VW Drag Beetle

[89audiQT]

Hey all.

Aiming for a full-on drag beetle here. Based on Tamiya's 1966 Beetle. I was originally going to start with a German Look built after my own late model bug with a TIV engine, but issues are keeping me from moving on with it.

In the mean time, i've begun hacking this poor thing up. So far, i've only removed the apron (for fast engine changes) and shaved off all the molding. Also, i've cleaned up the flash/molding lines, standard affair.





I'll get some more done this evening and post up the rear spoiler and engine cover.

[89audiQT]

A little bit added before the rear fenders come off for widening. Spent a little time with the holometer, protractor, and graph paper to create a spoiler. Used my refs of the Ron Lummus Racing spoiler for the inspiration, though it's slightly different.

I know it's not straight. It's just a crude mock-up for placement, shape and size purposes, but it looks decent enough I might as well use it. Mainly because it took me almost 3 hours to make, haha.

Anyways, here's the shots. Enjoy.

[white97ex]

looking good

[89audiQT]

Thanks white97ex

Here's another small update (although it seemed to take forever.) Fenders are off and the general placement is about where I want them. I'm gonna have to find some wheels and tires to fit in there and check the width, but I think it's gonna be really close.

Here ya go.

[Ferrari TR]

Very clean work.
I think the center section of the wing needs to be more '3-d', though I'm not sure what and where...

[deedlit]

I need to check this section more often, If you didn't tell me about this thread I would have missed it.

That's the kind of project I like . Do you already have an idea of the exterior look? Like Berg's latest drag or something completely invented?

Good job so far

PS: did you see my drag bug? -> see sig. It's not as detailed as yours will be but I tried to do my best

[89audiQT]

Ferrari TR - Thanks. The spoiler will be fixed up as necessary in the near future. See below for references i'm using.

Originally Posted by deedlit

I need to check this section more often, If you didn't tell me about this thread I would have missed it.

That's the kind of project I like . Do you already have an idea of the exterior look? Like Berg's latest drag or something completely invented?

Good job so far

PS: did you see my drag bug? -> see sig. It's not as detailed as yours will be but I tried to do my best

Yeah, I saw it before. Partly the reason i'm doing this one now. There just aren't too many people doing much with these kits but baja or cal-look.

This is what i'm using as a general guideline, but it'll still have some of my own ideas in there -

[89audiQT]

WARNING - Lots Of Pictures

A little bit of an update. Been a slow day due to the over abundance of sleep.

Placed my little fender extenders, measured about 2 hundred million times, then trimmed, as to get a perfect (to scale) 3" wider fender placement. I've opted to putty in the whole thing (overdoing it considerably) to give a slightly larger "hump" near the body, making the wheel wells and fenders look larger from the outside. Then i'll contour it, shapen it up, and run some carpet thread down the side of the body to get some spacing in there for beading.

Enough blathering, included is a picture with the proposed Goodyear Drag slicks. May go with something a little more subtle, but i'm playing it by ear.









Special Note - I rolled the fenders back ever so slightly, in person, it looks better than the original placement. More aerodynamic.

[Wheelin75r]

Howly!
I feel an awesome project commin' up here!!

[bhop73]

Man.. that turbo on your reference pic is huge! I love it...

[deedlit]

Can't wait to see the final result

[89audiQT]

Thanks again for the kinda words guys.

Unfortunately, the build is going to be stretched on even longer. Depending on how you look at it, a good or bad thing happened wednesday night.

I received 2 crates of engine goodies. My #GB engine case (Porsche 914), my new teflon coated 96mm J&E pistons, and damn near everything I needed to finish my 2.3L big block came in. So, rather than build a "free" model engine, i've been working on a 1:1 engine for my bug. This one's nearing (jeez, almost $8200) completion and just about ready to be dyno'd and stuffed into my car.

Anyways, the model engine has the following done on it (sorry, no pics yet):

- Shaved fresh air vents from fan shroud (no heater boxes on this bad boy!)

- Filled and re-drilled crankshaft pulley hole on the case (looked like crap, not round, and off center)

- Painted case. Now, I had some problems finding a decent paint to get the correct "magnesium" tone (Alclad, Model Master, etc just didn't cut it). What I ended up using, was a mixture of Model Master (2:1) Anthracite Gray Metallic and Aluminum (or aluminium for the others.) Good tone, just needed a slight bit of sanding with dry 1000g to remove a little of the sheen left by the aluminum.

- Cut pulleys away from the belt. Gave the pulleys some depth with styrene circles. Made a belt out of tamiya masking tape.

- Scratch built deep sump oil pan with styrene sheet ( .040 metal siding) and a couple pieces of .015 sheet for thickness. This also eliminates the cooling tin for the bottom part of the cylinders (the part you can see)

- Cast a mold of the cylinders, since one side is nothing but cooling tin, and the other has 'some' detail to it. I don't care for it much, so i'll sandwhich the resin and regular cylinders/heads together for some depth. Eliminating the cooling tin (top of the cylinders.)

- Scratchbuilt turbo manifold. unfortunately, I have no turbo or carb to put on for sizing and mock-up purposes. Still trying to source these.

The engine still isn't assembled, but as soon as it is, i'll get some pics and post 'em up.

Thanks again guys.

[89audiQT]

Long time no update. Having gotten the Type IV engine shoved into my '73 and getting to put in the tail shift 5-speed, i've been a little pre-occupied smoking everything I can find around town.

Anywho, this weekend's been slow and i'm waiting on parts, so i've managed to get some more work done.

If you have a Tamiya 1300 Beetle, then you'll know the back seat, firewall, part of the engine compartment and rear engine tin are all one piece. Totally unacceptable. Took me nearly 4 hours of planning and cutting, but I manged to ditch the rear seat bottom and luggage shelf. This way, there will be room to move the tranny up or down as necessary to compensate for my tire choice for the rears.





I plan to add some styrene in there tonight.



Fun stuff. Now, Here are the tires and wheels I have on hand, but I don't think they're gonna work. Goodyear drag radials and matching skinnys up front.





Here's the original kit box fan shroud with the fresh air outlets lobbed off. Detailing courtesy of my clumsiness. Now it looks to be a little worn and well used, a little "oil" here and there.



Now i'm getting around to working on getting the doors off, and fitting, bending, and assembling the roll cage before the end of tomorrow.

Hope you like. More to follow tomorrow. Maybe a little later, actually.

Quick note : The engine will be the LAST thing to be built. I'm in a toss up between a built big block or a large turbo'd engine.

[deedlit]

Good to see you back on this project

I understand that your new engine must be cool to ride, I'd like to try one like this. How many HP?

[89audiQT]

Thanks deedlit. I'm gonna try and get this thing done in a month, but it's a long shot.

The new Type IV? It's amazing. It made 236 hp at the crank to start with. After some timing, carb jetting and a few other adjustments, it topped out at 247 @ 6200 rpm.

Pretty insane to drive a car with that much power ALWAYS available. My last (now my spare) engine was an 1835 Turbo. That was also pretty cool and made about the same amount of power, but this is totally different. Now that the cam's well broken in and the rings are seated, i'm gonna hit the chassis dyno for some more tuning. Running 11.5:1 and Berg 52mm IDAs. Too much fun.