The Bug was driven for a few months when I purchased it in 2004. At that point I had the intent of slowly restoring it back to original condition. I slowly took it all apart, every last bolt. During this stage the car was fully dismantled and parts were cleaned and paint was stripped. The chassis, or pan as it is called in the VW world, received the same treatment. I got tired of working on it and wanted to move on to something else. A few months went by and I decided I was going to make an attempt to sell it. I didn't have any takers at $300 so I bit the bullet and the decision was made to go all out.
I did some research trying to figure out the biggest motor I could stuff into the Bug and still make it somewhat comfortable to ride in. A Chevrolet Corvette LS1 motor mounted into the front looked to be a dream come true but it would have to be mounted so far forward that the weight distribution would have been horrible. Placing it behind the front axle would force a very small foot well and push the pedals off to the side making it very uncomfortable to drive. The Nissan SR20DET out of a Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) Nissan Silva or 240 SX as it is called here in the States. This motor is capable of more then 400 hp on the stock block with a few simple bolt on items. A few measurements revealed the bell housing would be in the same place as the one from a V8 creating the same problem with the foot well. I could not find any front motor, rear drive setup that I would be happy with. The only possibility left was rear motor and rear drive like the stock Bug has. Now I know I could have just opted for a built up Type IV motor, beefed up the transmission and had fast drivable car. The only problem with going this route is the cost, around $5,000 for the motor and $600 for the transmission. Remember, this is supposed to be fast and relatively low cost. I turned to the Honda H22A1 which is a VTEC motor from a JDM Honda Prelude. The output of this motor with all the factory smog controls, A/C pump, and steering pump is 200 hp. These motors can be hooked up to a VW transmission with a special adapter but either the motor would need new cams so it can spin in the opposite direction or the transmission would need its ring and pinion flipped to the opposite side so it can spin the opposite direction. Remember how much I told you a built up VW transmission costs? The transmission for the Honda motor already spins the right way and it can handle the horsepower from that motor so it will be used.
Now that the motor and transmission have been decided upon I needed to figure out what spindles or uprights to use. Originally I thought it would be best to use the Honda Prelude front spindles in the rear of the Bug so the axle would be able to bolt right to the upright. In order for this to work I would have to have custom drive shafts made or shorten the Honda ones I already have, and since the Prelude uses a low tech McPherson strut I decided to find another donor. Another trip to the junkyard to search for cars with front and rear double wishbone suspension turned up some hopefuls. The Mazda Miata employs this type of suspension but the brakes are pretty small since the Miata only weighs about 2300 pounds. I know these would be okay since the Bug will be close to this weight and there is huge aftermarket support for the Miata, but I wanted something that came stock with bigger brakes so I would not have to do much work to have stellar stopping power. The third generation Toyota Supra has large brakes, double wishbone front and multi-link rear suspension. The calipers are large and the rear discs are vented. A 250 mile round trip to Hayward netted me the spindles and calipers at half off. I still need to figure out how to mate the Honda axles with the Supra spindles, but this is only a small detail so it can wait until later.
I did some research on the front suspension to find out the best layout and setup. I found a few sites where guys built pushrod suspensions using dampeners and springs from a Yamaha R6. More research will have to be done to decide the best layout, but the pushrod would defiantly increase the cool factor.
After a few months of looking for rims I decided on the Flik Lex rims. They are low cost 17" wheels and don't have any bling. A sweet deal on eBay landed me a set of four new wheels for under $85 a piece. Tires will be 205/40/R17 to ensure that the overall rolling diameter does not get to large.
Upon test fitting the motor in the shell of the Bug I discovered that the original pan was not going to cut it. The idea was to use the original pan combined with a roll cage to hold everything together. I would have to cut so much out of the original pan that I would just be better off building a full space frame. Doing this will allow me to put the suspension pickup points wherever I want and not worry about having to alter something and have it be mediocre.
