1972 Vw lil bugger - serious body sag advice needed - VIDEO ADDED

[M & J]

I can weld. I can weld!!!!!

[Stripe]

 :)rotflmao

[Thenoob]

I bet u can weld...
Want the bugger?

Lolz, taking a day off from it to get my thoughts together on it... Don't want to cheap fix it... If it means removing the shell and re doing the project in aluminum then so be it

But Christ that's a ton of work!

[Stripe]

But FUN work!
And think of the pride in ownership you'll have then..

[M & J]

Want... Absolutely. More like want one..
However this is your project. The ability to assist you through here is good enough for me.

Until I find one of my own that is........

[Froggy1936]

Have you thought thru the waterboxer installation (The veh that they came from had a radiator up frt)  Frank i??

[M & J]

I saw that Froggy. Hoped it was a typo. A 2.0 ltr bus engine might work but my buggy has a 1915 in it and it has tons of power. Biggest you can go without a stroker motor $$$$$$.

[Thenoob]

Well I have a solid waterboxer, 2.1.  With the design of this camper there is lots if room for the rad/fan where the engine is housed.  The 2.1 will bolt right in just need to change the flywheel to a 215mm. I feel the need because living in BC and planning on taking it camping there's these things called the Rocky Mountains that would be a challenge for an old aircooled.

I already have the small rad... Could always do what everybody else does and put it in the "frunk"

Been digesting it all day going through it and looks like best option is a full frame rebuild in aluminum.  If I want it for a long time then it's the best choice.  I'll just have to take my time.

I do have to original plans and all the drawings so if I can find a good welder who can build off plans that will help...because I'm just not a good welder/Fabber to tackle it.

Kinda bummed about it BUT I know how awesome it will look when it's all done.

[Thenoob]

Here's a detailed video I just shot so you can see in depth what the issue is.

What I see now after sitting on it is to remove the outer shell and rebuild the bottom end.  Above the floor is totally dry and straight throughout rest of camper.

http://youtu.be/MVKv0LhvOB4

Thoughts?

[DonD]

I would take the camper apart piece by piece, photo/vid everything, label everything and rebuild on a new, solid foundation. Order the plans too. The end results would be awesome.

And next video, move the camera more slowly   

[joev]

[Thenoob]

Haha yeah cooooool!

The ones I got are the actual copies of the blueprints.. There's 17 pages of diagrams of how to really build it

That's a shot of the popular mechanics magazine print!!  Awesome!

[M & J]

I'm now looking for one to own. Reach out anytime if theres anything I can do.

[ClydesdaleKevin]

As a former air cooled VW enthusiast when I was a lot younger, if you were going to build one of these from scratch, I think you'd be much better off starting with a factory convertible bug as your donor vehicle.  They already have the supports welded in all along the rocker panels to make up for the missing roof.  Way stronger structurally as a beginning platform.

Kev

[Stripe]

Gimme a bit or two and I'll have this framed out to give you a visual aid.

[Thenoob]

Hahahahah awesome
You'd need a serious Vw engine to pull that sucker!!!

Aircooled wouldn't survive!!  Somebody was smoking some good stuff when they thought up this idea

[M & J]

Well, he's in Seattle so. You can guess.

[Froggy1936]

As Kev said a convertable floor pan will have extra support along the side rails . Standard beetle floor pans are still available i beleive Convertable ?? After seeing original plans i better understand what they did I thought they had cut the pan and extended it . A new floor pan could be reinforced with square tubeing pretty easily . Transferring the cowl is not that difficult . Or it could be spliced in right at the seats The only thing that has to be accurate is the shift tube All the cables can be made up as needed   Look on line for suppliers of parts . Frank  Hm?

[M & J]

Pans are the same for a sedan or vert. Verts have an extra strength member along and with the heater channels. Verts alsonhave additional sheet metal in the front and rear panels.

[ClydesdaleKevin]

I saw a picture of a Bug somewhere that had a roof rack with a trailer ball on it...if I remember right it was towing a small fifth wheel!

Kev

[DaveVA78Chieftain]

Here you go Kevin



http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=56XL0TysIn0

[UK-Winnie]

That's uber cool

..............and I thought mine was sagging a bit !

How about lifting the whole thing, like on one of those scissor lifts or something, then prop the shell evenly all round and gently lower the chassis ?

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Thanks Dave!  That's the one I saw!

Kev

[moonlitcoyote]

OMG I want that one Dave so totally awesome!!!

Thenoob, I want yours too! If I had a shop to work in, I would disassemble the entire house one wall at a time. Just like they do when they have to replace a wall. Then take the floor off, fix the frame work then re-assemble. It would get a new floor and any walls that were soft would get new wood also. That is worth a total rebuild.

[Oz]

I saw a picture of a Bug somewhere that had a roof rack with a trailer ball on it...if I remember right it was towing a small fifth wheel!

Kev

It was on our home page for several months.