Project "Brooklyn" 1965 Volksrod

[Jwink25]

Hello everyone! I'm Jason, and this post will document, to the best of my ability, my 1st dive into the VW realm. I bought a 1965 VW beetle a couple years back. Been wanting to build a Volksrod for awhile now and this car is in need of a complete rebuild. I'll post "wins" and "failures" a like. Oh, and it's name ...comes from and combined middle names of my daughter and wife. The two most important people in my life. So here it goes!

[Jwink25]

The car and my intial plans...
Build something "cool" and that both my wife and daughter can ride with me in...no 2 seaters here.
Build something less common.
Make it reliable (more modern drivetrain...thinking Subie swap)
Have fun doing it and include my 5 year old daughter in as much of it as possible. She loves cars!

[Jwink25]

Last year I had someone make me a 10 inch beam extension and bolted that on.

[Jwink25]

Couple weeks ago I got it out of storage and home into my garage. I removed most of what little there was left of the interior. Then started to mock up the rear disc brake set up. I'm converting from the wide 5 to VW 4 lug pattern. But....I was wanting to use some custom made wheels I had ordered 18 years ago and never used (from a 1971 240Z project). So I did a bunch if math in my head and crossed my fingers. Had some 2 inch wide adapters made I think I got the rear wheels lined out. Here's some pics of that.

[Jwink25]

Ok....frustrated. The front end is a pain in my, well...you know! I ordered 2.5 inch drop spindles, plus I decided to have weld in adjusters put in the beam. So....new front disc brake conversion, 2.5 inch drop spindles, new wheels, tires, ordered new king and Link pins. This is where the fun starts. Got most of it all torn down until I got to the actual link pin removal. Long story short...I couldn't get the link pins out. The king pins finally came out but the bushings where worn out bad and into the actual carrier (steering knuckle). So I needed to find another set. Found another set. Looks to be in great shape! But, flipping link pins were a major pain. 4 hrs of beating cussing, more beating, lots and lots more cussing...the pins came out! Also, my arms fell off...both of them. Being ambidextrous has it's advantages, but now both arms are jello. Once it gets the old carriers cleaned up, I will press the new wheel bearings and races into the disc brake hubs and put the carriers and drop spindles together and paint them. Set it down with the new wheels and admire my work. After that, when my buddy gets time, he'll weld in my adjusters. That means I'll have the disassemble the front end again and take him my beam. But I'll get good at tearing this car apart!

[Jwink25]

Sent my beam off to get the adjusters welded in. Starting to put the drop spindles and carriers together. Decided to do some painting as well. Painting some parts a "hammered copper" color.

[Jwink25]

Got the races pounded in place too on the new front disc brakes. Order a few more parts for the front end too. Hoping to have it all back together by next weekend. Then I'll pull the body off the pan and start on replacing the floors.

[Jwink25]

Beam waiting on me to pick it up. Adjusters welded in. Once I get it home tonight or tomorrow, I'll clean it up some more and paint it.

[Jwink25]

Got the front end mocked up and was able to sit the car down on the new lowered beam...

[Jwink25]

Painted the beam a "hammered black" some of the steering components are a "hammered copper" and the calipers are a gloss red. Some of the visible hardware (bolts and washers) will be replaced with stainless steel. I still gotta figure out how the set up the front end properly, like the steering geometry is off a bit.

The current ground clearance under the front beam is 3 ⁵/8 inches. I'll lower the back after the Subaru engine and trans get bolted in.

Next step I think I'll start pulling the body off the pan to get the all new floor pans welded in.

[Jwink25]

So to date, the front end has:
10 inch beam extension with a built in 2.5 inch drop
Beam has welded in adjusters
New king pins and carrier pins bushing ect...
Front disc brake conversion
2.5 inch drop spindles
New shocks
All new tie rods and ends
New steering stabilizer shock

[Jwink25]

Here's some more pics...

[V8Nate]

Looking pretty sweet, you plan on chopping the top on that thing?