Post by zbhover on May 3, 2010 20:49:35 GMT -5
Hello everyone, I just thought I’d give everyone a little update on our V8 Convertible VW Beetle project. Last year I didn’t have much money to work on the project so progress really slowed down, but over winter I collected a bunch of parts and tore down the front end of the S-10 chassis to rebuild it. Now that I have parts and a little spare money I haven’t had much time to work on the bug. There hasn’t been much time left for the bug between working 60-70hrs a week, helping my uncle with building a log cabin, working on putting new flooring in our house, going to put a picket fence up around our house……….. etc etc. etc. Hopefully in the next few weeks things will slow down a little and I’ll be able to get the front end put back together and move forward a bit with the project.
Over winter I’ve collected lots of parts: coil springs, coil spring isolators, tubular upper control arms, lower control arm bushings, ball joints, wheel bearings & seals, tie rod ends & adjustors, idler arm, center (drag) link, rotors, calipers, brake pads, spindles nuts, dust caps, brake lines, all new front end bolts, front and rear ZQ8 (s10 extreme) sway bars, etc, etc, etc. I’ve got some of the stuff prime with master series silver rust proofing primer.
Below are a few pictures of what little I’ve gotten done lately, if you’d like to see more I also updated my V8 Beetle Resource website. I have 18 new pictures in the chassis section and I also updated the cost section. My website is www.zbcreations.com/index3.html
Next I wanted to work on rebuilding the front end of the chassis. I wanted to do this because I'm dropping the front end 2" with drop spindles. I wanted to get the chassis sitting where is should be so I could get the engine level, make a transmission cross member, and also get the drive line angle figured out, etc. Here is the front end of the s-10 chassis torn down to the frame, boy is it sure easier to work on suspension and steering when there isn't a body in the way..... LOL
If I remember right the chassis had around 220,000 miles on it, and its actually in pretty good shape considering. I was expecting to find a lot more bad parts than I did. One shock was bad, the ball joints (factory) on the drivers side were about shot, and the tie rod ends, idler arm, and drag link (center link) all had a bit of slop in them which is probably why the steering was a bit loose when I drove the truck home. But again considering all these were factory parts not to bad. Luckily the steering box still seemed to be tight, because I didn't have the money to replace it now.
Next I pulled the engine off of the chassis so I could clean it up and eventually sand blast it.
Here is the front end after I pressure washed it. I used some ZEP degreaser I got at the Grainger MRO show in Flordia back in Jan. It worked real well and hey it was free
Next I cleaned up all of the front end parts I had and got them primed with some Master Series Silver rust proofing primer. The plan is to prime pretty much all of the chassis and chassis part with the Master Series and then Bedliner. That way they'll be less likely to get chipped up and rusty. I've hurd lots of people that have had good luck with both master series and bed liner for the under side of cars and trucks.
The upper control arms on the s10 were very very rusty, they probably would have been ok to use, but these weren't much more expensive than just replacing the stock bushings, and I figured that they would look nicer. They are Chrome Moly tubular control arms from speedway motors, there are a few other places that sell them, but at the time I had a coupon for speedway and that made them the cheapest. They are actually sold for dirt track racing, but a lot of S-10 people have used them with good luck. You just have to order two of the same side because for dirt track racing they add a 1/2" to one side since they are only going round and round. Off the top of my head I can't remember which side it is you have to order, but a quick google search and you can find out. A couple of the welds were a little rusty, so I cleaned up the welds and primed them all.
Here are my 2" drop spindles. I was going to put some DJM drop spindles on it, but got chassis tech's instead. From my research they are the same quality, and both made in the USA. I just recommending to NEVER ORDER FROM GRANDFATHER CUSTOMS!!!!!! That's where I ordered DJM drop spindles but received these chassis tech's instead. The chassis tech's were on sale for like $20 cheaper and I had to fight and fight to get refunded the difference, everyone I talked to had a different story, nobody returned phone calls, they argued with me that they weren't actually cheaper (even though the website clearly stated both prices), etc, etc, etc. End the end I finally got refunded my money like a month or two afterwards!!!!
Here are the stock lower control arms, I couldn't afford to go tubular on these guys. I ended up taking them to work and throwing them in one of our steel shot blasters and they came out looking like new, then I just gave them a couple coats of the master series.
Once again I'm sticking with the old steering box, it didn't seem to be sloppy and I didn't really have the money to replace it so I cleaned it up with some dawn, wire brushed it, sanded it and primed it with some more master series.
Here are some more of the front end parts that I have collected and some that have been primed. I ended up buying the rotors, calipers, and brake pads at a local Orilies, they were a tad more expensive, but if they wear out/have problems, I can just return them to the store and get new with the lifetime warranty. I also picked up the spindle nuts, and dust caps at Orilies because after shipping it was cheaper to buy them locally.
The tie rod ends center link and idler arm came from either amazon or rockauto, just be sure you inspect tie rods carefully, amazon send one wrong part number, and rock auto sent one that was the wrong part in the correctly labeled box.
The lower control arm bushings are stock rubber mounts, that way I won't get as much vibration transferred into the car. The sway bar bushings will be urethane to help with handling. I also got all new bolts for the front end from bolts depot. All of the old rusty bolts went right to the garbage!
