The Cal-look Lounge

So my '68 is almost finish. It's time to build something else.

I don't start this project the common way as it is most a Puzzle than a complete car.  :-\ But I try to find the best parts I can.

I first buy a '60 deluxe sedan which is completely rusted. And as I don't have the skills to repair it now, I tried to find a better body. I  finally found a '58 one on ebay in very good shape.
But a 58 is not exactly the same as a '60... And I will have a perfectly restored 60... So I decide to complete the 58 and built it as a cal looker. The '60 will be another project when I will have better coachwork skills. (I would like to have a "pre cal look").

The main lines of the project are. Dechromed, Anodized Fuchs in 5.5 and 6", Red interior with Empi Style Buckets, Engine? Color? Are not decided. I really love to have a Mirror black one, but I've seen an hot rod with a red interior and painted in a kind of mango green. The classical Savannah beige is also an option...( If somebody have a pictures of a green bug with a red interior? )

The chassis I found is a 71 IRS. Why a late IRS one on a early Cal look bug? I plan to drive the car hard and alot. And as here in Europe we have more Rally's and Sprint than Drag Racing, I hope I can have a dual purpose of this bug simply by changing the wheels and suspension settings. I will have a set of wheels with wider and lower profile for race track uses and another classical big'n little combo for cal look and drag racing uses.
I think I will use Porsche 924s front brakes and CSP rear Disc.
It is not the common Cal look set up but I hope it will give me some pleasure to drive.  ;)

I've start yesterday to work on. I don't know how many times it will take me to finish the car.  ???


Some pictures of the mess I have to put together to have something to drive  ;D

the body.
The doors.
the wheels. They are late flat 6" . The orginal anodised is perfect on it. I just have to respray it flat black. I need to find some 5.5.
And the buckets. They are the same as Fabian "Speedweel". And they are red, not pink as the picture suppose  ;D  :P

And this is what we did yesterday.

Sand blasting of the chassis to eliminate all the rust. I will have to change the passenger floor, but the rest is OK.
I put a coat of epoxy primer on it.



This is how it looks before.
the clean look of bare metal.
And with a coat of epoxy.
My friend Jean-Phillipe " Tatou ". Is treating a '67 chassis with a metallic coating. I didn't do it on mine.

cool j-f , another great project in da werks  ;)
let me know if you want some help or other thing

fabs

Looks promising! Nice plans...

Thanks Buddy.   ;) and you know if you need help with your gearbox or have a beer, just give me call  ;)

Nice project 8)
Keep us updated!

Good luck for your new project, it sounds good ! A 58 with semaphores, the perfect bug for me !

COOL - nice new project dude  ;D

I like ALOT of your ideas  ;) :)

Congrats j-f !
Hope to see it to EBI #3
And please don't hesitate to share pics.
Cheers, 

EBI 3 is a little to close I think.  :-\

In fact, it depends of my motivation  :D

Cool project :) Why not run the 14x5.5" Fuchs in the front, with the late 15x6" in the back? The 15x5.5's are early 901 part number wheels, and are quite spendy- plus the faces are shaped differently than the later wheels. The 14x5.5's look more like the late 15x6's, and it will give you a little more sidewall for a better ride, as well. Just a thought ;)

I really gone like this project,a cal-look with "HANDLING".,really daring to be different.  :o
When it's ready,I hope to see you than on the Belgian VW Club trackday at the circuit in Zolder.  ;)
(that was yesterday).Good luck with the project.

I don't have think use 14" alloys. I have 5.5" on my 68 with 6" in the rear and I'm really happy with, that's why I plan to use the same wheels combo on this car. The tires combo I will use is 155/15 and 185/15. Classic and easy to find. For rallies and slalom action, I think I would go with 195/50/15 front and 195/65 rear. Maybe race slick if I go on race track.

Which tires combo do you suggest with 14 and 15" wheels? I will have to lower it more with 14" to have a nice stance, no? Who was ridding a bug with 14" front spider wheels?



Why not, I went with Pasco and Ludo Close some weeks ago on the Francorchamps Race track. I make some laps in the passenger seats of there race 1303 bug. That was really amazing.  :o
It really glue on the track, despite the tires where 6 years old...

I choose to build the car this way because as I explain in my first post, they're is more rallies, sprint and slalom then drag racing here.
But, I don't want to have a real race car or a german look... Just a nice looker that kick ass and can also take some curbs at high speed   :D I hope it is possible to have the best of both world  ;)

(http://blogsimages.skynet.be/images_v2/002/548/818/20081021/dyn006_original_640_480_jpeg_2548818_9355a4b2db5e3b6de050e46c0882cd91.jpg)

(http://blogsimages.skynet.be/images_v2/002/548/818/20081021/dyn006_original_640_480_jpeg_2548818_16d2bd05d470af4d05a2906e5de9f1d1.jpg)

Yep J-F,I have had the same experience on the Zolder racetrack last year,with the race bugs from ABP-racing.  :o
(a 1303 with 2276,& a 1200 with 1915).Fun indeed.  ;)

Close race bug has a 2.4l type4 build by Weithal (not sure of the spelling) in Germany. Gearbox is a 915 I think, all Porsche 944 turbo brakes with aluminium rear arms, custom made shocks etc etc.

