Hey guys. Seeing as this is members rides I'd better come clean and admit that my daily ride is a 1995 hilux extra cab 2wd. It's OK though, I put a 253 holden V8 in it.
My new beastie is Sid the 1970 beetle. He's all set to be my first volksrod. He'll be nothing out of the ordinary though, just big and little wheels, 10 inch stretch 2 inch drop beam extension and a funky interior. Not sure on paint yet. I might just blend in the same crap blue when the guards come off and where the roof gets chopped.
I'm possibly feeling some suicide doors too, but we'll have to wait and see. He's not even at my house yet so there is no progress whatsoever at this stage. But there will be.....
Dirtbag ·
Here's his cute little motor. A 1600 twin port.
Dirtbag ·
Got to love the show quality paint : )
Dirtbag ·
Here's my little work truck. I've had it for 6 years and it's part of the family now.
Craig Torrens ·
Sid is actually a hard to find 1976 beetle........pity to cut him up !!
Dirtbag ·
My utes bum.
Dirtbag ·
The donk. It's a bit cluttered in there but I wanted to keep the a/c and p/s so there's wasn't much point going showy with it. I painted it stock blue and put a 2 barrel air cleaner on it even though underneath is a 650cfm 4 barrel : )
Dirtbag ·
Here's the inside with the new shifter set up. I also modified the shifter into a quick shift. It's got roughly half the travel it used to have. Much better.
Dirtbag ·
I'd better ad a pic of Sids awesome interior!!!!
Dirtbag ·
Well hopefully in a couple of weeks I can get one of the cars out of the shop so Sid can come home, then I'd like to keep everyone posted on his transformation. It's going to be a lot of fun.
Cheers.
Dirtbag ·
Hi craig. Really? I was told he was a 70, but had later guards. I assumed anything later would have been strut front end???? Just goes to show I know absolutely nothing about VWs : ) Thanks again for the info.
Dirtbag ·
Hi craig. There is no padded dash, just steel. As for the IRS, don't know : ) I haven't even got him home yet. I just like him so much I didn't care about the details. Smart, aren't I : ) I sort of assumed being a (supposedly) 70 it would have IRS? When did it come out?
Dirtbag ·
Do you know anyone who wants some ugly ass rear guards with massive tail lights? The front ones are already spoken for.
Craig Torrens ·
looks like its a "mixture" car...............76 parts like the guards and bumpers, twinport motor,speedo with trip and fuel...... but no padded dash !! For the balljoint front beam beetles, IRS was on the 68/69 semi autos and the 76 beetle only.
Dirtbag ·
Yay, I like weird frankenstein cars. So if this IS a 1970, which I will have to double check now, does that mean it will have ball joint front end but no IRS? Bummer if there's no IRS, but that's cool. I like him too much to worry about that now. Lucky you're here to keep me on the straight and narrow - and confuse the hell out of me : )
Craig Torrens ·
yeah if its a 70's car....then balljoint front with swingaxle rear (do you know what swingaxle rear is?)...........that will suit a rod better anyway for the "look"
Dirtbag ·
hi again. Yeah, I think I know the difference. The swing arm rear only has one pivoting uni joint in each rear axle as opposed to the IRS twin CV joints per axle. Is that right? Do you know of any decent bug gear shifters for sale? That's one thing I must have.
Dirtbag ·
Hi again. Actually, there is another thing I'd really like, but not a new one, and that's the flying VW bonnet emblem. I think it's an australian only thing so probably rare, but it can't hurt to ask.
Craig Torrens ·
put a list together of what you want and pm me with it !!!!
Wannavee ·
Funky shifter in the Hilux! Love it
alien8 ·
hey dirtbag, if you are going to remove that rain guard thats on the inside of the engine lid let me know. I am chasing one.
Looks like a good project car ya got there mate.
Cheers, Brad.
hellbugged ·
if it's 76 with irs/bj, don't chop it, i will swap you an early beetle better suited for a rod
Craig Torrens ·
Daimo, i thought you would chime in !!!!.................you can sniff a 76 out anywhere in oz !!😁
hellbugged ·
😁..........yeah, i'm starting to really want one hey Craig..........
in all seriousness tho, quite happy to swap you an early in the same condition Mr Dirtbag.........you want to build a rod and the best option for that is an early beetle.......i'm ready for racing and require a 76..........
i could even bring an oval window to the party if it fitted your plans..........funky shifter and flying emblem too easy!
seriously consider this offer before taking out the grinder, oxy, plasma etc
Dirtbag ·
Hi Hellbugged. As far as I can tell, OK, as far as I have been told, it is not a '76, due to not having a padded dash. I will go and have a look on the weekend for IRS as the car isn't even at my place yet (kinda annoying) as I have too many customer cars here at the moment. If it is a 76, which it probably isn't, then I have no probs saving it for you and doing a swap. Hell, even if it's a '70 and no use to you at all I'll still take an early beetle off you : ) Either way I'll PM you when I know what's what.
Cheers.
Dirtbag ·
Well guys, it doesn't look to be IRS. I'm no expert, so I've added a pic to confirm. Either way, he's going to make an awesome rod.
hellbugged ·
yeah swinger........have fun
ian.mezz ·
hellbugged wrote:if it's 76 with irs/bj, don't chop it, i will swap you an early beetle better suited for a rod
there was one of those 76 bugs for sale at Maitland $3500
padded dash and blinkers in the bumper bar it use to be a old newsagents, paper delivery car.
dAVo ·
I wanna do a rod as well. Wish I had the cash!
