V8 1973 VW Beetle Project by V8 Super Beetle

3 minute(s) of a 270 minute read

Here are some progress pics. Looking at them doesn't look like I've done too much, but I basically removed the dash, the door windows, handles and hardware, the few remaining items attached to the body like rear view mirror and the straps by the doors, and all the wiring and insulation.

Here you can see I remove a little more metal from the truck area and there's plenty of room for the V8. And also there's the one side of the frame mockup.

Here's another angle. I want the front of the frame to pretty much sit where the bumper beams are which is out of the way of the louvered front clip. This will help air flow come in the front to the radiator so I don't have to cut away the hood for vents / grill. The 45 degree angle you see to lower the front leafs will probably move forward 5 or so more inches. I decided just to do all around leafs for simplicity. I'll use the leafs I recently got for the rear and I intend to get some jeep front leafs for the front of my bug.

Here's a shot of the bare door.

All the wiring and insulation is now gone.

Here's the other.

Here's a view of the dash gone and how the frame rail runs. The 45 degree angle will move forward cause I'll get some shorter leafs giving me more leg room.

I knocked all the foam out of the rear but there's still more cleaning up to do.

Shot of the rear clip after striping paint and priming it.

Piecing it together.