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V8SuperBeetle
June 19th 2008, 10:58
I'm not sure if this is the correct place to post this, but here it goes.

Hi from Houston Texas! Here's my V8 front engine conversion I've been working on since October of last year (07). It's a 73 Super on a 94 S10 chassis that has been shortened. The engine I'm putting in is a 283 bored over .030, it has 12.5:1 pop up pistons, forged pistons / rods / crank, mild cam, gm votec heads which will bring the compression down to about 11:1 cr, summit stage I vortec intake, 600 cfm edelbrock carb, and it'll all be back by a th350 w/ a 2500 stall converter.

Here's some pictures of my build.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/Bug_3.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/Bug_8.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/P1000800.jpg


88 Vette wheels (16" x 8.5") to go on the bug! I'll clean these up and refinish them.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/P1000806.jpg


Some body work.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/P1010007.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/bb2.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/bb8.jpg


Sold the chassis.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/photo2.jpg


Cutting out the trunk area for the V8

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/photo3.jpg


My first vision of the finished bug, photoshoped.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/What-the-Bug-will-look-like.jpg

V8SuperBeetle
June 19th 2008, 11:03
The donor S10 chassis.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/chassis_4.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/chassis_6.jpg


Cutting the frame up. Removed some from the front, rear, and about 24" inches from between the wheels. You can see the vette wheels on. I used 2" aluminum spacers.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/s10-frame-v8-bug-3.jpg


Ready to be welded.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/s10-frame-weld-joints-3.jpg


Frame welded together.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/IMG_0253.JPG


Body sitting on frame for the first time.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/IMG_0264.JPG


Body cut so it'll drop down on the frame. The bottom of the body is flush with the bottom of the S10 frame.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/IMG_0268.JPG

V8SuperBeetle
June 19th 2008, 11:08
http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/IMG_0267.JPG

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/IMG_0278.JPG


Body mounts weld.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/body_mounts.jpg


New home for the gas tank.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/tank_2.jpg


Here's how the body will sit after setting the body on it's mounts.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/body_4.jpg


Widening the rear fenders.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/bug_wide_fenders_1.jpg

V8SuperBeetle
June 19th 2008, 11:12
Fenders widened, but much work left to do.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/bug_wide_fenders_5.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/bug_wide_fenders_6.jpg


Shackle mounts weld in.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/complete-s10-v8-bug-shackle-2.jpg


New parts for the 283. Vortec intake and heads.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/vortec_intake.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/vortec_head_2.jpg

V8SuperBeetle
June 19th 2008, 11:15
Finishing up body work so I can paint the chassis and body at the same time.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/body-work-1.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/body-work-3.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/body-work-4.jpg


Change the direction I want to go as far as color. I'm wanting to go with a blue like this to stay true to the original blue and grey color schemes.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/Electron-Blue-Pearl.jpg

Superman
June 19th 2008, 18:56
You've put in a lot of work and it looks good, that will be a fun car to drive on a drag strip. The power-to-weight ratio will be insanely fast and it's gonna scoot.

However, and not to denigrate your work but the S10 chassis isn't going to perform too good in the corners. That chassis, with it's rear leaf springs and short angled front A-arms was designed to haul a heavy payload. The car/truck will be very very fast in the straights but will take corners like a Sherman tank.

There may be performance kits out there to improve the handling of that chassis, I believe that truck was on Chevrolet's racing circuit at one time.

In my opinion, and that's all it is just an opinion, you would have been much happier with the overall performance and handling if you'd have put that V8 into a Porsche 944.

Joel
June 20th 2008, 08:09
supe just said exactly what i was thinking

impressive work on it so far tho

volkdent
June 20th 2008, 14:15
I'll bet you it will be seriously reliable though, so that's good!!! Kinda sorry to see what looked to be a pretty straight body cut up, but I could be worse, coulda been an Oval!

Jason

V8SuperBeetle
June 20th 2008, 17:30
Thanks for the compliments guys.

I agree 100% about the handling, no doubt. The S10 will handle poorly in turns and will be fast going straight. That suits me though, or where I live cause we don't have turns and canyons. We have flat plains and long stretches of freeway / hwys / streets. Everyone pretty much races straight 1/4 mile runs whether on street or track. The only kinda turns we see are those at the circle dirt track. :lmao:

The body was in OK shape. There's rust issues in the quarter panels in the vent area. and the body has had some wreck repair fixed with body filler (previous / original owner). The car had been sitting up since 01 and was on it's way to becoming scrap. There's been a few times when I wish I would've keep it original, upgraded brakes, the engine and put some nice wheels on it, but when I look at what's taking place it put a smile on my face. :) (I'm poet and didn't know it).

It will be reliable cause it'll be mostly stock, and all GM parts. Minus the body of coarse.

For my next bug project I'll go with a 1303 (73) and do upgrades instead of a conversion. This site will be a big inspiration and is!

Steve C
June 20th 2008, 22:14
Hi

That is going to be fun to drive, if handling is not a big deal for you that's your call, but there is lots of things that can be done later on, Jag IRS rear end and A arm front suspension.

It would be good if you can keep it a bit stealth as well apart from pumped fenders, but as in no huge air scoops etc.

It surprising how much room there is in the front.

Steve

V8SuperBeetle
June 23rd 2008, 09:27
Hi

That is going to be fun to drive, if handling is not a big deal for you that's your call, but there is lots of things that can be done later on, Jag IRS rear end and A arm front suspension.

It would be good if you can keep it a bit stealth as well apart from pumped fenders, but as in no huge air scoops etc.

It surprising how much room there is in the front.

Steve

Eventually I'll do some of those upgrades down the road. I think corvettes have a nice IRS too. There's all kinds of ways to go really.

I do plan on keeping it stealthy. I don't even want cutouts in the hood. So either the louvers on the front clip have to be enough, or I'm putting the radiator in the back. Either way I'll have some sort of scoop / air dam to draw air through the radiator.

I can't wait to get the engine in to see just how much room there is to play with.

V8SuperBeetle
July 1st 2008, 11:06
These past couple of weeks I've been doing nothing but body work. I'm trying to finish the body work so it'll be ready for paint and I can move onto painting the chassis soon afterwards.

Now I know the correct way to fix rust on a car is to cut away the rusted metal and to weld in new metal but....

a) I would have to hack up another classic vw to get the metal I need cause the whole rear quarters of the body need to be replaced.

b) They make replacement panels but they are expensive. Once the rust becomes obvious under the paint I'll just fix the whole thing. This will hold me over for 3-5 years until I can afford to do that kind of panel replacement.

c) I don't want to take the risk of setting my car and garage on fire because of the factory foam installed right where the rust in an issue.

d) My goal is to get this on the road before the end of the year so I don't want to get hung up on replacing panels just yet.

Now that I've got that out of the way here are some pics of some body work.


Got the first coat of primer on the body.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8_bug_body_work_1.jpg


I've smoothed out the imperfections in the center of the door. There were a couple more spots on the edges.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8_bug_body_work_2.jpg


If you recall from previous pictures there were some rust holes on the bottom section of the body behind the crescent moon vent. That's been taken car of. I've finished the drivers side rust holes but here's a pic of some layering of body filler smoothing out the holes.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8_bug_body_work_3.jpg


Same for the passenger's side.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8_bug_body_work_4.jpg


Here's a pic of the end results. Holes are gone. There's some small pin holes that need to be taken care of but for the most part it's repaired until rust comes back 5 years down the road. :D

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8_bug_body_work_5.jpg


I'm just about done smoothing out all the little dings and rust repairs. Next I'm going to finish up the fenders and then I'll gradually sand and layer primer working my way from about 120 on down to 600+ grit. The last couple layers I'll work in some wet sanding. Then she should be ready for primer, base coat, and clear.

How much do you guys think I could expect to pay for primer, base and clear all from the same manufacturer? Honda Vivd Blue Pearl, paint code B-520P. I'm not looking for the highest grade paint, but something that'll last 5 years. My Uncle is going to spray my car so I'm looking into the cost of just of the paint. Enough to cover the outside, inside doors / jams, and possibly under both lids.

V8SuperBeetle
July 7th 2008, 10:30
Got the chance to do some more body work. Started finishing off the front end and most of one fender. I shaved the turn signals by tacking in some metal under the holes and then smoothed them out with body filler. There's still some little burs here and there but it's getting there.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-body-work-1.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-body-work-2.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-body-work-3.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-body-work-4.jpg

V8SuperBeetle
July 10th 2008, 17:28
What do you guys think about this color scheme?

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/silver_black-rims-red-lip-t.jpg

Silver, shaved bumper, lights and trunk handles. Paint my rims black and add a red lip like so.

http://img.alibaba.com/photo/11244043/18_Inch_BBS_Rims_For_Honda.jpg


I thinking about going this direction cause my motor will be about 85% all black with red accents here and there. Yesterday I ordered almost everything to finish up my motor minus push rods cause I have to check their length.

Here's the breather and timing cover I ordered. I basically ordered all the individual pieces minus the valve covers cause I need center bolt.
http://static.summitracing.com/global/images/prod/large/pro-141-758_w.jpg

I'm going to buy some stock vortec valve covers. I might even run a red stripes down those raised lines?
http://images.racepartsdirect.com/sbcvc.jpg

Got a set of red ACCEL spark plug wires.
http://static.summitracing.com/global/images/prod/large/acc-4041r_w.jpg

Ordered a black HEI distributor.....etc.


I've got mainly black with accents of red so I'm trying to carry that outside and inside the car. I'm thinking about getting these seats.
http://static.summitracing.com/global/images/prod/large/sca-80-1605-52_w.jpg

Some red belts, 5 point.
http://static.summitracing.com/global/images/prod/large/bob-50502-19-234_w.jpg

And I plan to do the interior / carpet in a dark grey. For the dash I'll paint that wood grain stripe red.
http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/red-stripe.jpg

These exhaust tips.
http://static.summitracing.com/global/images/prod/large/hok-22203hkr_w.jpg

V8SuperBeetle
July 10th 2008, 17:29
And last but not least I'll plan to get on of those 4 in 1 tachs to replace the speedo in my dash.
http://static.summitracing.com/global/images/prod/large/sum-800104.jpg

Who needs a speedo any who? I'm just concerned about people seeing my tail lights after a race. :)

volkdent
July 10th 2008, 18:26
I REALLY like the wheel idea, I'm probably going to go something similar myself.

I like the idea of having all the guages in one spot too.

Jason

effvee
July 11th 2008, 01:56
Hi, one of my problems is, I don't know of any state or local city that allow no bumpers. Any time they want to give you a ticket they can. I'd like very much to go no bumpers. I live in California, the Pomona area, and they do ticket:mad:

V8SuperBeetle
July 11th 2008, 10:31
I REALLY like the wheel idea, I'm probably going to go something similar myself.

I like the idea of having all the guages in one spot too.

Jason

Seems more convenient to have it all in one spot. I think the wheels black with the rid lip look sweet.

V8SuperBeetle
July 11th 2008, 10:32
Hi, one of my problems is, I don't know of any state or local city that allow no bumpers. Any time they want to give you a ticket they can. I'd like very much to go no bumpers. I live in California, the Pomona area, and they do ticket:mad:

Good point! I'll have to check the Texas law, but I know of plenty people here that have gone bumper less without problems from the law.

V8SuperBeetle
July 11th 2008, 10:35
I searched the Texas DMV and found nothing as well as google. I think I'm good on that one! Shaved bumpers it is! :D

Phat73VW
July 12th 2008, 18:53
Im digging the red lipped black rim setup!! also your project as a whole!!! keep up the good work!!

V8SuperBeetle
July 15th 2008, 13:34
Im digging the red lipped black rim setup!! also your project as a whole!!! keep up the good work!!

Thanks! I think it makes the car look sportier.

V8SuperBeetle
July 15th 2008, 13:35
Got my parts today...

Rocker arms, head gaskets, head bolts, intake bolts, intake gaskets, valve covers gaskets, timing cover, timing gasket, aluminum water pump pulley, water neck / gaskets, thermostat, distributor, base clamp and gasket for dist, ACCEL wires (red), valve cover breather, air breather, oil pan, dip stick, bolts for pan and timing cover, headman shorty headers, B&M 2,500 stall, TCI tranny rebuild kit and push rod length checker. I think that's all...might have left some out but basically everything I need to put the motor together minus push rods. I'll get those once I check their length (exh / int).

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/parts-for-v8-bug-2.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/parts-for-v8-bug.jpg


Within the next month or two I should have the motor together and in the car. :) That is, after I paint and rebuild the chassis.

V8SuperBeetle
July 27th 2008, 00:00
It was a hundred today and man was it hot! Still managed to get some work done. Ordered some push rods and some Dupli-color paint. 500º flat black for the valve covers and oil pan. 500º Glossy black for the block. 1200º color aluminum ceramic paint for the headers.

Painted the used valve covers I bought.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/vortec-valve-covers.jpg


Painted the bare oil pan I ordered.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/oil-pan.jpg


Friday at work I spent an hour on each header sand blasting the paint off. Today I painted them. Did 3 coats with one can and there's still about 1/4 a can. I put down some paint too. :) Now I got to figure what oven I'm going to use to bake the paint. ??? Does the paint release harmful vapors? Maybe I'll do it here at home.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/headman-header.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/headman-header-2.jpg


OK, so I've been talking about this freebie 283 from my old man for almost a year now without pics. Well, here's some finally. Today me and my bro went and picked the motor and stand up, got her in the garage and cleaned the engine up as much as we can. Still got some more cleaning to do before I paint it and start putting it together. The internals look good and clean. There's a little carbon build up but not a whole lot. I did find out there's no lifters in the block so I've got to get some

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/283-popup-3.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/283-popup-5.jpg


Here's some pics of the pop up pistons. . Also I found the number on the bottom of the pistons. 334-99. I searched the net and found someone who has the same pistons and his are for a 283 bored over .060. Would that be the same for mine? If so I've got me a 292 on my hands! :)

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/283-popup.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/283-popup-2.jpg


Well, that's all I've got for now. More to come. Anyone with suggestions about cleaning this thing up without taking it apart is much appreciated. And advice on sealing it up good (using silicon or sealer, what brands, etc) will be much appreciated being this my first time doing this.

V8SuperBeetle
August 4th 2008, 11:12
I got the block 98% broke down this weekend. After I hone the cylinders and clean the deck it'll be off to the machine shop to get hot tanked, new freeze plugs and cam bearings installed. I plan to install the main and rod bearings my self so I'll have the crank check out too.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/292-v8-bug-block.jpg

I also found out that the current cam that was in the block is a Comp Cams 270H which is too much of lift for my stock vortec heads. Either a new cam or valve springs are in order.

zeroaxe
August 5th 2008, 11:35
I know that you might not be getting many replies on this thread of yours, but please dont be discouraged to continue posting. I for one am loving it. You see, just about anything mechanic interests me!

Panelfantastic
August 6th 2008, 09:41
Yep, what Axe said. Fun to follow along and watch your progress. Don't think we aren't watchin':cool: ...

volkdent
August 6th 2008, 12:43
I'm checkin' it out regularily!

Jason

V8SuperBeetle
August 11th 2008, 09:40
Cool! I knew you guys were lurking. I've been keeping you guys up to date so far. It's been about 100º out lately which has been making it hard for me to get out and continue body work. At the moment I've just been concentrating on getting the motor together since it doesn't involve as much physical work.

Only real update not posted is I've decide to trade the 283 for a 350 V8. The reason I made this decision is cause it's cheaper to build a 350, pistons for a 283 bored over .060 are rare these days which make pistons and rings expensive and hard to get a hold of (1 month back order), and the 350 will make for more power and torque.

I found a thread for a vortec 400 hp 350 std bore build, dyno proven, which I intend to duplicate cause I already have a majority of the parts. Basically it's a stock 350 block / bottom end (pistons, crank, connecting rods), vortec heads, an isky .450/.450 lift w/ a 278/278 duration cam, edelbrock perform rpm intake, 750 cfm carb, and 1 5/8' headers to 3" dual exhaust.

I'll post pics when I make the swap.

mccarthy500
August 11th 2008, 19:04
this is also one of the threads i check on regularly

V8SuperBeetle
August 18th 2008, 10:51
Made the swap this weekend. Traded the 283 for a 350 bored over 30. The engine is a pretty recent rebuild but has collected a little dirt from sitting. I'm debating whether or not to just tear it down, hot tank it and rebuild it or to just clean it up as it and go.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-355.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-355-2.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-355-3.jpg

Non Echo en Mexico.
http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-355-4.jpg

toddygates
August 21st 2008, 21:27
looking good

V8SuperBeetle
August 25th 2008, 10:20
Thanks! I really haven't done too much to it lately cause it's been really hot, but I'm going to make some time this week and weekend to continue the body work I've started. Here's how she is as of now.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/vw-sign.jpg


Once I get the body work out of the way I'll tackle the engine, trans and chassis rebuild. :)

V8SuperBeetle
September 2nd 2008, 00:46
Update...

I actually got to put in some hours. Still working away at the body trying to smooth here out. I pretty much got the hood, front clip and passenger fender finished. There's a couple small low spots and high spots but for the most part they're 95% done. Well, as far a body work goes.