Love the truck too 😁
Dirtbag ·
Hi dAVo. This volksrod I'm doing is going to be one of the cheapest cars I've ever built. I scored the car for barter - rust repairs on a kombi, bought some widened wheels for the back from cranks on AVD for $170 delivered, bought an early style decklid for $40 from 11CAB and have bought a 10 inch beam extension from the states for $600 AUD delivered. Within the next few months I will have my own beam extensions for sale but I didn't want to wait to get mine going so bought a reputable one from a guy I know over there for the time being. My next big expense will be tyres. Everything else is just labour, so shouldn't have to pour too many bucks into it.
I'll post a thread of the build up when I get started.
dAVo ·
Sounds good mate. I look forward to seeing it done 😁
donovan ·
hey mr dirtbag, about time for an update on the adventures of "sid". managed to delete him as my photo, but be buggered if i can work out how to put "nanna"up there
Dirtbag ·
OK guys, I have to admit, there hasn't been a lot of progress, but at least he's home now. Now I just need time. I'll stick up a few pics later tonight.
Dirtbag ·
Well here's Sid getting chauffered to my place. Of course the one night we get rain was just as we were pulling up to my place to unload him. Free shower : )
Dirtbag ·
Here he is safe and sound. When there is more space in the workshop he'll live in there, but for now he's an outsider.
Dirtbag ·
Thanks to "cranks" from AVD I scored some widened stockies for the back. They're only 6's but it's more the deep dish look I want, not actual huge width. I'll cut the front wheels apart and change the offset the other way to accentuate the difference in the front and back wheels, just for giggles. Plus the rear tyres will be fairly tall and wide. It's a volksrod, they have to be big!!
Dirtbag ·
These are some headlights I got from the guy who sold me the CJ6 jeep. I don't know what they are, but I knew I had to have them. Now I can use them on Sid.
My front beam extension is on its way from the good old US of A and is a 10 inch stretch, 2 1/2 inch drop, so will certainly give me the look I want. These little bucket lights should fit in there nicely.
Dirtbag ·
"11CAB" was good enough to do me a good deal on this early style deck lid. Thanks dude.
Dirtbag ·
I'm going to turn this into a W decklid kind of thingy. I have a pretty good idea of how the proper W decklid goes, so I'm going to make this one obviously different. The valleys of the W will come right down to the lower swage on mine as opposed to staying fairly high on an original one.
I hammer and dollied two small semi circle areas into the straight edge the goes along the bottom of the lid. These will be the valleys of the "W". I think theyr'e about 4-5 inches lower than the W valleys of an original W lid.
Dirtbag ·
At this stage it still looks bodgy as, but tomorrow I will weld it fully and it should start to take shape. I'll bet the purists hate my guts. Can't please all the people all the time : )
Dirtbag ·
Well I had the fun task of welding it all up this morning. I also got rid of the badge, number plate light and number plate holes.
I want/need 3 x 1600 badges. As long as they're the same as each other design wise, condition doesn't matter. PLEASE HELP!!!!
Dirtbag ·
Here's my little helper. I can't seem to get anything achieved without the help of my 2 year old daughter. She absolutely loves my V8 hilux, but luckily she's taking a liking to Sid as well. What a good girl.
Dirtbag ·
After a bit of grinding and sanding off the rest of the paint I ended up with this. It's not too flash, but that's the whole point of a rat rod. Once it's had a bit of beating around and some bodgy paint, it'll fit right in.
Dirtbag ·
Just another pic
Dirtbag ·
I like how the W goes a lot further down than on an original W lid. I wanted it to match the front of the bonnet. It sort of does.
Dirtbag ·
So after a bit of hammer and dolly work and some filler I was able to put the first few coats of primer on. I'm happy with the stretched look of it compared to a proper W lid.
Dirtbag ·
I've left the handle hole in there for now but might get rid of that too depending on what latch system I decide on once the back end has been cut off. As for the rust, yes it's staying. For now. Who knows, one day I might make this thing shiny.
westi ·
man you have way to much time on ya hands.
starting to come together though,what's next.
Dirtbag ·
Hi westi. Too much time? I wish. This is the first thing I've done to the car. Next I think I'll cut the front wheels apart and change the offset to narrow the front track. Mainly just to make the back wheels look bigger. Then I'll have to get onto some beam adjusters as my beam extension is on its way as we speak so I want to be able to get right into it when that arrives. Time will be the big issue. I'll be moving shop soon so there might be a delay in progress.
I'm thinking for this initial build I'll keep it as basic as possible to show how easy it is to make something cool for not much bucks. Then when the novelty has worn off I'll chop it and do the suicide doors.
gsa2at ·
i am truly outraged - people like you should be ashamed of bastardising a beautiful car - shame shame shame
nice work btw
Dirtbag ·
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Thanks Glen, that's the best reply I've ever had. It had a good twist at the end : )
Dirtbag ·
Well my 10 inch beam extension arrived today. Thanks Doug Fuller from volksrods.com. It's a bloody nice piece of work and a credit to him.
It also lowers the car 2 1/2 inches.
DU88EN ·
oh my gawd! this is exciting haha i just wish the thread wasn't real time, so i wouldn't have to wait to see the end product!
look forward to it!
barls ·
good luck getting the beam extension passed, many have tried and failed. but for once id like to see someone succeed but only if they go through the right channels
Dirtbag ·
Hi Barls. You're right about it being hard to get it passed. The guy I'm speaking to about it says it should be OK to get a kit sorted out but of course there are some catches. I have an extension designed and will build when time allows, and then it will be sent off for torsion testing (on a car of course). The kit will have to include the steering and brake extensions plus any support bracing that may be required between the floorpan and the beam. Although the extender is a strong unit, it is quite thin so will carry a lot of lateral forces. Braces are something I will look at when I pull the front of Sid apart.
The next issues are headlight height and front tyre protrusion. Although a motorbike is allowed to have the open tyre as its most forward area, the extension kit may require the use of cycle guards that cover the front of the tyre.
