VW Beetle resto (Fri 17 june)

[CHEWY]

2005 EDIT:
well it seems like we've lost all the photos due to the forum swapover so I've linked to them from another site.

all this work was done in around September last year if I remember correctly.

before

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/178253.jpg

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/178251.jpg

Pulling the body

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/178252.jpg

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/178254.jpg

pan out

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/178257.jpg


donk dropped

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/178265.jpg

what I pulled out of the engine :D

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/178266.jpg

stripped pan
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/178258.jpg

more recent stuff is at the end of the thread
cheers

[danv]

Shit man thats awesome.
Keep us posted on it.

Any more details as to exactly what the restore is going to entail?

[LEX]

Nice for $100
What do u plan to do to it?

[Jordy]

are you cutting the top off and putting a roll cage on it ?

[LTR]

Cars are way too complicated.

[hardtail free rider]

man turn it into one of those sweet dune buggy things, nice and high too

[luckyphil]

Cars are way too complicated.

make it a singlespeed! :lol:

[kalem]

well you need new tires... :P

that's sick man, if i had the means i'd love to do something like that.

[crozza]

the pic's he is looking at i think it will be one off road beast i cant wait to see it in full action :twisted:

[CHEWY]

http://img75.photobucket.com/albums/7/bajaute/greenshortybeta.jpg

Thats the sort of end product Im aiming for, that ones made by an aussie guy names Wes and has a ford 6 cyl in it. I'm stickin to the volksie engines.
At the moment Im searching around for a 1600cc twin port out of a super Beetle, so if anyone knows of any let me know.
No I wont be cutting the roof off, but I will try and find a roll cage kit to fit, and Ill be putting harnesses in and most likly leaving out the rear seat.
Im not looking forward to crashing it so Im gonna try and make it as safe as possible..

[danv]

haha /\/\ sick.

I get the feeling that you're really gonna have to make a decision between "baja beast" and "daily driver". Or just drive an offroad beast buggy on the roads :twisted:

I'm wondering, what exactly is it that is so good about beetles, and also, What, if any, chassis mods do you have to do for them to cope with offroad abuse?

[CHEWY]

I'm wondering, what exactly is it that is so good about beetles, and also, What, if any, chassis mods do you have to do for them to cope with offroad abuse?

The suspension design, basically leaf springs contained in tubes with the trailing arms attached to either end, which can easily be raised with a bit of cutting and welding. Theres no differentials or drive shafts hanging down below the floor pan to get snagged on rocks and roots or whatever, its just one long smooth even bottem. The engines right over the back wheels so you get good traction, and theres no weight over the front so steerings light. Basically just a cheap, bullet proof design, and its something different.

Once you want to raise the stock travel by about 3-4 inchs (about 10" total) you start needing to make other mods cause the suspension and steering components start to get stretched to their limit. Not to mention the camber the rear wheels get. Thats when things start getting costly so Ill probably stop there..

[fatkat]

yeah we have one of those at school that we're turning into a buggy sorta thing.. we took the body off and just put this fat rollcage around it..
hehe, exhaust? what exhaust :twisted:

[wombat]

hehe, awesome. One fella I'm friends with (getting on a bit now) has been building and racing his veedubs for years now (he actually held the Bathurst lap record for ages, not sure if he still does). He's built a few gorgeous little road cars too, does all the engine work, all the suspension/chassis work, even has his own spraybooth setup. He seems to have moved onto a Formula vee car now though......oh, and the 911 that his wife bought him.

Keep us updated on the project though.

[floody]

Nice! though personally I would do it up with some trick 1960's style mags (Fuchs or Empi or something), nice low rideheight, clean factory style paint, Webers or Kadrons, and a trick tubular roofrack - one of the real retro ones with polished wooden slats and stuff....
But Baja's are cool, yeah.... Looks like a neat project

[rhyno]

Meh, been there, done that...and it goes sick! i'll post pics when i get the chance. My advice keep it as original as possible. I like bugs cos you can still get loads of new parts as they were still manufacturing them as spanish taxi's until a couple of years back.


