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Fri Jun 28, 2013 12:21 am

Here is a picture of the bug progress so far:

I recently found a 1966 bug in a field.

The guy I bought if from had left it there since 2001. It had been donated to charity, and the Salvation Army had decided it was too much work and gave it away to him. As far as I can tell it hasn't run for 12 years or more.

All of the windows were out so the interior has rotted out and the car is full of tepid water

I paid 450$ tow included.

Fri Jun 28, 2013 12:42 am

As a donor I have a 1971 Super Beetle that has been my daily driver for the last 11 years. Everybody makes fun of me when they see me driving it, so I I'm going to part it out...and try to forget all the times I've had broken down on the side of the road.

After looking the vehicle over, about the only things I can take are the floorboards, the front windshield, and the engine, the rest of the parts dont match up, or are just flat out not useable.

I got laid off several days ago, so the already tight budget went to zero.

Fri Jun 28, 2013 9:49 am

Cleaned it up, put the window glass in, threw a few sandbags in the front to lower. Splurged on some chrome trim.

Did not have any money left for an interior, so I found some bamboo from the neighbors yard and fashioned some seat covers and a headliner. Put a bag of white sand on floor to simulate beach.

Fri Jun 28, 2013 10:15 am

love the bamboo idea, i think your crazy with the sand :P

Fri Jun 28, 2013 3:10 pm

West coast customs put sand on the floors of a VERY expensive show car....they put resin in first to hold it inplace :shock:

Fri Jun 28, 2013 6:40 pm

Hey, whatever floats your boat...or... beaches your whale... never mind
Nice project though!

Fri Jun 28, 2013 9:29 pm

Sandbags to lower the front, and sand inside the car to "simulate the beach"?
Some one take this car away from him, it doesn't deserve this torture.

Fri Jun 28, 2013 10:44 pm

LMFAO.
I love it.

Sat Jun 29, 2013 12:16 am

Using the two engines from the donor car, and the new bug, I cobble together something workable.

I started selling off parts from the donor vehicle to fund the additional parts needed.

- 1600 dual port cleaned up, 12 volt conversion, used engine shrouds that go with vehicle, scrounged up and old school thermostat, tossed the 009 distributor in the trash, electronic ignition, reamed out jets on carburetor and advanced timing. Now it runs on E85 or moonshine.

Its alive!....sort of...swing axles leak from both ends, electrical is a nightmare, needs brakes all around, all fuel lines leak...the list goes on and on.

Sat Jun 29, 2013 5:56 am

Is that a hole in the tunnel by the shifter?

Bamboo looks cool. Not sure about the sand on the floor though... hit a few bumps and that stuff will be everywhere including your eyes!

Sat Jun 29, 2013 10:14 am

Joey wrote: Is that a hole in the tunnel by the shifter?

It is a hole! I assumed it was supposed to be there for some reason or another. Maybe a previous owner needed to get in there and access something?

Sat Jun 29, 2013 10:37 am

Cut down some more bamboo for a roof rack. Early version of this looks like I put a bundle of twigs on top of the car!

I also went to the fish store and got a fish tank background for use as a sunscreen.

Now I can leak around town in style, and track sand on all my friends carpets.

Sat Jun 29, 2013 10:39 am

hows the heater channels? Looks good keep working on it.

Tue Jul 02, 2013 10:38 pm

I found an 8 track player at a surplus thrift store for $.50 and installed it.

Now I'm rocking out to Simon and Garfunkel. I also made an 8track to mp3 adapter so i can play my more modern exotica downloads.

Tue Jul 02, 2013 11:12 pm

I was also experimenting with having a dual fuel E85 and biomass gasification system.

I had already successfully used a venturi pump to lower the boiling point of alcohol to evaporate flammable gases from low quality fuels like vodka, but the expense of running your car on essentially beer averages out to be minimum 30$ a gallon...not very cost efficient.

Because of this, I cobbled together this contraption with some ammo cans, piping and a few other misc pieces for essentially nothing.

This carbon neutral biomass gasifier can run on any flammables with a carbon and hydrogen base. This includes plastic, compost and wood.

After a bit of tweaking I was able to get it to idle and drive around on charcoal, but had some reservations about burning ash getting into the engine. So I found an old motor oil drum and fashoined this bong like device that is supposed to cool and filter at the same time!

...And then the vacuum pressure of the engine collapsed the barrel bong and sucked water into the engine bending push rods for cylinder number 2.
Macht nicht little tikiwagen.

I had to pull the motor and replace the pushrods and tubes. It cost me a whole 15$

Tue Jul 02, 2013 11:54 pm

I hope soon that these cars and the parts will become hard enough to find that people will choose to "tiki" 1990's civics and fiestas.

Wed Jul 03, 2013 1:29 am

Dr. Emmett Brown, I presume? Nice work, and something very different for a change!

Wed Jul 03, 2013 8:46 am

gazbill wrote: I was also experimenting with having a dual fuel E85 and biomass gasification system.

I had already successfully used a venturi pump to lower the boiling point of alcohol to evaporate flammable gases from low quality fuels like vodka, but the expense of running your car on essentially beer averages out to be minimum 30$ a gallon...not very cost efficient.

Because of this, I cobbled together this contraption with some ammo cans, piping and a few other misc pieces for essentially nothing.

This carbon neutral biomass gasifier can run on any flammables with a carbon and hydrogen base. This includes plastic, compost and wood.

After a bit of tweaking I was able to get it to idle and drive around on charcoal, but had some reservations about burning ash getting into the engine. So I found an old motor oil drum and fashoined this bong like device that is supposed to cool and filter at the same time!

...And then the vacuum pressure of the engine collapsed the barrel bong and sucked water into the engine bending push rods for cylinder number 2.
Macht nicht little tikiwagen.

I had to pull the motor and replace the pushrods and tubes. It cost me a whole 15$

GO ON, GO ON...TELL ME MORE

Wed Jul 03, 2013 10:06 am

This is so utterly stupid.... But the guy is obviously very intelligent so i have nothing bad to say... I guess? Go for it.. Does the law have any issues with your alternative fuels? Seems a little home brew to be safe, like what happens if you get rear ended with all that shit on the back?

Wed Jul 03, 2013 10:41 am

the sand is a bit crazy however you gave me a great idea for a roof rack. keep building man!