www.sv2s.com

Turned out my "initial" marking for the cut on the plates was a little off. By an inch!!!

The distance between the center of the torsion bar and the wheel hub in the Dormy with RGBs is 16.5" and the one for the late IRS is 17.5" so after a "reset" of the mill program the correct cut was done.

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“The difference between a philanthropist and a liberal is that a philanthropist is generous with his own money.” Jack Kelly

Here's the mess I got going now.





Milling the plates at the correct length. The wrong length would have made the wheel base longer by an inch!





Clearancing the cradle and the "horns". Still need to get the proper Heim joints and fabricate a braket to install them.

_________________
“The difference between a philanthropist and a liberal is that a philanthropist is generous with his own money.” Jack Kelly

As usual, hit a hopefully short setback. My air compressor just took a dump!

Crazy John was on his way here from Ramona and I found one on CL for $100 in Lakeside so he's on his way there to pick it up!


Anyway, I have to finish with the fabrication part of this project this weekend! The rest is trimming and such which is pretty much elementary after the hard core fab is done.

_________________
“The difference between a philanthropist and a liberal is that a philanthropist is generous with his own money.” Jack Kelly

Alright, I finally got to drive it yesterday!

Just a quick spin though since there's still plenty to do such as rear schock absorber top mounts, clutch and brake adjustments as well as needing longer studs on the front hubs.


Here's the longer studs for the rear to properly fit the Benzo wheels.




The cut og bushings followed by the replacement Heim joints.






Fitting the joints to the trailing arm.






Attachement to the frame horns.






Dialing the "running condition". This was a rough adjustment and came out to an angle of 13 degrees with a camber of 1 to 2 degrees.





Now the hubs are in place, brakes with new lines taken care of, the axles are next!




The axles came out with an angle of 20-21 degrees at the extreme rest position. Though they did spin with some sort of "drag", they seem to be okay at this point. Again, this is the very extreme jacked off the ground position.





Once on the ground and driven, it settled into a nice 13 degrees angle!




I tried to take a picture showing the very slight camber at rest but doesn't really well show here.




Finally, this will be the look for a while until I get the itch AND the money to score me some different wheels.

_________________
“The difference between a philanthropist and a liberal is that a philanthropist is generous with his own money.” Jack Kelly

ha another bus losing the BRMs.


Nice work Ivan.

_________________
-- William --
Your new SV2 Club Treasurer

SV2s #436

If 4 out of 5 people SUFFER from diarrhea....does that mean that one out of five enjoys it?

I may just fit them in the Plump Truck!

_________________
“The difference between a philanthropist and a liberal is that a philanthropist is generous with his own money.” Jack Kelly

you should have fitted the fat girl with the benzo rims.

_________________
-- William --
Your new SV2 Club Treasurer

SV2s #436

If 4 out of 5 people SUFFER from diarrhea....does that mean that one out of five enjoys it?

That still may happen yet! With the conversion done, I can swap the rear hubs with it and re-BRM the Dormy!

_________________
“The difference between a philanthropist and a liberal is that a philanthropist is generous with his own money.” Jack Kelly

Another thing I "should have" had was some more help!

I am extremely greatful to know Crazy John and have him as a good friend. I approached him in passsing about this project and the fact that it "would be nice to do" but had little time in which to do it right now. He said he could help me do it in short order and, of course, came through!

I had most of all the parts needed for a few years already but wanted more info as well as the time to put the Dormy out of commision for a while. Even when I first thought I was "ready", that was about a year and a half ago!


Don't mean to use you personally, is just an example of the great suggestions we all get on what others should do.

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“The difference between a philanthropist and a liberal is that a philanthropist is generous with his own money.” Jack Kelly

I hear you Ivan. I would have helped.... if I was closer.

_________________
-- William --
Your new SV2 Club Treasurer

SV2s #436

If 4 out of 5 people SUFFER from diarrhea....does that mean that one out of five enjoys it?

No sweater! I'm used to doing most everything with only 3. Me, myself & I.

The issue on this one was the time to do it in. And again, I still have much to do before it becomes a daily driver.

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“The difference between a philanthropist and a liberal is that a philanthropist is generous with his own money.” Jack Kelly

So it sounds like you have a universal set now.

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Prosit!

# 156
# 303

A witty saying proves nothing....... Voltaire.

