My 1974 Type 181 THING build aka "Gus"

[Friedrich1985]

Happy New Owner of my 1st Air Cooled.
A good friend sold this to me, and it had sat for over 14 years.
rebuilt 1600cc dual port.
its going to be something special once im done with it just needs some TLC
here will be my scrape book ...

[LooseNuts]

i love these things. i will have one, one of these days.

[Friedrich1985]

attempted too start it with my father a week ago and realized real fast that the gas tank had a slow leak in the bottom, still cranked over nice and sounded strong...after that first modification had to be the gas tank








new gas lines and gas filter

[4supreme2gambino0]

Nice!

Are you gonna bring it back to the original color?

[justing1234]

this but in red... it would look SO MEAN.

[Friedrich1985]

Nice!

Are you gonna bring it back to the original color?

im so back and forth on the color right now, im not a fan of yellow so it wont be that, really not sure....and that beefed up wheelin THING is tuff.

[zzzdanz]

Had a Thing back in the 80's..Pounded the piss out of it out in the sand pits til she died.I just left her sitting there to become target practice for yrs. to come.

We used to pound on cars back then...If I only knew. I was working at an insurance auction/bone yard place and got all the VW's that came in for free..I must have killed at least a dozen GTI's and Rabbit diesels, never mind the AC's...ahhhh to be young again.

[justing1234]

you used to beat around in the coventry sand pits, didnt you?

[zzzdanz]

Nope, the old Easton Ma. pits and the old railroad tracks. The tracks where awesome for dirt bikes, quads, and beat'n the sheet out of cars.

[weaponized kitten]

Please take the fuel filter out of the engine bay and put it up near the tank. You don't want to burn your thing to the ground do you?

[LooseNuts]

^^^^^^^^^ yeah what he said

[Friedrich1985]

Please take the fuel filter out of the engine bay and put it up near the tank. You don't want to burn your thing to the ground do you?

o thanks, where is a better spot to put it? pics would be awesome, im new to this, so thanks for saying something otherwise id never know...went to the terryville bug in today and won first place in modified air cooled, in my aba swap mkII

[4supreme2gambino0]

[QUOTE=Friedrich1985;73051093]o thanks, where is a better spot to put it? pics would be awesome, im new to this, so thanks for saying something otherwise id never know...went to the terryville bug in today and won first place in modified air cooled, in my aba swap mkII[/QUOTE]

HUH??

[Friedrich1985]

opps well i ment watercooled obvio lol

[Friedrich1985]

well its been awhile since i updated this, and alot has changed, finally drove him down the road the other day! the best feeling, hands down in love with this car!! more modifications to come but for now im happy where its going.

[Friedrich1985]

well its been awhile since i updated this, and alot has changed, finally drove him down the road the other day! the best feeling, hands down in love with this car!! more modifications to come but for now im happy where its going.



My Friend Zack giving me a hand!









Gus Gets all the Love.

[TRSuper75]

I like it... Things are growing on me... I am a big fan of some kind of roll bar for those cars though, something about death by rollover, doesn't appeal to me... lol... I will have to check back on this build...

[buggyman]

I like it... Things are growing on me... I am a big fan of some kind of roll bar for those cars though, something about death by rollover, doesn't appeal to me... lol... I will have to check back on this build...

And seatbelts .

[MarshallGTi]

love it...

[Friedrich1985]

love it...

thanks means alot hopefully when more money comes in it will be looking even better

[gonzalezgurria]

cant wait to see it again dude nice work!!

[gmiang]

Excellent post.I want to thank you for this informative read, I really appreciate sharing this great post. Keep up your work.This looks absolutely perfect.
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khabar naak

I procrastinate a lot and never seem to get something done….

[Friedrich1985]

took my girlfriend to the drive-in the other night to see Ted! one of the best nights in a long time!

[Schell R32]

hey dude if you need anything in particular for that "thing" let me know,i have taken apart 3 to make one...got a bunch of stuff left.

T

[Friedrich1985]

hey dude if you need anything in particular for that "thing" let me know,i have taken apart 3 to make one...got a bunch of stuff left.

