After a few missed chances - 1974 Super Beetle. The Blue Beetle!

Knurled. said:

In reply to californiamilleghia :

Probably a Syncro van trans.

MAYBE but I think  Syncro Vans were not built yet , that would be the easy way to do it now .....

cghstang said:

edit: from the scca proRally history FB group...

 

"Dan Coughnour & Nick Folger, VW Berrien Buggy # 42, DNF, POR 1981"

"It was still VW powered at this point, but he later put a rotary in it, along with a lot of sheet metal furnace ducting for cooling. This type of buggy was eventually outlawed by SCCA, and Coke put a dual-port VW back in it and made it a street car."

Wait.... what???

Okay, hrm, I dimly, DIMLY recall Coke telling me when I first started showing up at rallycrosses that he had a rotary in a bug at one point.

Why does Nick Folger sound so familiar?  I am associating the name with either a rusty white 323GTX (Not Tim Meier's all-conquering red one) or a certain silver Escort GT with a weird half dollar sized chunk missing from the windshield, but both of those cars are associated with someone more probably born in 1981 than co-driving in 1981.

eastsideTim said:

wae said:

The beetle's maiden drive.  I think it's got about 1/5 horsepower in this configuration.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/kQShgQ_sHbQ?rel=0&showinfo=0

 

Thank you for posting that.  I asked wae to take video in case it went horribly wrong.  Fortunately/unfortunately it went pretty smoothly.

Having rallycrossed two different VWs, I can attest that pushability is one of the finer points of VW ownership.

I do love an old beetle!

IIRC, Dan  also was a Corvair guy, may have run a Vair in Pro Rally for a while like we did (this is way beck in early 80s).  If you build an AC VW performance engine, run a counterweighted crank and (if they still do this) pin the case.  The stock setup doesn't like high revs for long.  A super beetle should handle very well, the suspension is very much like a 944.  Jenson Button's father was a British rallycross champ in a Beetle.

cghstang said:

edit: from the scca proRally history FB group...

"Dan Coughnour & Nick Folger, VW Berrien Buggy # 42, DNF, POR 1981"

"It was still VW powered at this point, but he later put a rotary in it, along with a lot of sheet metal furnace ducting for cooling. This type of buggy was eventually outlawed by SCCA, and Coke put a dual-port VW back in it and made it a street car."

There's a good chance my dad was there in his '74 Opel Manta.

Free Subaru transmission

I was poking around on CL last night and found what I assume is the ad that the guy in Mt Orab (Tim) bought the car off of:

https://dayton.craigslist.org/cto/d/1974-vw-beetle/6594657858.html

In reply to wae :

Would’ve been nice to have gotten the skid plate.  I bet it’s on someone’s scrap pile somewhere 

Got the title transferred today, so it is now officially in my name 

I also vacuumed spider webs and leaves out of it, and did a bit more inspecting.  It should get new floorpans, a rear floor brace, and cargo shelf.  For now, I’ll just patch everything that desperately needs patching, but I did order a new set of floorpans, since ebay had the 20% off coupon.  They’ll be a winter project, won’t need them for rallycross 

Wasn't the skid plate the floor? Or is that all open now? 

EvanB said:

Wasn't the skid plate the floor? Or is that all open now? 

In that case, maybe it is still there.  I just assumed a few of the patch panels were aluminum.

cghstang said:

 

 

It's been a loooong time since I've messed with ACVWs. What's the advantage of the bus transmission, lower gearing?

Is it running yet?

In reply to Patrick :

Hehe, I wish, I finally started pulling the axles off the transaxle this morning.  Sitting at the car dealership picking up my new daily right now, so probably little more progress today.  Tomorrow, I’m hoping to enlist my father in law to help, he’s got tons of experience with air cooled VWs

Woody said:

It's been a loooong time since I've messed with ACVWs. What's the advantage of the bus transmission, lower gearing?

