I'm building my dream car

The Super Beetle won't work without massive restructuring but you discovered that already. Reach out to Greg Leach @VSpyder at Vintage Motorcars in Hawaiian Gardens, CA. He's as close to you as it gets. Although he doesn't do wide body cars he can help you out with a classic body car. He also has all the parts you'll need to build the car as well.

Thank you Robert

I take it you plan to shorten the pan yourself?

That's kind of a job, I have heard. You'll have to build a nice, accurate jig and then section the pan and weld it back together in the jig. 

All doable, and even pretty easy for someone who has done a few.

Or you could search ebay, Hemmings, craigslist and the samba nation-wide for a rough or unbuilt widebody kit, bring it home, take it apart and build it back up the way you'd like it.

Good luck with the project!

@Hisham posted:

 

My Motivation 

I'm 49 and ripe for a midlife crisis car. My two favorite vehicles have always been the corvette stingray and Porsche speedster.  specifically the two custom cars from the movie "king of the mountain" that race in the Hollywood Hills. I live in LA. 

I have an 11Yo son and this is going to be the project we work on in his teen years. He's already excited to take the speedster to prom in 5 years. and he's been getting out to help me in the garage every weekend. So even without the car, It's already working out for us.

After lurking in the shadows on these forums, I've already started the project and made some mistakes.

I got a 1971 super beetle (about a month ago) and found out the body won't fit a super beetle. now I have a 1969 Bug (I got yesterday). I'm planning on driving the 71 for the next few months to work on the engine, transmission, and breaks. Prep the 69 for a body, build the speedster on the 69 then "transfer" the title from the 71 to the 69. or sell the 71 and register the 69.

I was in contact with Kitman in SD about the body but they didn't prove to be very helpful or couldn't / wouldn't answer questions about the dimensions of the body. Although I love the outlaw speedster they do, I'm not happy with the sales pitch and Johnathon doesn't read my email before sending a copy and past response. I don't know them so not sure. the world is a little crazy right now so I'm not holding a grudge. has anyone used Kitman?

 

anyway, I'm posting some photos of the 71 and 69 and hoping you can ask me questions that I should should be asking. any advice would be greatly appreciated. I am currently looking for a body in raw form. Just like the movie version, I don't need the body to be perfect. I would like a wide body, but It'll have no badging. I don't need a top. The car will have a custom look like a Harley-Davidson, Madmax marriage. raw flat black or white with Black and white Digital camo rasing stripes, probably a Herbie "the love bug"  Number badge. I know I'm getting ahead of myself but I wanted to express that I'm not looking for perfection, but I'm looking to turn heads when I drive by. 

 

71 and 69 Photos

 

Back in 1981, my girlfriend at the time moved to LA to pursue her modeling and acting career. (Like most, she ended up managing a high end restaurant. And becoming a millionaire.). 

One of her first gigs was as an extra on King of the Mountain. I just happened to be visiting one night when they were staging in the Griffith Observatory parking lot and filming on the surrounding roads (a lot easiest to close than Mulholland). I don't know how many cars they made for the show (generally they do at least 3, but that was a pretty low budget movie.) The car I saw was about as bare bones as it gets. The fender wells weren't finished, and there was no interior save for the driver's seat. When I saw it, they'd just unloaded it from the trailer and were pulling the camera mounts off of it in preparation for doing some action shots. 

Great story!!! I really got excited again when I watched the Ford VS Ferrari movie. and because of your story, I remembered that I know the production designer in that film. He got all the cars for it. waiting to hear from him on his speedster contact. It's hard to find a raw unpainted body. I believe they had over 30 for that movie.  I definitely am looking for bare-bones. I had a classic 65 Lincoln continental early in my life and I babied that car for so long.  I remember one day I got really angry because someone had set a drink on the hood and was talking to a friend. I lost it. started yelling at her for being "stupid". after calming down I felt like a terrible person, that an object had made me crazy like that. sold it and didn't feel much regret about letting it go. Since then I have customized everything I have owned. It's much more fun, less stressful, and it can get as expensive or inexpensive as I like. I look for two qualities. How fun is it to drive? and does it start a conversation with strangers? That's it. 81 LA was a great time. just before the 84 Olympics. big 70's cars, smog, and Op shorts. skateboarding was the main export of So Cal.

After 40 years, I'm still disappointed I didn't get to meet Dennis Hopper. IIRC, that was his first or second film back after his "exile" from Hollywood for being a troublemaker afollowing Easy Rider.  Then he went on to make Blue Velvet "and the rest is history."

