Civilizing a Cal Looker

[andrewlandon67]

So after a few weeks of back and forth in my head and bouncing various ideas off of my friends, I've finally decided to spend a bit of money and civilize my '67. It's not gonna be any slower or much heavier, but I'd like it to be just a little more comfortable and less exhausting to drive on a regular basis. So, with that in mind, I've narrowed it down to a few things I can afford to do without weighing it down or taking it back to stock, such as new door cards, window scrapers, and some kind of sound insulation. I've also thought a bit about fabricating a new muffler (louder but smaller,) that doesn't hang down off my header quite as much, which shouldn't be as daunting as it seems. As far as the sound dampening goes, I'd like to avoid pulling the motor again to replace the tarboard that I pulled out a few years back. Any suggestions as far as quietening it down a bit?

Any other thoughts? Depending on the cost of all the rest, I wouldn't mind re-covering my seats and adding some kind of extra cushioning, and maybe upgrading to some real seatbelts while I'm at it. Would a new headliner be worth the money and effort? I'm also thinking about new shocks in the rear, and maybe bringing the suspension up just a hair as well on all 4 corners. What all would you guys prioritize? My goal is to have it done by the end of July for the Colorado Bug In, and then parking my Subaru and enlisting the '67 for daily/occasional race duty until the snow flies (usually early/mid October.) The motor's fairly reliable, and would be getting valve adjustments after every night at the track, so I could keep an eye on it as far as that goes.

Any advice/thoughts are greatly appreciated!

[Bryan67]

Better seats (Like Pro 90`s), lots of sound deadening in the doors, rear quarters and package tray, new carpet over all of that, don`t worry about the firewall unless you put deadener then an aluminum firewall or something similar over it. And if you do a new headliner, buy some good roof sound deadener behind it.

[andrewlandon67]

Better seats (Like Pro 90`s), lots of sound deadening in the doors, rear quarters and package tray, new carpet over all of that, don`t worry about the firewall unless you put deadener then an aluminum firewall or something similar over it. And if you do a new headliner, buy some good roof sound deadener behind it.

I'll definitely keep all that in mind! I think my car has all of the stock sound-deadening stuff, aside from the engine bay, so I might just stick a little extra back there underneath the carpet. Seats are a little bit out of my reach at the moment, but I'll definitely keep them in mind! Another thing I'm for sure going to do is put some kind of modern-ish seatbelts in, I like the stock '67 lap belts, but as quick as my car is these days, they seem just a little outmatched.

[Jim Ratto]

Seats will make the biggest difference and/or correctly setup suspension geometry

The sound deadening Wolfsburg West sells as OEM replacement isn't heavy and it does commendable job at quelling the thrash from the motor. Personally, part of the thrill (for me) is all hell breaking loose any time I crank the Webers open. I don't want the rough edges smoothed off as far as noise. I made changes to my car in last 5 years so I wouldn't feel like I have to fight the car to drive it.

[Fastbrit]

One of the most effective ways to quieten down a VW is to use modern sound dampening pads inside the rear quarter panels and doors. Those areas act like 'boom boxes', so anything you can do to stop the panels reverberating will be good.

[andrewlandon67]

Seats will make the biggest difference and/or correctly setup suspension geometry

The sound deadening Wolfsburg West sells as OEM replacement isn't heavy and it does commendable job at quelling the thrash from the motor. Personally, part of the thrill (for me) is all hell breaking loose any time I crank the Webers open. I don't want the rough edges smoothed off as far as noise. I made changes to my car in last 5 years so I wouldn't feel like I have to fight the car to drive it.

This is a little more where I'd like to head. I can deal with engine noise for the most part, it's the clunks and rattles that really get to me and some of the whine from the gearbox as well. My rear shocks are rather worn out, so they'll probably get tossed while I'm getting all of this taken care of. Maybe I'll tweak the suspension a bit too, the ride in my car isn't exactly smooth and I'd like a touch more ride height all the way around. I've also decided on a bit of an unconventional muffler, so there will be one more thing to help drown out the valvetrain.

One of the most effective ways to quieten down a VW is to use modern sound dampening pads inside the rear quarter panels and doors. Those areas act like 'boom boxes', so anything you can do to stop the panels reverberating will be good.

Most of the interior in my car is original, and very little of it is holding together at this point. I think some extra insulation around those two areas, as well as new door cards should do a decent enough job. I might, depending on cost, also redo the carpet in the rear cargo area, since that is currently about as carpetlike as linoleum, and doesn't hang on to the firewall very well.

Thanks again for all the advice, guys!

[Martin S.]

