New Beetle Rod from AFTERMATH

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jakejake416

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 5, 2009
Messages
61
I built one of these a couple of years ago and recently sold it. A guy that didn't win the auction decided a couple days later that he just had to have the car. Since the first on was gone we decided to start over and duplicate the idea...

The first version and and the general direction that we are heading.
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Found another body and got right to work on the chop. This one will be a little lower and I'm going to delete the B-pillar for that "floating roof" look.

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Its not totally finished in this shot but you get the idea.
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Seems like it's going faster than it is cause I'm trying to catch you guys up. One the chop was roughed in I started on the chassis. Main spars are 2x3 square tubing and the rest is DOM of various sizes.

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Sorry guys, the turbos aren't staying. They just happened to be bolted to my mock up block when it needed to go in.
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Got some seats in there. They are from speedway and are really great pieces for the money as long as your built like a 12 year old girl. The drivers seat will have to be widened.
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I love this thing!!

Show more of how you did the chop. I have a real soft spot for VW Beatles. I continually eye ball one parked near my home.
 
Got the rear end in there where it needs to be. The 10 bolt is located about 6" back from the factory beetle's rear axle line. Started working on front suspension and go this thing to the point where it will roll. The level of motivation always goes up when you can sit in it and make vroom vroom sounds.

This rear end is from a 2wd s10 and a little narrower than I had anticipated so I'm going to wind up using some wheel spacer just for a little bit more clearance.
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6" stretch
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I think that the front would look a little better if it were just a touch wider. I may have to re work this a little. We'll see what happens.
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And yes these are the tires that will go with the car. They are 27" hoosier road racing slicks ;)
 
A few more pics of the chop. It looks pretty tough but it's really not that hard and if you do mess it up it's just a bug (no offense) and they are a dime a dozen.

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The bummer part of the chop, like lots of other cars, is that the whole roof gets wider as it gets lower so we have to add metal. In the rear the body is widened right through the engine cooling vents and since I cant duplicate the holes were left with a bit of a gap.
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Built a steering wheel out of left over huge nuts (insert joke here), deleted the factory beetle dash panel and replaced it with a flat panel for gauges. Started building the side pipe style exhaust and put a little color to it. Moving right along.

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This shot give you a little look at the brake setup. Twin wilwood master cylinders on their reverse swing mount. Circle track style push pull gas pedal.
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I'm not sure why this picture looks so dim but you get the idea. Very basic instruments.
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A look of the final wheel base. The front is stretched out about 8" from the factory VW position.
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This is the actual engine that's going in the car. I know that pretty and polished isn't exactly the rat rod standard but it was the only request of it's owner. Anyway, quick tear down and inspection, new cam for some lope, bearings, gaskets, and a dose of pretty.

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Quick break in on the stand and leak check
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Turbo 350 before
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Turbo 350 after
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i saw this build one day last week on the kb site, cool bug.[cl

Ya I started it there but the KB site doesn't allow pictures that are big enough to show any detail. It was driving me nuts.

This rear end is now equipped with Lincoln locker and widened a touch with spacers.
 
Not much VW left....still a pretty cool build...I think I have owned 4 of this Beetles over the years...none of them had any heat either...

I used to visit a website that was just about all VW builds (VolksRod maybe???)...crazy good workmanship on there...yours is right there with them...

MikeC
 
Not much VW left....still a pretty cool build...I think I have owned 4 of this Beetles over the years...none of them had any heat either...

I used to visit a website that was just about all VW builds (VolksRod maybe???)...crazy good workmanship on there...yours is right there with them...

MikeC

Thanks man I appreciate it.

Made a little more progress today. Cut out and rebuilt the seat so that a grown man can sit comfortably in them. I hate fiberglass. Finished up the sway bar. We'll have to see if the 1/4" plate I used is strong enough to be a sway bar mount. I think it may flex too much. I'm thinking about double plating it just to be safe.

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Nice craftsmanship. That thing should handle like a slotcar!

That is exactly the idea. It's basically a 2000 pound 350hp go kart that you can make street legal.

Made some progress on the fuel tank today. Coupled two pony kegs together and made a mount for the nitrous bottle on top. The good 'ole tape measure told me all was well in the clearance department but it must have lied. Wound up having to "clearance" the roof a little more than I wanted to. It looks cool hanging out but I may wind up making a bit of a roof for it.











 

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