I've also collected a few other parts over the winter: Napa gold ball joints, wheel bearings and seals off of ebay all for about the price of one ball joint. ZQ8 (s10 extreme) front and rear sway bars, moog coil springs, brake lines, coil spring isolators, etc........
That’s it for now, hopefully I’ll have more update soon.
Over winter I’ve collected lots of parts: coil springs, coil spring isolators, tubular upper control arms, lower control arm bushings, ball joints, wheel bearings & seals, tie rod ends & adjustors, idler arm, center (drag) link, rotors, calipers, brake pads, spindles nuts, dust caps, brake lines, all new front end bolts, front and rear ZQ8 (s10 extreme) sway bars, etc, etc, etc. I’ve got some of the stuff prime with master series silver rust proofing primer.
Below are a few pictures of what little I’ve gotten done lately, if you’d like to see more I also updated my V8 Beetle Resource website. I have 18 new pictures in the chassis section and I also updated the cost section. My website is www.zbcreations.com/index3.html
Next I wanted to work on rebuilding the front end of the chassis. I wanted to do this because I'm dropping the front end 2" with drop spindles. I wanted to get the chassis sitting where is should be so I could get the engine level, make a transmission cross member, and also get the drive line angle figured out, etc. Here is the front end of the s-10 chassis torn down to the frame, boy is it sure easier to work on suspension and steering when there isn't a body in the way..... LOL
If I remember right the chassis had around 220,000 miles on it, and its actually in pretty good shape considering. I was expecting to find a lot more bad parts than I did. One shock was bad, the ball joints (factory) on the drivers side were about shot, and the tie rod ends, idler arm, and drag link (center link) all had a bit of slop in them which is probably why the steering was a bit loose when I drove the truck home. But again considering all these were factory parts not to bad. Luckily the steering box still seemed to be tight, because I didn't have the money to replace it now.
Next I pulled the engine off of the chassis so I could clean it up and eventually sand blast it.
Here is the front end after I pressure washed it. I used some ZEP degreaser I got at the Grainger MRO show in Flordia back in Jan. It worked real well and hey it was free
Next I cleaned up all of the front end parts I had and got them primed with some Master Series Silver rust proofing primer. The plan is to prime pretty much all of the chassis and chassis part with the Master Series and then Bedliner. That way they'll be less likely to get chipped up and rusty. I've hurd lots of people that have had good luck with both master series and bed liner for the under side of cars and trucks.
The upper control arms on the s10 were very very rusty, they probably would have been ok to use, but these weren't much more expensive than just replacing the stock bushings, and I figured that they would look nicer. They are Chrome Moly tubular control arms from speedway motors, there are a few other places that sell them, but at the time I had a coupon for speedway and that made them the cheapest. They are actually sold for dirt track racing, but a lot of S-10 people have used them with good luck. You just have to order two of the same side because for dirt track racing they add a 1/2" to one side since they are only going round and round. Off the top of my head I can't remember which side it is you have to order, but a quick google search and you can find out. A couple of the welds were a little rusty, so I cleaned up the welds and primed them all.
Here are my 2" drop spindles. I was going to put some DJM drop spindles on it, but got chassis tech's instead. From my research they are the same quality, and both made in the USA. I just recommending to NEVER ORDER FROM GRANDFATHER CUSTOMS!!!!!! That's where I ordered DJM drop spindles but received these chassis tech's instead. The chassis tech's were on sale for like $20 cheaper and I had to fight and fight to get refunded the difference, everyone I talked to had a different story, nobody returned phone calls, they argued with me that they weren't actually cheaper (even though the website clearly stated both prices), etc, etc, etc. End the end I finally got refunded my money like a month or two afterwards!!!!
Here are the stock lower control arms, I couldn't afford to go tubular on these guys. I ended up taking them to work and throwing them in one of our steel shot blasters and they came out looking like new, then I just gave them a couple coats of the master series.
Once again I'm sticking with the old steering box, it didn't seem to be sloppy and I didn't really have the money to replace it so I cleaned it up with some dawn, wire brushed it, sanded it and primed it with some more master series.
Here are some more of the front end parts that I have collected and some that have been primed. I ended up buying the rotors, calipers, and brake pads at a local Orilies, they were a tad more expensive, but if they wear out/have problems, I can just return them to the store and get new with the lifetime warranty. I also picked up the spindle nuts, and dust caps at Orilies because after shipping it was cheaper to buy them locally.
The tie rod ends center link and idler arm came from either amazon or rockauto, just be sure you inspect tie rods carefully, amazon send one wrong part number, and rock auto sent one that was the wrong part in the correctly labeled box.
The lower control arm bushings are stock rubber mounts, that way I won't get as much vibration transferred into the car. The sway bar bushings will be urethane to help with handling. I also got all new bolts for the front end from bolts depot. All of the old rusty bolts went right to the garbage!
I've also collected a few other parts over the winter: Napa gold ball joints, wheel bearings and seals off of ebay all for about the price of one ball joint. ZQ8 (s10 extreme) front and rear sway bars, moog coil springs, brake lines, coil spring isolators, etc........
That’s it for now, hopefully I’ll have more update soon.
