Air soft BB's to balance tires.

Yep, I am going to try to run my tires with air soft beads to balance them instead of balancing them with weights. There are lots of advantages of running these beads instead of weights. They make beads that are specifically for balancing tires. One brand is called dyna beads. You can read about them if you want. I heard of using air soft BB's as an alternative method that is a lot cheaper and works just as well. I figured this is a good project to try this method. I have been wanting to try it for awhile now and I was going to do it on the last set of tires I bought for my other bug but Discount balanced them for free so I didn't. Anyways, keep reading to see what I did. I finally got some paint on my wheels and let them dry for a day before I mounted my tires on them..

 Here are the tires I am going to run on my class 11 lookalike. I took them to work and removed them from the baja wheels they are on. If you are looking for some good baja 4 lug steel wheels let me know. They are for sale!

 These are the beads that I went with. Get the heavy ones (.20g) I went with 5000 BB's and after weighing them out I have enough for 10 tires. This container cost me 20 bucks so that's only 2 bucks a tire to balance. You can get cheaper ones at wal mart or even cheaper ones on amazon. I went with these ones because they are suppose to hold up better and they were the only ones I saw that had a guaranteed tolerance on them. I figured they had to be good.

 I read that you want to measure out 3.5 ounces for each tire. I used a food scale and I ended up bagging 10 3.5 ounce bags with just a few left over. I then mounted the tires on my rims and just before I set the beads I poured the BB's into the tire. I then just pumped them up and set the bead. It was easy as pie. You can hear the beads rolling around in the tires. When I get my bug up and running I will post on how well they balance. I hear that guys that do a lot of mudding like using beads because they will balance the tires even with mud on them and as they shed the mud it will rebalance as it goes. Call me crazy but if it works I will save a ton of money because I can mount my own tires and I won't need to pay to have them balanced. I go through tires on my lowered bug so it will help there also.  

Here are all 4 mounted and ready to go. I debated on whether to put the white letters out. In the end that's what I ended up doing.

 I couldn't resist putting them on to see how they look. I think that when I get the suspension set up the way I want, it will sit like this when it's on the ground. It actually might be a little higher.

I will need to adjust the steering stops just a little so the tires don't rub on the torsion arms but other then that it should be good. I will be able to start on the suspension when the raised spindles and the new ball joints get here. Hopefully that will be soon. I also need to re-index the rear suspension and notch the spring arms. Hopefully we get it on the road before the first snow flies but time is not on our side. Check back to see if that happens and if the beads work. Until then, Keep on Buggin!

Crazy Coincidence!

When we decided to build a class 11 lookalike bug we talked about how we had never seen one in Utah before. That was one of the reasons we were excited about building one. We looked at plenty of pictures and planned out how we wanted to raise it and modify it but we had never seen one in person. Well today we did! I sell bug parts pretty regularly on KSL.com and on a local VW club site here. I had been communicating with a guy that was interested in some parts I had and so we set up a time for him to come over and look at what I had. He drove up in this awesome bug! I couldn't believe that he had one and drove over to my house in it. We talked for an hour and parts traded hands but the best part was that we were able to check out his bug. This is pretty much how ours is going to sit when we are done with it and his suspension is almost exactly the same way we are going to do ours. The only difference is that he was running a cut and turned beam and we are going to run raised spindles with an adjustable beam. I think ours may ride a little better with the spindles but time will tell. I loved this bug. It is sitting perfect and he says it goes anywhere. He offered to bring it back over and we can jack them up and compare them side by side. It would be a blast to do that and then I can find out his angle on his torsion arms also so I can match mine up to them. He is an awesome guy and hopefully we can cruise together on some cruises and check out some trails when ours is done.

I am making some progress even though it's slow right now. I have almost all the tin stripped and sand blasted. I just need to find some time to stay late at work or go in on a Saturday to do some powder coating.

I also stripped the stock wheels that we are going to run. They actually were quite a mess and a lot rougher then I was hoping for. It took a long time in the sand blaster to get them looking like this. I did manage to get all 4 done though.

 I took them home and sprayed a coat of primer on them before they had time to rust. The weather turned cold so they are still in primer right now. I am hoping that tomorrow will be warm enough to hit them with some paint. I am going to paint them satin black. I have found that paint holds up pretty well on wheels. I powder coated the wheels on my first bug and they started rusting right away. I must of not prepped them right or something but I primed and painted them and they are holding up really well. That's why I decided to do the same to these ones. I am still not sure if I will keep them satin black also and paint is easier to strip then powder coating.

