Just Thought I would Share some shots of my L Bug so far.
I have owned it for nearly 4 years and done a few Supersrints here and there. I bought it with a Pobjoy Base 1916cc engine and then upgraded to a 2110cc.
Last year I started doing an EJ20T Subaru engine conversion which has now been engineered, registered etc. It was dynoed with 198hp at the treads before xmas and last week I started stripping it for a total respray and freshen up.
[ Edited on 7-5-2006 by 1303 ]
[ Edited on 4-6-2006 by 1303 ]
1303 ·
This shot shows the bracing used to hold the Subaru engine up
1303 ·
From this side you can see how much steel must be cut to fit the engine. The gearbox is moved forward 50mm for the engine to clear the apron as well
1303 ·
I removed a far amount of the firewall in order to give good access when needed, i could of got away with alot less, but an aluminium enclosure sealed the area off
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This is when the engine is first fitted with the new later model apron , the apron is now removable and bolts the the guards
1303 ·
From hear you can see the fork bracing and sort of see the modified bowden tube bracket in order to keep the factory spec bend in the bowden tube...this is the busy side as the exhaust has to squeeze in there too.
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Here I started to make the exuast with 2.75 inch mandrel bends, I had the exhaust plate that bolts to the turbo machined so I can run a seperate wastegate outlet.
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The outlet snakes around and under the axle, there is about 12mm clearance between the exhuast and the axle when the suspension is at full droop, suprisingly there is still heaps of ground clearance for the exhaust.
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Behind the apron is a 3 inch straight through truck muffler which is still pretty quiet, no where near as loud as any WRX with a canon style muffler
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This is the entire system nearly completed, I flanged the ends so I can change mufflers if needed. It goes from 2.75 inch to 3 inch diameter at the flange.
I used muffler clamps from a truck also and then welded these to a frame that bolts to the engine.
You can see that the wastegate pipe is roughly positioned, I had to play around with this a bit in order for it to clear everything and be a fair way from the exhuast outlet at the turbo so as to maximise flow.
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This is the Main pipe with seperate wastegate pipe completed. The wastegate pipe merges just in front of the axle , any further down would of really complicated things.. I just kept it simple
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Thats the veiw from above when it is bolted up to the turbo
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This is from inside the car, I made up a heatsheild to cover the turbo and wastegate pipe to try and reduce temps under the decklid. The aluminium box on the left has a small radiator in it. This is for the water to air intercooler, it also has another radiator up front. The idea was to fill the aluminium box with dry ice for a bit of extra cooling, but i haven't tested it yet.
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These are the radiators fuel pumps and surge pot
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I used a combination of thin and thick sheet aluminium to make an air tight enclosure in the spare wheel well. I lose about 100mm of floor space because the radiators sit vertical. I could have layed them down but I dont use the car everyday and could afford to sacrifice some luggage space, it also enable me to use the factory rubber mounts on both radiators
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This is the engine in for the final fit, the Aluminium panels on the left are to try and stop the engine breathing in hot air.
The Subaru engine just looks so right in there!!
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This is it conversion finished on the weighbridge prior to getting the engineers certificate
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Started stripping it down last week....and started to notice a few little rust spots here and there, so I started fixing these too
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Had some rust spots under the decklid seal strip, so they were removed then welded up the rust holes underneath and ground back smooth
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Also had rust holes in this area , so small section was cut and welded in new steel, then just plug welded a few pin holes.
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I wont be using the factory exhaust cut outs so I made two plates like this to fill in the gaps.
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...then carefully welded these sections in so as not to distort the panels
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Also had some rust holes in this area...it was touch and go as to whether I should cut out or just weld up. Fortunately I got away with welding the holes up and grinding back.
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there was an Aerial hole in this part of the roof which I thought looked a bit daggy so this was filled with a small plate and welded up.
Bizarre ·
Still love those C2's
What colour you going to paint it??
Loved the blue it was
Barry
1303 ·
I've got no idea what colour to paint it yet, the blue did look ok depending on where you looked at it, but I'm over it.