At the moment Im searching around for a 1600cc twin port out of a super Beetle, so if anyone knows of any let me know.

I got one...but it's in mine. and i got twin carbs and extractors.

[CHEWY]

Sick Rhyno! Where have you been buying all your baja bits from?? I havnt been able to find anywhere yet.
I took the top end apart last night to see why it had frozen up, and found some fucked up shit. Ill post pics..

And floody, those roof racks go for about a grand these days :shock:

[CHEWY]

Funny shit.

http://www.farkin.net/forums/album_thumbnail.php?pic_id=9946 (http://www.farkin.net/forums/album_pic.php?pic_id=9946)

http://www.farkin.net/forums/album_thumbnail.php?pic_id=9947 (http://www.farkin.net/forums/album_pic.php?pic_id=9947)

The bearing cap had been squished between the crank and the valve lifters.. and the lower bearing shell has been crushed flat.. healthy :lol:

[rhyno]

Sick Rhyno! Where have you been buying all your baja bits from?? I havnt been able to find anywhere yet.
I took the top end apart last night to see why it had frozen up, and found some fucked up shit. Ill post pics..

And floody, those roof racks go for about a grand these days :shock:
i have only really restored mine back to original condition so no baj bits. though try Mr Bug in Dandenong; he is the distributor of all new parts coming into the country so if he can't get it then your kinda in the poo. i am not running my twins (carbs) and don't plan to, so i'll dig em out of the shed if you wanna buy em.

[CHEWY]

yea sweet, what carbs? single or dual manifolds? Im about to go pull out a mates 1600 kombi engine and borrow it for a while, might buy it off him, so if the carbs are a goer I might just take them off your hands
cheers

[TREK24]

not trying to turn this into a "post your beetle" thread, but i saw this one at the remarkables ski resort in NZ, was quite impressed

http://www.farkin.net/forums/album_pic.php?pic_id=9975

[rhyno]

yea sweet, what carbs? single or dual manifolds? Im about to go pull out a mates 1600 kombi engine and borrow it for a while, might buy it off him, so if the carbs are a goer I might just take them off your hands
cheers
ah shit, sorry mate; just went out to see what i had and it turns out my dad gave them away! (thanks dad, seeing as they're mine and all). So yeah, cant help ya. Though check out bugzilla.com for inspiration, hasn't been updated for a while but it looks sick!

[Cúl-Báire]

Cool man- I cant wait to see the finished product though...

If your after a roll cage, I know someone who may be able to make one up and weld it in for you- he's done a few before. I haven't seen or spoken to him for a while, since he left work- but he lives local (Geelong). Let us know when you need it, and I'll try get ahold of him if your interested.

[CHEWY]

thanks for the offer Cul but I think Ill give it a try myself first.. anyway, I've got my own local welding guy, he's done all my stuff for years so I know his works good.
where do you work Cul-baire?

[RCOH]

As good as those off road beetles are, nothing beats a stocko beetle in OG condition. Keep it real chewy dak-dak forever!!!

If you wanted off road you could have bought a Minx or Baja. Still at least you are working on a good car not some Jap POS. VW Pride 8)

[Cúl-Báire]

I work for an Aluminium window place- it's a shit hole really :P This guy is a boilermaker by trade, and has worked at verious engineering places etc...

[Cruz]

Chewy, I had a 59 Beetle cut at both ends after an accident and fitted a Baja kit to it.

If you are getting your hands on a kombi motor then take the transaxle and gearbox as well as they are stronger than the Beetles. 1800 motors I found were better all round than the twin carb 1600 twin ports, and certainly less expensive for parts. You can get the motor fitted with dowls to make it stronger in the block join and also better bolts and heads to stop oil leaks and have better cooling.

If you are serious about the car then the first thing to do is get the motor balanced perfectly. and don't use cheaper VW parts from Mexico or Brazil as they weigh differently to german parts and will vibrate your motor to pieces.

