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V8 1973 VW Beetle Project

825K views 836 replies 88 participants last post by  V8 Super Beetle 
#1 · (Edited)
Hello all!

I'm in the process of building a V8 Bug out of my 1973 VW Super Beetle. I know this is possible because it's been done before. I'm on the v8bugs.com forum where you can find a handle full of example and different ways to accomplish this, but I still have questions. There's a lot more traffic here so hopefully I can get some help. I'm pretty much a beginner hot rodder that's a DYI kinda guy.

I'm looking into building a custom 2"x3" tube chassis for my build. I've took some measurements from my bug and designed a chassis in Illustrator to size. I'm trying to design the frame so it'll use the stock suspension up front.

I currently have a 283 SBC and th350 to put into the bug, but at the moment the motor is the block, with pistons and all, and heads. The motor is at my old mans (he works nights) so I don't have access to measure the motor off for mounting and what not.

Could anyone tell me, ballpark figure, about how much distance I'll need from each frame rail to fit the engine with mounts and shorty headers?

Here's my frame design, the distance between each frame rail is exactly 27.5". Also I intend on mounting the motor to the crossmembers that hold in the front control arms / suspension. Is this enough distance? Could I bring the distance between the two main frame rails closer? How should I mount the engine to the cross member with then motor mounts I have (see picture below)?



Here's some pics of my beetle and progress. I'm still working on cutting out the trunk!





 
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#553 ·
GMCTRUCKS said:
This is the pump im using in my truck boy does it ever pump more water. I found it on Ebay the guy couldn't get it to work on his truck I had to cut a ear off of it for my power steering pump would fit.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/BRA-1773/

Sounds good! I have a similar pump. Maybe even the same. It's a summit brand high volume water pump. I'm going to see how well it works. If I need more help I'll add an inline pump.
 
#559 ·
#560 ·
Hey guys, got an update. I borrowed the wifey's camera for this set of photos.

Before I begin, I just wanted to let everyone know I found out last weekend that my wife is pregnant!!! We're both very excited and now I need to really kick this project into overdrive. I want to have it finished before the baby comes, because quite frankly, my project funds will be reduced to just about nothing. I can finish it in 8 months. No problem. I did joke with my wife, after making sure she knew I was happy and all about the baby, and I said, "OK, who's baby is it?" Comments like that is why she married me.

OK, I've finished welding up the firewall, floor, rear firewall, the floor support under the tail of the tranny and the steering mount. Also, I welded up and ground down the welds to one side of the roof / b-pillar. I also patched all the holes that were behind the dash in which the A/C / fresh air came through. There were about 5 good sized holes I had to patch.

It might not look like much but it was a ton of work.




The dash bar is kinda in the way, but you can see some of the patches. I plan to grind them smooth and I'll use some bondo to give it a clean appearance. I don't plan to put the dash back in. I'll mount my gauges to the dash bar for that racey look.






Here's part of the floor support that I had to cut out so the tail of the tranny would have room. A lot of this project I've kinda guestimated how things will fit and have prayed it works out once I go to put the part in. So far I've done a decent job at guessing. Here I had to make a small adjustment. I basically cut it out and exstentded it down. Obviously...








I also got a good used balanced drive shaft. I'm going to see if our engineer / machinist can put it on his lath and help me shorten it in exchange for some graphics. He likes fooling with remote controled airplanes so he always needs some sort of decals made up.




I got a some extra spending money, after paying all those lovely property and homeowner association taxes, and bought a few things. I bought some starter bolts so I can finally put in my starter, a new fuel pump because I got the wrong one (I need one that doesn't have the fuel return line just to simply things), and last but not least I bought a new 750 cfm carb to replace the rebuilt 600 cfm edelbrock carb. The 600 cfm I originally got when I thought I was going to run the 283. Well, with an extra 100 ci I needed more carb. I did opt to buy a Summit Racing brand carb because I've read some good reviews about it and I like how it has black accented parts instead of chrome / gold.




Also, I have the funding to take the car to get the exhaust and radiator plumbing done. So hopefully I have time to do it this coming up weekend. That means I'll be able to finally start her up really soon. I still need to run the fuel and brake lines but that's not too big a task or expense.

Last but not least, Santa is bringing me some goodies.

