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Reply to "Future of replicas"

@chines1 posted:

Wolfgang is correct on the VW VIN location, and we designed our new speedster chassis to be able to use the torsion tube and first 12" of the tunnel so it can retain this VIN number if needed.  Eventually I'll post more pics and info on the new Speedster chassis, and DStu posted pics of  his recently delivered, but in short it's dual a-arm front suspension on adjustable coil overs and rack and pinion steering with an IRS rear.

As for the Spyder, you likely won't see a modification to the Beck Spyder chassis.  We've done the math and mock up and to get an a-arm at a length that would be acceptable to me, you'd have to do a complete chassis change making the front frame rails too close together to have a comfortable foot box, otherwise the a-arms are too short.  So we just improved on the front beam and have been using the Airkewld front beam with Delrin inserts for several years now.  It got us away from junk China parts and works very well.

You're a brilliant man, Carey. This is exactly what I was thinking of when I was brainstorming yesterday. Of course you are already ahead of the game.

Chuck's new front end is a much more elegant design than what I had in mind, but it accomplishes the same thing-- a modern suspension and a wide footbox. The Achilles heel of the pan is the ridiculously narrow mounting points on the front, and the steering box arrangement. A rack and pinion and some wider mounting points improve the beam cars dramatically-- but this is last generation Beck (and my car). I've got wider mounting points, a Golf steering rack, and Konis. It was about as good as it could get in 2005, but we've clearly moved past that.

This used to bum me out, but I think there are ways to improve the beam to make it a lot better.

Regarding the beam improvements, I've actually been thinking about something I'd like to throw out there. An Airkewld beam is available bare, and Red 9 in England sells a coil-over setup for beams (it's similar to an air-ride beam with through-rods, etc., but uses coil-overs instead of air-shocks or an airbag). The Airkewld beam shock-towers are certainly robust enough to carry the front end load (a German, Brazillian, or Chinese beam isn't, IMHO). There's nothing magic about Red 9's kit, and I think there are plenty of places to get everything needed domestically (rather than from England during COVID).

In your opinion, is there anything to be gained in doing this, as opposed to the traditional beam adjusters, shocks, lowering spindles, etc.?

It seems like at a minimum, ride height could be adjusted independently of spring rate. At a maximum, it could be pretty sweet.

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