Anyway, that's a little way off yet as there is a big list of jobs for me at the moment, but at least the extension kit is on that list. I'm also in conversation with the same inspector regarding ADR roof chops. It'll require the same torsion tests but once passed I'd be able to either do exchange bodies or supply on demand. There will be obvious limits to the chops in regards to occupant area and windscreen wiper area, but anything is better than nothing. It's all fun and games.
As for Sid, for now he's just going to a car that I've wanted to build for a while now and I just need to get it out of my system. The next one will be more serious and include things like legal modifications and a decent motor : )
Dirtbag ·
Hi DU88IN. I know, I kind of wish I didn't have to wait for the finished product either. And people think I'm impatient???? : )
gsa2at ·
i wouldn't like to pass that beam extension
ouch
donovan ·
try ford pills, dont know if they make vw pills. if they do, i"ll have a bottle
Dirtbag ·
Will you two weirdos stop talking about you asses!!!! : )
Dirtbag ·
Thanks to subisupa I now have an EMPI shifter in Sid. I fitted it today, gee it took ages, must have been 2 minutes or so. Gotta love that. : )
Dirtbag ·
Thanks go to Glen for ordering our 2 sets of beam adjusters. They arrived today. I'm going to do a narrowed adjustable beam for "Jack" the '68 semi auto beetle and a standard width adjustable beam for Sid. Can't wait.
Dirtbag ·
Here's old Sid with the new decklid and the rear guards and running boards removed.
Dirtbag ·
It's a bit annoying that progress at the moment is so slow but I hope it will pick up in the next week or two.
Dirtbag ·
Here's a bodgy bug selecta picture I then volksrodded in photoshop. It gives some idea as to what I'm aiming for.
11CAB ·
Great job on the decklid
donovan ·
nice work with bugselecta and photoshop. didnt quite capture the crustyness that is "sid blue"
now lets see the real thing. i say take the week off work and do it.
Dirtbag ·
Thanks again 11CAB for the decklid. Looks a bit different now hey? : )
I haven't been able to do much lately but today I ordered my new hubcaps and white wall inserts from classic vee dub. I figured I'd better get the wheels ready so at lunch time today I wire wheeled one of the back wheels down to metal. Took ages, sucky job. I think donovan should come over and do the other 3 : ) Oh well, it's a start. I've also tracked down some 235/70/15 tyres to squeeze on the back. Should have a good rake with the little cheese cutters on the front.
Hopefully tomorrow I can get the other back wheel cleaned up, then I can chop the front wheels up and change the offset like I did on "Jack" the '68.
Dirtbag ·
After cleaning the back wheels inside and out they got a coat of two of etch primer.
Dirtbag ·
Once the etch dried I gave the insides a few coats of 2 pac Holden Sting Red. It's left over from a previous job, so I figured I may as well put it to use. Tomorrow I'll do the outsides, then I can look at the front wheels.
colonel mustard ·
Thats a nice red there. How did you apply the finish? Do you have to clear coat them afterwards???
What other project car have you got going there?
Dirtbag ·
Hi colonel. I just used a 1mm touch up gun to paint the wheels. Being so small it didn't seem worth loading up a full sized gun. As for clear coat, no, this is a one step colour, not a COB (clear over base) process. I don't usually bother with clear on solid colours. I leave the clear for metallics and pearls etc.
The car in the background is a 1963 Pontiac Bonneville 2 door. It's in for a LOT of work. It's very rusty and it's getting modified a bit too. It'll be running 20x14 rear wheels.
Dirtbag ·
Here's the back wheels with a coat of red on the outsides. Now I can turn my attention to the front wheels.
Dirtbag ·
Luckily for me I had one of my best friends Keith come over today and he wire wheeled my front wheels after I'd cut the centres out. What a bloody legend. I cut the centres out so I can weld the centres back in with less dish. I actually want the centre of the wheel to stick out past the edge of the rim. This is mainly to make the back wheels look bigger than they actually are. Plus, I like cutting and welding things : )
Dirtbag ·
Here's one wheel welded. I put one of the back wheels next to it so I could see the offset difference. The front tyres will only be 165's, but the rear will be 235/70/15s so should have a good hot rod rake.
Dirtbag ·
If you're going to try this yourself, make sure your welder has the guts to get the penetration needed, other wise just leave them alone. Too dangerous.
Dirtbag ·
This weld isn't too pretty, but it sure as hell isn't going anywhere.
Dirtbag ·
Once cleaned they got a bit of etch primer. The wheels look a bit weird now with the strange offset, but I did the same modification to Billybobs '68 and once the hubcaps went on they looked great.
Dirtbag ·
Some more red. I'll do the outside of the front wheels tomorrow, then they're all finished.
Dirtbag ·
No turning back now. I decided the time was right to lop the back end off. I really need to get a better looking exhaust. I've posted a wanted ad on this site. Can anyone help me?
Dirtbag ·
Well unfortunately I probably wont get any more done until I've moved the shop to caloundra, as I want to have the beetle in the shed before I rip the front end out. Fingers crossed it wont be too long. It's really starting to bug me (pardon the pun) that I can't just get right into the build of this thing. Oh well, I'll keep you posted.
colonel mustard ·
Hey dirtbag, have you still got the bumpers and brakets floating around? Can you tell me the condition of these items..... 🙂
Dirtbag ·
Hi colonel. The guy I got the car from still has the bumpers and brackets, as we knew I wouldn't be needing them. Sorry mate.
colonel mustard ·
Dang it. is it the original front one.... totally chasing genuine german front bumper with the indicators in the bar.... the search continues. Car is looking really good mate, not my thing, but interested to see where it goes. keep it up 🙂
glencsiro ·
Hey mate, love the work and progress your making on your volks, I quickly knocked up a render from a model I made for my own project.