Can't remember what voltage your model is, but if it isn't 12 volt then you are better off getting the generator rewound to 12 volt and then replacing all the cars bulbs and sealed beams, fuses, and coil. Get a high power coil for it, and a distributor from a Porsche which improves the motors response a lot. If you don't want to use the twin carbs [can be real pains to set up right, and keep working] or the expensive fuel injection system off of a Type 3 then you can use a single barrel Stromberg off of a 149 motor out of a Holden. Take out the choke butterfly and throwaway, and then fit an adjustable mainjet from Repco. You have to take off the cable linkage from one side and fit it to the other side to make it work.

When you compare the size of the Stromberg against the size of the Solex that is standard you will notice the difference. A Franz oil filter and a Donaldson or Uni Filter will keep the motor clean and well. This is most important with air cooled motors. I will try to find my pics and scan them for you. Drove to Darwin and back in it, top speed of 89 miles an hour, which was pretty scary. Also get a Momo wheel to replace the steerer off of the SS Minnow that they came standard with.

If you can get hold of Kharman Ghia drum brakes then get them as they are a lot bigger and wider and work well.

Sorry if this is too long, just became excited looking at the old bug again.

[crozza]

do you have any pic's cruz

[CHEWY]

Hey! nice to see some other addicts on the forums!
Thanks for the tips Cruz. we did pull that kombi engine out, but its not what Im after and the trans-axle is IRS so it couldnt be used anyway.
I think Ill stick with a 1500/1600 type 1 engine cause you can get more parts for them cheaper apparently, and wont modify it too heavily so I can retain stock reliability. Ill be puttin in a low ratio kombi box but for strength and better gearing.
Its Already been converted to 12v too, though the 6v starter is still on there.. which is chewing the ring gear to bits :x
That stromberg idea sounds like a good idea.. does it just bolt straight up to the standard manifold or do you need some form of adapter?

And is there any way of getting rid of the positive camber on the back wheels once I've raised it? they're sitting at the worst angle, tyres are gonna wear fucked up and its gonna be pretty easy to roll :(

[Cruz]

1800 cc engine parts should be easy to get hold of as well. They just have a bit more torque and you can nearly drive anywhere in 3rd gear.

I found that they were more economic than the 1600 too. I also had a Type 3 Fastback with 1600 twin port and fuel injection, but it was a bit all over the place. One day it would run brilliantly then next day like a tractor. There are probably new kits around these days to fix these problems. I know you can get watercooled cylinders and heads too.

The stromberg will need a small mounting plate about 5 mm thick. Best thing is you can pick up a stomberg from anywhere and rebuild kits and adjustable mainjets are very cheap. The Solex's and Bosche injection systems have dollar signs floating around them.

I don't know of any way to change the camber of the rear wheels, hence VW going to the irs trans axle. Don't lift it too high or put too wide tyres on the back as you will just wear the inside of them and roll overs are a problem. I ended up running 195/14's on the front and 215/15 Norseman tyres on the rear.

The other important item to fix immediately is any petrol line made of rubber. Replace it all with quality fuel line and clamps as you will see that no clamps are fitted standard, just push on rubber hose. When they backfire the hose is forced off and the petrol goes all over the motor and then the fire that so many Beetles have known. Always carry a fire extinguisher too.

If you don't need the heater then dump it and save some weight. A 4 into 1 or twin exhaust allows the motor to rev better, and you can have the flywheel lightened to assist with acceleration but it does affect how it runs on smoothly in 2nd and 3rd gear. Check all the flywheel bolts and weigh them if you can to make sure it is all balanced otherwise it will eat the rear oil seals. Inside the car at the front next to the pedals, cut a hatch into the transmission hump and this will allow you easy access to the clutch and brake joins. The clutch uses a solid length of thick piano type wire that slips over a hook and goes through to the back. This is normally impossible to get on usually without the hole cut in. Not sure about the newer models though, this may be standard. If you want a good set of seats that fit straight in onto the VW bases then hunt up the front buckets off of a Morris Marina. It was the only decent part of the Marinas, full foam and really comfortable and fitted into the space well. Find an aftermarket gear shift lever made for the Beetle or Passats, it will have a slight bend in it towards the back of the car. Cut the old lever off with a hacksaw at a height suitable to you after trying the new lever beside it. They come with a small female fitting to go over the lever that is leftover and secured with an allen bolt. This improves the shifting about 50%.

