woodie woody kit for Beetle

Nigelbug · Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 2:56 pm Post subject: woodie woody kit for Beetle

Very strange, after completing my classic fibreglass dash my thoughts turned to my other crazy idea, that of turning my convertible into a woody. I have always had a big thing about woodies and have collected quite a scrap book on my computer of woodies though most of them are Fords. Unfortunately my wife who owns "our" Beetle does not share my passion for woodies so my project is unlikely to get past the planning stage.

So searching ebay USA for some inspiration (basically looking at woody porn) I came across this add for an outfit offering to make a run of woody kits for Beetles. I don't believe any of the bull that goes with the advert about the increase in price etc. and it's a bit worrying that they say; " Not only that but you will not be able to take the car to all the Woodie Meets."

Any thoughts?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1965-1966-1967-1968-1969-1..._1037[url]

bomberbaja · Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 3:23 pm Post subject:

TjdTaylor · Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 3:38 pm Post subject:

Abortions Thread

"You can put this kit on your car in about a weekend and increase the value of it $3000 to $10,000." - Thats a load of BS if you ask me.
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jwold · Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 3:43 pm Post subject:

Some guy around here in the Portland/Vancouver area built his own on a bug. I saw it last week at the informal Portland Transmission show (AKA Portland Tranny---this thread getting really weird with Trannys and woodies!)

I think it's this one (this pic from a few years ago at the Bug In at PIR):

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

You might be able to get a hold of the owner if you contact Portland Transmissions, they had a log of all the cars there with names associated with the car...you might be able to contact the guy and maybe he has some plans or something.

Good luck.

volksnhousin · Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 6:34 pm Post subject:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=52671

Roostalee · Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 6:50 pm Post subject:

That's funny. Are the Woodie Nazis going to chase you off from their meets since you have a VW Woodie? I thought those surfer types were supposed to be mellow and shit.
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Every morning, Greggery drives his little red Volkswagen to the ugly part of town where they keep the government buildings. "Voodn, voodn! Boy it's so hard to find a place to park around here!"

79 vert · Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 7:31 pm Post subject:

I think thats a typo. They probably meant "you will now be able to take it"

sharkskinman · Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 7:38 pm Post subject:

Well.... Hm...

you Could spend 1500-2000 on the Real Wood Kit
and that would be cool
Looks cool in my opinion

But you could also either have someone paint it
or have a vinyl cut for it

this was my photoshop

thinking clear coat over bare flame tinged metal
with wrought iron for the borders
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74 Mexi Swamp Thing. 70 square volksrod (Swamp Rat)..65 C10

vw_hank · Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 7:50 pm Post subject:

That square back is "HOT"!!!!!!!!! gave me A woody
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1600cc motor. Glenn ring 010. full toplineparts.com suspension. factory front disk brakes. Tram type-3 rear brakes. Hurst shifter. empi-8's. low-back's. tons of mods!

thechief86 · Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 8:10 pm Post subject:

i had put a little research into woodifying my beetle, but had planned to just have vinyl made for it. around here it was going to cost more than my car is worth, so i'm holding back for now. i had a few jeep wagoneers with woodgrain, and though of butchering a decklid emblem to say VOLKSWAGoneer. pretty sweet, i thought,
and yes-squareback=sexy
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andk5591 · Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 6:49 am Post subject:

It depends on who is holding the show as far as being able to show or not. AACA will not allow my VW woodie at their events. There are not enough woodies in my part of the world for there to a National Woodie club event nearvy, but I have a friend who build a VERY nice VW woodie and has shown it at some of those.

You would need to talk to whoever is running a show to see if your car would be permitted or not.

As far as the kit the OP listed, it looks like it coould be a decent product. And its real wood, which is neat.

There's lots of reading on here if you want to learn more. And you can also wait for the new issue (July) of Hot VWs. Rumor has it that there will be one in it.
_________________
D-Dubya Manx clone 1914. Ex wifes car.
Rosie 65 bug - My mostly stock daily driver.
Woodie 69 VW woodie (Hot VWs 7/12).
"John's car" 64 VW woodie - The first ever
Maxine 61 Cal-look bug - Ex-wifes car.
66 bug project - Real patina & Suby conversion
There's more, but not keeping them...

trynne · Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 8:49 am Post subject:

That kit could be reproduced with some nice ash and mahogany for less than 1/2 the price or go with painted on wood graining which is amazingly easy using a rubber graining tool and that could be done for $200 to 400 with acrylic urethane and striping tape.