Dirtbag ·
Hey Glen, nice work. You read my mind!!!! I've even been looking for tail lights like that. Give it some bigger back wheels and some old dodgy 40's bullet headlights and that's exactly what I'm trying to build. Bloody nice work on the rendering. I have no idea how you do that, but I like it : )
donovan ·
Gday GlenCSIRO,
My son is a 3D animator and loved your 3d model. He was just wondering if you could email him the exact VW model (with no wheel-wells) to him in either 3ds. lwo, or C4d format?
He said he used cinema 4d, and wants to do some stuff with it.
glencsiro wrote:Hey mate, love the work and progress your making on your volks, I quickly knocked up a render from a model I made for my own project.
glencsiro ·
Hey mate, do you have any reference pics for 40's headlights, not sure exactly what they look like.
Dirtbag wrote:Hey Glen, nice work. You read my mind!!!! I've even been looking for tail lights like that. Give it some bigger back wheels and some old dodgy 40's bullet headlights and that's exactly what I'm trying to build. Bloody nice work on the rendering. I have no idea how you do that, but I like it : )
Dirtbag ·
Hey Glen. There is a pic of the actual headlights I'm using on page 2 of this thread. They're from an early 40's commercial.
glencsiro ·
You want them forward or level with the front wheel axle and are you happy with the blue or do you want to experiment with colour or rat rust any ideas?
Dirtbag ·
Hi Glen. The lights will either be in front of or on top of the shock towers. I wont know for sure until I've extended the front and can eye ball it both ways.
As for colour, I think your blue looks awesome, but the paint on Sid is what I'm keeping. I'm even going to paint match it in where the guards were and on the new decklid - complete with crusty stripe of course : ) The rear quarter panel on the drivers side will also ge a blow over with some crap blue to cover all the primer that's on that panel. Other than that, the paint and panel work is finished : ) Hooray for rat rods!!!
glencsiro ·
Quote
Gday GlenCSIRO,
My son is a 3D animator and loved your 3d model. He was just wondering if you could email him the exact VW model (with no wheel-wells) to him in either 3ds. lwo, or C4d format?
He said he used cinema 4d, and wants to do some stuff with it.
Hey mate, I'm sorry to say I don't regularly share my models, some such as this one take quite some time to build and I've had a few instances of people using my stuff commercially.
I'm happy to help folks out with what their beetle may look like with wheels, colour etc but giving away my work isn't exactly cool.
Hope this doesn't come off as to uptight but that's just the way I have to be some times.
Dirtbag ·
Well I finished the wheels today. Now I'm just waiting on rear tyres, white wall inserts and hub caps.
Dirtbag ·
The pic doesn't really show too much but there is now a fair bit of difference in the offset nw after I cut the front wheels apart. I think it'll give the desired look I'm after. Well, I bloody hope it does!! : )
Dirtbag ·
Seeing as I want to keep the car mobile until I have shed space for it, I've had to look at what I can do until the real fun stuff starts. So today I bought some MDF to make new front door cards and bought some awesome trim from spotlight to trim the whole interior except the roof lining. It's going to kick ass : )
Dirtbag ·
I stripped the trim off one of the original door trims and traced it onto the MDF. Tough job : ) Plus, I don't want speaker holes in the doors.
Dirtbag ·
I feel I had to prove to everyone that this is a serious build. I'm not just throwing this thing together for fun and pure novelty value. To show how serious I am, I chose this material to do the whole interior and under the bonnet. I mean, come on, nothing says "Serious build" like furry material with puppies and flowers on it!!!! Even my daughter was thinking "Wow, this guy is totally serious." Well, maybe she was thinking "ooooh puppies". Either way, purple puppies rule!!!!! : )
Dirtbag ·
I even went to the trouble of covering the arm rest. At least I've proven two things today - firstly, I've proven I am an idiot. Yes, thank you. Secondly, I've proven that I'm no trimmer. Actually, there's a third thing. I didn't know if I should have written proved, or proven. I still don't know???? : )
colonel mustard ·
Going for chrome hub caps? or no caps......
Dirtbag ·
Hi colonel. chrome hubcaps. just waiting for them to arrive.
donovan ·
feel free to use either proved or proven as the past participle
Son Of Donovan ·
What are you talking about old man??
donovan wrote:feel free to use either proved or proven as the past participle
Dirtbag ·
Here's all the door cards and rear seat done. I'm hoping my mother in law will do the front seats for me once I've removed the head rests.
Dirtbag ·
My 3 inch peep mirrors showed up today. I'll have to modify the window frame a bit to fit them, but, what's new?
Dirtbag ·
It's a shocking photo but these are the indicators for Sid. They're chrome with clear lenses and are really small. I still need to find tail lights on stalks.
Dirtbag ·
Today was like Xmas for me. Not only did I get my mirrors and indicators today, but my white wall inserts and rear tyres showed up as well. Yay. I love the look of these wheels and tyres. I can't wait for the new hubcaps to arrive. Thanks go to Rayners tyres at Burnside for doing the fit up so quickly for me today.
Dirtbag ·
Here's my lovely daughter checking out the new wheel. I'm really happy with the size difference between the old and new wheels/tyres. I can't wait to get the beam extension on. The waiting is killing me!!!!!!!! Bloody full shed!!!!
gsa2at ·
those wheels and tyres look hot !!
can;t wait to see them on the car
Dirtbag ·
Me either!!!!!
Dirtbag ·
Well a couple of weeks ago I got Kathy from Kustom Paint Supplies in Woombye to mix me up some Sid blue and a bit of the stripe colour as well. I asked her to match the blue, but also to make me up a blue that was a fair bit lighter.