One change that surprised me to make the car more comfortable to drive was to get rid of the Berg rear traction bar. Even though I had the rubber version the engine vibration ran throughout the car. I now rely on the Berg mid mount, Berg gray rubber mounts and a cheap kafer cup engine brace with HD trans carrier.
Koni red shocks and koni red steering damper helped stabilize the car at speed quite a bit too but I found a deal on them otherwise probably not worth the $$$$$.

[Torben Alstrup]

One change that surprised me to make the car more comfortable to drive was to get rid of the Berg rear traction bar. Even though I had the rubber version the engine vibration ran throughout the car. I now rely on the Berg mid mount, Berg gray rubber mounts and a cheap kafer cup engine brace with HD trans carrier.
Koni red shocks and koni red steering damper helped stabilize the car at speed quite a bit too but I found a deal on them otherwise probably not worth the $$$$$.

Yes. The Berg traction bar is just annoying.
Sound deadening. Kinda expensive, but worth every penny: Dynamat & Dynaliner plus blocking the C collar.
Koni´s. - They are DEFINITELY worth the money. If you wanna skimp a little, drop the steering dampener.
Proper alignment. Along with enough Caster on the front end. It is amazing how many people  dsriving around with way not enough.

[andrewlandon67]

One change that surprised me to make the car more comfortable to drive was to get rid of the Berg rear traction bar. Even though I had the rubber version the engine vibration ran throughout the car. I now rely on the Berg mid mount, Berg gray rubber mounts and a cheap kafer cup engine brace with HD trans carrier.
Koni red shocks and koni red steering damper helped stabilize the car at speed quite a bit too but I found a deal on them otherwise probably not worth the $$$$$.

Yes. The Berg traction bar is just annoying.
Sound deadening. Kinda expensive, but worth every penny: Dynamat & Dynaliner plus blocking the C collar.
Koni´s. - They are DEFINITELY worth the money. If you wanna skimp a little, drop the steering dampener.
Proper alignment. Along with enough Caster on the front end. It is amazing how many people  dsriving around with way not enough.

I've ridden in a car with Koni shocks on all 4 corners before, the difference they make is amazing. Unfortunately though, a full set runs about the same cost as what I've mentally set aside for this little project, so they'll have to wait. Doing some reading on Caster, I wouldn't be surprised if I needed another pair of shims on my beam. Although my car's not the lowest in the world, it's still low enough for that kind of thing to have an impact. I'll try and get an angle finder for those once I actually get the time to get to work with this project.

[Martin S.]

As far as clunks and rattles go, they can be frustrating to find. You might wanna check the body to chassis mount points around the top of the rear shocks when you look at the back. There’s supposed to be rubber in there where it bolts together and that could be rattling as you drive (just a guess). Also on a swing axle the rubber swing arm bushings could be squished which can allow metal to metal contact.
The engine brace also can help the engine/ trans from moving up and down somewhat which could cause clunks and did make my clutch feel more solid, smooth, which makes for a more civilized drive.
For the alignment you can try and find a deal at an alignment shop. Tell them that you don’t need any work done, you just need the printout. With that you can see the caster as an absolute number which takes your stance into account, awesome! Also it will tell you if one of your rear swing axles is different than the other with both camber and toe. All just about impossible to know without the digital test. Then you can take the info into account when tweaking your suspension.
I just took a look at my printout and they didn’t fill out the front caster spec. Not sure why not. At the time I went on Lanner’s advice of pushing the rear axles all the way back in the slots. He said do this for lowered cars. Grind the slots larger to go even further back for really lowered cars he said. My printout said I had zero to 1/32” toe OUT and I was happy with the stability improvement and would recommend this as well.

[Andrew]

This is a great thread for those of us trying to build a street car that can be both enjoyed as a fast VW only can and can be driven longer distances.

Jim, Martin what did you replace the traction bar with?

[andrewlandon67]

This is a great thread for those of us trying to build a street car that can be both enjoyed as a fast VW only can and can be driven longer distances.

Jim, Martin what did you replace the traction bar with?

That's exactly what I was hoping I could get started. I'm not looking for an 11 second "street car", nor am I in need of a 3.88/0.82 85mph interstate cruiser, just a bug that I can daily comfortably while still being able to kick the ass of 90% of whatever cars I get lined up next to at the racetrack/on my way to work. Eventually I'll get my car to handle properly again, but for now I'll just be happy with something I can drive every day without getting too beat up.

