VW rat rods? whats up?

ratrodvw, I'd like to see a picture of that setup when you get a chance. I am sorry to say I did quite a few foolish things with VWs in my 30s, most of which I won't tell here, but alas I had to sell the gold metalflake Sand Rover with the black top and big/little whitewalls (8.50x15 rear, 5.50x15 front) when my wife kind of disapproved of putting the baby seat wedged into the rear between the aluminum top frame and the naugahyde seat. Looking back it was not a good idea to put my 2 year old daughter in that situation, although we did make one vacation trip to Va Beach with that setup! Amazingly my family lived through my foibles and the kids all grew up OK, but you don't need to do all that risky, foolish stuff, so keep the shiny (primered) side up and be sensible when the kids are involved. I wish my brother would have sold that Porsche coupe to me, I'd still have it! That daughter married a guy who has a restored Corvair convertible with the 140 H.P. engine; it is dark blue with a perfect interior so I guess there are still folks out there with Corvair parts laying around, although the prices have gone up. I don't see why your American-powered rod wouldn't be welcome at a run, but there are a lot of folks who have special ideas about rules; I guess I will run into that too with a fiberglass body. When you get a chance, take a picture of that Corvair engine, it might help blend in the gap in this Forum.

Islo3, that pink car must have one great engine to get 170 H.P.

Best Wishes,
Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

don, this same engine, with a bit more CR and taller cam can make over 200hp at the flywheel. but, i wanted a car i could drive all over the place, so i went with a more mild cam and lower compression. the result was an insanely driveable engine that smokes most everything it meets. 170hp + 1700lb car make for quick stuff! ;)

http://www.walts.info/images/blower%20motor4s.jpg

It's a Dick Landy blower...See even the hardcore Hot Rod guys got into VWs...It's in a Kent Fuller V-rod, too...:D

Quote:

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Originally posted by Hotrodheb
Here is my personal ride!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...olkstruck3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...olkstruck2.jpg

Rob

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Man, the VW rods are pretty badass in my eyes..I may have found a new project. I am searching through the "Too lazy to search" thread right now trying to find information on the front suspension. If you know of a thread that has a lot of how-to information along with what to buy I would be a happy man! I don't know what it is about the vw rods but I fell in love with the look about 5 minutes ago. Too bad its 12am and I have work tomorrow or I'd surf the boards longer. Awesome rides!

Glad to have infected you. Some of your antidote can be found at VWLab.com,......yes ,... a shameless self promotion.:D

This is kind funny, Iwas just lookin around on the web and found the gang from volkrods hitting this site as well.Great minds...
The open minded responces from you guys here is nice to hear.I love all kinds of cars it normally the owners I have the problems with.:LOL: I'll be checking things out here, now that I know of at least 2 sites that aren't full of dorks. Take care, Michael

Quote:

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Here is my personal ride!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...olkstruck3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...olkstruck2.jpg

Rob [/B]

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This has got to be the coolest thing I have ever seen.......:3dSMILE:

couldnt believe the pic of the primered bug pickup coz my cousin just built one. he had a steel tonneau bed cover made and a convertible top on his. way cool. I gotta get a pic of his posted here 4 u.

AnYwAy have you SEEN the latest hod rod magaziNe? It has a pic of a bugs badass fenderless rear eng with 17" (?) wide tires. The caption says it has a 440 hemi overstuffed inside the cab?

In ~1970 there was a pic of a toronado drivetrain in a bug and also in the back of a 911. guess that's what got my latest project started years ago.

