[beboppindoll]

o.k o.k you beat me hahhaha.your bad *** its looking great.

[V8 Super Beetle]

Originally Posted by beboppindoll

o.k o.k you beat me hahhaha.your bad *** its looking great.

LOL, thanks!

Still plugging away trying to get it ready for body work. Guess I kinda already started some of the body work. ;D

Replaced the rust holes in the driver's side fender. The passenger was good to go. They both needed a little hammer and dolly work, which I took care of, to get the "bolt lip" straight.

Cut bad areas out.




Welded in new steel and ground down the welds.




A couple holes in the light driver's side light bucket.






Coated the inner fender with Master Series. Need to get more cause I ran out.




More after the weekend as I...

Finish the hood
Make an alternator bracket
Make a radiator hose hanger
And make a battery tray to relocate it in the back.

Hopefully I can get all that done this weekend.

[MRGM]

can you see the top of the hill yet?

looking good.....

[rexam]

Great work man! I have been pondering what to do with my 65 beetle for a while now, after taking a quarter mile to reach 30 mph with the 1500 in it, I decided SBC would be simply more fun .

I read through the first few pages of this, I was just wondering, did you consider going the mid engine route for the motor? I have a bit of purist in me because my father was always restoring vdubs and porsches when I was a kid and was wondering if would be a feasible option to consider for my build.

[V8 Super Beetle]

Originally Posted by MRGM

can you see the top of the hill yet?

looking good.....

Sure can, and it looks glorious!

Thanks!

[V8 Super Beetle]

Originally Posted by rexam

Great work man! I have been pondering what to do with my 65 beetle for a while now, after taking a quarter mile to reach 30 mph with the 1500 in it, I decided SBC would be simply more fun .

I read through the first few pages of this, I was just wondering, did you consider going the mid engine route for the motor? I have a bit of purist in me because my father was always restoring vdubs and porsches when I was a kid and was wondering if would be a feasible option to consider for my build.

Thanks! The air cool engines are really lacking. They're neat though.

I did at one point, but I always loved the front engine setup with rear wheel drive. It also opens up much more combo possibilities and affordability. That and it's MUCH easier to do a front engine conversion that mid engine.

Purism kinda goes out the window whether it's a mid or front engined V8 bug. Taking a S10 frame and using an aftermarket V8 conversion kit seemed easiest to me. I didn't want to bite off more than I could chew. Although, making this conversion come to live has been NO easy task.

Keep me posted on your build. Check out v8bugs.com for more V8 bug build ideas.

[V8 Super Beetle]

Al....most....there...

I got a couple milestone's accomplished. My time was cut short this Saturday when my Husky decided to dig his way out of the backyard. I drove all over the neighborhood looking for him just to come home to a muddy Husky right across from my house. I don't know where the mud was at. All the dirt around is dry. I guess that's what Huskies do best. Find mud...and escape.

Any who, I finally made up my mind and made an alternator bracket which I think came out really well. I basically took the low mount bracket I bought and cut it up and welded it to the frame. Easier said than done. The alternator does have full range of adjustment, so I'm happy. Now I just have to buy another belt.






I also bought a new more manageable size battery and relocated it to the back. I made an frame try for it. The plan was to bolt it in above the exhaust on the passenger side to help distribute weight, but that didn't happen. I wound up welding the tray in on the driver's side for ease of access.






I'm also having to rewire / reroute everything through the interior of the car. No biggie, but just another thing I have to add to my list of TTD before I can get to body work.

Just a couple more things to do before the next stage.

• Rewire engine
• Finish the hood

I'll post pics of the battery setup soon.

[V8 Super Beetle]

Got a few things done this weekend. Really just testing things out and tweaking (checking valve lash, snugged up the headers / collectors and played with the fan in push / pull mode) to make sure everything is is running right before I move onto paint. All seems well except the alternator.

I wired up my alternator and took the car for a test drive. After driving around the neighborhood for about an hour, I parked the car in the garage, turned it off, and attempted to start it back up. Well, it was very slow to turn over and it wouldn't fire back up. I did let the car sit and cool for about 15 minutes and it fired back up. ???

