Tucson kubel replica

[jns]

Here are some photos of my kubel replica from Chirco's bugtoberfest show yesterday. I started this car in 2005 and it's been the road for about a year. It's on a 58 pan with mostly barndoor suspension. It's modeled after an early car, something like late 1942, before the rear fenders were lengthened and some features added that make it more complicated. There are some mistakes, like a heater channel and louvres which did not appear until later, but I can live with that. The engine is a 36 hp with pretty early tin and some modifications to make it look more like a 25 hp. The overall dimensions come from various original kubels and much has been interpolated using photos and a farly distorted version of the Porsche drawing...

-joe

[johnshenry]

Nice!!!

The paint and body markings are excellent, as well as all the accessories.

So tell us about the panels, did you hand fab like Ken, or leverage other (thing?) parts?

I have had a "lead" on Kube' for 3+ years now that I have never followed up on... almost afraid to.... makes me want to.


VERY nice work!!!
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John Henry

'57 Deluxe
'56 Single Cab

[Ninamashr]

Wow, that's a replica?!? Can you make me some replica $100's? Very cool car looks real to me.
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1957 Karmann Kabriolet "Franky"
1957 Allstate trailer

[jns]

I built this car over a tubing frame, which was designed to be hidden by the sheetmetal work. There is a brace visible inside the stowage trunk, but you generally can't see it with the side curtains stowed. The sheetmetal was done in a similar fashion to Ken's, with a home-made press. Some of the embossing was done with simple dies and a large hammer. The fenders are Czech; I made a set of my own and the first one that I finished looked quite good, but it was a nightmare to do and still wouldn't have been as nice as these. After that, the Czech fenders didn't really seem so expensive and they really hold the look together. Other Czech parts are the dash panel, fuel tank and filler, front deck reinforcement ribs, and tow hooks. The headlights are original and the blackout lighting is east german. Everything else I can think of is either converted from something else, or hand-made from scratch, including the door latch mechanism.

-joe

P.S.: In case lifeisgoodin29 is still on the forum, I apologize for not responding to your PM about this car for almost a year. I didn't really start checking this forum, or my messages until recently.

[jns]

By the way John, let me know if you decide not to follow up on your lead. I may be interested.

-joe

[52HoffmanSplit]

I saw the car up close yesterday and took quite a few pics of it. It really does look real, a great re-creation thats for sure.

And hey I voted for you for Special Interest.. Did you win?

Im even "In" one of the pics up there.... hehehe when I was checking the car out.
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DB

9/1950 Hoffman Standard
11/1966 Porsche 912
10/1966 Porsche 912
7/1968 Type 265 Double Cab
10/1958 Type 117

[jns]

Sorry for posting your photo; I tried to avoid innocent bystanders, but it's hard at a show. I had to leave early, but a friend called later to say that I had gotten second in the trikes/special interest category. Thanks for the vote!

-joe

[tstracy39]

Awesome build. What's next on the drawing board?
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[vintagemx0]

Hey Joe,

Great to see you have a thread about your car here on TheSamba. You're going to get a ton of questions - You should post some pics of the build. A lot of guys around here will really appreciate them.

That would be great if we three (me, you, and a case of beer) could get together with our cars sometome in future and "compare notes".

Respect,
Ken
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[wcfvw69]

Congratulations! That really looks terrific. It's quite amazing to see some of the talent that's on this forum.
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[mircea cotiga]

Joe,
I have no words to speak how the car looks!
Great, great job!

[jns]

Guys -- thanks for all of the kind words. Ken, as impractcal as it sounds, I would love to put our cars next to each other one day. The next project is to get my wife's convertible restored and then it would be cool to do a real kubel. I'd probably sell this one at that point because who needs two kubelwagens?

I'm going to follow this post with a terse description of the construction of my car containing a buttload of photos. I hope I can put 64 photos in one post.

-joe

[jns]

The original '58 floor pan:

Basic tubing frame. I had to make many changes to the dimensions as I accumulated measurements; it would have been much more difficult to rework finished panels. If I did another one of these, I would not bother with the framework, assuming I can pin down a few remaining dimensional problems. Note some of the bracing was removed later after the panels were installed.

Press for making the ribs.

Many of the ribbed panels complete. the home-made fenders were eventually abandoned.

A look at the inside. The bracing will be hidden under the reinforcement panel, and inside the trunk. The door latch mechanism is also visible, though not much detail can be seen in this shot.

Here's the reinforcing panel covering the exterior part of the brace.

An example of the emobssing dies and the resulting front quarter panel.

Quarter panel installed. Home-made fender in nearly finished state. This was a pain in the neck and it still needs much more work.

Rear cross member under construction. I have seen a number of variations on the early rear crossmember, but they are all fixed. I made mine removable and hid the bolts inside under a sheet metal cover.

Heater louvres. This, and the whole heater channel mess turned out to be a waste of time, as the early car had no heater.

