I left the windshield in place and installed the tonneau snaps anyway:
I drilled my pilot holes from under the dash (measure 3 or 4 times and THEN drill!!) and then installed the male snaps with a 90 degree phillips screw driver. I used the center strut as a reference point for the snap holes.
Looking great! The upholsterer did an outstanding job! Like you say it definitely needs lowering on the back; may I suggest you install adjustable spring plates such as these:
http://www.socalautoparts.com/...s-adjustable-p-13884
It'll make your job a whole lot easier as tweaking the height will be just a matter of turning the bolts on the spring plates.
Thanks for the suggestion. Will these effect camber too? I need to get some negative camber to get these offset empi wheels into the rear fenders.
Oooh; that's a little more advanced question than I can handle. I installed mine on my swingaxle without changing the torsion bar pre-load and just set up the height with the bolts. I know that swingaxles are more extreme in the camber deal in that as you lower the car you get more negative camber; IRS is definitely more stable. Maybe Gord could chime in?
Thanks for the suggestion. Will these effect camber too? I need to get some negative camber to get these offset empi wheels into the rear fenders.
you will not be able to get enough negative camber out of an IRS to fit your wheels, sorry.
you will need to do one or more of the following:
1) trim the body to clear the wheels
2) get different wheels
3) narrow the rear trailing arms and get different axles
Thanks, I've been thinking about going to stock wheels.
you'll need 4" wide ones on 165's to properly tuck without mods
I did notice 1 think looking at your pics. your tunnell isant done with the welding yet as the top is still open&you can see the shift rod&cables, you need to get that all welded up real good or it will flex/bend, that is the main structure for the vw, and even with the "frame" in the glass body that still is a very inportaint part of the chasie and needs to be rigid, just getting in & out can bend/warp/flex it.
I plan on narrowing the rear torsion on mine for biger wider tires when I pull the body& do the rest of the mods,I want tall wide tires& no rubs.
thats a good price on those adjustable spring plates if they dont stick it to you on the shipping. and no they do not alter camber, you will probably need to get new rubber/polyurathane bushings too for each side of the spring plates unless your are good(most arnt, but they may of been changed at some time.)
I have 5.5" on my CMC. The first ones I had wouldn't fit in the back. I got some from from Special Edition with a different offset. From the face of the drum to the outside is the same as 4.5" wheels.
Thanks guys for all the input. I have some stock wheels here that I will probably go to. I'll get that tunnel welded up too.
Think I'm gonna put some dress rings and baby moons on and let it be. A buddy of mine has 3 NOS 1963 chrome 356 rims if anyone interested.
Yes they did. But I think the dress rings and baby moons will look more period. The stockers I picked up are ET-41's. I'm wondering if the 68-72 dress rings that Jbugs sells will work. 68-72's are ET-40's. I think. Guess I'll give them a call Monday and ask a few questions.
Nice!
Great progress rstoll! Hope the rest of your project goes without too much problem! 
good deal, dont let any dust setell on it,keep on wrenchen.
That ain't dust. It's pollen! Oaks and Pines are makin' a mess right now.
What is the width of those stock wheels? If they're 4.5" they're too narrow for a 195/60 or 65 tire. The correct wheel width for a 195 would be 5.5" to 7.0"
They are 4.5
I remember that pine pollen when I lived in Beaufort, SC. Every morning, my dark-green truck would be yellow and I could barely breathe until about June. Just did a week in Florida and had to double-dose Claritin just to make it through the day. THAT's one of the reasons we moved back to New England!!
The car is looking great and your progress is amazing. You must be feeling good about how it's coming along! I felt bad about your abandoning the Empi wheels, but those baby moons look cool, too!
gn
We had a little rain shower yesterday and 25 mph winds today. Knocked a lot of the pollen down.
Can't wait to hit the paint booth. I've got most of the bugs worked out and have driven it a couple times. It really drives well. And I like the stock wheels better too. They look more period to me. Thanks!
Like the electric blue! I gotta swing by and see it when its done.
The bumpers take a good size slot - are you going to pre-fit and cut that before painting? Most cut larger that required bare slot and fit VW bug rubber trim grommet to finish off the holes.
Great color. Hope it all goes well in the paint booth. Looking forward to seeing the finished product.
Thats not your hood!!! Thats his wakeboard, look at the reflection of the waves&surf on it....you can even see the surfer coming out of the tube!! Like Totally!!
I love blues, but there are somany colors&some are very tricky to make look right.the body work has to be just about perfect&sprayed right.I wish you all the luck and hope it comes out as well as the rest of the car.( If my OCD kicks in when Im trying to pick a final color....Im screwed.I'ttll never get painted)
Kawabunga!!!
