Lee & Fordfreak, points taken and under review. 95% sure I'm going to run my CNC single handle. Thanks for posting the pics of the turning brake setups earlier Lee, and thanks as well for the offer above, but I stumbled upon the thread you described whilst in my quest for the perfect turning brake mounting technique! I'm thinking along those lines of the extended control rods.
Devastator, always good to hear a bit of subconsciously suppressed jealousy, keeps me motivated.
Anyways. Did some stuff, just as boring as I promised. I've always hated looking at those gaping slots on the front beam adjusters, so I made sealing caps for them that go under the adjuster blocks. I bet Devastator wants some of these too for all the sand that keeps ending up in his front beam bushi.... Nevermind.
Then I measured piston protrusion on the CNC single handle turning brake so it would be easy to get back in adjustment after I tinkered with it.
Made some stuff... for mocking up a possible new turning brake arrangement. ETD150 turns like butter. And gravy. And butter. It's eyebrow-liftingly expensive, but prehardened to ~34 Rockwell C with a respectable shear strength. As my calculus teacher once said to me regarding difficulties and expenses resulting from honest mistakes, "well, the trick to doing all this is just to not mess up as you go through it all."
Next, I was pondering ignition setups to work with my Rebel Wire Bug wiring harness, and I noticed the original beetle has no starter relay. Apparently that is a problem as a beetle ages along with its ignition switch. SO, I set out in search of a reliable high power ignition switch with a decent current rating across the solenoid contacts, because I didn't want to add the complexity of a starter relay if I didn't have to, however simple the idea.
After literally hours of googling different sensible keywords, I stumbled upon a sympathetic manufacturer who understood my plight.
http://products.pollakaftermarket.com/i ... tch/31-499
I promptly bought 2, because I'm a free spirit and sometimes I do things without thinking. (What I am really thinking is that I almost have enough suspension and driveline parts for a F/G buggy, and I'll think myself a fool if such a useful switch goes out of production before I get around to the next build.)