IRS rear ends......

[Black Sheep]

The 5th gear is just the best out on the motor way is just the best, cursing along at 2000 rpm just makes sense with ida's 

Cruising at 2000 rpm is lugging it.

Lugging it you must be a lot wealthier than me  , I'd rather spend my money on the car than fuel . 5th gear = low rpm good top end speed .
 Ive spent too many years running up and down the motor ways in old vw's doing 70+ with the engine screaming and the gear box crying out for mercy 
Installing a 901 box seams a logical and practical solution to increasing fuel costs and getting there sparring the motor from long sections of high rpm running 

[Lee.C]

The 5th gear is just the best out on the motor way is just the best, cursing along at 2000 rpm just makes sense with ida's 

Cruising at 2000 rpm is lugging it.

Lugging it you must be a lot wealthier than me  , I'd rather spend my money on the car than fuel . 5th gear = low rpm good top end speed .
 Ive spent too many years running up and down the motor ways in old vw's doing 70+ with the engine screaming and the gear box crying out for mercy 
Installing a 901 box seams a logical and practical solution to increasing fuel costs and getting there sparring the motor from long sections of high rpm running 

You must have been reading my mind dude  Sounds perfect

[Black Sheep]

Great mind's , and all that 
Best thing about it is that when your in convoy with everyone with their "built gearbox's" , their strugling to keep 65 while your engine is on tic over in top gear 

[kev d]

Lee, heres a pic of the jig I made.
Got my mounts done today & it took longer than I expected, deffo would be hard to do by eye & ruler.
Cheers,
Kev

[Lee.C]

Nice! that looks like just the job  Rob (54caldub) has offered me the use of his - I am looking to get some 1303 arms realined (narrowed) to match the rear track of a standard "short axle" car - I think someone who replyed to this thread might be able to do it for me (Karl h) I will drop him a PM 

This is all a great help guys - THANKS 

[Peter]

wow cool topic
irs sounds great for handling , but i was always worried about how much you can narrow,
if its possible to get the same track as a older swingaxle, thats great
i also see when people use irs, the wheels tuck in , resto cal style, thats another thing that i dislike

[Lee.C]

wow cool topic
irs sounds great for handling , but i was always worried about how much you can narrow,
if its possible to get the same track as a older swingaxle, thats great
i also see when people use irs, the wheels tuck in , resto cal style, thats another thing that i dislike

yep LOTS of info in this thread 

IRS has always seemed "logical" to me plus the 5 speed is ALOT cheaper - And like I mentioned NO more crappy rear hub seals 

[SteveW]

wow cool topic
irs sounds great for handling , but i was always worried about how much you can narrow,
if its possible to get the same track as a older swingaxle, thats great
i also see when people use irs, the wheels tuck in , resto cal style, thats another thing that i dislike

How do you mean the wheels tuck in? With IRS there is a lot less negative camber when you lower the rear end.

I think you can narrow the rear arms by around an inch each side but maybe Glen or Bruce will be able to comment further..?!

[Fastbrit]

yep LOTS of info in this thread 

IRS has always seemed "logical" to me plus the 5 speed is ALOT cheaper - And like I mentioned NO more crappy rear hub seals 

Yup. Just need some BBS split-rim cross-spoke wheels in gold, a big ol' Type 4 motor and a curved windshield and you're away! 

Grasshopper, you disappoint me. You are straying from the true path to righteousness...

[Prowagen]

Keith I would have thought the multiple street cars running 9's with IRS setups would have gotten you out of the Dark old days of swing axle! 

Out of interest I was thinking if you ran custom tubular arms, surely you can narrow your rear track more???

Rob.

[Lee.C]

yep LOTS of info in this thread 

IRS has always seemed "logical" to me plus the 5 speed is ALOT cheaper - And like I mentioned NO more crappy rear hub seals 

Yup. Just need some BBS split-rim cross-spoke wheels in gold, a big ol' Type 4 motor and a curved windshield and you're away! 

Grasshopper, you disappoint me. You are straying from the true path to righteousness...

