.

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dlyle
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 15, 2021 9:53 am    Post subject: Re: Just brought home a Vopard Vokaro Reply with quote

Here's the existing shift rod and its replacement. It will need to get shortened in the front once I determine how far I move the shifter back and then will get shortened the rest of the way in the rear.



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Teeroy Premium Member
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 16, 2021 6:18 pm    Post subject: Re: Just brought home a Vopard Vokaro Reply with quote

If your moving the shifter, get a newwer hanger bracket that has a bushing
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EVfun
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 16, 2021 8:48 pm    Post subject: Re: Just brought home a Vopard Vokaro Reply with quote

Teeroy wrote:
If your moving the shifter, get a newwer hanger bracket that has a bushing

If the original shift hanger is worn out. I think the old way was the better way!

I wish there was a quality reproduction for the early style. Steel is a lot more durable than the cheapest plastic they could injection mold in some third world country.
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dlyle
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 16, 2021 10:07 pm    Post subject: Re: Just brought home a Vopard Vokaro Reply with quote

Teeroy wrote:
If your moving the shifter, get a newwer hanger bracket that has a bushing


Already have one. Also have one of those EV4U bronze bushings on the way.
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dlyle
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 16, 2021 10:19 pm    Post subject: Re: Just brought home a Vopard Vokaro Reply with quote

EVfun wrote:
Teeroy wrote:
If your moving the shifter, get a newwer hanger bracket that has a bushing

If the original shift hanger is worn out. I think the old way was the better way!

I wish there was a quality reproduction for the early style. Steel is a lot more durable than the cheapest plastic they could injection mold in some third world country.


I’m lining up all the options so when I take it all apart I can choose the best path forward. The old shift rod was not loose or moving around in the hanger. The old hanger has more or a lip or more contact surface. Probably 4 times the width of the new Wolfsburg West hanger. The old hanger still is covered in a nice coat of original black paint. Another option would be to open up the old hanger hole to the correct width so the bronze bushing fits.

I’m with you though....that little plastic bushing won’t last. Especially when it comes in to contact with some grease. I hope to get the tunnel opened up this weekend and then I can see what it all looks like.
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DeathBySnuSnu
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 17, 2021 5:10 pm    Post subject: Re: Just brought home a Vopard Vokaro Reply with quote

Looking like a plan.....
And enjoying seeing your progress.

Sometimes wish I did not go so crazy with mine......I gotta make all this stuff from scratch.
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dlyle
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 17, 2021 10:37 pm    Post subject: Re: Just brought home a Vopard Vokaro Reply with quote

Got the tunnel pieces marked up so I could relocate the shifter 3" towards the rear. Going on the advice of BL3Manx I made three cuts on the top of the tunnel with a hacksaw. The horizontal cut is just at the bottom of the bulge the shifter mount makes. This is about 1" above the throttle cable which runs inside the tunnel on that side. The length wise passenger side cut was just at the top of the heater control knob hole. I removed the heater control tubes and will fill in the hole a little later.


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I cut the front piece and then the rear piece. The 3" rear piece is now in position at the front. It fits like a puzzle piece. The rear piece didn't fit as well as I didn't cut it totally straight. Once welded you won't know.

I chose to just move it 3" back so I wouldn't have to also move the hand brake. It didn't need to go back any further than that anyway. This car already had the shorter hand brake handle so no need to find and change it.

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Going to ponder whether or not to change the shift rod hanger. It still has some paint on the inside surface of the ring that the shift rod goes through so it looks to have very little wear. I put the shift rod through it and it was fairly snug. I think I'll try out the EV4U bronze bushing on the new shift rod to see how tight it is. If it's tighter than the old hanger I'll make the probably swap put the hanger and use the bronze bushing.

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There is a lot of surface area on this hanger where the shift rod touches it. There is much less contact surface on the newer/later hangers.


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Last edited by dlyle on Sun Apr 18, 2021 7:37 am; edited 2 times in total
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dlyle
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 17, 2021 10:57 pm    Post subject: Re: Just brought home a Vopard Vokaro Reply with quote

DeathBySnuSnu wrote:
Looking like a plan.....
And enjoying seeing your progress.