As far as my project goes, I'm doing new window scrapers, seat covers, rear tray carpet, new underhood wiring cover, door cards, proper seatbelts, and a new muffler to tuck up under my fender a bit better so I don't worry about it hitting on everything. There are a few other little things I can get done while I'm at it as well, nothing major, but I think they'll help. Stuff like rechecking/setting the alignment, fixing a couple of small oil leaks, and bringing the nose of my car up by a hair or two. It won't be perfect, but I think it'll be a little more livable.

[Martin S.]

This is a great thread for those of us trying to build a street car that can be both enjoyed as a fast VW only can and can be driven longer distances.

Jim, Martin what did you replace the traction bar with?

Hi, i didn’t replace the traction bar. I now rely on the Berg rubber mid mount, Berg gray rubber engine mounts and a EMPI cheap kafer cup engine brace with HD trans carrier.

[brewsy]

As far as clunks and rattles go, they can be frustrating to find. You might wanna check the body to chassis mount points around the top of the rear shocks when you look at the back. There’s supposed to be rubber in there where it bolts together and that could be rattling as you drive (just a guess).

Have a look at my build thread Andrew. Ive done these that Martin mentioned, the ones that sit between the beam and the 'nose' of the car and new stock shocks all around (inc the rubber top mount on the front). Car then became MUCH quieter and civilised and I then started to sort the squeaks and rattles inside the car. Loudest thing in the interior on mine is now the seats which when you live in London (the home of speed bumps) is becoming a right PITA!!

Cheers

[andrewlandon67]

As far as clunks and rattles go, they can be frustrating to find. You might wanna check the body to chassis mount points around the top of the rear shocks when you look at the back. There’s supposed to be rubber in there where it bolts together and that could be rattling as you drive (just a guess).

Have a look at my build thread Andrew. Ive done these that Martin mentioned, the ones that sit between the beam and the 'nose' of the car and new stock shocks all around (inc the rubber top mount on the front). Car then became MUCH quieter and civilised and I then started to sort the squeaks and rattles inside the car. Loudest thing in the interior on mine is now the seats which when you live in London (the home of speed bumps) is becoming a right PITA!!

Cheers

I did replace the rubbers at the front when I put a new beam in a few years ago, I'm hesitant to do the rear pads for the time being as I don't think those bolts have ever been undone and I don't want to have to pull the body off just to drill them out. All of my other suspension rubber has been done at the rear, so I suppose I might have to just dig a little deeper and pick up some new shocks for back there.

[slowsixtyseven]

Fixing anything having to do with worn suspension will certainly make a difference. A few years ago, when I cut and narrowed my beam, I replaced the front ball joints, tie rod ends, greased the beam needle bearings, repacked the brake hubs, etc. and what a difference it made! It handles like a new car plus no strange noises when going over bumps. All is tight.

I still have all my OG tar board with aftermarket carpet as well as a Kooks headers muffler to quiet down my turbo motor. The car is an absolute dream to drive; not too noisy, handles well and isn't rickety. It can most certainly be done.

Also, I see you are planning to show up to Denver Bug-in! Im planning on going too, we should meet up. Im living over on the Western Slope of CO.

[andrewlandon67]

Fixing anything having to do with worn suspension will certainly make a difference. A few years ago, when I cut and narrowed my beam, I replaced the front ball joints, tie rod ends, greased the beam needle bearings, repacked the brake hubs, etc. and what a difference it made! It handles like a new car plus no strange noises when going over bumps. All is tight.

I still have all my OG tar board with aftermarket carpet as well as a Kooks headers muffler to quiet down my turbo motor. The car is an absolute dream to drive; not too noisy, handles well and isn't rickety. It can most certainly be done.

Also, I see you are planning to show up to Denver Bug-in! Im planning on going too, we should meet up. Im living over on the Western Slope of CO.

I'll keep an eye out for you for sure! I'll be over with my friends/ex co workers at the Nu Vintage tent, we're usually right on the north end of the swap meet. I generally try to keep an eye on the ball joints and tie rods, and I think I have a grease gun to lube up the beam. They'll probably get a good looking-at while I have my car up on jack stands, just to be safe. Are you going to be racing at the Bug In?

[Sam K]

I went on a mission a few years ago make my '67 a little more civilized as well. The koni's made a huge difference as did a lot of dynamat. I haven't been able to locate a Koni steering damper yet but as soon as I do, I'll be purchasing one. I'm currently thinking about some kind of exhaust that will be a little quieter than the A1 maganaflow. I wouldn't mind a set of aftermarket seats as well but all the ones I like cost a fortune.

