Rod's Chenowth 4LWD Build

[racecougar]

Knocked out the majority of the wiring schematic today. Now just to get to it!

[racecougar]

I've been running circuits/pulling wires when time permits between working on cars for other folks, working in the woods, and the normal day job. I'm using Deustch connectors and woven/braided wire loom throughout. Got the "dash" assembled last night. That's a turn signal/horn/headlight switch for a Kubota tractor. Happy to have a keyed ignition and a fuel level gauge now, too.

Also installed the long awaited front decals.

[racecougar]

Other than making the battery cables, the wiring is all wrapped up. Ditched the leaky brake pressure switch for a lever-type switch Saturday morning. Made a simple adjustable mount out of aluminum angle. Ignore the clutch line; that will be re-plumbed when I plumb the rear brakes.

My 5-year-old daughter and I tackled the license plate mounting and illumination last night. She drilled all the holes, helped tap them, and watched me handle the welding and soldering. I'll have her welding soon.

[kbwakesk8]

[racecougar]

[Dan_Lockwood]

Rod, I think I remember you mentioning on one of my posts about adjusting out the front brakes from the main brake system. I have very old NEAL pedals and the master cylinders are really bad. I want to go new with ones like yours. But I read in the descriptions of those master cylinders that some are for 2-whl and some are for 4-whl brakes. Also listed as high volume for 4-whl brakes. Not sure if they're referencing the amount of fluid being held or amount being pumped.

I think I see a T block connection just at the edge of the picture for the brakes. Are you using a single master and splitting front to rear in the T connection?

What bore size clutch master and brake master are you using?

Looking very nice. Your daughter is learning from hands on. My dad taught me the same way. He'd bring home bits and pieces from their road construction equipment and let my brother and I tear them done. My brother could put them back together and I couldn't quite get them back in one piece, but he was 7.5 years older than me. My dad was a great teacher!

Thanks again for the CAD file.

Dan

[racecougar]

Reservoir volume certainly matters to some extent, but the really important bit is the displacement of the master cylinder and its ratio to the displacement of the calipers/wheel cylinders, rotor diameters, vehicle weight distribution, tire sizes, etc.

I'm running dual brake master cylinders, one for the front and one for the rear. I don't have the rear brakes plumbed yet (it's on the list), so that's why you only see the one line going to a tee. Lines from that tee run to each front caliper.

The other master cylinder will route to the cutting brake, then on to both rear calipers once I have installed them.

Currently, both brake master cylinders are 7/8" bore units. The balance was okay with the little Ghia rear calipers and the larger Rabbit front calipers only because the Ghia rear calipers were limiting the stroke of the pedal. I was going to swap in a 3/4" bore master cylinder to improve things (it's on the shelf), but when the Ghia rear caliper fell off, I used that as impetus to park the rail and fix all of the previous owner's transgressions. I expect that the dual 7/8" bore cylinders will be well balanced with the larger Toyota rear calipers that I'll be installing, but if not, it's easy enough to swap out a master cylinder to tune the system.

[Dan_Lockwood]

Thanks Rod.

I must have overlooked the clutch master hidden behind and "assumed" the other rectangular one was for the clutch. My bad...

Depending on what I decide, no emergency brake or do an emergency brake, that will dictate what calipers I use. I have four of the smaller dual bleeder Ghia type now and will have to make rear caliper brackets for whatever I end up using. The Ghia calipers would fit well with a flat plate coming off my stub axle bearing carrier inner bolts and then just a small shim, maybe 1/16", haven't measured that yet. A LOT simpler without the E-brake on the rears, but to be "street legal", they should be there in case of an inspection at any time.

Thanks again for your help!

Dan

[racecougar]

I considered pursuing a cable-operated e-brake arrangement, but MO doesn't require it to pass the street-legal inspection, so I went the large 4-piston route. I do have a Swagelok panel-mount ball valve that will be plumbed in-line to the rear calipers that will allow me to get out and check the mail without having to shut the engine off.

[racecougar]

Wiring is all complete; everything functions as it should.

I started working out the rear shock mounting re-do last night. I was not surprised to find that the mounting bolts were noticeably bent due to the single shear mounting arrangement.

I'm moving the bottom mounting forward one hole, as that makes it simple to create a double shear mount, and the rear felt over-dampened before. If this results in under-dampening (which I doubt), I can just re-valve the shocks. I need to copy this tab for the other side, shorten the spacer as much as possible, clean it all up and weld it up. Maybe next weekend.

[jimmyhoffa]

Ooooh yeah. This summer is gonna be good.

