TheSamba.com :: View topic - DeVerde

Wed Jun 10, 2020 4:12 am

Guess we will start here with documenting a build that I’ve had going on for a few years now. The short of it all is a 1969 standard beetle, chopped, sectioned, slammed, front engine V8, airbags, cantilever front and rear suspension, and a completion date that is constantly being kicked down the road. So far, we have a half completed body, a half completed frame, an engine, tires, axles, transmission, transfer case, and a whole lot of welding. Enjoy!

Wed Jun 10, 2020 11:01 am

DeVerde wrote:

Good Gawd... :shock:

Wed Jun 10, 2020 4:58 pm

Not much progress today but I got the rear axle spring pads and shock mounts cut off, the rear axle body channels roughed out, and the body lowered a bit. It still needs to come down about 3 more inches but I still need to clearance for the differential. It’s slowly coming along.

Still need to clearance here

Sitting pretty close to where it’ll be

She’s tight but it’ll fit no issues with the bags completely deflated

I’m thinking I’ll reuse the stock brake lights...thoughts?

Plenty of room for a rear radiator and fan

Wed Jun 10, 2020 5:01 pm

Kafer_Mike wrote: DeVerde wrote:

Good Gawd... :shock:

37’s just LOOK big....the 4” chop and 5” section gives it a different perspective too. I’m shooting for about a 4-6” ride height so it’ll look different slammed than driving down the road. However, I want it drivable completely slammed as well. I plan I’m running 1/4” angle on the frame rails as scrape pads....so it should be a fun ride as well!!

Sat Jun 13, 2020 7:13 pm

Worked on a bit of the hubcap idea today. Not much progress made and more thoughts than answers but I have flat style hubcaps from a 1972 beetle. I want to figure out a way to use early model (1965 beetle to be exact) hubcap clips to hold them onto an H1 rim. They clear my wheel studs without issue, I just need to locate spots to drill and rivet the clips onto. I went to Lowe’s and got some plexiglass and held the clips to the hubcaps with magnets. They look like they will fit without issues if I can find a way to get the clips onto the H1 rims. I made a template for the 8x6.5” bolt pattern, the radius of the hubcap and the radius of the hubcap clips. And that’s where I’m at. Thoughts? I figure I might be able to make a bracket to fit or a circle out of sheet metal that bolts on and holds the hubcap in place. More to come.

Mon Jun 15, 2020 4:27 pm

“Thank you Alex, I’ll take “Blind spots” for $400 please!”

I’m not real sure how you plan to fit between the door & that spinning tube of death.

Mon Jun 15, 2020 7:59 pm

TDCTDI wrote: “Thank you Alex, I’ll take “Blind spots” for $400 please!”

I’m not real sure how you plan to fit between the door & that spinning tube of death.

Lmao, sure, if I drive around completely slammed, it’ll be hard to see corvettes or a miata but you know, like I do, how terrible NC roads are so it’ll be a bit taller at it’s driving ride height.

Not sure what you mean....I’m not an 800lb gorilla so perhaps in a bomber seat with the driveshaft tunnel as an arm rest. 🤷🏿‍♂️ The tunnel will be a skinned driveshaft hoop so not much different than any other front engine, low profile car.

Tue Jun 16, 2020 7:33 pm

Came up with a company that will cut out some plates for me about the same price that the steel would cost. So, off to the water jet the design goes!

Thu Jun 18, 2020 2:01 pm

Got the hubcap adapters back from production and they worked like a charm. Now we have H1’s with VW flat hubcaps!! 🤘🏿🤘🏿🤘🏿

This is what they looked like from production

I undersized all the cuts because I wasn’t confident on the tolerances of their waterjet or my own measurements so I needed to drill the rivet holes and wheel stud holes to the final sizes.

I used 1/8” blind rivets instead of the rivets that come with the VW hubcap clips. That lets me keep the position holes under sized and able to drill them out easier if they ever need to be replaced.

I positioned the clips, used a backing washer for the rivets because the clips use almost a 3/16” rivet and I’m using 1/8”. This allowed me to tweak the locations slightly if necessary based on the wheel stud hole locations...ie, if the hub caps are ever not centered, I can adjust the clip locations so it doesn’t look all cattywompas driving down the road.

Test fitted on the hubcap to check for figment of the clips. They needed to be bent slightly to grab securely but that was a simple fix.

All riveted on.

Bolted up to the wheel.

Gangster time! 😎 Not sure how sacrilegious this is but I think it looks damn nice!