Sometimes wish I did not go so crazy with mine......I gotta make all this stuff from scratch.


I recently went a little overboard on a 57 Desoto convertible. Took too much time on it so this time I'm trying to keep things in line. Don't want to cut any corners but am not going to go all out. No need to pull it all apart for powder coating etc. Just want to do it right but not excessive. Sometimes it's hard to draw that line though.
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dlyle
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PostPosted: Tue May 04, 2021 11:59 am    Post subject: Re: Just brought home a Vopard Vokaro Reply with quote

Making slow but steady progress.


I shortened the shift rod at the front by 3" and then welded up the adjuster in the back.


I think I had 7 holes so I could add rosette welds.


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Welded in the shift plate. I opted to retain the original shift rod hanger. I had a brand new one and one of those bronze bushings to go in it but the clearances between both options was just about the same. Not very good looking welds but it's strong. I think I need a new helmet because when the lights go out and it dims I can't see a thing


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I'll leave that front access hole for now. There is still one on the side too from when I re attached the clutch tube. Made it really easy to put the shift rod in. I had to bend the rod to get it sit in the center of the shift opening. Took quite a while to get it all adjusted but now I've got it fairly smooth when selecting all gears. I may add a Gene Berg shifter.
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dlyle
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 02, 2021 1:50 pm    Post subject: Re: Just brought home a Vopard Vokaro Reply with quote

Funny how time will fly by and next thing you know 6 months have passed in the blink of an eye.

I have made some progress since my last update. The picture below are the before pictures. I don't seem to have any of the after pics.

I did the front brakes and bearings. The driver side spindle was bent so I bought a set of refurbed spindles with new link pins etc and put them together.



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See that spindle sloping downhill?


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Look how uneven that brake drum was.


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Last edited by dlyle on Mon Aug 02, 2021 2:14 pm; edited 1 time in total
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 02, 2021 1:53 pm    Post subject: Re: Just brought home a Vopard Vokaro Reply with quote

I did the rear brakes too including all new hard and soft lines. I had the hand brake cables shortened 14.5 inches which may not have been quite enough. I need to finish putting in the pedals and then I'll see how things adjust.


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PostPosted: Mon Aug 02, 2021 2:04 pm    Post subject: Re: Just brought home a Vopard Vokaro Reply with quote

I drove 630 miles round trip and picked up a type 4 motor. It's a 72 1.7 and has a flex plate for an automatic. I'm not sure if it will work in the Vokaro or not. It's longer. I know it would fit but then I'd have to eliminate the rear door to make room for the back of the motor. I don't really want to do that.

Now the decision is do I move a different direction and install the 1.7 or do I fix up the good running 1600 that's in there now. If I go the 1600 route I need to convert the doghouse including all the required tin, alternator etc or do I go with the 1.7 which I don't even know if it will run. There's good and bad with both.

The 1.7 looks really clean with some new parts. I don't have a puture but I took a valve cover off and it looks brand new like oil has never been in there.


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DeathBySnuSnu
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 02, 2021 4:07 pm    Post subject: Re: Just brought home a Vopard Vokaro Reply with quote

The type 4 will fit where a type 1 goes.......if you do the upright fan conversion.
It takes a certain flywheel and clutch to fit the type 1 trans.

The type 4 is an upgrade overall.
Better oiling and a filter. Very good drivability. A lot more mass to the heads making for better cooling.

Hot rod parts are limited though.
Also the 1.7 mostly came in heavy busses and where heavily worked and tend to be beat down.
That carb set up you have there is the worst possible available for a type 4.

So overall . ......I would seriously consider going with it.
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 02, 2021 6:09 pm    Post subject: Re: Just brought home a Vopard Vokaro Reply with quote

Oh, it'll fit with the stock T4 fan shroud since there isn't any bodywork to interfere. But yeah, dual carbs will wake that motor up. The motor will also add an additional 75 pounds or so to the rear, so a reinforcement of the transaxle (a Kafer bar) would be prudent.
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