I hope you guys don't mind pictures... ;D


I tack welded a 22 gauge metal strip under the turn signal holes and began filing and shaping.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-body-work--15.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-body-work--14.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-body-work--13.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-body-work--12.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-body-work--11.jpg


I got a little help today from my buddy Jesse.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-body-work--10.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-body-work--9.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-body-work--8.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-body-work--7.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-body-work--6.jpg

V8SuperBeetle
September 2nd 2008, 00:47
http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-body-work--5.jpg


The blue paint spots you see is some sort of drafters / engineer marking paint that has worked well for marking spots that need fixing. It's really used to make measurement markings and notes. :)

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-body-work--4.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-body-work--3.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-body-work--2.jpg

I ran out of primer before I could finish the hood. ;D

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-body-work--1.jpg


Just a little more to do to the front end and then I can move on to the rear fenders. I'm thinking of shaving the front handle along with the trim holes on the hood. I might shave all the trim holes but I'm debating whether to shave everything or to go with the slightly more modern look by painting the trim flat black. ??? That and I'm undecided about keeping either bumpers or t-bars or to just shave the bumper holes.

V8SuperBeetle
September 22nd 2008, 11:13
Some updates on the bug.http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/more-body-work-1.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/more-body-work-2.jpg

All the body shaping of the front is pretty much done. Next I'll shave the bumper holes and front hood handle, but the hard part is pretty much done with for the front. Now I'll move onto the rear fenders.

I mocked up the steering. I've got a manual GM steering box and linkage. The steering wheel will be in it's stock location. I've just got to figure out what to use to mate the VW spline to the GM box / linkage.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/steering-mockup-1.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/steering-mockup-2.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/steering-mockup-3.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/steering-mockup-4.jpg

KAFUR1
September 28th 2008, 19:55
more more

V8SuperBeetle
September 30th 2008, 10:53
A little more...:)

This weekend a few buddies came over to help out on the the car, well, it was supposed to be one but four showed and more talking than work was done, but they got to check out the car for the first time. What basically got done was we positioned the body in it's finally spot and we lowered the passenger side 3/4" to level the body out. Friday I went and bought 5 sticks of angle iron to get it all done.

Last night I cut and tack welded in the floor support using angle iron. For just being tack welded at the moment the concept seems very sturdy.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-s10-floor-support.jpg

Next I'm going to weld in the body mount rails that bolt up to the heater channels.

volkdent
September 30th 2008, 11:42
Why not just use square tubing? It would be more than twice as strong and if you used a thinner wall not much heavier at all.

Jason

V8SuperBeetle
October 3rd 2008, 10:12
Why not just use square tubing? It would be more than twice as strong and if you used a thinner wall not much heavier at all.

Jason

Good point! I decided to use angle iron cause it's simple to work with and you only have to weld two sides instead of four. I got the iron from Lowes and there was plenty of it compared to square tubing.

Matt

V8SuperBeetle
October 3rd 2008, 10:12
2" drop s-10 spindles, 2 quarts of MasterSeries silver and one quart of chassis black on their way so I can finish up, rebuild and paint the chassis.

V8SuperBeetle
October 6th 2008, 14:00
S10 2" drop spindles came in.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/spindles.jpg

This weekend I finished welding the floor support in. Well, I didn't get to the welding underneath cause I'm not great at overhead welding. So when I take the frame apart to rebuild it I'm going to flip over the frame and tackle those welds and others.

It's been a little while since I've last welded and I was working with different rods. I had to redo a few welds cause the rods I have are coat with less coating / flux so I wasn't use to them, but quickly got the hang of it. Not the greatest weld, but looks decent.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/weld.jpg


I made some mounts for the body to bolt to. Still have to weld them in though.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/body-mounts.jpg

V8SuperBeetle
October 9th 2008, 11:24
Radiator for the bug in exchange for a little photoshopping. Courtesy of Ray (guy building the pro-touring V8 bug). Thanks Ray! Needs a little cleaning but it's in great condition.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/radiator-1.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/radiator-2.jpg


I did some test fitting / mocking up of the radiator and seems like it'll have to go in the back cause the sway bar and steering box is right where I need the radiator to sit. So I'll be building a place for the radiator to mount in the rear. Having the radiator and battery in the back should help distribute a little bit of the weight.

volkdent
October 9th 2008, 12:06
You DO NOT want the radiator in the rear unless you've got a great idea for lot's of ducting. Find another radiator that is the size you need it, my advice comes from others failures with that concept.

Jason

V8SuperBeetle
October 10th 2008, 14:59
You DO NOT want the radiator in the rear unless you've got a great idea for lot's of ducting. Find another radiator that is the size you need it, my advice comes from others failures with that concept.

Jason

Thanks for the advice! I do have a good idea for ducting the air. Basically it'll pull the air from under the car through the radiator. I've seen a handful of V8 conversion pictures done that way, or similar.

V8SuperBeetle
October 10th 2008, 15:01
Last night I tack welded the "mount rails" that bolt down the heater channels of the body. This weekend I'm going to finish the metal work on the fenders and start laying some bondo, well, that's the plan.

volkdent
October 11th 2008, 13:50
Thanks for the advice! I do have a good idea for ducting the air. Basically it'll pull the air from under the car through the radiator. I've seen a handful of V8 conversion pictures done that way, or similar.


Did those pictures include a comment about the temperatures running cool? Don't mean to bug ya, but just because it was done doesn't mean it works. It can work, BTW, but you have to have a good grip on airflow and especially making sure you've got all the air bubbles out of your system.

Jason

V8SuperBeetle
October 13th 2008, 10:00
Did those pictures include a comment about the temperatures running cool? Don't mean to bug ya, but just because it was done doesn't mean it works. It can work, BTW, but you have to have a good grip on airflow and especially making sure you've got all the air bubbles out of your system.

Jason

Hey Jason,

There's a guy on V8bugs.com that has a rear radiator setup and he has no problems with cooling. Just gotta make sure there's enough air being pulled across the rad.

V8SuperBeetle
October 13th 2008, 11:18
Well, this weekend I managed to finish all the metal work on one fender and I got down a layer of bondo. Looks like it'll turn out just like I want it to. My metal work isn't the greatest, but I'll make it up in body work. :) Stick welding sheet metal is a biotchhh! ;)

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/fender-1.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/fender-2.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/fender-3.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/fender-4.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/fender-5.jpg


MasterSeries paint came in! This is what I'll be using to seal and paint my chassis. 2 quarts of silver and one gloss chassis black.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/masterseries.jpg


Next weekend I will hopefully have the other fender to or past this point.

V8SuperBeetle
October 20th 2008, 12:59
A little update.

Finished the metal work on the driver side fender and got down the first layer of bondo.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/fender-6.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/fender-7.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/fender-8.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/fender-9.jpg

I started sanding the passenger fender with some 60 grit. Seemed like it took forever to knock down the bondo. I ran out of time before I could make any real sanding progress, but I'll need to get some 40 grit to move things along quicker.

zeroaxe
October 20th 2008, 14:44
Cool, keep the updates coming! I am also keeping an eye on it at SBO ;)

ferfre007
October 21st 2008, 16:49
excelente!!! saludos desde Paraguay!!

V8SuperBeetle
October 22nd 2008, 11:07
Thanks! I'll keep the pics coming as I go along. This weekend I'm going to work with the fenders some more and I'll post progress.

V8SuperBeetle
November 12th 2008, 13:29
Quick little update.

Last time I came to post my previous work the site was down, but here's where I am now.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/fender-seam-1.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/fender-seam-2.jpg


I did manage to work on the driver's side fender, but didn't quite "finish" shaping it. It needs a little more filler to smooth it out. I'll post pictures once I've finished shaping it.

I'm still sitting on the fence about whether or not to shave the bumpers on my beetle. I prefer the deleted bumper look, but I'm worried somebody might bump me one day just tear up the body of my car. Hmmm... This is really the last thing I need to sort out body work wise.

Vinny
November 13th 2008, 00:34
Impressive work. Keep it up! I really like the concept with the red and black wheels, silver paint and etc. I say run the exhaust out the stock dimples in the rear apron.

This is going to be a bad ass ride!

V8SuperBeetle
November 17th 2008, 11:07
Thanks! I was thinking of doing just that, running the exhaust through the stock location.

V8SuperBeetle
November 17th 2008, 12:23
Some more body work...

I pretty much have the driver's side rear fender done. Now I just need to remove it and smoothen the edges, but the hard work is over. :)

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/driver-side-fender-1.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/driver-side-fender-2.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/driver-side-fender-3.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/driver-side-fender-4.jpg


Just a little more work and I'll be ready for some high build primer. I'll have to have me a sanding get together and invite my buddy's over to sand down the body to get rid of the 40 grit marks.

V8SuperBeetle
December 1st 2008, 12:32
Shaved the bumper holes this weekend, but still more to do. So, yeah, decided to go bumperless.

Tack welded in filler strips. So much easier with a mig. :)

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/bumper-shave-1.jpg


Then I ground the tacks down flush.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/bumper-shave-2.jpg


Filled with bondo and block sanded with 40 grit until flush.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/bumper-shave-6.jpg


http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/bumper-shave-4.jpg


http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/bumper-shave-5.jpg


http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/bumper-shave-3.jpg


I didn't get a chance to finish the rear passenger fender cause my bro showed up ready to drink some beer and play the wii. Sometimes free time is hard to find...but was fun nonetheless. Still have to finish that one fender and remove a couple of them so I can block sand the seam edge flush.

Jim
December 1st 2008, 17:06
Nice detailing job!!!I can't wait to see it with V8 power...Oh dude that would be freaking awesome!!!

V8SuperBeetle
December 2nd 2008, 15:03
Thanks! Me too!!! Once I'm finished making a mess doing body work I'll be on my way to sticking in the V8. I can't wait...but have too. :)

V8SuperBeetle
April 20th 2009, 11:08
Got some work done to the bug. Actually, I put in about 10 hrs time, but it really feels like I didn't get a whole lot done. Getting in the coil springs, even with a compressor, was a real pain without the full weight of an engine or the vehicle to help, but I got it done. That took up most my time.

I sand blasted the front leaf spring mounts.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-chassis-rebuild-1.jpg


And some misc. parts.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-chassis-rebuild-2.jpg


Misc parts painted.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-chassis-rebuild-3.jpg


I didn't realize just how bad the cabinet sand blaster at my work was clogged up until our engineer saw just how slow the process was taking. We filtered out the beads, put it back in, and it worked like a champ. I kinda thought it was taking forever and it wasn't really doing a great job of removing all the rust, but what do I know? I don't do this everyday and can't really complain because my work allows me to use some of their equipment. Any who, it works much better.

Here's the steering linkage sandblasted.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-chassis-rebuild-4.jpg


Linkage with new tie rods installed and painted.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-chassis-rebuild-5.jpg


Leaf mounts painted. You can see in this picture just how much I had to cut out of the heater channels. Quite a bit.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-chassis-rebuild-6.jpg


And here's the frame as of this weekend. Control arms installed with new bushings and ball joints. Coil springs painted and installed. New shocks installed. Lowered 2" spindles. Sway bar painted and installed with new bushings and new sway linkage.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-chassis-rebuild-7.jpg


Thats about as far as I got. More later.

V8SuperBeetle
April 27th 2009, 11:29
Got some more work done this week and weekend. This will be kinda short because I smashed my finger working on the car this weekend. Leaf spring fell on it. Good thing it's my ring finger that I use to play guitar with and it's a good thing I DOn't have a couple shows to play this coming friday and sat. It's all good though. That's why we have four fingers.

Here's a pic of the wheels Ray lent me so I can compare to see if I'll like my wheels black. These are the same wheels and these are for the rear. 18" x 9.5 Thanks Ray!

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-finish-front-suspension-s10-1.jpg


I thoroughly cleaned the wheel bearings, thrust washer and castle nut to later find out I had bought new bearings. ::) Well, the bearings were in really good shape so I'll hang onto them, put new ones in, for future maintenance.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-finish-front-suspension-s10-2.jpg


Painted the spindle and dust cover and installed.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-finish-front-suspension-s10-3.jpg


Sand blasted the calipers.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-finish-front-suspension-s10-4.jpg


Took them apart to clean them and found a good bit of corrosion. Notice the rust on the dust boot.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-finish-front-suspension-s10-5.jpg


I cleaned them and then blasted the inners to find out that one of the pistons had some corrosion which gave me doubts about using for rebuild. So I just bought a new caliper for $10 from the Zone.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-finish-front-suspension-s10-6.jpg


Bearings packed, new seal, and rotor assembly installed with the good ol 2" spacers. Tire rod / steering linkage installed too. Front susp. finished.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-finish-front-suspension-s10-7.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-finish-front-suspension-s10-8.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-finish-front-suspension-s10-9.jpg


I started finishing up the rear suspension but smashed my finger. So I called it a day. After removing the rear diff cover. Finger didn't slow me down really. Just ran out of time really.

V8SuperBeetle
May 4th 2009, 12:36
Alright, alright...(in my best Matthew Maconha voice) Progress.

Sandblasted the diff cover inside / out and the shock / u-bolt mount.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-frame-completion-8.jpg


Drained the gear oil, which didn't look too bad, and added the new stuff after scraping away all the old gasket, on the diff cover and matting surface, with a gasket scraper.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-frame-completion-1.jpg


I sand blasted the diff cover at work. Here it is installed. I used some of edelbrock's gasket sealer on both mating surfaces to ensure it seals up nicely.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-frame-completion-2.jpg


Here the rear is after a good wire brushing and painting with some Master Series. It came out decent even though there still was some build up I couldn't remove. Seals still must be good cause there was no leakage after it staying like that for days.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-frame-completion-3.jpg


Painted the shock mounts, leaf springs, and shackles.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-frame-completion-7.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-frame-completion-9.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-frame-completion-10.jpg


Here's a picture of the completed rear. Well, minus the shock tower bolts which I later added. Everything is hand tight for now cause the rear will need washers or something to make up for the extra space left by the .5" narrower leaf springs. Once the body is secured and I have the 18"s on I'll do a final setup of the rear diff.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-frame-completion-11.jpg


I had decide that I would move the front leaf mounts forward and move the rear back on the leaf springs to make up for it. I did this to help keep the shackles away from the fenders. They were an inch away from the fenders with the way it was previously setup. Well, that didn't work out so well. Here's the front mount moved forward 2". I drilled 1/2" holes to secure the mounts and drill an over size hole so I could mount the Isuzu leafs. The 3/4" were not cheap. :) They look manly though.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-frame-completion-12.jpg

V8SuperBeetle
May 4th 2009, 12:37
You can see that the is now further away from the inner fender. The problem I ran into is moving the rear diff back 2" started having a weird effect cause I'm moving further up the arch of the spring. I planed to secure the rear by making something similar to these.

http://www.jagsthatrun.com/Pages/images/S10-301.gif


Maybe I'll try just an inch instead of 2". Or perhaps I'll make some shackles so that they're not so close to the fenders. ???


http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-frame-completion-13.jpg

Here you see the rear it reassembled with and the body it back on. I tried rolling the chassis out so I could take pictures of it 95% finished and so I can clean up my garage but it was bumping into the boards that support the body. So I figured I'd put the body back on. It's been sitting up on them blocks a little to long for comfort. ;D That and I wanted to see the new stance with the 2" lowering spindles and the 3" block in back.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-frame-completion-4.jpg


From this angle you can see how the 18" wheels will be very close to the wheel leaving very little of a gap, which is what I wanted. The tires will tuck into the fenders. I was just wanting to see how things looked.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-frame-completion-5.jpg


These are going to look nice. I'll have them on next progress post.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-frame-completion-14.jpg


She sits fairly low. Even though a only did a 2/3 drop it seems almost slammed when I stand next to it. I'm really loving the stance and I'm sure it'll go down another 1-1.5" once everything is in and settles.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-frame-completion-6.jpg


The front end aligned up nicely. The passenger wheel was 2" further inside the fender and make the car look off. Now, they're even and have the same wheel gap.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-frame-completion-15.jpg


Here's the problem I was running into. The arch of the leaf spring combined with the lowering blocks pushed the wheels forward. I can move the axle back that would just amplify the effect.

I'll get her sitting right again. Next time. If it ain't one thing it's another.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-frame-completion-16.jpg

petevw
May 4th 2009, 18:40
http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-finish-front-suspension-s10-1.jpg


I like these wheels. Looking good.

ferfre007
May 4th 2009, 21:23
excelente!! se nota que ya estas trabajando bastante por tu Käfer!!! exitos!!

V8SuperBeetle
May 7th 2009, 14:03
Thanks ferfre and pete...

Well, I got the rear mocked up and hand tightened. The wheels fit nicely and look cool. I've got a bout 1/2" on each side from the fender hitting the side wall. I'm sure I could get more by slightly opening the bottom of the body since it's not permanently mounted just yet.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-s10-corvette-18-wheels-1.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-s10-corvette-18-wheels-2.jpg


Today when I get home from work I'm going to roll the chassis out and get some pictures. Then clean up the garage and organize my engine parts and tools so I can start build the motor. Finally.

Jim
May 8th 2009, 01:24
huuuuuuuuuge!!!!!

V8SuperBeetle
May 8th 2009, 17:35
huuuuuuuuuge!!!!!

:D :yes: :cheers:

V8SuperBeetle
May 8th 2009, 17:35
Here's a few pictures of the size on my garage, per RaidMagic's request, and some shots of how the black vette wheels look.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/garage-wheels-1.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/garage-wheels-2.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/garage-wheels-3.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/garage-wheels-4.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/garage-wheels-5.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/garage-wheels-6.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/garage-wheels-7.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/garage-wheels-8.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/garage-wheels-9.jpg

excello
May 8th 2009, 17:59
Those black wheels look great. Wow. That thing is starting to look meaner and meaner.

Btw, I feel ya regarding the workspace.:)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3403/3513280763_675bdb223e_m.jpg

ferfre007
May 8th 2009, 22:50
hello, how long you think it would be ready?:D

V8SuperBeetle
May 9th 2009, 01:36
Those black wheels look great. Wow. That thing is starting to look meaner and meaner.

