So here we are. It started when I moved up to WA in '99. I had my '71 baja SB, but as it was built to play offroad & there's noplace to play around here, it sat more than anything.
It killed me letting it sit there, this was my first long term car (13 years), so I traded bodies with a friend in '01 & started workin on a street-only project I'd been planning in some form or another for years.
Since I'd always wanted to do something radical, I was hanging out on VolksRod.com alot. Took alot of points from different cars (many from Roadster Cliffs HighboyVW), hashed em out & came up with a plan. A two seater Volksrod coupe, solid axle front end, no front fenders, chopped windshield, & no top at all.
A photochopped basic idea:
I started out by lopping off the roof & then took the rear apron off in a manner that allows me to remove the rear apron & both rear fenders in one piece. REALY makes engine work/swaps a breeze.
Here's what I started with, a stripped out body, ready for the hard work to begin:
I removed ALL of the wiring & manufactured a completely new wiring harness with additional circuts for planned accesories. I used hi-temp teflon sheathed aircraft wiring, the wire itself is the same guage as standard wire but the insulator is MUCH thinner alowing more wires in the same size bundle. I also used a nickel plated copper weave sheathing to cover the whole thing & grounded to the chassis to help with electrical noise filtering when I get to the stereo installation.
The fuse panel is a unit from Painless wiring, also going to be using thier turn signal unit that uses push button micro-switches & allows me to use a single dual-element bulb in the tail lights.
Forward junction under dash:
http://photo.starblvd.net/Freq2002/1-3- ... 6D403340FD
Engine bay junction block:
http://photo.starblvd.net/Freq2002/1-3- ... 4C40334121
All the marker lights will be LED so heat & loading wont be an issue.
Head lights are stand alone chrome bullets with euro H4 lamps & marker bulbs inside the lense. I made a mounting bar that bolts onto the front spring mount & sets the lights out where I want them nice & solid.
The new tail lights are early 40's Chevy, at first I didn't get too fancy with mounting them (can be seen in the engine pic) since the old fenders were junk, but I have new fenders & have welded all the holes closed & welded in buckets to french the lights. They look better frenched, but there's also the fact that at the angle they sit flush, the LED lights were hard to see in daylight, this will be much safer.
The entire dash will be blackout digital. I cut out all of the internal sheetmetal & have a 1/16" thick piece of steel cut to fit & will be bolted in using stainless steel allen head bolts. Currently there's nothing on the panel at all, but I'm looking at a Nordskog unversal digital panel that will be entirely invisible when not on. Also looking at a stealth head unit for the stereo that will be frenched into the dash so as to fit flush. There are a few out there that look totaly blank but have a touch sensitve front, perfect for what I want, but we'll see. Plans change alot & I'm sure the dash will get redesigned a couple times before it's done.
I have my olllld stock 1600 motor in it now, it's my spare engine that has about 200K on it. Nothin special about it really, converted to 1-wire alternator, center mount Weber 40IDF, matched ported heads to intakes & a bit of porting on the heads. Runs a 009 dizzy with CB Performance Magna Spark HEI kit (love it, will never go back to points again). Not shown is the fact that i have just added a power pulley, & if I decide to, I'll be dropping in a new cam & some 1.25:1 rockers.
The future powerplant? Well, depends on what comes my way really. I'd prefer a nice big Type I with a turbo & EFI, but I almost got a sweet deal on a 2.0L Type IV with an automatic tranny from a 411 wagon. Traded my old H-case from my 1835 for a TIV 2.0L case, but dont think i'll go that route.
Lets just say i'm gonna put my money & effort into the bodywork for now, & keep my eyes open for the rest.
I wanted good comfortable seats since my back is a wreck, so i started combing the yards lookin for something good. Finaly found these fully adjustable jobs out of a Mazda 626. I recovered them in black naugahyde & here ya go. Unbolted the Mazda mounts, did some creative welding with the stock VW seat frames to bolt them Mazda seats in, & voila'! 626 seats on the stock VW rails.
OK, here's where the fun started. I ordered a 4-bar, spring-behind tube axle with early Ford spindles & a 70's GM disc brake kit from Speedway Motors (BTW, these guys are great, excellent customer service, Email or phone, you have a question or concern they WILL help).
$1200 & a iraite UPS man with a sore back later, I did a mockup, took measurements & comenced designing the spring mount. Helps when your dad knows people in aerospace shops, I sent him a CAD drawing of what i needed & he got the 3/8" steel parts CNC machined for free. A bit of cutting & welding later & here we have the rough beam/mount:
Had to make something for the bars to mount to the body, so I welded up these little numbers out of some bar stock & 1" square tube stock. Had to cut notches for them to fit against the body, but they are very solid & used the edge of the pan to make for a nice solid mount. Not the sexiest things, but they are temporary as I want to make them run further back on the pan & make them out of solid stock:
Here's the way the car looked as of Sept '03. The front fenderwell filler panels were still being worked out & were held on with Cleco clamps. Still havent sold on the filler idea, it's got upsides & downsides, yet another of the fluid factors in my plans. I love having no idea what I'm gonna do.
Now, pushing enough fluid to pinch these big ol GM monsters is NOT gonna happen with the stock master cylender.
So, what I did was hit up the guys in the German Look forum & came up with using a Porsche 944 M/C as it is a near direct bolt in. Just have to shorten the push rod about 1/2". Other issues with this are the reversal of the front/rear outlet ports & the absence of a place to put the brake switch, but I managed with a couple common parts.
Steering,... My oh my, what a nighmare THIS has been. I'd like to say now that this is the single hardest thing to deal with so far. Since I moved the axle so far out I cannot use the stock VW box. I looked at Vega, Corvair, Bus, R&P's,... All were too much $$. then found a racing R&P, went to put it in & discovered the throw was WAY too narrow. As luck would have it a previous plan of using a Super Beetle box was workable & I made a mount for it, modified a steering rod to adapt to the Hiem joints in the new front axle & now have a workable steering system.
As the stock bug steering column doesn't use a lower support & U-joints I opted to use something different. Something stand alone with a clean tube since I didn't want any levers or switches on the column. My search came up with this unit from a Datsun 240Z. The upper mount was easy, but the lower, well it's still in work but wont be much of a problem. As an added nifty feature & to add a security device I have a Q/D removable steering wheel as well, it all comes together nicely.