Preliminary report:

Drove it into work this morning. Used to do 65mph @ 3750rpm. Now it dropped to around 3100rpm to do the same speed. After cruising for a little while I then strated pushing down on it. Now at 3500rpm it's doing 71+mph and reaches 80mph at 3900rpm or so. It used to take 4300+ to do that with the RGBs.

The tire size is now 205-70-14. The engine did bog down a bit, but I'm going to recheck valve adjustment, timming and carb jetting. Also will start using midgrade gas to check on milage. Been using midgrade in the Bug for over a couple of months now with a noticeable improvement.

It's running the BRMs up front since I still need to replace the studs with longer ones to fit the Benzo wheels properly. Once I do that and for the hell of it, will use the Wolfgang adapters to run the taller tires on the BRMs in the rear and just see how it does with them.

_________________
“The difference between a philanthropist and a liberal is that a philanthropist is generous with his own money.” Jack Kelly

Nice Ivan. Now you can keep up with the SBS crew.

_________________
-- William --
Your new SV2 Club Treasurer

SV2s #436

If 4 out of 5 people SUFFER from diarrhea....does that mean that one out of five enjoys it?

I could ALWAYS keep up!


And FYI, it is practically right AT the same height as it was before!

_________________
“The difference between a philanthropist and a liberal is that a philanthropist is generous with his own money.” Jack Kelly

yes but now you can slam it and not worry about camber.... though it would be hard to slam it with those tall tires on there.

Either way man, nice work! I hope it works out great and causes no issues before the trip to FloriDUH.

_________________
-- William --
Your new SV2 Club Treasurer

SV2s #436

If 4 out of 5 people SUFFER from diarrhea....does that mean that one out of five enjoys it?

It's not on the TALL tires. (Yet!) Unless you slamma-jamma-scrape'O'ramma types think 205-70-14s are "tall".



Though it turns out that these are a half inch taller than the 195-60-15s on the front right now!

_________________
“The difference between a philanthropist and a liberal is that a philanthropist is generous with his own money.” Jack Kelly

that is too tall to put on my SC that's for sure.

_________________
-- William --
Your new SV2 Club Treasurer

SV2s #436

If 4 out of 5 people SUFFER from diarrhea....does that mean that one out of five enjoys it?

Backed up the timming just a bit before driving home yesterday as it was pinging a bit when pushed. Did much better. Matter'O'factly I was nervously looking around me and at the mirrors for any trooper looking vehicles as I was going Sofa King fast!

Other points: The bug trans has that l-o-n-g clutch lever and I had to pound up the skin under the tank for clearance! Did not change it because it would also require changing the shaft but it is much thicker than the one on the early trans so I left it. It does help in clutching as it feels much softer than before. Still have to readjust the clutch some. Also, I believe the valves need adjustment as they may be too tight. Other than that I'm pleased with the results so far.

_________________
“The difference between a philanthropist and a liberal is that a philanthropist is generous with his own money.” Jack Kelly

So, I already reported to have reduced the rpm by 500 to run at 65mph. This is now without the redux but also running a much smaller tire than the 215-75-15s. Here's a picture of it behind the new tire size of 205-70-14.



Was thinking to maybe go with a slightly taller tire than the 14 incher and Saturday morning I decided to throw in the 15 inchers just to see how they do.

Well, a difference they did! My idea was to drive it with them for a week and check on milage. Took it for a spin on the freeway and got it to right around the fastest it's gone before... 95mph @ 4300rpm!!!

To say that quick ride was scary would be an understatement. These tires are simply too tall for the gearing to make the engine run at a "comfortable" rpm. Not to mention that even with the stroker, it'd prolly bog down on steep hills. So needless to say, the week drive is off. Replaced the 14s back on first thing Sunday morning. I can live fine able to do 80+ at around 4200rpm.

Now, I also found out it will be a bit difficult to run the BRMs again unless there's a bit more modification done. Recall that the "offset" on BRMs are designed for bugs and bus wheels have a deeper one thus moving the whole tire towards the inside. As it stands right now, I would have to go with a lower tire on the BRMs which would make them wider than the 215s and there isn't even a quarter inch between it and the fender which is already pushed out! With the 14 inchers however, I can go almost 2 inches wider than the 205s and have NO issues at all with that! You all know that I rather run phat tires and the BRMs right from the get go had me restrained on that. So, as of right now, I'll run with the 205-70-14s and will be going prolly 225 or 235 even, when these are in need of replacement. I figured these tires will give me a good year or 2 of tread wear.

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“The difference between a philanthropist and a liberal is that a philanthropist is generous with his own money.” Jack Kelly