Today I thought it would be fun to spray the head lights. I took them apart and gave them a very half assed rub down with a scotch brite pad.
Dirtbag ·
The next step was to give the head lights a thin coat of the lighter shade of blue. I left some areas bare as there was some good rust I want to bring through to the top coat. I don't want any of the paint touch ups to look new.
Dirtbag ·
Before I sprayed the next layer, which is the darker "Sid blue", I grabbed a water spray bottle and misted some water onto the head lights and rims. Then I dry sprayed the Sid blue over the top of the water bubbles on the lights. Once the Sid blue is dry, and being acrylic was only about 2 minutes, I wiped the lights down and where the water bubbles were, the paint comes away revealing the lighter blue underneath. Straight away the finish looks old and crap. I love it. Give it a "polish" with a scotchbrite pad to highlight some rust of what ever and the job's done.
Dirtbag ·
Obviously with Sid going to be a volksrod, the lights wont be getting put here, but they balanced there, and I wanted to have a look : )
I will be painting all the inner guard areas too eventually so the lights wont look so bright as they do here against the dirty bits.
Dirtbag ·
You can see the light blue spots here. I also scotch brited the little silver emblem a bit so it shows through more. I can't wait to weld up all the guard holes and paint the inner guards and decklid. Especially the stripe.
gsa2at ·
those headlight look like they was always there !!!
still should have saved all that trouble and just bolted them headlights onto Jack's roof rack !
Dirtbag ·
A little bit of welding happened at my place today.
Dirtbag ·
With all 4 corners welded up, I don't think the guards will be going on again any time soon. I guess now I can think about doing the paint touch ups. One day : )
gsa2at ·
nice job timbo
looks finished - lets go driving!
Dirtbag ·
How lucky am I? My best mate Keith came over today and cleaned up under where the guards were and sanded the bits of bog I put on where the bolt holes used to be. He's a bloody champion. I wasn't even going to work on Sid this week due to work and that's a bit sad, but Keith is keeping the dream alive!
My wife isn't too happy that her firebird (left in picture) is getting neglected because of a beetle : )
Dirtbag ·
Yay for me not having to sand bog : )
Dirtbag ·
I finally get to add a bit of blue to the body. I'm going to do inside the guards, the decklid and the left rear side panel. I'll make it look old and crap though, of course : )
Dirtbag ·
It looks bad at the moment because I haven't fatigued the paint yet, but trust me, I'll have it looking old and tattered in no time.
Dirtbag ·
More blue.
Dirtbag ·
Here's Sid with the front cut off getting the approval of my daughter, who has adopted Sid as her own.
DaveCarter ·
coming along nice man
gsa2at ·
looking good timbo
can;t wait to see the beam extension on and those hot wheels
Dirtbag ·
Here's a close up of the paint in the wheel well.
It's just the same trick I did on the head lights.
Once the front beam extension is in and I've trimmed the front sheetmetal properly I'll be able to have a look at it side on to see exactly how I want the rear cut to look. That's why the cut still looks so bad. : )
Dirtbag ·
Today Sid got his ass dumped : ) Thanks to everyone who posted info on how to lower the rear as I've never done it before. I don't know if it was beginners luck but the whole job took less than an hour. I guess having the guards off already helped.
I expected the spring plate to be really hard to get over it's "stop" but I used this thin jimmy bar and it just slid straight over the stop. I also used the same bar to lever the plates off the splines. Slid straight off. I have no idea of the history of this car, but it certainly didn't look like any of it had been undone for a very long time.
Dirtbag ·
You can see the line scribed into the metal behind the spring plate. I scribed that at the very start when Sid was still on the ground so there was full tension on the rear suspension. Now, after rotating the plate 2 inner splines, the plate is higher than it was when it was fully loaded, only in this photo it has no load on it at all. This thing is going to be LOW!!!!!! : )
Dirtbag ·
Tada!! I wasn't going to fit the proper wheels but I felt I had to as I wasn't 100% sure the tall profile tyres wouldn't hit the body with all the negative camber. Luckily they don't. I don't really like the negative camber look, but hey, it's a swing arm, what can you do? : ) I just knew I wanted the tyre right up near the edge where the guard used to bolt on, and that's where it is and I like it. It's come down about 4 1/2 inches. I can't wait to do the front now!!!!!
Dirtbag ·
He's starting to show a bit of volksrod attitude now.
Dirtbag ·
I love how close the tyre now is to the body. I thought 2 splines would be too much, but alas, it was perfect : )
Dirtbag ·
I can't finish a job until it's been given the once over by my daughter. I think she likes it.
DaveCarter ·
That looks badass. Perfect height on the back. This is going to be such a cool car
Dirtbag ·
Thanks Dave. It's starting to show it's true colours now. I've just started pulling the front apart to clean up, fit adjusters and the beam extension. I just wish I didn't have to wire wheel it all : ( I'm tempted to just throw him together and do the paint on the suspension later.
alien8 ·
Just gotta say DB that the W lid you made is F'in cool as shit mate.
You just need a Barbie Doll hanging from a noose from the rear vision mirror 😂
Dirtbag ·
Thanks alien8. Barbie ornament would be funny : )
I thought it was time I started on the front of Sid, so here he is with the body section removed but all the grease and grime still in tact.
Dirtbag ·
I yanked the whole front end out in one piece so I could give it a bit of a bath before I pull it apart. I don't want to get my nails too dirty : )
Dirtbag ·
I also gave the area under the petrol tank a good clean as well as it will be getting a coat of shiny black too.
