Beetle Challenge racecar build Part 3

With the majority of the floorpan cleaned and painted (after the dry
assembly run it will recieve a final coat of paint) work could commence on the running gear. First up is the front suspension beam. This was cleaned and refurbished with new roller bearings (these support the suspension trailing arms). 

The alloy shims shown above were fitted to the lower tube of the front suspension beam and are supplied by Street Style and Power.
Their purpose is to regain caster angle that is lost when the suspension is lowered. Initially one shim will be used, however more can be added and the thickness varied when the car is setup to a baseline.

Progress
on the beam was halted due to the need to press in the longer travel balljoints. So these have been dropped off at the local engineeringing shop to ensure the job is done correctly. With work delayed on one front the focus changed to the pedal box (see above). The regulations require that the standard setup is retained but the all of the bearings and bushes have been replaced to ensure reliability and smooth operation.

The
linkage to the brake master cylinder (non servo assisted), is simplicity itself consiting of a rod pivoting on the pedal secured by a circlip. The only modification is has been to the threaded section of the rod to provide a greater range of adjustment for pedal travel. The brake master cylinder is a ATE dual circuit item, provided by VW Heritage, designed specifically for RHD applications, LHD cylinders can be usedbut clearance for the outlets is marginal due to the proximity of the front frame head. Additionally all of the fasteners have been replaced with allen head cap screws to aid future maintenance.(The back of the foot well is very hard to reach with the body on!)

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