Btw, I feel ya regarding the workspace.:)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3403/3513280763_675bdb223e_m.jpg

Thanks! It'll continue to look meaner. I was thinking of doing a black with gun metal metallic grey, but here's the look I've decided to go with. Jet black and candy orange with a gold base.

http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs012.snc1/2926_81175953005_768413005_1776242_7072800_n.jpg

Thanks for sharing that picture. I see you're in a similar situation space wise.

V8SuperBeetle
May 9th 2009, 01:39
hello, how long you think it would be ready?:D

To be honest. I'm getting married and having a new home built at the moment. So all my money, most of it, is tied up in putting a payment down on the home, closing costs, and wedding bills.

I'm hoping I'll have it finished early next year. Hopefully. :D

petevw
May 9th 2009, 03:26
http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/garage-wheels-6.jpg


:thumbup:

ferfre007
May 11th 2009, 08:49
I understand! restoring a car takes a lot of money, more the cost of new family and home! hehe! :D


sorry por mi bad ingles!! hehe

V8SuperBeetle
May 13th 2009, 14:47
A little bit of Bad and Good News...kinda. :rolleyes: Lemonade out of lemons.

So I started taking the short block apart this weekend. I got far enough that I noticed some play in the #1 piston rod. I knew right away what it was and I didn't even bother to check cause I trusted the guy I traded motors with. Lesson learned. :mad:


The BAD:

So the rod bearings spun on the #1 and #2 rod journals. It seems as though the engine wasn't ran long which is good cause there's minimal wear. The crank looks like it'll clean up with a .020 or .030 grind.

To get the 355 rotating assembly back to spec it'll take grinding and polishing the crank, having the assembly balanced, and either new connecting rods or machining to get them back to spec. After all those costs it'll probably be cheaper just to get a new rotating assembly balanced and ready to drop in from the manufacturer.


The Good...

I'm thinking about just bumping up my motor to a 383 ci. The cost of new parts and or machine work will be well within the range of a new 383 bottom end balanced.

I've also been looking into just getting new set of Speed Pro dished 4.030" hypereutectic pistons with a 1.425" wrist pin height, a new 3.75" Eagle internal balance crankshaft, and buying two replacement connecting rods. I found a whole set of 8 for $20 (stock set). I'll just upgrade the connecting rod bolts to APR. Then have the whole assembly balanced. I already have new piston rings bearings, flexplate and damper that'll fit an internal balance 383 crank. The cost will be less as well.

I did the math and with 12cc dish pistons, the .015 shim head gasket, 64cc heads, and a .021 deck height I'll be right at 10.27:1 CR. Which will be fine with the vortec heads cause you can get away with .5 more CR and still run pump gas. :cool:


I've got some thinking to do, more saving and selling of parts. :mad: So the building of my engine has been put on hold for another month at least until I save the cash and have decided which direction to go.

I should pick up about another 40-50 hp and tq though so that's good. I'll see if I can't get someone to desktop dyno my combo as a 383.

Humble
May 14th 2009, 15:21
I love the 2 tone look of black over candy orange, very sexy. Too bad about the motor, I've been there and I feel for ya. I'd say shoot for the 383 if you need to replace the bad bits to do it, why not? If you can afford it try to get forged pistons, they are quite a bit stronger then hypereutectics and will hold up to higher cr's better. Too bad about the set backs, I know I've had my fair share, just keep pushing and see it through to the end :cool:

V8SuperBeetle
May 14th 2009, 16:45
Thanks Humble, I appreciate it! I would go with the forged, but can't afford them right now and probably wont need them because I'm not going to push this car too hard a whole lot. Just some toying here and there, but mainly cruising and taking it to shows. It'll see the track a couple of times too. :)

Well, some good news. I ordered an Eagle Specialty Products internal balance stroker crankshaft for my 350.

http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=ESP-10350375057I


And I bought some (383) Speed Pro dish pistons.

http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=STL-H859CP30


Both parts will work well with my stock 5.7" rods. So I'll save some $$$ there. Coolest part is I did some shopping around and found the crank for $231 here...

https://www.horsepowerparts.com/index.php?content_id=175&product_id=21684


and a set of 8 pistons here...

http://www.kmjent.com/cart/product.php?productid=324&cat=20164519&bestseller=Y


...I called summit up and said, "I'd like to buy these parts (I listed stock #s and he gave me the pricing) but I found them cheaper here (I then gave him the website URLs)". They beat their competitors prices by $1 for each product. Summit has a beat-a-price guarantee so I thought I'd see if it was baloney. It wasn't. I got the parts for $407 with shipping. At Summit's pricing it would've been $522 total with shipping. So I saved over $100 smackers.

So I have all my parts, or they're being shipped, and the motor can go together soon. That is after hot tanking, decking, and balancing. I might not have the assembly balanced if the bob weight of my pistons, pins, rings, bearings, cap screws and rods are fairly close to the neutral bob weight of 1825 +/- 2% from Eagle. Maybe balancing will be cheap enough if I give the machine shop the bob weight and they only have to balance the crank? We'll see...

Jim
May 15th 2009, 03:59
Sound to me a great dealing!!!keep going mate..

V8SuperBeetle
May 18th 2009, 16:14
Sound to me a great dealing!!!keep going mate..

Thanks! Still going...:D

Received my new pistons and crankshaft for the 383 build. I have to send the crank back though cause there's a scratch on one of the rod journals from shipping. It's from one of the shipping staples poking up into the box. You would think it's from the box getting the luxury treatment. LOL, look at that box. Oh well...

Match set is always good.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/crank-n-pistons-1.jpg


Made in India, that's good too right? LOL...

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/crank-n-pistons-2.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/crank-n-pistons-3.jpg


This is exactly how I received it...great job UPS and FedEx!!!

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/crank-n-pistons-4.jpg


It looked OK. There was a little rust on one of the bob weights, but then I found an unacceptable scratch...back it goes.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/crank-n-pistons-5.jpg


A plastic bag of this weight really shouldn't have tears in it like it does. Wouldn't you think?

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/crank-n-pistons-6.jpg

V8SuperBeetle
May 21st 2009, 16:35
The replacement 3.75" crank came in and it was in much better shape.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/crank-1.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/crank-2.jpg

V8SuperBeetle
May 29th 2009, 13:02
Update...

I started disassembling the engine. I plan to even remove the freeze plugs, oil gallery plugs and cam bearings myself as well as install them to cut down on costs and to get some experience doing so.

Used some bolts and an arc welding rod (with the flux coating knocked off) to catch the piston.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-s10-engine-disassembly-1.jpg


And some fuel hose press on the rod bolts to protect the cylinder walls.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-s10-engine-disassembly-2.jpg


Works pretty nice. I don't have to worry about them falling on the floor without help. These will be up for sale. They're forged 4.030.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-s10-engine-disassembly-3.jpg


Cylinder bores are pretty much flawless by looking. No scratches or groves worn in from the pistons. Hone marks are still visible.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-s10-engine-disassembly-4.jpg


I rebuilt the carb. Here it is before.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/600-edelbrock-carb-rebuild-1.jpg


Disassembled.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/600-edelbrock-carb-rebuild-2.jpg


I sandblast the body and other parts that didn't have any jets. Cleaned it with a can of carb cleaner. Then I scrubbed it with warm water and light soap. Then blew the water out with compressed air and used a blow drier to completely dry it out before reassembly.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/600-edelbrock-carb-rebuild-3.jpg


Cleaned up parts...

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/600-edelbrock-carb-rebuild-4.jpg


Cleaned up parts...the floats look really nice and new. ;D

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/600-edelbrock-carb-rebuild-5.jpg


And the rebuilt car. All new gaskets, seals, pump, linkage kit added, etc. Ready to rock!

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/600-edelbrock-carb-rebuild-6.jpg

V8SuperBeetle
July 6th 2009, 10:25
Finally, got my engine block and rotating assembly back from the machine shop. Had it hot tanked, magnafluxed, decks set to 9.020, hone, new pistons pressed, 383 ARP rod bolts pressed in, rods resized, and the rotating assembly balanced. Total cost was $590. Looks like they did a great job.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-machined-block-s10-1.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-machined-block-s10-2.jpg


I started the pre-assembly process. I had enough time to plastigage the main bearings and I'm working on plastigaging the rod bearings. So far the mains have come out to a hair under .002 clearance. Once I get all the rod bearings checked I'll then clearance the block for the larger stroke crank and check cam clearance. So far it looks the rods are clearing just fine. I'll check with a feeler gauge to make sure I have at least .050 clearance.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-machined-block-s10-3.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-machined-block-s10-4.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-machined-block-s10-5.jpg


More later...

volkdent
July 7th 2009, 14:20
Keep it up! That thing oughta scream.

Jason

V8SuperBeetle
July 24th 2009, 11:18
Keep it up! That thing oughta scream.

Jason

Yeah, it should make it boogy. :D

V8SuperBeetle
July 24th 2009, 11:23
Quick update...

I got all my parts back from the machine shop, again. I had them check to make sure I didn't knock any of big rod ends out of round by using the brass hammer. They checked out fine. I had to order a new piston because one got away from me and hit the ground. :o So it then didn't want to go back into the bore smoothly. Seems it was out of round. I had the new piston pressed on the rod. I also managed to buger up the rod journal during pre-assembly because the rod caps were hard to get off. So I had it polish and it pretty much got rid of the scratch. Last but not least, the machine shop figured out why I couldn't get the #3&4 pistons on the rod journals. I had the wrong bearings. Apparently you have to have narrowed bearings because of the extra fillet machined on the journals that give it extra strength. I wasn't too upset I had to buy another set of bearings because I now have some Clevite 77 high performance mains / rod bearings now rather than the cheap Summit bearings. ;) This thing is now going from a cheap project to an expensive one. LOL!

So all those problems were taken care of. This past week I took the engine block to the car wash to give it a good bath. I wanted to make sure I got it super clean just to be sure there's no left over metal in the block from machining. I had some help from my fiancé's brother.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-clean-block.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-clean-block-2.jpg

Austin wiping the bores down, after hosing it with a can of WD-40, giving it the "paper towel test". I cleaned the block with an engine cleaning brush kit.


When I got the block back from the machine shop I had them leave it bare. No plugs, cam bearings, nothing, because I wanted to install everything myself so I can learn. Months ago I bought a cheap cam tool from summit (summit brand tool). So I gave installing the bearings a try. Well, I managed to ruin a set of bearings and had to remove them because I was using the tool wrong, I think? To remove one of the stubborn bearings I had to put a screw driver through the oil hole and bang out the bearing that way which bent the bearing into itself. Needless to say, I got some bearing shavings in the block. So I had to the load the block back up for another wash. I then had to buy a new set of bearings, which is fine cause I bought a better brand / set (I had a summit bearing set), and I then modified the cam tool. It worked a lot better and thought it should've came the way I made it work. ;D I'll take some pics and show you the mods.

Any who, cam bearings are in, I masked off the engine and painted the block black, knocked in the freeze plugs, and trial fitted the cam. So far everything is going smoothly, for now. ;D

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-383-sbc-build-1.jpg


This weekend I'm going to try and have the short block assembled and sealed up. Just like the machinist told me, "You might accidentally get this thing together after all!"

V8SuperBeetle
August 4th 2009, 10:50
Here we go. Here's some pictures of the build.

Here's what the crank looked like when I got it back from getting it polished after I boogered up the crank (small scratch). When I got to the machine shop I thought, "Wow, what kind of crank is that with the gold journals?" Haha.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/383-v8-bug-engine-build-1.JPG


I wish I would've take a few more pictures while we were building, but I was so into the build the last thing on my mind was taking pictures. The day flew by fast.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/383-v8-bug-engine-build-2.JPG

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/383-v8-bug-engine-build-3.JPG

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/383-v8-bug-engine-build-4.JPG

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/383-v8-bug-engine-build-5.JPG

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/383-v8-bug-engine-build-6.JPG


This last picture the intake, valve covers, carb, and air cleaner are all just sitting there. I was anxious to see how it would look.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/383-v8-bug-engine-build-7.JPG


I'm going to work on it some more throughout the week and I'll hopefully have it finished by the weekend. Putting an engine together takes much longer than I thought.

Humble
August 4th 2009, 18:07
Looks good so far, just take your time and be methodical about everything. I really wanna see what this beast will do in the car. Got any dyno plans?

V8SuperBeetle
August 10th 2009, 09:39
Thanks Humble. I've been taking my time to make sure I get everything right. I can't wait to see what she'll do once together as well. I do plan to at least do a chassis dyno. I'm going to look and see if I can't find someone here in Houston to dyno and tune the engine.

It's still coming together. Just about finished though.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/383-v8-bug-engine-4.jpg

V8SuperBeetle
August 24th 2009, 13:43
If it isn't one thing it's another. I didn't get the motor in this weekend much less did I get the car home. My old man and I couldn't get a hold of my uncle whom has the engine hoist we need to borrow. So the move was put off until next weekend. I'm going to try and borrow one from my mechanic. So hopefully I'll get it home sooner than this weekend.

Some pics of the engine 98% complete. Just need to install small stuff like vacuum hose for the dist., pcv valve, put the oil sender unit back in (manual one installed for pre-oil which is pictured).

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/V8-bug-383-engine-finished-1.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/V8-bug-383-engine-finished-2.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/V8-bug-383-engine-finished-3.jpg

effvee
August 24th 2009, 19:33
Hi, you might want to add some ceramic booties on your wires, thoses headers are going to cook them time after time;set after set.

V8SuperBeetle
August 27th 2009, 12:02
Hi, you might want to add some ceramic booties on your wires, thoses headers are going to cook them time after time;set after set.

The headers are ceramic coated, so that'll help. I haven't heard of that being a problem before, but I will look into it.

V8SuperBeetle
August 27th 2009, 12:05
So I got the engine in last night. It's finally a V8 bug. Haha.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-383-s10-engine-in-1.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-383-s10-engine-in-2.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-383-s10-engine-in-3.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-383-s10-engine-in-5.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-383-s10-engine-in-6.jpg


I've managed to get one bolt completely through the mount and the other is in but not through the back of the metal mount plate. I've got to move the rear of the engine about an inch towards the passenger side so it can go all the way through.

On another note, the engine fits great but I'll have to raise the body about 3" to clear the breather and the alternator. Seems dropping the body 6" around the frame was a tad too much. I might have to buy me a lower mounting alternator bracket for a short water pump. Maybe the one I have will fit after I raise the body, but we'll see.

One great thing is the dist. clears the wiper motor compartment by about 2". That's with the motor all the way forward in the mounts so I've got a little wiggle room to move the engine back slightly if needed.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-383-s10-engine-in-4.jpg

Humble
August 28th 2009, 14:51
Lookin' good! Where are you going to put the radiator? Clearance looks a little tight at the front of the motor.

V8SuperBeetle
August 28th 2009, 17:20
Thanks Humble. The radiator will go in the back to fill the void and to help distribute some of the weight to the back. The high mount alternator bracket will have to go unless I can find away to use the same bracket to mount the alt upside down. I might wind up fabricating a cowl induction hood depending on whether or not I can have enough clearance under the hood.

Humble
August 31st 2009, 13:47
With the radiator in the back I'd be worried about airflow, how are you going to get air back there?

johnnyvee
August 31st 2009, 17:31
:eek: talk about your overkill

:D:D rock on

volkdent
August 31st 2009, 18:24
I'm sure you can fab up a low mount alternator bracket, and a low rise intake would clear the hood wouldn't it? Hate to see that thing looking like a 4x4!!!

Make sure you're gathering plenty of air and forcing it through the radiator if your doing rear mount. I'd suggest aluminum as well to make it as efficient as possible. On the good side the motor is going to be laughing at how much weight your asking it to lug around!

Jason

V8SuperBeetle
September 1st 2009, 11:51
Haha, tell me about it. True Volk, the car is fairly light even as it is now. When I moved it this weekend the car rolled on the trailer with no problems whatsoever.

I've decided I'm going to make a cowl induction hood. Possibly even get a 2" air filter to replace the 3". I don't want to cowl too high. I'm sure it'll all work out. Good new is I'm not going to raise the body and it will stay as is. Here's some pics from the move.


http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/V8-bug-383-move-trailer-1.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/V8-bug-383-move-trailer-3.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/V8-bug-383-move-trailer-4.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/V8-bug-383-move-trailer-5.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/V8-bug-383-move-trailer-6.jpg


Here's a couple pics of us moving it and securing her down. That's my old man, the bald guy is my half uncle, and the boy is his son.

V8SuperBeetle
September 14th 2009, 12:15
Well, I got some things done over this weekend.

I went to Pick A Part, because they had a 50% off labor day sale, and picked up a tranny crossmember. I looked for a tranny but they were all pulled and gone. I sanded blasted the crossmember here at work and it's ready for some paint.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-383-s10-bug-engine-fitmit-8.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-383-s10-bug-engine-fitmit-7.jpg


Painted the transmission crossmember.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/a-v8-bug-383-s10-project-1.jpg


Flushed and washed the radiator. Then I gave it a light coat of black engine enamel. I was going to polish the brass but the way I plan to mount it and set up my fan shroud my efforts wouldn't have been worth it cause it would be hidden.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/a-v8-bug-383-s10-project-2.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/a-v8-bug-383-s10-project-4.jpg


I used almost a full quart of Master Series in my gas tank to seal off all the garbage in the tank. Seems to have worked cause I don't hear crap rolling around in there anymore.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/a-v8-bug-383-s10-project-3.jpg


I also painted and put the gas tank in place. I just need to get some bolts to permanently hold her down.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/a-v8-bug-383-s10-project-5.jpg


Last but not least, I picked up a used good th350 for $100. Getting her ready for a rebuild which I'll attempt myself. What little fluid I poured out looked really clean.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/a-v8-bug-383-s10-project-6.jpg


Almost forgot, I'm ordering my roll cage today so I'll have tranny rebuild and roll cage pics coming in the next few weeks.

