For all those that know my last ride (see VWMA May), you will know that Im not done with my aircooled projects just yet.
Part of the plan was to build an engine over here in Dubai and bring it back, then swap it into the bug in place of my 2L t4. I think I will probably still do that at some stage, wife permitting, but that plan has now changed slightly, and I will be building a whole car here.
Whats the point of having an engine and not driving it right.
Anyone who is into some other forums around the place or been watching ebay might already know, but I thought Id start with a bit of a guessing game.
Its still in the family, and it will be aircooled.
Give me some guesses and I will keep dropping some clues.
Only pics I have so far are the ones off ebay. If it all works out, I will take possession in about August when it arrives in the port.
Will be a work in progress from then on......
bond ·
single prop light aircraft of some description?
Stanley ·
Based on the fact that you were going to swap it into your bug if it's not going to be a volksy powered home built aircraft my guess is an air cooled corvair engine.
Golde60 ·
forget the engines and start guessing about the car
its a car.
LOL
Bizarre ·
550 Spyder
bond ·
frid!?
Golde60 ·
someones been watching the forums
Golde60 ·
Bizarre wrote:550 Spyder
gonna have to sell my current ride to get the engine and box going
site is about 2-3 years out of date, they are no longer in business.
I like the kit cos it has idependant suspension at all four corners.
working on plans for it now......
gonna be a fun project, and perfect over here were it never rains.
Golde60 ·
so much for the suspense. 1 lousy clue: "its a car" and you got it first go.
LOL
Golde60 ·
Some pics from the ebay add
Its been picked up and is on truck, heading towards the Miami Port!
It will likely arrive in 6-7 weeks, I will take some more pictures then
Golde60 ·
damned images
whats the story? they seem to work on other forums
Dasdubber ·
Nice one mate - I bet that will be lots of fun especially with a decent engine to push it along 🙂
PS you forgot the forward slash "/" in front of the "img" after the link.....so it should be [ / img ] without the spaces.
Al
Golde60 ·
Thanks Al, will be a blast.
I have ordered a 2316-210 engine kit from Jake, so it should move along ok.
tried a few options on the links and still no joy
silver ·
I love them! they are not easy for me to get in and out of so I hope to get a speedster one day
good luck with it I look forward to seeing the pics
Golde60 ·
ahh, the images work ok
fuch ·
That looks pretty cool and so does your bug in the Mag. What an amazing job, bet you want to kiss the guy who helped you build it. Good luck with the new project and I may come next year to give you a hand.
Judsons4eva ·
Golde
The 2L T4 that won't be going in your JVA - what are your plans for that? and is it a hot one?
Ken (aka Aussiespyder)
Grey 57 ·
nice one Kim 👍 these are a blast to drive. How about 914 5 speed box and a 2.2 or 2.4 mfi flat 6??
Golde60 ·
fuch wrote:bet you want to kiss the guy who helped you build it. Good luck with the new project and I may come next year to give you a hand.
😘
I didnt know you missed me that much sash.
Will be good to see you - lots of cool stuff to see here.
Just dont come in summer!
Golde60 ·
Deano, I did think about that, but I want to build the engine myself.
I have never done much work on the engine before, so thats the aim of the game here.
As for the 914 box (901) that was an option but the 1-2 L pattern shift and the reputation for a weak first gear kept me away.
I almost bought a 915, but the hassles of swapping to work mid engine, and the clutch/flywheel/thrust bearing changes are all a bit beyond me. I want to give myself a fighting chance to finish this and drive it SOON, so that means I will build the engine and not the box.
I ve ordered a t1 4 speed IRS box with all the tricks from Jake to match the engine (he calls it a stage C trans), that means that I know it will work with the engine
Ken
as for the 2L engine, its mild, not hot.
1971 (standard rebuild, but with 1800 heads)
electronic ignition, 40 dells, sharpbuild upright fan
exhaust/extractors 4-1
a few other good bits too.
It will stay in the car for a while, and eventually, time and money permitting, it will be replaced with a bigger one and a tougher box to match.
