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newbie shares thoughts about new purchase

P PhillipBlacklock
Well my excuse for writing this is that I live alone and have no-one to talk to about my passion for Porsches, VWs and their ilk.
I recently purchased from a older gent, a 1980s Apal speedster replica.
I believe it was built by Apal in Belgium, found its way to the USA and was imported into Australia, still in its current LHD configuration.It was built upon 1976 Beetle mechanicals meaning it has front discs and double-jointed rear axles.The car looks nicely finished in Ivory and is squeak and rattle free.The hood (low bow) fits well and the car has been badged with Porsche badges. The previous owner had removed the Apal badge from the hood handle-I found it, removed the Porsche one and it now proudly bears the badge of its builder.I discovered the car has three 4 1/2" rims and one 5 1/2" rim (all chrome).
The previous owner had the car reupholstered in something approaching the original style. He had new seats fitted and had the transmission and engine rebuilt. This is where the problems start.
He asked for a taller top gear to be fitted as he felt it was revving too high at our 110 km/hr highway limit. The transmission rebuilder fitted a 1.05 ratio top gear when I believe standard was .89. I feel the car now needs a 3.44 diff as 1st, 2nd and top are all too low. The same builder also rebuilt the engine to "about 1710cc" and fitted twin Scat carbies, 009 dizzy and some sort of "mild" cam. The engine has no real performance, a big flat spot above idle and the carbs are only opening about 2/3 at full throttle.
So, I have a project with "good bones" but requiring some of the work undone and done differently.I have ordered three 5 1/2" rims from Vintage Speedsters, a replica Porsche 356 gauge set to replace the 4 gauge VDO Classic series fitted presently.I have also purchased an Empi gearlever with short shift to replace the Gene Berg T handle shift.I have assembled all the parts necessary to do a conversion to RHD. I have located a german mechanic with 30 years experience working on VWs and Porsches to tune the motor and get it putting out all of the HP its capable of making in its current configuration.
Once the engine's performing well, I'll turn my attention to the gearing and see if I still think it needs alteration.
How does this sound ? Any thoughts ?
Have I overlooked anything ?

Thanks
Phillip
1957 Apal(Speedster)
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P PhillipBlacklock
Well my excuse for writing this is that I live alone and have no-one to talk to about my passion for Porsches, VWs and their ilk.
I recently purchased from a older gent, a 1980s Apal speedster replica.
I believe it was built by Apal in Belgium, found its way to the USA and was imported into Australia, still in its current LHD configuration.It was built upon 1976 Beetle mechanicals meaning it has front discs and double-jointed rear axles.The car looks nicely finished in Ivory and is squeak and rattle free.The hood (low bow) fits well and the car has been badged with Porsche badges. The previous owner had removed the Apal badge from the hood handle-I found it, removed the Porsche one and it now proudly bears the badge of its builder.I discovered the car has three 4 1/2" rims and one 5 1/2" rim (all chrome).
The previous owner had the car reupholstered in something approaching the original style. He had new seats fitted and had the transmission and engine rebuilt. This is where the problems start.
He asked for a taller top gear to be fitted as he felt it was revving too high at our 110 km/hr highway limit. The transmission rebuilder fitted a 1.05 ratio top gear when I believe standard was .89. I feel the car now needs a 3.44 diff as 1st, 2nd and top are all too low. The same builder also rebuilt the engine to "about 1710cc" and fitted twin Scat carbies, 009 dizzy and some sort of "mild" cam. The engine has no real performance, a big flat spot above idle and the carbs are only opening about 2/3 at full throttle.
So, I have a project with "good bones" but requiring some of the work undone and done differently.I have ordered three 5 1/2" rims from Vintage Speedsters, a replica Porsche 356 gauge set to replace the 4 gauge VDO Classic series fitted presently.I have also purchased an Empi gearlever with short shift to replace the Gene Berg T handle shift.I have assembled all the parts necessary to do a conversion to RHD. I have located a german mechanic with 30 years experience working on VWs and Porsches to tune the motor and get it putting out all of the HP its capable of making in its current configuration.
Once the engine's performing well, I'll turn my attention to the gearing and see if I still think it needs alteration.
How does this sound ? Any thoughts ?
Have I overlooked anything ?

Thanks
Phillip
Terry NuckelsTerry Nuckels'04 JPS Speedster NorCal
Phillip,
You're not alone here.
Most of us have bored our mates, families and friends to the point of nauseum, talking about our madness.
I'm sure you'll find a lot of support and knowledge (good and bad) here.
So...you removed a Berg shifter?
Well, don't throw it out with the trash, I'm sure I could find a use for it (the Samba, about $300 US). :-)
Have fun tinkering!
Stan GalatStan Galat
Phillip-

That sounds really cool. I, too am used to being the lone ranger in my little forgotten corner of America- although recently, not one but TWO local guys have purchased cars and have begun posting here. Anything is possible.

I think you are proceeding in a sensible direction. The "bones" do indeed sound good. I'm not sure what is meant by "double jointed" rear axles- if the pan is pre-'68 it will have a "swing axle", and the 5-1/2" rims will fit without issue, but if it an "IRS" pan (with CV joints on both ends of the stub axles) they may be too wide.

