69 road race Ghia rebuild

[overboost]

Nothing beats the sound of the 48 IDA for sure. That groan leading into WOT is nothing short of a sirens song.

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The older I get... The faster I was...

[Rome]

Very impressive fabrication and assembly work!

Will you add small, short "J" hooks to the rear shocks' bottom mounting studs to hold those handbrake cables steady so that they don't droop or whip when driving over bumps?

[Ian Godfrey]

Rome, yep, I haven't finished them yet, but I was waiting until I get the axles in so I can see how high I can lift them up. I'm thinking of making brackets that with a hole so I can use the lower shock bolt as an anchor.

[Ian Godfrey]

So, on to the gear box. It's a Berg 5 in a Zig Zag '76 case, with a Quaife torque sensing diff. This kind of diff is very good on acceleration but doesn't work like a ZF clutch style diff while braking. I have a ZF which I would prefer to use but I worry about its strength. Quaifes are guaranteed not to break and have Bus output splines and use Bus 100mm CV's. We'll see how it all works when I drop the clutch. I don't build gearbox's, Dave Butler in Brisbane built mine and took quite a few Kilos out with drilling. Inside is a work of art But I did take care of lightening the nose cone and the clutch cable guide, as well as drilling the clutch shaft.
Anyway, the alloy mounts I made

mid mount

the gear box

And the finished mid mount with RevShift BMW urethane mounts with alloy spacer.

[Ian Godfrey]

I like original gear shift couplers much better than the aftermarket ones with red urethane. I have had them just crumble with old age

And now some gearshift porn, a CAE 5 speed shifter. To fit it you need to weld a plate to the top of the tunnel and 'hack' the opening in the tunnel so you can get 5th and reverse, and make some custom parts but...... it's all worth it

lastly I finished up the clutch cable. I was putting it together and noticed I had no holes drilled in the adjuster so being the 'sick puppy' I am I stopped to drill a couple of holes!

finished up with a seal on the end of the bowden tube

[overboost]

This thread is straight up car porn. Love it!
_________________
The older I get... The faster I was...

[TRS63]

That thread is amazing, thanks!

Antoine
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Antoine
My 62 ragtop daily driver:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728873
My 914 restoration&lightweight project :
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9698432#9698432
Resurrecting a 60 ghia : https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=713906
My 52 Standard Zwitter :
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=10086685#10086685

[Ian Godfrey]

Thank you for the comments
Next job was axles/drive shafts, I'm not sure what they get called in the US.
I've used Vanagon axles as they are the right length and way stronger than type 1. I had them drilled out for lightness.

I've also used type 2, 100mm lightened, race prepped CV's with Stage 8 lock bolts. These are a fiddle, you torque them up, fit the plate, then put on the circlip, and loose a couple of circlips when they fly into space.
but the bolts do not come loose and thats what matters, dragging an axle when one end comes off is no fun
the inner

the outer

top view

and finished both sides

now I'll finish of the hand brake cables.... well soon anyway

[slayer61]

What an inspiration. Thanks Ian!

[halbug]

[Ian Godfrey]

Halbug, I HOPE it will be lighter. A stock '69 coupe is 870Kg i believe,

I'm working towards 800 Kg, so far all my lighter parts offset the heavier parts (5 speed/roll cage), my spread sheet has about a 20 kg saving so far.
I am leaving the body and pan all steel, no holes, but there will be good savings with no sound deadening, radio etc, light weight seats and fiberglass bumpers with aluminium brackets. I will try to make polycarbonate rear quarter windows as well. A fiberglass engine lid would be nice but nobody seems to make one at the moment.
I've also taken weight out of the engine with Nickie cylinders.JP pistons, Carrillo rods, super light pulley, no heat exchangers and aluminium tail pipe/muffler from the collector back. Dry sump tank will be behind the seat bringing that weight nearer the centre of the car
I've focused getting weight out of the back as much as possible.
I think 800Kg is possible, plus me...... I see a diet in my future

just for interest a '73 911 RS is 975 Kg, and I want to catch them

[Ian Godfrey]

on to some last small jobs:
the hand brake need to be shortened because of the large shifter base, so I 'cut and shut' it, taking 2 inches out and drilled a few holes in it and the pivot. I;m waiting on some parts to finish the cables.