Not gonna happen for a few years though.
unless someone makes me an offer I cant refuse......
LOL
Bizarre ·
Hah! 😂
Man... i was half wishing / dreaming
Would LOVE one of those
You going to be able to register it here??
Judsons4eva ·
Kim
My Spyder a has a EFI Porsche 914 2.0l engine with Sharpbuilt upright kit. But I'd like to build up a hotter engine and do weekend swap. Keen to stay with the Porsche version of the T4 so the critics don't call it a VW. However if I found a warm to hot VW T4 i'd consider it. Just the long block as I would put my self built EFI on it.
By the way Dean's T34 was once mine!
Ken
Judsons4eva ·
Dean
I still have the 2.0l 911s engine from the T34 - keeping it for a rainy day - won't fit in my spyder - It would fit in the JVA though!
Ken
Golde60 ·
you are a bad influence!
the 2316 will fit pretty well too.....
pete wood ·
^ why not try a 4cyl 911 engine. There's a guy in the US who does them for the outlaw 356 crowd. Still aircooled and 4cyl but a much much better motor. Couldn't cost too much more either.
Kim, just spend a 100k and get a quad cam carrera motor 😎 way kool. Those things are nuts.
I like the flat 6 with the 2 cylinders chopped off. Seen these on a couple of web sites.
Ken , I thought you have made that 2ltr S motor into a coffee table??
2.4's still going strong.
Golde60 ·
Golde60 wrote:gonna have to sell my current ride to get the engine and box going
sorry guys
for those who have contacted me, I m not selling the ragtop, my current ride was a brabus tuned merc, which is now gone in order to keep the aircooled projects on the move
Golde60 ·
and the progress has been delayed a bit
Jake is working on the kit, I have added a quaife to the box so that when I m sideways I ll at least stand a chance of straightening up again...........
but the shipping process has blown out by almost a month
that means that rather than august it will be september before I get to see it
in the meantime I have bought some 45mm dells, rather than webers and got them and the quaife heading to Atlanta, where the whole shebang will come together and get palleted up and sent here after the box is built and the kit is ready
I m looking at the unimportant stuff now, like breathers, and what time of CDI ignitions that I can choose from, cos I was hoping I would have the car here now and be thinking about axle sizes and gearbox mounts.
aw well
patience is not one of my virtues, but I promise to add some pics when it arrives
Golde60 ·
and heres one I prepared earlier, with a similar set of wheels to what I am intending
Golde60 ·
well, its finally arrived so here go a few new posts with pics
Golde60 ·
and after some greif on shipping, taking 3 months on the water, and being lucky enough to share a container with another car enthusiast (and halving the price - thanks Cam) it has finally arrived.
These pics were taken a week ago and I have done very little apart from drag it down into the carpark and buy a car cover today.
here it is getting here
as you can imagine, it is pretty exciting to actually see it after paying for it a few months ago.....
first look at the container:
looking happy:
Golde60 ·
cams NSX in the background
Its an 8 year old imola orange one, about 7k miles on the clock and its the best one I have ever seen
Golde60 ·
so anyway, here are some of the pics of mine getting unloaded
Golde60 ·
my first problem that Im looking for some help with is the setup of the rear end
I have the front end complete with brakes, but the rear is minus the disc brakes, and I am looking for a setup thats the same as what is running on the front.
my understanding is that they are off what is known as an Audi 4000 setup in the US.
I am not familiar with these myself, but my neighbour is a really technical guy from North Carolina (he looks after all of BMWs technincal issues across the Middle East and North Africa region, so he knows his stuff), but I m not sure what the terminology is for the setup back in Oz, he knows the different terminology.
IIUC, they are FWD CV joints that in the case of my JVA are running on both the front and the rear.
So if anyone has any tips on where I might find these, please let me know. Not likely to find much without a heap of searching here in the UAE, so I might look at importing from a wrecker, or better still when I am in Aus in a couple of weeks
Golde60 ·
here is the front setup
and here are a couple of shots of the rear
I need to find a set of disc brakes for the rear, as well as the correct cv joints for the irs rear end.
once I got that figured out, then I need to work out the preferred axle length....