The C2's do look pretty cool, they sort of look like a factory style wheel. The C2's are going to be kept for track days and some different wheels fitted up for a change also.
71EJVan ·
Great work Paul. You certainly have put a lot of thought and effort into this project.
Regards
Brendan
Doug Sweetman ·
Very nice 🙂
I'd love to do this with my 1303 one day.... but cant see me ever having the money or time....
ruckus ·
Beautiful work on the subi conversion. I love how easy you make it sound!
hehehe - I'm not that stupid. Nice functional touches and the fabrication looks great.
EgeWorks ·
This is what I want to do to my car!
nbturbo ·
Very nice conversion and well thought out.
VWCOOL ·
Yep - great work and a nice article. Good reference for those who haven't done it, but want to
Flintstones ·
weight wise, how's the backend feel (compared to the T1 engine) on the road?
ride, handling etc.....have you changed your suspension components to compensate..
Cheers
1303 ·
The back end feels good. I previously ran Type 3 Bars with the Type 1 engine, but had the ride height too low (rode on the bump stops through hard corners)
Now I use 29mm Bars with the ride height set closer to standard and it feels solid with a comfortable amount of wheel travel.
1303 ·
I have been spending a bit of time preparing the body for paint. The rear quarters had about 10 coats of Paint on them, I was using an Orbital Sander with a #80 pad to cut through it all. The Blue Top coat is was extremely thick and Plastic like, I found I was chewing through pads at a rate of knots. Then as soon as it cut through the top coat it would tear down to bare metal. My wife grabbed paint scrapper to try and peel off the paint and it started taking the top 3 coats in 200mm x 200mm sheets! This saved heaps of time as now I only have to sand down the remaining thin coats.
This is after a few hours with the paint scrapper, the roof has also been rubbed back down to the factory primer.
1303 ·
This is from inside the engine bay, the hole is a 3" bit of pipe that will be welded in. This will feed fresh air to the Air Filter, I will be able to seal off the shroud so it is like a cold air box.
I think the pick up will either be grafted into the top of the passenger rear guard or from under the car.
[ Edited on 15-1-2006 by 1303 ]
1303 ·
Also Trial Fitted 7 x 17" Boxster Wheels, These may not be fitted to the car for a while though, needs approx 10mm Spacer on the front to clear the strut and then longer wheel bolts. The rear clears everything but needs a spacer to fill the guard out a bit better. I think I will concentrate on getting the car painted and back on the road before going to the expense of fitting them now.
Flintstones ·
Thanks for the info Paul.
29mm bars, the ride would be harsh on Sydney roads!!
With regards to your air intake, if I can make a suggestion, please don't take it from under your car, as all you will pickup is road crap and what happens if you happen to drive thru puddles of water... your wheels will spray it all over the intake....your motor won't be happy
Why don't you utilise the original grill opening to fab an airbox, A sheet of aluminum and a body seal would be all that you need to make the airbox and a couple of brackets or Dzus fasteners to secure it.
U2U me if you need more details
Cheers
fullnoise ·
Have you kept all the parts so you can, one day, covert the car back to it's original specificaion?
CYA CT
1303 ·
Of course.... 71EJVan gave me a nice pair of factory seats that will go in and I want to get a factory steering wheel as well! I've decided to keep all the factory trimmings and blinkers on the guards. I have bought the paint which is a VW factory colour called "Hellblau"...translated Light Blue. I got the colour off the net after searching a few sites, I dont know what type VW it came off though.
I'm going with a sort of factory look, most L bugs getting around have been dechromed, colour coded and modernised and although it does look cool, I just dont want to have an L Bug looking modified the same as the rest. Just a couple of subtle body mods and maybe a 70's theme.....so it will look like a restored, lowered L Bug with Porcshe wheels, cage, stock interior and EJ20T Subaru engine.
I have decied to pick the air intake from the passenger side rear guard. Below is a piece of 3" steel pipe cut and filed into shape then roughly positioned in the guard.
