A turbo will do it, seriously. Those things are so light as it is... something like a 1900 with boost will kick your ass. My '59 was a 1641 and it hauled. :yes: Never had any wheel hop at all, but I had a racing tranny and clutch in it so that helped. Also had a traction bar too. Damit that thing was fun.

:dunno:

 

Odd my title said it was a 54. I never even thought about it before, must have been a chop in rear roof piece.

Oh well that car didn't last long anyways because I traded it after a month for a 21 window micro bus with no engine.

 

Did you happen to check the vin on the pan to see what year that was? It was just behind the access panel to the shift linkage where it met the tranny. Although, more than likely the pan was of another car because all of the original beetle pans were interchangable and they were the first to go to rust and whatnot. I know my pan was of a different year than the body. Regardless, a 10 sec oval is :boink:

 

Yeah may have been a pan swap hadn't thought of that, I just wanted an oval and wasn't too concerned with the VIN matching to it

The 10 second car was my 58 big window and also the Bug I owned the longest (2 years) while I also had others I bought and sold during that ownership.

 

h:

I read that... I really did. :happysad:

Very cool, John. :goodjob:

 

http://www.1302super.com/
Thats not correct sir, the super beetle was produced from 1971-1974 the first year was a flat winshield, then they got curved in the last years of production. Having been to Mexico in 1998 and renting a 1997 VW bug which had a ball joint front torsion beam.

The only thing that made a super beetle different was the front frame head and mcphearson front struts and front clip which VW wanted to make the car ride a little better and give more cargo carrying ability.

Kinda ironic is the super beetle had the strongest mainshaft in the transmission to build a strong gearbox with out having to go to a BUS tranny.
The late model bugs also had the best crank case for building a strong motor with 190+ HP

The crank case would get even better in 1975 with no fuel pump boss and AS21 magnesium casting for durabilty.

I had alot of VW's they are fun but the nickle and dime you to death

1954 oval
1954 late oval
1956 Ghia
1961 bug
1962 ragtop
1963 ragtop
1966 bug
1967 bug
1969 bug
1971 super beetle
1976 bug

and many more that where used for parts, my 1961 bug had a 1900cc Gene Berg motor and 15x6 porsche alloys.

My 1963 ragtop had the same motor with flat fout BRM's 356B porsche brakes and limited slip diff and many other cool parts

 

You will note wagon89 that I said it ran up until 70 which means the 1970 model year would be the end of it. Personally anything past 68 is a waste of time IMO.

As for the design change it started much earlier with the switch in taillight housings to the larger design which I was never a fan of and culminating in the monstrosity that was used on the Beetle.

The Beetles case was pretty solid but nothing could ever beat the Bus transaxle for sheer ability to take abuse. I know they meant well to switch to the strut assembly but it was a bastardazation of the vehicle as a whole and I really never found it to be an improvement in ride quality really. I know it was supposed to be but it was minimal at best in my book.

You had the BRMs??? damn I used to always want those but the cost for them is ridiculous. either those or the Porsche cookie cutters

 

Yeah they where Flat four replicas still cost alot back then, the 356B brakes I bought at the pomona swapmeet for $125.00 I would later find out from Gary Emory in Oregon they where worth over $1200+. My 1963 also had a factory locking steering wheel which was very rare and not to be confused with the late model bugs setup. the car also had 48IDA webers that had been bored out by Gene Berg Ent to 51 mm if I recall the motor had Carillo connecting rods all the good stuff. That car is now in Norway

You can make a late model bug kick ass I helped my friend build a 1971 Baja with a Wright front end widened and lengethed rear control arms. we swaped the ball joint frame head to a link pin style 1965 early in 1966 they went to ball joint. Link pins you can get more travel.

Late bugs great for Baja 1969 up because of IRS rear suspension
Early bugs street cars 1967 down

 

this makes a lot mo' sense

 

Well.. since we're going into it. :reechy:

I modded some Type3 brake backing plates to fit my beetle so I was able to upgrade the rear brakes to the monsterous Type3 rear drums (in comparison to the beetle drums). I'll have to dig up pics of my build. It was so nice. I had the whole pan powdercoated, 3" narrowed beam w/ front adjusters and 2.5" dropped spindles... man, you guys are making me miss that car.