G'day all,,
Mate of mine wants to do some real modification to an old 72bay Kombi, and is after some advice/direction ect of anyone who has thought of or tried
this before.
He's thinking about cutting out the old floorpan and using something from an existing 4wd (no idea what) to keep the Kombi shape but to have 4wd
capability.
He also wants to remove the Vw engine and replace it with a big 6.
Never saiad I agreed with him (think he's nuts) but has anyone out there got some input ???
Much appreciated,,,
Dave,
The VW Syncro drivetrain is not going to be an option with a larger motor; it would be, at the least, expensive to maintain.
So, since he's not going to use a VW motor and he's not going to use a VW drivetrain and he's going to cut out the floorpam i.e.
he's not going to use a VW suspension, then I suggest he uses an Austin A40 Farina body instead, which would be ideal for the conversion;
lightweight, stylish (designed by Pininfarina's studios), abundant and easy to mount, it will top off his Landcruiser project admirably.
Oh, by the way, could he please return the Kombi, which is now spare, to the VW gene pool?
hth
you could always weld/glue/sticky tape two extra wheels to the sides of your existing rear wheels and have 4w drive - just with them all at the back :P
I have considered the possibility of extending the gearbox output shaft through the front of the gearbox housing with a seal and a yoke, to accept a
driveshaft running along where the existing heater tube goes to the front, with a front diff. I'm guessing that there would be a IFS 4x4 out
there somewhere that could donate some front hubs (balljoint to balljoint) which would turn the kombi into a four-wheel-drive.....
Only an idea so far, but I'd love to see somebody put one together.
I would have thought that fitting a complete chassis and suspension setup from another 4wd would be the go. I suppose it would be really hard to setup
the motor position though.
Are there any 4wd bays out there?
this was off the kdf site I think
The prototypes for the Syncro were 2 4x4 bay window vans.
One is in the Wolfsburg museum, the other lost, probably for ever.
I saw a beetle body stuck on top of a 4x4 chassi etc (probably a Landie) once, driving along the M4 towards Bristol (UK). I would love to have spoken
to the guy.
With enough thought, time effort and (often) money, anything is possible.
Andy.
I suppose the question is: Do you want a 4x4 kombi, or do you want a 4x4 with a kombi shell on top?
I have also thought about this - and AWD Beetle - in the past. Decided it was all too hard, even with an L Bug with Golf struts and an output shaft
running forward from the front of the pinion shaft in the gearbox, via an ex-Subie or Suzuki viscous coupling to a cut-down (diff only) IRS gearbox
installed up front...
Easy. Porsche. And buying a wrecked Porsche would probably be the cheapest part of the conversion!
Good point: does he want a 4WD KOmbi - or a 4WD with a Kombi on top?
Maybe he could get one of those South American VW 'Jeg' off roaders...
[Edited on 23-4-2004 by VWCOOL]
This might give him some ideas..
Or he could go thewhole kit and caboodle
Leave the Kombis alone....
Go the Austin A40 Farina 4WD...
hth
thought abit about this myself. I reckon there are 2 options.
1/ use transfere case of say a hilux and then two IRS diffs off a toyota/nissan or similar. This also means using what ever engine you want. lot's of
people are putting holden V6s/auto in sierras with an adaptor for the transfere case. Also lots of crawler ratios are available for that tranfere case
Pick the right diffs and you also could get lockers. I haven't done any actual measuring though.
2/ Do what a guy in the states did to make a 4wd turbo rally bug. Involves a custom nosecone and longer drive shaft ala schwimwagen. Have a look on
the bajas and buggies page at,
http://www.sandrail.com
"Daves rally bug"
For overall performance I think the first option would be better and make it easier to get parts in the long run.
However, IRS + IFS means it will never beat a tough live axle car in serious 4wd territory.
Quote: |
just seen this on the forums at http://www.volkszone.com
aparently it's on a land rover chassis....
kai