For all of you VW fans check this site out, especially anything concerning Dean Lowry.
http://perso.calixo.net/~dubois1/history.html

Quote:

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Originally posted by Don Shillady
Hey, no offense intended here, VWs are nostalgic for me and it might be fun to build a really big engine with the latest available parts, but I wonder if anybody out there has a VW with a Corvair engine? My younger brother had a '60 Porsche coupe with the smaller 110 H.P. Corvair engine and the engine cover would just barely close over it. It had the bad property of suddenly throwing the contents of the glove compartment into the back seat upon acceleration in low gear! Now that was a sleeper and perhaps a precursor to the Porsche flat-six models. Of course the engine rotation is reversed and the "right" way is to buy expensive rear gears, but the easy way was to merely flip the ring gear over and it worked pretty well. Another way is to buy a reverse-camshaft and run the engine backwards but I do not recall if the there were piston pin offsets that had to be changed, so it was easiest to flip the ring gear in the transaxle and let the engine run as it was designed. I guess Corvair engines are scarce today, but If I were building a VW today I would look hard for a Corvair engine. It was an interesting play on words in the movie "The Thomas Crown Affair" (the first one with Steve McQueen) because in that movie there was a dune buggy based on a VW pan with a Corvair engine and no doubt using a "Crown Adapter". What this thread needs is a picture of a VW with a Corvair engine! Maybe someone on this Forum has a picture of the Thomas Crown Dune Buggy (some folks on this Forum have some amazing pictures!)? Still no offense intended, at one time or another I rebuilt or replaced every part on a pre-SuperBug ('60-'66) except to rebuild the magical wunderbox transaxle so I have about 20 years of VW memories. Just reminiscing.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

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Will this work for you Don? This was a Corvair /Bug I built a while back. It got me started dragracing Corvairs . As a Volksrodder, I'm now building a 302 F@#d nitrous 1950 Split window Bug. I've still got lots of Corvair parts and you're right that they are a powerful engine for a bug.
CMD[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...litWindow1.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3.../V-8Bug199.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3.../V-8Bug122.jpg[/IMG]

Looks like a good diverse group ya have here, decided I'd have a poke around & see what y'all have to offer. But cant see anything w/o bein a member, amkes lurking difficult for someone who likes to see. So, if I'm gonna be a member, may as well post. :)
I lurk around on the HAMB, occasionaly browse the VRods board, & am active on the Rod&Costom.com board as well as the ShopTalkForums.com board.

I went for the Volksrod thing for the simple reason that most everything else has been overdone. I love the 32 Ford, but if I see another tricked out highboy, I'm gonna barf.
I am building everything by hand, I do all of my own work & am having a blast with it. Most of my parts come from Speedway Motors, but I've taken parts from all kinds of cars. Mazda seats, Nissan steering column, Mustang steering box, Porsche M/C, GM brakes, it's a well rounded mutt, kinda like me! :D
I get tons of good comments & the reactions are always amusing, car shows are always fun too, thankfuly the ones around here welcome ALL cars, so i haven't run into the problems my fellow rodders in CA have.

The engine I have now isn't anything special, trying to get the body done first, but if you think you cant get the pure surge of power you can get in a V8, you might wanna start lookin around. I cant count how many street legal VW's I have seen at the drags BEAT on V8's all day long. Imagine 250+ HP in a car that weighs in under 2Klbs, the technology is there, & more people are getting more of it.
May not top out at over 180 MPH, but when you get to your top speed in just a few seconds, you get pushed into your seat, HARD.

ANYway,... Need that soap box for parts storage!
It's a growing trend, & the applications are endless. The attraction isn't so much the inexpensive aspect as much as the rarity.
It will be some years before someone pulls into the local drive in with a car JUST like mine, & I kinda like that.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ash/Bug11a.jpg
For those interested in how it got where it is, I have a thread in the "picture gallery" section on www.shoptalkforums.com, title is 70 Beetle VolksRod

Been playing with VeeDubs for a couple of decades now, and a Corvair engine is the "old school" way to get a lotta HP but in a pain in the butt way! Put together a full circle crank, H-rods, big valve Street Eliminator heads, big Weber dual carbs, and a T-3 turbo stuffing 13 psi down thier throats, and you've got a 250 hp VW engine without the overwieght factor! Mine sounds like a pissed off small block Chevy, and on a 1200 lb. trike, runs like one too!
http://www.streamload.com/Ducks3whee...rightCarb1.jpg
http://www.streamload.com/Ducks3whee...shWWWLOGO1.jpg
Hava blast guys!