So that's the latest update on the bug. Tomorrow most of the day will be spent doing yard work getting it ready for winter but maybe I can squeeze some time in on the bug. I need to make a list of everything that needs to be done to it and then prioritize them so I can get working on the most important things first. Anyways, Until next time, if in life you have a big silt bed in front of you, remember to keep your foot in the gas and don't let up. Don't give up even if you can't see. You'll make it through it, hopefully without getting stuck!

54 years and worlds apart!

We were cleaning the shop at work today and had the outside door open. I spotted this caddy pulling in to the parking lot. We naturally had to go and check it out. It's in great shape and it is my favorite year of all the Cadillac's. As we were looking at it I realized the Chevy volt parked next to it. I laughed and pointed out the irony of the 2 cars. There is more steel in the front bumper of the Cadillac then there is in all of the volt. The Cadillac is also about 3 times as long as the volt. 

 I love the bumper. It was cool to see the difference that 59 years makes.

 If I had to choose between which of these 2 cars I would drive everyday, It wouldn't be a hard choice.

 I am pretty sure I know who has a funner time driving to work between these 2 cars. The sad thing is that the volt costs almost twice as much as the caddy does. It would take many years and miles to make up the difference in the cost of the volt. The caddy would only go up in value also and the volt will only go down. Especially when the batteries are dead in the volt.

                                     
I had to share the excitement we had today in the shop. I lead a pretty boring life I guess. Ha Ha. Oh well, it pays the bills. Until the next post, Drive something with fins if you get a chance!

This is on my bucket list.

So, I have been watching some class 11 racing videos on you tube and decided I need to do this before I die. It looks like a blast. I have some buddies that are ready to go when I do it. I figure I can tow my bug down there so I can drag it home if  I break it. (which is highly possible) Check it out and let me know what you think. (I love the bumper sticker 42 seconds into the video.)

 I will need to find some sponsors so I can get some extra parts and tires. Maybe my work will sponsor me. I think we fly to mexico???

Enjoying the Drive part 3.

This week I have seen more cars then I have shown here but I haven't had my camera with me. Here are the ones I did catch. This T-bird is nice. There was a guy driving it with an elderly women in the passenger seat. It is a cool car.

 This one isn't my style but the guy looked like he was having a blast driving it. (I really need to clean the windshield of my bug.)

 This is a blurry picture but I got it. A girl was driving this bug really close to where I live. It's always cool to see another bug on the road.

 And then there was this! Today at lunch my friend spotted this and I barely got a picture of it. He said we could do better then that so he chased it down.

This vehicle is really long. A girl was driving it. They went into taco bell for lunch so we snapped a few pictures.

 Here is a front view. It would be fun to drive. I bet it gets blown all over in high winds though.

 We were amazed at how many people showed up out of nowhere to take pictures of it. Here are some of the people taking pictures. I bet they get that everywhere they go. It must be fun to drive when you get that much attention. I wonder what kind of fuel it uses. Bio fuel?

That's it for this week. I will try to have my camera close by to get more pictures for the next week. Until then, keep your gas tanks full.

My Motivation

Found these videos and they really help me get motivated to get Lulu my class 11 bug up and going.

I took all the engine tin to my work and it's almost ready to be powder coated. I have stripped it and now just need to bead blast it. I also took the wheels into my work. I have to remove the old tires and prep and paint the wheels. I then can install the BFG's from my old Baja on those wheels. It doesn't seem like much but it all takes time. I also need to replace the ball joints, buy and install the raised spindles, repack the wheel bearings, replace the windshield and the list goes on and on. It snowed in the mountains today so I better get my act together if this is going to be my winter driver. I do my best work under pressure though so it should all work out. Until next time, Keep your crankcase full of oil and your breather clean!

The new Roadkill video is out and we were there!

The roadkill video from Bonneville has finally been put on you tube. We watched them film the very beginning of the video where Finnegan says what this weeks roadkill is about. They filmed it in the pits and Steven, Isaac and myself watched them go through about 5 different takes to get it right. Here is the picture of them filming it.

 We talked with them for awhile and they are really cool guys.

 This was "The best day ever" hanging out with my sons on the salt!

And here is the video. It is one of the best roadkills they have made. I might just be saying that because we were there though.             ENJOY!

Watching this video brought back awesome memories that I will not forget and hopefully my boys will remember also.