I can now cut and fit the braided stainless fuel lines. I transferred the mock up tubing measurements to the fuel line and cut them to fit. I am using a tubing cutter to get a good straight line on the braided line. The tubing cutter also compresses the steel braid filaments at the point of the cut and helps keep it from fraying. The Dremel tool also gives a good fray free cut to get the hose end on correctly.
I now have the fuel system completely plumbed up with the plastic mock up tubing. The stainless braided fuel line is expensive so I want to cut and fit the stuff only once. Hopefully everything fits the first time.
Now that I know where the fuel lines need to penetrate the rear firewall, I went ahead and drilled out the opening. With the fuel injection there is a supply line and a return line to the tank. I will plumb up the system with some cheap plastic tubing and then cut the braided stainless lines to match. This way I can do my best to not waste the expensive stainless line.
Now with the front sway bar complete, I can refocus on the fuel system. I have to locate the exact position of the fuel tank to be able to plumb everything up correctly. I created 2 brackets to hold the fuel tank solid. Now I can line everything up to get the rear firewall holes for the fuel lines.
I now have the VW bug front sway bar finished. After welding it up I smoothed it out with a grinder and sand-paper and then panted it all up. I also finished the drop links and painted them as well. It appears to be OK now but I will have to give it a true teat when I get it driving.
I now have all the vw bug front sway bar weld plugs in place. I drilled small dimples into the sway bar itself to inset the weld plugs. The dimples will insure that the sway bar and the sleeve are as one. I slowly placed each weld to try and retain the original tempering by not over heating the unit.
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.