944 suspension question: clearancing of beetle shock tower

[LOAF]

Saw this in How to modify Beetle Book..

I noticed that the bolt closest to the sping plate was removed on the assembly..

No mention thru out the book on the subject.. I scanned the artilce.. Email me at olaverriam@yahoo.com for some pics..
Alex

I have assembled and installed the arms minimal rubbing.. but that is while its on jacks.. plus I need new torsion covers..

This is the only new idea I have.. I would hate to have to grind down anything..
Loaf

[wrenchnride247]

Bullyboy, I would not weld the plates IMO. The spring plates are heat treated. So, when you weld them they could become more brittle, and then the welds might fail. Broken spring plates in a curve, or high speed is not good for your health.

If you must weld on the spring plates... I like Steve C's idea about welding the head of the bolt, and clearancing as needed. This way if the weld fails the bolt is still in there.

The spring plates on my project have urethane inner and outer bushings. That might be why my bolts don't rub on the towers. I have about 1/16th of an inch between the tower and the bolt head. The stock bushings have too much "crush" when you tighten the end caps down. Over time the urethane might settle and the bolts may hit my towers too. Only time will tell on that.

[Bullyboy]

I will try bolting up both sides of the rear to see if maybe I am getting a little too much squish on my urethane mounts. there seems to be more room at the top of the plate than at the bottom.
wrenchnride247 I was thinking along the lines of welding the front bolt in on the back side so I can still use the adjuster and grind the head down on the eccentric. We'll see how that works.
thanks Mark

[Brad_gt]

I too am having the rubbing issue with ecentric and the pivot bolt common to the shock tower .
What I am thinking of doing is to fab a washer to go between the bushing and swing arm maybe .080 thick and then use washers under the spring plate cap the same thickness. I do not like the idea of clearancing the shock tower or bolts if I can help it .
Ill let you know if it works out .

[wrenchnride247]

Brad_gt, just make sure you don't move the spring plates too far out, or during driving conditions, the plate could slip of the perch. The end caps would stop the plate from completely "unloading", but still would not be a good feeling while driving maybe.