1973 V8 Super Beetle Front Engine Conversion - 283 SBC

[V8SuperBeetle]

Thanks! Me too!!! Once I'm finished making a mess doing body work I'll be on my way to sticking in the V8. I can't wait...but have too.

[V8SuperBeetle]

Got some more work done this week and weekend. This will be kinda short because I smashed my finger working on the car this weekend. Leaf spring fell on it. Good thing it's my ring finger that I use to play guitar with and it's a good thing I DOn't have a couple shows to play this coming friday and sat. It's all good though. That's why we have four fingers.

Here's a pic of the wheels Ray lent me so I can compare to see if I'll like my wheels black. These are the same wheels and these are for the rear. 18" x 9.5 Thanks Ray!




I thoroughly cleaned the wheel bearings, thrust washer and castle nut to later find out I had bought new bearings. : Well, the bearings were in really good shape so I'll hang onto them, put new ones in, for future maintenance.




Painted the spindle and dust cover and installed.




Sand blasted the calipers.




Took them apart to clean them and found a good bit of corrosion. Notice the rust on the dust boot.




I cleaned them and then blasted the inners to find out that one of the pistons had some corrosion which gave me doubts about using for rebuild. So I just bought a new caliper for $10 from the Zone.




Bearings packed, new seal, and rotor assembly installed with the good ol 2" spacers. Tire rod / steering linkage installed too. Front susp. finished.








I started finishing up the rear suspension but smashed my finger. So I called it a day. After removing the rear diff cover. Finger didn't slow me down really. Just ran out of time really.

[petevw]

Originally Posted by V8SuperBeetle

I like these wheels. Looking good.

[ferfre007]

excelente!! se nota que ya estas trabajando bastante por tu Käfer!!! exitos!!

[V8SuperBeetle]

You can see that the is now further away from the inner fender. The problem I ran into is moving the rear diff back 2" started having a weird effect cause I'm moving further up the arch of the spring. I planed to secure the rear by making something similar to these.




Maybe I'll try just an inch instead of 2". Or perhaps I'll make some shackles so that they're not so close to the fenders. ???




Here you see the rear it reassembled with and the body it back on. I tried rolling the chassis out so I could take pictures of it 95% finished and so I can clean up my garage but it was bumping into the boards that support the body. So I figured I'd put the body back on. It's been sitting up on them blocks a little to long for comfort. ;D That and I wanted to see the new stance with the 2" lowering spindles and the 3" block in back.




From this angle you can see how the 18" wheels will be very close to the wheel leaving very little of a gap, which is what I wanted. The tires will tuck into the fenders. I was just wanting to see how things looked.




These are going to look nice. I'll have them on next progress post.




She sits fairly low. Even though a only did a 2/3 drop it seems almost slammed when I stand next to it. I'm really loving the stance and I'm sure it'll go down another 1-1.5" once everything is in and settles.




The front end aligned up nicely. The passenger wheel was 2" further inside the fender and make the car look off. Now, they're even and have the same wheel gap.




Here's the problem I was running into. The arch of the leaf spring combined with the lowering blocks pushed the wheels forward. I can move the axle back that would just amplify the effect.

I'll get her sitting right again. Next time. If it ain't one thing it's another.

[V8SuperBeetle]

Thanks ferfre and pete...

Well, I got the rear mocked up and hand tightened. The wheels fit nicely and look cool. I've got a bout 1/2" on each side from the fender hitting the side wall. I'm sure I could get more by slightly opening the bottom of the body since it's not permanently mounted just yet.






Today when I get home from work I'm going to roll the chassis out and get some pictures. Then clean up the garage and organize my engine parts and tools so I can start build the motor. Finally.

[Jim]

huuuuuuuuuge!!!!!

[V8SuperBeetle]

Originally Posted by Jim

huuuuuuuuuge!!!!!

[V8SuperBeetle]

Here's a few pictures of the size on my garage, per RaidMagic's request, and some shots of how the black vette wheels look.

[excello]

Those black wheels look great. Wow. That thing is starting to look meaner and meaner.

Btw, I feel ya regarding the workspace.

[ferfre007]

hello, how long you think it would be ready?

[V8SuperBeetle]

Originally Posted by ferfre007

hello, how long you think it would be ready?

To be honest. I'm getting married and having a new home built at the moment. So all my money, most of it, is tied up in putting a payment down on the home, closing costs, and wedding bills.

I'm hoping I'll have it finished early next year. Hopefully.

[V8SuperBeetle]

Originally Posted by excello

Those black wheels look great. Wow. That thing is starting to look meaner and meaner.

Btw, I feel ya regarding the workspace.

Thanks! It'll continue to look meaner. I was thinking of doing a black with gun metal metallic grey, but here's the look I've decided to go with. Jet black and candy orange with a gold base.



Thanks for sharing that picture. I see you're in a similar situation space wise.

[petevw]

Originally Posted by V8SuperBeetle

[ferfre007]

I understand! restoring a car takes a lot of money, more the cost of new family and home! hehe!


sorry por mi bad ingles!! hehe