Repro Kubelwagen

[drscope]

Thought your photo needed a little alteration to look more period correct.

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Mother Nature is a Mean Evil Bitch!

[vintagemx0]

Hello Mike VL,

Greetings from Oregon.

It's nice to hear another kubelwagen is going to be born. I am always willing to help where I can, but please keep in mind that my car is a single one-off and any details are not necessarily "correct".
A 1958 chassis is a good choice because the front end is link pin. You will need reduction gears for the rear end. If you can find some old barn door ones, they will just bolt on.

The doors are plain 1mm sheet steel. I made a tool to press the ribs into the steel. It is explained early in my postings.

Best wishes to you. Take your time and have fun with it.

Regards,

Ken
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Where ever you go, there you are.

[vintagemx0]

Nice touch dr scope.....
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Where ever you go, there you are.

[DONGKG]

The last time I read this thread was on Oct 04, 2008 when i posted my comment on the use of road bike's speedometer (last post, page 13 hereof), and reading this thread now practically gives me this ghost pimples ptactically enveloping my entire skin and so much fun and inspiration. I have been thinking of building by own kubelwagen replica and I'd like to folllow the way you did it and I know I may not be able to replicate the extreme details and quality you poured on your Kubelwagen.

Nevertheless, your kubelwagen turned out to be awesome that it gets a higher pedestal in the realm and arena of vw reproduction side of our hobby. Practially, it deserves praises! Well, what can I say.... I am stunned!

How did you get the dimentions and other intricate details of the kubelwagen? Is it available on line? Or you have an actual Kubelwagen to get the measurements of the panels and other unseen portions of the kubelwagen? I hope I can get them too for my future project.

Thanks for sharing your fabulous work! Job well done!

Thanks,
'
Dong
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'67 KG Cabrio (Mickey) ;
'66 Type 3 (Sharky 2)
'72 Type 2 Homey
'67 Splitty Bus
'65 beetle;'69 Country Buggy; '44 Kubelwagen (replica) TOOB MEMBER #20

[Mike Sal]

This has been a great thread to read thru. Was there any updates regarding where to source 16 inch wheels? I have a kooble kar & would like to swap out the 15 inch smoothies (w/ 7.00x15 mud grips) for the correct tires & wheels. I've not had too much luck so far.
thanks,
Mike S

[Jacks]

Don't they have those 16" wheels at Concept-1 in Canada?
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Jack Staggs
Actual name

[Mike Sal]

Concept 1 has the parts advertised.....inner hubs & outer rims. For a set of 5 the cost for the parts is $1600 U.S. (w/o shipping). I had sent them an email, asking if they had assembled wheels, but have not gotten a reply. I'm not too crazy about buying parts & then having to find somebody that can weld them together straight & true.

At this rate, I'm like vintage in that between importing tires and the price of the wheels, I dont' know if I'll ever get the right tires on the kooble kar.

I'll be seeing Dave Crompton in a week or so & will pick his brains on options. I thought by now somebody would have come up with a better priced solution for this need for 16 inch wheels.

[vintagemx0]

Hi Dong,
I'm sorry for the late response. Thanks for the comments. You are correct, I had access to a real kubel for measurements. I no longer have those notes, but I can tell you that I did spend about a year studying photographs of kubel rebuild projects to learn more about the stuff you normally cannot see. Also, I requested a catalog from Ivo in Czech a republic and happily learned that every part he reproduces was displayed as a photograph in his catalogue which helped with understanding the shapes of certain parts.

Also, I purchased a scale plastic model and measured some of the parts and simply multiplied the measurements by the scale of model. This proved to be pretty accurate.

My advice is study as much kubel as possible and practice "building" in your head for a while. It will prove to help when you dive in.

Best wishes with your build. Have fun and share!

Regards,

Ken
Oregon
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Where ever you go, there you are.

[DONGKG]

[DONGKG]

[sergiohdcastro]

Hi, I'm new in this forum. I live in Brazil and, like Mexico, we have plenty of Beetles (called "Fuscas" here) circulating in our roads. I would like to biult my Kubelwagen replica from a Beetle chassis, and I need a detailed blueprint from Kube to begin a 3D concept in computer. Can you people help me to find these information? Pictures from Google are not defined to se measures.

[vintagemx0]

Since the kubel project, I took on another steel fabrication -based hobby. My latest creation is befitting of a kubel...

It's been a while since I've been on here. I still have the car and drive her around, although less frequently. She runs fine, but I somehow find myself with less time these days or else just don't even consider taking her to work in the morning. Maybe I'm just getting old...


I hope everyone is doing well. Best!...

-Ken
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Where ever you go, there you are.

[Rick Christensen]

Ken - what's the new project and and photos to share? Always impressive to see your work.

PS - My '43 Kubel is for sale. You can see it here on The Samba.
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Rick Christensen
Beaverton, Oregon
'65 Notch, '66 Type 34, '68 T-34 sunroof (3rd owner), '88 Doka Syncro, '90 Golf Country, '70 280 SL (second owner), 72 Ford F-100 (original owner), ‘72 280 SEL
'65 Vespa VBB
'48 Aeronca Sedan 4 passenger airplane

[vintagemx0]

Rick,

It's hanging from the side mirror..

Yes, I saw your car at Larry's store last weekend.

-Ken
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Where ever you go, there you are.

[Rick Christensen]

As usual - simply amazing. It never crossed my mind that you would have actually crafted the rifle. Your skills are truly impressive.
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Rick Christensen
Beaverton, Oregon
'65 Notch, '66 Type 34, '68 T-34 sunroof (3rd owner), '88 Doka Syncro, '90 Golf Country, '70 280 SL (second owner), 72 Ford F-100 (original owner), ‘72 280 SEL
'65 Vespa VBB
'48 Aeronca Sedan 4 passenger airplane

[s.e.charles]

Q: were these engines able to be crank started? or is the bracket across the rear tow hooks for a trailer hitch exclusively?

thanks

[Martin Southwell]

Kubel engines were indeed able to be started with a crank handle, or as we call them in the UK, starting handles. The bar between the hooks either side of the bodywork wasn't always present, as some hooks didn't have holes drilled through to accommodate the attachment bolts. That's another story though!

Those that did have them fitted, could, as you say, be used for attaching a towbar for pulling lighter weight trailers. In addition, a steel box unit could be used, which at its front was attached to the removable rear cross member by 4 bolts, and through which the bar went, all giving rise to rigidity and strength.

This 'unit', also had a reinforced hole through it, front to back, through which the starting handle went, and on which the handle pivoted. On the top, it had a tread plate pattern, which allowed a soldier to stand on it, which aided rear wheel traction under difficult conditions.

[s.e.charles]

thank you; very helpful.

i'm building a 1:35 scale model and this helps me with the detailing. and so many photos I have printed from the Forum!