V8 Super Beetle Project

[Mock1racer]

Yeah, I don't have that cable for the trunk. all i got is the handle. Also, i tried that URL thing... it didn't work.

[V8 Super Beetle]

Hey Chris,

Did you get my email. Post the link of the image you want to upload and I'll see if I can't figure out what's going on.

Matt

[V8 Super Beetle]

Hey guys, update time... ;D

Got some needed parts for Christmas. Motor mounts, tranny mount, shim head gaskets (.015), torque wrench, isky cam #201278, some Lunati valve springs, and Comp Cams double roller chain setup. I'm just lacking a flex plate and harmonic balancer to complete my motor. ;D

Did some body work. I shaved the vents on both sides, but kept the indention behind the vents, which I like.

I drew out a template



Cut the crescent moon shapes and test fitted.



Then cut the shape out of some 22 gauge sheet metal



Cleaned up the weld area with a 40 grit disk.



Tack welded it in place. I would've welded it up some more but there was a bit of rubber that sealed the vent in there... It caught fire a couple times, slightly. So I did enough tacks to get the job done.



Ground down the welds flush.



A little body filler.



Some block sanding, little filler, block sanding....etc.



Hit it with some primer. There's still some little pits so I'll have to go back and work with it some, but it's pretty much there.



Same for the other side. Still a little work to do.



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

[hellraiser]

lookin good

[V8 Super Beetle]

Thanks man!

[Mock1racer]

Hey Matt, sorry about the delay on the skins, your project is lookin good. do you still need the metal? i've been busy with other projects ( honeydo list) and have'nt touched my car in a while.keep up the good work!

[V8 Super Beetle]

I understand, it's no problem. I wouldn't worry about getting the skins, but I really appreciate you offering. I've pretty much finished all the body work or I'm getting sick of doing body work, and I'm going to move onto finishing up the frame so I can start putting things together. Maybe once I get closer towards paint I might considering knocking out the skin section again. We'll see though. Thanks!

[V8 Super Beetle]

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.

[Mock1racer]

d**n!! That looks good Matt!! You need to come do mine,LOL! Are you gonna weld the fuel door too? Shave the doors? Maybe you should start a thread for guys like me that don't know how to do that, (bodywork) for some pointers. That's gonna look great when it's painted.

[V8 Super Beetle]

LOL, thanks! It's taken a lot of work to get it where it's at now. I'm learning as a go really. Some advice would be, "Weld, grind, bondo, block sand, bondo, block sand...repeat as necessary until smooth. " I think it'll come out really nice once painted too. I still need to lay down some high build 2K primer and block sand the whole body some more. I'm sure there little spot here and there that need work, but it's pretty much where I want it.

I think I'm going to keep the door. Maybe make some use out of it? Main reason for keeping it is to keep it somewhat stock looking.

[Mock1racer]

The more I look at it the more I like the sleeper idea. But I think i'm gonna shave the trim,and just have door, hood, and rear deck handles. I'm also gonna keep the VW emblem on the hood, and the volkswagen emblem on the deck. What should I do to start on the bodywork as far as sanding, strip down to the metal or what? Some of the body is'nt bad at all, can i just smooth em out or should I strip them too? Since i'm out of dough, i'm gonna start the body work, sandpaper is cheap.

[V8 Super Beetle]

I like the sleeper idea too. For $hits and giggles I might make a set of foe VW wheels like the guy who had the blown 283. Here's a pic.



From my understanding, if the paint on the car isn't flaking then you can sand / scuff the paint and do your body work on top of it. If the paint is chipping / flaking then you should get it down to bare metal. It's always best to get it down to bare metal but not necessary.

I got 1/2 my car down to bare metal using a wire wheel and said f that! It's a long process doing it that way. I'm not exactly building a show car, but want the end results to be decent.

[Mock1racer]

Cool ,thanx if i don't have to strip it, that would save a load of sanding time.

[CMD]

Jan 7, 2009 12:45:43 GMT -5 V8 Super Beetle said:

I like the sleeper idea too. For $hits and giggles I might make a set of foe VW wheels like the guy who had the blown 283. Here's a pic.

OFF CURRENT TOPIC:
As you seem to be the archivist for V-8 bugs; ( I've seen some of your photo collection on Volksrods.com, and other sites ) what do you think about starting a new thread with photos and locations ( if possible ) of all the currently known V-8 Bugs? As new cars are discovered, they can be added to the list.
Just a thought,
CMD

[V8 Super Beetle]

Hey CMD,

There is a thread on this forum that is nothing but V8 bug pictures. I even took some of the pictures from other sites and added them to the thread. Here's the thread. "V8 Bug Pics".

carmensbugs.proboards102.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=12

Only thing it's missing would be their location.