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Thanks! I figure there must be interest considering the number of topic views compared to the number of posts and how long the topic has been up.

I picked up the kubota last night. I've doodled a rough draft of the driven pulley to vw stub adapter (T= threaded holes) and the drive belt adjustment. I have not decided on the type of adjuster yet, but it will probably be a turn buckle. a machine shop will provide the driven pulley adapter, the drive pulley modification, and the flywheel adapter. I doubt I will get it done for under $400.

Today, while Googling for an electronic ignition conversion for an 8hp briggs on a non-running Troy Built "Horse" tiller I picked up on Craigs, I cam across a college project very similar in concept to what I am building:

http://www.michaelingmanson.com/sae/

Our operating environment is different but the idea is very similar. I must be doing something right.

11/14 My barn finds:
Ford Festiva 1.3L radiator and fan. It had just been replaced when I bought the car. I almost tossed it out a few times.

I have several Grant steering wheels in different diameters. This one is 12" and will make it easier to get in and out if I don't use a quick release hub.

Relays, sockets, wiring clamps, flag terminals, etc purchased by the bag from Waytek and Mcmaster for other projects.

I'm amazed at how "cute" this tiny diesel is. I brought it home from the terminal in the back of my Ford Aspire.

In the last two weeks:

Planted 2 forsythias, 2 white dogwoods, 6 pink dogwoods, 2 washington hawthornes, 2 red buds, 2 red maples, a fruit bearing pear tree, 2 flowering crabapples, 2 pecan trees, 2 fruit bearing cherry trees, a japanese maple, an elberton peach tree,. and a flowering cherry. Some bare root and some potted. All seem to be doing well so far.

The bread truck needed a brake job, so I replaced the calipers, master, and pads. I still need to ship the cores back.

I've been working on running power to my barn which is where I am building this. I ran 6/3 NM from the main panel near the front of the house to the rear closest to the barn. This splices with split bolts to 6/3 UF, rubber taped in a junction box that transitions to pvc through and down the back wall of the house to 24" deep, then direct burial for about 90 feet. I'll be trenching today.

Since the holes in the wood underneath the main panel would require completely removing any wire running through them to increase the size to clear the clamp that attaches the cable to the main panel housing, I cut a hole approx 3x5 in the drywall a few inches beneath the main panel to add the clamps there. We have a well where the power was not clamped at the main panel by the installer and was just laying on the knife edge of the 1/2" knockout. I duct taped two strings to the well wire, pulled it down through the floor, disconnected one string and attached it to the 6/3 NM, pulled each wire back up through the drywall hole to add clamps and knock out a second hole for the barn power. A pvc fsb cover plate should completely cover the drywall opening but practically anything could be used to cover the hole.

Instead of modifying the vw beam for lowering, I'm going to mount it higher in the chassis. The floor will be two inches lower than the bottom tube of the beam.

The VW master with a directly mounted resevoir will be used but the brake pedal will hang instead of being floor mounted to put the beam as close to the driver as possible, keeping the wheelbase as short as practical without placing the drivers feet outside the wheelbase. The master will be reverse mounted or sideways on a bellcrank to prevent fouling the hood line, with a removable, flush mount panel for access.

I cut away what I didn't need of the atv, so it is just the swingarm, cvt, fnr, coilover damper, and supporting framework. I built a box around the oil pan from 1x6 decking board cutoffs and jigged up the engine and cvt on a sheet of plywood, then measured everything. The ring gear is within 1/2" of the FNR case but it will work. Crank center to the edge of the secondary pulley is only 5.250". The fnr tucks up against the block behind the fuel control. , I have about 3/8" clearance between the FNR case and the ring gear so it will work. I knew it would be tight. I will isolate the engine but use torque links to prevent closing this critical gap. I also had to cut the starter mount plate for clearance and removed some excess weight in the process. I may use the dodge mounts I have laying around.

I picked up a new Catepillar fuel filter / water separator off Ebay for $13. It is a very nice piece with a glass bowl and can use standard Fram filters.
http://www.Guardiancouplings.com is machining one of their forged stub shafts to accept the taper I need. I cut the old crank end off to mail to them today, along with the vw stub shaft to make a stub to accept the belt drive pulley through a QD bushing, SDS size. Unfortunately, I cannot publish their drawings, but I will provide drawing numbers so anyone interested in having them produce similar or indetical components, could start with those drawings.

