July08 015.jpg
July08 015.jpg 2008-07-21

July08 001.jpg
July08 001.jpg 2008-07-13

July08 004.jpg
July08 004.jpg 2008-07-13

1st Test Drive

Spring 08

1st Test Drive-1


Bug and Deserter VIN Plates
IMG_2190.jpg 2008-07-13

Engine
IMG_2183.jpg 2008-07-13

IMG_2185.jpg
IMG_2185.jpg 2008-07-13

Cooling Tins

Seperates the hoy exhaust air from the engine cooling air, important on any air-cooled car.

Z-Bar

MAde these new mounts, an improvment and different than originals

Dash
IMG_2198.jpg 2008-07-21

Dash or Interior
IMG_2200.jpg 2008-07-21

Another view of the dash
July08 015.jpg 2008-07-21

New tires 265/50's

Much better at filling the wheel well.

More cooling tins
July08 004.jpg 2008-07-13

Nov08 016.jpg
Nov08 016.jpg 2008-11-08

Nov08 030.jpg
Nov08 030.jpg 2008-11-08

Nov08 033.jpg
Nov08 033.jpg 2008-11-09

Nov08 034.jpg
Nov08 034.jpg 2008-11-09

Nov08 037.jpg
Nov08 037.jpg 2008-11-09

Nov08 010.jpg
Nov08 010.jpg 2008-11-08

Nov08 026.jpg
Nov08 026.jpg 2008-11-08

Fresh Paint on New Chassis, finally.
All 1/8 in wall and extra cross members add up to 140 lbs, just about double the original.

Tight fit
I used the newer dual ckt M/C and it just barely fits, but it's in!

Tight fit 2
I could only fit in 1 switch and had to plug the other port, just not enough room.

Toe Box Rear
rivots and backing plates

Floor Pan Rivots


Toe Box Front
Installed with large head rivots.

Floor Pan
Oct 06, more progress

headermods3
It took some time to get this seated level, added a half shim on outside edge to lever pressure on gasket

headermod1
A look at my last mod, a support bracket

headermods2
You can almost make out the new bracket attaching the intake to the header, should help.

E-Brake Cable
3/8 in aluminum tubing

Sumitomo Tires
Great value, good reviews? Probably never will wear them out in a 1,200 lb buggy

70's vintage Dan Gurneys mags
This is the old school big-small look that my buggy needed. 14 in front & 15 in rears.

Interior Painted 11-06
Decided to paint the interior of the tub prior to assembly, plenty of scratches possible on the exterior still.

Spray Cans
Rustoleum Sunbirst Yellow is a pretty good looking yellow for a buggy.

Rear inner fender
Doesn't look bad at all.

The Body gets bolted!!
Some of these are tough to get too, but it's done

Empty Engine Bay!!
I'm really looking forward to fitting the engine & tranny soone.

Front End Complete - Jan07
This is the last time, I'll have this view for a long while I hope.

Gas tank is installed - Jan07
Cut, weld, grind, modify and seal inside and out. Fresh paint and it's done!!

guage cluster rear
All VDO, some old some new.

guage cluster front - Jan07
Wanted an aluminum look, decided on a silver carbon fiber

Jan07
4 spider super-diff

Tranny is in Jan07
A wide ratio Pro-Street w/3:88 R&P, rhino cased, super diff assembled by Rancho. Sprayed with Gibbs preservative?

It rolls!!!
Sitting on all 4, a roller for the first time!!

The Corvair 140 Engine
This, as asebmbled in GS trim weighs 250 lbs

Looking ready to go in


Didn't fit in this way?


This time it fits!!!


Drivers Side
Trailing arms & stuff

Feb07GS 002


Feb07GS 003


Feb07GS 004


Feb07GS 005


Feb07GS 007


Pass Side


Mounting tab for seat belt


Pass side


VVF8_bims_s1.jpg
VVF8_bims_s1.jpg 2007-08-04

12-31-07 039.jpg
12-31-07 039.jpg 2007-12-28

12-31-07 044.jpg
12-31-07 044.jpg 2007-12-28

12-31-07 036.jpg
12-31-07 036.jpg 2007-12-28

12-31-07 043.jpg
12-31-07 043.jpg 2007-12-28

gs as found - Sept 03
It's rough, but I was very excited to actually find one I can afford!!

