412 Parts Car on Ebay
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raygreenwood
- Posts: 11912
- Joined: Wed Jan 22, 2003 12:01 am
Thanks for the link! This car is so poorly known to those who find and sell it.....a type 3 engine? a rail buggy?...actuall a rail buggy is a total impossibility with this vehicle. It does not have a pan...its all one piece. Yep...its parts only, but save for the rear bumper and the glass and lights...I can't see a single panel without rust throughs or major holes. Ray
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raygreenwood
- Posts: 11912
- Joined: Wed Jan 22, 2003 12:01 am
Oh...I didn't say that....if its cheap, and not bent..and does not have the dreaded rot....meaning if the center body is sound...all else can be found. I think this may be the same guy who has a post on the type 4um...about having an sutomatic...in a 412...that he wants to put the engine and auto into a sandrail. I just asked hiom to talkto the people on this forum before getting rid of the car.
By the way...if you see cars that are really toast...but still have suspension...start making deals for parts. I have ball joints going into the machine shop this week....for...."the final solution"....ball joints solution that is. If it works, By January, I may start offering rebuilds for the front end...I mean the whole front end....on an exchange of parts basis. That would be struts...."T" piece...which will have new mounts for replacements for the centering rings and donuts...newly cast teflon/urethane/steel control arm bushings, urethane sway bar links, new ball joints, patterns to convert old symmetrical pattern strut mounts to late model assymetrical (cause thats what the struts will have), rebuilt centerlinks and bronze idler bushings. Oh...and adjusters built in for up to 5 degress extra castor and 3 degrees each side for camber. Working on pricing right now. Ray
By the way...if you see cars that are really toast...but still have suspension...start making deals for parts. I have ball joints going into the machine shop this week....for...."the final solution"....ball joints solution that is. If it works, By January, I may start offering rebuilds for the front end...I mean the whole front end....on an exchange of parts basis. That would be struts...."T" piece...which will have new mounts for replacements for the centering rings and donuts...newly cast teflon/urethane/steel control arm bushings, urethane sway bar links, new ball joints, patterns to convert old symmetrical pattern strut mounts to late model assymetrical (cause thats what the struts will have), rebuilt centerlinks and bronze idler bushings. Oh...and adjusters built in for up to 5 degress extra castor and 3 degrees each side for camber. Working on pricing right now. Ray
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raygreenwood
- Posts: 11912
- Joined: Wed Jan 22, 2003 12:01 am
Ah...yes...the unobtanium steering box. Its rare that they have any trouble. They are actually one of the first main line modern parts that VW installed. They are recirulating ball type. They are strange to adjust but can be adjusted. If the have somehow leaked water...which would mean that most of the front end had to be under water 
then they can rust. If they have been used for long periods without lube...which happens..because the unobtanium..bastard sized seal gives out and the semi-paste sulphur based oil runs out...or an accident cracks a ball or two....they can crap out. Most of the time..if you think its the steering box...and asjust both the knuckle and te axial play (tough to do with no specs to do it with)...and you still have slop...its that bastard idler arm bushing.
The real reasons to get rid of the stock steering box...excellent though it is...are the seal, the diler arm bushing, and the hard to find and expensive center link...whcih is always shot either due to milage over 70k or water leakage...which means youra are shot or close to it.
I have an excellent fix for rebuilding the centerlink.....if its important to keep your original...which I totally understand. But the next best way...is to go rack and pinion. I have not decided wether to offer the cross piece in the kits to install a rack...or to rebuilt centerlinks. I guess i could offer both. Bear this in mind with the rack scenario. (1) its a little more expensive due to the fact that it will need two cross tubes, two short ladder sections between the two tubes (to prevent lateral spread and flex) and a plate welded to both tubes (both to prevent racking and twist and to mount the rack on). Thats about 6 welds. Not hard...just more work. Then the kit will need two steel idler bushings. Steel because they are no longer a moving joint. Two large shoulder bolts, with castellated nuts and cotter pins, with bellevile spring washers. It will require two solid eyes threaded into the tubes at one end and two solid to solid eyes at the other with lock nuts...so you can get the exact mounting distance on any car...and an extra idler bracket from a 411/412 or a super beetle to go in place of the steering box. Its not a complex piece or hard to manufacture. Just more stuff. Oh...then there is the rack. Rebuilt ones generally run $185. Some manual racks can be found in the junkyard...about $50 then $40 for boots. Then a little work on the outer tie rod threads. But...there is a large possibility that power racks can be used ..just no power. Clean them out, add EP grease, new boots...put pipe plugs in the fluid holes. I know it odes not hurt the power racks to run them without fluid. Just don't know about the turning ratios.
Stock steering boxes. Its possible ...I think..to build an adapter plate and use a superbeetle steering box . The stock 411/412 boxes, I have cleaned out totally before without fully disassembling...and had new seals made for. I can find seals with correct inner diemension..but not outer (usually too small)...or correct outer but not inner. it would not be too hard to cast either a seal..or a seal adapter. Ray
then they can rust. If they have been used for long periods without lube...which happens..because the unobtanium..bastard sized seal gives out and the semi-paste sulphur based oil runs out...or an accident cracks a ball or two....they can crap out. Most of the time..if you think its the steering box...and asjust both the knuckle and te axial play (tough to do with no specs to do it with)...and you still have slop...its that bastard idler arm bushing. The real reasons to get rid of the stock steering box...excellent though it is...are the seal, the diler arm bushing, and the hard to find and expensive center link...whcih is always shot either due to milage over 70k or water leakage...which means youra are shot or close to it.
I have an excellent fix for rebuilding the centerlink.....if its important to keep your original...which I totally understand. But the next best way...is to go rack and pinion. I have not decided wether to offer the cross piece in the kits to install a rack...or to rebuilt centerlinks. I guess i could offer both. Bear this in mind with the rack scenario. (1) its a little more expensive due to the fact that it will need two cross tubes, two short ladder sections between the two tubes (to prevent lateral spread and flex) and a plate welded to both tubes (both to prevent racking and twist and to mount the rack on). Thats about 6 welds. Not hard...just more work. Then the kit will need two steel idler bushings. Steel because they are no longer a moving joint. Two large shoulder bolts, with castellated nuts and cotter pins, with bellevile spring washers. It will require two solid eyes threaded into the tubes at one end and two solid to solid eyes at the other with lock nuts...so you can get the exact mounting distance on any car...and an extra idler bracket from a 411/412 or a super beetle to go in place of the steering box. Its not a complex piece or hard to manufacture. Just more stuff. Oh...then there is the rack. Rebuilt ones generally run $185. Some manual racks can be found in the junkyard...about $50 then $40 for boots. Then a little work on the outer tie rod threads. But...there is a large possibility that power racks can be used ..just no power. Clean them out, add EP grease, new boots...put pipe plugs in the fluid holes. I know it odes not hurt the power racks to run them without fluid. Just don't know about the turning ratios.
Stock steering boxes. Its possible ...I think..to build an adapter plate and use a superbeetle steering box . The stock 411/412 boxes, I have cleaned out totally before without fully disassembling...and had new seals made for. I can find seals with correct inner diemension..but not outer (usually too small)...or correct outer but not inner. it would not be too hard to cast either a seal..or a seal adapter. Ray