I’ve torn down the fnr box to send the output shaft as a pattern for a new shaft that will accept a QD bushing and support bearing, moving the drive pulley to the right in order to center the rear wheel behind the cvt/engine assembly. The output shaft necks down to .985” at the bearings (standard 6305). I’m going to look for a larger inner race bearing and seal to fit a larger shaft, then decide who will be making it for me.

I'm using bicycle speedos to determine cvt gearing. The speedos are battery powered and come on by themselves once the magnet passes the pickup sensor. I'll epoxy the magnets the the pulleys, then calibrate the speedos to the same wheel diameter. When the speedos read the same speed, I've achieved 1:1.

I discussed my build specs with EPI Tech Support (http://www.epiperformance.com). They make various tuning components for the Polaris cvt. All they offered as far as tuning is to reach max rpm by 20 mph for best acceleration.

I've added curb weight, which delays upshift and increases slippage and stall speed.
I've reduced the gearing numerically, which delays upshift and increases slippage and stall speed.
I'll need to increase belt grip to offset the two items above by increasing secondary spring tension, which also increases stall speed.
Spring tension would be adequate otherwise, considering the maximum torque value of the old atv engine is approximately the same.
Adding sufficient flyweight will bring the max rpm when fully loaded down to 3600 rpm and reduce the stall speed. I currently have 55 gram flyweights. Up to 86 gram weights are available, but sets are $120.
I'll probably weld material onto mine then grind to get the weights even on a precision scale.

I dropped off the flywheel at the machine shop a couple weeks ago to be lightened. All I need is the ring gear and stub shaft mounting. There are balancing holes on the back, so it is externally balanced. It weighed 27.220 lbs before machining.

I jigged up the engine and cvt yesterday on a sheet of plywood layed over a hand truck, then a made a box from 1x6 deck board scraps to support the engine at the pan rail on the board, then nailed blocks of wood around the box to keep it in position. With the crank center line 5.250" from the edge of the secondary pulley.

The fnr internals.

I’m still waiting on my flywheel. I mailed the fnr output shaft yesterday. I found a 6207 bearing and Honda CRX oil seal to replace the 6305 bearing and Polaris seal, to increase the shaft diameter (see drawings) but I’d probably need to weld inside the case to reinforce the area thinned by boring the case 10mm larger. The shaft will be 4140 either way.

I added a pic of my $13 Ebay water separator / fuel filter with glass bowl. Replacement Fram filters are about $3. I emailed the seller for a list of compatible filters before bidding.

The Guardian Coupling’s drawing number for the crank adapter is 153E-1053-a. It is forged.

I’m waiting on the changes I requested to the vw stub shaft adapter to be incorporated in the drawing before providing the drawing number. It will be 4140.

I still don't have my flywheel. It is supposed to be another week. I think the issue is lathe time, which could be 4 to 8 hours. My cost is only about $100, but I need to verify the stub bolt circle and pilot before signing off on the drawing.

Guardian requested shaft surface finish and desired force fit. I'm going with 16 microinch since a seal rides on the 25mm shaft and k6 fit for the 6305 inner race. Does that sound about right MEs? The application is a fixed outer race and rotating inner, medium to heavy load so a "tight" fit.

I've decided on the narrowest 15" radial tire I could find for a reasonable price. They are Firestone F56 vintage 125R15 (125/80-15) from Jegs with free shipping for $57 each. If I were using aftermarket vw wheels instead of oem, I probably could not use these tires. Because they are so narrow, I will be able to run higher pressure for less weight, rolling and wind resistance, while maintaining an even wear pattern. If you want to talk green, it takes less oil to make these than larger tires.

I need help. I've been told by Guardian they cannot reverse engineer the Polaris fnr output shaft internal involute splines. Major, minor, tooth count are all easy but I've been told the pressure angle cannot be measured. The internal involute spline specs should be available online to SAE Teams and Polaris suppliers. The fnr is model 1341174, serial number 96-01422. If anybody knows anybody who would consider provide those specs, please email me at miatav8@earthlink.net. I will not publish the specifications.