Look here for everything you need to know or buy.
http://www.mickmotors.com.au/

I will dig out the pics and scan them.

[wombat]

When they backfire the hose is forced off and the petrol goes all over the motor and then the fire that so many Beetles have known. Always carry a fire extinguisher too.
Just thought I'd chuck my 2cents in here; Cruz is right. The kombi that I saw go up last year burnt harder than almost anything else I've seen, absolute shit of a thing. Do whatever you can to avoid it, and if it does light up use the extinguisher if you can, but I doubt you'd have a lot of luck. My advice would be to get away from the bloody thing.

[CHEWY]

Are you saying I should put steel fuel lines on, or just clamp the rubber lines on? cause they're already clamped.
cheers

[CHEWY]

Stripping down the floor pan to get it ready to paint with barmastic rus converter. Have to order a sheizen loaden of parts like bushes, bearings, cables etc.
After shes painted up Ill be starting the process of stickin things back together.
Got a 1600TP sourced too, hopefully..

http://www.farkin.net/forums/album_pic.php?pic_id=10610

http://www.farkin.net/forums/album_pic.php?pic_id=10609

Trans-axel and front beam assembly
http://www.farkin.net/forums/album_pic.php?pic_id=10607

What came out of the old engine
http://www.farkin.net/forums/album_pic.php?pic_id=10608

[crozza]

what the fuck :shock:

[fatkat]

how the hell is that possible?!?!?! :? :shock:

[CHEWY]

how the hell is that possible?!?!?! :? :shock:

Right side bolt must've come loose, the big end gets ripped in two.. bearing cap gets crushed between the crank and valve lifters while the upper portion of the big end is ripped open when the piston stops in the bore and the crank keeps rotating.
oh, and one of the pistons skirts gets broken off in the process
:P

[fatkat]

i would of loved to hear the sound that it made when that happened!!
I remember when i used to race karts, my piston got stuck in the cylinder after knocking the fuel/air mix adjusters... causing much mishap and a huge spinout! (karts dont have clutches)

[CHEWY]

yea well finally got round to updating this thread, done a lot of work and put a heap of hours into this project and its finally starting to get there
the plan is to have it finnished in about 2 months, but with the amount of rust work to do on the body it might not be too easy.
I've basically just gone through the whole car and rebuilt everything that was past its servicable life, all up Ive spent about $900 and in the end (RWC) I estimate Ill have put about $1500 into it.
however it will be an ongoing project and a lot more $$ will be poured into it.

anyway, this is before..

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/201242.jpg

and this is now

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/201239.jpg

I stripped/cleaned the entire pan (took for f*cken ever) and gave it a coat of a 2-pac epoxy mastic
In the centre of the two transverse beams in that last pic you can see I have welded adjusters in. These pre-load the torsion springs and increase ride height and stiffen suspension.
All the spot-welded seams on the pan (frame head, shocks towers and tranny horns) have been sweat welded for strength.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/201241.jpg

upside down pan after priming

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/195698.jpg

after spraying

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/195699.jpg

heres one of the worst rust spots, I've had to cut out so much metal the A-pillar is no longer attached to the sill.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/201238.jpg

the dog has the job of holding up the body

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/196269.jpg

and this is what Im doing.. turning it into a full bodied off-road sedan.. kinda like a Kommanduerswagen from WWII

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/200734.jpg

cheers

[donthucktoflat]

i see what you mean (in the last pic) about the crazy camber when you raise the suspension more. that is indeed nuts. oh and bt5w, i can't get the pics to display from and future-egde.net links... how come? (it says HTTP404 not found or something)