As for the gear ratios in the transaxle- I completely understand. For a flat place, the standard Beetle 1st gear is completely useless for anything other than drag racing. It sounds as if the previous owner did you no favors, and it may be easier/better to just buy an entire transaxle geared properly for your car once you come to this point. The stock transaxle gearing with a 3.44 R/P is the "highway" transaxle Intermeccanica runs, but it may be a bit "long" in 4th unless you have a 2L+ engine. A better solution might be to have Rancho (http://ranchotransaxles.com/) build something based on a 3.88 R/P with the stock .89 4th, and some alternate first and second gears. I did this with gears I selected from their catalog, and plugged into a gear calculator (do a websearch, and you'll come up with many on-line versions). I'm really, really happy with the results.

As for the engine- I'd recommend resisting the temptation to shop for a replacement on price. There are very few grown-ups in the ACVW world, and a lot of charlatans and thieves. Getting a moderate build from a respected builder will leave you much happier than something that SOUNDS like a better deal from a place that advertises in "Hot VWs". "The Samba" (http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewforum.php?f=12&sid=9fc33f6366f393231f6ca1d722fd7e27) "high performance forum" section of the website can point you in the right direction here (just be sure to search before posting- they're even worse than we are).

Terry is right about many things- most of friends and spouses do not understand the obsession, and the Berg shifter is worth a bunch of money to the right guy. He's right about a lot of stuff.

Good luck. Forewarned is forearmed.
P PhillipBlacklock
Here are some pics. Excuse the repetition, I have previously posted them in the Newbies section.
PS the Pan is a 76 so I believe it has drive shefts with two articulation points.
I believe swing axles are "IRS" also but with only one articulation point. I believe 5 1/2" rims will fit as it currently has one of those on one side at the rear and a 4 1/2" rim on the other side rear !

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P PhillipBlacklock
Hi bt,
Sorry-cant let this rest
Independent suspension doesnt mean 4 articulation points-it means one wheel can move independently of the wheel on the other side.E.g.-A beam axle is not independent because movement of the wheel on one side affects the geometry of the wheel on the other side.(Check Wikipedia for confirmation on this)
Swing axles are thus a form of independent suspension.I was also referring to the number of articulation point per axle-not in total.
pS My Apal was factory built,not home built.The side with a 4 1/2" rim has a greater tyre/fender gap than the side with the 5 1/2" rim, therefore I believe 5 1/2" rims all round will fit.
Stan GalatStan Galat
Phillip-

This is being made harder than it ought to be.

b t was trying to explain the nomenclature. VW Type 1 rear suspensions are divided into two types: "swing axle", which refers to anything pre-'69, and "IRS" which refers to'69 and up. 1968 was a kind of hybrid thing, with 4 lug wheels and a swing axle.

The pre-'69 VWs were obviously not live-axle like a Chevy pick-up truck (ute to you)- the rear wheels articulated independently of each other, but they did not remain perpendicular to the ground throughout their full travel. The '69 and up "IRS" suspension does (except for Mexican Beetles, which remained swing axle cars until their ultimate demise).

The reason it matters to the conversation is that 5-1/2" wheels generally do not fit on pan-based IRS cars, but they fit fine on swing-axle cars. If your car really is what the rest of the world calls "IRS", and not swing axle- then the wheels you ordered will probably not fit (at least on the rear). We're trying to help you out here.

The easy solution would be to remove the one wheel that you like (the 5-1/2") and move it over to the other side. If it fits- you're golden. If not? Well.... you wouldn't be the first car to be narrow on the LR wheelwell.

Good luck.
P PhillipBlacklock
Well thanks Stan, I appreciate your good intentions.
I have since found out that many in the VW community erroneously differentiate the two main types of Beetle suspension into "swing axle" and "IRS". So you and bt are not alone here.
I was merely trying to point out that the swing axle design is a form of IRS and that to be an IRS design does not require two articulation points (uni-joints or CV joints) per axle.I do have a basic understanding of suspension design and understand that the purpose of the introduction of the double joint IRS desgn was to reduce camber change (in particular movement into positive camber) during suspension deflection.I read somewhere it said that "any suspension design can be made to handle if you limit the travel enough"!Particularly pertinent to swing axle VWs.
Whoever began the trend to divide the two types of design into swing axle and IRS as well as being technically incorrect, did us all a diservice.
I think it would be more accurate and prevent much confusion on this subject, if the two different beetle IRS designs were referred to as "single pivot"IRS and "double pivot" IRS (or something similar)
On the subject of wheels, I have measured the gap between the tyre and the rear fender(guard) and determined that if the ordered wheel and tyre has the expected extra 12.5mm of offset it will fit under the guard.Without knowing the offsets of the wheels I have ordered it is a bit of a leap of faith.
Thanks for your post.
I'm done.
FM Former Member
Phillip quoted that "any suspension design can be made to handle if you limit the travel enough"!

The epitomy of that statement was a Can AM racer (Shadow?) in the 70s that had NO suspension at all! It depended entirely on the sidewall flex of the tires and the over all flex of the chassis! The design was not successful.
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