I dig this VolksRod deal, never saw one until someone started this thread, and I keep an eye on it for new posts. My question is, has anyone built a VW with a frontend that isn't the original trunklid (hood?)? Like a 30's car grille or something? Those bodies look cool with a straight axle, but I'd like to see one with a Deuce grille or something like that. I seem to remember people putting '40 Ford grilles on them back in the day. I'd like to see what that looks like if anyone's doing it.

Quote:

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Originally posted by DaffysTrike
Been playing with VeeDubs for a couple of decades now, and a Corvair engine is the "old school" way to get a lotta HP but in a pain in the butt way! Put together a full circle crank, H-rods, big valve Street Eliminator heads, big Weber dual carbs, and a T-3 turbo stuffing 13 psi down thier throats, and you've got a 250 hp VW engine without the overwieght factor! Mine sounds like a pissed off small block Chevy, and on a 1200 lb. trike, runs like one too!

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VERY NICE! I agree that the Corvair is "old school", but this was in the early '70's and VW technology was in the early years. Corvairs were cheap and plentiful... with turbos!!
CMD

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v385/CMD/snoopy1.jpg[/IMG]

awesome!

you don't even need the hairdryer to make your VW scream... I have a pump gas, N/A 2.3L VW lump in my car and its P:I ratio is 10.2:1 that is more than enough to put you back in your seat!

just figured i would chime in here.i am in the process of building a v8 bug and am a member on volksrods as well.it is nice to see other hot rodders accepting us for what we have done to our cars.my car will be sporting a 350 chevy with a 2 speed powerglide.and my hopes are to have 350 to 400 hosepower to the rear wheels when i am done. again just chiming in.now i will go and read more on this forum.

The wife will be pissed as I JUST GOT the El Camino about three weeks ago, but I think I see one of these in the VERY NEAR future:D
Besides, the ElCo doesn't get the gas mileage to be a daily driver......

How much horsepower would it take to lift the wheels on one?

Not sure, but it takes 4 guys to lift the front end and set it on a saw horse in the parking lot at the high school. At least that's how many it took when we did it to Mrs. Robinson's VDub when I was in high school!!!!!!~!

any one who thinks vw's are slow needs to go to bug-o-rama here in sacramento. that supercharged t belongs to a guy named walt letherman who owns a metal fabrication shop. he built these rides. just go down to the bottom of his page and click on a link.



http://walts.info/

or check out the samba.com

my VW move out Okay could use a little more boost but its alright

okay, alright. when i saw the subject, I was a little disgusted. Everyone is jumping on the "rat rod" (I hate that term) bandwagon, and I thought this was gonna be another kid with a 93 T-bird spraypainted flat black and a "rat fink shift handle" (he wanted to join the club. ha!). but after reading it.... I LOVE THESE CARS!!!! These things are really cool. I might have to build one myself!
Thanks for sharing
Jason

well, i for one say, "The more the merrier!" in regard to vw rats...

like this.

I built it on the cheap, especially compared to the 32 highboy and 40 sedan that are in my garage.

took two months, started with a Baja (ultra cheap source of unwanted cars)

the biggest expense is the front suspension from speedway.

you can build the whole car for less than a glass roadster body.

had so much fun, going to do it again.

Cut Weld Drive

after being lost for several months... i'm back! anyway... vw rods are still alive and well.

I'm getting started on building a '68 VW hot rod. The reason for using a VW for the rod is simple. $1.00! I found this thing in horse stall just south of Olympia Washington, at a friends cousins house. The engine was fried-out due to poor care, and the price of $1.00 to tow it off was right!

You work with what ya got, I always say. If a VW hot rod is your style, go for it! There are plenty of souped up VW motors available as turn keys, starting at $1,500 all the way up to $6,000.

The starting buget for mine is around $4,000 (including all the repairs and safety items), because I'm planning on doing about 80% of it myself. And as with any real hot rod, take care of the performance and safety items first! Leave the final painting and fancy inerior for the end. Paint, stereo systems and finished interiors don't make you go any faster, or help you stop! So do the needed items first.

