Thanks for coming back to check out a new Members’ Rides! Last week, JCat was trying to get me in trouble with a fantastic TVR project that I seriously wish I had room for right now! He also has a great Lincoln daily and has spent years building a great Chrysler Conquest. Those were all a lot of fun, and as always, I’m grateful to have had the chance to share them with you!
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We’ve been looking at a lot of project car builds the last few weeks, and are continuing the trend today. But what happens when your project car is also your only car? Today’s featured Autopian is Andrew, an office manager living in the mountains of Northern Colorado, who can help answer that with his hot rod build!
How did you get into cars?
I’ve been into cars as long as I can remember. My Beetle was my family’s primary transportation during the early years of my life, with a revolving door of more practical vehicles eventually taking over its place. The beetle was my introduction to true mechanical sympathy. I’d never been particularly easy on any of my cars until the bug.
What’s currently in the garage?
Only my 1967 Volkswagen Beetle.
How long have you had it?
I’ve had it for about twelve and a half years, but it’s been in my family since 1989. It was my dad’s car when I was a kid. It spent a few years as the more reliable car, so my mom used it to take my little brother and me to preschool and commute to work. Around the turn of the millennium, my dad started taking it apart for a restoration, but decided he’d rather spend time with my brother and me, and so it sat until about 2012 when he finally took it out from my mom’s house to his place in the mountains.
And how did you end up with it?
In May of 2013, I found myself in need of a car. I had my ’89 Toyota pickup, which needed a starter, a transmission, and lots else besides. Then my ’97 Subaru Outback ran great, but I’d just wrecked into a catch fence off of some black ice. I looked at each car and decided that instead of selling one to fix the other, I’d rather sell both and get the Beetle on the road. So it got towed back down the mountain that June. By late August/early September of that year, we’d finished the stalled engine rebuild from 2002, gotten the brakes and electricals working, and gotten it on the road again.
What kind of shape was it in when you got it?
It’d been sitting for about 15 years, the engine was out and in pieces on the workbench in my mom’s garage. But otherwise it was in pretty solid shape, just missing the chrome trim and running boards. It mainly needed the brakes and running gear gone through.
Was it stock when you got it? Or what’s the modification story?
When I got it, the original 1500cc engine had already been bored out to 1641ccs with slip-in cylinders, and the stock single port heads had been lightly ported and cleaned up. My mods started with an Empi extractor-style exhaust. Then add drop spindles, a VW Thing front sway bar, 1.25:1 ratio rockers, and a different Empi header with a glasspack muffler. I kept going with a rebuilt stock gearbox with a 0.82 fourth gear ratio, dual 40mm Kadron carburetors on the single-port engine, and an Empi traction bar engine hanger. I also added a two-inch narrowed adjustable front beam for more low.
In 2016, I bought my first 1915cc (a 1600cc bored to 94mm) engine. It was a mild-ish build with an Engle 120 cam and unported heads with 40/35.5mm intake/exhaust valves and about 8.5:1 compression, a forged counterweighted crank, and a lightened flywheel. That engine necessitated dual 44mm Weber IDF carburetors, and I eventually bought a Gene Berg carburetor linkage setup for them, which is still on the car.
How did you like the new engine?
I loved it! But I also blew up two stock differentials, so I beefed up the transaxle with what’s known as a “Superdiff” and heavy-duty side covers. That engine ran hot and didn’t rev like I’d hoped, so it received a larger 1.5-inch merged exhaust system to help cool it down and maybe help its rev issues. Around that time, I also installed an Autometer “Monster” tach, and was gifted an Empi/VDO “Motorcoach” steering wheel by a very good friend.
That first big motor didn’t last a full year, with persistent hot running and valvetrain issues. I finally tore it down and discovered it’d eaten through two lifter bores in the crankcase, which would effectively machine through their pushrods in about 2,000 miles.
Oh no! What came next?
I then built another 1915cc engine around the same rotating assembly, but with a newer case with better oiling and a new pair of Empi’s CNC ported cylinder heads with dual valve springs to handle an even larger camshaft, and an Engle FK-8 with 1.4:1 ratio rockers. This engine is still in the car but has been through two other exhaust systems before I settled on a 1-5/8” long-tube “sidewinder” header from A-1 Exhausts with matching large diameter heater boxes.