[CHEWY]

i see what you mean (in the last pic) about the crazy camber when you raise the suspension more. that is indeed nuts. oh and bt5w, i can't get the pics to display from and future-egde.net links... how come? (it says HTTP404 not found or something)

yea the camber gets pretty bad due to the swinging axle suspension design.
eventually Ill be converting it to a semi-trailing arm setup (used on super bugs and 68+ Kombis) which gets rid of the camber problem by using an additional suspension member and double jointed axles (swing axles use a solid axle attached to the side of the tranny which swings through an arc, hence the camber)
but until then crazy camber it is
you cant see the old photos cause the old forum and the photos stored on it got dumped.
cheers

[scottmeister]

Looking good chewy!

I'll get you some pics of the drag bug my uncle is building up at the moment, he fabricated his own tunnel and has raised the gearbox up to dump it on its guts, and just got a new floorpan.

Gawd those WWII-era military volkswagens are sick :D

[Superman]

lookin good, not that i know anything about cars, but yeah i can tell its comming along.

your dog looks fatter than my fat dogs

[CHEWY]

yea I got a serious obsession with Volkswagen military veichles
one day Ill make a proper replica.
My old VET teacher made a Kubel basically from scratch, all panels and everthing, on a beetle chassis, my mate drove to sydney in it for a war re-inactment.
he still has the dies for pressing the panels.. :p one day..

If your ever in Canberra check out the war musemum, they have an original Kubelwagen in there, bout a 43' I think, nearly creamed myself when I saw it.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/92103.jpg

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/143824.jpg

[lotec]

that camber is insane :eek: coming along well though :cool:

[chrus]

keep it coming chewy.. lookin tops so far. expensive process?

[Cruz]

Looking very nice Chewy, work well done. I finally found the photos of my 59 cut Beetle and just have to get them scanned up here. Are you going to use fibreglass panels for the front and rear?

A good set of adjustable shocks such as Koni make a huge diference to how the rear wheel camber reacts under compression and rebound and helps stop the roll over effect that happens sometimes.

Keep the phots coming.

[scottmeister]

Heres some oldish photos (a few months) of the fabrication before and after of the tunnel in my uncles next drag beetle.

Note the phat lines for fuel und nitrous :D And the shifter ;)

[CHEWY]

Cruz, no firbreglass for me mate, this is strictly an all metal bug.
I have already got my rear shocks, a set of high pressure gas Telaflos, adjustable with 4 different valving settings. Should help out the handling a bit, in expense of my kidneys..

Nice Scott, nice.. I like the idea of lifting the tranny to keep neg camber down when dumped.
whats the specs gonna be?

anyway, Im doing my bit for the drought..

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/186945.jpg

I stripped this one down, the crankshaft is now my thinking stool in the shed :D

[CHEWY]

Some more pics, its back on its four legs!!
pretty much rebuilt the entire brakeing system (MC, wheel cyl, lines, pads, etc.)
Tranny has new seals all over
Urethane spring plate bushes
rear re-indexed one inner up and 1 outer down
new shift rod bushing
tie rod ends regreased
new inner left side tie rod end
new steering damper
rebuilt K+L assemblys
new shocks on the back (will balljoint bus shocks off the front fit???)
fronts were fine so I left them for the time being
Custom urethane bump stops rear
stock sized urethane stops front
and countless other little things
thats all I can think of atm

Still need some 215/75/15 tyres and more importantly, an engine!
may have a 1500SP with alt lined up
some more piccies

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/212900.jpg

ground clearence with stock size tyres and no neg travel

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/212901.jpg


http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/212902.jpg

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/212905.jpg

[brisneyland]

what I pulled out of the engine :D

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/178266.jpg

cheers


Knock knock...

Who's there?

your conrods!

Haha, nice project dude, I'm looking forward to seeing the end result.

I've got a '58 under the house that I'm about to pull our and re register.

She's got 2 pack Glasurit paint, (cream sorta colour), lowered heaps, IRS rear end, 1600 twin port, front discs, rear Type III drums and pumpin tunes.

