No, this is not a build. I want it gone.

Is there time to swap in some Audi TT Quattro  running gear? Ha. 

That angle iron front bumper looks like a great place to mount a front winch! 

Acrylic and Clearance Pansies

The Big Meat Run is tomorrow. I'm going. I'm driving the Dung Beetle. I thought it would be nice to put a side window in the rear, so I stopped by the local big-box and grabbed a sheet of acrylic to cut to size.

A flower bed at the edge of my porch has had a variety of bulbs added over the years and became a cluttered mess of everything. It was time to clear them out. Yesterday I planted a row of Rosemary. I needed to figure out what to put in the row below and in front. A 20 foot row.

While I was at the store I saw a couple spray cans of black chalk-board paint. I hadn't been thinking of rattle cans, but it's quick and easy. I grabbed them and put them in the cart.

I was thinking of some sort of annual or a nice low foliage like Hosta. I'm cheap and when I saw the prices of 'premium' plants it was a big turn off.  Then at the back of the aisle, I saw the clearance plants. Pansies; yellow, purple, and white. Only a few bucks each and just enough healthy ones to make a nice 20' bed.

Next, acrylic sheets. Easy choice, they had a sheet that would easily cover the window for under $20. Ten times stronger than glass and won't yellow, but I bet it will scratch pretty easily.

Planted, they should perk up nicely after a couple days:

Cut:

Painted and window installed:

I'm looking forward to tomorrow. It will be good to have a vehicle that can get into the good places to watch from with no worries if anything bad happens to it. I bet it will be the only New Beetle there - probably the only VW.

GoLucky said:

Looks amazing! Possibly my favorite New Beetle. 

Definitely my favorite, have fun at the rockcrawler meet

Man, due to the title, and humble beginnings, I haven't been following this, but looked this morning on a lark. 

Wicked Awesome work.

It Was Awesome.

Then oops. Didn't see that 'till I was in it.

It's still awesome, but I'm riding home in the back of a Jeep. ...radiator issues.

More later.

So you're a better skidplate away from competing at the Big Meat Run next year?

Love the build.

Adam

The plan was to stay on the dirt roads and find a good place to park where I could watch the action. Then I saw a couple Jeeps cross the river and it didn't look too bad. Sure, Dung Beetle can do that. Things escalated from there. Cameras started coming out and people would cheer when it made it up a mud bank or through a deeper ford. It's like when you're at a bar drinking a shot, then someone hands you another... Next thing you know everyone is cheering and you're a great dancer – until you fall off the table.

A friend's wife said that she got it all on video when I hit the rut. Before I even had time to look at the damage a stranger was getting set-up to winch me back out. The bottom of the radiator support had been pushed back just enough that a temp sensor connector hit a pulley and broke off. The leak is from the hole where the temp sensor was. The radiator has to be replaced. No biggie, I still have one in a no-title Jetta. I drove 15 minutes to a parking lot, stopping three times to top off with a jug of distilled water that I brought just in case.

I think the skid plate and core support are going to need some redesign. They were not intended for this. The Gambler courses look a little more tame than some of the terrain I crossed, but the #BMR was a blast so I should harden the car to that standard – just in case. I hope to gather some video over the next week. If it's any good, I'll post it.

The big events at 'Bounty Hill' and 'Viagra' were pretty much rained out. A few people tried to climb, but it was too wet and slippery and didn't end well. Still, the crowds were big, attitudes were great, and a good time was had by all.

In reply to AAZCD :

That looks & sounds awesome!

Here's a short cell phone video taken by a friend. Very low resolution after sharing, but I think the 'Dung Beetle growl' came through pretty well.

The tear-down of the front was pretty quick and simple. I could have it back on the road in the morning, but I'm considering the re-design and in no rush to have it driving. I may take a trip to Cagle's Salvage tomorrow to see if there's a more compact radiator (sticking down less) that I can grab and maybe fix some window regulator issues (again).