I was really impress how safe you feel in this car. Even at +200km/h.  :o :o

The blue one below the Close Bug is the one of Bernard Cornet. It's our Belgian gearbox prime minister  ;D ;D

You don't have to lower it more, you just use a taller tire (that's where the better ride comes in). In the end, the 14" wheel and tire will be the same height as the 15". I would use something like a 185/65/14 and 195/65/15 or 205/65/15.

isn't that a bit wide for the front?

It isn't too wide. You could go with a 175, or maybe even a 165, but I'm not sure what aspect ratios you guys have avaliable over there to get the right height.

We can have 175/70/14 or even 165/80/14.  :) With 185/80 or 70  or 195/65 I think it should be nice.

Those idea of 14" wheels sounds good but I wonder how it will look.  :)

I've order some sheet of metal to repair the passenger floor. Maybe some work for this weekend.  ;D

j-f you will recognize thz site were i took the picture  ;D ;D
that car had  4  14" fuchs

Looks great  8) What kind of tires where on?
(What are you doing on saturday? I will go take some parts from VDB. )

work by night  tomorrow till next thursday
but if you want you can come here in the afternoon call me friday afternoon if you want

So, as I had some times today to work on, I have change the passenger floorpan.

Easy job in fact.

(http://blogsimages.skynet.be/images_v2/002/548/818/20081130/dyn006_original_600_800_jpeg_2548818_1d5f4cc078c29669940de5612761bb9e.jpg)

I first plan to only change the rear part of the floor to keep as much as possible of the original one. But the front was more rusted than expected and in change all the floor pan.

I first cut all the old floor pan.

(http://blogsimages.skynet.be/images_v2/002/548/818/20081130/dyn006_original_800_600_jpeg_2548818_d476403ddbcceabe8c9a8a70f81739bf.jpg)

Then, with a hammer and a chissel, I remove the rest of the floor pan

(http://blogsimages.skynet.be/images_v2/002/548/818/20081130/dyn006_original_800_600_jpeg_2548818_597820de2e34263cc918b7ea5c01f33b.jpg)

Clean all the parts and make some holes with a punching machine.

(http://blogsimages.skynet.be/images_v2/002/548/818/20081130/dyn006_original_800_600_jpeg_2548818_6f5856b94fde7983b723b22d3e2eb552.jpg)

And weld all in place.  ;)

(http://blogsimages.skynet.be/images_v2/002/548/818/20081130/dyn006_original_570_539_jpeg_2548818_6800f95199c3113fcd7c5bec5b5e2925.jpg)

But I have some welding issue.  :-\ The new part is so thin and of poor quality steel that is difficult to weld it correctly. And it puts out of shape quickly  >:( >:(

Either one of those sizes would look and work great. I would use 175/70/14's in the front with the 185/80/15's in the back. Since the 14's are 5.5" wide, and the 15's are 6" wide, it will give you proper matching sidewall "buldge" front to rear ;)
You may want to check first if there are any clearance issues with 14's and dropped spindles and/or disc brakes if you plan on using them...

I think It will be a problems as I will use drop spindles on a ball joint chassis with 924s brakes  :-\

Yep, it will. So nevermind! ::)

To me those are 14 on the front but 15 at the back...

And 14's on a bug don't look very hot, you might as well get replicas 15...

thank you again!!!

14's are not cool. at first you don't notice, but when you know...  :-[

so here is an option: cookiecutters in 6 and 7 inch wide.

great for handling because off the wide tire and they don't look that ugly as everyone says. in fact they look good.




how did you get in those cars? i have been hoping for that for years.  ;D

Hi Nicolas,I know the Swa(from ABP) for a long time,and he asked if I was interested,so.......
and I can tell you,it's awesome.
btw,I haven't had time to visit you,but I will come.  ;)

same here, very busy. JF i really need to stop by to your place as well. i still have useless beer in my fridge.  ;D

so Cookies it is then  ::)

As you  know, winter is the most busy part of the year for me, so not so much time to spend with friends  :-\
But, I'm always open for some beer.   ;D Maybe to a Christmas market? We plan to go to Aachen or Maastricht  ;)

Cookies are an option and as they are quite cheap, I will find some just to test. But I really want some anodised Fuchs.

There is another kind of wheels that are not common on a looker but I like quite well. BBS wheels...Please don't kill me but I really wonder how they will look with the right offset on a cal look?
What do you think about? Ugly?
 Do you have some pics of a bug with these kind of wheels?

euhhhhhhhh next ::) ::) ::) ::)

Don't worry j-f,you won't be killed!!!!  ;D  ;D

Ok ok, that was just an idea  :-* :-* ;)


Are you sure?  ::)  ;)
When Fabian will come to clean his gearbox, I'm sure he will first hit me with a sway bar  :D :D

No work done, just clean Speedwell's gearbox and have fun with the bug on the wet and slippy Belgian's road  ;) ;) ;D

nice afternoon j-f and thx for the cleaning job  ;)
fabs