V8SuperBeetle
September 16th 2009, 11:05
I started the rebuild of my th350 tranny by starting disassembling it last night. I almost got it completely tore down but I'm lacking a couple of tools to do so. One of which I ordered, a clutch spring compressor, and the other is snap ring pliers which I'll just buy.

I've never rebuilt a transmission before but this thing is a piece of cake to take a part with the help of a Ron Sessions book. Shouldn't be too bad to put back together either. On another note, this tranny is really clean inside and has very little signs of wear on the clutches, bushings, and trust washers. I had thought about just buttoning it back up with new seals and gaskets, and a good case cleaning but I want to make it more durable by adding an extra clutch and a hardened sprag as well as give it stiffer shift with a shift kit and adjustable modulator.


Pan off. See, clean.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-383-th350-rebuild-1.jpg


My low buck oil pump puller. A $7 pry bar and two 3/8"x16 bolts threaded in 4 complete turns. Worked like a charm.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-383-th350-rebuild-3.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-383-th350-rebuild-4.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-383-th350-rebuild-5.jpg


This is about as far as I got. I couldn't remove the nickel sized snap ring that holds in the gear / shell and you can see in the next picture the valve body is disassembled.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-383-th350-rebuild-6.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-383-th350-rebuild-7.jpg


More to come as I finish tear down, have the case hot tanked, clean the hard parts, and reassemble.

johnnyvee
September 17th 2009, 00:39
dude, you're a damn machine

V8SuperBeetle
September 17th 2009, 17:25
Thanks. I'm learning as I go and work on it when I can.

V8SuperBeetle
September 18th 2009, 13:04
My cage came in moments ago. I'm going to see if I can't get her tacked in this weekend. Any tips on notching the tubes? Not all of them cam with notches. Thanks.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/v8-bug-383-roll-cage-1.jpg

Humble
September 19th 2009, 14:42
Here's the trick I used when I notched my rollcage: Go find a toilet paper tube, a razor, and a sharpe. Take the tube and start by cutting two very shallow U's on one side so it looks like a notched pipe. Start shallow then slowly take away more until you get a nice fit. Once your cardboard template is ready you do a different angle or pipe on the other end of the tube. Only do a template for tubes on the right or left side not both sides. For instance the rear cage stay, and a door down bar on the drivers side. The reason is, you can slice the tube long ways and turn it inside out which gives you a mirrored template for the passenger side of the car. Once you have a line down just use a grinder to take off material, work slowly and test fit often, patience is invaluable with cage work.

Here's a couple pics of what I'm talking about.
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l44/humblewolf/Lucy/HPIM1815.jpg~original

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l44/humblewolf/Lucy/HPIM1813.jpg~original

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l44/humblewolf/Lucy/HPIM1816.jpg~original

V8SuperBeetle
September 21st 2009, 12:19
Thanks for the tip Humble. I did something similar. I made template from the existing notches.

I spent most of all Sunday trying to get my cage assembled. It's going to take longer than I thought, but It's getting there.

I trimmed and notched about half of the bars. I did quite a bit of thinking and just figuring out exactly how I want this thing to fit. Now it's just making it happen.

The main hoop didn't exactly go where I originally wanted it to so I'll be welding it into the body and the rest will be welded to the frame. I plan to gusset the cage to the body in various places just to stiffen the body up and so the cage and body become one unit that bolts to the frame.

It doesn't look like I got much done, but It's kinda tough do this solo.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-383-roll-cage-2.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-383-roll-cage-3.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-383-roll-cage-4.jpg


The die grinder worked great using the edge of disk to cut. So I got the main hoop and bar tacked.

V8SuperBeetle
September 28th 2009, 10:47
Quick update.

I have been working on the cage all week. Everyday for a couple hours at a time and I'm almost finished. I just have to cut and fit the side / door bars.

I've had a slight change of heart. I decided to just go ahead and weld the cage and body to the frame and to do away with the idea of being able to unbolt the body and cage so I can lift it off, whenever.

Although I'm sure this cage is for a standard beetle, the cage fit pretty well. I wish I could have the dash bar closer to the dash / further away from the steering wheel, but there is plenty of clearance although it doesn't appear to be that way in the pic.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-383-bug-roll-cage-1.jpg


The roof hoop fit up pretty snug to the roof.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-383-bug-roll-cage-2.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-383-bug-roll-cage-3.jpg


The plates did come in handy though. I was able to weld the lateral bar a little further out. Right about a 3/16 gusset I had welded in for strength.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-383-bug-roll-cage-4.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-383-bug-roll-cage-5.jpg


I should have the cage finished and all welded up by the end of the week.

On a side note, my hardened sprag and spring compressor tool came in. I'll finish tearing down the transmission after I'm finished with the cage so I'm not getting junk in it.

More to come soon.

mccarthy500
September 29th 2009, 00:24
Great progress so far. do you have any specs on the cage. were did you buy it from? Outside diameter of the tubing? wall thickness? and type of material d.o.m. or chromoly that sort of thing. I'm planning a cage for my car right now and the outside diameter of your cage tubing looks right on. i dont want something to thick. thanks -John

V8SuperBeetle
September 29th 2009, 16:52
Great progress so far. do you have any specs on the cage. were did you buy it from? Outside diameter of the tubing? wall thickness? and type of material d.o.m. or chromoly that sort of thing. I'm planning a cage for my car right now and the outside diameter of your cage tubing looks right on. i dont want something to thick. thanks -John

Hi John. Thanks.

The cage is from S&W Race Cars. Here's a link to the cage.

http://www.swracecars.com/store/10-Point-Roll-Cage-OSCARItem_38=11-5550.aspx


The cage is 1-5/8 x .134" wall EWS Mild Steel tubing. It's $249.99 and shipping was just under $100. I was happy the shipping was as cheap as it was.

mccarthy500
September 30th 2009, 03:52
kool thanks alot

V8SuperBeetle
October 5th 2009, 10:53
I finished the cage this weekend. I still need to weld in the seat belt tabs but that'll have to come later. I might do a couple gussets too for strength. Still debating that one.

I did have to cut out a section of the b-pillar and the roof to fully weld up the cage. So I'll have to weld those sections back in. Work, work, work, but fun nonetheless.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-383-bug-roll-cage-9.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-383-bug-roll-cage-10.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-383-bug-roll-cage-11.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-383-bug-roll-cage-12.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-383-bug-roll-cage-13.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-383-bug-roll-cage-14.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-383-bug-roll-cage-15.jpg


I'm working on tearing the tranny down and I'm hoping to have it rebuilt within the next two weeks. Also, I need to work on making mounts for the radiator.

johnnyvee
October 5th 2009, 22:35
Wow, heavy duty
I love the pics, it feels like i'm right there getting in your way :lmao:

V8SuperBeetle
October 6th 2009, 13:04
Wow, heavy duty
I love the pics, it feels like i'm right there getting in your way :lmao:

:lmao: thanks. Yeah, I think the grey primer makes it look beefier. Gotta have that NHRA approved cage ready just incase I decided I want this thing to run 9's one day. :D

V8SuperBeetle
October 13th 2009, 13:26
Not a whole lot of progress was made this weekend, but some. :)

I got the tranny completely taken apart and then found that the direct clutch piston spring, in the valve body, was broken. Probably the reason why the tranny was taken out of the car. It is a 5 clutch, heavy duty, th350, so that's good.

I decided just to go ahead and take the tranny to a professional shop because they could get it put together quicker, I don't have much "clean room" where I can assemble the tranny, and I get a 6 month warranty with the guys who did the work, that is if I can get it all going with six months time. Haha.


They did a really nice job and they were very informative about the parts I had and what to look out for. Basically the kit I had was a stock rebuilder kit repacked. Which is ok for my purposes. I dropped off the tranny Sat morning and they had it ready Monday after work.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/th350-transmission-383-v8-bug-s10.jpg


I installed the tranny crossmember.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/crossmember-383-v8-bug-s10.jpg


The tranny is ready to go in. I'm thinking I'll put the motor, hook the tranny up, and then install it as a unit...? I could just have someone help me pull it through the door rather than remove the engine. Hmmm...dunno which was would be easiest. Either way it wont be as bad as installing it in a car with a firewall and floor.

Also, I have a new radiator, fan, mounting hardware, etc. on their way. I bought a 22"w x 19"h aluminum radiator. I'm pretty sure I figured out a way to put my radiator up front. It'll be mounted low but wont be sticking out of the bottom of the body. Hopefully. The only way I see this working is I'll have to use a rack and pinion setup, which I'll have to buy.

Any advice on which rack to use for the S10 frame?

V8SuperBeetle
October 14th 2009, 12:43
Another quicky update. I got the transmission installed last night. Torque converter seated all the way down and it spins freely with the bell housing completely bolted up. Now I just need to crawl under the car and bolt the converter to the flex plate.

Believe it or not, I got the tranny in all by myself. I lifted it and sat it on my floor supports, got out a jack with a block of wood, raised the jack, instead the converter (after a quart of ATF), slid the tranny forward until it sat down on the jack / wood, then roll the tranny forward and mated them up. Easier said than done, but it worked.


Sorry, the night shots on my camera phone suck.
http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/th350-transmission-383-v8-bug-s10-2.jpg


I still need to adjust the crossmember. It needs to go in the most forward mount holes so it'll bolt up.

V8SuperBeetle
October 20th 2009, 12:51
Small update. I didn't get as much time to work on the bug as I thought I would this weekend.

My low mount alternator bracket came in and seems it wont work either. The steering box is in the way. I'm not sure what my options are now for an alt bracket. I might just have to make one.

My radiator and fan came in so I started mocking it up to see if I can get it up front. I trimmed more of the front clip sheet metal away and squeezed it in, so to speak.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-radiator-1.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-radiator-2.jpg


As you can see it goes in, but I don't think I'll have room to close the hood unless the radiator is sticking out the bottom by about 3". Even a little more so than in the picture. Also, from the looks of it, another problem is there's not enough room to squeeze in the electric fan. I'm going to see what I can do the make it work, but it's looking like it would be best and easier to set up the radiator in the back.

Any thoughts, suggestions?

ricola
October 20th 2009, 14:13
Do whatever it takes to get it in the front, even if it means moving the engine back! It will save you no end of grief in the long term...

V8SuperBeetle
October 21st 2009, 12:09
Do whatever it takes to get it in the front, even if it means moving the engine back! It will save you no end of grief in the long term...

Thanks Ricola. I tried it numerous ways and the radiator just would not fit with the fan on. I could have the radiator, but no fan. :angry:

V8SuperBeetle
October 21st 2009, 12:09
Did a little work last night. Mainly mocking up trying to figure things out which hopefully you guys can help.

I mounted the fan to the radiator. Do you think I'll need a shroud if I'll have a duct drawing air from under the car? See duct explanation below.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-radiator-3.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-radiator-4.jpg


I picked up a manual rack from Matt, whom is building a V8 bug out of a S10 chassis believe it or not, and I'm going to see if I can't make it work. Seems like it might. Cross your fingers. Thanks, Matt!

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-s10-rack-pinion-1.jpg


With the steering box out of the way, in hopes the rack works out, I had enough room to mount my alternator with the low mount bracket I recently bought. High five!

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-alternator-1.jpg


Next, I mocked up the placement of the radiator out back. I'd like to mount it like the last picture, on an incline, so I can make the duct work better, I think. Also, what do you guys think about mounting it inclined and having an inline radiator filler neck in the engine compartment close by the top water neck that comes from the intake? Like the one pictured below. Do you think that would create any problems just keeping the rear cap on and filling the radiator using the inline neck? If I mount it at angle it'll be hard to access the radiator filler neck.

If worse comes to worse I'll mount it like the other picture.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-radiator-5.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-radiator-6.jpg

http://static.summitracing.com/global/images/prod/large/sme-2202_cp.jpg


The duct work will look like this, somewhat. Less boxy looking though.

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff196/454bug/Bug/ALL30150.jpg


All thoughts and opinions are welcome.

ricola
October 21st 2009, 13:41
Looks like you have enough space with the radiator up front if you mounted a blower fan on the front side...

evilC
October 21st 2009, 14:39
The rad in the rear with a duct does have two major advantages as I see it:

1) It distributes a reasonable amount of weight to the rear to offset the lump in the front

2) With the duct and fan that will have to run almost constantly although I would still use a 'stat, you are creating a makeshift diffuser that will help with the down force on the rear.

Clive

V8SuperBeetle
October 21st 2009, 17:43
The rad in the rear with a duct does have two major advantages as I see it:

1) It distributes a reasonable amount of weight to the rear to offset the lump in the front

2) With the duct and fan that will have to run almost constantly although I would still use a 'stat, you are creating a makeshift diffuser that will help with the down force on the rear.

Clive

I weighed these same pros and cons. It just makes more sense to put it in back.

vdubzack
October 21st 2009, 17:47
Here in the States. Off road trophy trucks all have the radiator and fan in rear. these trucks put out in excess of 700 Brake horsepower and sit for extended periods of time with no overheating problems. Drill a few holes behind license plate to aid in cooling and add some ducting to get more air in area at speed.Like the side ducts that are popular in the German Look crowd.
http://image.off-roadweb.com/f/8499363/0208or_09z+2000_Ford_F150_Trophy_Truck+Rear_Passen ger_Fender_Removed_Suspension.jpg

V8SuperBeetle
October 22nd 2009, 11:02
THANKS for all the help and suggestions. I'm actually reconsidering my original radiator setup plan.

New plan. I'm going to lay the radiator flat / horizontal and use the factory vents that take advantage of the low pressure system behind the car to draw air into the "engine compartment to cool the air cooled engine, but in my case it'll cool the radiator. Also, I'll build some ductwork to direct the airflow through the radiator and out of the underside of the car which, in my mind, will keep the hot air from the exhaust and engine out.

http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/pp153/AWD_V8/misc/bug.jpg


Lastly, if I find myself in need of a little more air flow to radiator I'll get some deck lid stand offs.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y201/Tsuyoi/Picture016.jpg


I'm thinking I might not need them because the later model vw deck lids have vents to increase air flow, or is it to let hot air out from the engine?

http://www.justaircooled.co.uk/images/T/beetle%20parts%20late%20deck%20lid.jpg

evilC
October 24th 2009, 06:50
THANKS for all the help and suggestions. I'm actually reconsidering my original radiator setup plan.

New plan. I'm going to lay the radiator flat / horizontal and use the factory vents that take advantage of the low pressure system behind the car to draw air into the "engine compartment to cool the air cooled engine, but in my case it'll cool the radiator. Also, I'll build some ductwork to direct the airflow through the radiator and out of the underside of the car which, in my mind, will keep the hot air from the exhaust and engine out.

http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/pp153/AWD_V8/misc/bug.jpg


Lastly, if I find myself in need of a little more air flow to radiator I'll get some deck lid stand offs.



I'm thinking I might not need them because the later model vw deck lids have vents to increase air flow, or is it to let hot air out from the engine?



I think the air flow is the wrong way round. You need to suck the air from the underside and vent out from the top. I agree that the vents under the rear window are in a high pressure zone, as is the decklid vents on a super but to a lesser extent. You could add a cowl over the decklid vents as per a 70's bug that would create a low pressure area, similarly with a roof mounted lip.
A further consideration is that in traffic the cool air will be under the car with the hot air on top. If nothing else there will be a natural flow up from the bottom to the top (hot air rises) so assisting the cooling through the rad. with your system as soon as you stop the air flow will reverse unless beaten back by the fan.
In the desert/off-road world there will be serious consideration given to sucking up debris that would clog or damage a radiator. For a street car this isn't a real consideration unless you intend to regularly blast up unmade tracks. In the '80s I used to campaign a road rally Imp - a rear engined water cooled car with an engine driven fan attached to a radiator that sucked air from below on the left hand side. Given the proximity of the LH rear wheel the rad stayed remarkably clear even when it was used in anger down muddy farm tracks.
i think that you will find that you will need a fair amount of vent so initially take advantage of all the outlets including drilling holes in the number plate panel and standing the number plate off to assist in air flow.

Clive

V8SuperBeetle
October 26th 2009, 11:44
I got some progress done this weekend. Not as much as I would've liked. I had my 10 year high school reunion on Friday night and I had a gig the following night. I was nursing a hangover most of the weekend. Ugh...good fun though.

Any who, here were are. Got the subframe for the radiator made.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-s10-rear-radiator-1.jpg


Here you can see how the rad bolts in. Fairly simple.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-s10-rear-radiator-2.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-s10-rear-radiator-3.jpg


I then welded it into the body. Notice the penetration on the rear clip.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-s10-rear-radiator-4.jpg


I then made a template for the ductwork? Basically it'll keep the hot air from recirculating with the cold air. Next I just need to make a duct to direct the air out the back of the car and which will also help to keep hot engine air from reaching the rad.

Setting up the radiator leaned back rather than flat filled the area better and will be less sheet metal work that I have to do.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-s10-rear-radiator-5.jpg

volkdent
October 29th 2009, 01:11
If your going that way I would agree with the upflow option out the top. To really make this thing work well, I would add scoops under the car to gather air and force it through the rad. The biggest thing will be making sure there are absolutely no bubbles in the system IMO, bleeding is the MOST important detail of making a system work properly.

Jason

V8SuperBeetle
November 16th 2009, 12:55
If your going that way I would agree with the upflow option out the top. To really make this thing work well, I would add scoops under the car to gather air and force it through the rad. The biggest thing will be making sure there are absolutely no bubbles in the system IMO, bleeding is the MOST important detail of making a system work properly.

