Front Suspension

Since the rear suspension is more or less complete, its time to get back to the front. I had to start by setting the body on the pan so I can locate the steering box on the beam. Once that was done I was able to attach the steering stop and the dampener bracket. Next up, I need to notch the shock towers so the front clip will clear.

Rear Suspension

It's been a long time coming, but the rear suspension is all back together. I took it apart this morning and put the new rubber spring plate bushings in. I also got the wheel studs cut to length and the calipers mounted. I do still have to run the brake lines to the rear wheels though. I want to figure out a way to run soft lines to the calipers so I don't have to disconnect them just to get them off.

Front Beam

The new adjusters I ordered showed up yesterday so I decided to weld the front beam back together today! I started by making a set of sleeves out of an old chain-link fence post. The diameter was almost right so all I had to do was cut a slit and make it just a little larger. The seam is in the back so you can't see it in this picture.

The beam it self is all welded up. I still have to locate and attach the steering stop and the dampener bracket. I'll have to set the body on the floor pan first so I can make sure I locate the steering box correctly. Then I need to shorten the torsion bars and tie rods.

Front Beam

After getting the components cut off yesterday, I decided to get the beam cut today. I started by grinding the old welds down from when I put the adjusters in the first time. Once that was done, I marked the beam with electrical tape and cut it in half with a sawz-all.

Front Beam

I've decided to narrow my beam 2 1/2 inches to account for the dropped spindles and the wider tires. I found this link, On the Straight and Narrow from VW Trends. They follow Ron Lummus as he narrows a beam by cutting 4 inches out of the center and adding adjusters.

Rear Suspension

The rear suspension is finally back together. I decided to go with 18 degrees of preload which will only drop the rear-end about 1 inch. I'm hoping the tires will fill the wheel wells but the ride will not suffer too much. Next up is to get the rotors drilled and the studs pressed in so I can mount the wheels.

Tires and Wheels

I picked up the tires and wheels today. I decided to go with an MB Five-X wheel from Discount Tire. The tires are Falken Sincera 205/65R-15 on the back and 185/65R-15 on the front. It's not a super performance tire, but it should give a good quiet ride and the price was great.

Rear Suspension

While removing the spring plate retaining cap, one of the bolts broke. I should have fixed this before I painted the pan, but I forgot until I was in the process of applying the Rust Bullet.

I started by cutting off the portion of the stud that was sticking out. Then I drilled a small pilot hole all the way through the center of the broken off bolt. Next I reamed out the hole to the correct size for the tap. Finally I tapped it out and test fit the cap. Everything works perfectly.

Rear Suspension

After letting the undercoating on the trailing arms dry for nearly 2 weeks, I packed and installed the new rear wheel bearings. You can see the new bracket that will be used to hold the caliper once the rotor has been installed. I would defiantly do this assembly on the bench again, it was much easier than with the arm on the car.

Brakes

I got to spend quite a bit of time in the shop today. I started by painting and installing the emergency brake handle and cables. The cables of course are not adjusted as there are no rear brakes yet. But I hope to get that done in the next week or so. Because the e-brake handle gets abused, I used a self etching primer and an epoxy paint to help avoid chipping.

Once I was finished with the e-brake handle, I moved on to preparing the rear disk brakes. I don't like the look of rusty brake parts so I wanted to paint everything before installation. I used a semi-flat black on the rotor and caliper bracket. When it came to the calipers, I decided I wanted a little more pop so I used a red brake parts paint.

The other thing I did was get the rear trailing arms torn apart so I can take them down to Hook's Automotive and get them cleaned and blasted before painting them. Hook has also ordered the wheel bearings, seals and all the bushings for the rear end. They should be in on Wednesday, then I can get the rear-end put back together.