V8 Irish Volksrod

[KnK]

Well, I've been reading this forum for a few years now but finally have a reasonable excuse to start posting as I've just started my long awaited Volksrod Project! My name is John and I hail from the little but well know island of Ireland...please no Paddy Jokes!!!

Anyway, I've been building Kit-cars and Hot Rods for a number of years and have built a few Kitcars based on the Beetle chassis but I've always had the urge to built a Volksrod, but not just any Volksrod...it has to have a V8! For some strange reason I've become a "V8-aholic" lately and everything I touch gets the V8 treatment!

As well as being a massive VW fan the Volksrod made perfect sense and seeing as I had some spare time as other projects were on hold I thought I would get a good start at it over the Xmas season.

My plan is to chop, channell and shorten the Beetle body which will mount onto a homemade chassis with Independent Suspension all round. I want to mount the V8 up front and use a Ford Model 'B' grille and bonnet instead of the Beetle bonnet.

Here's what I've being doing over the last few days:

1 unused and forgotten Beetle



We Irish aren't the best when it comes to safety!
Honestly we had to work quick as the bar holding the rear up was slowly bending!


No need to even take the car off the trailer!

[KnK]

Once I had the majority of body parts cuts away I mocked up some wheels, squinted my eyes and said...Yes...i'm heading in the right direction!









From this moment on I am now dedicated to this Project!

[KnK]

The next step was too Mock-up the Body over a Ford Model 'A' chassis I had out back, (another project on my must do list!). The chassis uses all running gear from a Ford Granada Scorpio. Because I want to run the body close to the ground I originally thought about modifying this chassis but instead I've opted to make a new chassis following the same principles but with 'Z'ed chassis rails and a slight alteration to the rear end.



Sitting NICE!!!


Can't wait to chop it!


You can see in the next picture the height of the Chassis rails are too high and would result in a floor level that after I chop the roof I would need to be lying down inside the car!

[KnK]

Once I was truly happy with the way the Body sat on the Model 'A' chassis I then set about making up my new chassis rails from 100x50 box section. I also decided that in order to get the side proportions correct as in engine compartment versus Beetle Body, I would make my new chassis rails about 200mm longer than the Model 'A' rails. I figured it was better to add a little now than later!










Front Crossmember cut out

[KnK]

Basic chassis rails sitting at my preferred ride height, 5 inches at the front and 6 inches to the rear. Just enough to give a slight rake.







Rear axle laid out on floor with chassis rails


You can see in the next picture that my initial mounts for the rear axle are too low. The axle is currently sitting at the correct height with the wheels I am going to use so I'll have to modify my plans to keep the body sitting at the height I prefer.


Engine mocked up in place to gauge difference in height between rear diff and centre of flywheel. (No gearbox available at this point unfortunately)




At this stage I always think its best to work out my sitting position and bulk head position. I'm planning to use a Bench seat rather than two individual seats. At this point i'm glad I extended the rails a little as it seems to be working out just nicely.

[KnK]

Did a quick Photoshop just to give you all an idea of what i want to achieve.



I want shorten the length of the body in order to give a kind of Coup look with a smaller rear quarter window. I'm going to remove about 4inches from the roof, not excessive by any means but I think it will look proportion and not too flat. I plan on removing the 'B' pillar completely and installing a retractable window frame so I can have both front and rear side windows working on electric motors. Also, my sitting position is going to be a little back than normal as i'm going to lose the front bulk head so in effect i'll probably be looking out the rear side window more than usual!

[KnK]

Hope everyone had a good Christmas yesterday!

Anyway, made some progress on the chassis today and in particular the repositioning of the rear axle mounts. Unfortunately during the day I ran to take a leak and my camera fell straight out of my pocket and into the toilet! Pity it didn't happen a couple of days ago as I could of asked for one for Christmas! So, now I'll have to go buy another one to get more pics of the build!

Also got my gearbox or tranny as you say on your side of the pond mounted to the engine and its looking like i'm gonna have a reasonably small tunnell inside the car...happy days!

Seeing as I have no new pictures to post of the build I thought I'd show you guys some of my other VW's I built.

First is my Nova Kit-car based on a '69 Beetle chassis.




The second is my Karma Dino based on a '72 Beetle Chassis




The third is my T25 Bus...which is getting the Audi V8 treatment soon!

[KnK]

Altered the rear mounting points for the rear axle so the chassis rails sit just were I want them and gives a slight camber in the wheels unlike most cars lowered too exessive which have too much camber for my liking! :D

[KnK]

Once I had the rear axle mounting points sorted I began trying to get the Chassis square so it wouldn't crab down the road! Best way was to make a JIG using an 8ftx4ft 18mm MDF sheet which I marked out the exact shape required to be 100% sure the finished chassis would be square.








Once I had the chassis rails in the JIG I tack welded some temporary cross bars to keep it square. Then I took the jig of the stands and back on the floor with the rear axle bolted to it. The plan is to leave the JIG in place as long as possible and add to it as the chassis is being built. This way I can build another chassis again quickly from scratch if desired!

[KnK]

With two of the three rear axle points sorted, the third point, the Diff mounting point will have to wait a while as I ran out of 100x50 box section!
So, I moved onto the front Crossmember and installed the fixing points for the lower 'A' Arm.

Drilled out a 26mm hole completely through the Crossmember on both sides.




26mm Solid Bar cut into 4 lengths, 2 long and 2 short. The longer ones will support the lower 'A' Arm while the shorter 2 will support the upper 'A' Arms.

Tapered the ends slightly to take away the sharp finish

Drilled out the centre to 11.5mm bit with a depth of around 45mm

1/2 inch Imperial Tap



Finshed bars installed into Crossmember

Crossmember installed into position in JIG and tack welded.

