V8 Super Beetle Project

[murphytj]

Matt. Is that a long or short water pump you are using?

[V8 Super Beetle]

Hey Tom. It's a short pump.

[murphytj]

That's right. You said you were not going to be running any accessories like power steering, a/c.etc.

[454bug]

Looks great Matt!

Getting close...

Have you worked your hood clearance issues out??

That's not a "drop base" you're using on the air filter is it?? It kinda looks like it drops over the carb a little but most drop bases practically cover the entire carb... I think if you used one of the deeper ones it would give you additional clearance...

Just a thought...

Also, what plan do you have to keep the exhaust heat off of the cooling pipes? They're running kinda close to each other in a couple of spots...

[V8 Super Beetle]

Thanks Ray! It's getting there.

I haven't worked out my hood clearances yet. I thinking, to keep things on the cheap, I'll use some sheet metal to make a cowl induction. I've got more time than money.

It's a 1 1/2" drop base I believe. I'm still open to ideas though. I'll look into some other options, like what you mentioned. Another idea I was thinking of was a scoop just poking out of a hole, or possibly just cutting a hole so the breather can poke out of the hood. There's so many ways to do it. The jury is still out on that one.

I'm not sure about the heat at this point. The exhaust is next to the hot side of the plumbing. I'm thinking it'll raise the temperature but I'm not sure by how much. I have definitely thought about the issue coming up. I'm thinking about either wrapping the exhaust closest to the plumbing or just going to the junk yard and grabbing some aluminum heat deflectors from some of the newer cars. I'm not sure.

How's your project coming along?

[V8 Super Beetle]

I got some more work done this weekend.

I spent I good amount of time searching for the right radiator hoses to button up the plumbing on the car. I also got all the PCV, vacuum and rubber fuel line ready to go. I still need to run a gas line from the tank to the pump though. I also installed the steering box, the steering column (to see how things line up once again), and I mocked up my master cylinder, brake pedal and gas pedal (forgot to take pictures of that. I'll get some up soon). Last but not least, I got the starter installed.

Here are some pics with the hoses tightened and ready for the first start up which is yet to come.








Here you can see I need to get a different water neck because it makes it want to stick up. I found a 360º water neck from Summit I'm going to order. That way I can angle the hose further away from the engine and so it'll tuck under the hook nicely. I'll have to think of a way to secure it which wont be much of a problem.

Here's the 360º neck.









I installed the steering box and drilled a hole so the steering shaft came go through the firewall. The steering wheel mounts in the stock location.






Here you can see where the master cylinder will be. I was mocking up the pedal placement and found that because the foot space is so tight I'll have to gas with the right foot and brake with the left foot. That's how you power brake it anyways. I also plan to just completely cut out the wiper engine compartment. It's really not needed.

More soon.

[Mock1racer]

Yup, yours is coming along well too, looking real good Matt.

[V8 Super Beetle]

Thanks! It's slowly getting there.

[Mock1racer]

I noticed that your master doesnt have a booster?

[murphytj]

Clearance question. What is the minimum clearance that most of you guys have between crossmember and oil pan on a sbc 350? Also, what angle, front to bach when you set a protractor on the intake manifold?

[Mock1racer]

Not sure about the crossmember thing but the intake should sit pretty level. I have a 5 deg rake on my engine which makes the intake almost level, I set that from the engine itself.

[V8 Super Beetle]

Jan 19, 2010 9:17:43 GMT -5 Mock1racer said:

I noticed that your master doesnt have a booster?

I didn't realize you posted, but, no booster. I'm keeping everything manual. The setup I have is 7:1. If I find it hard to make the car stop I'll just buy a unit that mounts under the floor.

[V8 Super Beetle]

The "sump hump" of my pan is pretty much against the crossmember. There might be about a mm of clearance, but it's very close. I had to push mine as far forward as possible to clear the wiper compartment, which needs a little trimming cause my distributor is practically right against it as well. Not a lot of space in there.

I'll let you know within the next month what mine is. I'll be getting my driveshaft shortened this week and I'll need to figure out the pinion angle of the tranny and rear diff. While I'm at it I'll check the intake.

[Mock1racer]

I'm using the stock VW masters(two of them) I'm gonna have a mule leg after pushin on those for a while! I might have to change to something else, provided I got room.

[murphytj]

Nov 30, 2009 10:23:26 GMT -5 V8 Super Beetle said:

Alright. It's been a while since there's been an update. Really cause there has been much done, but I did manage to get some work done. Not as much as I would've liked. It took me longer than I though it would. You would think I would know by now that something always takes longer to accomplish than I originally plan.

For starters, I bought a starter.




I tacked in the body sections I cutout so I could weld up the cage good.






I bought a sheet of 4' x 8' 14 gauge steel to use for the firewall and flooring. I also got a free piece of 14 from work. Not quite a 4' x 8' piece but it'll do for the rear interior section. Here's some pics of the firewall, driver side, passenger side and the section that goes behind the seat tacked in.






I might have to rethink the trans tunnel and driveshaft tunnel because bending 14 gauge steel wont be easy. I'm thinking of just making it boxed. I'll have more soon.

Matt. Don't know if I showed you my boxed tnnel or not, but here it is.