Dirtbag ·
After a lot of cleaning you can actually see the seal where the swing arm goes into the beam. There's still more cleaning to do though, then I can strip the beam and fit the adjusters. I hope to get some work done this weekend, but now I've said that, I probably wont get a chance : (
Dirtbag ·
Here's the front section painted and the beam extender painted and fitted. This is what I've been waiting for : )
Dirtbag ·
I stripped the trailing arms and stubs off the beam, but left the steering box and arms on as I'm only adding adjusters. I did undo the steering damper from the top beam to allow room to get the grinder in to cut the beams.
Dirtbag ·
Unfortunately one of the grub screws that holds the trailing arm on was stripped inside where the allen key goes. It was buggered, so I ended up just drilling it out until I could just see the teeth of the thread then used a tap to remove the rest of it. Bloody thing. Took be half an hour just to get this one screw out. Could have been a lot worse though, it could have happened to all of them.
Dirtbag ·
This is only the second beam I've modified, and I have to say, just fitting the adjusters and not narrowing the beam is so much easier. It took around an hour to do the adjusters. I'm sure people who know more than me (not hard) would be better at it, but I'm new at this so it's still all exciting and interesting : )
Being able to just do one adjuster at a time and having the other beam keep everything in line sure was a big help too.
Dirtbag ·
Last night my daughter and I fitted these funny billet hinges. I thought they'd be good to go against everything a rat rod beetle stands for. I like to mix things up a bit : )
Dirtbag ·
Well, there's still a good sized list of things to do, but here's the general concept. Personally, I like it, and I know others will hate it, but it's not my fault others have no taste : )
Dirtbag ·
He still needs head lights and tail lights fitted, indicators fitted, steering shaft and brake lines extended, fuel tank put back in(once steering and brakes are done), front seats de-headrested and trimmed, cool looking but cheap exhaust, stripe painted on decklid and bonnet and decklid latches fitted. I'm sure there's more to do but that's a start.
Dirtbag ·
It took a bit of modifying to the door frame but I got the peep mirrors on today as well.
Dirtbag ·
Here's just a few more pics purely because I like it and want to make you all look at it too.
Dirtbag ·
I had to notch a bit out of the bonnet for the steering box.
Dirtbag ·
Not sure when I'll get a chance to do the jobs on the list, but at least he's looking pretty funny and cool for the time being.
Wannavee ·
Nice work mate.Looks great.Perfect stance
gsa2at ·
looks perfect tim !!!
nice job
when can i drive it !!
Dirtbag ·
I think before you have a drive I'd like to connect the steering and put the fuel tank back in : ) I've already hooked the front brakes back up but just need to bleed them.
I modified a VN commodore steering shaft so I can use it as the joiner in the steering column. Obviously with the front now 10 inches further forward I need to lengthen the column the same amount.
Dirtbag ·
I used a bit of 8mm steel to make the new ends for the steering shaft. I drilled a hole that the commodore shaft would fit into. I slid the shaft half way into the new piece and then tacked the outside of it together to check alignment. Once it was OK I then plug welded the new piece to the end of the steering shaft.
Dirtbag ·
To make sure it wasn't going anywhere I also welded around the shaft on the other side too. If your welder isn't ballsy enough, don't do this. You'll need to also have a keyway or some other form of holding the two pieces in line. I relied solely on the power of my welder. Yay 240 amp unimig. It makes it possible for retards like me to build stuff : )
Next step is to cut the shaft down to the correct length and fit it, see if the fuel tank will still fit in the original spot, fit all the lights, trim the front seats, etc etc. I'm still waiting for my hubcaps to arrive as well. It's been a month!!!! I want them NOW. Me? Impatient? : )
Mick058 ·
ha, yeh thats pretty cool - something different - love it.
bajachris88 ·
Its amazing how much that beam extension made ALLLL the difference!
Definitely hot.
Good stuff. 👍
Dirtbag ·
Thanks guys.
Today I got the steering working again. Because steering knuckles aren't supposed to be bent/angled more than 30 degrees I cut the steering column back around 120mm so the knuckles were at a more relaxed angle. I also made a new piece to go in the end of the column shroud to stop the steering shaft flopping around. It actually feels really good now.
Dirtbag ·
After seeing what had to be done to the fuel tank mount to clear the steering I gave the tank a bit of a clean and a paint.
Dirtbag ·
I had to raise the front of the fuel tank 35mm to clear the new steering set up.
Dirtbag ·
I took a pic of the rear suspension before I cleaned and painted it but was too stupid to remember to take a pic of it afterwards. I could take the wheel back off, but, nah....too lazy for that : )
Dirtbag ·
Just thought I'd bore you all with another pic of Sid. At least the rear suspension looks better now. If only you could see it....
Dirtbag ·
I just like this pic because the tyre to guard clearance is sooo good. : )
gsa2at ·
saw Sid the punky bastard in the flesh today - he sure is hot !
don't forget to leave the keys in him so i don't have to damage the ignition
Dirtbag ·
Thanks Glen. I'll just get you a spare key cut and you can take him out whenever you like.
I finally painted the bodgy stripe on the decklid today.
Dirtbag ·
How's this for a show car : ) Nice glossy scratch free paint. Gotta love the attitude on the back wheels. Plus I have to admit I do like how my half assed W inspired decklid turned out.
colonel mustard ·
so, whens the powerhouse going in..... plans for the exhaust yet??
Dirtbag ·
Hi colonel. As for power houses, I have a 308 holden V8 here, will that do : ) Nah, I couldn't do it to him. Seeing as this was always planned to be the simplest and cheapest project ever I think I'll stick with the old 1600. I'd love a funny exhaust but no time for making it and I'm too much of a tight ass to spend the money needed to get one, so I guess the poverty exhaust will stay too : )
I still need 3 x 1600 badges!!!!! Help !!!!!!!!!!
colonel mustard ·
you coming to warwick? chances are you will find one or 2 there. do a wanted thread on here.. this forum is pretty good for buying selling. im sure someone has an exahust they dont need that would suit you.. you may just have to wait for a good one to come along... 🙂 its looking good dude. 🙂
colonel mustard ·
exhausts..... 😎
alien8 ·
Two big ass stingers turned up would really suit the 'sid look'. Just dont stand behind it
Dirtbag ·
They all look awesome colonel. Your shout? : )
They probably cost more than Sid cost.
colonel mustard ·
Dirtbag wrote:They all look awesome colonel. Your shout? : )
ummmm.......... nope.