Maybe it'd be a good idea to just sell the Super Beetle and title the '69. It's an older car so you shouldn't have problems in Ca. Look on here in the Classifieds section; I've seen at least a full CMC kit with all the parts for sale.

@Impala . Sounds like a good plan. The super Beetle has a title and I have the pink slip in my hand. I have no paperwork on the 69. not even a bill of sale. I just pulled it out of the mud in a guys driveway who was moving. I paid $400 for it (with motor).  I'll see about the title for the 69 with "my guy". already getting some good leads from you all and in the Forum discussions. Thank you!

If the 69 is complete; body, doors, fenders, transaxle and glass put any old engine in it and take it to DMV and do a lien sale on it.  Pretty simple to do, but they won't verify it until it is a complete car. It doesn't have to run but it has to be complete. (Just call Highway Patrol to make sure it's not stolen first!)

@Hisham I suggest you become a supporting member so you can download the CMC build manual.  Even if you don't get a CMC body it would be helpful.

Thanks Michael. Happy to support

@Hisham,  the main reason I suggested you become a supporting member is that only supporting members can download the CMC manual.

To bad we are across the country from each other as I have a unpainted white CMC widebody with plenty of patina ( unpainted gel coat with a number of battle scars) pulled off the pan hanging from my garage ceiling as I work on the pan below and as years have passed I now fancy a standard body and love love to trade with someone but most likely will move forward with what I have.  If you find a standard body and want to trade hit me up.

got the wide body today

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with...

@Hisham

Cool score on that wide body! I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one that would be interested in following your project build. Best of luck. 

So I'm 45 Days from the first post and have updates.

I got the "Bomber" 71 VW running and the engine and transmission are good. I got the speedster body home and pulled it off the rusted out pan. got a nice Jig as @edsnova said out of it. February is my target to finish. In 45 days I should have the body repaired from minor cracks and primed. I'll probably cut the pan from the 69 Baja bug in the next two weeks. I'm learning a good amount about electrical from the 71 bug. It'll start being my daily driver next week and will be my donor drivetrain in a few months. I'm getting all my parts ready. tire shopping (see the last photo). Fun project so far. quick recap: I have two VW's and one used wide body with a rusted out pan and subframe that will be my Jig. melting them together into my hot rod speedster. ask any questions you have. enjoy the photos 

Actually the method of shortening the VW pan in the build manual is not that bad.  I know it sounds hokey using wood 2x4" for the "precision" alignment tool but it works.  Once aligned tack weld and measure again.   I used a oxy/gas torch to weld the tunnel.  That worked and I was able to use the heat to get metal to bend and fit tight.  I used a mig welder for the floor pans. A cheap HF angle grinder is indispensable!

I recall seeing that body on ebay for quite some time - aren't the kick panels cut out/missing.  Plus looked like the car has the old butt sag too. Did it not come with a title for the pan?  Most all derelict VW need new floor pans and they aren't difficult to install.  Since a pan has to be cut completely in 1/2, you can mix a super beetle rear with a std beetle front piece.  Just remember the rear part is what has what passes for the VIN.

I would recommend you check out Samba. There are abandoned projects on there from time to time. Plus the oddball piece you might need could show up. 

@Hisham

Sounds like you have a good handle on your build plan! Thanks for sharing your project pics. Looking forward to following your progress and seeing that bad-boy back on the road! 

Looking good; just do yourself a favor and relocate that oil cooler from the fan housing's air intake on the back. Not sure how they ever did that in the old days but it severely restricts and heats up the air that's supposed to cool the engine. It's looking like a good transformation is coming. Looking forward to the progress on the project.

Sounds like you're off to a great start. Lucky son!

Well, everything didn't go as planned and I have to get rid of this project. I have the fiberglass body, registered 68 VW pan with title, pink slip, and plates. boxes of parts. I'm willing to let it go for what I paid for the body alone. $4500 total. the body is on a rolling dolly I built for it.  the pan is rolling. I'll post photos tomorrow. I figure posting here first because you all know what you're looking at. On Monday I'll post to Craigslist (god help me). sorry I couldn't make this project work. I join a long line of people who couldn't. you've all been great in a "you need to hear this friend" kind of way. thanks for that! maybe in few years, I'll get a turn-key.

I did build this in the process. it was fun to drive and always started a conversation.

It’s too bad you have to let the project go. Based on your bug you should have been able to make this work. Hope your health is good and that’s not why you’re letting it go.