Jason

Thanks for the suggestion Jason! I will definitely have the system bled. I'm going to give this setup a try. Draw in air from the top and blowing it out below. If it doesn't work well I'll reverse the flow.

V8SuperBeetle
November 16th 2009, 12:56
Some updates.

Well, it's been a nice long week off. Saturday, Nov. 7th I got married and I took the week off following the wedding. So I really didn't do too much to the bug, but I did manage to get some work done.

http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs098.snc3/16532_202901561653_102885001653_4063185_4762423_n. jpg


Some of the small things I did that weren't worth photographing are things like moving the tranny crossmember forward and torquing the tranny mount bolts, the crossmember bolts, bell housing, bolts, etc.


Few things I ordered came in. FlowMaster 40 series 2.5" mufflers, flexplate / tranny dust cover, inline water filler neck, and an overflow plug for the radiator. I plan to have the overflow come from the inline neck rather than from the radiator.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-update-1.jpg


The garage was getting a little out of control so I felt the need to get it organized. That and I got tired of working off of the floor. So I built a table, a tool organizer and cleaned up the garage.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-update-2.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-update-3.jpg


Painted and installed the tranny dipstick, as mentioned.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-update-4.jpg


I started making the firewall, engine bay, and floor patterns. I'm almost finished with the patterns. All that's left is the section that'll go behind me. There's a few 4' x 8' sheets of 14 gauge steel I plan to use because it's free and it should be plenty strong for the flooring.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-update-5.jpg


Last but not least, I cut out some 2" reinforcement triangles out of the 1/8" plates that came with my cage and welded them into the top of the cage, the dash bar, the lateral bars, and the main hoop outriggers. The pics look like crap and the flux doesn't help, but they came out really well. I also redid a couple of the cage welds so they would nicer. I'm getting better at this overhead welding business.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-update-6.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-update-7.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-update-8.jpg


By the end of this week I hope to at least have the flooring on it's way to being finished. Once that's done I'll take it to the muffler shop and have the exhaust and plumbing work done.

More soon...

V8SuperBeetle
November 30th 2009, 15:22
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. :)

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/a-v8-bug-starter.jpg


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

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/a-v8-bug-sheetmetal-floor-1.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/a-v8-bug-sheetmetal-floor-2.jpg


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.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/a-v8-bug-sheetmetal-floor-3.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/a-v8-bug-sheetmetal-floor-4.jpg


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.

johnnyvee
December 1st 2009, 02:01
:D crazy sick
almost there, weld a beach chair and take that baby for a spin
hahahahah

70Turbobug
December 1st 2009, 06:04
Awesome!! Very well done conversion! The S-10 Frame is a great idea and looks great! That is going to be a monster.....A friend of mine has an Audi V8 twin turbo as a mid engine in his bug pushing about 750BHP...I´m telling you...a V8 in a bug will scare the scheisse out of you :D

evilC
December 1st 2009, 08:35
I really don't understand the need to use 14g - it is as you say difficult to bend. 16g should be more than sufficient for most chassis and strengthening plates with 18-20g for bodywork. Are you expecting the tranny tunnel to take impact loads from the prop or clutch? If so, you might be better off with a retraint hoop around the prop and a kevlar blanket around the clutch. I would have thought that a box section 14g tranny tunnel to have been weaker than a bent 16g one. The box tunnel will have the highest stresses at the corners whereas with a bent section these stresses are distributed around the sheet. the other problem you will have with plain sheet is the one of noise. The flat sheets will vibrate in harmony with the vibrations from the engine/trans/road. It would have been better to add folds to the sheet to cut down the frequency at which the sheet will be in sympathetic harmony. Again, a 16g sheet would have been more than ample for the job there.

Clive

V8SuperBeetle
December 1st 2009, 14:16
Thanks guys! It's getting there. I think it'll be a scary ride to begin with until I get a handle on driving it.

Thanks for the suggestion Clive, I understand. I might get some 16 or 18 for the drive shaft tunnel and the tranny tunnel. The reason for the 14 gauge is because I don't have a bead roller. Otherwise I would've used 18 gauge steel. I was told I need at least 14 gauge steel, without beads, so it doesn't tin can / flop around. There's some large sections that don't have any support to keep it from tin canning such as the area behind the seats and between the rear windows. The section that's welded in behind where the seat would go I cannot get to move or tin can. It might tin can if it were 18 gauge or even 16 possibly. Also, I plan to mount my break pedal on the firewall, so I need the strength. 16 gauge might have been fine but the car could benefit from a little weight (strength and power to weight ratio wise) going with 14 gauge. The only draw back is it's not easy bending 14 gauge compared to 18.

V8SuperBeetle
December 21st 2009, 12:35
Hey guys, got an update. I borrowed the wifey's camera for this set of photos. ;D

Before I begin, I just wanted to let everyone know I found out last weekend that my wife is pregnant!!! ;D 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?" ;D 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.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/floor-V8-383-s10-bug-1.jpg


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. :)

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/floor-V8-383-s10-bug-2.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/floor-V8-383-s10-bug-3.jpg


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...

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/floor-V8-383-s10-bug-4.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/floor-V8-383-s10-bug-5.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/floor-V8-383-s10-bug-6.jpg


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. :)

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/floor-V8-383-s10-bug-7.jpg


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.

http://static.summitracing.com/global/images/prod/large/sum-m08750vs_w.jpg


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...

http://static.summitracing.com/global/images/prod/large/sum-460005_w.jpg

http://static.summitracing.com/global/images/prod/large/bmm-80675.jpg

http://static.summitracing.com/global/images/prod/large/bob-50502-18-234_w.jpg

http://static.summitracing.com/global/images/prod/large/cmb-03-0039_w.jpg

http://static.summitracing.com/global/images/prod/large/wil-340-1290_w.jpg

http://static.summitracing.com/global/images/prod/large/wil-260-6764_cp.jpg


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...

V8SuperBeetle
December 28th 2009, 12:28
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.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/duald-exhaust-v8-bug-383-s10-1.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/duald-exhaust-v8-bug-383-s10-2.jpg


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).

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/duald-exhaust-v8-bug-383-s10-4.jpg


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.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/duald-exhaust-v8-bug-383-s10-10.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/duald-exhaust-v8-bug-383-s10-9.jpg


Plumbing all the way back to the radiator.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/duald-exhaust-v8-bug-383-s10-13.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/duald-exhaust-v8-bug-383-s10-15.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/duald-exhaust-v8-bug-383-s10-8.jpg


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

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/duald-exhaust-v8-bug-383-s10-11.jpg


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.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/duald-exhaust-v8-bug-383-s10-12.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/duald-exhaust-v8-bug-383-s10-5.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/duald-exhaust-v8-bug-383-s10-6.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/duald-exhaust-v8-bug-383-s10-14.jpg


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

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/duald-exhaust-v8-bug-383-s10-16.jpg


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


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

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/duald-exhaust-v8-bug-383-s10-111.jpg

johnnyvee
December 28th 2009, 23:14
confused, how would steel piping work for the cooling system :confused:

V8SuperBeetle
December 29th 2009, 12:35
The radiator is in the back of the car because it wont fit up front. The engine is water cooled so I need to get the coolant to and from the radiator, so aluminum steel pipe was used. Radiator hoses will connect it all together. All I have to do is coat the piping with a rust encapsulating paint, such as master series or por-15, and use coolant and it'll outlast me.

owdlvr
December 29th 2009, 14:11
The only issue I see from your photos is that engine movement/vibration haven't been taken into account. While having the piping brought that close to the waterpump is convenient, you still need to ensure plenty of movement is allowed for vibration and torque movements. From what I can see in the photos you've taken, the best spot for one of the rubber (and thus flexible) hoses is probably coming out of the radiator down under the oil-pan. This will place the movements along a relatively long section of flexible hosing.

If you were going to run flexible sections on the runners out to the back of the car, you'll be asking the rubber hoses to flex in a torsional movement, which will cause them to fail in relatively short order.

I can't see the other side well enough to make any recommendations there.

Hope that helps.

-Dave

johnnyvee
December 29th 2009, 15:04
my bad for judging, :( I am not there so I shouldn't give ignorant advice.

Keep it up, I can't wait to see it on the road.

V8SuperBeetle
December 29th 2009, 15:33
The only issue I see from your photos is that engine movement/vibration haven't been taken into account. While having the piping brought that close to the waterpump is convenient, you still need to ensure plenty of movement is allowed for vibration and torque movements. From what I can see in the photos you've taken, the best spot for one of the rubber (and thus flexible) hoses is probably coming out of the radiator down under the oil-pan. This will place the movements along a relatively long section of flexible hosing.

If you were going to run flexible sections on the runners out to the back of the car, you'll be asking the rubber hoses to flex in a torsional movement, which will cause them to fail in relatively short order.

I can't see the other side well enough to make any recommendations there.

Hope that helps.

-Dave

Hey Dave,

The photos make clearances look closer than they really are. The only one I would be concerned about it the tubing coming up close to the pump. The pipe I plan to trim down so I can put hose between.

The plumbing is welded right to the frame rails. Exhaust is hung using your standard exhaust hangers. I don't really see there being any issues with the plumbing failing the way it was fabricated. I guess only time will tell. :D

V8SuperBeetle
January 4th 2010, 12:13
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.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-radiator-hoses-1.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-radiator-hoses-2.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-radiator-hoses-3.jpg


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.
http://static.summitracing.com/global/images/prod/large/sum-371101.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-radiator-hoses-4.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-radiator-hoses-5.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-radiator-hoses-6.jpg


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.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-radiator-hoses-7.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-radiator-hoses-8.jpg


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.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-radiator-hoses-9.jpg

johnnyvee
January 10th 2010, 23:18
crazy

V8SuperBeetle
February 12th 2010, 11:05
IT LIVES!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvUaSOQgPYQ


I just wanted to post this real quick. The video is dark, but man does the car sound good.

V8SuperBeetle
February 14th 2010, 01:22
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, 205º-230º, 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, 160º-180º.

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.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/recent-v8-bug-383-1.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/recent-v8-bug-383-2.jpg


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.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/recent-v8-bug-383-3.jpg


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

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/recent-v8-bug-383-4.jpg


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.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/recent-v8-bug-383-5.jpg


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.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/recent-v8-bug-383-6.jpg


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

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/recent-v8-bug-383-8.jpg


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.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/recent-v8-bug-383-9.jpg


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

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/recent-v8-bug-383-10.jpg


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.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/recent-v8-bug-383-11.jpg


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...

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/recent-v8-bug-383-12.jpg


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

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/recent-v8-bug-383-13.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/recent-v8-bug-383-14.jpg


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

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/recent-v8-bug-383-15.jpg


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.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/recent-v8-bug-383-16.jpg


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.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/recent-v8-bug-383-17.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/recent-v8-bug-383-18.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/recent-v8-bug-383-19.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/recent-v8-bug-383-20.jpg

V8SuperBeetle
February 14th 2010, 01:24
http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/recent-v8-bug-383-20.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/recent-v8-bug-383-21.jpg


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.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/recent-v8-bug-383-22.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/recent-v8-bug-383-23.jpg


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

V8SuperBeetle
February 15th 2010, 16:47
Got the driveshaft shortened and balanced at a place called Northwest Drive Train Service. A nice group of guys, quick turn around, and fairly low pricing (plug, over). Now I can finally finish the flooring. I'm going to get the brake lines ran and hook up the steering so I can move this thing around under it's own power.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-383-driveshaft.jpg


More soon...hopefully of this thing driving.

petevw
February 15th 2010, 19:02
IT LIVES!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvUaSOQgPYQ


I just wanted to post this real quick. The video is dark, but man does the car sound good.

Damn.... that sounds good!

It's coming along great.

V8SuperBeetle
February 16th 2010, 15:03
Damn.... that sounds good!

It's coming along great.

Thanks Pete. I still need to tune it. I should have more of a gallop once I adjust the initial timing and idle.

V8SuperBeetle
February 21st 2010, 20:46
Made some leaps and bounds, so to speak. I FINALLY got the rear radiator setup to work. With the fan on and idling in place, the car stays between 170º-180º. I got the trans cooler lines ran, tranny filled, and IT WORKS! So that's great news. Here's a video. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jddQnaYaADo

I've also been working on finishing up my brake system. I took the rear drum brakes apart, sand blasted the parts, painted them, got a new hardware kit, and wheel cylinders. I have one side put back together. The hold up on the other side is the emergency cable is shot. The spring is no good. Seems like it got hung up while mudding.

Hopefully I'll get the brakes system setup and I can move it around under it's own power.

V8SuperBeetle
February 23rd 2010, 16:16
Not necessarily the most exciting update, but another thing checked off the TTD list.

Rebuilt the drum brakes. Sandblasted the small parts, installed new spring kit, wheel cylinders, and shoes. The drums were turned long ago by the guy I bought my frame from. Look at that mess the passenger side made.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/brakes-1.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/brakes-2.jpg

Humble
February 23rd 2010, 22:03
Getting closer, can't wait to see this thing roll under it's own power :D

V8SuperBeetle
February 24th 2010, 11:40
Getting closer, can't wait to see this thing roll under it's own power :D

Me too! I'll be soon. I'm pretty anxious to get to that point. :shocked::lmao:

V8SuperBeetle
February 24th 2010, 11:41
Man, it was brought to my attention I put the shoes on backwards on the passenger rear wheel. Haha. Oh well, gotta redo it.

The other night I welded in my 5-point harness mounting tabs. They're 1/4" thick and I used the 6"x 6"x 1/8" plates supplied with my roll cage, that I didn't use because it's welded to the frame, to reinforce where I mounted them. Should be plenty strong considering the flooring is 14 gauge and everything is all welded into one another (body, flooring, cage, frame, etc.).

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/seat-harness-mounts.jpg

V8SuperBeetle
March 8th 2010, 12:22
Still pluggin' away! Got a few things accomplished this weekend.

Got the transmission tunnel and driveshaft tunnel made. I got some 18 gauge galvanized steel, cause that's all they had in 18 gauge, and a 3' section of 6" pipe. I needed something thin enough that I could bend on my own. I did take precautions to make sure I didn't get sick from welding galvanized steel. I had the garage wide open and a fan in front of my face the whole time. It also helped that it was windy out yesterday. So I cut out the steel using my patterns. For the driveshaft tunnel, I tacked the steel to the pipe and rolled the steel over it. For the tunnel, I just hand formed it over the pipe.

It can out really well. My pattern was a little off after doing some additional trimming cause the floor warped slightly from all the welding. So I had to make so relief cuts to the passenger side of the tunnel to get it to fit right. It's all fully welded up and very strong.

The car is a little cluttered inside at the moment cause I'm in the middle of hooking up my shifter. Just a few more things and the shifter will be finished.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-s10-almost-drivable-1.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-s10-almost-drivable-2.jpg


I also got the throttle cable and pedal hooked up. It works very well, but as you can see, it's a tight fit. :)

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-s10-almost-drivable-3.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-s10-almost-drivable-4.jpg


The brakes are also hooked up and ready to rock! My brother came over after I got all new lines ran and hooked up, and we bled the system. It took forever to completely bleed the new system and to fix little leaks. The brake pedal is very firm and works great though. The rear brakes are stiffer than the front though. I got the pedal setup so the front brakes some in hard first, then the drums.

My only concern is the rear brakes line that goes to the master comes close to the exhaust manifold. Everything is so cramped in the engine bay with this S10 frame. I'll more than likely have to wrap the exhaust by the brake line.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-s10-almost-drivable-5.jpg


Last but not least, I started working on the steering. I extended the shaft that goes to the steering box so the steering wheel will be closer to me and away from my knees. I just need to relocated the steering mount from the firewall to the dash bar and it'll be ready to rock.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-s10-almost-drivable-6.jpg


Once the steering is done and the shifter is hooked up, all there is to do to drive her around the block is to run the gas line and to make a battery box! I hoping to have video up of the first drive this coming up weekend. Then I can finally move this thing out of the garage so I can clean up without having to need 3-4 people to push it back in. LOL!

V8SuperBeetle
March 15th 2010, 10:52
2 steps forward, one step back. Got some progress made this weekend. Not as much as I wanted to get accomplished due to a last minute gig that came up Friday, but progress nonetheless.

Got the steering hooked up. It turns with ease. Drill and tapped a 3x5x.1875 piece of steel to mount the column on. I had to make a bigger hole in the firewall for the rag joint to slide through. Now I need to make a cover that will bolt on so I can easily take it off when I need to remove the column.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-383-s10-steering-2.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-383-s10-steering-1.jpg


I also ran the fuel line. I was ready for my first test drive, engine warmed up and ready to go. Car was running great and everything. Then I went to put it into gear and the car died. Fired it back up, put it into gear, died again. I upped the idle a little (1,000 rpm), put it into gear and it really bogged down. Turns out I was having carb problems. The carb was overflowing with fuel and fuel was just pouring into the carb. See video link.

http://www.youtube.com/user/cmattdabrat#p/a/u/0/vKclUKm4MCU


I'm not sure what went on? Maybe the floats need adjusting. I'm going to call Summit today and see what they say. It was running fine and then this just all of sudden happened.

V8SuperBeetle
March 19th 2010, 09:28
Took her out for the first test drive!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4Ct4LndyBk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKK5sYU2pHg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKUldF9XIyk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKUldF9XIyk

johnnyvee
March 19th 2010, 12:06
did not know you would be so cramped in the driver seat, Is that livable on long trips?

