Post by pvanheck on Dec 31, 2011 22:19:28 GMT -5
Let me start by telling you the story of how this project got started. I had a heavily modified Luv pickup drag truck that seemed to be cursed not to be competed.
I had a friend that I lettered his racer car who hooked me up with a fella that had a '69 beetle that had been hacked up with a sawsall to resemble a baja and painted half a##ed in general lee paint job and a bus motor hanging off the back. So I mad the swap, my boys thought it was pretty cool.
I took it home and primmed it grey and my sons and I spent a weekend razor blading the paint off the windows so we could see out. I couldn't get the bus motor to work properly so I took it of and put a heavily modified dual port 1800 cc engine on. Took all the chopped fenders off and installed a fiberglass baja kit I had traded for, and in no time was out with the boys playing in the local mud holes and terrorizing the locals in town.
I painted the car and redone the interior and tons of mods, to where the wife and I would go off on Sunday rides in it and generally have fun with.
After about a year or so and breakin several motors and transaxles I was looking to trade it to a friend or swap it for some thing but nothing ever worked out. Then one day I decided I wanted to build a VW trike and had come up with a pretty awesome design, so with alot of complaining from the wife I decided I would cut the back running gear out of the car and build that awesome trike stuck in my head. (make the voices stop please!!!!!)
The trike came out better than even I had expected and after a little time I sold it minus the motor. The guy how bought it repainted it gold (don't ask me why!) and has never got around to putting it back on the road.
Meanwhile back at the ranch the body was sitting out in the field on blocks where creepy crawlies moved in and claimed my car for a year or so. My youngest son was getting close to driving age and wanted a cool car. We talked about it and I found a good pan to put back under it, He was talking the whole time how cool it would to be to chop the top and suicide the doors and lower it. I was cool with it and looking forward to working on it with him, you know quality time with him and a car. Well it became apparent that he didn't want yo put that much time into it and got impatient and want me to help him find a pickup to drive and we would get back on the car in the future.
Then life took a horrible turn on May 5th 2007 Andrew was killed in a tragic car wreck at 18 yrs old.
I kind of put the car back under a tarp in a shed in raw steel and a chopped top and lowered. The car sat from '07 till about 2 months ago when my other son Jason and I talked about pulling up to the shop and start back on it. I knew he would not be putting any labor into the project because he is married now and is a full time mechanic.
I have always been a Chevy man at heart and have 20 something years of hotrod and racing parts everywhere, so I decided I would build a V8 bug.
The only bug parts left this time is a hulled out body and serial number. The frame consists of a '74 nova subframe and a '96 LX tbird independant 8.8 rearend with a 3.27 gear ratio. the motor is going to be a heavily modified '97 Vortec 350 with a camaro roller cam and packed with goodies (right at 400 hp) and a 700R4 trans. I am going to use a first gen TBI fuel injection and computer for reliability. After all my Wife and Son will want to drive it too.
I have widened the fenders 6" in the front and the rear is front fenders widened 3" with '64 ford galaxcie tail lights. I have also built new running boards to match the widened fenders.
I had a friend that I lettered his racer car who hooked me up with a fella that had a '69 beetle that had been hacked up with a sawsall to resemble a baja and painted half a##ed in general lee paint job and a bus motor hanging off the back. So I mad the swap, my boys thought it was pretty cool.
I took it home and primmed it grey and my sons and I spent a weekend razor blading the paint off the windows so we could see out. I couldn't get the bus motor to work properly so I took it of and put a heavily modified dual port 1800 cc engine on. Took all the chopped fenders off and installed a fiberglass baja kit I had traded for, and in no time was out with the boys playing in the local mud holes and terrorizing the locals in town.
I painted the car and redone the interior and tons of mods, to where the wife and I would go off on Sunday rides in it and generally have fun with.
After about a year or so and breakin several motors and transaxles I was looking to trade it to a friend or swap it for some thing but nothing ever worked out. Then one day I decided I wanted to build a VW trike and had come up with a pretty awesome design, so with alot of complaining from the wife I decided I would cut the back running gear out of the car and build that awesome trike stuck in my head. (make the voices stop please!!!!!)
The trike came out better than even I had expected and after a little time I sold it minus the motor. The guy how bought it repainted it gold (don't ask me why!) and has never got around to putting it back on the road.
Meanwhile back at the ranch the body was sitting out in the field on blocks where creepy crawlies moved in and claimed my car for a year or so. My youngest son was getting close to driving age and wanted a cool car. We talked about it and I found a good pan to put back under it, He was talking the whole time how cool it would to be to chop the top and suicide the doors and lower it. I was cool with it and looking forward to working on it with him, you know quality time with him and a car. Well it became apparent that he didn't want yo put that much time into it and got impatient and want me to help him find a pickup to drive and we would get back on the car in the future.
Then life took a horrible turn on May 5th 2007 Andrew was killed in a tragic car wreck at 18 yrs old.
I kind of put the car back under a tarp in a shed in raw steel and a chopped top and lowered. The car sat from '07 till about 2 months ago when my other son Jason and I talked about pulling up to the shop and start back on it. I knew he would not be putting any labor into the project because he is married now and is a full time mechanic.
I have always been a Chevy man at heart and have 20 something years of hotrod and racing parts everywhere, so I decided I would build a V8 bug.
The only bug parts left this time is a hulled out body and serial number. The frame consists of a '74 nova subframe and a '96 LX tbird independant 8.8 rearend with a 3.27 gear ratio. the motor is going to be a heavily modified '97 Vortec 350 with a camaro roller cam and packed with goodies (right at 400 hp) and a 700R4 trans. I am going to use a first gen TBI fuel injection and computer for reliability. After all my Wife and Son will want to drive it too.
I have widened the fenders 6" in the front and the rear is front fenders widened 3" with '64 ford galaxcie tail lights. I have also built new running boards to match the widened fenders.
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