It should include tolerance class, fit type, pitch, pressure angle, pitch diameter, major, minor, form, circ. tooth thickness (max actual, min effective), and distance between .080" pins (max/min). Part was made just prior to ANSI B92.1b Standard.

Otherwise, I will have three options.
A: Have shaft made with a larger, known involute spline, then broach the gears to match.
B: Toss the fnr for a jackshaft. The splines of the driven pulley of the cvt are available. I can use a geo metro or ford festiva automatic flywheel mounted on the jackshaft for reverse.
C: Flinstone's reverse.

I am supposed to get the flywheel back Friday!
The crank adapter is costing me $180 (they modify an existing part they already make that is forged 1045). The vw stub shaft adapter is about $280 from scratch in 4140.

I found a local shop with hobbing ability who advertise "reverse engineering". They said it would be no problem with the reference part in-hand. Now I just need to get it back from Guardian. They could not do it in-house anyway and probably didn't feel comfortable acting as the "middle man".

I also figured out exactly which electric start option I would use: a 1 liter geo metro automatic starter and flexplate/flywheel with the crank bolts. The automatic starter is longer and more powerful than the manual starter (1.2kw versus .9kw). Both are permanent magnet gear reduction units. I'd go with used parts and avoid the possiblity of a starter rebuilt without the use of a keeper ring on the magnet when it was apart, which causes the magnet to lose strength. A positive detent, dash mounted toggle in series with a momentary switch would prevent accidental operation. The relay is built into the starter so no need for a secondary.

I've stripped the old bias ply tires from the rims for blasting and paint as my 125r15 tires should be arriving soon. I also stripped the vw balljoint, drum brake front end. I cut off the original steering box and damper brackets to make room for the tube clamps attaching the beam to the frame.

I'm using two right hand outer tie rod ends with male 14mm x 1.5 right hand threads, same as the lug bolts. The toe adjusters on the GM rack and pinion (earlier close up pic) are left hand thread on the inboard end. I'll weld a short piece of thick walled dom tubing on the outboard end and tap to accept the threads. The tap was $7 on Ebay in HSS. I needed it anyway to clean the drum lug bolt threads.

I converted the GM center steer rack to manual operation. This is the same rack that I’ve talked about as being perfect for use on a 60’s mustang.

The only difficult part was loosening the huge sheet metal nut that holds the end of the rack that houses the piston. The center of the rack is a very thin aluminum C channel, with a thick area near the threaded end. Because the nut is a separate piece from the steel end of the rack, I now know I can secure the rack by holding the steel end in a vise to loosen the nut. The piston being removed slides back and forth in the tube, so if it is bent from the vise, it doesn’t matter. I managed to do the job without breaking the rack housing with a propane torch to heat the nut all the way around the last ½” from the end, then tap gently on a pipe wrench. Use a wrag over the nut if you want to minimize gouging from the pipe wrench teeth. The nut is covered by the accordion boot when assembled.

The piston is shown in the pic with the toe adjusters. It press fits over the shaft. Use a two-jaw puller to remove the piston to prevent bending the shaft.

The stainless band clamps can be reused several times with care. First bend the two locking tabs out and straighten with duck bill pliers. A scribe works well to get under the edge, tapping on the scribe lightly with a small hammer. A #2 phillips works well at loosening the crimp. If the crimp is too tight, bend it to one side with the duck bills and use a small flat blade driver to open it up enough for the Phillips.

The V-groove clamp next to the pinion locates the rack. The other clamp can be placed anywhere along the round steel section.

Note that the tie rods are in single shear with oversize (for double shear) bolts. I forgot to photo the nylon block and steel sleaves that sit between the rack and the tie rods inside the boot.

I would not shorten the steel tube and round shaft. The round shaft locates the rack in the channel on the passenger side, so the full length is necessary for full left lock.

When welding the line caps, the orings are no longer important as it is just a dust seal. Cut the tubes long as they get short quickly when welding and clean them with a wire wheel and solvent. Weld them installed so if the nut welds to the tube, the tube seat will be in the right place in the cap and centered. Two of mine are welded to the nuts; the rest slide right out of the nuts. With the male nuts, you could just clean then silicone over the holes.