V8SuperBeetle
March 19th 2010, 14:17
Tall guy, small car, GM motor / trans up front = no foot / leg room. It's not as bad, too me, as it may seem. Road trips were never intended for this car. Just weekend car shows, some street play and some drag strip action.

vwdreaming
March 19th 2010, 14:25
mite want to rethink the seat placement alittle
killer job dude:D

V8SuperBeetle
March 19th 2010, 14:55
Thanks! There's no where else for it to go but forward. :)

vwdreaming
March 19th 2010, 21:34
ya ive had rides in two front v8 bugs they had the same problem they both mounted the seat back all most a foot further back then you.
it felt wrong looking out the back window riding down the road and looked funny.
yours looks much better even if its not comfy great work

V8SuperBeetle
March 26th 2010, 12:26
Been getting some things done to the bug. Finishing up sheet metal work so I can get into the body work stages so I can get this thing finished. Getting closer has me thinking again about the final look. I think I have my mind made up.

Hugger Orange and Gloss black. I decided to keep the trim chrome cause I have bits and pieces on the engine and interior that are chrome or polished aluminum. To address my breather issue, I decided I'll just get a carb scoop to poke out the hood. Alternator will be flipped up side down. I have to make a pulley to keep the belt from hitting the steering box. I'm thinking of using a black skateboard wheel and fabricating something to mount it on. Haha.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-new-look-383-hugger-orange-Final.jpg

Rob
March 26th 2010, 17:31
That's wicked. That thing will be scary fast.
Awesome job.

Rob.

V8SuperBeetle
March 29th 2010, 10:28
Thanks, Rob. Took it around the block to show a couple guys whom have bugs in my neighborhood. When I left I gave it a little gas. Tach got to about 2,500 rpm. That thing barked it's tires and took off! I can't wait to give it WOT!

V8SuperBeetle
March 29th 2010, 10:42
Got a few more things done off the list.

Made and tacked in some plates to cover the hole where the driveshaft runs through the firewall. I had to do it this way cause the driveshaft and column are all one welded up piece. A little seam sealer and paint and it should look decent. You can also see I filled in the holes where the gas pedal was. I'm moving it over away from the brake pedal to give me more room. It'll be closer to the trans hump, but at least it wont be an inch away from the brake pedal.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-383-s10-tin-work-1.jpg


Finished off the flooring on the passenger side. This is where the trans hump comes up into the floor giving the exhaust room to tuck within the chassis.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-383-s10-tin-work-2.jpg


Last, but not least, I finished the tin work for the radiator / shroud. Just needs seem sealer. I'll still make a shroud for the fan itself, but that'll come in the finishing stages.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-383-s10-tin-work-3.jpg


All's left to do is make the back floor that goes above the tank, weld in some front clip supports out of some metal rod, trim some more out of the engine bay to clean the look up, and make a battery box. Then it'll be ready for the body work stages.

High five!

70Turbobug
April 5th 2010, 05:42
Awesome!! Congratulations to your roll out!

V8SuperBeetle
April 6th 2010, 13:50
Awesome!! Congratulations to your roll out!

Thanks. I've been cruising it around the block every now and then to help break in the engine. I rompt on it the other day. Got it up to about 3,500, which is pretty low, but :eek: this things is a hand full. Very fun. :D

chug_A_bug
April 6th 2010, 18:02
PLEASE TAKE SOME VIDEO!!!! :D

Chris.

V8SuperBeetle
April 8th 2010, 12:27
PLEASE TAKE SOME VIDEO!!!! :D

Chris.

I did. Take a look on the previous page. Better yet, here you go.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4Ct4LndyBk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKK5sYU2pHg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho0XJjECUns

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKUldF9XIyk&feature=related


I'll get some video of the car getting on it soon enough. Just trying to get this thing finished. :D

V8SuperBeetle
April 8th 2010, 12:28
A few things I've managed to get done.

Here's how the distributor mod looks.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/383-V8-bug-hei-mod-1.jpg


You can see the mechanical advance limiting screw with the side ground for "fine" tuning and the vacuum limiter which is made out of just a piece of 22 gauge steel I had laying around. Next to free modifying this thing.

Had to clearance the rotor cap a little.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/383-V8-bug-hei-mod-2.jpg


Here you can see it was a great concern to me whether or not I could even remove the distributor cap. Thank god it would come off. I still had to rotate the crank to get to the rotor screws.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/383-V8-bug-hei-mod-4.jpg


I moved the gas pedal away from the brake pedal some more. This is as far over as I can get it.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/383-V8-bug-hei-mod-3.jpg


And, last but not least, last night I made templates (night before), cut them out and welded the rear wheel wells in.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/383-V8-bug-hei-mod-5.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/383-V8-bug-hei-mod-6.jpg


Having a couple gallons (everything is sealed...but) of gas in the tank and the fact the paint kept catching fire on the bug body when I was welding the wheel well pieces up kept me from wanting to fully weld these things up. Some MasterSeries and sealer will finish the job here.

Next thing I'm going to tackle is the "engine bay". I want to trim out all the excess sheet and reinforce the front clip with some 7/16" rod. What do you guys think? Will I have problems with the whole front end shaking or will it be strong enough with some reinforcement and the fenders bolted up?

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/383-V8-bug-hei-mod-7.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/383-V8-bug-hei-mod-8.jpg



Here you can see a guideline I drew where I want to cut it.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/383-V8-bug-hei-mod-9.jpg


I'm trying to make the engine bay as simple as possible. No wheel wells and the wiper compartment will go so I'll have easier access to the dizzy. Also, it'll allow me to use the cowl vent to allow how air to escape. I just plan to make a mount for the wiper motor.

Things to do before body work / paint stages.

1. Rear, above gas tank, sheet metal.

2. Finish engine bay.

3. Finish filler neck sheet metal.

4. Seam sealer.


Getting there.

Clatter
April 9th 2010, 01:36
Don't forget item number 5 for your list:

5. Drive the sh!t out of it, all over hell, to see what will break! :D

Best to shake it down good and hard in primer first, right?
You never know what you might find needs done differently.

I like the "Wheel Hop Test" myself.

Or "Jump the Railroad Tracks"...

Way more fun to find tires that rub, or stress cracks, or... When it's not covered in shiny paint.

evilC
April 9th 2010, 06:50
............... Also, it'll allow me to use the cowl vent to allow how air to escape. I just plan to make a mount for the wiper motor.

......

I don't think this will work as the base of the windscreen is a high pressure area and therefore is used as the inlet area for heater and dash venting. I can't think of a single vehicle that doesn't use this area as an inlet for the interior that proves the effectiveness of it.

Clive

V8SuperBeetle
April 9th 2010, 18:41
Don't forget item number 5 for your list:

5. Drive the sh!t out of it, all over hell, to see what will break! :D

Best to shake it down good and hard in primer first, right?
You never know what you might find needs done differently.

I like the "Wheel Hop Test" myself.

Or "Jump the Railroad Tracks"...

Way more fun to find tires that rub, or stress cracks, or... When it's not covered in shiny paint.

Haha, that's true. I'm not going to jump tracks, but I have been testing and tuning the car in between working on it. It's hard not to want to drive this thing. :D So far so good. Mashed it the other night. It was kinda scary. Everything's holding up great.

V8SuperBeetle
April 9th 2010, 18:44
I don't think this will work as the base of the windscreen is a high pressure area and therefore is used as the inlet area for heater and dash venting. I can't think of a single vehicle that doesn't use this area as an inlet for the interior that proves the effectiveness of it.

Clive

I know what you mean, although, I do have all of the vent's / heater stuff taken out and the holes welded up with sheet metal. I'm going to seal the car with 3M seam sealer real good. So I'm thinking the air that comes through the front louvers of the the front clip with allow air to flow through the engine compartment and through those vents. What do you think?

V8SuperBeetle
April 12th 2010, 10:57
Got some work done.

I decided to just clean up the engine compartment by adding panels to hide the strut tower mounts and gas tank rail. It didn't quite turn out how I wanted, but I'm pleased with the results.

I was aiming for a look like this.

http://memimage.cardomain.com/member_images/8/web/2204000-2204999/2204344_5_full.jpg


I made patterns, again, cut out the sheet metal and went to install them. Oh, I also made a wiper compartment cover.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/engine-compartment-v8-bug-383-1.jpg


Everything fit well, but I could not for the life of me get the 18 gauge steel I had to bend smoothly. So I just boxed the top off instead. I think it came out pretty decent. The pics aren't great, but I think it'll look decent once It's got some hugger orange or black down.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/engine-compartment-v8-bug-383-2.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/engine-compartment-v8-bug-383-3.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/engine-compartment-v8-bug-383-4.jpg


I've also been taking care of buttoning up little things like bolting in the gas tank and hooking up the kickdown cable.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/engine-compartment-v8-bug-383-5.jpg

I bought a kickdown cable months ago and it didn't line up with the vortec intake bolt pattern (has 8 instead of 12). So I had to cut and bend this one to make it work right. Works like a champ now.

I also think I have my alternator situation figured out. I'm going to have to make an insert in the sheetmetal panel I just made, but I think it'll work. I'm basically just going to turn it upside down on the alternator mount I have now.

More soon.

evilC
April 13th 2010, 08:34
I know what you mean, although, I do have all of the vent's / heater stuff taken out and the holes welded up with sheet metal. I'm going to seal the car with 3M seam sealer real good. So I'm thinking the air that comes through the front louvers of the the front clip with allow air to flow through the engine compartment and through those vents. What do you think?

I still don't think it will work as the air pressure at the base of the windscreen is quite high and maybe higher than that at the front clip from all the pressure diagrams I have seen. If the air at the base of the screen is at this higher pressure then the tendancy will be for the air to flow in there and out through the bottom of the engine compartment. It may even stop the airflow through the front altogether. if nothing else it will be a turbulent free for all in the engine compartment.

You could close the old heater vents off and vent the engine space into the front arches?

V8SuperBeetle
April 16th 2010, 10:48
I did a little mocking up last night which has me still trying to figure out my alternator situation and I change my mind on my wheel direction.

The great news is the engine pulleys and radiator hose clear the hood by a few inches actually. I was worried they wouldn't. There's more room under the hood than it really looks. I did take the carb off and the breather (wait for it), but the hood closes great. I haven't seen my car with the hood on in quite some time. Here's how the hood closes minus carb, breather, and alternator. Wait for it...

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/hood-clearance-v8-383-bug-1.jpg


The other problem, as some of you may know, is I have never put the 17" vette wheels on upfront. I've always have had the 16" upfront so I figured they'd fit, no problem, right? WRONG. The tie rod rides on the wheel. I would need 2.5 spacers to clear. I have 2" spacers on there now.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/hood-clearance-v8-383-bug-2.jpg


This is a repost for some, but I'm going with Weld wheels and this is how the car will look.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-new-look-383-hugger-orange-44.jpg


It'll be safer cause I'll be getting ride of the spacers AND I'm lovin' the old school drag car look.

I played with the alternator a little. I installed it as it would normally be. I was surprised it closed as much as it did. The hood is about 2" away from being completely shut.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/hood-clearance-v8-383-bug-3.jpg
http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/hood-clearance-v8-383-bug-4.jpg


I then disconnected the alternator and turned it as far outboard as I could. That gave me another 1/2" - 3/4" closer on the hood. It's so close to being closed. Ughh...

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/hood-clearance-v8-383-bug-5.jpg
http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/hood-clearance-v8-383-bug-6.jpg


If only I could get the alternator to sit another 1 1/2" lower I would have it made. I'm looking into other alternator brackets.

Last but not least, my carb scoop came in, tubes of seam sealer and all my paints for the car (MasterSeries, epoxy primer, high build primer, hugger orange, black, clear coat, HVLP gun, etc). Here's a mock up pic of the car scoop. Should look b*tchin'!

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/hood-clearance-v8-383-bug-7.jpg


This weekend I'm going to try and get the rear sheet metal finished and get the hood cut for the carb scoop. That should just about get me ready for the body work stages.

V8SuperBeetle
April 19th 2010, 10:52
I guess my car is officially not long the german look style?

Got some work done. Not as much as I would've like, but something.

Mounted my carb spacer and carb scoop mounted and I cut out the hood too. Mmmm, polished aluminum. I think it added another 50 hp, lol, jk. Maybe 5-10 hp on the top end.

Got some work done. Not as much as I would've like, but something.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/bug-383-v8-stuff-1.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/bug-383-v8-stuff-2.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/bug-383-v8-stuff-3.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/bug-383-v8-stuff-4.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/bug-383-v8-stuff-5.jpg


I think I may have my alternator situation figured out. It'll mount like this, but it'll take a little fabrication to make this work.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/bug-383-v8-stuff-6.jpg


Did a little grinding to clean up the sheet metal in the engine bay.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/bug-383-v8-stuff-9.jpg


I starting doing some seam work. I put down a coat of Master Series on the seams to keep then from ever rusting. Next it'll get another coat and them some 3M seam sealer.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/bug-383-v8-stuff-7.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/bug-383-v8-stuff-8.jpg


I ordered my wheels so they should be here Wednesday. I should have some pics by the weekend with them mounted. Maybe even a little cruising video with some of the new toys on.

volkdent
April 20th 2010, 01:31
Lookin good! Should be a serious tire shredder.

Jason

V8SuperBeetle
April 20th 2010, 11:16
Lookin good! Should be a serious tire shredder.

Jason

Thanks, Jason. It definitely has no problem lighting the tires up at a 20 mile an hour roll when I stomp it. Lots of fun and kinda scary.

V8SuperBeetle
April 22nd 2010, 17:48
Been painting with MasterSeries rust sealer and sealing seams this week. I've finished the sealing the floor, the firewall, the rear wheel wells, and the radiator metal work in the back (which I forgot to take pictures of). I've applied a coat underneth the backside of the car and working my way to the front.

Used 3M sealer. Stuff reminds me of heavy duty Elmer's glue. Haha...

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/seal-and-wheels-383-v8-s10-bug-1.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/seal-and-wheels-383-v8-s10-bug-2.jpg


My wheels came in. I order Jeg's Weld knock-offs instead of Summit's cause Summit didn't offer the offset I needed. I'm sure they the EXACT same thing, just different center caps.

I forget how small 15" wheels are after having the 16, 17, and 18 wheels floating around this whole time. The size I got are...

15"x4" front w/ 1.75" back space
15"x10" back w/ 5.5" back space

Tires will be...

165/80/15 front
275/60/15 back

I'm going to Discount tonight to new get tires. Tires are going to be $300. Can you believe that? $50 each for the front's and $100 each for the backs. The wheels are pretty nice knock offs for the price. They'll make for great street wheels. Gotta bee even more budget minded that the kiddo is on it's way and the wife will be a stay at home Mom.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/seal-and-wheels-383-v8-s10-bug-3.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/seal-and-wheels-383-v8-s10-bug-4.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/seal-and-wheels-383-v8-s10-bug-5.jpg

volkdent
April 22nd 2010, 18:04
I think you've definately strayed from the GL concept! I just can't put Weld wheels and GL in the same sentence(oh, I just did) but it's still going to be a lot of fun to see that thing finished.

Jason

evilC
April 23rd 2010, 11:45
The 275/60x15 are not recommended for rims in excess of 9 1/2J and the preferred rim width is 8J unless of course the european tyre data books differ from the US ones.

Clive

V8SuperBeetle
April 26th 2010, 10:32
I think you've definately strayed from the GL concept! I just can't put Weld wheels and GL in the same sentence(oh, I just did) but it's still going to be a lot of fun to see that thing finished.

Jason

Haha, yeah, oh well though. I still really dig the GL look. Maybe I'll keep the black vette wheels as a separate set. I can hardly wait to finish this thing. It's getting there. I've set a personal deadline of Aug. Which is when the baby comes. :D


The 275/60x15 are not recommended for rims in excess of 9 1/2J and the preferred rim width is 8J unless of course the european tyre data books differ from the US ones.

Clive

Thanks for the heads up! I can always go to a 295/50/15 size later, which is the plan.


Pics of the new wheels.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/new-wheels-v8-bug-1.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/new-wheels-v8-bug-2.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/new-wheels-v8-bug-3.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/new-wheels-v8-bug-4.jpg


It was beautiful out today so I did a walk around video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXWytmDrrGg


I got lots done. Doesn't feel like it cause I had to run back and forth and there's really not a lot to show for the time I put in.

Got the new wheels rockin', obviously, did a quick eye ball alignment cause it was more obvious it was our with the new wheels, sealed seams in engine bay, sealed seams under car, inside wheel wells, ground out and redid a couple weld on the cage just to be sure, bolted in the gas tank, got some deck lid stand off's to see how they'd fit and work, fabricated and sealed up the tank filler neck holder, and test drove the car.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/new-wheels-v8-bug-5.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/new-wheels-v8-bug-6.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/new-wheels-v8-bug-7.jpg


I couldn't resist test driving the car some with the new wheels and having the stand-offs. Great day for that. I made a little video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0lERkAIRIM


Was still lots of fun, scary, and I got the chance to break the engine in a little and to try out the 2" carb spacer. Didn't seem to affect the torque a whole lot. Still lights em up easy peasy.

V8SuperBeetle
May 3rd 2010, 11:35
Trying to wrap up fabrication so I can start body work and get paint down.

Welded in the seat mounts.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/finishing-v8-bug-1.jpg


Here are the seats bolted in. Nothing super fancy, but they'll get the job done. I do have covers for them which I'll put in after paint.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/finishing-v8-bug-2.jpg


I put down a second coat of Master Series on all the bare steel before welding up the rear fire wall. You can see the center section sitting there waiting to be welded in.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/finishing-v8-bug-3.jpg


Center section tacked in and making a pattern for the left and right sides. All I had to do was that one pattern which worked for both sides. I overlapped the left and right steel steel sections to make the rear fire wall stiffer.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/finishing-v8-bug-4.jpg


Here's all the pieces in. I still have to finish welding it up but it's in there.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/finishing-v8-bug-5.jpg


Now I'm down to just adding some finishing touches. Things to do to move onto body work and paint!

