TheSamba.com :: View topic - Ok so here's MY Bug Too!!!!!!! 1958 Ragtop

Tue Aug 26, 2008 6:53 pm

Some of you my have seen this car here for sale but I am the dope who bought it LOL :D It came from West Chester Illinois. I had it shipped to California :D Since I received it I have removed the 40hp engine and 63 trans axle drum to drum. I wont bore you too much with all the prep work but I left it 95% finished, 5% being the rust the PO neglected to talk about. I sent the transaxle to Rancho Performance for a drum to drum rebuild. I had Jansen Enterprise build me a 1641cc motor stock, for economy purposes of course. I installed it all with a little help here and there... Well here's where she sits all thats left is for me to do is to rebuild my new front beam and put it on my 5 spoke chrome empi's. After that is the daunting task of getting her repainted back to the original color and interior and yeah lots of nic nacs.. along the way too. enjoy the pics I hope.......

Tue Aug 26, 2008 6:56 pm

The old engine

Phase 1 :lol:

Bug in driveway before rebuild...

More pics to come and yes lots of more questions along the way. thanks everyone hope you enjoy...........

Tue Aug 26, 2008 9:13 pm

Nice bug, were did you buy the fire wall material from, and how much if you don't mind?

Tue Aug 26, 2008 9:29 pm

Ditto on what bugthug said

*Edit: West Coast Metric sells a set, is that where they came from?

Tue Aug 26, 2008 9:58 pm

what type of timeing wheels are those.

Tue Aug 26, 2008 10:23 pm

Thats a serpentine belt setup, very nice.

Tue Aug 26, 2008 11:15 pm

For the price of those cant you just make some on a lathe.

Wed Aug 27, 2008 12:01 am

looks like a pretty nice car. If you dont mind me asking what did u give for it? Anyway you have to expect some rust. It did come from illinois. Ride looks sweet to me, i wouldnt complain, unless the guy told you it was a full restore and it was just done like 6 months ago.

Wed Aug 27, 2008 6:51 am

Ok so first off i doubled up my firewall tar board. I used the original type tar board first then i used what you can see in the pics now don't laugh but it came from JC Whitney. I purchased this the set for looks only for it is not as thick as real tar board and used the two layers for more sound proofing. It looks great and worked extremely well also. At first I was pissed at the material I was sent and ordered the real tarboard but after much consideration I used both and I love it. The serpentine pully set is from BMD Pulleys. I had used a Scat serpentine set up first and it was the shits. The idler pulley rubbed and never worked properly. So I returned it and used the Santana style BMD pulley. The car was in great shape when I payed out my ass for it but considering the year the ragtop and it still being 6 volt and in really good condition i payed for it. Hard to put a price on these cars if you ask me, but if your like VW's then money is just money. $6500 and $700 to ship to California. Still this deal was $4000 less than anything I found in California in the same condition more or less. I believed it to be a bargain price. Most people around here wanted $9000 for what I was looking for or more and the cars still had no interior headliner ect... i will post more pics today.

Wed Aug 27, 2008 8:18 am

tylergeddis wrote: For the price of those cant you just make some on a lathe.

Sure, just start with $250 worth of materials, then stand in front of the lathe for about 12 hours and burn up another $100 in tooling. make a mistake and start all over again. Then try fitting your finished product only to find it dosn't fit or line up well. Spend another 40 hours fiddeling with it to make it work. Then send it out to get it anodized.

Yep, you could make that.

Or just order one already made for $180 and bolt it on.

Wed Aug 27, 2008 8:35 am

Love the bug. Real clean looking engine compartment. Hate the fuel filter though. I'd move it to the other side of that real nice looking firewall.

Wed Aug 27, 2008 9:31 am

Apologies for hijacking this thread, but what is the advantage of the serpentine set up? Haven't seen it before so was just curious. BTW, sweet ride.

Wed Aug 27, 2008 9:57 am

sweet lookin ride ! 8)

Wed Aug 27, 2008 2:13 pm

Sweet 58!!

Wed Aug 27, 2008 2:20 pm

Jon Czech wrote: Apologies for hijacking this thread, but what is the advantage of the serpentine set up? Haven't seen it before so was just curious. BTW, sweet ride.

You can use any available length belt in an emergency. It's also easier & quicker to change out the fan belt and dial in the exact deflection you're looking for.

Wed Aug 27, 2008 2:24 pm

drscope wrote: tylergeddis wrote: For the price of those cant you just make some on a lathe.

Sure, just start with $250 worth of materials, then stand in front of the lathe for about 12 hours and burn up another $100 in tooling. make a mistake and start all over again. Then try fitting your finished product only to find it dosn't fit or line up well. Spend another 40 hours fiddeling with it to make it work. Then send it out to get it anodized.

Yep, you could make that.

Since your machining your own pulley system, can you hook me up with a BRM style crank pulley.

Wed Aug 27, 2008 2:31 pm

RareAir wrote: drscope wrote: tylergeddis wrote: For the price of those cant you just make some on a lathe.

Sure, just start with $250 worth of materials, then stand in front of the lathe for about 12 hours and burn up another $100 in tooling. make a mistake and start all over again. Then try fitting your finished product only to find it dosn't fit or line up well. Spend another 40 hours fiddeling with it to make it work. Then send it out to get it anodized.

Yep, you could make that.

Since your machining your own pulley system, can you hook me up with a BRM style crank pulley.

That looks Sweet! I'll take a BRM pulley too.

Wed Aug 27, 2008 2:31 pm

:shock: DRooooooolllllll!! :shock: That's pure sex right there.

Nice rag man, looks like she / he's in great shape. How many miles on it?

Wed Aug 27, 2008 2:59 pm

AlohaVWfan wrote: RareAir wrote: drscope wrote: tylergeddis wrote: For the price of those cant you just make some on a lathe.

Sure, just start with $250 worth of materials, then stand in front of the lathe for about 12 hours and burn up another $100 in tooling. make a mistake and start all over again. Then try fitting your finished product only to find it dosn't fit or line up well. Spend another 40 hours fiddeling with it to make it work. Then send it out to get it anodized.

Yep, you could make that.

Since your machining your own pulley system, can you hook me up with a BRM style crank pulley.

That looks Sweet! I'll take a BRM pulley too.

Hey Tylergeddis, put me down for a BRM pulley too. I wanted to buy one a while ago, but Gene Berg Enterprises charges over $300 for one. :shock: How much awill you be charging people to make these pulleys?

Wed Aug 27, 2008 3:07 pm

LMAO!!!! I guess I am a little tired, but couldn't stop laughing at "guy in engine compartment" That is a true sense of motor oil in the veins. LOVE THE BUG!!!!!