noncompusmentis
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posted on 16/2/09 at 10:36 PM |
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Hello! New here... just planning on building a car!
Hey,
Just found the forum...
I while ago, I bought the haynes "how to build book" and kinda planned to build a car, but it never happened.
But, I've just acquired a donor car. My girlfriends beetle (70's) has some serious bodged repairs to the body work, and its not worth
trying to fix it. We were gonna scrap the lot, but after a bit of giddy discussion with a mate of mine, we've decided to build a Locost and use
the bug as a base.
Has anyone ever used a bug as a donor?
I've done a bit of working out, and I reckon that I can utilise most of the floor pan as a base, providing the gearbox and engine support and
rear suspension. I'll just have to cut off the frame head and fabricate some front suspension, or shorten the floor pan to use the bug
suspension.
Should be an interesting project! ![](/images//smilies/bigsmile.gif) ![](/images//smilies/shocked.gif)
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ReMan
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posted on 16/2/09 at 10:48 PM |
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Hi and welcome
You can do whatever you like, but the relevance to the book and what you describe are poles apart and you won't end up with a quick super
handling car.
As long as you know what you want if a beach buggy fits the bill that's cool.
You'll get plenty of help here, just make sure you have the right focus ![](/images//smilies/smile.gif)
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DarrenW
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posted on 16/2/09 at 10:55 PM |
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You want to build a car!!!!!!!![](/images//smilies/shocked.gif)
Are you nuts?
Who in their right mind would want to do such a thing?????????
Welcome to the madhouse. You are in the right place, although your initial brief may need some calibration to result in a more performance orientated
machine.
Are you related to Lord Whippy?
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Miks15
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posted on 16/2/09 at 11:00 PM |
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when you think about it, if you build a book or haynes chassis then stick a big engine out the back, your going to have a big empty space up front
with no weight whatsover where the engine used to be. Youll be sat fairly far back so not barely any weight over the front wheels which could lead to
interesting handling.
I would think either build a beach buggy (very cool but not exactly fast but u wont get much speed from your beetle engine anyway) or get a different
donor and build a more conventional locost.
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caber
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posted on 16/2/09 at 11:07 PM |
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There a a load of projects possible with a beetle as a donor, unfortunately a Locost or other 7 like cars are not really among them. You could have a
look at beech buggies, Porsche 356 look alikes or even some really dumb attempts to turn your beetle into a lambo or ferrari! If you want a 7 then
flog the beetle to someone who wants to do something with it and spend the money on a scrap sierra or something else with the engine at the front and
the drive at the back. If you can't find a sierra just keep looking around for bits. I built mine from stuff I got from people on this site and
scrappies.
It is good fun to build a car and good luck with whatever project you choose to do.
Caber![](/images//smilies/wink.gif)
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kj
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posted on 17/2/09 at 07:59 AM |
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Welcome, if you take a look at this months P.P.C mag some students have made a 7 inspired car and that has it engine in the rear with a short from end
but it looks in propotion.
![](/images//smilies/smile.gif)
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Mr Whippy
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posted on 17/2/09 at 08:35 AM |
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Welcome
Don’t listen to the detractors, sounds a cool project, mind though you can easily turn the bug setup 180degs round so the engine is in front of the
gearbox by flipping the differential main cog over. Few people actually have any experience of vw aircooled running gear and fail to appreciate how
light and effective they can be. I've a GP beach buggy 1600 and its no slouch. May not have the quite the same power to weight as a BEC but
it'll run forever, has loads of torque and comes with a reverse
How about building a formula vee? very simple but tremendous fun
At around 60-70 bhp for a mild 1600 & in 300kg car that's about 230bhp/ton!
Makes a 7 look bloated
You can swap the steel front torsion tubes for aluminium to save quite a bit of weight and use a small fiat rack instead of the beetles steering
box
[Edited on 17/2/09 by Mr Whippy]
Fame is when your old car is plastered all over the internet
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trextr7monkey
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posted on 17/2/09 at 01:03 PM |
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If you wanthte beetle to come to a happy end [or new beginning ]check out these guys and their radical creations an absolute hoot!
http://sandrcars.freeservers.com/page9.html
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14016102@N00/ (cut and paste this dodgey link)
Our most recent pics are here:
http://s129.photobucket.com/albums/p211/trextr7monkey/
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noncompusmentis
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posted on 17/2/09 at 08:48 PM |
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quote: Originally posted by Miks15
when you think about it, if you build a book or haynes chassis then stick a big engine out the back, your going to have a big empty space up front
with no weight whatsover where the engine used to be. Youll be sat fairly far back so not barely any weight over the front wheels which could lead to
interesting handling.
I would think either build a beach buggy (very cool but not exactly fast but u wont get much speed from your beetle engine anyway) or get a different
donor and build a more conventional locost.
Nah, I don't want a beach buggy (I'd have to buy a shell, big tyres and long travel suspension!). I wanna build something that is a little
out of the norm. The reason behind the beetle being a base is because I have pretty much everything I need. The beetle as it stands is worth nothing.
I couldn't sell it, most of the car has already been parted out. I want to build something without much outlay... I'm currently VERY quiet
with work, so have no money to buy donor cars etc.
I already know the VW Beetle inside out, I've owned them for quite a few years, and I'm on the committee for the VW Owners Club of Great
Britain! I don't wanna start buying into another car marque and learning how a different car is put together.
As for getting much speed out of a bug engine... The engine I have will be plenty powerful enough (tuned 1600 (for now) with twin carbs)... I just
need to juggle a couple of gearboxes to get the right ratios for a light car.
I've thought about running a mid engine setup, but that would put the driving position further forward. It would also mean that I couldn't
use the chassis backbone, rear suspension and gearbox/engine mount (in an attempt to keep the vehicle ID and avoid a Q plate).
I know that the front end will be light, thats something that I'm gonna play with and investigate, but I already know that fuel tank and battery
will be going up front. I might have to look at aerodynamics at the front to try keep the nose down at speed.
Top and bottom of it, I just wanna build something different! ![](/images//smilies/bigsmile.gif)
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MkII
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posted on 17/2/09 at 09:48 PM |
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good on ya mate. if u want to build something a bit different go for it. it sounds like you've already thought about some of the challenges of
using a beetle of doner.have a look at the sylva mojo and riot they are both rear engined sevenish styled cars. m.
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Mr Whippy
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posted on 18/2/09 at 08:09 AM |
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ok if you inist on using the floorpan how about getting hold of a Sterling nova body
linky
One of my friends had one, nice car though the windscreen comes very close to your face
Fame is when your old car is plastered all over the internet
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