Her name is Eleanor ;)

Dude, I'd reccomend going the IRS convo now, it's a big improvement. I really reckon you'd be better off doing it right, first time, rather than doing it twice. (like I did)

So I'm selling my truck soon (anyone want a hilux?) and will have to carry bikes on the VW again :rolleyes:

Keep us posted dude!

[CHEWY]

Id like to go IRS right now bit havn't got enough $$$ or time, this needs to be on the road asap.
Got an engine for it anyway, 1300F single port, not exactly a powerhouse but after a full tune up she runs strong and cool. Has a bit of torque too it tho with the smaller valves and single ports.
non stock stuff, bosch 009 dizzy, 30 pict-2 carb, GT40, 55amp alternator.
Does some wickid fishies, Ive gotten it tapped out on the tar and it can do a mean hillclimb out the back of my place too, even with the bald tyres.
Ill get some pics of that later in the week..

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/214816.jpg

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/215702.jpg

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/215701.jpg

[bing bong]

mmm, that looks mad. ive always liked that particular bettle, it reminds me of the time i went to berlin and i went to a car museum and to get people throught the wall they would hide in the seats so they wouldnt gey caught goin through the gates it was quite funny but it was a very nice car, pretty much the same as the one your making.

i cant wait to see the end of this project if there will be one.

[wtr]

Haha, she looks fun. Plan to just drive her around the backyard?

[blt2ride]

Wow...you did a lot of work on your ride! V-Dubs are a lot of fun...

[fatkat]

haha nice man! We're experimenting with the vw at school at the moment- So far we've (3 mates and i)
a) installed twin port heads
b) installed twin solex carbies (solex=crap, but they look cool with the shiny manifolds)
c) realised the linkages dont fit so we're fabricating new ones
d) realised the tinware doesnt fit either so i went at it with a anglegrinder and made it fit
e) realised the accellerator cable is too long so we have to fix that now

VWs are so much fun to work on, just sometimes it gets a bit frustrating when you're trying to transplant parts from a wagon engine onto a beetle one.

[CHEWY]

sweet as dude, theres so much aftermarket and even stock stuff used throughout the years that are interchangable with different models that there are hundreds of different combos you can run.
Solex carbs arent crap, just designed more for fuel efficiency than anything else.
Are they 32 PICTs?? stock off a type 3 wagon? I wouldnt mind a set of them myself...
Since the stock engines are so under carbed for efficiency and engine life any carb improvements you do make a big difference, add a set of extractors and you wont recognise the engine anymore.
And yes there will be an end to this project the only thing left to do is rust work on the body, and theres shitloads of it :mad:

[hysteria85]

just sometimes it gets a bit frustrating when you're trying to transplant parts from a wagon engine onto a beetle one.

Yeah especially when the car is in a dusty, uneven floored underground cavern, with minimal light and trying to stop the bolts falling through the gaps on the stairs that we're actually standing on while working..... :p

Should be finished 1st day back at school, all we have to do is braze the two parts of the fabricated linkage together and attach the accelerator cable and the carbi linkage. We'll try to get some photos (fatkat bring your digi cam :) )

And we have to work out an air intake system for the two carburettors. We're thinking a big filtered intake duct stuck to the top of the roll cage :D

[hysteria85]

theres so much aftermarket and even stock stuff used throughout the years that are interchangable with different models that there are hundreds of different combos you can run.

The main compatibility problem was that the generator is positioned differently on the engine we took the carbs from, so we have to modify the accelerator linkage to go under the generator on the buggy.

And yes there will be an end to this project the only thing left to do is rust work on the body, and theres shitloads of it :mad:

hehe you should see the rust on a renault 12 we've been 'fixing' for someone in our class. You can stick your head through the rust holes below the pedals :D

[fatkat]

extractors? hehe how about drag pipes? Thats whats on the engine at the moment!! sounds tough!

Oh and note- do not try and remove heads when car is on an angle upwards and sideways with oil still in motor.. you will get it all over yourself.