How many other hot rodders out there have a car that can do a 1/4 mile in 15 seconds or less and still get 28+ mpg!

My suggestion is this. Drop in a good rebuilt 1600 motor to start. That will get you around with plenty of power for a good starting point. Heck, you could always sell it off for the same price to someone doing a restore later, if you decide you want more power! There are VW's out there with Porsche motors that are breaking the 10 second 1/4 mile, and are still street drivable.

I'm doing a picture documentary on mine as I go, and as soon as it's done, I'll post it!

Have fun with your VW Hot Rod!

My son and I are just starting our VW Jalopy (don't want to call it a rat rod because we plan on finishing it out nicely... We are in the process of getting all the parts we need to get started on the project... I will post more information as the project starts to progress...

Dave Brisco

The VW's are poular here in the UK, most modders, aside from hot-rodders, go down the VW path. Bettles are a favourite, but people also go for the Golf (Rabbit), and the Polo's. A lot of the hot-rod accessory website are based on the whole Volkwagen thing aswell, like the German flags and the Iron Crosses. There is a garage that mods VW's, they are helping me out with suicide doors on my Ford Cortina, check them out:

www.bayarearods.co.uk

and for your VW (or your hot rod) accessory needs, check out:

www.oddballimport.co.uk

So, to conclude, VW's are cool, but not as cool as my Cortina...

I see VW's as different than the ricers. I like VW bugs in all configurations, stock, cal look, hot rod, drag car, etc.

What isn't to like in a rod like the one someone else posted earlier??


Don

well.... this one dude in town has one with a 383 stroker <seems to be the going way these days> in an old bug :LOL: ill try and snag a pic or 2 i know its currently classified under project but hey what car is ever "done" ?!....scooter

I think the vw rods are kinda' kool. Just for your info check out this link to "OUR" favorite parts supplier http://www.speedwaymotors.com/produc...40&dept_id=948 and then all you need is the bug :confused:. Now if they make A/C for a vw engine, I'd be set.
Jim

Best site I'v found is:
www.airspeedparts.com/garage/hebrod/hebrod.htm
or
www.airspeedparts.com,...then click on hebrod.

this guy is GOOD

Hey Old Hippie, as a matter of fact they do make AC systems for the beetle. You have the standard A/C with a bolt on pump system and an under the dash fan & core unit. Bit bulky, but it works! Other option, my personal favorite, and if you live in a less humid part of TX, are the window mounted swamp coolers. There are a few re-pop units out there that work like a dream and they are definatly easier to instal, not to mention the pure nostalgia factor.

As for that Heb rod, man, I hate that guy for bein so damned good! lol Damn nice job tho, yet another source of inspiration for my lil beastie.

Can you give more details on the "swamp coolers" I am grappling with a need for A/C in an open roadster and bought a $40 "ice-cooler-blower" but it is bulky. What is a swamp cooler?

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

i think a swamp cooler is a air scoop that you put in the window of you ride and blows air inside as you drive. ive seen them on ebay, correct me if im wrong

Harmon

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/VINTA...22702760QQrdZ1

Works on the principle of evaporation of water and air movement (ram effect). Designed to hang at the top of a partially open window, probably wouldn't work on your roadster very well.

This site RULES.

Geoff peterson does some AWESOME Work...
www.airspeedparts.com

Yes it does, I have Air Speed bookmarked on my computer... I have been following the Hebrod build for a while and talked some with the builder... What an awesome Hot Rod... I will definately be using a few of his ideas on my build...

Just an update on my project... Bought this nice set of 35 Ford wires the other day...

Dave Brisco

I really like this VW look, found on VolksRODS.com

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...e/VWratrod.jpg

I need to put this tunnel ram SBC under the hood, ahhhhh, trunk lid.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...lRamEngine.jpg

Right after I finish my '50 Stude Retro-Rod.
http://www.angelfire.com/super/1950bulletnose

This is a Photoshop rendition.

http://www.angelfire.com/super/1950b...e/MyStude1.jpg