[ Edited on 5-2-2006 by 1303 ]
1303 ·
This is it welded and filed back....all it needs is a skim of filler and its done. A length of flexible 3 inch tube will connect from behind the guard and then onto the pipe that is welded in the engine bay. I doubt that this mod will really be that noticable when it is all painted.
boof2332 ·
If you keep the pipe tight/high in the gaurd then it is fine. The first one i did occasionally touched.....bearing in mind the rear on mine is pretty low. Will be making one for the early gaurds this week which wil probably be moulded oval shape through the inner gaurd to deal with the clearance.
matt
koolkarmakombi ·
s-l-e-e-p-e-r!!!
reub ·
Looks nice mate. Good Job.
Good post too showing all how it's been done. :thumb
1303 ·
another repair done...
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phil ·
wow...nice work
what sought of primer and paint will you be using?
cab1303 ·
wouldn't we all love to fully respray and clean 'em up!
71EJVan ·
Paul,
Gettin' there!!
Give me a call this weekend. I've got to get some camping gear from storage so I'll get that steering wheel out for you also.
Brendan
1303 ·
Last weekend i was fortunate enough to have Brendan (71EJVAN) drop round and show me how to paint! He managed to get the whole body primed with the arcylic etch prime that I am using as primer (it was cheap).
The yellow is a little high build primer on a few areas and the red spots are spot putty, that I did today. Hopefully I will rub these areas back and re prime this weekend.
Today I was hoping to get the rest of the panels in primer, but I needed to spend a little more time than expected on the guards (although Boof did clean the majority of them up for me) & bonnet.
I have still got to finish these then do the doors and rear apron....I want it painted in a couple of weeks and I am running out of time!
Thanks Brendan and Matt for the help...much appreciated.
[ Edited on 3-5-2006 by 1303 ]
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.
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managed to prime all the panels this weekend.....next weekend will be colour!......all things going well.
[ Edited on 3-5-2006 by 1303 ]
1303 ·
Thanks to Brendan (71EJVan).......this weekend there was colour.
First shots are all the edges and door jams done
1303Steve ·
Hi Paul
What colour is it? I can see its blue. It it the new Monaro blue?
Steve
1303 ·
these shots show the final colour after 4 coats. This is all solid colour with no clear or clear mixed in. Just a little colour sanding and polish and it will have a great shine....Brendan did a great job. The last few weeks were a real marathon but it was well worth it. It turned out much better than I was expecting just a few spots here and there that could have been prepped better....but were do you stop? I just want a cool retro tech bug for cruising on weekends and doing the odd super sprint here and there.
The respray and body repairs cost approx $500 which includes Primer, paint, sand paper, tarps, bog, spot putty, thinners, prepsol, mixing containers, stirrers etc. i bought all the products during a half price sale in Jan and saved a heap. I was also fortunate enough to borrow a compressor and spray guns.
Now just to put it all back together and have the interior trimmed before the Porsche Club sprint on the 25th of June....I think I have half a chance.
and it looks alot bluer in these photos than it really is!
Volkswagenboy ·
It looks awsome!
-Staggers.
1303 ·
No it is not the new monaro blue... i did look at that as an option but believe it or not that actually has a white pearl in it, I wanted to keep away from pearls as it is a home job. The blue is supposed to be hellblau a VW factory colour.....but it kind of got lost in translation. I took in a sample to the paint store from the net...needless to say this is what i ended up with. I least I am not likely to pull up next to another L Bug looking the same!
oval TOFU ·
Great job on the colour selection! Love it!
VWCOOL ·
Top work! I gotta do the same to my Beetle...
71EJVan ·
Pauls huge effort in preparing the car and the environment made it real easy for me to squirt the paint on. The bodywork was much smoother than my 1302 was before I painted it.
His spray booth (with extractor fan) did the job nicely. With that color we both looked like Smurfs after the job was done.
Paul you would be thinking about hiring out your services for body prep wouldn't you?
Can't wait to see it all together.
Brendan
1303Steve ·
Hi Paul
Thats a nice blue and the car should look great, are you still going for the wider rear guards and the bigger wheels?
There was bay at the Nationals in the Monaro blue and you car colour sort of reminded me of it.
Steve
The bay,
blue_bug ·
Very cool bug, but whats an L Bug?