I can hardly even afford to keep my own car going 🙁
Dirtbag ·
I'll probably end up just making something up, being the tight ass that I am : ) I'm in the process of trimming the front seats at the moment, then I'll mount the headlights. Pics soon hopefully, if anyone wants to see?????
bajachris88 ·
If not a stinger, if you can score a 2nd hand set of cannons, chop the rusty muff's off and weld some el-cheapo ebay cannons, that should do it! (ebay got em, stainless steel, $30 each, $50 for 2! sometimes if your lucky they come with detatchable silencers)
the only issue is, will the whole zorst back pressure be all rooted with twin 2 inch cannons? Usually they are like motor bike kinda mufflers, and they are so friggen expensive (motorcycle ones are rip!...). And usually a single 2 to 2.5 inch cannon is plenty enough for a 1.6 to 2ltr ricer.....
hmm....
Dirtbag ·
Thanks for the stinger look on the bugselecta pic alien8. Looks awesome : )
Well, I finally got the front seats done so I'll stick a few pics here to bore you all some more. I'll throw in some b&w shots too, just because I want to. So there : ) I'm going to try using photobucket this time so I hope I don't stuff it up. Remember, me not smart.....
alien8 ·
No worries mate, just mucking around. Never can have to many options. The problem is deciding on one lol
Sid's looking great. Dig the interior. What have you got in mind for carpet?
alien8 ·
Just had an idea after looking at the latest photos.
Carpet it in astro turf or green marine carpet or some kind of fake grass matting. Look sick hey???
donn ·
looking good in a kinda "up yours" sorta way, if your looking for a matching exhaust I've got a pair of those mufflers in the second pic that the colonel posted (CVD-3709S) no pipe work tho, just the muffler bits, chrome, if interested let me know, they arn't free but going at a reasonable price, they were too big for what I wanted so I cut them off the chrome pipework and welded a cupla hot dogs on. Mind you I am at the other end of the earth from you.
Dirtbag ·
Laziness was going to have me just leave the grey carpet that's in there, but I like the idea of astro turf : ) Freakin' hilarious....purple and green....mmmmmm tasty combination. Perfect : )
Dirtbag ·
Well today I finally ripped the back wheels back off to notch the spring plates and fit the shocks. I read a heap of posts on volksrods.com from people who were freaking out about how to notch them and how long it takes....oohhhhh....so hard. I cut mine while they were still fitted. How f'ing lazy am I? : )
Anyway, I figured you'd all like to see the fully detailed show car suspension, so here it is : )
It's all done in two pack. Meaning it took 2 cans of spray paint to do all the suspension : )
I also thought I'd take him for a bit of a drive. I took a couple of shots of him out the front of our place first, just for a different background.
After the pics were taken, I couldn't help but take him for a spin up the road. He's a bit bumpy as they're not lowered shocks, and there's an ignition hiccup in there that went nuts whenever we hit a bump, but it was fun cruising up the road in Sid for the first time.
Nickster ·
Dirtbag, when you were a kid did your bedroom look like that one from Toy Story with all the toys dissected and the bits made into some freaky yet cool toys??
If beetles had feelings they'd get nervous near Sid 😵💫
Lovin' yer work
Dirtbag ·
Thanks Nickster. I'm taking that as a compliment : )
bajachris88 ·
awesome!
This might seem like a noob question, but whats the notch in the sping plate for?
bajachris88 ·
ah wait, hang on! is it to make clearance for more travel with the new shock bottom mount?
So the bottom mount of hte rear shock, was that just a bolt on adapter of some kind?
Dirtbag ·
Hi bajachris. Don't worry about asking me any questions, I've asked waaaaay sillier questions that than : )
The notch in the spring plate is there because I've lowered it as much as I have, the spring plate was hitting the metal above it, which goes to the top shock mount. Now I've cut it (spring plate) so there's more clearance there, that's all.
The lower shock mount is totally stock. I do need to get shorter travel shocks front and rear because of the lowering, but because I am both lazy, and a shocking tight ass, I haven't done that yet : )
Can't rush these things.....
DaveCarter ·
This is looking so cool. I'm normally not a fan of the volksrod because they are all flash and "look at me" but yours is just...... welll....... freakin cool. It is unique, will look awesome cruising and you have managed to pull it all off on a budget. I reckon the little spray bottle of water trick with the new/old paint job looks way better than some ridiculous flamey hot rod paint job. Great work mate. Can't wait to see it at a show 🙂
Dirtbag ·
Geeez Dave, thanks for that. That's the best kudos Sid has ever received. I'm glad some people are getting a smile because of him. I certainly do.
As for seeing him at a show, he's not really show worthy. But then again, he is a bit special : )
Are there any shows coming up around the sunny coast any time soon? I might even have some lights on by then : )
alien8 ·
Hey mate. Please take Sid to the next Dubs by the Pie. I want to see it in person. Its so show worthy!
