Budget street legal rail (re)build (WARNING: pic heavy)

[GoMopar440]

The big nut isn't even tight in that pic. It's just on there hand tight to check the fit. I'd never try to drive it with the wheel like that with just the center nut holding it on. I'll be using the mounting holes in a new steering wheel as a guide to drill and then tap the mounting holes in the adapter. This dinky little wheel is getting ditched as soon as I can get a better one to replace it.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

I use a wheel like that but bigger in diameter. The foam works well off-road as you can grip it pretty hard at times w/o realizing it. Also it is has a bit larger grip size.

I have seen the splines rip out in the AL adapters before which is why (I still haven't got around to putting in on yet) I have a quick change adapter for the steering wheel. It also makes it easier to get in and out of the toy(with no doors, the seats mounted low and a cage you have to enter and exit through) with the wheel out of the way.

Your build is looking pretty nice; keep up the good work.

Lee

[GoMopar440]

The splined center part of that adapter is still the factory VW part. The PO butchered it up pretty bad, so I made a few plugs for the threaded holes and a cap to restore the OD and thickness of the original part. The splined part still fits snug on the steering shaft splines. If it didn't, I wouldn't have bothered with trying to fix it. Once I have the new wheel I'm going to use, I'll use it as a pattern to transfer the holes to the adapter.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

....The PO butchered it up pretty bad, ...

Yup! That's the was in got several of the adapters on cars that I bought.

[GoMopar440]

....The PO butchered it up pretty bad, ...

Yup! That's the was in got several of the adapters on cars that I bought.

??? Sorry, I'm not trying to be a smart a$$ here, but I can't quite decipher what you're trying to say. The steering wheel mount in the pics above is an original VW factory part with the part number cast into it. It's not an aftermarket adapter from Grant or anyone else.

BTW, are all the 002 and 091 transaxles the same width at the CV flanges? I need to figure what length axle shafts to use. I'd like to swap the rear diagonal trailing arms out for some longer/wider ones that will allow me to run a standard bus axle.

I'll also need to figure out which mounts to use to put the bus trans into my rail. I plan on using this rail as a DD, so I'd like to use either rubber of urethane mounts for the engine and trans. I plan on running the shift rod and shifter box raised above where it's at now, so I don't need the 10* mounts.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

I thought yours were aftermarket. Mine were: similar looking it seems but still... badly abused.

Lee

[dustymojave]

Yes, I think the 002 and 091 have the flanges at the same width and overall location. Note that changing flanges, like to a 930 flange, may affect the spread. Depth of cup in the flange varies in aftermarket stuff. I think stock VW will be consistent though.

[GoMopar440]

That shouldn't be an issue then since I plan on using stock Type 2 Bus CV's and axles. I don't plan on taking this thing anywhere that I'd be needing more angle than the stock T2 CV's can provide.

[bajaherbie]

I think you need 2 x 3 rear arms to work with the stock bus axles.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Herb, I'm running an 091 using stock arms but I am also using quarter inch notched spring plates and applicable stub axles. In my case, because I have a glass body and 30 inch tall tires, I am using stock or near stock bump stops to control things on hard compression. I am sure with all of his enginuity 440 should be able make do .

[GoMopar440]

I found part of the info on the Blind Chicken Racing website on the Axles 101 page. http://www.blindchickenracing.com/How_t ... es_101.htm

It lists part of the info, but doesn't list which transaxle is used to come up with those measurements. I'm still looking around online for the answer and I'll post it here if/when I figure it out.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

My half-shafts are from Sway-a-way as my buggy is exclusively off-road. When getting stuck in the sand and using the engine, first and reverse shifting quickly, using the turning brakes including locking both wheels at a time, it is best to use the best just-in-case.

http://www.offroad-engineering.com/swayawayaxles.html

Here is some information that might help.

Lee

[GoMopar440]

Thanks Lee,

That link has some good info on there about SAW axles, but it doesn't tell me which ones match the various stock Bus axle lengths. It would be the perfect answer if I wanted to run SAW axles. The guy with the VW shop nearby has a bunch of used Bus CV's and axles fairly cheap so I'm trying to figure out which size arm will let me use the most common axles with the Bus trans and Type 2 CV's. I can't afford SAW prices right now so I'm still looking...

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Hmmmm, it is the 15 5/8th length axle you want. Its been a long time since I got into the half-shaft part of Blind Chicken "how to" section of the site so I thought the axle lengths were there.



This shows the conversion in a glass buggy.



This shows how much higher the transaxle sits in the car mainly because of it's larger diameter ring gear.

It has been so long since I did the conversion (pre 2006) so I had to refresh myself including some goofs I made in posting when this came up a while ago. One thing to remember is that the bus box is wider and slightly off-set to one side so the conversion kits (solid mounts) re-center the bus transaxle into the bug mounts; that is why the custom 15 5/8 axles. I am using Thing stub axles with the bus CVs.

You are probably going to hear a lot of opinions on what you can and can't do on this conversion (such as using Thing axles) but I do not recommend leaving the C-clips off nor do I recommend altering the axle by removing the bulges either. If you do a search on Thing drive axle lengths you should find a discussion or two on this including discussion by Bob Ingman on his opinion on this (street and off-road answers are different as I remember)

[jsturtlebuggy]

18 3/4in (Bus length) axles are what you would use for a Bus trans and a 2x3 arms.
3x3 arms with Bus trans uses 19 1/4in long axles.
This would be for a normal solid mount setup where shift rod would be above tunnel.
If you are mounting your trans differently (higher, lower, forwards, backwards, or etc...) It can make a differences on axle length.
Like has been said the Bus trans with the hypoid design offset trans to one side. To run same length axles you have to offset it. It approx. a 1/4in
There is a differences in lengths between a 002 and 091. The 091 is approx. 10mm longer. The length difference is in the gear carrier because of the wider 1st through 4th gears. This can make a difference with mounting of the trans if setting up for a 002 and switching to a 091 later.
If you use aftermarket axles you can trim them to the length you need. The CV splines are longer than stock axle without the stop.