1) Finish welding rear firewall.
2) Patches for the front of the heater channels
3) Line the hood scoop cut out with 1" steel to make the center of the hood more rigid.
4) Seal up rear fire wall and heater channel patch seams.
5) Battery mount. Still thinking about where to put it.


I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! This past week I got insurance on the bug too. Very exciting getting close to finishing.

V8SuperBeetle
May 4th 2010, 12:11
Here's another shot of the rear "fire wall". Did some more welding last night, but ran out of wire. Gotta slowly weld it up so it doesn't warp to crap.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/finishing-v8-bug-6.jpg


On a side note, here's my collection of "Summit Racing's" line of paint and tools to get the job done. Being I'm on a tight budget, I plan to paint the car myself and having heard good things about it, I decided to give it a try. For $400, what can go wrong painting your first car. ;D

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-383-s10-summit-urethane-paint.jpg


I have...


Sanding blocks
Rolls of various grit of sand paper, some where in there.
HVLP gun
Epoxy primer (galon)
2K high build primer (galon)
Hugger Orange, single stage (galon)
Black, single stage (galon)
High Solids clear coat (galon)


The rest is their activators, hardeners, surface wash, and wax / grease remover.

I also have a quart of Master Series chassis coating for the engine bay and for under the deck lid.


Here's a recent article about the paint. If that chick can do it, I can. And yes, the chick in the picture actually painted the car. Read the article. ;D

http://www.popularhotrodding.com/tech/1003phr_1966_ford_mustang_project_street_fighter_p aint_job/summit_racing_paint.html


http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/Summit-Paint.jpg

V8SuperBeetle
May 4th 2010, 12:12
Here's another shot of the rear "fire wall". Did some more welding last night, but ran out of wire. Gotta slowly weld it up so it doesn't warp to crap.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/finishing-v8-bug-6.jpg


On a side note, here's my collection of "Summit Racing's" line of paint and tools to get the job done. Being I'm on a tight budget, I plan to paint the car myself and having heard good things about it, I decided to give it a try. For $400, what can go wrong painting your first car. ;D

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-383-s10-summit-urethane-paint.jpg


I have...


Sanding blocks
Rolls of various grit of sand paper, some where in there.
HVLP gun
Epoxy primer (galon)
2K high build primer (galon)
Hugger Orange, single stage (galon)
Black, single stage (galon)
High Solids clear coat (galon)


The rest is their activators, hardeners, surface wash, and wax / grease remover.

I also have a quart of Master Series chassis coating for the engine bay and for under the deck lid.


Here's a recent article about the paint. If that chick can do it, I can. And yes, the chick in the picture actually painted the car. Read the article. ;D

http://www.popularhotrodding.com/tech/1003phr_1966_ford_mustang_project_street_fighter_p aint_job/summit_racing_paint.html


http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/Summit-Paint.jpg

V8SuperBeetle
May 5th 2010, 10:59
Finished welding the rear firewall, sealed it up, and put down a coat of Master Series. I just need to put down another coat of Master Series to make sure it's all nice and sealed.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/finishing-v8-bug-7.jpg


Now I just need to button up little things and it'll be ready for body work and paint!

V8SuperBeetle
May 10th 2010, 11:07
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. :rolleyes: 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. :rolleyes:

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.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/alternator-battery-v8-383-bug-s10-1.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/alternator-battery-v8-383-bug-s10-2.jpg


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.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/alternator-battery-v8-383-bug-s10-3.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/alternator-battery-v8-383-bug-s10-4.jpg


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.

johnnyvee
May 10th 2010, 16:07
:confused: what happens when the engine flexes

V8SuperBeetle
May 11th 2010, 16:28
:confused: what happens when the engine flexes

No engine flex. The engine sits on the frame. I feel every small vibration. If it becomes a problem, which I'll find out with a little testing, I'll just spring load the alternator. Problem solved. :D

evilC
May 12th 2010, 07:46
I must agree with Jonnyvee on this one. Irrespective of whether the engine is solidly mounted there will be differential movement between the inner wing and the engine such that you will strain the waterpump and alternator bearings. Even if it were spring mounted the spring tension required to maintain a fan belt tension would still strain the bearings. Apart from that I can't see that the sheet metal would last very long with all the vibration going through a directly welded mount - it'll rip itself apart with fatigue fractures.

Clive

volkdent
May 13th 2010, 20:45
Found this and thought you might get a kick out of it.

Turbo V8 Bug (http://www.engineswapdepot.com/?cat=77)

Jason

V8SuperBeetle
May 17th 2010, 12:17
Very nice bug. I've seen his bug before, but have never gotten any replies about it. He posts every now and then. Very cool build. I recall when he had a 283 in it, then swapped to the LS1 and later added a turbo.

V8SuperBeetle
May 17th 2010, 15:03
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.


http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/alternator-battery-v8-383-bug-s10-6.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/alternator-battery-v8-383-bug-s10-7.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/alternator-battery-v8-383-bug-s10-9.jpg


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

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/alternator-battery-v8-383-bug-s10-5.jpg


Parts from Bap/Geon.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/alternator-battery-v8-383-bug-s10-8.jpg


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.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/babies-room-1.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/babies-room-2.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/babies-room-3.jpg

Eatoniashoprat
May 18th 2010, 10:29
You sure the hot start issue isn't timing related? Too much advance when hot = no/slow turn over

V8SuperBeetle
May 24th 2010, 11:42
You sure the hot start issue isn't timing related? Too much advance when hot = no/slow turn over

I figured it out. It wasn't a timing issue. I wired the alternator wrong and the battery was somewhat drained. Now that it's wired correctly, it has no issues.

V8SuperBeetle
May 24th 2010, 12:02
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.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-body-work--1.jpg


In with the new. Ground and ready for filler.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-body-work--2.jpg


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.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-body-work--3.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-body-work--4.jpg


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.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-body-work--5.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-body-work--6.jpg


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.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-body-work--7.jpg


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

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-body-work--8.jpg


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.

V8SuperBeetle
June 7th 2010, 11:08
Still plugging away on the bodywork. The area around the relocated gas tank door, the front passenger side quarter panel where the gas tank door was, and the roof has taken up quite a bit of time. Basically where ever I had to cut out some metal and weld it back in. Next time I weld on the body sheet metal, which wont be anytime soon, I'll be sure to take more precautions to keep distortion to a minimum.

These areas needed the most attention to get straight. The rest is cakewalk. It seems like just when I thought it was straight, they needed another skim coat to fill in a low spot. These sections are pretty much shaped / flat, but need to be skimmed over with some glaze putty to fill in pin holes, feathered a little more, then sanded with 100 and 150-180 grit to get ready for its first coat of primer.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/work-body-383-bug-10.jpg


This section here had the most distortion and it had a nice whisky dent next to it which required the bondo to be feather even further. PITA.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/work-body-383-bug-14.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/work-body-383-bug-12.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/work-body-383-bug-8.jpg


I still need to sand down the little bit of untouched filler you see. Other than that, it'll finally be nice and flat.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/work-body-383-bug-13.jpg


I can say this area has taken the most time. I still need to work on the area above the gas tank and around the door some more. It's almost there.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/work-body-383-bug-11.jpg


The rear clip is ready to go. Now I just need to smooth out the transition of the sheet metal around the "radiator shroud".

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/work-body-383-bug-9.jpg


This area just needs to be sanded with finer and finer paper, glazed and repeated.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/work-body-383-bug-15.jpg


I have definitely missed my mark to get it in paint early this month. It's looking more like the middle to late next month it should be in paint. Body work is taking long then expected and I have to build one of these (the copper tubing which collects the moisture follow by an air filter / trap) to make sure I have no moisture in my lines when I go to put down any paint.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/work-body-383-bug-16.jpg


More soon.

V8SuperBeetle
June 9th 2010, 15:17
Yesterday I pulled the bug out of the garage to sweep up a little, knock some dust off the car and to drive her around a little cause she's been sitting for a few weeks. I decided to take some pics while the car was out cause I just mounted the new fenders and to take a look at overall progress.

The new fenders are pretty decent. They'll be perfect for when I upgrade my rear with a 8.8 explorer unit which is a direct bolt in upgrade for S10s (the rear is 3" wider). I think the car would look even better if I do about a 1.5-2" drop in the rear. So I'm going to look into some SOLID drop blocks from JTR.

The body and the fenders will need some work to make them fit right, but not too bad. There were some cracks in the center of the fenders and I'm guessing it's cause they flexed during shipping. They were just plastic wrapped / bagged and tagged. They seemed to do fine packaged that way for the most part.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/more-v8-383-bug-body-work-1.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/more-v8-383-bug-body-work-2.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/more-v8-383-bug-body-work-3.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/more-v8-383-bug-body-work-4.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/more-v8-383-bug-body-work-5.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/more-v8-383-bug-body-work-6.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/more-v8-383-bug-body-work-7.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/more-v8-383-bug-body-work-8.jpg


Here are the cracks I was talking about, which I have already filled and blocked sanded after I took these pictures. Below you'll see some gaps that'll need work on both fenders.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/more-v8-383-bug-body-work-9.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/more-v8-383-bug-body-work-10.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/more-v8-383-bug-body-work-11.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/more-v8-383-bug-body-work-12.jpg


Over all, they're decent fenders. I have nothing to really compare them too, but I would think they're a little on the thin side, but that's probably cause I have no paint on them yet.

Fitment was OK. I guess it could be worse. I drilled where they had dimples molded into the fenders for the bolt holes. They weren't exactly spot on, but close enough. I had to widen about half of the holes so the bolts would line up.

I'll have more after this weekend.

volkdent
June 10th 2010, 11:36
If you already have those cracks there they will reappear shortly undless you beef up the fiberglass on the backside there. Just rough up an area 6x4 around the crack and put a couple of layers of fiberglass over it. You will really be upset when a nice crack appears in such a noticable area.

Jason

V8SuperBeetle
June 16th 2010, 15:08
Thanks! I'm going to look into that.

volkdent
June 16th 2010, 17:12
Thought you might like these, a local guy went nuts.

Jason

http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/691692.jpg

http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/691689.jpg

http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/691691.jpg

http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/691690.jpg

johnnyvee
June 16th 2010, 22:09
hahahahah

overkill

V8SuperBeetle
June 21st 2010, 10:12
That's a cool looking car. It looks unfinished though which I'm sure that's the look he (or she :) ) was going for. Personally, I'd put the one piece tilting clip back on (looks like that's what it had), I'd put a better intake on cause I'm not a big fan of those tunnel rams (I guess it's just for show) and I'd put a deck lid back on. Other that, it looks well done.

V8SuperBeetle
June 21st 2010, 10:15
Still doing body work. It's been tough lately cause of the heat. It's been 95-100º. So I try and do as much work in the morning and the evening as possible.

I have the hood just about ready to rock. There's one small low spot that needs taken care of.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/more-v8-383-bug-body-work-13.jpg


The b-pillars are pretty much ready. Just need to glaze and sand up to 150-180 grit.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/more-v8-383-bug-body-work-14.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/more-v8-383-bug-body-work-15.jpg


The doors had so holes drilled in them I'm sure for some accessory. Don't quite know what. So i had to weld the holes up, grid, and tap them down.

There was also a rusted corner on the driver's side door that needed fixing. So I cut out the rust, welded in new metal, ground the welds, and filled the low spot with bondo.

The doors are ready other than some glazing and to be sanded with finer paper.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/more-v8-383-bug-body-work-16.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/more-v8-383-bug-body-work-17.jpg


Almost there. Thing left to do are:

1. Radiator area.
2. Engine bay.
3. Front clip.
4. Finish detail work around the gas tank filler door.
5. Finsh driver's side front quarter panel.


The whole, where body work has been done, still needs a paper thin layer of glaze to fill in pin holes. Then I need to sand the entire car with the DA working my way to 150-180 grit.

Then we can paint. That's not too much more to do, right? LOL

V8SuperBeetle
June 28th 2010, 11:21
Almost there! I know this stage has seemed to drag on, but I'm trying to make sure it's as perfect as possible so I'm not using filler during the primer stage. It seems just when I have a section done, I run my hand over it and I can feel just the slightest wave or imperfection.

This gas door has been the biggest PITA because of the body line just above the door. Once I get the shape right it'll be on like Donkey Kong.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/more-v8-383-bug-body-work-19.jpg


I have the radiator area nice and flat. Just a couple more spots that need work and it'll be good.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/more-v8-383-bug-body-work-21.jpg


The front clip needed some help. Some high spots and lows.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/more-v8-383-bug-body-work-18.jpg


Just about finished with the other front quarter panel. Just a little more blocking. And another skim coat to make sure it's flat.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/more-v8-383-bug-body-work-20.jpg


I'm hoping to have the remaining body work done by this weekend and to have some primer down. I have a 3 day weekend and the wife is working late tonight so I should be able to get it done. We'll see.

V8SuperBeetle
July 13th 2010, 11:03
Well, I didn't get the body work finished. I kind of needed a break from it so I tackled some other things and cooling issues that needed to be worked out.

I made brackets for my locking hood pins. Everything was lining up great. The passenger side was slightly off after welding up everything. I tried to bend it a little and the pin broke. >:( I figured, no problem, I can weld it on. Little did I know it's made out of aluminum. Figures why it broke so easily. So I have to buy a whole new kit just so I can redo the passenger side. Oh well.

The locking units mocked up.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-383-bug-s10-body-1.jpg


The good pin.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-383-bug-s10-body-2.jpg


And the jacked up one that'll need redoing.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-383-bug-s10-body-3.jpg



My new replacement radiator. I had to replace it cause when the guys welded up my exhaust / plumbing, some slag put pin holes in it.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-383-bug-s10-body-4.jpg


Here you can see where the water was leaking out. See the rust from the leak. :) If you look at the inlet, you'll see it was leaking there too cause I had the wrong size hose. So I replaced it with the correct size.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-383-bug-s10-body-5.jpg


You can see just how much the hose was pinched and it still didn't seal. No more leaks here.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-383-bug-s10-body-6.jpg


I also moved the overflow outlet to the radiator in the rear and I capped off the inline water neck. Now hot rusty water doesn't spew on my engine. I also installed a 20 psi can on the inline neck. The radiator has 18 psi cap. I might go a little lower, just incase.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-383-bug-s10-body-7.jpg


Having replaced the radiator, fixed the hose leak, all the water gets back to the radiator, and not on my engine. I also installed a high flow 160º thermostat and I finally put in a 50/50 mix of coolant / water. The engine runs a constant 160-190º. I'll never have overheating issues again, I hope.


Onto body work. I just need to finished sanding down a few skim coats I put down the make her as flat as I can possibly get at this stage. These are the problem areas I'm still working on.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-383-bug-s10-body-8.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-383-bug-s10-body-9.jpg



If I'm not too tired from our Saturday night gig I'll get a temporary booth setup and I'll spray some high build primer.

More updates soon.

V8SuperBeetle
August 4th 2010, 12:19
Hey Everyone. I hope your projects are going well.

My wife had our daughter, Madison Taylor, Thursday, July 29th. So I've been keeping busy taking care of Madison and my wife, which I really enjoy.

I'll still be working on the bug here and there, but at the moment I'm just spending time with Madison and my wife.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs132.ash2/39954_425018378005_768413005_4795470_8331257_n.jpg

Jim
August 4th 2010, 13:04
Congratulations dady!!!

This is the biggest moment for any parent (i have recently been a dady too),.... and i wish she will ALWAYS be HEALTHY and LUCKY in her life!!!

NO_H2O
August 4th 2010, 17:28
Congratulations. I hope all is well with your girls. Now is Daddy time. The car will still be there.

V8SuperBeetle
August 5th 2010, 10:11
Congratulations dady!!!

This is the biggest moment for any parent (i have recently been a dady too),.... and i wish she will ALWAYS be HEALTHY and LUCKY in her life!!!

Congratulations. I hope all is well with your girls. Now is Daddy time. The car will still be there.


Thanks guys! It's a great feeling being a daddy.

I agree. The car is the least of my worries at the moment. I'm enjoying family time as of now.

V8SuperBeetle
August 15th 2010, 12:55
It's FINALLY in PRIMER! I swayed away from my original booth design. No explosions, no fumes in the house, minimal overspray and fumes AND I'm alive. ;D

I still need to do the hood and deck lid. I stayed up til 2 am Friday putting paper down on the floor, hanging plastic on the walls and prepping the car. I stayed up until 5 am this morning painting. I was exhausted and too TIRED to finish the hood.

So far it's looking really good. Doesn't look like it'll need too much sanding, but we'll see. I still need to put down a contrasting guide coat.

When I went to paint I just left the garage door wide open. I made a bug guard which also helped catch some over spray. The duct tap didn't stick to the screen material too well. So when I go to do final paint I'll need to figure a better way to hang the "screen door".

The 33 gallon compressor I'm using kept up pretty well with the gun set at 40 psi. ;D When I go to do final paint I'll do smaller sessions. Fenders, then hoods, and then the car body. All in all it would've sufficed spraying the whole car.


http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/summit-high-build-2k-primer-v8-bug-1.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/summit-high-build-2k-primer-v8-bug-2.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/summit-high-build-2k-primer-v8-bug-3.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/summit-high-build-2k-primer-v8-bug-4.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/summit-high-build-2k-primer-v8-bug-5.jpg


The engine compartment is coming out pretty slick.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/summit-high-build-2k-primer-v8-bug-6.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/summit-high-build-2k-primer-v8-bug-7.jpg


I used some aluminum foil to mask off the radiator. That way I can start it up, move it out of the garage to sand without having to worry about plastic melting to the radiator.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/summit-high-build-2k-primer-v8-bug-8.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/summit-high-build-2k-primer-v8-bug-9.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/summit-high-build-2k-primer-v8-bug-10.jpg


As you can see, I hung plastic on all the walls, laid some paper on the floor, and hung a screen door.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/summit-high-build-2k-primer-v8-bug-11.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/summit-high-build-2k-primer-v8-bug-12.jpg


Worked like a champ and there was plenty of ventilation. The garage NEVER filled up with over spray. The was just a light mist, but it never got to the point towards I couldn't see. I wonder how well my other plan would've worked?

