Going to coilovers I would be tempted to keep the torsion springs but rotated down so you have no suspension lift the use the coil over to set the ride height. A solid bar from side to side if clamped tight by the trailing arm grub screws means both sides move in unison and if locked in the middle no suspension so something has to be loose enough to rotate, as David says there is no actual central position to stop a mm or 2 of side float.

You will obviously keep us updated.

As Keith says don't understand how a solid bar can work. Normally if one side goes up then the other goes down.

Lifted inside wheel looked cool on racing mk1 Cortinas but not so good on the road

Don't panic guys, they are not entirely solid bars as you are thinking - I`ll get some detailed pictures shortly, but this quick one off the interweb will show that you can have a rotating bit on each end and hopefully mine is along these lines

I see still be a bit concerned over wear with use and free play setting in.
Surprised nobody has done a complete unit where you remove inner and outer bearings and the new arms are fitted with bearings and a location block but are flanged so no end play then you slide them into place with an applicator until the location block threaded bolt hole lines up with the old grease nipple holes you have already enlarged to 10mm to take bolts.. then just bolt them in place so you have a pair of arms working in an arc with no end float ready for the coilovers.

Off you go then Keith, Dave might have a set

Is the beam strong enough on its own to take the lateral force as the springs must spread the load to some extent

If they go in as far as standard arms as the spring will flex anyway and when you see the treatment they take when off roading they bend back with impact not up. You may get a simple sketch then folks can rag it to bits or add it may inspire somebody capable of design 

I just used a bit of tube with a nut welded either end and a pair of thrust bearings under the bolt heads holding the arms in. Total cost was probably under a tenner.

[BEETLE]

And still I'm getting the comments about why am I messing about with a tried and tested OEM VW Suspension setup, and yes, you are all quite correct - The torsion bars and leaves were perfectly designed for the BEETLE with its heavy body, and as we have removed said metal body and started to mess about with everything else, surely the argument has kind of been lost already. No matter how well it was designed, the sprung weight will always be incorrect for a Fibreglass Buggy.


However, there is no denying that the shape and concept of the original beam and arms does indeed work very well from the geometrical point of view, so this time round I am going to retain it and just play with the sprung weight instead. Today I managed a quick half hour in the garage to trial fit the beam in place.




Initially, it looks very similar to a standard style beam, but if you look carefully at the shock towers at the sides, you will notice that these have been reconstructed from a much thicker gauge of metal and now have fittings that will allow for conventional coil over shock absorbers to be used. I can then recalculate and get the correct poundage of spring for the lighter weight of car and still retain the original geometry of the standard Beetle suspension movement.




Rather than having the bundle of internal sprung leaves going through the tubes from one side to the other, I now have a set of solid rods with roller bearings on the end and these will allow full independent movement from one side to the other which is actually a huge improvement over the original setup. The four original torsion arms are retained and will just bolt on to these rotating end bearings instead of the former sprung torsion leaves.






At least that's the theory . . .   

Agree with you 100% Dave.  The front end of a buggy is just far too light. I have tried all I can think of over the past year to get a bog standard front beam to not act so harshly. (For lack of better words).   Mine is far better than when I first went drive about but it`s nowhere near what a standard un-messed about with Beetle was.

This set up has reminded me a little of a modification from the 60s called a Rolt Bar. One set of torsion leaves was retained for the car's springing (plenty enough for a light buggy) but the other one was replaced by a spring steel bar that acted as an anti roll bar. Standard shock absorbers were retained. This was technology borrowed from the Formula Vee circuit racers of the day, the whole set up cost 10 guineas!

This set up has reminded me a little of a modification from the 60s called a Rolt Bar. One set of torsion leaves was retained for the car's springing (plenty enough for a light buggy) but the other one was replaced by a spring steel bar that acted as an anti roll bar. Standard shock absorbers were retained. This was technology borrowed from the Formula Vee circuit racers of the day, the whole set up cost 10 guineas!

Not heard Rolt Bar before? I've come across that system (or similar) though from the Formula Vee stuff, but felt that it may have the same downfalls as the wishbone system I have just removed in that it may be absolutely brilliant for racing cars with stiffer suspension, it may not be ideal for road going cars that have a greater degree of travel.

One set of torsion leaves and one thru bolt with softened shockers would probably be perfect for a buggy, cheap too.

Bouncier seats like Baja suspension jobbies or even stock Beetle or similar (on lowered mountings) ones would also make for greater passenger comfort.

One set of torsion leaves and one thru bolt with softened shockers would probably be perfect for a buggy, cheap too.

Bouncier seats like Baja suspension jobbies or even stock Beetle or similar (on lowered mountings) ones would also make for greater passenger comfort.

Whilst I cannot disagree with you, the whole problem there is that its pure guess work, and can give hit and miss results depending on how worn or knackered the components being used are. I know the exact corner weights of the car and with the correct coil over shocks, I can get a perfectly smooth ride on the front - That much I am certain of.

Shock weights will be correct for the car --  Check
Suspension Travel will be as designed by VW  --  Check

Just leaves me to make a balls up of the steering   

The mistake that most make with a steering box is not to adjust the track rod lengths and then set the toe in with the box set at dead centre.

The box should be set at dead centre and marked (Tippex works well), then the steering wheel fitted straight and never again moved. All further adjustments should only be made at the track rods.

The mistake that most make with a steering box is not to adjust the track rod lengths and then set the toe in with the box set at dead centre.

The box should be set at dead centre and marked (Tippex works well), then the steering wheel fitted straight and never again moved. All further adjustments should only be made at the track rods.

Top tip