I wire brushed the adjusters. I considered just tapping them, but with the 14mm x 1.5 tap, I didn’t feel the remaining wall thickness would have been adequate. I ordered 11 ga, ¾” dom. I expect to use a 4 or 5 inch tube, turn the adjuster for a press fit. Cross drill and bevel the tube for welding, then tap to accept the beetle right hand outer tie rods on both sides.

Because I’m using over 40 year old car parts, there is a lot of restoration involved. I’m putting together a diy zinc plater using a solution that does not produce nasty chemicals.

I forgot to check the number of turns, lock to lock. I’ll do that today.

A couple more pics.

This is the actual front end that I am restoring without the big wheels. The vw pan will not be used. With the steering out of the way, the beam will clamp to frame tubes as far apart as practical. The rack needs to be about that far back but it will be higher.

The rack has 2-1/2 turns, lock to lock.

I received my tachometers (two bicycle speedometers for about $5 each) and new micro sensors (tiny magnets to bond to the cvt back plate for about $8). While it won't provide a direct rpm reading, I can determine the rpm and what gear ratio the cvt is in based on indicated mph.

I had to add a reclaimer dust vent to my hbf blast cabinet before doing anymore grit blasting. Grit was going everywhere. It was actually worse with a wrag over the vent because it was blowing out of the seams and seals. It also made it impossible to see after a few seconds of blasting.

I used a $29 Lowes shop vac. It was the smallest one I could find that used a reusable filter instead of a bag. It turns out it was still a bit too powerful. It came with a wall mount and has 1.25" inlet and outlet. I thought I would need the outlet to be plumbed through the wall to the outside but it seems to be separating the dust well enough.

The reclaimer is an old kitty liter box with holes in the top that fit well but are not sealed.

The OD of a 1-1/2" pvc pipe elbow fits perfectly inside the hbf vent port. Again unsealed.

Inside, there is a T fitting and two short sections with a bevel away fro the grit blasting. I just want to capture the floating particles instead of what bounces off the rusty bits. None of the pvc sections are glued/sealed.

With the liter box lid closed, the gloves balloon and all the grit that hits the part is picked up and pulled out. I found that if I lift up the lid an inch or so, the gloves only partially balloon. It will take some fine tuning.

I managed to press out the upper ball joints and eccentrics with only the propane torch. The backing plate of the rear wheel had seized shoe adjusters "stars wheels" that required a lot more heat to remove without damage.

Some bad news. My machinist who has been lightening my flywheel apparrently got in a hurry, forgot about the back cut he had already made, and cut through it between the ring gear and the hub. It is cast iron. He said he will be buying another and try again and did not intend to make it that thin, but he was trying to get it done since he has had it for about a month (never ever rush a machinist). They are not cheap. I've done some searches and requested quotes, but it looks to be about $500.

However, I was able to final my drawings so the crank adapter and vw hub adapter are being made.

I've obtained the 3/4" dom 11ga for the tie rod adjusters. I cut roughly 6 inch sticks, bevelled the end for a weld groove, and drilled for spot welds. I didn't want to clamp the threads with the head stock on my lathe, so I had to use a bench grinder to slowly turn the od down to a press fit (.505") into the tubing (.499"). It is difficult to be accurrate with a bench grinder but it turned out well. I heated the tubing with the end to be trimmed in a vise, then hammered the adjusters in, leaving a step for a weld area that won't damage the wrench flats. I should receive the tie rods in the next couple days to finish the adjusters.

Great progress, this is fun to watch.

Thanks!

I noticed that I have some wear on the inner tie rod bushings (see previous photo). It is actually a rubber spherical insert with a thin lip on each side, bonded to a steel center sleave. The thin rubber lip torn in the photo doesn't really do anything.

I could use left hand thread rod ends that would accept the 12mm bolt shank and transition to the 3/4" tube, then simply tap the outer end for the vw tie rod end, eliminating the gm adjuster.

For even less weight, I could use 1" 16 ga tube and bungs on each end.

I'm undecided at the moment.

The rack interferes with the location for the hanging brake pedal I mentioned before, so I am using the oem type vw floor mount pedal with a high mount, remote resevoir. I found the resevoir on ebay from Empi. I have heartburn with brake systems where anything is mounted higher than the resevoir.

I'll add some pics later.

I have most of the parts now. I ordered most everything from Rock Auto.

