Bub: the Buggered Up Beetle

 No video this week - I've badly sprained my ankle so I'm not in the warehouse with good stuff to look at .... The one thing I've not really talked about yet is power. Power and torque. The 2 things I've not yet talked about are Power, Torque and gearing. ARGHHHH, amongst the diverse elements relating to making Bub go better that I have yet to talk about are ... Power, Torque, and Gearing. Beetles are very light, 820kg in full standard trim (Bub is closer to 700kg) and that means that the basic 40hp of the 1300cc engine makes them go well enough for 1970s traffic but we're not in the 70s and I'm wanting to both keep up with modern traffic and have fun in the twisties and in the dunes so an upgrade was always on the cards. The normal options are varied from twin carbs and of course bigger capacity engines, the fave being 1776cc giving 85 - 100hp depending on your budget BUT more power will simply get you to top speed faster, to increase top speed you need bet...

With help from my nephew Gideon, the other 2 tyres were swapped over and Bub sat back on the floor.   video at the bottom With the back end jacked up to simulate how he'll sit when I re-index the rear suspension , there is a full 11" (28cm) of ground clearance - that's at least 4" more than most Landrovers! Things I've discovered today When jacked up the passenger door won't close properly. Luckily a roll cage will cure that problem I may have to change the rear wings - no amount of cutting is going to give the clearance needed without look shit I needn't have stressed about having smaller tyres on the front ... I could have gone a little smaller without losing ground clearance 17 year old nephews seldom listen to sage advice of their uncle Uncles should sometimes listen more carefully to their 17 year old nephews Photos Bub is a level headed kind of Beetle High enough for a hamster with a top hat to dance under Holy ground cle...

Have tyres, will fit ..... You can watch the videos first or read all about it, or both ;-) With the rest of my planning coming along nicely, I wanted to get an idea of what work was needed to sort the bodywork to make the tyres fit. Actually, I wasn't 100% certain the wheels are wide enough as they need to be 6" to 7.5" wide for the tyres to fit safely. So up Bub went on to pallets, wheels off and round to my mate's bike training school where there's a tyre fitting machine I could use. A redneck car ramp! I won't bore you with details but the old tyres were low profile and a pain to remove but the new tyres went on easily enough. It was only then I realised just how much bigger they were! The more observant will notice the bucket seats casually tossed into the back ... £100 the pair, saving over £150 on new. The masking tape is to help me visualise how much to trim off the back, if anything. Add caption Little Bro looks on while Big B...

Roll cages .... they're cool and they save your life but what options? I'm buying a Safety Devices bolt in rollcage because they have a fantastic reputation, they're reasonably priced and you can fit it yourself if you can weld (it may be 'bolt in' but you have to weld on strengthening and mounting plates) and hold a spanner. Why have one? Well, despite the obvious, this is an open top Beetle and I'm taking it into some rough stuff so the body could do with some cross bracing and I need somewhere to mount proper seat belts as opposed to the crap it has now. courtesy of safetydevices.com The Options Full cage (covers from windscreen to rear firewall) rear only (from behind the seats to the rear firewall) single diagonal brace (minimum) cross bracing (2 diagonals) harness bar (for fitting 4 point racing harnesses to) combination of the above lower bar is not a harness bar After much head rubbing and chin scratching I've decided that a ...

Yesterday, I was sitting looking admiringly at the photos of the car with the new tyres against it and I suddenly realised that while 235/75 is fine for the rear, it is probably too wide for the front and will make the steering very hard, put pressure on the steering box and reduce the turning circle... I need narrower fronts! I think I've made a mistake! Enter www.tiresize.com ... again I had choices 215/75 - 0.8" narrower but 1.2" smaller. A big drop in height for not enough width gain 205/70 - 1.2" narrower & 2.6" smaller. Great nose down look but not narrow enough? 195/80 - 1.6" narrower and 1.6" smaller. Certainly narrow enough but too low? This is a debate common in 4x4 competition circles where the limited choice of sizes means compromise on ground clearance v gearing. This doesn't compromise my gearing because Bub is rear wheel drive but will it screw my plans for sky high clearance? Out with the tape measure .... ...