I still need to do something about more lighting when it comes time to do final paint. More soon.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/summit-high-build-2k-primer-v8-bug-13.jpg

V8SuperBeetle
August 25th 2010, 11:00
Not as much progress as I would've like to got done this past weekend. Here's a couple pics of the hood and deck lid primed. Next I need to dust coat it with black and I'll start block sanding with 180-220 wet.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/body-work-cont-v8-s10-383-bug-1.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/body-work-cont-v8-s10-383-bug-2.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/body-work-cont-v8-s10-383-bug-3.jpg


Here's a quick video of me spraying the primer. My camera ran out of memory before I finished the hood. I normally wear latex gloves, but ran out. I figured I was okay only doing a couple panels.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN6kBSLw4kA

volkdent
August 25th 2010, 14:06
I don't know how I did but I missed you entering fatherhood!!! Congrats, now you know why my updates have slowed so much! Best thing ever, I couldn't do without my little guy.

Jason

V8SuperBeetle
September 8th 2010, 11:59
Thanks, Jason. I agree, one of the best things to have happened in my life as well.

Matt

chug_A_bug
September 9th 2010, 01:35
Hey matt try using TUCK tape it's red in colour and sticks to ANYTHING
use in the construction bis...
also missed that you became a daddy Congreats ;)
bugs looking great too
Chris.

Humble
September 9th 2010, 12:53
I'll be doing a lot of this soon though I can say I probably won't go into as much prep as you did. Can't wait to see some paint on it :)

Congrats on the new addition to the family! Hopefully she's doing well and not keeping you up too much at night :)

V8SuperBeetle
September 13th 2010, 14:39
Hey matt try using TUCK tape it's red in colour and sticks to ANYTHING
use in the construction bis...
also missed that you became a daddy Congreats ;)
bugs looking great too
Chris.

Thanks, Chris. I'll see if they have some at the hardware store.

Thanks again!

V8SuperBeetle
September 13th 2010, 14:42
I'll be doing a lot of this soon though I can say I probably won't go into as much prep as you did. Can't wait to see some paint on it :)

Congrats on the new addition to the family! Hopefully she's doing well and not keeping you up too much at night :)

Me too! I'm sure all the prep work will be worth it. It's already starting to show.

Thanks! She's getting better and doing well. She's now sleeping 4-6 hours instead of the 2-3 hours.

V8SuperBeetle
September 13th 2010, 14:43
I'm about finished sanding the first coat of high build primer. There's a hand full of scratches that I glazed that need sanding and I still need to finish sanding the rear fenders. About another 1 or 2 hours and it should be ready to go for it's second coat of high build primer.

It's coming along really well. The roof hardly needed any help. I guess it's all that time I spent doing it over and over.

I'll more than likely spray the second coat of primer this next weekend.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/383-v8-bug-body-work-summit-racing-paint-1.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/383-v8-bug-body-work-summit-racing-paint-2.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/383-v8-bug-body-work-summit-racing-paint-3.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/383-v8-bug-body-work-summit-racing-paint-4.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/383-v8-bug-body-work-summit-racing-paint-5.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/383-v8-bug-body-work-summit-racing-paint-6.jpg

70Turbobug
September 19th 2010, 06:59
This is really looking awesome! Keep up the great work and congrats from me aswell on the newborn daughter! Being a Dad is the greatest thing!

V8SuperBeetle
September 20th 2010, 11:58
This is really looking awesome! Keep up the great work and congrats from me aswell on the newborn daughter! Being a Dad is the greatest thing!

Thanks, Turbo! It's getting there. Being a Dad IS great! :)

V8SuperBeetle
September 27th 2010, 11:11
I made some good progress on the bug this weekend. I sprayed another coat of high build primer. I did a walk around video rather than MORE pics. You can hear my neighbors cammed 2000 or so reg cab short bed pickup firing up and passing by. Encouragement...the guy regularly has shoe polish numbers on his windows from the drag strip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFCUdxyZ3L0


I wet sanded the fenders, deck lid, hood, and the driver's side of the car, inside and out, with 400 grit. The fenders and deck lid need just a touch more sanding (pin holes) and it'll be ready for sealer, color and clear!

Some pictures of the sanded panels.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/finishing-body-work-v8-383-bug-4.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/finishing-body-work-v8-383-bug-5.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/finishing-body-work-v8-383-bug-6.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/finishing-body-work-v8-383-bug-7.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/finishing-body-work-v8-383-bug-8.jpg


The plan when it comes to paint is to do it in sessions so I don't wear myself out. I'll do the fenders in one session: a coat of sealer, two coats of s/s hugger orange, and two coats of clear. Then I'll let the paint cure for a few days, wet sand with 400, and then spray an over reduced coat of clear.

Next would be the deck lid and hood, cause they'll be black, same process, and then I'll do the body.

So I hope to get the fenders in paint this coming weekend. Did I mention the weather has finally gotten cooler and is perfect for painting.

70Turbobug
September 27th 2010, 12:13
Encouragement...the guy regularly has shoe polish numbers on his windows from the drag strip.


I guess your shoe polish on the window will just have to have a lower number :D

ricola
September 27th 2010, 12:34
No finer than 400? I went to 400 for filler, then 600 wet for the high build was still easy to make good progress and get a ncie smooth finish... Nearly there!

V8SuperBeetle
September 30th 2010, 14:41
No finer than 400? I went to 400 for filler, then 600 wet for the high build was still easy to make good progress and get a ncie smooth finish... Nearly there!

400 will do. From my understand 400 minimum for solid colors and 600 minimum for metallics. You don't want to go too fine or you'll have adhesion problems. I plan to wet sand the clear as well and then spray a final wet coat of clear. So it should be fine.

V8SuperBeetle
September 30th 2010, 15:01
I guess your shoe polish on the window will just have to have a lower number :D

Right! :D

V8SuperBeetle
October 2nd 2010, 17:53
Here are the results of my paint session. I did one coat of epoxy primer to seal everything and to give a uniform color to paint over. I then sprayed 2 coats of single stag hugger orange and two coats of high solids clear.

I'm pretty happy with the way everything came out, but I did get a little orange peel in some areas, some trash, some solvent pop going on, and a couple of mess ups.

I laid the paint on a little too thick and have some sags and solvent pop going on as mentioned. I do and have planed to sand the panels with 400-600 grit to take care of any orange peel and then spray a wet / over reduced coat so it'll be pretty glassy. Sanding the paint will remove the imperfections.

All in all, it came out decent.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-383-summit-hugger-orange-1.jpg


You can see a little bit of the solvent pop. I laid the paint on a little too thick. That's okay, nothing that can't be fixed with a little cutting.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-383-summit-hugger-orange-2.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-383-summit-hugger-orange-3.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-383-summit-hugger-orange-4.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-383-summit-hugger-orange-5.jpg


Gotta fix this. ::) It wasn't the best idea the way I hung the fenders with the plastic and all. No biggie. The fender beading will cover most of it, but I still plan to fix it right with a little rubbing and some touch up spraying.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-383-summit-hugger-orange-6.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-383-summit-hugger-orange-7.jpg


A little more solvent pop. Tis cool. Will be fixed.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-383-summit-hugger-orange-8.jpg


I also did a little video so you could better see the results.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEPALNDafsI

70Turbobug
October 3rd 2010, 04:04
Looks good! All that is nothing sanding and polishing won´t fix..

V8SuperBeetle
October 4th 2010, 11:53
Thanks! I'm going to sand with 400 - 600 and then spray an over reduced wet coat of clear. It'll come out looking like glass, for the most part.

V8SuperBeetle
October 12th 2010, 11:11
Got a few things done over the weekend.

I finished sanding the solvent pop out of the fenders. I broke through the clear in a few places on each fender. So I'm going to have to put another coat of orange and two more coats of clear. I also let them sit out in the sun for a full day so they could vent all the solvents out.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-383-summit-racing-black-0.jpg


I also sanded on the hood and deck lid a little more and then painted them black. I laid down a coat of sealer and a couple coats of black giving plenty of time between each coat so there's no solvent pop issues. I did however manage to get a run at the nose of the hood and a couple small spots on the deck lid. So I didn't move onto clear. I tend to spray my coats on a little too heavy. I just need to dial back the material a little.

I'm going to sand out the runs and the little bit of orange peel and trash in the paint, then follow up with another coat of black and 2 coats of clear. Other than the runs, it was coming out pretty nice. I couldn't be happier with how the body work came out.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-383-summit-racing-black-1.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-383-summit-racing-black-2.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-383-summit-racing-black-3.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/v8-bug-383-summit-racing-black-4.jpg


Here's a quick video of how the hood and deck lid look.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ax4fGf0F9o

70Turbobug
October 14th 2010, 12:01
Great job!! Looks fantastic!

V8SuperBeetle
October 14th 2010, 16:24
Thanks! It's getting there.

V8SuperBeetle
October 18th 2010, 10:02
I got some spraying done this weekend. I finished sanding the runs out of the black. I put down two more coats of black and followed up with two coats of clear. It came out pretty well, but I had a bug crash land in my paint, a run on the deck lid, and the usual dust. No problem though. As planned, once the paint cures I'll sand out the imperfections with 600 grit and lay a final wet coat of clear.

I recorded my spraying sessions, well I forgot to record the first one.

Second coat of black.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHilV2q-AjQ


First coat of clear.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQTyLxWOZXg


Second coat of clear. My creeper tried to sabotage the paint on my deck lid. LOL. I laid the second coat of clear on wet so I will have some material to sand.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lc_E-Yhe6XY


Here are the results.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yJwi8sXkvY


I should have the hood and deck lid sanded before the end of the week. Maybe I'll get it done before the weekend so I'll have time to work on the fenders some more.

70Turbobug
October 20th 2010, 05:19
I think it came out excellent especially considering where you painted the car.You´ll never get it 100% if your not in a steril envoronment.Even in paint booths you´ll have some dust or dirt specs.I wouldn´t try to put another coat on,honestly.I would see if that can polished out.If you spray again,you´ll risk more contamination.Just my opinion - I don´t think it will get any better,that´s as near to perfect as your gonna get painting in a garage.

V8SuperBeetle
October 22nd 2010, 11:01
I think it came out excellent especially considering where you painted the car.You´ll never get it 100% if your not in a steril envoronment.Even in paint booths you´ll have some dust or dirt specs.I wouldn´t try to put another coat on,honestly.I would see if that can polished out.If you spray again,you´ll risk more contamination.Just my opinion - I don´t think it will get any better,that´s as near to perfect as your gonna get painting in a garage.

Thanks, Turbo. It too think it came out pretty good for spraying in my garage, minus a couple things. However, I'm going to sand out the urethane wave, dust and bug, and I'll lay one more wet coat. It should come out somewhere between looking like a factory finish and a cut and buffed paint job. This is how I will paint the entire car. I really don't plan on cutting and buffing cause $ is tight right now and I don't have the equipment to do so. If I can get the finish to look like that minus runs, bugs and whatnot, I'll be happy. I noticed when I laid the first coat, there was minimal dust and it was nice and flat. After 4 coats, dust gets kicked into the paint and urethane wave appears. So doing the extra coat of clear should yield better results.

V8SuperBeetle
October 22nd 2010, 11:28
I think it came out excellent especially considering where you painted the car.You´ll never get it 100% if your not in a steril envoronment.Even in paint booths you´ll have some dust or dirt specs.I wouldn´t try to put another coat on,honestly.I would see if that can polished out.If you spray again,you´ll risk more contamination.Just my opinion - I don´t think it will get any better,that´s as near to perfect as your gonna get painting in a garage.

Thanks, Turbo. It too think it came out pretty good for spraying in my garage, minus a couple things. However, I'm going to sand out the urethane wave, dust and bug, and I'll lay one more wet coat. It should come out somewhere between looking like a factory finish and a cut and buffed paint job. This is how I will paint the entire car. I really don't plan on cutting and buffing cause $ is tight right now and I don't have the equipment to do so. If I can get the finish to look like that minus runs, bugs and whatnot, I'll be happy. I noticed when I laid the first coat, there was minimal dust and it was nice and flat. After 4 coats, dust gets kicked into the paint and urethane wave appears. So doing the extra coat of clear should yield better results.

70Turbobug
October 24th 2010, 07:22
If you continue to be so tidious it should come out real good :D

V8SuperBeetle
October 25th 2010, 12:11
Double Post...

V8SuperBeetle
October 25th 2010, 12:19
If you continue to be so tidious it should come out real good :D

I agree... ;)


I finished the deck lid and the hood. I sprayed a final flow coat after sanding with some 600 grit. It came out almost as nice looking as a cut and buffed paint job. I'm very happy with the results. A couple dust nibs here and there, but what can you expect in a garage. ;D

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/black-v8-383-bug-1.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/black-v8-383-bug-3.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/black-v8-383-bug-2.jpg


I also resprayed the fenders. I finally figured out what I was doing wrong that I was getting solvent pop. I was just hosing too much paint on. They came out much better. Heck, I could leave them as is, but I'm going to wet sand out the texture and do a flow coat.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/hugger-orange-v8-383-bug-1.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/hugger-orange-v8-383-bug-2.jpg


I also recorded some video of me spraying and the results. They're currently uploading so I'll post those soon.

70Turbobug
October 27th 2010, 09:46
Looks great! One question...what is cut and buffed? Buffed I understand,but was is cutting in relation to a paint job?

V8SuperBeetle
October 27th 2010, 10:44
Looks great! One question...what is cut and buffed? Buffed I understand,but was is cutting in relation to a paint job?

Thanks! Cut means to sand with 1200 - 2000 sand paper. This is done to remove the orange peel or urethane wave out of a paint job so the paint is flat like a mirror.

70Turbobug
October 27th 2010, 11:54
Ahhh ok - thanks.I was thinking more along the lines of stretching the clear coat or paint and then spray it on then buffing it.When I was in high school we did a project on the shop teachers Willys Jeep where we sanded the clear coat with 1200 and worked our way to 2000 between clear coats to get a deep effect on the paint.Black paint seemed bottomless deep.I´m not a painter though...I was one of the lucky guys that got to sand between the clear coats.....after that,I decided to stick to engines :D

V8SuperBeetle
October 28th 2010, 09:59
Sanding can be no fun, but it's well worth the work in the long run. That sounds like some really fine grit to be applying another coat of clear. I wonder if he had adhesion problems with the addition coat. I only used 400 and 600. :D

V8SuperBeetle
November 1st 2010, 13:17
Quick update.

I tore down part of my engine (headers, wires, carb, throttle linkage, dist, alt., etc), so I can paint the engine bay, and I repainted the engine. It had gotten a little nasty looking since having broke the engine in having head a little leak here and there. Looks like new again.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/10-30-v8-s10-bug-1.jpg


I also repainted the headers. Last time i didn't follow the instructions so the paint flaked off. This time I followed them and baked the ceramic paint on @ 300º for 2 hours. Boy did that stuff stink up the house.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/10-30-v8-s10-bug-2.jpg


I sprayed the "final" flow coat this weekend but ran into problems. My paint gun was acting up in middle of spraying the first fender so I had to quickly switch to my other paint gun. Well that through me off and it wasn't all that clean. So I managed to get a couple noticeable runs and I have a lot of dust in my paint as well. Needless to say, I'll have to sand them back down, fix the problem with my gun (which I figured out this morning) and repaint. Two steps forward, one step back.

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/10-30-v8-s10-bug-3.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/10-30-v8-s10-bug-4.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/10-30-v8-s10-bug-5.jpg

http://www.mikeydesigns.com/bug/10-30-v8-s10-bug-6.jpg


Ughh...if it aint one thing, it's another. It'll get there though, just not quickly. I'm just being picky. My wife says they look good for being painted in a garage, I think I can make it better though.

70Turbobug
November 2nd 2010, 04:25
Keep at it until your satisfied.Nothing will annoy you more than doing something you think is half ass...;) What mods have been done to the engine? I see underdrive pulleys..

V8SuperBeetle
November 3rd 2010, 10:40
Keep at it until your satisfied.Nothing will annoy you more than doing something you think is half ass...;) What mods have been done to the engine? I see underdrive pulleys..

I agree, it would bug me every time I looked at the car.

Mods are:

350 w/ 3.75" stroker crank for a total of 383 ci.
Vortec cylinder heads w/ upgrade Lunati valvles springs.
CR of 10.39:1 / DCR of 8.69 - I may need to run 98 octane. We have 93 here at the pump.
Isky cam .450/.450 lift, 278/278 duration, 234/234 @ .050, 106 LSA, installed 4º advanced
high rise RPM intake
750 carb
headman shorty headers
2.25" dual exhaust to 40 series FlowMaster Mufflers


I had a desktop dyno ran with head flow factored by 95% (5% less than the factory published numbers). Normally they've been 5-10% accurate with the software used. Figures are...

438 hp @5500, 410 ft/lbs @2000 and 469 ft/lbs @4000.

She's a real torque monster. One of these days I'll get it to the track and see how it does in the 1/4 mile. My gearing isn't the best for 1/4 though cause I have 3.08 gears. I could use 3.73 or 4.10 for best 1/4 mile time, but I don't want the drivability to suffer for .5 seconds at the track. :)