gs as found rear
begining to get a bad feeling about this

shock mount is rough & not pretty
chassis problem 1, probably the most common failure in the GS chassis

rust on roll bar & supports
pit holes everywhere, chassis prob #2, other areas are bulged due to water infiltration & then freezing

front torsion is not bad on chassis but,
more problems on the bottom rails towards the rear, looks like is sat outside & on the ground :-(

chassis & tub as found


Old pan repaired
Holes filled and coated

A fresh looking GS floor pan,Done Jan-04
With a fresh coat of POR-15, it hides a lot of sins and is absolutely great on fiberglass!

rollbar2
this worked better than expected

rollbar5
Matches the template! Howd I do that?

mike
nice to have friends that can weld better than I

mike2
a whole new chassis? more than I bargained for, but solid!!!

me & mike Mar-04
building a whole new chassis add more time & is way over my head, but nice to have friends to help out!!

VW Engine looks lost
Tried this 2180 & then decided to use it in my Speedster instead. So winter 05 is spent on Speedy engine swap, not on GS

VW engine in place
Tried it, did not like it, nother change

The new choice, it's a Corvair - Feb -05
Fresh engine, 4 carb heads all from eBay

vair engine
fresh, rebuilt engine need to convert to GS mid-ship placement

Deserter S1 body, soon to be a GS.
Decided against using the GT body on my GS chassis, and this looks pretty good.

S1 Body as found
This is the body of choice, way too much windshield for a GS though.

All apart & clean - June 05
All apart and clean for the 1st time in 30 years! All metal is gone an all that's left is fiberglass!

Another view, all clean, no nuts. bolts.
A good starting point, where's the saw and sanders.

Hole Saw Cuts
After some planning and marking, this is how I make inside radius cuts, before the saws-all.

Toe Box Cut Prep
Next, connect the dots with the Saw's-All, it cuts fast, so go slow with a fine blade.

Engine compartment
That should allow some space, no more battery tray

You're now a Series 1 GS body.
The tools I used and a little dust, it doesn't take long at all to make a mess.

Spare Fiber Glass!
This is the pile of what gets removed to make it a GS. I'll save all of these for use later if needed during repairs.

It fits!
1st time fitting looks pretty close, some final fitting still needed

More Parts
Toe Box Test Fit, looks promising

My Crayola Edition GS, Aug - 05
It's been a long haul with lots of different color fiberglass parts, but that's all of them!!

The Toe Box!
More leg room than I expected, but clutch pedal hits bottom lip, what the?

toe box resto, cut, grind, add glass!
Clerance problems with my VW pedals so modifiy it we did, move back lip & widen it, more work but worth it?

toe box repair & mods
Here you can almost make out the lighter green areas that were repaired or added

toe box resto - almost done
OK, Iknow its tough to see in black, but this looks pretty good with a coat of POR-15

toe box - done Aug, 05
This is it, better fit to the body and it's just a little larger than when it started.

GS - Corvair Header Modifications
left is the normal Cyclone header, and the right is the cut down version to fit a GS. Nothing is easy on this car!!!

Add tape and remove the Blue area.
With 2 in strips of tape added, I cut on each side and removed the blue taped area.

Cut & Tacked
Ok, here you can see them ready to weld. The center pipe did not line up well & had to be modified a bit more to fit.

headers all welded
gas torch, by the master, Howsie

Exaust Routing
After plenty of pondering, this is my best solution for routing the pipes.

Exaust Routing 2
Again from a differnt view, short, simple & uncluttered.

Exaust Routing 3
The other side

Exaust Routing & 911 Muffler
It's tucked away pretty good, something had to go in all of that unused space.

It's been, well exausting.
Like many parts of this build, nothing has come easy, but I like the end result so far, can't wait to hear it!!

D Shifter & Linkage
A view of the original Autodynamics shift linkage, thanks to Jeff for much help locating parts.

Shift Linkage
A rear look at the A/D shift linkage, two swivels, one support, pretty clever and simple.

Installing a Rack & Pinion into a GS
After searching long & hard, I determine that a Rabbit unit is as close as perferct as I'll find to retrofit into a Bug.

Scirrocco R&P
This is one of the brackets that had to be made, driver side. The R&P spline matches the super beetle column!!

Passenger Side R&P bracket
Did I mention the Rabbitt tie rod ends match up with the Bug's & only have to be shortened a bit!! More good news.

New Lowered Beam Mods
Using the R&P means I can cut off some regular steering box parts, cleaner look for the ants or anyone real short!!

