Have been slowly working towards this for quite a few years now and the real work now begins. Just before the beetle left the road it was a 66 beetle with K&L swinger pan. Then I scored a 69 semi auto (converted to manual) BJ IRS pan. Couple of years on and a good '54 oval body came along with no rust and very straight.
Pictures below of body and pan with pan halves stripped off ready for the build.
The combination will be built to run in improved production 1601-2000cc.
Engine specs are still a little up in the air.
Dave Butler has built the gearbox for me (thanks Dave) and runs a quaife lsd (4.125 final with 1.09 for 4th =7000@105mph; 1.44 for third =7000@79.7mph; 2.0588 for second=55.6mph@7000; 3.80 for first=30,2mph) late model side cover, 002 mainshaft.
Bits and pieces collected over the years now to be put to use.
Brand new 45 dellortos, empi GTV steering wheel, riviera wheels.
Have a Kafer 5 bar kit to be installed (ala Craig Torrens) and Westi special SS merged headers.
The shocks are AVO and on car adjustable.
It is great to be able to get it all under way.
Hope to finish chassis by May and see the track before the end of the year. Time will tell.
Great to see Marcus, time to get dirty. Now some direction so its easy to move foward.
Did that contact come through with the estimates for the engine goodies?
Matt Berry Motorsports...air cooled advice, repairs and mods Ph 0408 704 662
OFF-ROAD,CIRCUIT,DRAG,STREET,ENDURANCE
No Matt. No supplier response ..🥲
I will try one more time and then just be really disappointed.
I had hoped for good things considering the connections.
BTW my thoughts are around a 74mm crank de-stroked to 73.5mm with 94mm pistons. Gives me just under 2040cc which to my read is okay for the 2l class, I will check before we build the engine though. 😎
It's NA and type 1 for this little chicken ...
Thanks for the thought Brendan.
How much heavier is the type 4 engine?
That has always been a factor in my thinking as well as the price of type 4 parts. The stonking type 4 will be the one built for my lovely wife's 72 microbus.
Did some more work today. Took the best part of the day to clean the rest of the crap of the tunnel and framehead.
Fun to get it all clean as a whistle though and start with fresh paint on bare metal 👍
Am in the middle of considerations for rollcage and road registered or not. Can someone tell me (with authority ... i.e. you actually know) if you need a road registered car to do targa style rallies?
It will affect how I go about things.
Anyway some pics.
A little more progress.
Took the rear suspension apart, took out the fuel line for upgrade (1/2" SS to come), the pan halves were tacked back on after removing the seat rails, front end finished being cleaned and stripped and a fresh coat of paint.
Will now be able to start reassembly on the front end.
Have to stitch weld the opposite side of the pan and then some Sikaflex to finish it all nicely on the join.
Have camber adjusters for the rear and will be interested to see how this functions ... seems like pfm 🤓
Hey Daimo
No you can't have it 🙅
I am not going at it with a grinder and will be working hard to keep it as unmolested as possible. There won't be any holesaw work on mine. Thanks for the tip on the Sikaflex. Where do I find the Wurth gear? Sandable and paintable I assume?
A middle support for the clutch tube is necessary after strengthening front and back?
Mactaylor I will post some photos tonight. They are the units that Unwin (hellbug) had made up some time ago.
I know the hellbug adjusters, do they just make the 'toe in/out" easily and acurately adjusted but?..........
i'd do the middle of the tube as well,once we got "in there" the amount of flex was quite noticeable and it made a hell of a difference to mine .........with a 4inch holesaw make hole 6 inches behind handbrake pivot pin on passengers side, a little under the half height towards the floor....then welded a piece of 1" X 1" angle to the floor and pry the tube down to it before welding it carefully to the bracket.......easily done whilst at the stage your at now
Hey Daimo
Am interested in the "but?..." and ...
I will do the clutch tube then as you suggested.
mactaylor
Here are a couple of photos of the adjusters.
okay, the only ones modified for the adjusters i have seen floating around are "single plate" spring plates.......not the duals you have there.........i'll find out more for you.
Craig Torrens6 times Australian, 7 times State Hillclimb Class Champion
I am not going at it with a grinder and will be working hard to keep it as unmolested as possible. There won't be any holesaw work on mine.
Bet you there will.
I have pretty much done the same and said the same. That is why i swapped my Jan 54 for a later 54. You will end up cutting big holes in the rear end to tune carbies and weld tabs all over it to brace the rear and front. It cant be helped my friend. I love the fact your doing it to a 54. IMO they are the best body out there. That why I have a few of them. Keep it up, I love it 😉 T54
C'mon kids gather round,
there's a new sensation hitting town,
It's moving straight, low to the ground,
it'll pick you up when your feeling down.
Thanks for the encouragement.
You are right, I am making large access panels for carb tuning and manifold and spark plug access and maybe a removable 'beaver' panel. We will see what can be managed in other areas.
I love my '54 and do want external appearance to be 'stock' ... well as stock as an oval sitting 100mm from the ground with a fully merged exhaust and track tyres anyhow 🙄