So I'm not sure if the battery was drained some and the alternator isn't wired correctly or if there's another reason the engine wouldn't turn over while at operating temp, which has never been a case. I did have my electric fan running the whole time and it draws some amps.

Could someone look over how I wired my alternator and tell me if it's correct or what to do so it is correct?

I have about a 4 gauge wire going from the battery post on the alternator to the battery post on the starter. I have a 2 gauge ground wire going to the frame. On the #2 post, the plug to the right, I have going to the battery post on the alternator, but I have a switch between it to turn it on and off. I have a 12v indicator light, which has yet to work, hooked up to the number 1 post and is ground to the body.

The dummy light has never worked and I'm not quite sure the alternator is charging. Any help would be appreciated.









I now have all the parts I need to finish the car, just about. There's a couple small things I'll have to get off a parts car.

Rebel Wiring Harness




Parts from Bap/Geon.




Here's a project that's been taking some time away from the bug, but one I've enjoyed doing. I've been working on finished up painting the nursery and installing chair railing. I just need to touch up the paint. Still got to put together the crib, hang curtains, and whatnot.

[123pugsy]

Do you have rubber motor mounts?
It would seem to me the alt belt would get loose when the motor is running with the alt tied to the frame and the motor moving around.

Just a thought.

[V8 Super Beetle]

Yes and No. Yes being I have rubber mounts. No being the S10 motor mounts are on the lowest setting and they sit on the frame. I've been test driving it the way it is and there seems to be no problems. I might just hook up a spring to allow the alternator to move with the engine but then tighten backup. If that makes sense.

[stefanP]

V8,Your project looks nice.I help build a 63 beetle that my friend use to drag race.I welded the whole nose togther and made it flip forward.Way nice to work on the engine.327,2sp,9"&4link.26"x10" m&h slicks.It was a strip car only.The car would run a flat 11.00 sec 1/4 mile pass's all day.We never got super seriouce about racing it.When we could afford to go we would.I'll be watching.
stefanP

[V8 Super Beetle]

Cool Stefan. Sounds like it was a fun car. Have any pictures? I some times wish I would've got a standard beetle so I could get one of those fiberglass tilt front ends.

[MRGM]

what size alternator are you running? If fan is running all the time, the draw may be putting a strain on the alt and causing it to heat up a little. Alternator should be a little bit above warm after it has been run for a while, if it is very hot to touch you may need a higher amp alternator. 4 gauge wire will be enough to run the fan and accessories.

[stefanP]

I'll try postpictures.As for the front end I welded the orginal metal front end together.No glass on the beetle.I tell you more later.
stefanP

[V8 Super Beetle]

Finished up fabricating, for the most part, and now it's on to body work.

There were a couple rust holes I took care of. Out with the old and rusty.




In with the new. Ground and ready for filler.




I also reinforced the hood. It wasn't too bad before, but now it's much stronger. I basically cut out 1" strips of 22 gauge and lined the opening. I later sealed the underside of the seam with 3M seam sealer.






My hood hinges were screwed and I could get to them to fix them after welding in those panels. They worked OK before, but they've just gotten worse. So I just cut out the hinges and extended those panels all the way back.






I borrowed my old man's 33 gallon compressor and went and bought a DA sander. After a wipe down with some wax and grease remover, I went to town on the hood, deck lid, and front fenders with a 40 grit disk just to knock most of the primer and original paint off. I got most of it down to the previous body filler and metal.




I started to mask the car off to keep the dust from getting where I don't want it.




STILL waiting on my 4.5" wide fenders from VW Innovations. A month ago it was going to take 2 weeks. 2 weeks ago it was going to be here in a week. So far, I'm not impressed. I'm going to call and see what's up cause last time we spoke they were "just taken off of the mold". I know how that goes. Probably didn't even have them even made.

This week I'll be working on knocking most of the old paint down, which isn't in too bad a shape, and I'll be filling the low spots in hope to get some high build primer down soon.