Modified Steering Column Mount - Jan05
Bent up this steel plate to mount the Super Beetle column to. This is the underside of the black dash & bracket

gastankmods 001
Started with a new tank, VERY thin metal and wanted to move the filler location to the center & plug the old hole

gastankmods 004
OK, I could have just hammered this space for the toe box, but had to relocate the gas line anyway, so cut & weld it was

gastankmods 005
Here's a side view of the notch for the toe box & a dent for the R&P to clear

gastankmods 006
Had to move the gas bung with the toe box mods, so placed it lower & closer to the front this time.

gastankmods 008
All installed and it looks like it will work fine - Feb06

gastankmods, mods done!! 2-06
Next, POR the exterior and seal the interior to protect all of this work. Nothing is a drop in on a GS!

06 rear half


06


all major repairs done, scuffed & ready


all reapairs done, scuffed & ready


cover the entire underside
pieces ready to glass in for a fresh look

another view of the fuzzy stuff


no more fuzzy once resin is added


another view after resin has been added
but before trim

coated with POR-15


floor pan - Aug06
OK, a nice smooth under car surface makes sense aerodynamicaly, but also good protection for the family jewels!!

floor pan, again
12 Dzus fasteners allow removal and the perimeter clearance holes required for the body to chassis through bolts

June06 003


The New Engine March, 05
04-05 winters project was a new 2180 to replace the old tired one, one thing leads to another and it takes all winter!

The new engine
2180cc , dual 44webs,

Exhaust, new paint and Flanges
No more leaky donuts!!, also add the little pre-heaters to the mufler, should help with more heat, a good thing in NE

another view of the exhaust
1200F high temp spray can with Ceramic found at AutoZone, goes on nice!

detail of flanges
Cut & weld on new flanges, the old donuts are gone forever

Another view of exhaust


Rear View, or what most people will see
as Installed, wonder how long it will look this good?

speedy park lights


Reutter Badge
a little on the bright side, but still nice

Porsche Nipple Hub Caps
Apparently a little hard to find in 4-bolt size? Maybe I got lucky?

My Speedy Hide a Hitch
I wanted a tow hitch to pull a suit case size trailer, without having to look at it all the time.

Hide a Hitch - 2
under the plate, a small reciever and wiring are tucked away, and a little dirt!!

Hide a Hitch - 3
with tow ball installed

Speedster Owners Club Badge - 06
Just installed 1-06

Some Damage & Lousy Repair Idea
Someone cuts an access hole, then someone taps the hood too hard - CRACK!!!!

Clean, then Grind or Sand Damaged Area
This shows a section that was removed and a resulting crack, who knows what came first? Part was cleaned & damage ground

Troth 1-2 in wide on frontside
Make a V groove for the new glass/resin, afterwards, flip & do same on backside, if possible.

Another view of the prep
This view shows a drill hole at the end of the crack, this is a "stress relief" that stops the crack from growing.

Make Gravity your friend & Ventilate!
Position the part so the resin stays in place, it's liguid & runs easy till it stiffens up. Use of a fan can help.

Light Cardboard Template is easy
Here a cardboard template is made for a replacement piece. Someone apparently cut a hole in this hood?

Save old fiberglass pieces for repair
I have some pieces to re-use on my repair, transfer template info & cut

Prep before you mix the resin
Here you can make out pieces cut to fit repair, latex gloves & cheap paint brush

Position parts & almost ready for resin
Back side is supported with masking tape & entire crack to limit loss of resin

Resin & glass in place
Paint the damage with resin, lay in glass, paint on more resin, saturate glass & it turns from white to transparent

Add Heat
Sometimes you comeup a little short with the hardener mix, I add this radiant heater to help it along. Be carefull!!

Another Repair Area - Before
This crack needs attention.

Another Repair Area - After
I like to use resin & glass, sometimes followed by tiger-hair and lastly bondo, more work is needed for sure.

Hole repair is simpler.
Drill counter sinks to achieve bevels or grind away to bevel edges, tape backside & fill with matt, cloth & tiger-hair.

Roomy enough I hope
It was hard to tell what to remove & what to leave? Hope this works?

gravity is your friend!
Remember to let gravity help you. Position part so resin stays where you want it.

83EC
Complete paint job made this look great, for a couple of years anyway!!

83EC-1
2000, I think? Loved the colr of those Impala SS cars of the 90's and used one of those colors!!

83EC-2
I think Ryan was about 10 at the time?

83EC-3


83EC-4
60/40 seats, Claret interior and fully guaged, not all that bad.

914


914 and the 1st cute niece


914-5


914-5


914-3, same niece