doorpz
Samba Member
Joined: May 28, 2003
Posts: 219
Location: novato, ca
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 Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2006 12:13 am Post subject: my 74 bug build with pics (long) |
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I've been hanging around now for a few years learning what I can, storing up information and I thought I'd post some progress pics on my build.
I bought my 1974 Standard Beetle back in 2003 for $2500. My dad found it for me in Kansas and my little brother drove it up to me Idaho, where I'm stationed in the Air Force. The previous owner had done a semi restoration on it but the quality wasn't all that great. The body is in pretty good shape but there are a few rust spots in the wheelwells and the engine bay. The motor was a stock 1600 that seemed to run well at first. After a couple months though I began losing power and overheating and after some troubleshooting and an eventual motor tear down it turned out the #3 piston had melted down. At the time I was still learning the basics of the ACVW engine so I was hesitant to build a motor myself so I had a local bug shop build me a motor. I wanted to go with a mild bigger motor at the time so they suggested a 2026 (73x94) with an engle 110, stock heads, weber 44's, and a bugpack collector with j-pipes and a hideaway muffler.
While I was waiting on the motor I did a little interior work(stereo, gauges, new shifter and some match painting), undercoated the wheelwells, took the bumpers off, and rust proofed and painted the engine bay.
I finally got the motor back and got it installed a week before I was deployed for 4 months. Since I was in a hurry I did a few things that I normally wouldn't have done but I was so eager to get it running that I did stuff I would regret later. I got the motor in, started and running and drove it around a few times before I deployed. I was so stoked and it seemed to run well and the power increase left the stock motor feeling incredibly weak.
pic from the first drive (grinning like a fool, haha)
better pic of the engine bay
Once I got back from deployment and got the chance to drive it more in hotter weather I started have problems with it heating up, which takes me back to the decisions that I would regret later. When I installed the motor the first time I left off some of the engine tins and I had beat up the fanshroud trying to make clearance for the carbs. I also felt after more road time that the motor was being held back the stock heads and stock tranny so I decided to put the car in storage and do a little more work. I got the motor pulled and started doing a little research and ended up deciding to also rebuild the suspension while I was at it.
The project kind of stalled for awhile as I had other things going on at the time that were keeping me from doing the work I had planned. After things got under control I started buying parts to begin my build.
For the front suspension I decided on a 2" narrowed adjustable beam from CB with their drop spindles and disc brakes. I had the spindles and beam powdercoated semi-gloss black.
old beam out and on the ground
test fit of the new beam. Fits fine doesn't hit anywhere
I also got a set of caster shims, new hard brake lines, stainless steel brakes lines for all four corners, KYB GR-2 shocks, 3/4" narrowed sway bar with urethane bushings and stainless clamps, new bearings, new balljoints, and narrowed tie rods. I'm going to stick with drums in the back, just going to rebuild them and replace any worn parts.
I was undecided on rims for a long time, as there aren't many 4 lug wheels that I like. I was looking at the flat 4 BRM's but decided that the four lugs didn't look as good as the 5 lugs so I scratched those. Thats when I decided that I'd just steal a play from Glenn's playbook and run some Pedrini's (Glenn is my hero). I started looking for a set and found out that they are sort of hard to come by. After months of searching I found a set on Ebay in good shape for $200. Once I got them I started thinking about what to do with them as I think they look a little plain in stock form. After I found a picture of some pedrini's with the highlights polished and the rest painted black I decided on a variation of that.
stock and the parts I decided to polish.
Finished with semi-gloss black powdercoat, just need to run back over the polished parts and clean off a few spots of powdercoat.
For tires I'm going to run yokohama AVS ES100's 195-50's up front and 205-60's in the back to give it a little of that muscle car rake. Hopefully the 195's will fit okay up front, I don't plan to drop it too low so it should be okay.
For the drivetrain I'm having KCR build my a street tranny that can handle a little abuse. I can't remember all the specifics but I know it has a stronger 1st gear, 4.12 final, and super diff. I also got a new set of stock axles, a traction bar, and new gene berg mounts. I'll probably end up getting the gene berg mid mount with the rubber pads too. I'm going to run a Copperhead disc from ACE with a Kennedy stage 1 clutch. I should be able to hook up nice if everything works out right.
old tranny out, waiting for the new one.
And now onto the motor. So once I pulled the motor and pulled the heads I found that engine builder had used B pistons to make up for volume lost when the heads where machined for 94's. I had a huge deck height and I wasn't sure what to do to fix it. In the end I ended up just getting a longer rod to push the piston back out to a decent deck height. I picked up a set of CB's 5.6in H beam super race rods and it seems to have solved my problem. For the heads Art over at ACE is building me a set of ported 40x35.5 heads with a 3 angle valve job, single springs, ACE's modified rocker's, 911 adjusters, match ported intakes, and 8.0:1 compression with a .040 deck height. I was thinking about running higher compression but from what I came up with the Engle 110 isn't good for high compression. I also decided to upgrade my ignition so I bought a Mallory Unilite distributor with vacuum advance, a Mallory coil, and a set of 8.5mm super mag plus wires from aircooled.net. I also bought a 3qt gene berg oil sump to increase my oil capacity. 3qt's is a little overkill but I don't think it should hurt anything. For exhaust I'm getting an A-1 1 5/8" lowdown header with their mangaflow muffler, all ceramic coated black.
old deck height
new deck height
old rod vs. new rod
new rod installed
new powdercoated scat fan shroud.
unilite installed.
powdercoated alternator stand with oil fill extender
I'm doing a little bit more interior work as well. I made a back seat delete out of some 3/8 MDF I had laying around and some stereo carpet. The door panels that came with it were starting to fall apart so I replaced them with a black set. I'm also adding a couple more guages on the right side of the wheel as well, an air/fuel ratio meter and a cylinder head temp guage.
I have it carpeted now but my camera broke so I can't get any new pictures.
I also got a new gas tank as my old one was pretty nasty and I didn't feel like trying to clean it up. I got it powdercoated semi-gloss black too and once the weather warms up I got Eastwoods gas tank sealer kit to seal it up with, should last longer than the car now.
Here is a shot of the car as it sits now waiting for the weather to warm up so I can finish stripping and rust proofing the pan and front end so I can start putting it back together.
There is more stuff but I can't remember everything right now but once I get my camera fixed and some more work done I'll make sure to post updates. Thanks for looking and have a nice day, Jake. |
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