_________________
1974 Chenowth 2RL #1244 Street Legal
My other car isn't ridiculous.

[racecougar]

If I don't have it on the road by Summer, something has gone terribly wrong. That said, it has been difficult to find time to work on it. The main motivator is that I have another project that will kick off in the Spring (below), so I'd like to have this one complete by then.

My Dad bought this '73 Mustang new, my folks dated in it, my Mom even used it as a commuter for awhile. It broke a rear axle around '88, and it's been parked in the back of Dad's shop since. It's getting brought back to life starting this Spring.

[racecougar]

Looks like my non-VW photos were pulled. Oh well.


Came up with a handy way to locate the caliper and fix it in place while I work up mounting provisions. It self-centers and holds itself rigidly in place.

[racecougar]

Rear calipers are installed. I just need to plumb them now.

Rear shock mounts are now double shear top and bottom.

This was the better of the two old upper mounts. The other side was barely welded in.

The old lower mounts were sketchy and failing.

Can anyone tell me anything about these shocks, by the way? The only stamping I've found on them is at the eye on the shock body. Both are stamped "70 90". I'm guessing these are Fox "1.0" shocks? I'd like to find info/parts to re-valve them, should I choose to do so in the future.


Another question: I know a lot of folks mount their oil cooler much higher than the engine (like this one). Doesn't this require adjustment of the oil level reading at the dipstick? That cooler will drain back to the crankcase with the engine off, artificially inflating the oil level reading. I'm concerned that if I run the oil at the level called out on the dipstick, that there may not be adequate oil volume in the case when at rpm. I'm looking to relocate the cooler anyway, and may drop it down behind the seats. As this came to mind, I thought I'd ask here. Thanks!

.

[jimmyhoffa]

When I had a similar setup I found that rotating your oil cooler 90 degrees so the inlet/outlet is on top of the cooler basically disappears that problem. One of the lines may drain back, but the cooler itself stays full so the time until you get oil pressure is very short. Maybe if you get unlucky there will be some odd siphon situation but I'd be surprised. Give it a shot!
_________________
1974 Chenowth 2RL #1244 Street Legal
My other car isn't ridiculous.

[racecougar]

True. That arrangement would reduce the level reading error to just the volume of the lines rather than the lines and cooler. I still may drop it down behind the seat area; I'll need to take a good look at the space available once I correct the passenger seat mounting, add the harness bar, and reinstall the fuel system. Either way, the hokey mounts and crappy welds that hold the oil cooler currently have got to go.

[Dan_Lockwood]

Oil drain back is probably not a big deal and you have one of your lines coming out of the top anyway.

But the oil feeding the full flow system comes out of the "gear" pump and up through the system and then it would have to drain back into the inlet to the internal oil galley feeding all of the lubrication points inside the motor. Oil leaking through the oil pump gears is going to be hard to do and leading through the pressure side of the oil galley will be likewise difficult, in my opinion. Not likely to happen overnight or days for that matter. I'm sure someone will correct me as to the importance of concerns.

Harleys will wet sump and if one is careful and rev the shite out of it, it will suction the oil out and back into the main oil tank etc. Over the winter, I would clamp off my oil lead to the oil pump and not worry about it until riding season again. Oil coolers in general hold very little oil. Probably not enough to totally wet sump the VW motor case.

Your project is looking very nice.

I did a special construction bike a few years ago in MO. Had to go to south county twice to Troop C. First time to give them all my paperwork with my paid and unpaid tax purchases. I had the MSO for the motor, trans, frame and transmission. All of which I purchased without paying taxes. When I ended up getting everything through Jeff City, I paid $990 in sales tax. The trooper was not that worried about parts, just so they could get their sales tax etc. Due to circumstances at Jeff City, it took me about 6 months to get my deal through and have the VIN tag attached to the frame. What a cluster that was...

Keep up the great work on the buggy!

Dan

[racecougar]

Both cooler lines enter/exit the top actually. Both oil filter lines enter/exit at the pump/sump. With some of the other "improvements" the P.O. did, I wonder if the feed/return are even plumbed correctly on this cooler (feed to the bottom, return from the top).

Here are a few photos.

Oil cooler plumbing:

Oil filter plumbing:

And thanks. The more I look at it, the more I find wrong. It's alright though; I bought it with the intention of it being another project.

[racecougar]

Bending up new brake and clutch lines today. Finally got rid of that ugly clutch line; I couldn't look at it any longer. Also added a glove box.

[racecougar]

I took these today to answer some questions about straightening and flaring the NiCopp material. I use a piece of scrap 2x4 with a 13/64" hole drilled through it to straighten out the line. Roll it out on the bench, then slide it back and forth through the 2x4 a couple times to get it straight.

I use a vise-mounted flaring tool that always makes perfect flares. It makes flaring a snap.