I switched to Empi’s 48 EPC (Weber IDA clone) carburetors this year, not for any particular reason other than they sound cooler than the IDFs. I’ve also increased the engine’s oil capacity with a 1.5-quart extension sump and a Gene Berg breather box connected to vented valve covers. Finally, the engine does have a full-flow oiling system to an external filter and cooler, and a couple of years ago, I went through and bypassed the stock fuel line with a -6 AN system and a heavy-duty Carter electric pump.
Then did you have to do anything else to match the fancy new engine?
Oh yeah. In 2019 I had another transaxle built for it with a stronger late-model mainshaft, stock second-fourth gears, and a 4.37:1 final drive out of an earlier car, as well as steel shift forks instead of brass, hardened keys for the third and fourth gear hubs, another Superdiff, HD sidecover on the thrust side, a 1,700lb Kennedy clutch pressure plate, and heavy-duty racing axles. It’s bolted into the car with a mid-mount from Gene Berg helping distribute the load away from the notoriously fragile stock mounts, even though they’ve been supplemented with HD mounts specified for a bus.
I’ve removed the traction bar as the mid-mount does the same job without interfering with the exhaust system, as well as tying the rear frame horns together more strongly. Other chassis mods include a new adjustable two-inch narrowed front beam with a drop-spindle disc brake conversion kit, a ¾ inch HD front sway bar, and all four corners have adjustable Koni Special-D shocks. The rear suspension has stock torsion bars and spring plates with urethane inner spring plate bushings; the factory Z-bar has been removed and replaced with an Empi Camber Compensator.
Any cosmetic upgrades?
Appearance-wise, the car’s mostly stock, with the bumpers having been removed and replaced with T-bars due to extremely crusty bumper mounts. The rear decklid is propped out at the bottom to clear the big Weber carbs, and it’s rolling on Flat-4 BRM replica wheels.
The interior is mostly stock. New headliner, seat covers, and door cards that were done in 2019. A Gene Berg 14-inch 60% throw reduction shifter, a FastFab radio delete gauge panel, and a Delrin-roller accelerator pedal give it a bit more of a racy feel, and modern three-point inertia-reel seatbelts keep me feeling moderately safe.
Did you do all the work yourself, or did you get a lot of it done by a shop?
I’ve done almost all of the work on my own, with help from my dad, brother, friends, and coworkers at the VW specialty shop I used to work at. Before I worked there, I had them look it over once or twice just to be careful, but beyond that, it’s been a strong DIY project.
Any additional plans for mods, or is it “complete”?
Oh, way more plans, not even including fixing the body up and painting it. I’d like to beef up the original transaxle and put a stock fourth gear back in it, build a stronger motor around a stroker crank and bigger heads, tighten up the front and rear suspension, convert to four-wheel disc brakes, and maaaaybe convert the front end to a VW Polo rack and pinion for steering.
Which modification that you’ve done is your favorite?
Favorite mod is hard. I think the first thing I did visually, to lower it up front, was a huge step in taking it from being my dad’s old car to starting to be mine. None of the mods I’ve done have been permanent or intended to wholly change the character of the car, just to accentuate or enhance certain characteristics.
Do you like stock beetles, or do they need a lot of work to be fun?
Stock beetles are fantastic cars, and if I had room and money for more than one beetle, I’d absolutely have a stock one to putt around in.
How is it using this as your only car?
To say it’s full of compromises would be an understatement. It gets about 18-20mpg around town, is louder than anyone would find reasonable, takes about 10 minutes of driving around to finally find a healthy idle, and the heater doesn’t start warming the interior up until after about 15 minutes of driving, even in not-that-cool of weather (40°F).
The front end scrapes on bumps if I have a passenger, and with the shorter gearing I installed for drag racing, cruising speed is 70mph before the engine starts overrunning the fan, and it gets hot. There’s no AC and no stereo, but the wipers work, and I installed an electric washer fluid system from a late-model Mexican beetle. The windows all fog up in any kind of inclement weather, and the defrost vents can only be described as doing their best so far, as I haven’t replaced any of the hoses for them yet.