Lilo will not get out of the car. Sat in the back seat the whole time I worked on it. She missed the trip yesterday, but came along for the recovery in the Cayenne. ...dog co-driver.

This is awesome. I really need to get the Baja on the road.

In reply to AAZCD :

That vid is great!

Big Meat Run – It's Grassroots and Motorsport

I hope that we can get a GRM presence there next year. I did a search of the forum and there's no mention of it anywhere. Saturday was the only time I've been, but to continue to over-use the word: it was *AWESOME* even on a rainy weekend. I don't think that there is an actual competition per se, but if you look at what those guys put into the machines they climb 'Viagra' and 'Bounty Hill' with, it IS a competition.

Here's my record of the event as seen from a VW New Beetle, partly filmed with a cheap dash-cam that my wife handed me on the way out the door as an afterthought:

Nice vid. Apparently a buddy of mine was out there ripping on some UTVs. Looks like a blast.

I have a plan for improvements, but I've been on day shift this week and can't get much done. While I was off, I went back to Cagle's and picked up a radiator and a passenger side door.

The door is a *little bit* Green, but it has a hand crank window and I love those. I think the green will work with black, so no plans for more paint. ...almost grabbed those wheels too, maybe next time.

The radiator was from an old Toyota and I thought it would be a better size. Installing it became more complicated than I expected, so I ended up just grabbing the Jetta radiator and condenser. I can mount them about 1-1/2" higher than the stock position, just need to weld a new support and pin the hood down.

Here's a much better resolution shot of the video climbing out of the river:

Saw this the other day and thought of this thread

It's pretty much done again.

The radiator support is a lot higher, made mostly of 2" angle iron, and mounted to the frame better. Front end obstacle clearance should be good for anything I come across in the Gambler.

I pulled out the airbox and ran a pipe through the fender to bring the air in from higher. The original intake is below the left headlight and it took in some water at the Big Meat Run. The airbox had wet sand in it and the filter was soaked.

I broke a hex wrench when I was starting to swap the passenger door, so I decided to keep the black one and just swap the window regulator. Much better, the green would have been ugly ...well, uglier.

I just read this whole thing and I am inspired to pick up wrenching on my own project again(76 dodge w200 for interested). I love what you have done with the car. It is amazing what you can do with a project once you stop caring about it and go full send. With the Air filter I would put a half guard on the front or run a tube up the a pillar for even more clearance but i love the mad max look going on with this car. I'm going to use the wheelbarrow trick for a skid plate design someday!

In reply to meareweird :

Thanks for the comment. It really is fun working on a project like this that is worth nothing to begin with. No time pressure or worries about ruining it. Just dive in with a Sawzall and duct tape whenever inspiration comes to mind. It's Art, not Work.

For the air filter, I do have a plan. Right now it's sitting in the driveway with a plastic flower pot over the filter. I saw this Samurai with a bucket over the filter at the Big Meat Run and stole the idea:

I think I'm going to secure it to the filter with a bolt and wing-nut. Cut a big hole in one side and have it facing forward as a highway air scoop and the other way as an off road splash guard. The other idea is to mount a deflector panel on the fender (half a Coffee can or bucket), but that would be 'Bad Aero' and bad aero is frowned upon here.

That pic reminds me, I still need a light bar. ...or maybe a row of old halogen headlights.

This thread is getting better all the time!

I think the filter should be on the end of some pvc that snakes up the a-pillar to the roof. 

In reply to jfryjfry :

Up the A-pillar to the roof and add a Leaf-Charger? Too risky on a daily with stock internals, but I may do it in competition.

Not that I am against such insanity, but I thought that those things were more of a restriction than they are worth unless you add about 4 or 5 of them.

Cool idea regardless!

Ok, I was kidding about the leaf blower. I need to STOP.  But wait, just one more thing....

Now I'm certain I have gone too far.

Not too far at all. I'm having fun just watching this all come together, and it's giving me ideas.

I love everything about this build. I would keep the snorkel and put the air filter + protector up top on the roof.