1303 ·
Brendan, not a hope in hell for me to be doing this sort of thing again anytime soon....not even for money!
Steve, Not sure about the wider guards at this stage, I have still got the wheels but I may end up swapping the 9's for 7's and run 7's all round.......although I did get an extra 2 litres of paint in case I do eventually put wider rear guards on.
[ Edited on 8-5-2006 by 1303 ]
Dasdubber ·
Great work - I love seeing these sorts of rebuilds progress!
PrettyBlueBug ·
Wow.. it's a very blue car!! Looks awesome though, can't wait to see when it's all mean and finished! :P :thumb
Desert Bug ·
G'day Paul,
Great thread with good pics and details and explanations, makes for a good read.
Amazing what can be acheived in a home garage.
Nice colour, what type of paint did you use.
Can't wait to see the finished article.
Cheers, Ian.
1303 ·
Hi Ian,
The paint is acrylic and as a fair amount of the car was taken back to bare metal I used etch primer all over, instead of high fill primer. I also used etch because it was on special at the time.
Cheers Paul
squizy ·
Paul that looks fantastic. Looking forward to seeing it on the coast, and for you to come along on one of our cruises.
boof2332 ·
Hey Paul,
I will have some of the wide guards made in the next couple of weeks....The early fatties look awesome, although you want big lights hey...do you want the intakes in them like mine.?
Matt
1303 ·
matt.....as soon as I can justify the expense of putting the wider wheels on, I'll be up for a set of rear guards.
Managed to colour sand & buff the car over the weekend.... I did rub through on a couple of guards and the deck lid....not happy. I gave them a couple of touch up coats, so hopefully I can buff them this weekend.....I guess it is all a learning curve!
You got a new one to go in, or get the old one re-skinned???
baggedbug68 ·
hey i think you have done a great job on the paint wish i didn't rush mine towards the end. top job!
1303 ·
Hi Barry,
No I dont have a new one yet, hopefully I'll find another one at a swap meet or I may just have to bite the bullet and get it skinned.....you dont know where there is one lying around do you??
Bizarre ·
There was a VERY good one on the floor out at Volksbahm a few weeks back
It was brown though. Wouldnt be hard to re-colour it.
It was original - not reskinned. Not a crack
What about de-foaming it and welding it up.
Ever seen that one on SBO?? Looks schmick.
You have to clean it up and weld some bits but it gives a REAL german look to it
Bizarre ·
here is one pic paul
1303Steve ·
Hi
I have a really nice one that was in my 1303, its uncracked as the car has sat in a shed from 1985, just a rub mark from the cage that was in the car.
Im still undecided what to do with mine.
I really like the look of this one.
Steve
Bizarre ·
Yeah - they look good opened up.
I like those 911 style ones you can get
Doug Sweetman ·
Hey its the old 'cracked L bug dash syndrome' again !
Steve that dash you showed looks awesome.
My dash is also cactus, I had thought of doing what Barry has mentioned ie defoaming it - do you know if there is much welding involved ? Looks good.....
Cracks done show up so well in this photo, but trust me they are there..... and yes, the tacho is in a stubby holder. Steering wheel is also now a SAAS Monaco...
[ Edited on 27-5-2006 by Doug Sweetman ]
Bizarre ·
That is the dash i was looking for!
LOVE IT!
There is a bit of work involved. Still searching for the "work in progress"
I WILL find it 😵
1303Steve ·
Hi
Sorry about taking over your post Paul, were only trying to find a nice dash for your bug.
Im not keen on the single pod on the stock dash, also the speedo is in crap posoition. The stock das with the skin removed is about as thick as 2 fag papers so it may buckle easily.
Ive spoken to a local guy in the past and they car reskin the dash for a reasonable sum and add bits etc to makle it the way I want it, just cant have any deep areas otherwise the skin will seperate in the heat.
Richard at V Force also did a fibre glass dash that looks like that Porsche style one.
This is another dash / speedo setup I like, but the speedo would be hard to read.
Steve
1303 ·
Cool looking dashes, something else to put on the list!