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.
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.