Let the fun begin

[DUNTOVFAN]

I recently bought a very nice 62 and it's going to be a nice project. I had a 65 Bug years ago and always regretted selling it,at the time I had 4 cars so I sold the 65. I've been into Corvettes and old Novas but buying this 62 is something I should have done years ago. I want a bitchin car I can drive anywhere and this 62 will do just that when I'm done with it. Plans call for dropped spindles,adjustable beam,spring plates in the rear. Mobel Wagon aluminum 66 wheels. I've pretty much got all the parts together now to figure out a motor/transmission. Thinking seriously about a Pat Downs setup and a freeway friendly trans setup. This car is so solid I almost feel guilty about doing modifing it but I wouldn't own something if I couldn't screw it up😁

[wdfifteen]

[zerotofifty]

A more powerful engine is certainly nice to have for the highspeed Bay Area traffic, and the low look can be nice. an adjustable beam is another method to low too.
a brake upgrade is recommended if you plan to drive swiftly.. At the very least dual circuit brakes, performance shoes all the way up to discs.

I drive my Bugs in the commutes and find my bone stock 66 sometimes lacking. always in the slow lane. my 61 has a later 74 motor so it has a lot more zip and thus does better.

The freeway flyer can suffer from poor acceleration when coupled with a stock motor. my 61 is geared stock, higher ratio than my 66. so with the bigger motor in it it is fairly quick accelerating, great for keeping up with other cars around town with stop signs and signals. but it is buzzy at higher freeway speeds. so I tend to limit it to 70 mph on freeway, but it is fun around town.

consider brighter lights for safety, headlamps, tail lamps, brake lamps, signal lamps are all kind of dim. unless in top shape, and even then can be lacking in todays traffic. rear window mounted stop lamps, with bright red LEDs are a must for Bay Area traffic.

Ken Jansen of Jansen Enterprises in Belmont does excellent motor work too, I have some of his motors in other VWs, great performance motors check him out too, nice guy, very knowledgable on the performance of vw engines

lets see some photos!
_________________
Give peace a chance. No American war with Russia!

[richparker]

Cool!

I run a nicely built 2109cc in my ‘65 with a KEP stage 1 and the stock transaxle. I live in the mountains and it is nice to have the gearing of a stock transaxle, lots of power on the climbs. I’m having the transaxle rebuilt right now and I decided to stay with the 4.38 R&P, instead of going to the 4.12. With the 165 tires the engine is spinning at 3200 rpms at 70 mph. I run stock brakes with a dual Master Cylinder .

Pat Downs builds some nice stuff. Although he’s not with CB anymore, I have a lot of CB parts in and on my engine.

Post some pics.
_________________
__________
’71 Westy build
Adventure thread
’65 Deluxe Build
’63 Deluxe Build

[mikec4193]

Corvettes and old Novas to old VW's....very cool...never had a Corvette...had couple 67 Camaros back in the day...had a ton of fun with them too...

Getting an old VW is like turning back the hands of time...

Post up some pictures of your new project...

Good luck and have some fun.

MikeC
_________________
Dad bought his first Beetle on Dec 17, 1953.

[esde]

Dude, talk to Scott Sebastian in Sanger Ca. He's Mcmscott here
Tell him your tire size, where the engine makes power, and he will work you through gearing options. Most important thing is to make cruising speed where the engine has enough power to push it, and also at a high enough rpm to spin the fan fast enough. He mixed and matched some factory gears to get me a nice spread 1-2-3-4 with no big jumps, and I still cruise at 75 easy, even with a pretty short tire.
Don't fall for the "freeway flyer" BS, talk to someone that knows his shit!
_________________
modok wrote:
Bent cranks are silent but gather no moss. I mean, ah, something like that.

[Busstom]

X2 for Scott ^^^

I haven't ordered a trans from him yet, but he took a ton of his own time to gab on the phone with me, like +30 minutes out of his day, to go into great detail about an ideal build, and he'll set you straight on the freeway "fryer" concept.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=598217&highlight=scott
_________________
My name's Steve and it's pronounced "Bust 'em" (cuz people think I'm Tom) 😏