I tidied up the front sway bar with better high misalignment rod ends from QA1.
the ones that came with the front end went into a bind situation as the suspension compressed. the new one give 55 degrees of movement

fitted

[Ian Godfrey]

The rear hard lines needed clips because of their length. I found these aluminium ones for the 3/16" (4.75mm) line

I drilled and tapped some M5 holes in the arms:

these little details make me very happy

I designed and had machined and anodised some centre caps, the car won't go any faster, the beauty is that this is a hobby

and last is a nice view of the pan with unfinished hand brake brackets...... nearly done.
7 years of thinking and a year of work

[halbug]

Ian, I really like your dedication to detail!

I love your handbrake and may copy it. Not because of lightweighting, simply because it is looking so cool

And it will match the handles I made for seat adjustment...

Nice built!!! Let's get it racing!
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Stealth Ghia Transformation: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=7226044&highlight=#7226044
My Berg5: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=730276&start=0

[slayer61]

Excuse me while I wipe the drool off of my keyboard....








Very nice.

[Ian Godfrey]

Time for a big of an update.....
I've been trying to sort out my steering, some stops in the rack so the tyres won't hit the inner body, ordered a new starter, and worked on the fuel tank.
my old set up was a Holley red and matching 'dead head' regulator. Noisy and lots of plumbing so I've gone for a more modern 'in tank' solution.
https://aeromotiveinc.com/product/phantom-200-stealth-fuel-system/
It was not to difficult to fit, it has a compressible gasket that accommodates the uneven top of the tank, as well as the pump, filter and baffle all in the tank.

fortunately the fuel gauge float goes sideways

and got to use a spanner I hardly ever use

I took the this plug out so I could shine a light inside and see what I was doing.
Of interest I coated the inside of this tank over 10 years ago with a POR 15 tank kit and it still looks perfect, no rust.
[/url]

[halbug]

Hi Ian, very nice

I was tempted for a moment and looked at your link... but I will stick to my "totally stealth" plans

Thank you for sharing
Cheers Lars
_________________
Stealth Ghia Transformation: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=7226044&highlight=#7226044
My Berg5: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=730276&start=0

[Braukuche]

Thread never ceases to amaze.
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Go Reds! Smash state!

Retirement is here!
1956 Ghia
1959 SO-23 Westfalia
1960 double cab
1960 Baja Bug
1963 stretched double cab
1962 Golde sunroof Ghia
1963 356 B coupe
1963 Notchback
1967 21 window less rusty now

[Ian Godfrey]

I've been waiting on a few parts to arrive, first was modern rear bump stops.
I only have 90mm of rear travel metal to metal and 60mm before the bump stop so I got 2 different heights of foam bump stops and threaded the arm so I could just screw them in. These are the short ones, 32mm

[Ian Godfrey]

The other job was a bit more complicated. The Mendeola front suspension is very good in its adjustability along with a good camber curve, and it fits in with very little trimming of KG steel. But.... it has quite a lot of bump steer, over 3mm across the wheel travel. Halbug solved this by lowering the rack into the tunnel, inverting the tie rod ends and reworking the rack mount. His solution is very elegant and I was tempted
But in the end I went a different way, raising the outer end of the tie rods with spacers.
Unfortunately I couldn't find any 14mm high misalignment rod ends so I opted for 1/2". I drilled out the 1/2" thread and retapped it M14, luckily both tie rods (Golf 1) are RH thread, and then I used 1/2" bolts and spacers to get the 19mm rise.

I now have to measure the bump steer to confirm if I need to change the size of the spacer.
Meanwhile I've been woking on my engine upgrades, match porting manifolds to new heads. I'll post some pix in a few days