V8 1973 VW Beetle Project by V8 Super Beetle

9 minute(s) of a 270 minute read

I trimmed out some more of the body not that everything is pretty much where it needs to be.

I got a little carried away on the driver's side. It was tough cutting through the supers strut housing and the gas tank mount. ;D

1-5-2009

Some updates.

A little more body work basically. I finished off the fresh air vents. They had little pin holes and needed some more block sanding. So that's done. Then I needed to close off the gap between the passenger fender.

You can tell from these pictures, but I figured it was time for some sweeping. So I had to jack up the bug and remove the front tires cause they went low. Took and filled them with some air. I took I picture so you could see just how well the stock S10 width works and perfectly under the stock fenders. The spacers are to give enough room for the vette wheels.

While I had the car rolled out and was cleaning, I snapped some pictures of how the body looks now.

1-9-2009

While your at it, why don't you throw on an exo cage.   Just kidding.

2-2-2009

Finally, some updates...

A few buddies came over this weekend and we took the body back off the frame. This time she's sitting on 4 blocks at each corner instead of two, LOL! ;D

At this point I'm welding up tack welds, would've completely welded some parts but they were too close to the headline, I added a couple fish plates to reinforce the shackles I welded in, and I'm welding up the top of the body mounts.

Next, I'll weld some caps onto the front of the frame, and weld in the "bolt-in" 6 point roll bar plates I bought. I'm doing this so I can remove the body (plateswelded to frame, the cage will be inside the flooring once built and I'll be able to bolt it all up) later down the road if needed. Should make for installing the engine easier.

Then the frame is coming apart, I'll weld up the bottom of the frame (suck at overhead welding with the stick welder), small parts will be sandblasted, the frame will be power washed, and then I'll paint it and start rebuilding it with new bushings / ball joints.

Once all that's done I can do the fun part.  Motor, tranny and install!

2-12-2009

Yesterday I ordered the rest of the parts I need from Summit to put my 355 sbc together with the money I got back from my tax turn.

Fuel pump, high volume water pump, oil pump, gaskets, thermostat, comp cam timing chain, flex plate, aluminum crank pulley, harmonic balancer, etc.

Basically everything to finish off the engine. The only thing that will be used is the oil pump drive shaft, the fuel pump push rod, the block and internals (pistons, crank, rods). I'm going to freshen up the bottom end with some new bearings and piston rings. So a good clean up and a light hone is in line, soon.

Yesterday I also got a good deal on some used wheels for the V8 bug. They're C5 corvette wheels, 17"x 9.5" up front and 18"x 10.5" in the back. . The 88' vette wheels just didn't have the look I want for my car, but they're fine for mocking stuff up for now until I can buy new tires. Got them for $150 and they're in really great condition. Just the normal small scratches on the edge of rim lip

Also, on Tuesday I finished off the passenger side body mount that bolts to the heater channel. All it was needing was a piece of angle iron to reinforce it. Cut a 3" piece of angle iron, cleaned it with the 40 grit disk as well as the chassis, and welded it in. Strong and ready to go...

I can't wait to get the chassis finished so I can put the engine together!

2-13-2009

Here we go. I did a version with the wheels the metallic grey as they are now and a version with them painted black. They're supposed to look glossy black but I had a little trouble getting them to look glossy, but you get the idea. I like the wheels black better, but with them silver they'll probably look larger than they really are.

Might even through in the red stripe for the extra racy look.

2-16-2009

My parts came in from summit. ;D For Valentines' day my fiancé got me a DVD from box wrench on basic engine rebuilding which is excellent, and a Ron Sessions book on rebuild a TH 350.

I made good progress this weekend. I drilled holes to bolt down my gas tank.

I ground the front frame caps to clean the appearance up.

I widened the side body mount holes some to give me a little room to shift the body some and I starting disassembling my chassis so I can finish the welds underneth and get it all painted and rebuilt.

That's about as far as I could get without a ball joint separator, which I'll need to borrow, to remove the spindles.