Dirtbag ·
Thanks alien8. When is that show? It's nice and close to where I live too, which is a bonus.
alien8 ·
Its on early Feb. so plenty of time to get those doors bolted on backwards and finish him off 👍
DaveCarter ·
You should make the trip to the Club Vee Dub nationals. Big event but usually not to many volks rods
Dirtbag ·
Hey Dave. Doesn't sound like I'd be too popular. Volksrods seem to be a bit frowned upon, so hell yeah, where and when : )
DaveCarter ·
haha no all are welcome. Plus it is always good to upset a few of the oldies. Plus it is good for something a bit different to come past when i'm on the gate. The show itself is on the 23rd of May 2010 with a supersprint at wakefield on the 22nd. All the details are on the club website
SID IS LOOKING GOOD tim
wish those damn transport people would let him be registered
Dirtbag ·
I bodged up some headlight mounts today, so that was exciting.
I ran out of oxy so wasn't able to heat the flat bar to bend it so I cut it half way through and then bent it in the vice. Once it was at the right angle I welded it up. Yay.
Dirtbag ·
Here's just a few more pics with the headlights fitted. It looks really weird to me, as I'm used to seeing him with no lights.
I've also fitted the rear indicators. I think there's a pic or two of them as well.
bajachris88 ·
luv the sticker 😂
where you got the rear indictators from?
Wannavee ·
Theyre m/cycle indicators.Loads of different ones to choose from at any bike shop.
Try bike wreckers too,usually $20 a pair give or take coupla bucks.
Lovin Sid mate,very cool. Talented people like you give me the shits....only coz ive never welded before and dont have a shed that wont catch fire at the slightest spark!
Oh, and i dont have a vw at the moment.
Dirtbag ·
Hey Chris. The indicators are just ebay cheapies. $12 for a set of 4 plus postage.
These are the same as mine except mine are chrome and these are carbon fibre style.
Thanks Wannavee. I appreciate any comments about Sid, good or bad. I prefer good though : )
Dirtbag ·
Today I mucked around with the idea of some cycle guards. I always said I'd never bother as rego was gong to be a pain, but I can't help myself. I still have hope of getting my Beam extension design ADR approved one day. Anyway, I rolled up a bit of steel and ran it through the english wheel for a bit, then shrunk the edges to give it a bit of shape. I don't want them to be too "round", as they'll stand out too much. The flatter they are the closer I can get them to the tyre.
gsa2at ·
they will look cool i think - specially painted up all shitty
Dirtbag ·
Thanks Billy. They're just going to be flat black though. How's Jack going?
Dirtbag ·
Well I've had a few PMs and such regarding the english wheel and shrinking etc. So here's a couple of pics to show what I'm on about. I took some pics while I was making one of the rear guards.
One question that I was asked a couple of times was why I didn't just leave them flat on top. Well, I took a pic of the rear guard after I'd got the profile right on with the tyre, but before I'd done any shaping. It looks crap!
So, the next step was to roll it around for a while in the english wheel.
The way the english wheel works is as the metal goes through these two rollers, it gets stretched from the pressure. The shape of the rollers determines how much. Basically, whichever part of the sheet metal goes through these rollers will be raised. That's why it's so important to go over it and over it, to get it smooth.
The english wheel I have has a variety of bottom rollers. If I want to crown a large panel like a roof skin off a newer car that doesn't need a lot of curve, I'll use one of the rollers with the flat surface. If I need a much tighter curve I use one of the rollers with the rounded surface. When I did these guards I started with the most rounded roller, and finished with a fairly flat one to level it out.
Dirtbag ·
The main reason I started with the rounded bottom roller is because this metal is zincaneal. (spelling???) For best results with an english wheel it's better to use black/mild steel, as it shapes much easier.
Once the panel had started shaping up, I used the shrinker/stretcher to pull the edges in a bit more. This machine has 2 jaws that when the handle is pulled either pull or compress the metal, depending on whether you have the shrinking or stretching jaws in place. Very handy for making curved angle pieces for around window frames etc. I use this thing all the time. Don't know how I ever survived with out it. Once I'd finished with the shrinker, I ran the whole thing through the english wheel again to smooth out where I'd shrunk.
Even though it doesn't look like there's much dish in the panel, there is about 15mm or so raised in the middle. This photo with the straight edge shows what I mean.
Well here's Sid with the guards just sitting on the tyres. I think they'll be OK once they're black. I'll probably rotate them around the tyre to the rear a bit more, but I couldn't get them to stay on the tyre for the photo.
Once I've made the brackets to mount them, the guards will have to sit a bit higher off the tyres than they are now, but even so, I don't think they'll be too obvious from side on. Seeing as each one only took about an hour from cutting it out of a sheet of metal to sitting it on the car, I think they've turned out OK.
bajachris88 ·
awww! I want an engrish roller!
👍
I rekon these that your making will probably be the most inconspicous guards i have seen. they are so small and un-bulky... good stuff!
Scarab ·
love your work Dirtbag!! Sid is looking tough as nails mate, well done! 👍
glencsiro ·
English wheels rock, I've got the same model, resonably cheap and the things you can do to repair panels and make things such as guards is endless.
One question, I've been looking at getting a shrinker and I was wondering if you would go for a deep throat model or can you get away with most things on that model shrinker?
By the way Sid is really comming up great.
Dirtbag ·
Hey glencsiro. Yeah, it's not a bad english wheel. It has a bit of flex, but it was easy enough to take that into account when rolling with it.
As for the shrinker, I haven't had a situation yet where I've needed anything other than what I've got, but if you can get/afford a better one, then go for it.
Get me one too please : )
cam070 ·
Loving this build up. While its not my cup of tea, I certainly appreciate the skill and effort, and of course the results. Fantastic work and great to see you doing it yourself.
RAT061 ·
Hi Dirtbag, just read your whole post from the start again...i can't wait to start mine.
71-BEETLE-SEDAN ·
Headlights look so mad, i reckon you should do something bit more fancy with the indicaters, so maybe i dunno if you could but put em in the grill under the back window, just so its got strong line but they do still look good and good thread, great expainations.