Hot Rod Beetle Ute

[gandos56]

Good day from Australia.
I am in progress of building an Oval Beetle Hot Rod Ute ( Pick Up or Truck ) with a Bus Auto Trans and EJ 20 Suby motor.I have welded in another rear torsion bar tube 6.5"(165mm) longer and raised it 2.75"(70mm) from standard.I did the rework of the rear arms to swap them from side to side to stop the negative camber.I have cut 60mm from the front beam and taken out the centre torsion bar locators.I have fitted an air ride system all round from AirKewld in the US.I kept the torsion bars in front,but fitted all split bars.I also kept the torsion bars in the rear,but machined off the inner splines to just allow them to turn in the centre anchor.I fitted a grease nipple to each side to lube the inner spline area.I will be using 19x9.5 wheels on the back and 17x7.5 up front.I have previously built a car the same,but it is a dedicated Drag Car,so thought a street version would be different.I have fitted the Suby rad at the rear,but will fit the air conditioner condenser and the air pump and tank up front in the spare wheel opening.I have run the new fuel lines and air cond. pipes and gear shifter cable inside the tunnel.I raised the hand brake and shifter positions up 60mm using a section cut from another pan,and because I have made the wheel base 165mm longer,I could shift the hand brake and shifter back the same amount.I have done a 4 wheel disc brake conversion using modified Beetle front rotors,and rear complete brake system from a local model of Ford sedan.I now have a 4x114.3(4.5") stud PCD all round.

[gandos56]

Will try to post some pics

[gandos56]

Progress has been a bit slow.Have cut the body and had it acid dipped and etch primed.Cut out both side floor pans.Fitted repo front pieces,but made the rear sections from 2mm flat zinc plate.Fabbed a frame to extend the cabin area behind the back of the cab.This will hold the battery,engine ECU,heater unit and some storage.Made seat brackets to hold the buckets from a Mitsubishi Starion.Delivering it tommorrow to the body man to close in the back of the cab.I found an early KG clock on ebay that was burnt out-so fitted a wall clock movement with a battery.Have cut the dash to hold the clock and 68 speedo and the centre section for an under dash style air con unit.The hole where the ash tray used to be will have a panel welded in to hold 2 air guages for the air bag suspension and a temp guage for the Suby motor.

[gandos56]

Some more pics

[gandos56]

I have a steering wheel from an Aussie Country Buggy.Sent the wheel and knobs away to have a Pearl finish applied.Started closing in the back of the cabin