Yes I know master - for this I am sorry

I am trying to use bits that would have been around in the 70's ie early 911, 1303 and bus bits  

Don't worry too much though - its all still in my head, I haven't cut anything yet - I just have SOOOOOOOOOO many ideas after SCC

[SteveW]

Rob, you can get those Heim jointed spring plate adapters which take away the need for torsion bars. By narrowing the A A arms by more than a inch or 2 (whatever the maximum is) you then have to narrow the torsion housing. By using those adapters you remove the need for 'shortened' torsion bars!

There is another way of keeping stock length torsion bars but its lots of work! Wayne Allman explained it too me and its lots of work!

[Zach Gomulka]

I had my trailing arms narrowed 26mm for each side, and used 2 left side type 3 automatic axles. Tucked the wheels back in nicely (disc brakes and 5.5" Sprints were the culprit). Check out my GTV thread, there is more info there

[karl h]

monkyboy you have a PM
as zach said, for a narrowed arm/901 setup you need shorter axles
if you go a lot lower than stock on the rear end you can flip the arms from side to side and relocate the shockmount to the opposite arm, so you get not as much negative camber

[71CALRIPPER]

Photos i could find while i was doing a IRS Bus on my 54 floors.

Used a Hym joint and 944 arms

[Lee.C]

Cool pics dude - not sure i will be going quite that "extreme" Like i mentioned I want to use as many "Stock" type parts as though it was done years ago 

Nice looking jig though 

[Jon]

As you can see in the last pic Lee, with a little thought and custom short drive shafts you can get the IRS just as narrow as the Swing. And you can still keep the torsion bars if you like to... But it is at this point you should start buying the rubber and rims you want to fit.... to get that "designed" look....

[71CALRIPPER]

Cool pics dude - not sure i will be going quite that "extreme" Like i mentioned I want to use as many "Stock" type parts as though it was done years ago 

Nice looking jig though 

Yeah sorry the pic was more to show you the Jig

Also if anybody needs to borrow a jig in the UK i am happy to bring it to shows for lend outs

[Bruce]

Cruising at 2000 rpm is lugging it.

Lugging it you must be a lot wealthier than me  , I'd rather spend my money on the car than fuel . 5th gear = low rpm good top end speed .
 Ive spent too many years running up and down the motor ways in old vw's doing 70+ .......

Keep dreaming!
2k rpm @ 70mph = overheating.

[Bruce]

Don't forget to notch your shock towers.  The control arm will hit it.

[Harry/FDK]

The 5th gear is just the best out on the motor way is just the best, cursing along at 2000 rpm just makes sense with ida's 

Cruising at 2000 rpm is lugging it.

Lugging it you must be a lot wealthier than me  , I'd rather spend my money on the car than fuel . 5th gear = low rpm good top end speed .
 Ive spent too many years running up and down the motor ways in old vw's doing 70+ with the engine screaming and the gear box crying out for mercy 
Installing a 901 box seams a logical and practical solution to increasing fuel costs and getting there sparring the motor from long sections of high rpm running 

Lee, 2000 RPM's and cooling the engine?

[Black Sheep]

You guys are more than welcome to come out with me next time I go out , I'll give you a wave as I pass you at the gas station 

[Lee.C]

Lets get this thread going again - I was wondering can the Aluminuim porsche A arms be narrowed 

[nicolas]

swingaxle bad, IRS good
must go turbo, must go  turbo!
EFI is your friend
...

seems like you are getting headfirst in a whole lot off trouble. not the IRS conversion but the more exotic parts may work against you when you need to change something and buy it new. i have thought about this myself if i ever have a problem with one off my old parts. but agian i see what you are getting at, but that car is called a porsche. 
don't forget to flatten the arms off the fork as well . that way you can have better access to the stubs and axles if you need to change something.

Lets get this thread going again - I was wondering can the Aluminuim porsche A arms be narrowed 

i think it can be done, but by a professional welder.