Cadaver · Samba Member Joined: April 24, 2012 Posts: 2338

a woody for a woody.

cool
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for sale now.
in Samba classifieds....1968 T1.

sharkskinman · Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 12:17 am Post subject:

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74 Mexi Swamp Thing. 70 square volksrod (Swamp Rat)..65 C10

Nigelbug · Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 2:03 am Post subject:

This is more in line what I was thinking about with my convertible, but I would make the panels lighter as the dark against the white of my Beetle would look wrong. I like it when the panelling starts from the doors back and does not include the wood front panel.

I agree the price increase shown on the add is total bullshit. If you could increase the value of a Beetle by between $3,000 to $10,000 by adding one of their $1500 kits why are they not doing it themselves and simply selling the cars with the kit on? Financially that would make more sense than selling the kit. In England we have a law against businesses making false claims like that in their adverts.

Lifted from the gallery.

andk5591 · Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 7:31 am Post subject:

OK - a little background on woodies. There is no right or wrong as far as the wood goes. Real woodies had been made by a large number of firms either for a "factory" produced car or a custom car. The framing is USUALLY light, with dark panels, but they have been made with dark framing with light panels, done all light and all dark.

As far as wood for the framing, ash seems to be the most common. Real nice to work with and amazingly flexible. Maple and oak are also fairly common framing materials, but both have their drawbacks - I wouldnt use either. Mahogany is the most common wood used for the panels, but I have seen birch and maple. Here's the issue though - usually done with plywood panels and you will have 1/8 to 1/4" of thinckness to deal with.

3M Di-Noc is what was used on newer cars (50's on up) with wood, fiberglass or plastic framing. See this http://www.vinylgraphics.net/products/216-Wood-Grain-Vinyl/

If I was going to do panels like the kit mentioned, I would make my framing from ash - doesnt have to be real thick - 1/2" would be plenty. Stain it the color of choice if desired and use marine varnish. Put down the D-Noc and attach the frame. You have a couple ways to shape the frame to the car. Cut it to fit, steam bend it or just bend it when installing. If bending it when installing, you would need strong attachement, like carriage bolts. Would be a bitch attaching the lower front quarter, but the rest would be pretty easy. If the frame is steam bent or cut to fit, you could just glue it on.

Sorry for the book, but I have been down this road....
_________________
D-Dubya Manx clone 1914. Ex wifes car.
Rosie 65 bug - My mostly stock daily driver.
Woodie 69 VW woodie (Hot VWs 7/12).
"John's car" 64 VW woodie - The first ever
Maxine 61 Cal-look bug - Ex-wifes car.
66 bug project - Real patina & Suby conversion
There's more, but not keeping them...

Nigelbug · Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 9:50 am Post subject:

andk5591 · Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 11:51 am Post subject:

Theres a couple aproaches to attaching. You can try to hide the fasteners or embelish them. I used 5/16 stainless steel carriage bolts that I polished on a lath. However on my doors, most of my fastening was done using sheet metal or wood screws from inside the door. BUT to keep the look consistent, I just cut the heads off of some of my polished bolts and glued them to the wood.

This is a "real" fastener on my B pillar

and you could carry the look over to the dash - I used 1/4" (I think) bolts for this.

_________________
D-Dubya Manx clone 1914. Ex wifes car.
Rosie 65 bug - My mostly stock daily driver.
Woodie 69 VW woodie (Hot VWs 7/12).
"John's car" 64 VW woodie - The first ever
Maxine 61 Cal-look bug - Ex-wifes car.
66 bug project - Real patina & Suby conversion
There's more, but not keeping them...

vw_hank · Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 5:43 pm Post subject:

Wow andk5591,, That's some beautiful work!!
_________________
1302s sunroof..
1600cc motor. Glenn ring 010. full toplineparts.com suspension. factory front disk brakes. Tram type-3 rear brakes. Hurst shifter. empi-8's. low-back's. tons of mods!

andk5591 · Posted: Sat May 19, 2012 5:54 pm Post subject:

Thanks - and like I said, I am kind of familiar with sticking pieces of wood on a VW. Just throwing some ideas out there to the OP. Plus I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express.
_________________
D-Dubya Manx clone 1914. Ex wifes car.
Rosie 65 bug - My mostly stock daily driver.
Woodie 69 VW woodie (Hot VWs 7/12).
"John's car" 64 VW woodie - The first ever
Maxine 61 Cal-look bug - Ex-wifes car.
66 bug project - Real patina & Suby conversion
There's more, but not keeping them...


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