Golde60 ·
so from here on in theres gonna be alot of research and waiting on the engine and box before I can figure out the chassis mods and gearbox mounts.
all in all its pretty exciting......
bond ·
congrats on a sensational buy and the safe arrival! look forward to watching the thread develop 🙂
love the first pic in the container - you could tell from the reflectors in the rear lights that it was a nsx! ssweet!
nick
h ·
yeah nice score there..
look fwd to the progrees pics to come..
paul
1303Steve ·
Hi
That looks so nice. I think in Australia we call the Audi 4000 a "80" or a 5+5.
Steve
vwkg ·
Very very cool.
Cannot wait to see how this progresses.
kroozzn63 ·
that a dream car right there
Golde60 ·
1303Steve wrote:That looks so nice. I think in Australia we call the Audi 4000 a "80" or a 5+5.
The Audi 80 is the big old 4 door Audi, rather rectangular looking sedan yes?
I might be able to pick up a set of brakes and cvs when I am back there......
1303Steve ·
Hi
The Audi 80 is a smaller car, a bit bigger than a Golf of the era.
Nice work,congrats.
Just watched an 80's or 90's movie on foxtel with James Belushi and Michael Caine.
The producers saw fit for Belushi to smash a Spyder into a parked car to avoid a dog on the road,and what did he hit? A convertable bug fercrissakes! Best of luck with the Spyder project
Golde60 ·
thanks for the link steve
have pulled one of the front brakes off and having a look at it with my neighbour shortly to try and work out if we can find another here
also, I like the look of some crossdrilled and vented rotors for the front and some drilled ones for the rear, pretty cheap
no help, and no progress on these. some good progress on the engine though, pics to follow
Golde60 ·
here are some pics of the clean up of the engine case halves, which have taken a bit more time than expected.
Golde60 ·
engine stand, ready to go
this is the area that I have to work in, not to bad.
dtm taking pride of place
Golde60 ·
close up:
all the rods are spinning very free on the crank and its good to finally make some progress!
now for the drive gears and crank bearings, into the case half so that I can cover it up and keep any dust out.
Golde60 ·
here are some shots of the latest progress:
dissy and cam gears onto the crank
throughbolts into the case
and back out the other side
matberry ·
Cool Golde, another type IV build yeeha.
Car looks great, bet you cant wait to be driving that thing, looks beaudifull.
With your axle length, its difficult to recommend a length as on any custom setup, axle length is usually the last thing as it all goes together, and usually you would determine length at the shortest point where cv's are level with each other, a dummy adjustable axle is used so there is still play side to side of the axle, then at max length, full suspension droop or bump which ever is the greatest, also have axle play. This will proove that the cv inner races are not binding at any point of suspension travel. You can make a dummy axle by cutting up a used one and fitting some pipe with grub screws in the center, or as a one off, maybe a piece of dowel that is a firm fit into the cv spline, and cut as you go, so to speak. If you need some measurements from a std irs beetle, I have two here, would be no prob.
Hope this helps.
Matt
Golde60 ·
awesome, thanks mat
i will be ordering the custom length axles when the engine and gearbox mounts are fabbed up and cvs installed for measurement, just like you said.
i couldnt figure out any other way.
as for the brakes, the search continues.
Golde60 ·
galley plugs - with the numbers as noted from Jakes article marked with dots
and here are pictures of the progress, crank assembly in and still spinning nice and freely:
and then cover it all up to stop any dust getting in and ready for more work next weekend:
XXX-1.8T ·
pete wood wrote:^ why not try a 4cyl 911 engine. There's a guy in the US who does them for the outlaw 356 crowd. Still aircooled and 4cyl but a much much better motor. Couldn't cost too much more either.
hey guys. been a while between pics.
had some difficulty getting the rings on, especially the oil rings, with the 80mm stroker, I ended up putting them on once I had the wrist pins in place.