A gas pedal, cable, carb brackets, wilwood brake pedal and master cylinder, a shifter and a racing harness...














After the holidays I'll be in a pretty good spot. The car will be pretty close to driveable. Here's a brake down of what will be left to be done with the 8 months time.

Things to get:
a sheet of 16 gauge metal $35
Seats $320
Another racing harness $60
tach $125
3 gauges (temp, volt, oil) $25
u-joint for steering $50
u-joint for drive shaft $15
seals for windows and doors $150
wiring harness $150
head lights $15
in light turn signal kit $15
new tail light lens $65
once piece window kit $125
new (to me) front glass $40-$50
brake line $15
fuel line $5
radiator hoses $15
gas tank hose to filler neck $5
tires $700
alignment $75
carpet $50
paint for the car body and wheels $400


Total to finish = $2435

Things to do:
run gas line
run brake lines
finish trans and drive shaft tunnel
finish radiator duct work
finish engine bay
finish back / gas tank firewall / flooring
make and weld in seatbelt tabs
mount seats
body work
paint
wire up the car
lay carpet
inspect / register
DRIVE!!!....


There's still a lot to do but I'm pretty sure I can get it all done in time. If you guys have any advice on inexpensive paint for the car body or find any deals feel free to let me know what you find. With the baby on the way I'm going to have to watching my spending. So I can't exactly get PPG or HOK paint. The pricing above is all for new stuff, but some of these parts used wont hurt either.

More soon...hopefully after the weekend...
 
#565 ·
V8 Super Beetle said:
Thanks guys!

406 Bug, I'm not seeing anything. Was it a link, or pictures?
Sorry, I tried to post pictures of my bug project . a bunch of chassis pics showing details of suspension , cage etc. Its all cromemoly round tube construction, full cage, Srtange strut front susp., narrowed 9" rear, 550hp 406 up front with t-400 full manual with reverse pattern shift.
I will try to get these pics posted (my computer skills are lacking).
 
#566 ·
406 bug said:
Sorry, I tried to post pictures of my bug project . a bunch of chassis pics showing details of suspension , cage etc. Its all cromemoly round tube construction, full cage, Srtange strut front susp., narrowed 9" rear, 550hp 406 up front with t-400 full manual with reverse pattern shift.
I will try to get these pics posted (my computer skills are lacking).
Wow, sounds like an awesome ride! Try using the "Manage Attachments" button below the message box. In the box named "Additional Options".

You might want to check out v8bugs.com, cool v8 bug site and builds there.
 
#567 ·
Well, it was a great Christmas and I hope everyone's was a great one too! I got my parts from Santa, haha, and I spent all day Saturday going back and forth to get the exhaust work and plumbing done on the car.

These guys did a really good job. The son of the owner did the work. He's been doing custom exhaust work since he was 8 or so, seriously. I think he's around 19 now. They charged me $300 for everything. I provided the FlowMasters. Here are some pictures of the exhaust and plumbing.






He brought the plumbing right up to the pump. You can also see the replacement fuel pump (I changed out the one with the fuel return to simply things).




As you can see there is some pretty tight clearances. This guy worked wonders getting the plumbing around the engine and even around the oil filter. The only thing I'm bummed about is there's not enough room to add my stall dust cover. I completely forgot about that. Oh well.






Plumbing all the way back to the radiator.








Here's the start of the other side of the plumbing.




The exhaust was hung how a typical V8 S10 dual exhaust would be done, but instead of having him run the exhaust all the way back out the rear I had him dump it for simplicity sake.










And here's where the other side of the plumbing ends. Right up to the radiator.




Here's a pic with the new 750 carb installed. Looks great.


More to come soon. Hopefully a video of it running!!!

 
#568 · (Edited)
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 360Âş 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 360Âş 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.

 
#569 ·
Cool Ride!

Very cool ride. I have a 1970 Bug with a mid-engine V8. I just purchased it late in 2009 so i have not had a lot of time to tweak it yet. This is actually a kit that was manufactured and I am trying to get more information on it. It utilizes a Corvair trans-axle set up. It currently is a 4 speed and it will rock and roll.

Here are a couple of pics....
 