[KnK]

Started work on the front mounting brackets for the Upper 'A' Arms and the Shock fixing point.

Firstly I did a drawing of my desired shape


Then plasma cut the shape out 4 times from 6mm plate steel, 2 for either side


Tack welded the first bracket in place...


Then the second...


Next, I tack welded the short 26mm steel rod which I drilled and taped earlier to hold the Upper 'A' Arm in place.


Bolted up the lower 'A' Arm with ball joint


Upper 'A' arm installed with the Granada Hub and Disc also in place


Coil-over Shock fixed in place


Finished front passenger side mocked up and looking good


Gotta repeat the procedure now for the other side.

[KnK]

Almost a Rolling Chassis now! :twisted:











Next, I gotta finish off the rear Diff mounting point and then start fabricating engine and gearbox mounts.

[KnK]

Update....
Did a bit more work on the rear chassis section which will hold the Diff in place and will also provide fixing points for the Rear Shocks, petrol tank etc.

Rear Axle before starting


100x50 Box Section being cut


Two newly formed upstands


Because the Beetle body Tapers alot to the rear I needed to Taper the chassis rails too so I cut an angle from the Rear Axle mounting point so the new upstands would taper towards the Diff.

[KnK]

Once I had the Rear Chassis Section formed I mark the position of the holes for fixing of the Diff.

Cut some 10mm Plate into two pieces.


Placed the 2 pieces over the mounting holes on the Diff mount.


Placed the Rear Chassis Section in place over the two pieces.


Welded the pieces in place


Drilled four 9.5mm holes in plate


Used an M10x1.5 Tap to put a thread for an M10 bolt


Four M10's which screw in nicely


Finished Rear Section lying upside down on the floor


Rear section installed and Diff bolted in place.

[KnK]

The project has taken a slight redirection in the form of engine choice. I had originally planned on using a Rover 3.5l V8 (Buick engine in the U.S.). I know, not a fancy looking V8 engine by american standards but fairly common over this side of the pond! Anyway, that went out the window and off I went to pick up a new Donor car, a Lexus LS400, 4.0l 32 valve V8!!!

Bought a whole running car in good condition, too good to part out but what the heck. The plan is to use all the luxury mods as possible in the build and not just the engine alone!

Lexus LS400 - 4.0l V8

[KnK]

Decided I'm definitely going with a Model 'B' grille

[KnK]

Here's a mock-up of the old rusted shell as a last chance to measure before chopping and shortening the new donor shell. :twisted:

[KnK]

The new Donor Shell up on 'A' frames ready for bracing and marking chop lines.




The plan is to shorten the overall length by 10 inches. This will be a combination of 4 inches from the rear quarter panel and 6 inches from relocating the rear window along with a 4 inches drop in roof height.


Temporary cross bracing added

[KnK]

Cutting lines marked up.


4 inches taken from the rear quarters


'A' and 'B' pillars cut and front section removed leaving rear and roof complete.


Front Section


Front and Rear Sections split.


Front and Rear sections rejoined without the removed 4 inches

[KnK]

Roof and 'C' pillar removed




Roof


Roof skin removed


6 inches removed from the rear window rail and the roof refitted as shown. You can now see the roof has moved a complete 10 inches in total.


Roof cut in two and the front screen chopped by 4 inches.


Starting to take shape

[KnK]

Got some more work done on the body...

'C' pillar moved forward 6inches




Roof slid back down 'C' pillar about 4inches to match the front windscreen drop. In doing this The rear window drops lower and the rear of the body becomes wider. I will eventually chop out the rear window and grill and insert the new oval window clip.














Originally wanted to drop the roof more but I'm a little worried that I will not have enough head height if I drop it too far. My problem is that I want to hide the 100x50 chassis rails inside the body which will mean I will have a 4inch raised floor when you open the door. Overall I'm happy with shape as its fairly close to my Sketch drawing!

[KnK]

Picked up my new rear shocks on sunday morning so made up some brackets to mount and finish off the rear end.

Cut off a piece from the 100x50 box section




Then cut that section in half to form 2 'U' brackets




Rounded off the edges


Drilled 12mm holes


New shocks with the 4 mounting brackets

[KnK]

Also made some headway on my engine mounts today...
I've designed them to form a cross member to strengthen the main chassis rails and at the time of designing them I wasn't sure where exactly the engine was going to be placed so I made them adjustable as the chassis rails splay from front to back.

This is the main shape...




Both sides formed and ready to be located in chassis


View from the front

[KnK]

With the engine sitting on the mounts it was impossible to get the Lexus Oil Filter back on as the chassis rails were too close. As you may remember my original engine choice was the Rover V8 and my main rails were designed around that engine but if I was to do it again with the lexus in mind I'd do it completely different! :lol:

Anyway...after a bit of research I found out that Renault have the same thread as the Lexus so I pulled off an old Oil Filter I had lying out the back stuck to a Renault 5 Turbo block and it fit nicely. Off I went and bought a new one and as you can see the fit is still very tight with only about 15mm gap...lucky enough the lexus is a very smooth engine so fingers crossed it doesn't knock off the rails! :P

[KnK]

Also started working on the tunnel, so first thing was to secure the Gearbox mount in position.



I first cut a rectangular shape from 6mm plate


Then marked and drilled the 4 locating holes and bolted the mount to the plate.


Next a slice was made on the underside (opposite side to bend) enough to make the 6mm plate flexible


Bent both sides until they formed the same shape as the mount


Weld up the 'V' cuts formed from bending


Rebolt the Mount with plate to the Gearbox and add some 50x25 box section from the main chassis rails to hold the mount. I will adding some extra support brackets to the underneath of the box section in due coarse