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Post by V8 Super Beetle on Jun 27, 2009 17:17:31 GMT -5
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Post by V8 Super Beetle on Jun 27, 2009 17:20:14 GMT -5
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Post by northwestoutlaw on Jun 27, 2009 17:31:10 GMT -5
i been looking for a fiberglass body boy that a crazy price.
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Post by kineticautomotive on Jun 29, 2009 19:58:38 GMT -5
Yeah, hand laid fiberglass is an extremely labor intensive thing to do right, unfortunately....but on the upside, it's very, very strong yet flexible, and very light.... ..and you don't have to worry about dents, it's easy to repair, customize, etc. ...and we make them right here in San Diego, not Mexico or overseas. If you need a frame, Bob Eyler makes a serious one ( www.prostreetbug.com/ )....it's worth the bucks if you're putting some power in your ride.
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Post by northwestoutlaw on Jul 8, 2009 18:09:11 GMT -5
ill have to look in to that body the chassis im good on im building a 25.4 chassis. Ill send you a im.
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Post by 454bug on Nov 13, 2009 10:02:27 GMT -5
Hey guys, I hope all of your projects have been going well... I haven't updated on this site in a while so I thought I would give a quick rundown of activities so far... First of all, we cut the frame rails and mounted the radiator... It's a tight fit, but we'll make the connection work... Next we wanted to construct a "double-shear" situation with the lower control arms to insure we don't have any problems with breakage... We'll add the same kind of bracing in the back of the crossmember and then plate it off covering the open space between the brace and the crossmember... we will also grind down the "hump" in the crossmember where the old Mustang II rack and pinion used to attach... when it's all done it will be one flat, smooth surface... Next, we welded on extra pieces of the frame rails we had previously cut off to get them flowing in the correct direction to match the Bug's body... We then mounted the 22-gallon fuel cell...
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Post by 454bug on Nov 13, 2009 10:23:39 GMT -5
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Post by 454bug on Nov 13, 2009 10:37:33 GMT -5
We then started laying out our rollcage... It's being built out of 1-3/4", .095" wall Chrome Moly tubing... We have a TON more bars to install... but this is a good start... along with a bunch of gusseting to do we still have to add two more bars in the engine bay area (as well as cross bracing...), X-bars in the doors, down bars in the back (2 parallel and 2 cross bars), main hoop diagonal bars, seat bar, dash bar, and another diagonal bar in the roofline... We will be building a double dashbar set up to hang the new brake pedal assembly from as well as construct a shelf behind the dash to house a TON of stuff such as: electrical fuse panel, MSD box, MSD coil, Fuel Injection ECU, traction control, etc, etc...
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Post by 454bug on Nov 13, 2009 11:17:51 GMT -5
We then moved on to the steering setup... first of all, we needed to come up with the proper seating arrangement and setback from the firewall... Because of the larger displacement and power of this engine compared to my old engine I'm forced to increase the size of my primary tubes on my headers from 2" diameter to 2-1/4"... Therefore, space under the hood is going to be at a premium... For these reasons, we're making sure we maximize the space available for them by insuring the steering linkage doesn't interfere... We want to hug the frame rail as much as possible... To achieve this and also keep any critical angles out of the steering system's u-joint connections we're using a cool product called a "steer clear"... It's just a fancy looking timing gear arrangement that allows you to keep your steering column fairly level (and out of your feet/brake pedal assembly's way...) and pick up at a point further down the firewall where that linkage will be tucked to the side and out of the way as well... They come in center-to-center lengths of 8", 10", 12", 14", or 16"... I will be using the 14" model... they come either "brushed" or "polished"... I'm going with the "brushed" look since I'll probably be powder-coating it black to match the rest of the firewall... As you can see, you can either run this setup on the inside or the outside of the firewall... We'll be running mine on the outside of the firewall to maximize what little bit of legroom I'll have on the interior for pedals and my legs... I have plenty of room behind the motor with the way we pulled the firewall back... There's over 2" of clearance behind the motor and this item is only 1-1/2" thick... Here's a couple examples of installations... Here's one that will have the closest look to my setup except mine will be quite a bit longer than this guy's... I will be using a Flaming River "Micro-tilt" column like this one except mine is going to be powder-coated black... They are all constructed out of 303 stainless steel...
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Post by 454bug on Nov 13, 2009 11:45:51 GMT -5
And the final update is my dash arrangement... I've been scouring the junkyards to locate a vehicle that might have a nice "donor dash" that I could start with to fit the Bug... NO SUCH LUCK... Even the smallest cars have wider dashes than the Bug because their cab goes to the outer extremes of their bodies... the Bug has the cab INSIDE the fenders making it narrower than just about anything out there in mass production... This dash from "Glass Action" was for sale on ebay and I picked it up (with it's "matching" console) for $50.00... It will give us something to start with... I cut some paper circles out and colored them black to help see how the layout would work for me... I didn't like how the "matching" console looked that came with this dash... I'll probably just build a custom one to look somewhat like this... After we figure out what looks right as far as how much the dash needs to be from the firewall we can close in the gap between this dash and the firewall with fiberglass... I will then cover the dash with a simulated leather... The area where the gauges go will either have a thin sheet of carbon fiber or aluminum plate for a background...
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paulj
Full Member
Posts: 143
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Post by paulj on Nov 13, 2009 13:45:01 GMT -5
The Project is looking great as always Ray! Did you make it to the Lemons race over here in Texas last month?
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Post by 454bug on Nov 13, 2009 23:22:14 GMT -5
Hey Paul,
No, we didn't come over... The race was in October and my Step-son's wedding was the weekend before the race... We were wore out, mentally AND financially after that event...
I saw the schedule for 2010... They are going to have two races in Houston and two races in Louisiana as well... I sure hope to attend a few of them but my time AND money are really dedicated right now to finish this Bug project!!
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Post by V8 Super Beetle on Nov 16, 2009 10:46:10 GMT -5
Looks great as always! I saw some of the recent updates on the pro-touring site. You're going to have a really nice ride.
Keep us posted on the lemon races and take plenty of pictures.
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Post by hellraiser on Nov 16, 2009 16:33:18 GMT -5
ok now that steer clear thing is cool, i will probly need one for my bug too haha
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Post by 454bug on Jun 1, 2010 17:31:26 GMT -5
Hey everyone, I hope all your projects have been going well... I've been making some headway with mine as well. Here's my latest rendering of where we're going with it. Matt gave me some help with a couple of color options for the car... Since there are SO many Red and Black cars out there I'm considering a couple of different Corvette colors: Daytona Sunset Orange or Atomic Orange. A guy took the two colors I'm considering and melded them together! So what do you guys think??
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