[Bryan67]

When collecting parts for my 63 build I wanted to get a set of 911 Recaro replicas with hounds tooth centers. But at $1100 a piece I just couldn`t do it. So I called Scat and they did a custom set of Pro 90 seats that I`m very happy with. And for much less.

[RichardinNZ]

Those seats look great.

Sent from my CLT-L09 using Tapatalk

[Martin S.]

I went on a mission a few years ago make my '67 a little more civilized as well. The koni's made a huge difference as did a lot of dynamat. I haven't been able to locate a Koni steering damper yet but as soon as I do, I'll be purchasing one. I'm currently thinking about some kind of exhaust that will be a little quieter than the A1 maganaflow. I wouldn't mind a set of aftermarket seats as well but all the ones I like cost a fortune.

The koni red steering damper is an excellent improvement over stock!
There is a huge need to control the shakes from a beam front end which the stock damper can barely keep up with and has to be in like new condition to be effective. The koni is adjustable, just like the shocks and is built to handle high performance. Worth it!!

[Doktor]

I can testify on the Koni steering damper.
I have full set of Konis on my bug plus Koni steering damper - huge difference over stock !
As I wanted to lower front end the old school way, front is lowered only on the beam adjusters in combination with long travel balljoints and Koni's. 

[j-dub]

Can anyone provide a Koni part number for a steering damper that would fit a early bug? All of my googling brings me to 76-1099 which is the type with an eyelet on either side which works on bus, 356 Porsche and maybe some later bugs. The early bug has one end that sort of looks like a hockey stick.

My best lead so far is 76-1099, but none of the internet sales listings has a matching image.


From CSP, they give a vw part number but not Koni

[Doktor]

@ J-Dub:  I couldn't find Koni part nr., but there is alternative from Bilstein: https://www.ebay.de/str/tafeltuning
It is also cheaper as my Koni steering damper costed me about 150€. 

Regards,
Doc

[alex d]

It might be  76-1293

[andrewlandon67]

Can anyone provide a Koni part number for a steering damper that would fit a early bug? All of my googling brings me to 76-1099 which is the type with an eyelet on either side which works on bus, 356 Porsche and maybe some later bugs. The early bug has one end that sort of looks like a hockey stick.

My best lead so far is 76-1099, but none of the internet sales listings has a matching image.


From CSP, they give a vw part number but not Koni

https://www.csp-shop.com/en/brand-shops/koni-steering-damper-425-021-113k-11381c.html

I think I found it. That's far from cheap, but from what I've heard, it'll be worth the money. Looking at this, my guess is that CSP uses a 9 digit part number template, similar to VW, but more for stocking purposes.

[j-dub]

Thanks,
That is 300 US shipped if I get it from CSP, I was trying to find one local. I just sent a message to KONI asking about this, I will let you know what they say if I get a response.

EDIT, here is the response I recieved from Koni
EDIT#2 Koni confirmed the part number is 76-1293

Jeremy,

Thank you for your interest in KONI Shocks. The part has unfortunately been discontinued and is no longer available to us here in the US. The final 100 pcs were produced back in 2014 and shipped to Germany. The last time we brought these into the US Market was back in 2012, and that was only 5 pieces. 1 the prior year in 2011, and 3 in 2010.

[andrewlandon67]

Thanks,
That is 300 US shipped if I get it from CSP, I was trying to find one local. I just sent a message to KONI asking about this, I will let you know what they say if I get a response.

EDIT, here is the response I recieved from Koni

Jeremy,

Thank you for your interest in KONI Shocks. The part has unfortunately been discontinued and is no longer available to us here in the US. The final 100 pcs were produced back in 2014 and shipped to Germany. The last time we brought these into the US Market was back in 2012, and that was only 5 pieces. 1 the prior year in 2011, and 3 in 2010.

That's all too bad... I wonder if we could put together a lobby to get KONI to produce a few limited runs of them for those of us who want nice-driving VWs.

[Brandon Sinclair]

What is the part number for the Bilstein steering dampner?  

Those seats look great Bryan!  How do they compare weight wise to the stock seats and comfort level?

[j-dub]

I made an update to my post above but Koni did confirm the part number is 76-1293. If anyone finds a source, please let me know.

I have attempted to purchase one from a online retailer, after the purchase process I received an email that the order would be canceled due to it not being in stock. I have also attempted to purchase one through Amazon, however I have my doubts about that as well.

The link previously provided for the Bilstein version did not pan out but some googling shows Bilstein B 22 037 may be the one.

Edit: the Amazon purchase did not work either, they contacted me today and said they were canceling the order due to lack of availability.

Edit #2: I just purchased a Bilstein steering damper B 22-027, I have not yet installed it.