No matter what we have done trying to move forward it has been a case of one step forward, then encounter a new related problem and about 5 steps back.
We have run into so many things that I can't possibly recall them all. So although this sounds like a negative story, full of doom and gloom I do have to say and make clear that for me personally, I do still love my wee Bug, and like anything in life, she is a work in progress.
Myrtle is around 55 years old and with adding new bits and bobs to her she was always going to require some kind of modifications.
Let's start with her suspension, something we have really struggled to get right. So after finally thinking we had everything sorted, a new steering box fitted to remove all the excess play in the old box. A quick steer kit added and the track rods fitted the correct way up. The front shockers in position on the shock locators which are welded in place onto Cage 66 Fabrications extended trailing arms. A homemade steering stop (something I may change at a later date just for aesthetics, even though you cannot really see it and it works) Everything looked spot on.
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| Home designed steering stop |
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| When lowered track rod hitting the inner arch |
To avoid the fuel tank catching on the steering bits and pieces I also ordered a really neat tank raise from Eva Resto. A brilliant bit of kit, raising my tank 35mm and with channels down either side, so the wiring can sit neatly nestled away.
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| Tank sitting on Eva Resto Tank Raise |
Much research was done upon the interwebs at this point and I eventually came across a guy who I discovered had a really good reputation and knew his stuff. Yes, the wiring was going to cost a little more than I first thought, however after speaking to Iain Burns over at Aircooled Auto Elec the complete loom he could make up and provide became a no brainer.
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| Aircooled Auto Elec Top Quality and Iain Burns Topman |
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| 20 Blade fuse box, now everything is isolated and independent |
I removed a spare toggle switch from under the dash and made a bracket for the alarm LED
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| Alarm LED which is super bright |
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| Wiring so much neater |
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| Rear-end a lot neater thanks to the wiring loom |
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| Iain integrated the alarm wiring into the loom |
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| Ern testing plug when he went to fit the alarm |
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| This area covered the new fuse box |
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| Once trimmed we can now access the fuses when installed |
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| Well chuffed with interior light |
So I decided to opt for replacing the headlight and sidelight bulbs themselves and found some replacement LED bulbs over at Classic Car LEDs. This meant I could retain my old classic reflectors and light housing. I have to say I am impressed with the brighter light, far better than the old yellow dull candle-like glow. I also have some nice shiny stainless steel headlight surrounds to go on as the old chrome ones look a bit pitted.
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| LED Headlight Bulbs |
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| Installed, proper easy job |
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| Bulbs |
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| LED's all around |
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| Loving the much brighter rear LED's |
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| New brake pipes installed along with Eva Resto Tank Raise |
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| Not too bad a spot repair |
Myrtle's wiring all complete and everything working. Ern fitted a small micro switch to the internal wiper switch so that when the plunger was pressed it would contact and the new electric wiper pump would activate and in turn spray water onto Myrtle's screen. A cool little mod which keeps the original appearance of the car. I saw the idea for the mod on the Samba Forums. Mind you Ern did mislay the small plunger and I was gutted that a new one cost me almost £20 inc p+p
Inside Myrtle is practically gutted. I had bought some interior ply door card templates from eBay. I think they were about £40, they are about 3mm thick and a right pain in the arse to get clipped in. I am hoping when the time comes to get Myrtle's interior trimming done these will help out. Her old cards must have got wet at some point and they were looking a bit worse for wear.
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| Hopefully can trim these as they are thicker than standard cards. |
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| Pretty easy to apply this sound deadening |
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| A lot of Myrtle pre-covered so just filling in areas |
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| A Little Rat Fink Action |
Whoever had Myrtle in a previous life did a great job in making a removable panel over her gearbox. it just makes getting to the starter and rear of the engine area and top of the gearbox so much easier.
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| It really helps to have this removable panel |
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| New Fuel line in, Ern has made a heat shield, not in picture as the fuel line is close to J Tube |
Myrtle already has dropped spindles fitted, but my thinking in looking at the CB Performace versions is that the brake callipers actually look to mount directly to the spindles, rather than a separate bracket that goes onto the beam. I may be wrong here as I just went off online images.
Upon further reading about the brake disc conversion, I discovered that the hubs/rotors come pre-installed with studs. So what this would mean is having wheel nuts on the front and wheel bolts to the rear. I really wanted everything to be the same so it was at this point I started looking around for press in studs to put into the rear drums. I will get back to that bit in a moment.
As Myrtle was starting to take shape, her wiring looking all nice and neat, plus I had also tidied up her engine bay, having bought a new pulley tin and having it modified at a local metal fabricator to fill in a small hole (something only the eagle-eyed and purists will spot I am guessing) Then, of course, painting it Dolphin Grey to match the other tinware.
I would really have liked to remove the engine and get all new tinware, getting rid of the fan shroud heater pipes etc. But hey that's maybe for the future. We also fitted a new Crank Pulley bolt as the one that came with the MST kit kept coming undone. Oh and whilst I am talking about the back end of Myrtle upon going to start her a couple of weeks ago it appears her electronic ignition had just decided to die, so we have had to resort to going back to points for the time being.
Saying which I have a brand new Magnaspark II Billet Distributor, new 8mm HT leads and a Magnaspark coil. I am just awaiting a fuel block off cover with integrated coil mount to arrive from Aircooled Hut.
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| New Tin seal and engine area looking pretty clean |
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| Just awaiting Fuel Pump Block-off and coil mount. |
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| JBW 7.0x17 SMA Wheels |
I then got my eyes on another Bug online at Volxzone. Upon reading about this car the guy had the 7.0x17 JBW SMA wheels, but he was running a 6" narrowed beam. I have just recently bought and had fitted a 4" beam so this really wasn't a route I wanted to go down, and this is where no matter how much research you do when you want something and start imagining it in your head you make stupid decisions.