T

hey thanks for the offer, i do need a few little things..do you have the front chrome trim rings that go around the headlights? and looking to get some hubcaps for the wheels...also looking on help to lower the rear? don't know if you have any knowledge on that? i picked up front spindles off a 70's bug that will lower it three inches, thats what im going to be working on next thanks again means alot

[cfvwtuner]

Ya know Matt, you got one of the best resources right near you, the CVA guys. Tim will tell ya.

Dropping the rear is a piece of cake, I've done it multiple times.

The front though is more than just the spindles. Being a Thing, 2 of the control arms ( I forget if top or bottom ones) have the ball joint flipped around to help raise the car. So you will need to get the 2 bug control arms along with the spindles.

[Friedrich1985]

Ya know Matt, you got one of the best resources right near you, the CVA guys. Tim will tell ya.

Dropping the rear is a piece of cake, I've done it multiple times.

The front though is more than just the spindles. Being a Thing, 2 of the control arms ( I forget if top or bottom ones) have the ball joint flipped around to help raise the car. So you will need to get the 2 bug control arms along with the spindles.

hey! yea im actually a member of the CVA those guys rock! dammit now i need to find those control arms...do you have any pictures? working on a tight budget and love used parts lol...thanks for the help, its just sitting a little bit to high for my liking...i heard with the rear, you need some special tools because of the tension on the beam

[cfvwtuner]

I'm Chris with the green 77.

No special tools for the rear, other than a floor jack and a really expensive angle finder ($7 at home depot)
Ive dropped the rear a few times both IRS and swing.

I think you need the lower arms, as the bug ones point twards eachother.
Luckily all ball joint ones are the same

[Jacob Matthew]

Wow. Saw you were from CT but didn't really expect you to be so close until I saw that you were at the Mansfield Drive-in.

Awesome car man.

[Schell R32]

...yeah i have all that stuff i'm sure somewhere in the tent and upstairs and the shop.

...make plans for terryville in aug.

[ridgemanron]

I was hoping to see the spare tire bolted onto the sloped hood.

[Friedrich1985]

I'm Chris with the green 77.

No special tools for the rear, other than a floor jack and a really expensive angle finder ($7 at home depot)
Ive dropped the rear a few times both IRS and swing.

I think you need the lower arms, as the bug ones point twards eachother.
Luckily all ball joint ones are the same

Hey Chris thanks for the help maybe sometime this week or next week you could stop by and give me a hand? if you have time gonna put it up on jack stand tuesday after i go to a local get together. I live in Somers and my number is 860-463-7402 always nice when someone has done it before to guide you...plus i want it sitting nice for Terryville and Marks shows any help would be greatly appreciated, i supply food and beer

Wow. Saw you were from CT but didn't really expect you to be so close until I saw that you were at the Mansfield Drive-in.

Awesome car man.

Thanks man means alot, yea i grew up in stafford and live in somers currently, i had such a blast at the drive-ins trying to get more aircooleds to go and make it a weekly thing, def had alot of people stopping by to check it out.

...yeah i have all that stuff i'm sure somewhere in the tent and upstairs and the shop.

...make plans for terryville in aug.

thanks :-) do you have the said control arms for the front i would need aswell? i def want it sitting a little bit lower for terryville and for marks..dont mind paying you for what they are worth...thanks in advance

[Schell R32]

yep but they need joints....i have all four.

let me know if you want em.

i have a bunch of s--t for these things as i parted out 2 to make one....wheels,doors,femders blah blah perfect for your ride but not for the customers i have..they tend to go a little over the top.

[Friedrich1985]

yep but they need joints....i have all four.

let me know if you want em.

i have a bunch of s--t for these things as i parted out 2 to make one....wheels,doors,femders blah blah perfect for your ride but not for the customers i have..they tend to go a little over the top.

thanks for helping me out, i def want them name your price and ill take those off your hands, if i need them to go low, i have to have them. i would def like to look through what you have for extra parts maybe i will take a ride out to you tomorrow i have the day off. where in Rhode Island are you? over doing it is a good thing for some cars, for me he will get there someday. I saw your boosted black beauty at Oktober Fest last year....purely amazing man great work!!! best part was when you where scraping the front when backing it up on the trailer...fast and low

[Friedrich1985]

little cruise with a good friend today