Author Topic: Update #15  (Read 9203 times)

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Offline Geoff

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Update #15
« on: November 21, 2005, 01:02:18 PM »
Now it's time to focus on the front suspension.
A great source for info on adapting front ends can be found at www.socalook.com and wwwvolksrods.com.

After looking at many ways of adapting the Ford front axle to the VW I decided to build my own. This being said it is a LOT of work to get this right and you learn as you go. If you want to do this conversion but do not want to build your own we can orderyou the Speedway/socalook kit.

I didn't take many pic's of the adapter build up but will tell you as much as I can about it.
The below shot shows the mount in it's alost finished state. I started with a BJ beam, set it in place bolted as much up as I could then set all the Ford parts in place.
Once that was done i checked for clearance on the spring to steering box,tie rods, shocks etc.









The lower beam and shock towers were removed and templates made for new towers and spring perch. I built the spring perch with zero caster as the axle has some as well as I have used caster shims for adjustment. I set the perch up to run the car low, this way a block can be used to raise the car to the desired height and allows some adjustability.








The stock spindles need the lower arms removed, new ones were purchased to mount on the top. The stock arms would run the tie rods to low and they would hit the pan head. The new ones were made for the lower as well but with some heat they were bent into shape and used on the top two holes of the spindle. To bolt them on I needed to make some spacers to alow for clearance as the top of the spindle is larger than the bottom.

Once the beam adapter was made I needed to make a Pan hard bar. This helps keep everything in place as you go around corners. You can see the one mount on the beam and the other locates on the pass "bat wing" beam to hairpin mount. I used 5/8 heim style tie rods, this meant the pitman arm and tie rod holes needed to be drilled out.


Next it was the rear hairpin mounts. This mount runs thru the body and is welded to the heater channel and then has a heavy plate that welds to that. There is also a mount I made that bolts to the pan and then to the mount in the body making it very VERY strong.



ok it's now time to see if it rolls. B)






I wanted to get it outside and see how it looked. This was before the 1" block was used to raise the front.

At this time I also replaced the torsion bars that Shane @ Pointblank lent me with some 28mm Sway-a-way bars. The HD bars will work well with the big tires and will not allow it to bottom out on the bodywork.

Last pic is with the headlights resting in place, I still need to make some mount but that gives a idea.


There was a bunch of other stuff done but this shows the more interesting stuff.
Ok I gotta get going, I have another long night ahead of me.
Thanks for looking.
« Last Edit: November 21, 2005, 02:17:08 PM by Geoff »