As a very small caveat, my dad shares his 2022 Jeep Gladiator with me on days when the bug isn’t going to work, but this and my bicycle are my primary methods of transportation.
What is your favorite thing about this particular Beetle?
After all this time, I’d still have to say the dashboard. Some of my earliest memories are being just absorbed into the details of the speaker grille and the big circular speedometer right in front of the driver.
Most Beetles of this vintage have had some kind of work done to the dash, either cut for a newer stereo or gauges, or they’re scratched and weathered, but the dash in this car is absolutely perfect, aside from some little scratches around the ignition switch. When I go to paint this car eventually, I’m going to have to ensure the dash stays untouched, as it’s one of the nicest ones I’ve ever seen and it’s the same one I’ve been obsessed with for over 30 years at this point.
Anything you don’t like about it?
No matter what I do, gasoline smell pervades the interior after a fill up. I’ve done everything short of replacing the gas tank. Yet no matter what, there’s always just a bit too much fuel stench after a trip to the gas station.
How much does this get driven in an average year?
There were a few years that I only did 2-3k miles, but I’ve made a point of doing at least 5,000 miles per year most years. These cars were built to be driven, and I’ve tried to keep it from being a garage queen regardless of what mods I do.
Being in CO, how is it driving this in the winter?
In a word, hilarious. Once it gets up to temp, it runs great, and the heaters do work well once they get warmed up too, but between the front discs and the overpowered rear end, it needs to be handled with care.
I make a point of driving it in the snow at least once per winter, partially for the sheer fun and partially to keep my snow driving skills sharp. I’ll usually spin it once per drive, so I try to make sure that happens at slow speeds in my neighborhood. The last three winters I’ve looked really hard at snow tires but haven’t managed to pull the trigger just yet. Maybe this’ll be the year for a set of Blizzaks. Stock bugs on good tires are extremely capable in the snow, it’s the power that gets you.
How did you get into the classic Bugs?
Aside from this one, my dad fixed and flipped a few others when I was really young, and worked for a year at another little VW parts shop, so some of my most formative years were spent around beetles. My mom’s family also was into air-cooled VWs, with her having learned stick in my grandma’s ’70 Westy Bus and her aunt and uncle making multiple trips down from Montana back in the ‘60s and ‘70s in their early ‘60s Beetle.
We watched the Love Bug movies religiously, we had all the Keith Seume coffee table books around, we had little display models and die-cast cars all around the house. It’s genuinely surprising I didn’t get this car on the road earlier, but I’d have to say I’m glad I took my youthful exuberance out on some less meaningful cars to learn some mechanical sympathy.
Once I made the decision to start working on it, my first job before even turning a wrench was to read through the John Muir Idiot’s Guide cover to cover. Almost 60 years after the first edition was published, I don’t think anyone’s come close to writing such a good manual for teaching mechanical sympathy and light theory.
Do you ever see a world in which you don’t have at least one of these things?
Absolutely not.
What is the ultimate Beetle to you?
Preferably this one, with about 150hp at the wheels, a nicely tightened up chassis, and a decently comfortable interior with more reasonably safe seats. I only have one real quantifiable goal for this car, which is a 100mph timeslip from a drag strip, so if I can run that kind of pass and drive it home comfortably and safely, I’ll be happy. Better yet, if it handles well on the backroads, the next day or can be trusted to take a 1,000-mile road trip in the same state of tune. I think the ultimate goal of most VW hotrodders is to make an early 911 in a Beetle shape.
What’s in the dream garage?
- My Beetle
- Baja bug
- An earlier VW bug
- An assortment of VW buses
- 89 Toyota pickup
- Alpine A110 1600
What do you love about those choices?
Beetles are just too much fun to drive to only have one, stock ones, hotrod ones, lowered, Bajas, all over the spectrum.
Buses are similar, I’ve spent a lot of time with my grandma’s ’70 Westy and I feel extremely comfortable in them, but earlier split buses look too cool to not have at least one in my dream garage, even if they drive like proper agricultural instruments.
The ’89 Toyota pickup was my first car, and I’d love another chance to get to treat one nicer than my 17-year-old self did to that one.
The A110 is just too pretty and exciting to not want one; they make me think of a downsized Porsche 356 built by people who understand art.
Thanks Andrew!
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