I have been waiting on a piece of steel tubing so I can complete the front sway bar. Now that it’s here, I can start the modification on the front sway bar. I need to remove 4″ of the sway bar for it to fit with the front end of the VW bug. As you can see I have cut the bar at a 45 degree angle to try and keep the torque from twisting it under load. I will then put a variety of plug welds through the tube into the bar itself.
I am now completely finished with the VW bug’s internal coolant tubes. I am now planning the plumbing to the engine itself. There is a lot of plumbing to do so I need to make sure that everything will fit.
I now have a new slide show on the new “MR2 VW Bug pics page 7” page. MR2 VW bug pics page 7
I have to insulate both the main coolant tubes. After I cut and cleaned up the ends I wrapped the tubes with some high heat insulation and then completely wrapped both tubes with foil tape. The foil tape will add a reflective component to try and retain the heat inside of the tubes and out of the passenger compartment.
I now have the hydraulic clutch line in place and I have checked it for leaks. I am trying to finalize the main coolant tubes so that I can apply the heat insulation and install them for the last time.
The VW bug’s clutch is hydraulic and will need a line run from the front to the rear of the chassis. The hard line will attach to a braided stainless flexline connected to the clutch slave cylinder. Since the line will run through the chassis, I will feed it through from the back and attach it with clamps inside the chassis.
With the steering column bracket complete, I will need to create support brackets for the two main pedals. The clutch and the brake pedal will need strong support to keep them from moving around. I am planning on creating 2 brackets that will be attached to the steering column bracket. I am making them from foam board and will transfer the profiles to steel.
The VW bug’s MR2 steering column bracket is complete. It is very strong and I can hang from it with all of my weight. Now I have to start to get the pedals mounted. The brake and clutch pedals will be supported off of the steering column bracket.
Now that I have the VW bug’s front seat bracket location, I can go ahead and mount it to the frame. Again I am welding 4 mounting brackets to the main frame so that the bracket can be taken off and on. Once complete both seat brackets can be directly bolted to the frame.
I now have the entire seat assembly fit into the VW bug’s passenger compartment. I fits really well and there will be plenty of room for the pedals and footbox. The seats are pushed back as far as I can get them and still fit the fuel cell. The shoulder location when sitting in the seats is at the widest location of the bug’s interior, it’s still a snug fit.