My VW Beetle Restoration-DREAM COME TRUE

[PAVAN KADAM]

Lovely Sunday morning, i set out early to finish the tyre rotation which is most important.

We dont need to balance tyres beyond 15 inch, so just regular rotation is enough to keep tyres in shape.

Pattern is X & H.
1) Back tyres just come in front in H Pattern.
2) Front Left goes to Rear Right
3) Front Right goes to Rear Left

The jack points on the Bug is extremely fascinating, such well balanced, 2 jacks are enough to lift all 4 wheels off the ground. Just marvelous.

Let pics do the talking.

[pranava999]

Hey Pavan, just came across this thread. Must say she is a true beauty. Wonderful job mate on the restoration. Really fascinating. Have put up a few beetle ads on a thread in the forum. Do take a look at them. Maybe you could print them into posters if you like it.

[71Convertible]

Pavan,
Even 15" and up wheels need to be balanced. In fact, on the supers wheel balancing is extremely critical as the front suspension is very senstive to out of balance wheels. Actually, as wheel size increases balancing becomes more critical as the out of balance forces will act at a greater distance from the center of rotation and put even more wear on the bearings.

BTW, did you actually have the car lifted on 2 jacks with no stand in front? wow and dangerous.

[PAVAN KADAM]

Originally Posted by pranava999

Hey Pavan, just came across this thread. Must say she is a true beauty. Wonderful job mate on the restoration. Really fascinating. Have put up a few beetle ads on a thread in the forum. Do take a look at them. Maybe you could print them into posters if you like it.

Thank you, the Bug's been restored 6 yrs back, doesn't take much to keep it in shape.

Just regular oil changes, few greasing, regular driving and lots of Love and care.

Originally Posted by 71Convertible

Pavan,
Even 15" and up wheels need to be balanced. In fact, on the supers wheel balancing is extremely critical as the front suspension is very senstive to out of balance wheels. Actually, as wheel size increases balancing becomes more critical as the out of balance forces will act at a greater distance from the center of rotation and put even more wear on the bearings.

BTW, did you actually have the car lifted on 2 jacks with no stand in front? wow and dangerous.

Yes Byas, i had the same doubts, but with the 5 lug rims, my tyre guy just cannot put them on the machine for balancing .

Byas, any thing that you can say about the coil spring suspension set up, presently since 15000 kms its running fine, any adverse effects that you pre-empt...?

My next job is

1) Set the tappets.
2) Change the transmission oil ( What is the Allen size...?)
3) Greasing at the front suspension points.
4) Clean the brakes. (Presently they are fine )

I've used only 2 jacks and after the whole car lifted up, i used a horse at the centre in front, so as not to let the car rolling

[PAVAN KADAM]

The Wheel size is 195/60/R15, sorry for the type error, the pic says R12.

12 inchers for a Bug oops...

[71Convertible]

Yes, I can see how those 5-hole wheels can be a prob. A few alternatives -- get a spare brake drum, mount the wheel on the brake drum and have it balanced. (Some say a bus brake drum may be better -- not sure if the hole in the middle is a bit bigger); Or go to a place that does truck wheel balancing -- the will have larger adaptors; or go to an old style balancing place that will balance the wheel while it is still mounted to the car.

Rear suspension: I've got to admit I'd like to see it going back to original. The 67 was a one year only suspension and the combination of torsion spring and a camber controlling z-bar was quite good. Having said that, the only issue I see with your current set up is the somewhat large camber that it has which can be dangerous -- specially when the inside wheel gets unloaded during fast turns. The z-bar set up was actually designed to address this issue as the older plain torsion bar suspensions also had this problem.

If you're interested to go back to original, I have the tools to correctly set the angle of the torsion spring -- most mechanics don't set it properly.

byas

[71Convertible]

BTW on balancing -- if you are running tubeless then you have another option. You can get "Balancing beads" or "Equal" (not the sugar substitute). The plastic beads are in a pouch that is inserted inside the tire. As the wheel rotates the pouch disintegrates and the beads spread out inside the tire. The principle used here is that two loosely coupled rotating masses will self align to reduce the vibrations. The beads will distribute themselves while rotating in such a way as to minimize vibration. Equal is a very fine sand like compound which acts in the same way.

Some have even put in 4-5 golf balls and swear that it does not make any noise. Strange but workable solutions...

B

[ajay99]

did 1967 vw1500 sedan come with coil spring suspension?

[PAVAN KADAM]

Originally Posted by ajay99

did 1967 vw1500 sedan come with coil spring suspension?

NO none of VW Beetles ever came with rear Coil spring suspension.

I've always maintained everywhere on the forum, My cars need to be more practical and functional through all tough tests every damn time, hence mods done.

The original sway bar suspension was never practical with 4-5 people on board over long distance drives, hence upgraded the suspension set up to coil spring.

And to say, the car now is extremely well balanced and runs better with full load over long distances.

Buddy its even gone on a successful OTR in Bangy 50% on trial and come out with flying colors.

[Jaggu]

And you need to do a underbody pressure wash as usual hooked on to DIY's and the energy!

[PAVAN KADAM]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

And you need to do a underbody pressure wash as usual hooked on to DIY's and the energy!

Been a bit lazy off-late

All that underbody dirt thanks to T-BHP channapatna drive and the OTR at Savandurga.

Since you've rubbed me on the wrong side, i'll clean it right away.

[rageshgr]

Great moment it must have been! Old is gold! She is a timeless beauty

[PAVAN KADAM]

Originally Posted by rageshgr

Great moment it must have been! Old is gold! She is a timeless beauty

Yes buddy, Timeless beauty.

[inderpalgill]

hey pavan it seems your bug misses the wolfsburg nose badge?