My 65 Bug A.K.A The Ugly Duck

[1low65vw]

Comin along nicd man. Love the trans raise..

thanks loose. it started out us not doing a trans raise, then went to doing a 1" but ended up with a 2".

[enfamy]

bare with me i have some newbie questions.. as i havent done anything to the rear of my bug yet..

the trans raise, do you do this to raise engine to clear the road?

the bus nose cone whats the purpose of this? is it a direct swap?

and finally where do you get the trans raise bracket?

looks great, cant wait to do this on mine!

[1low65vw]

bare with me i have some newbie questions.. as i havent done anything to the rear of my bug yet..

the trans raise, do you do this to raise engine to clear the road?

the bus nose cone whats the purpose of this? is it a direct swap?

and finally where do you get the trans raise bracket?

looks great, cant wait to do this on mine!

Hey enfamy. The point of the trans raise is to lessen the camber on the wheels when you go really low or in my case bagged and wanting to pretty much lay pan. Without the raise if you go more then 2 clicks in the rear you have massive camber and run the risk of damaging vital parts in the trans. With the raise you can go those 2-3 clicks and not be as cambered. I would recommend a 1" or a 2" raise. If you go 3 or 4 there is alot more work to be done.

The purpose of the bus nose cone is to keep the shift rod in the shift tunnel. The bus nose drops the shift fork. It is a direct swap.

I purchased my kit and bus nose cone from lowbugget.com It was a 1" kit but we modified it to a 2". There is a couple of other places to get the nose cone but i can not remember exactly where.

[LooseNuts]

bare with me i have some newbie questions.. as i havent done anything to the rear of my bug yet..

the trans raise, do you do this to raise engine to clear the road?

the bus nose cone whats the purpose of this? is it a direct swap?

and finally where do you get the trans raise bracket?

looks great, cant wait to do this on mine!

Get the brackets from Johnny he is the best.. tell him I sent you..

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifie...php?id=1030023

You can get the nose cone from any ACVW store. Its as direct fit, you use your hokey stick and redimple it to work.

There are lots of mods to do this work. if your a beginner this is not recommended without extensive research and skills.

[1low65vw]

Get the brackets from Johnny he is the best.. tell him I sent you..

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifie...php?id=1030023

You can get the nose cone from any ACVW store. Its as direct fit, you use your hokey stick and redimple it to work.

There are lots of mods to do this work. if your a beginner this is not recommended without extensive research and skills.

damn i wish i would have known about that before we made mine. this is my first trans raise so i guess we are doing good so far.

[1low65vw]

Couple of random pics i took last night.





Mock up

[1low65vw]

Here is a little guessing game I thought I would start to spice up this thread.

What is this being made for?

[LooseNuts]

damn i wish i would have known about that before we made mine. this is my first trans raise so i guess we are doing good so far.

I learnded after I made my first one too.


The progress looks good mang...

[1low65vw]

I learnded after I made my first one too.


The progress looks good mang...

Thank ya there good sir. I'm ready to see some progress like this on the 64 buddy.

[LooseNuts]

its coming.

[LooseNuts]

Here is a little guessing game I thought I would start to spice up this thread.

What is this being made for?

[1low65vw]

Progress as it happens.

[1low65vw]

And another. Thanks pops!

[1low65vw]

some more progress pics.





PBR, the only way to build a bug

[LooseNuts]

Nice work mang.

[1low65vw]

Nice work mang.

Some more progress pics with the bags.

[LooseNuts]

sick progress mang...



one constructive opinion. i would weld some square stock from the third side round to the frame horn for a three point connection. the way you have it now it going to flex when airing up

[1low65vw]

Thats our plan. After that i will be ordering some shocks from airkewld, getting some fittings and running the air line.

[LooseNuts]

airkweld? i like Peter and all but dang you gotta spending money there




have you researched what you need to save some money?

[1low65vw]

airkweld? i like Peter and all but dang you gotta spending money there




have you researched what you need to save some money?

im still going to look around but so far i just thought of them first since they have the exact sizes i need.

[LooseNuts]

Do a search on thesamba under monro shocks. There has been hours of talk about the sizing. And you will get them for half what airkweld sells them for.

[1low65vw]

I will certainly look into that. Any money saved will help due to a new baby on the way. Should be finishing up the fab work this week so i will try to get some vids of the suspension in action.

[1low65vw]

A little bit more progress so far.

[1low65vw]

Been a little bit since I updated this. Haven't taken any pics of the progress but here is what I have done so far.

The pan is now painted.
Painted and installed the spring plates.
Rebuilt and detailed the pedal assembly.
Detailed ye' old empi shifter.
Welded lower shock mounts on and repainted the beam.
New shift rob bushing installed.

Next on the list is to put new seals on the trans and detail it. New brakes front and rear. Run the new brake lines and install new m/c. Run all air lines and finally make it a rolling chassis.

[1low65vw]

Damn it's been a while since I updated this. Got some things done. I would have more done but I have been buying baby stuff for the little one on the way. Anyway's, here are some pics.

[D-Gti vr6]

bad assssss love it!!!!!!!

[barryf1fan]

WOW!! Just read your thread, nice work man - you and your dad have some serious skill.

After seeing where you've taken the Ugly Duck, I for one am glad you had your little "fender bender". Thanks for sharing the progress. Inspirational!

[1low65vw]

bad assssss love it!!!!!!!

Thank you good sir.

WOW!! Just read your thread, nice work man - you and your dad have some serious skill.

After seeing where you've taken the Ugly Duck, I for one am glad you had your little "fender bender". Thanks for sharing the progress. Inspirational!

Thanks barry. That means alot. Now that I think back I am kind of glad it got wrecked. The front clip that was on it was done incorrectly along with having 2 different fenders. It gave me the chance to correct all of that and to tend to the rust in the firewall from the poorly done pan half.

I am trying to get some more things done this week before the baby is born. Stay tuned.

[1low65vw]

Its been almost a month since I have updated this. Not much has gone on since the baby arrived but I have got some things done.Got the front backing plates apart and detailed with new brake shoes and hardware. New steel braided brake lines. Finally got the trans tore some what down to replace a couple of seals.















Damn, looks like a need a new axle.

[dunkelxson]

If u don't mind me asking how much do u have invested in the air I'm this bug cuz I'm looking and from what I can see its a simple setup that seams like its more dedication then money

[1low65vw]

If u don't mind me asking how much do u have invested in the air I'm this bug cuz I'm looking and from what I can see its a simple setup that seams like its more dedication then money

I really don't have that much into the suspension itself. Maybe $400. The front beam took about 2 months from start to finish and the rear maybe a month. So yea more dedication then money.

[dunkelxson]

Did u Use plans for this or what

[1low65vw]

Did u Use plans for this or what

I seen the front setup on a type 3 beam so we figured we would try that. The lower bars or the rear setup are some what based of the bars from airkewld. The upper brakets were inspired by minitruck setups.

[dunkelxson]

nice im trying to design a set up for my super but its hard

[basti-FSI]

diggin the process. kep it up. nice work