Golde60 ·
longblock is now done
WHOO HOO
Golde60 ·
gotta get the stub pipes on soon so that I can seal the long block up as best as I can.
gonna have to relocate to another country with work soon - the fun just never stops!
bit of a bugger really, but Construction is slowing down a bit here in Dubai.
that will make four countries for this car and still hasnt had an engine in it!
555bug ·
what line of work are you in and what you countries have you been based? sounds like an interesting career!
Stephen
Golde60 ·
I am in Construction and my wife is an Architect.
We have been in Melbourne all our lives until a few years ago.
In Dubai for 2 years, now looks like time to move on.
Car started in Argentina, I bought it from a guy in Miami, Florida, then got shipped to Dubai.
We are disappointed to go, we wanted to be here for a few more years.
I have been working in and out of Oman for the last few months, and now heading off to somewhere new again
good thing we've got no kids.
66deluxe ·
Engine looks good Golde, what heads from Jake did you end up using, i got the LE 200's for my 2270 which iw ill be starting to build very soon.
Damo.
Golde60 ·
I got the LE 200's as well, and match ported to the manifolds.
I am sure that its gonna move along pretty well, and with a 10.5:1 CR, 80 stroke and Tangerine exhaust, I m gonna need some big rubber out back
hehehe
oval TOFU ·
That build is looking real hot! Well done on the engine build too.
What chassis is that again?
Golde60 ·
custom chasis, called a JVA. suspension is based around a VW Gol out of Brazil (started in Argentina, remember) I have found Audi fox parts tend to be used in the suspension but lots of custom bits.
made some progress lately. will get some new pics up soon.
Big shout out to Dave Butler. Got a few stories to tell there with some of the hybrid parts he has made up for me, but alls well that ends well.
pics soon......
Golde60 ·
Well so much for a week or so. More like a month or so, but better late than never:
mocked up, not mounted properly yet. here it is set up in the car so that I could work out what is needed to modify to get it all mounted
iin this one you can see the CDI box, coil and the leather straps which I have added
here is the breather from Chris Foley
Golde60 ·
access panel from the cockpit should it be needed.
you can see the engine is sitting on a block of wood for now.
gonna drop it about 2-3 inches to get the 914 mount fixed, but gotta weld up the mounting base for it to fix to
Golde60 ·
and the start of moving the steering wheel up.
gonna shorten it as well. 6-2 in a small car like this. gotta change a few things for comfort, but confident I can make it work
Golde60 ·
who can tell me about the two holes in the top of the case that go through to the back of the flywheel?
I assume that I need to plug them.... right? what with?
did I forget something? probably.
you can see in the pic below the two holes that I am talking about
Golde60 ·
and some of the pretty bits now that the mechanical stuff is done:
and the last one is the picture of the spare bed, with a tonneau cover, cowl/faring, grills and one of my newly arrived seats (cobra SR's, in burgundy leather, mmmmm)
gotta love having this inside. 50 degrees outside and I can work in airconditioned comfort!
dangerous ·
WOW!
Looks great Kim,
it is really progressing now!
I think those hoes are for some sort of diagnostic or vent.
Type ones and WBX had the one in the RHS for a FW sensor.
They probably had plugs in them from the factory if they were sensors, but I would not worry.
One of the type4ophiles will let you know I am sure.
HappyDaze ·
That's a fine looking car there Kim. What did you use for the rear uprights - they look the part.
Finished a similar project about 5 years ago, using a Beck kit. Mine has a 911T engine (yes, I had to re-make the firewall), and a 5-speed box from a 914. Fabricated double wishbones & uprights at the rear with ball joint VW front beam. I grafted 356 brakes on all round (I like drums - except the crap ones that BREAK)!
If you get the rear suspension geometry right (friend Errol Richardson did mine) the car will handle like a dream - I drive mine regularly.👍 Wise move not going for trailing arms.
I've almost given up trying to post pics on here, but if you PM your email address, I can send you some pics of my 550, incl. progress shots.