Fri Jun 19, 2020 4:51 am

Ok, that looks pretty bad ass.
Water jets are spot on so next time save yourself some labor and just put the holes you want in the cut file.
Nice job.

Fri Jun 19, 2020 5:22 am

finefettle wrote: Ok, that looks pretty bad ass.
Water jets are spot on so next time save yourself some labor and just put the holes you want in the cut file.
Nice job.

Thanks a ton! I was not doing the programming or there for production so it did cost a me a bit of labor. To be fair, I spit balled the measurements as well so the tolerances could have absolutely been off on my part too, which was a bit of the worry. They weren’t so that’s a plus and next time I’ll trust the guy a bit more. Really dig the water jet work though, super clean and quick turnaround, 10/10 would recommend.

Fri Jun 19, 2020 11:26 am

Oh yes. Water jetting sounds like a nightmare but it is super cool how close to to tollerences they can get. I dont do it but have had it done many times.
Most cars have a blind spot 8)

Sat Jun 20, 2020 2:49 pm

DeVerde wrote:
I’m thinking I’ll reuse the stock brake lights...thoughts?

Just scrolling by I had a thought about that. See where you have the tail lights touching the deck lid? How about a curved cut in the tail light housings so the inside edge lays along the outer bulge of the deck lid. That would give you a pretty long curved weld to secure them, and they would open and close with (now being a part of) the deck lid.

Sun Jun 21, 2020 5:55 pm

Cool idea. Only downside is if you are stuck on side of road oncoming cars can’t see the hazards but... just carry flares I guess😬

Tue Jun 23, 2020 2:32 am

EVfun wrote: DeVerde wrote:
I’m thinking I’ll reuse the stock brake lights...thoughts?

Just scrolling by I had a thought about that. See where you have the tail lights touching the deck lid? How about a curved cut in the tail light housings so the inside edge lays along the outer bulge of the deck lid. That would give you a pretty long curved weld to secure them, and they would open and close with (now being a part of) the deck lid.

That might be a cool idea...I’ll almost have to push the light into the deck lid half way to make the curves line up right though. I’ll for sure take a look at it and see what I can come up with. Maybe take just the lenses and light plate part, cut off the flared sheet metal, and bend up something custom all the way around that fits the deck lid? 🤔

Tue Jun 23, 2020 2:39 am

finefettle wrote: Cool idea. Only downside is if you are stuck on side of road oncoming cars can’t see the hazards but... just carry flares I guess😬

True...I also carry road triangles in all my cars because a battery will die eventually and I have a bunch of them. They’re foldable and come in a box that I can fit a flare or two in. Gotta get it driving first to worry about being stranded!! 🤣🤣

Tue Jun 23, 2020 2:58 am

So in the non-linear way of thinking I have, the concept of seats has been on my mind. I’d like to keep the seats VW of some sort and I think VW CC executive seats might cut the mustard. Over the years I’ve messed my back up a lot between parachuting, crashes, Afghanistan, etc so I can’t sit too long on something hard without my lower lumbar area seizing up and making my legs lose sensation...so I need a cushion. I think by themselves, the seats are too big but the lower seat cushion in a bomber seat would be pretty slick if I can pull it off. Plus they’re heated and ventilated and pretty cheap from Craigslist!

Thinking about something similar to these:

Wed Jun 24, 2020 5:25 am

I like the last picture of idea seats. Keep the back and comfort. that black stitching looks cool. Wrap in aluminum, loose the head rest and they would look great

Sun Jun 28, 2020 5:02 pm

finefettle wrote: I like the last picture of idea seats. Keep the back and comfort. that black stitching looks cool. Wrap in aluminum, loose the head rest and they would look great

So the idea I have now is to make some faux bomber seats. I want to keep the power adjustment in the seats so I’ll dimple die some aluminum, rivet up some skins that hug the leather seats much tighter than the plastic covers and wrap around the top, and relocate the controls to the center console. Aluminum skins and factory comfort...best of both worlds.

Sun Jun 28, 2020 5:09 pm

Got the seats today. A bunch of work ahead of me. Yes, I know it looks tight. There is a LOT of wasted space in the factory skins and seat rails so I’ll pull the plastic, make aluminum dimple died skins, and modify the seat brackets so they’re narrower. Enjoy and hate away.

What I got from the craigslist guy...$280 for both seats? Meh, it’s not that great but it’s ok.

In the bug...obviously not their permanent home.

Damn, these are COMFORTABLE and will fit great with a bit of effort.

The outer skins waste a ton of space so I’ll relocate the switches to the center console and move the seats outboard and make room for the center console and driveshaft.