More test fitting revealed that the driver's side rear wheel would end up really close to the serpentine belt on the motor. I had thought about getting three inch widened fiberglass fenders to increase the track for better handling and now it is a must. After a reality check on the cost of quality fiberglass fenders and seeing The Kimini with
a full fiberglass body I decided to go that route. I really like the way parts
of his body can be detached quickly for easy access to suspension and motor
components. I can incorporate the three inch wider fenders easily and I will
shed about 200 pounds from the body. The multi piece body will also allow me
to make the foot wells any size I want and make my own dash without worrying
about reshaping the current dash and foot well. There is extensive body work
to be done before I can make the mold so this will most likely be the next
step in the build.
11/04/06:
Cut off the gutters from the top of the car.
I think it makes the car look a little more modern. I am considering rounding
the top of the door for an even more modern look. Started some of the body
work to get the car to the point where a quality mold can be made out of
fiberglass. Received my ARP bolts for the flywheel and the Clecos to clamp all
the sections of the mold together.
11/06/06:
I got side tracked last night and instead of
working on the body I ventured out and started to make a custom spark plug
cover. Cleaned up the original one and made a fiberglass mold of it. Seperated
it today, cleaned the mold, and made a copy of which I will alter to my
liking. Worked on the body today, cleaned all the fenders and began trying to
figure out how to widen them.
11/10/06:
Worked on the fenders and body the last few
days. Widened the fenders 3 inches each by welding in sheets of metal between
the body and the fenders. I am using the all mighty Bondo to fill and shape
the gaps. I am very pleased with the outcome so far. 3 inch widened fiberglass
fenders are $130 each and look goofy to me, so this way is much cheaper and
can be made in any shape I desire. I really like the shoulders mine will have.
I am going to use a deck lid from my friend Kevin's '66 Bug, thanks Kev, due
to the nicer shape it has. The '71 style is shorter and has a large bulge that
looks wierd unless you have the rear bumper on, which I won't have.
11/19/06:
More body work was on today's agenda. I
tried using an air powered orbital sander and a electric orbital sander both
with disappointing results. They blew dust everywhere and were difficult to
control. Itwas probablyuser error but I don't want to take the
time to master those tools so I am going to hand sand the entire car with a
rubber sanding block. Hand sanding allows much more control and does not
create nearly the amount of dust the power sanders do.The bodyis
coming along quite nicely. I filled more gaps and pin holes with Bondo which
puts mehalf way through my third gallon of the pink stuff.
11/22/06:
Still working on the body. It's getting closer to being done, but 'done' only means ready for fiberglass. Getting all the little waves out of the Bondo is proving to be the most difficult task of this phase.
11/27/06
I have been spending all free time tackling the body work. I readjusted the hood and fitted the deck lid. They turned out very nice. My buddy Kevin was nice enough to donate his old running boards so that I could widen them and use them to make the mold. Tacked on some metal and they are instantly wider! It will be somewhat difficult to weld them to the body and still have the door operate without dragging on the running boards. I am almost through my fourth gallon of Bondo. When the body is complete I am going to weigh it and to find out the original weight of the body. I will take seven pounds off for every gallon of Bondo I used so the number should be close to the original weight.
12/01/06:
I started working on the doors today. I made a template out of construction paper and used it to scribe identical arcs into the door corners. It was difficult to get a precise round shape with the cutoff wheel so some Bondo will be needed to smooth it out. I have been concerned about how to separate the outside of the door from the inside so I can make two separate molds and join them together. Upon looking at the door I believe I can carefully cut through the tack welds on the outer edge of the door without causing myself more work. No pictures today; I ran out of time.
12/02/06
Finished cutting and rounding the doors today. Started matching the body to the doors also. It looks more modern with the three corners rounded to match the side windows. I am very happy with the results thus far.
12/27/06
Still working on matching the body to the doors. This is a lot of mind numbing work, but slow and steady wins the race.
1/08/07
I have been held back by a severe cold so not much progress to speak of. Body work will take several more weeks to complete.
1/18/07
With the cold virus gone I was back to work although it has been below freezing every night this week making it hard to stay warm. It was starting to get difficult to see the imperfections in the Bondo so I put a "primer" coat on it. I used Rust-Oleum's Aluminum color since I could not find primer. I guess I did not mix the paint well enough since the little metal flakes were not evenly dispersed. I used a $10 Harbor Freight spray gun which seemed to work well, but my technique needs work!
