Picked up my 82' VW Bug today

[TaylorMutts]

Nice bug! Get those brakes fixed before you take 'er out again.

[Dustin]

Bumpers look great! My Dad has the same setup on his 69.

[teamafx]

Jun 24, 2010 16:29:21 GMT -5 Dustin said:

Bumpers look great! My Dad has the same setup on his 69.

He is the one that gave me the idea to do it. I was looking at pics of all the cars and said to my self "new car, old bumpers??? Sweet!" I like the look of the older bumpers.

[teamafx]

Now the newest thing..... My exhaust. Should I keep it this way or change the muffler to something else? I have 20 more hours to decide. I like the looks as its different, but is it way to different?

[Dustin]

I do not care for that muffler at all, It belongs on a Honda not a VW. There are a ton of great exhausts out there for Bugs.

[jonvo4591]

sweet lookin' bug! Cool to see a mexican bug around here. Oh yeah, and please change the exhaust to something more Volkswagonesque. I'm not a huge fan of what you got going on there. Have fun with it!

[TaylorMutts]

Agreed...how about a hideaway muffler (which is clearly visible on my car with no fenders or rear apron)?:

[drwingtipshoes]

Perfect color scheme for Halloween!!! Love it.

[teamafx]

I wanted a stinger muffler, but it just looked to thin and was way to loud. I thought I would try something different. I have one more to try out to see what you guys think.

I still need a set of rims and I NEED to lower the front end.

[bren]

I like the stinger look but agree, that one is wrong for a VW.

I agree, it needs to be lower in the front!

[teamafx]

I picked up a beam form David today. I will be cutting it so I can add a drop to it. That should do the trick on lowering the front end. I still need some rims.

[bren]

You might want to check out drop spindles. Adjustable beam makes the car ride rough. Drop spindles give you 2.5" drop and maintain stock suspension settings. However, drop spindles do add width. So, it is still good to narrow the beam.
I did the adj. beam and the car rode awful. Put in drop spindles and it was great, back to a stock ride.

[teamafx]

Your the second person to say just use the drop spindles. It wont mess up how it rides. I have to do something it looks like my car is trying to do a wheelie I planed to the adjusters as they are cheap and so am I.

[81pumagtc]

Bren is right...use the drop spindles instead of the adjusters. It not only makes it ride terrible, it royally screws up your handling. These VWs use front trailing arms, which also control camber and caster. It makes your steering very heavy, severely reduces your suspension travel, and often causes a high-speed wobble on the highway. On a motorcycle it's called a "tank slapper". Trust me, you don't want to experience it...

Depending on the amount of drop (most guys seem to want their front apron to drag on the ground) your steering gets very heavy. Smaller front wheels and a small steering wheel makes it even worse. They get "darty" to the point of being dangerous. A rough road is an exercise in terror with a lot of drop.

Your car is too nice, and you are going to drive it, not just polish and show it.

Don't do your front end work twice.

Your car is far too nice to screw up that way. Mine did not change my front track at all, but my car shipped with disc brakes. I don't know about yours. Maybe the spindles for drum brakes increase the track...not certain here.

Since you already have a beam, shorten it, and add your adjusters. Add the drop spindles, and use your adjusters to fine tune the your chassis rake by up to 3/4 of an inch. No more.


Dave Riedle

P.S. What have you done with your exhaust? Hopefully the Honda muffler has been axed...looks silly in my opinion.

[Ruffuss]

Let me say first it's your car do what ever makes YOU happy and looks good to you. Second I agree that stinger needs to be on a rice burner, with that said I also agree don't use just the adjusters to lower the front end. A narrowed, drop spindle, with adjusters just for fine tuning. You'll be happier with and not spend an arm and leg trying to correct steering woes and be safer doing it. This comes from a guy driving a THING with 2 1/2" higher ride height then a Beetle. Like I said it's YOURS!