Then what would make the shock sit in it’s mounts at the bottom of it’s travel, instead of in the middle where it’s supposed to be? Where it is now seems to be compressed. Wouldn’t a good or a better shock, the same GR-2’s, be longer in the car with more distance between the the mounts and have a few inches of travel up and down? The limit of my…[Read more]

Hey Donna, Glad to see another TD owner from Louisiana. I live in Baton Rouge. If you ever go to the Golden Oldies Car Show in Hammond I’m usually there with my other VW friends. Would love to get together. There’s only one more show in Hammond and it’s the 2nd saturday Nov 12th. It’s at the mall back by Academy Sports. If the weather’s good we’ll…[Read more]

Remove a shock absorber from the car  and you will then see that it has no ability to support the vehicle.If you extend it to it’s maxium length, it will stay in that position.  If you compress it  to the shortest length ,it will stay in that position. If you put it in the center of it’s travel, it will stay there as well . It will also stay in an…[Read more]

I am going to try this one more time.
DO NOT FORWARD SPAM NOTES FROM THIS WEB SITE TO MY PERSONAL EMAIL.
I realize it is done with good intentions…but please!!! Enough is enough! Just ignore the damn stuff. I check this site multiple times a day. Far more than any of you realize.
I have asked publicly and privately…but one of us INSISTS on ref…[Read more]

Thanks Roy.
Yes. Shock absorbers do exactly that, they absorb shock….jounce (the compression) and rebound.
Ever see a car going down the road with one tire that looks like it’s bouncing liek a rubber ball? that is a bad shock. The suspenion and tire are free to bounce around, because the shock is no longer “controlling” the action.

Correct!  “The shocks support absolutely none of the car’s weight.”  They simply slow down and dampen the action of the suspension.  The British still (I believe) call shock absorbers “dampers”.  Roy

I wonder if yours is a Fiberfab MIGI with a Daytona windshield.  If you read the following link, you will see that there was apparently some mixing of parts from one to the other.  My MIGI has the original “Daytona MIGI” shield on the somewhat shorter radiator cowl as well as Daytona on the plate inside the hood.  See: https://tdreplica.com/forum/…[Read more]

I think there are two MIGI bodys. Mine is a first gen MIGI. The gas tank runs front to back and takes up most of the trunk space. The MIGI 2 the gas tank is sideways and the trunk has more room. I am wondering if the winshield is also diffent and where I can get one to fit my body style?

Mystic, My MIGI has the same frame dimensions as you give.  The contour of the bottom seems right for the slight curve in the body on mine.  The top of my windshield is absolutely flat.  I had to build wipers for my car because the ones that came with the car were NA. I’d say get the windshield right and I’m sure that you could get the wiper…[Read more]

Paul, I understood everything you said before, but not that. If the shocks have no or little compressive force, (ie, compressed, at the bottom of their travel), the car will sit low. If they are good, and sit in the middle of their travel, the car should sit higher. Are you trying to say the shocks support absolutely none of the car’s weight?I…[Read more]

just my 2 cents worth.But why not just take the shocks off and see what the ride height is with out them?

Mrlmd…from what you describe, if your shocks are “bottomed out”, then replacement shocks with the proper travel would likely let the car settle down more, not less.Think of it this way, the car’s weight is currently compressing the shocks fully. Without the shocks “bottoming out”, the car would be able to move even lower.
PMOSSBERG40839.9009143518

The 1967 and earlier Type 1 (Beetles) have a slightly curved shift lever. There is a pin on the ball that keeps it from rotating.1968 and subsequent model years have a straight shift lever. VW dropped the pin because it was no longer “necessary”.More discussion here on the Samba:http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=221549

When you removed your shift lever did you get a good look at the shift rod socket? Some of the older stock VW shift levers had a rivet and pin on the shift lever ball. That pin fit into the slot in the shift rod socket. Over time the pin would break allowing the shifter to spin in the socket or the the rivet heat would wear out. VW put the sh…[Read more]

Ah…if therre off, what to do? I would suspect the tach dwell meter would be the accurate one. I have a sheet that comes with my instruments that I can send to you. PM me. Other than that, this is what I have told to do if mine is off where I feel I need to adjust/calibrate it.
The tachometers have an adjustment screw on the back side. You’ll…[Read more]

Oops! …. Then Allen’s way with a dwell tach is the best. Roy

I guess I forgot to mention that it is a Ford 2.3 engine in a Fiberfab kit.  If they are off, is there a solution?
Jim

One last question from me on here regarding ride height. I just went out to look at my shocks again, GR-2’s, and there is hardly any travel in the shocks if I jump on or bounce the front of the car, bumper or fender, like they are just about bottomed out. So If they are at the limit of their travel at being compressed, wouldn’t that have anything…[Read more]

Roy,I’m not sure camber adjusters will change the smoothness of your steering but it will allow you to more accurately align the front end.The grub screws will grab the remaining bars just fine.Look at the following site to find out how many bars your donor car has.  http://www.vw-resource.com/years.htmlRegarding how many to remove, I followed…[Read more]

Royal;
I’m going to go out on a limb here.I think your frontend is rusted tight.I went back and looked at your pics(enlarged)I can see grease oozing from the zerks,bad sign,there should be grease oozing out the ends of the torsion tubes,not the zerks.I belive there to be rust buildup inside the tubes,and or the bearings are rusted.You might end up…[Read more]