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#570 ·
Sprayed 63 said:
Very cool ride. I have a 1970 Bug with a mid-engine V8. I just purchased it late in 2009 so i have not had a lot of time to tweak it yet. This is actually a kit that was manufactured and I am trying to get more information on it. It utilizes a Corvair trans-axle set up. It currently is a 4 speed and it will rock and roll.

Here are a couple of pics....
I remember that car from the Dave & Ed's Swap Meet in Canfield. It was in the car corral. I wondered what they used for a trans. Cool car!
 
#571 ·
Sprayed 63 said:
Very cool ride. I have a 1970 Bug with a mid-engine V8. I just purchased it late in 2009 so i have not had a lot of time to tweak it yet. This is actually a kit that was manufactured and I am trying to get more information on it. It utilizes a Corvair trans-axle set up. It currently is a 4 speed and it will rock and roll.

Here are a couple of pics....
Very cool! Does the chassis look anything like this?

 
#575 ·
I should've posted some of these updates as I went along but I've been busy with work and trying to finish this thing before the baby comes.

Today, I took the driveshaft to the shop and they're shortening and balancing it. I should have it Monday.

Lately, it's been a bunch of little things that have been keeping me busy and getting the engine going. That in itself has brought up some problems. The rear radiator setup wasn't getting water to the engine so the engine ran hot, 205Âş-230Âş, a couple of times during break-in. Not having any success using the rear radiator setup, I temporarily set the radiator up front on a bucket just so I could get the engine broken in at a normal operating temperature, 160Âş-180Âş.

Here are some of things that have been keeping me busy. These photos are in a random order. Some are self-explanatory.

I finished welding up the other side of the roof and b-pillar.






I had to buy another fuel rail because the one that came with the carb poured gas on the engine. My own fault. I cracked the line tightening it while on the carb.




Got the gas tank filler hose hooked up. If you haven't notice, I also relocated the door to the back.




I also got rid of the 3" lowering blocks in the back because; a, I don't want to take the chance of the auto zone blocks breaking under the torque of the 383, and b, the rear of the car was about an 1" - 1 1/2" lower than the front. Now the car looks a little more balance and I have a little breathing room if I were ever to corner hard I wouldn't have to worry about the tires rubbing.




One of the welded seems in the system was leaking up at the top. Seems they blew through the tubing. I tried welding up the hole, but the water from the tubing, what was left after it all leaked out, was steaming out the hole preventing me from making a good sealing weld. So I had to cut it out and use some radiator hose to fix it. When I was cutting out the section I just so happened to poke a hole in the oil filter. Needless to say I drained all the oil, put in a new filter and filled her up with fresh oil. Which was OK cause I planned to change the oil after the break-in, which is when this happened.




Here's the relocated fuel door all welded up and ground.




Here's my bare bones gauge setup, which I'll keep as is until I finish the car. Later once everything is done I'll upgrade them. Gotta cut back on certain areas. The manual cheap-o gauges will do. I have a tach, oil, and water temp. All I need. I welded the gauges to the dash bar. When I go to paint the car they'll be painted with the interior. You'll also notice a couple switches hanging and a push button starter. I plan to make a simple small panel, which will be below the gauges, to install those in.




I still need to make a support for the filler neck. The original setup point it the other direction.

 
#576 ·
Here's the gas pedal and brake mocked up. I have plenty of room, but I should've gave myself more leg room by moving the main hope about 6" back. Oh well, it's a race car and not a cross country cruiser.




You can see I cut out part of the metal tubing to fit in a radiator hose so I could put the radiator up front. So I had to buy another radiator hose to reconnect the rear radiator system. Still attempting to get it to work. IT'S GOT TO...




Primed the bare metal surfaces after grinding to keep from rusting.






Drill a hole and welded in a larger 3/8" fuel outlet. I welded up the stock outlet.




I decided to weld on the front shackle mounts. That was a pain reaching now that the body doesn't come off. Here you can see the paint ground away to bare metal and the mounts tacked in.




This is a picture of how I shimmed the leaf springs. The springs I have are a 1/4" narrower than the S10 springs, so I had to shim the front and the back of each side with three grade 8 washers. Worked like a champ.












Here you can see the front leaf spring mount welded up. I welded up the front, back and the sides. Not to mention I filled in the holes too. So they should be in there nice and strong.






I'll have more soon. Hopefully this thing will be driving by next update.
 
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