[Lee.C]

swingaxle bad, IRS good
must go turbo, must go  turbo!
EFI is your friend
...

seems like you are getting headfirst in a whole lot off trouble. not the IRS conversion but the more exotic parts may work against you when you need to change something and buy it new. i have thought about this myself if i ever have a problem with one off my old parts. but agian i see what you are getting at, but that car is called a porsche. 
don't forget to flatten the arms off the fork as well . that way you can have better access to the stubs and axles if you need to change something.

Lets get this thread going again - I was wondering can the Aluminuim porsche A arms be narrowed 

i think it can be done, but by a professional welder.

Hmmmm I see your point dude BUT if I do go for these idea's then I will probably just use the fairly standard Single pot calipers and vented disc's - My main idea is to make it look like a Cool "Factory" chassis with as many standard VW/Porsche parts as posible,

it just that after working on my friends IRS chassis and Richie's at SCC to just seems SILLY not to convert - Every thing is just SOOOOOO much easier!

PS:swingaxle bad, IRS good
must go turbo, must go  turbo!
EFI is your friend
...

You just wait till the "NEXT engine dude 

[nicolas]

swingaxle bad, IRS good
must go turbo, must go  turbo!
EFI is your friend
...

seems like you are getting headfirst in a whole lot off trouble. not the IRS conversion but the more exotic parts may work against you when you need to change something and buy it new. i have thought about this myself if i ever have a problem with one off my old parts. but agian i see what you are getting at, but that car is called a porsche. 
don't forget to flatten the arms off the fork as well . that way you can have better access to the stubs and axles if you need to change something.

Lets get this thread going again - I was wondering can the Aluminuim porsche A arms be narrowed 

i think it can be done, but by a professional welder.

Hmmmm I see your point dude BUT if I do go for these idea's then I will probably just use the fairly standard Single pot calipers and vented disc's - My main idea is to make it look like a Cool "Factory" chassis with as many standard VW/Porsche parts as posible,

it just that after working on my friends IRS chassis and Richie's at SCC to just seems SILLY not to convert - Every thing is just SOOOOOO much easier!

PS:swingaxle bad, IRS good
must go turbo, must go  turbo!
EFI is your friend
...

You just wait till the "NEXT engine dude 

Ok we'll call that the 'SCC engine' for covenience 

why not look for a 66 automatic chasis? that could do the trick and be fairly factory with some mods on the shifterplace.

[Lee.C]

Not a bad Idea dude BUT I did speak to my friend Mark at flatlands engineering (buggy builder) and he has all the jigs etc to weld in the brackets etc (e's doing an oval at the moment) and I know that mark will do a PROPER job and it will look very "Factory" 

I just need to work out what width semi trailing arms I need to keep it the same as a "short axle" car - Anyone know

 

[eugene]

i have IRS and 944 brakes on the pan i'm preparing for my 67. with fuchs. 6 inch wide for the front and 7 for the rear. I need to narrow the arms 1'' per side (steel from a beetle) in order to get the 7'' fuchs under the stock fenders. The 6 inch fuchs wouldn't need narrowing or very little maybe, to get the lip in line with the fender end. Remember, the 944 brakes add an inch on both sides.

[Lee.C]

i have IRS and 944 brakes on the pan i'm preparing for my 67. with fuchs. 6 inch wide for the front and 7 for the rear. I need to narrow the arms 1'' per side (steel from a beetle) in order to get the 7'' fuchs under the stock fenders. The 6 inch fuchs wouldn't need narrowing or very little maybe, to get the lip in line with the fender end. Remember, the 944 brakes add an inch on both sides.

WOW dude that is almost exactly the setup I am planning on  but I am wondering why think about narrowing the 6" fuchs and not the beam I am also NOT a big fan of "narrowed beams" BUT if with the disc's etc it ends up being the same width as a STOCK setup then I guess its "acceptable" 

[eugene]

Ok you got me wrong. What i was trying to say is that you probably dont need to narrow the arm when using 6 inch fuchs on the back. They will go just under the stock fender. I need to narrow my arms because of the 7s. The front 944 brakes also widen the track a little + the dropped spindles + the 6inch fuchs - i needed to narrow the front beam up 3 inches.