Interior sill. The original construction was a single heavy piece that supported the rest of the body. I've simply reinforced the tubing so that it will act in the same way. It's sheathed with sheet metal and will be evenutally finished to look like one piece.

More interior work. The only compound curve in this car is the front wheel well. Not my forte, but I made it work.

Finishing the front wall.

The rear skid plate was done on a hand bead roller. I left off some embossing under the oil pan since it's not visible. No one has noticed yet.

Rear floor. I used the bead roller for the transmission cover flange.

Firewall, and installation of rear floor. I left out the firewall inspection cover. I have photos of very early cars where the firewall looks just like this, but a '42 probably should have had it.

Czech fender. Mine looked pretty close, but these are much nicer.

Here's the Front deck. The fuel tank, filler neck, and reinforcement ribs are Czech.

Fuel tank and cross bars installed. The shift-pattern panel is Czech.

Here's the car at the new house all ready for a coat of rust while I build a new shop. The car was oiled and kept under a shelter throughout the monsoon, but it emerged with some rust. Also note the long rear fenders, which i decided to cut down to the early style later. The top frame is Czech. Fortunately, it fit perfectly.

Pre-55 bus front end (left) next to beetle front end. The bus arms are too fat to use in a beetle or KDF beam. The stub axles do work if you machine an adapter to accept the smaller beetle link pins. However, the bus pins are spaced more widely than the beetle, resulting in a caster problem. Also, the bus axle is fatter and must be used with the bus drums.

Painting the body. You can see some of the tubing frame from beneath.

Door striker and die. I was pretty happy with these, even though they look slightly different than the original.

Front fenders painted and installed. I made the headlight mounts. I have no idea how I made two that were identical and I doubt I can repeat them.

Interior painted.

Front seats.

Constructing the top.

Rear seat frame.

Completed top.

Restoring the chassis. It was fairly straightforward to mount the early lever-style shocks. Also note the original headlights in what may be original dunkelgelb.

Old heater control tube converted for a choke cable. Underneath, you can see the brake tubing used to carry it back to the engine.

Rear floor painted.

Original paint scheme. This palm tree style is based on photos (with swaztika removed), but I wasn't happy with it.

Side curtains. Fenders have been trimmed to the early short style.

Windshield and headlight covers.

Door handles. I don't think anyone reproduces this early style. I think these look pretty close, but they're a bit flimsy. Second attempt at the palm tree also visible. Technically this would have resulted from masking out the marking on a gray car before painting it yellow. I wish I had done it that way and left the interior gray.

KDF-style hubcaps. Dennis at skunkewerkes sent me a fiberglass emblem that he cast from an original. I used it to create the silicone mold and cast the form onto a set of early porsche hubcaps. The resin is poured through the mounting holes in the hubcaps, resulting in a very strong attachment.

Speedometer decal from Ken. This thing looks great on this oval speedometer and the speed is right on.

Spotlight mount. Not shown here, but I used a random spotlight that Ken had laying around. It's not quite like the correct light, but it's the right size.

Camouflage paint added.

Here's the engine compartment. I'm still missing some brackets and the hatch looks a bit lame on the inside. I'd say all of the doors and hatches on this car could be redone, really. Also, there are some things I don't like about the crossmember, so that may be modified in the future as well if I get bored. The engine is a 36hp. The air cleaner tube was produced from two bus snorkels cut in half and welded together. The cleaner itself is one of the snorkel cleaners with a shroud attached to make it look more realistic. Not really visible, but the exhaust is in the early configuration with mufflers up near the axles and no heater boxes.

[johnshenry]

Amazing.





(Can't really think of anything else to say....... )
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John Henry

'57 Deluxe
'56 Single Cab

[brille52]

INCREDIBLE !!!
I can`t believe it !! So GREAT !!
Thank`s for posting and sharing this "adventure " !!
Awesome !!

A

[olo]

unbelieveable your work is really something

[volksfahrer.nl]

Awesome!
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66 panel

[eurodub]

i think that some of these replica should be awarded by VW with a real kubel serial number for the recognition of a truly dedicated work to make such beautiful cars. in fact sometimes only a serial number makes the difference...

Hats off to you!


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1960 1200 model 117 deluxe ragtop
1974 T2 Westfalia Campmobile
1976 MK1 Golf

[jeremyrockjock]

I have had the dream of building a Kubel one day and this is very inspiring. You have done and awesome job.
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Why buy what you can build.
Step away from the fiberglass and no one gets hurt!!

[typ82kubelvw]

When you talk about the caster issue with using the bus spindles on a beetle beam, you mention an adapter. Do tell us more about what you need to do to get the bus spindles installed correctly. It certainly seems to be the way to go up fron for raising the front end just want to know what needs to be done. Also Fantastic Replica. Did you make your own canvas top?
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62,65,69beetles