Cheers, Greg
Golde60 ·
fuch wrote:That looks pretty cool and so does your bug in the Mag. What an amazing job, bet you want to kiss the guy who helped you build it. Good luck with the new project and I may come next year to give you a hand.
😘😘
Golde60 ·
and now for the 8-10 month update. been a bit too long, but dont worry, lots has happened....
dug up this thread after a while and great to see the old pics
lots of progress has been made, as well as a baby girl, so updates got put on hold
have done the following (or had the following done):
chassis modified for
-berg mid mount
-vw end mount
-914 engine mount
-wilwood discs
-tangerine exhaust
soulds easy, but beleive me, much easier to write than to do
then:
installed engine
installed box
intalled brakes (wilwoods up front, golf at back)
installed cable shifter
plumbed brakes
installed tangerine exhaust
installed tangerine breather
installed custom axles 'shims' to allow standard length swayaways
installed custome 'stub axles' to convert t1 axle flange to golf wheel hubs (lol - used bicycle inner tubes for outer cv covers to avoid binding on bottom of shock towers)
installed reverse theaded adjustors to allow ease camber changes to rear end
installed custom remote oil cooler mount for setrab
installed 'cobra' red leather sets on custom (can you say LOW) mounts, and still I can see over the windscreen.....
bolted it all up
with jakes engine (kit) and a kick arse exhaust (but god, the fitment is nigh on impossible) this thing is now mechanically complete and looking awesome
i am also very confident about my choice of wheels when previously I was a little unsure
judge for yourself in a few days
pics to follow over the weekend
Dasdubber ·
Looking forward to the pics Kim 👍
Al
OldTimer ·
I'm with Alan, can't wait for more pics and bits. Very interesting and very jealous.
Old Timer
Golde60 ·
Golde60 wrote:good thing we've got no kids.
well thats all changed now, but a baby girl has not put a dent in our travelling habits. she is six months old and has been in six countries already...
now you know why I have not had time to post pics
this is the reason, taken on a recent trip to japan. and yes we where there when it hit. thankfully flew out that night so were not affected (out of osaka, not tokyo)
matberry ·
Congrats on being alive and well with family intact and car progress looking good 👍👍
Golde60 ·
thanks mat
here are some pics of the other baby
an artistic one to start. thinking i might use this as a new avatar
Golde60 ·
remember, this thing was built in the spare bedroom of a very large house that has be subdivided up into apartments, so not only does it require an understanding wife, guests who are happy to sleep in the same room as a car, but understanding neighbours too.
here is the room where it was
ramp being built with the help of my friend peter
and the neighbours toy tucked under the stairs.
this helps the situation greatly was he has built a few toys himself too.
Golde60 ·
supervisor
Golde60 ·
proof that it was actually in a bedroom
here is what it was
and what it is now
this took a few weeks but was worth it as the babies room is now much improved and the house is more comfortable
Golde60 ·
anyway, you guys want some progress pics right.....
Golde60 ·
testing the brakes on the way out
fridge in the background contains workshop fuel only
Golde60 ·
here is a pic showing the front brakes
overkill yes, but was the only set that i found that I could make fit without major modification to chassis
they are a kit made for mk2 gti golf. vented but not drilled. should be more than enough
remember platform is based on brazilian "gol" so most early 80s vw/audi small car parts fit, but you never quite know
wolfgang54 ·
sensational effort
Golde60 ·
working our way back from the front, here are the cobra sr seats, which I had trimmed in leather with black piping and sent from the uk.
also got an extra matching hide from the same material and had the helmet fairing re-tirimmed as well as a bunch of other bits so that it all matches
leather was chosen to match the vinyl tonneau cover too
h ·
awesome!
love the buildroom ahem bedroom silver trinket 😀
Golde60 ·
some dakota digital guages under the dash
CHT EGT OILT OILP
Golde60 ·
and of course the small diameter wood rimmed nardi with black stripe
Golde60 ·
should have also mentioned the cable shift set up that is in between the seats
seat tunnel needed some work. was not central, required a cut and shut to get the passenger seat in properly which was a bit of a surprise. apparently it is normal to have the tunnel slightly offset
Golde60 ·
and working the way back a bit further, here is the view into the business end.