Lower gearing, and some of them are stronger than others

My father-in-law and I spent some time in the garage looking over the car, and getting a little bit done.  The transaxle and axles are now removed from the frame.  Needed to buy a set of triple square bits to remove the axles.  We would have attempted to install them in the car today, but it turns out the transmission is (as far as I can tell) from a 69-71 Beetle, and the mounts and transmission nosecone changed in 1973. 

We moved on to checking out the shifter in the car, and it was extremely sloppy.  Turns out the shift rod bushing was completely gone.  If it was anything like a Subaru when its bushings deteriorate, it must not have been easy to find gears.  The shift assembly we got with the transaxle had a good bushing, so we went to pull it and found a rather large mouse nest in the transmission tunnel.  Based on the condition of the remains in it, it'd been there a while.  After clearing the hantavirus out, we pulled the shift rod, and got the bushing out.  Installing it in the beetle was an experience, involving pliers, hammers, screwdrivers, liberal amounts of white lithium grease, and some swearing.  We also threw on the stock shifter, as neither of us could figure out how reverse was supposed to work on the aftermarket one.

Finally, we spent a bit of time going over the engine.  It'll need a few parts, but if all goes well, I wouldn't be surprised if we can get it running once it is installed.  The one plug we pulled was in good shape but did have some oil on it.  Wouldn't be surprised if the rings were about done for.

Now it's time to order parts, and plan for another work session next weekend.  What we think we need/need to do:

1. Front transaxle mount adapter - ordered one on eBay that should allow the early trans to mount to the later chassis.
2. Fix the the right rear brake line - I'll try to do this during the week.  If I don't have the right size line in the garage somewhere, I'll hit the parts store.
3. Bellhousing bolts/studs/nuts.  They were battered pretty good pulling the engine, and some were left behind at the junkyard.
4. Nuts for the front transaxle mount - 12 X 1.5.  Hardware store didn't have them, so I'll put in a parts order.
5. Cable guide for the clutch cable.  The transaxle was converted to hydraulic, and I plan on converting it back, since the Beetle already has a clutch cable in place.
6. Oil fill cap - the one on there doesn't fit right.
7. Barb fitting for the fuel pump.  The fuel line in the Karmann Ghia was metal, but the one in the Beetle is rubber.
8. Voltage regulator for the engine's generator.  I'll probably switch to an alternator at some point, but for now, this should get it running faster.
9. New plugs and wires - the boot on the plug wire we pulled came apart.
10. Clutch kit - may not be necessary, but with the shape of the flywheel, we couldn't really tell how much friction material is left, and if we pull it, we'll want the clutch alignment tool that comes with a replacement in order to reinstall it.
11. Air Cleaner - we left the oil bath air cleaner behind in the junkyard.  For now, we'll just look for one that mounts directly to the Solex carb.  It has a 2" diameter body, so shouldn't be too hard to find.

If I can get all those parts in before next weekend, and fix the brakes, we'll hopefully have everything we need to get the car started.  Might grab a spare coil, distributor cap and rotor, and points,  just in case.  They may not be easy to find on short notice when we are trying to get it started.

Last week when i cut the tunnel out a baby possum crawled out...

Patrick said:

Last week when i cut the tunnel out a baby possum crawled out...

Guess it wasn't a mouse nest then...

You want me to go back and get the air cleaner?

EvanB said:

You want me to go back and get the air cleaner?

If you happen to be going there for something else, sure, please grab the whole air tube and air cleaner assembly.  If not, don't worry about it.  Either way, I'll order a paper filter setup this week to install on the engine - I'm pretty sure I'll need to do some adapting to get the Karmann Ghia air cleaner to work in the Beetle engine compartment.

I'm planning to go grab some more stuff from the S40 at some point so if it is still there I will grab it. 

Thanks Evan!

Parts have been ordered, so the waiting begins.  If I didn’t have something going on this evening, I’d try replacing the brake line.  I’ll see about getting to it in the next few days.

Cool project! I always thought Beetles would be fun to drive in rallycross. Once you get it running, bring it by and I'll help patch some panels. I still have plenty of free filing cabinet leftover!