So this is what was going on inside my head "Oh I'll just order some 7.0x17's JBW SMA's. I know I'll pop 185 tyres on the front, they are bound to fit". And so I spoke to a very helpful gentleman named David over at R&R Alloys. David went through the process of measuring for poke and offset to check for clearance. He was spot on in his communications and even though the JBW SMA wheels were not advertised upon his website he managed to get both the wheels and tyres in stock within about a week.
Just a note as these wheels were not a standard size fitment that is the reason I have encountered problems. David and R&R Alloys were spot on and a real pleasure to do business with. They were very helpful and something I really appreciated was there was no sales pressure. That for me is very important in any dealings. I hate it when you call somewhere and are made to feel like just another punter. Once I get things sorted I have promised to get back in touch with David as he took a genuine interest in Myrtle.
I am guessing you may have an inkling as to what happened next. Yes, it was that "Dun, dun dun" moment, as I excitedly unboxed my brand spanking, amazing looking wheels. Myrtle was up on axle stands, aired out so her rear suspension was at it's maximum for height. I went to put one of the new wheels on the rear, placing it up against the drum and "Errrr what", it wouldn't sit straight. On closer inspection, the rim was actually hitting the rear bump stop. Bloody hell, nowt ever just fits.
I came back in the house and began searching to see if other people had experienced this problem. Sure enough, as Myrtle is a 65 with short axles I was going to need 1" spacers, obviously I had not researched enough. So onto Limebugs page and a couple of spacers ordered. Oh and this is where I also go back to the wheel studs.
So with having to fit a 1" wheel spacer, plus the wheel and then take into consideration the length of how much the stud would go into the drum, my dad and I had to measure everything. It turned out that a press in stud would fit approx 9mm into the drum. The spacer was 25mm or 1" inch and the wheel itself at the hub is also 25mm, so that was 65mm in total approximately.
Checking the internet Honda studs appeared as if the would fit. They are 12mm with a 1.5mm threaded pitch and the knurled area is just about spot on. I ordered 10 of these Evo Corse Spline Wheel Hub Stud M12X1,5 67mm For Honda from Motorsport-Tools.com.
Again more research on The Samba Forums and my dad ordered a 10.20 mm drill bit. Once everything had arrived including new wheel nuts from John Brown Wheels, we set about drilling the drums and my dad took the drums and studs over to a local garage who were kind enough to allow him to use their press to press in the studs.
Once the spacers arrived from Limebug we again test fitted one of the rear wheels, which was fitted with 205/40/17 tyre. This time the wheel went on no problem, with just enough clearance. You have to remember that actually, Myrtle would probably never be at her maximum suspension range, as we still had he on axle stands and her rear suspension hanging freely. What we then did was pop a jack under her rear suspension on the side we were working on and jacked it up as if Myrtle was being lowered, so pushing the wheel up into her inner arch. The wheel/tyre eventually caught the inner body, as I would expect, however, this would be in a position when she was sitting pretty low when fully aired out. So it looks like we had sorted the rear end.
Moving onto the front end and so the nightmare that is cars and wheels began.
I may as well just say from the off 7.0 x 17's on a 4" narrowed beam running either 185/35/17 or 205/40/17's and air ride do not fit.
Oh and another side note for me I absolutely hated the look of the 185/35/17 on the 7" wide rim. Obviously, the tyre was stretched, something that totally went over my head when I ordered the setup. By this I mean the outside edge of the alloy rim was protruding somewhat all the way around. I know some people like the look, but for me it's a Big fat NO.
Many people have commented and said this fitment actually works, but I think when they are comparing one car to another it is where one car is statically lowered and a choice is made between being low enough for clearance and looks. Whereas a car that is on air which has the potential to go much lower, if you run the wrong setup it kind of defeats the point of having air ride on in the first place.
Now I am obviously not a professional in this so just speaking from my own experience. If you read this it may help you if you are thinking of going down this route. What I would say is do a lot of research and if at all possible borrow wheels off one of your mates to do a test fit. As I am socially inept and have no friends I have no one to call upon so I have to rely on spending huge amounts of money and learn by making mistakes.
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| Loving the look of the SMA's on the back |
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| Gutted front wheels don't fit |
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| SMA's retain a classic look |
We even tried popping the 1" inch spacer on the front, this helped with the catching of the pan and beam, the wheel just say catching the beam on full lock, however upon going to air Myrtle out with her now having a much wider track the new wheels/tyres ended up being pressed hard up against the outer edges of the front wings. I couldn't actually air her all the way out otherwise it may have ripped her wings off or at least bent and damaged them.
Next thought "Omg, omg, omg" followed by a string of obscenities, followed closely by putting all wheels away, going upstairs to my room, throwing my leg off and taking refuge under my duvet. Hey, we all react in different ways.
After a stressful and frustrating few hours of hiding, I eventually emerged to discuss options with good Ole Ern. Although my dad and I can sometimes go hammer and tongs at one another, I know he always has my best interests at heart. We kind of agreed at this point it's not a money thing as I mean I have chucked so much at this little car over the last year just quitting isn't even an option.
So plan of attack we figured I had 3 options.
First... sell brand new wheels second hand and take a loss and just run her with standard steels which was not the vision I had for Myrtle.
Second... chance buying a 6" narrowed beam which would cost me another £850 or so, then remove the 4" beam and try and sell it second hand. This option requires a lot of work, plus no guarantees and after reading about 6" beams and steering kind of put me off.
Third... and something I had investigated even before I had bought these wheels, get the wheels narrowed professionally.
And I think I am going to end there and will add another update when we have solved this latest problem
PS anyone want to but some Nankang NS-20 185/35/17's brand new with labels still attached?