[Shorty_Jas]

I just want to know if any of you have a 72 superbug wiring lume

Me and My mate are restoring the superbug and i need the wiring lume specs

there was next to no rust in it but we got it all out

[Shorty_Jas]

some pictures of it allmost finshed

[mike on a bike]

i seen a sick lookin bug yesterday was done in matt black with white wall wheels and was about 20mm of the ground done up full rat-rod style was awsome.

On the topic of VW's heres a pic of my mums Kombi camper that i painter XR6 Phantom mica purple for her.

[NCR600]

I can't say I appreciate VW's (or anything else German, BMW's Porsches Mercs etc) but I can appreciate hard work when I see it. Good stuff!

I've got my own particular brand of masochism, stupid old Italian race bikes and an Alfa Romeo GTV shell I must do something with in the future.

Keep it up, you're an inspiration!

[n00b]

I've got my own particular brand of masochism, stupid old Italian race bikes and an Alfa Romeo GTV shell I must do something with in the future.

Keep it up, you're an inspiration!

Horray the first talk of alfas on farkin (besides from my occassional ramblings)
Our fourth Sud Sprint showed up on thursday. This one is apparently going to be the club racer. (It becomes an addiction which fortunatley is funded by my father)

If you decide to go ahead with your project, rember this:
1) Thats not rust its character.
2) When faced with one of the plethora of idiosyncrasies in the design of most alfas, and it turns what normally would have been a 5 miniute job into a 3 hour/day test of your patience. ALWAYS tell yourself there MUST have been a good reason for the location/function (or lack of function) of that particular part otherwise they wouldn't have done it that way.
3) Invest in something to beat the crap out of when your patience inevitably runs out. (A two by four and the dumpster out the back work for me)

[NCR600]

Horray the first talk of alfas on farkin (besides from my occassional ramblings)
Our fourth Sud Sprint showed up on thursday. This one is apparently going to be the club racer. (It becomes an addiction which fortunatley is funded by my father)

If you decide to go ahead with your project, rember this:
1) Thats not rust its character.
2) When faced with one of the plethora of idiosyncrasies in the design of most alfas, and it turns what normally would have been a 5 miniute job into a 3 hour/day test of your patience. ALWAYS tell yourself there MUST have been a good reason for the location/function (or lack of function) of that particular part otherwise they wouldn't have done it that way.
3) Invest in something to beat the crap out of when your patience inevitably runs out. (A two by four and the dumpster out the back work for me)

HaHa!

I've owned various Alfas over about 10 years, so I'm well versed in their idiosyncratic ways!

Replacing a transaxle in the 75 took a good 3 days of work, although I think that had a lot to do with the logistics of manouvering it into place around the DeDion arms with the car sitting on jack stands and prolly would have been much easier on a hoist!

I dunno what I'm gonna do with the GTV shell (Rust Free!)
Some sort of race vehicle is a certainty, maybe with a 3liter 4 valve motor, or maybe with a Gen III Holden motor (I've been measuring the one in my SS ute, and it looks like it will fit!)

[CHEWY]

Wow forgot this thread existed
Progress has kind of halted on the beetle as I have been a bit pre-occupied with motorbikes and bought myself a kombi which has needed a bit of work to get roadworthy, hopefully that will be on the road for the roadtrip to Phillip Island for the Pyramid rock festival on NYE, I just finished welding in some new panels today so all the bad rust is fixed. Once the Kombi is all sorted for my daily driver work will resume on the beetle.
Im on holidays till the 12 of jan so hopefully will get a bit done.
Heres some more pics, the body will go back on the pan for good in a couple of weeks as I have finished welding up the firewall/sill. Its kinda turned into a long term project now.
Cheers

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/243531.jpg

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/243532.jpg

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/243533.jpg

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/243534.jpg

[CHEWY]

new bus

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/244119.jpg

entire outer rocker was farked inner rocker was stuffed up near the wheel arch.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/244121.jpg

New outer rocker and inner rocker welded in
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/244120.jpg

[Adam 74]

This is my Splitty. I've got a long way to go.