dual setrab mounted on a modified version of what used to be the spare tyre rack.
originally this was mounted central to the two vents/grilles but that had to changed again once the exhaust arrived
from the top:
and you can see it better from the side here too
Golde60 ·
sorry, not sure how to rotate on photobucket, so please tilt your head to the right for that top pic! EDIT. take that back looks like it works now
quite happy with how the muffler worked out, attached to the opposite side of the rear gearbox mount (front in a bug)
love my side exit pipe, just like I had on the bug
also note the nuts on either end of the upper suspension arms. loosen these (reverse thread) and with a few twists you have a adjusted rear camber.
Golde60 ·
here is a similar shot from a different angle
you can see the path of the exhaust over the shock tower X brace, which had to be modified also to fit the muffler set up
it is all pretty tight in there, especially around the starter motor. not much spare room.
to be honest I was amazed that the muffler/collector etc was able to be built by remote control and sent over. I thought that there would be more modificiation required to make it fit
Golde60 ·
this one from above really shows how tight it all is.
exhaust system is a tangerine 4-2-2-1 which is a good match for the engine kit.
look carefully and you can also see the berg mid mount
I had originally intended to use one of the cb type trans mounts/strap set ups but was recommended against it with this exhuast system
Golde60 ·
here is the final pic of the mounting set up to the chassis
pic is not very illustrative. sorry
is a 914 engine mount, which is somewhat of a U shape, sits under the pulley
utilized this with a mount welded to the chassis, with rubber mounts to control movement upwards and downward.
gives me three mounting points - gearbox end, berg mid and 914 engine.
should be enough but will see. could add a strap and mount somehow above the box in the mid position but not sure that this would really be necessary
Golde60 ·
can also see handbrake cables and shifter cables in the above pics.
will defineately need some heat sheilds in this as there is a lot of stuff running close to hot bits in the engine
Aussie ·
Some very nice engineering in there 😎
Golde60 ·
Thanks Aussie
some more pics coming soon
Golde60 ·
From here you can see the 'front' of the engine that you are used to seeing when you lift the lid on a bug.
Shows the 914 engine mount (black, under the pulley) as well as gives you an indication of just how close you will be sitting to the screaming 45mm dellortos.
Things are all pretty tight in there.
At the end of the chassis mock up stage we were lifting the engine and box in and out in one go on an engine crane. With the rear, mid and engine mounts it was a tight fit. Add to that the spagetti exhaust, cross brace spanning between the shock towers and the oil cooler mounts and you get the picture.
Wish there was an easier way to get the exhaust in and out but dont see it.
anyway here is another pic showing the view between the seats with a panel removed.
up side is that with this setup (clamshell) the access is brilliant once the lid is lifted
Golde60 ·
From here you can see the 'front' of the engine that you are used to seeing when you lift the lid on a bug.
Shows the 914 engine mount (black, under the pulley) as well as gives you an indication of just how close you will be sitting to the screaming 45mm dellortos.
Things are all pretty tight in there.
At the end of the chassis mock up stage we were lifting the engine and box in and out in one go on an engine crane. With the rear, mid and engine mounts it was a tight fit. Add to that the spagetti exhaust, cross brace spanning between the shock towers and the oil cooler mounts and you get the picture.
Wish there was an easier way to get the exhaust in and out but dont see it.
anyway here is another pic showing the view between the seats with a panel removed.
up side is that with this setup (clamshell) the access is brilliant once the lid is lifted
Golde60 ·
bump more updates coming soon.
started and cam breakin done.
need some time to replace battery and play with cable shifter before she moves.
whooo fucken hoooo it started and nothing blew up!
matberry ·
Golde60 wrote:whooo fucken hoooo it started and nothing blew up!
Gotta be happy with that. 👍👍
Good job. 🙂
Flintstones ·
Great news👍👍
not long now🙂
Cheers
D
66deluxe ·
Awesome mate my 2270 type 4 should fire up this month too.