The parts in the lower left are rear brake parts and the right are front brake parts for a 1971 beetle irs with drums front and rear and a beam suspension. There is no proportioning valve. The wheel cylinders have a smaller bore for the rear, along with a small diameter drum.

I ordered a front end service set of pullers for tie rods and balljoints since none of the pullers I have are small enough for the vw tie rod and lower balljoints, and regular 2 and 3 jaw pullers slip off. The upper joints came out because of the eccentric, which fits between the spindle and joint shank. I'm still waiting on that. I found Sears selling the HBF US General set for less than HBF but thats not what I ordered.

One of the three wheels is an original two tone white rim and black center late 60s wheel, but it is heavily pitted. I'll get another to replace it as it would look bad with all the pitting.

Update for 10/02/2011, I received my tie rods yesterday so I was able to finsih the adjusters today. For some reason I had it in my head that the tie rod thread was 15mm x 1.5 instead of 14mm by 1.5. 15mm x 1.5 nuts are very difficult to find. As a result, I decided to go with a pinch bolt, which is what vw used. By the time I figured it out, I was done. If I decided to go with inboard rods ends, I'll start over and use jamb nuts.

I used 3/4" wide .125" strip, bent into a U around a 5/16 bolt, v grooved for the 3/4" od tube and welded them on about 1/2" from the end. After tapping the tube, I cut most of the slot with a hand held bandsaw then widened the groove with a friction disc on a die grinder and retapped to clean the threads. The bolt does not have to be very tight to prevent rotation and there is no resistance to rotation with it loose so slot length with the 11 ga tube is spot on. Not real pretty but it works. I still need to zinc plate and bake.

I've grit blasted all the parts for the rear brake. I overlooked a large plastic plug on the back of the blast cabinet, which is for allowing fresh air in. It works much better with the port open. I'm still waiting on the puller set.

I ordered my ride height adjusters from Summit for $10 each (two should be installed). I don't normally use Summit due to a bad experience with a rude moron behind the counter, but the price was right. I sent an email about it to Summit and received no response, so I call that poor customer service. Contrast that to Rockauto, where issues (usually due to part supplier problems rather than Rockauto) are resolved quickly and professionally.

I wanted to use Avis adjusters, but I could not find any for a ball joint suspension, only kingpin. The difference is in the spring stack (See photos).

I was going to reduce the spring rate by removing a leaf from each tube, but I didn't want to weld on the springs for obvious reasons.

I've been zinc plating! I've tried various methods of reducing the current flow. The solution conducts electricity so well that 12vdc acts like a short circuit with little to no anode (zinc) exposed.

Due to the limits of my battery charger (2-6 amp at 14vdc), I tried running a test light in series with full anode exposure and would get only 1 amp; too little and too long to plate.

I then went to the taillight of the gold wing using the marker filament; 2 amps and not enough.
I then went to the stop light filament; 3.5 amps and getting better but still taking too long.
The best results were with limiting the anode exposure. By barely inserting the anode into the surface, I was able to adjust the current to 7-8 amps without pegging the gauge. The bubbles were small coming off the parts to be plated and the plating was smooth. This seems to be the best compromise.

You can see the black scale from the zinc rods as they are consumed. I used copper coated welding wire to loop through and around small parts. I found the best solution for small parts is to take a square of chicken wire fence, stretch it to elongate the openings for a narrower crossection, then bend the edges up to form a bowl. Bend the ends up to extend above the solution and act as a handle.

I also found that the parts I thought were completely clean were not. The dirty areas contrast to the plated areas. I just need to scrape and blast those areas and replate. Therte is no need to remove the existing plating and it won't matter that the plating will be slightly thinner in those areas, since the zinc spreads to stop rust in areas that are scratched, It is only when nearly all the zinc is gone that a part starts to rust.

The parts are dull grey. I could wire wheel them and they would look like chrome for a bright finish, but I don't want to remove any zinc. I plan to top coat the zinc with paint to slow the loss of zinc. I mostly wanted to be able to zinc plate for internal fuel tank parts for the gold wing, where paint does not hold up and new parts are not available.

After all that careful work to save the star adjusters, I find that Rock has them listed under misc hardware rather than brake parts for $1 each. The screws are also around $1 each.