Rather than being innovative and building something different maybe you ought to get a 53 Chev and take the hood off and heat the springs. Then you really got you something. Gary
To be sure , there is a hemi powered bug that shows at many of the west coast Goodguys events . "Herbie On Steroids" ,painted a yucky turqoise ,motor up front where God intended it to be and looks fairly stock from first glance . I believe it uses a carbed 354 but it is a sleeper of the first degree! There was also a VW built by the Gunter Bros. , "The Durachrome Bug"and ran a Blown big block . The most feared VW in competition eliminator back in the late 60s was the Empi "Inch Pincher" , it held the H Gas record and could run it's dial in at almost any event . If you were running against it ,the tree was staggered and a two or three second wait would seem like an eternity as that bug dissapeared in the distance . Many used to redlight against that creation . "The Giant Killer " was a Fiat 600 with the same drive train and was equally feared.
Wow Ive got an old popular hotrodding magazine that has a drag beetle in it......ill have ta find it now.
Make no mistake, the V-Dubbers are still hard at it. If you think rodders are a dedicated bunch, these guys eat magnesium.
Damn that thing is wicked......looks like they have a side order of cast iron with that magnesium. lol
the origional wheel standing Herbie in the first movie had a hemi in the back seat.Drag racers have been putting big US. engines in foreign bodies right from the early 50s so how can anyone say that isn't traditional? Anglias, fiats,volvos , MGs,Triumpths,Morris Minors and yes VW bugs all before the 64 cut off date on here.While not as common as they once were it's still reasonably easy to pick up a bug shell for 100$ or less around here ya cant even get good doors for a 30-50s car for that now! Someone else posted a VW gasser build on here a couple months ago.I think too many folks forget that traditional rodders built with what they had or could afford and lots of ingenuity!there was even a friend of my dads that put a sbc in the back seat of a Renault backin 62 and drove it on the street as his only transportation for several years.There were also a couple of Saabs here with V8s one sbc and the other hemi powered and both dragged and street driven.
Dont forget carrol shelby puting a ford 427 in a british ac car. And man i couldnt agree ore, a perfect point.
I've thought i'd like to put a caddy 500" in a rear of a ghia, here are some measurements and info I gathered. Beetles are about 61" wide at the hubs, give or take a inch. Eldo and toro's from about '78 to '82 are 61" wide hub to hub on the frontend. Most used TH325 three speeds, which were basically Th350's internally. There was 4-speed overdrives, which I believe are 700r4's, but I might be wrong, I didn't care about them. I don't know if a TH425 from the early 70's eldo will fit, but they look really close. Anyhow, if you use the frontend off of a 80 Eldo, it's the same width as a beetle. The trans can be built like a 350 turbo, so it can handle some power. If you find a eldo with a caddy 368, a 500 will bolt in its place. The rest came with Olds 350's.
This is an article I found from Hot Rod. I love the idea of using a cheap foriegn car to go fast. I know where a Renault Daphane is. I want it to put a VW engine and transaxle in.
Awsome stuff there mojo, ive got that all copyed down here. I like the car in the pitures you posted lon.
VW's are cool but how about getting an old kit car? They are superlight, period race wannabe's and can be had for cheap. I just bought this Fiberfab Jamaican. It's based on a 1960 MG Roadster but look around. Fiberfab suggested using the aluminum 215 V8 and most guys are putting small blocks in them but there are a few big blocks and even a BMW V12 in one of them. Check GasserMadness for the sports racer gassers. Old LaDawris, Kellisons, Fiberfabs, and other cars are badass and will probably be as cheap to build and worth more when you are done. I'm not trying to discourage you at all...just give you some options. If you are really really just jonesin for a bug, at least find a nice Turbonique rocket engine and build a clone of that bad old bug.... haha
Yeah, if they are Trad looking like those 3 old Racecars, I really like them. The Porsche Red, Street Rod Looking Bug on Centerlines doesn't do a thing for me...
Hey! you bought that Jamaican? We keep looking at the same cars! Here are some Sports Bodied Drag Racers
UncleScooby's hit on another idea of mine. The Fiberfab Avenger was designed after and looks very similar to the GT40. A mid engine SBC can be made to work very easily without to much fabrication. You end up with a dirt cheap car that looks, sounds, and performs mostly like a GT40. You know what else is fun about V8 VWs? As much as hot rodders get their pantys in a bunch over VW stuff posted here, VW people get them even more twisted
I know of a few right now. A Victress, a Jamaican, and a LaDawri Sebring. All ranging from $1200 to more than I wanted to know. CHeck the Kellison on Ebay. It's wood inducing. Metalshapes...I have to admit, I'm half tempted to leave the MG drivetrain and knockoffs and run a Shorrock or Judson with it. I'm just afraid that would be a lot of money to still go slow.
Did I ever mention I have enough parts to assemble a couple of Shorrock C75b's ? And a couple of virgin, unmachined cases...
The Jalopy Journal
