my 1303 beetle

[judgie]

my long running project evolution of a beetle
started as a normal beetle ie; needing a lot of welding so after 2 years of saving,welding and then paint i started bolting it all together with the intention of haveing a fast road car but then decided to have a go at hill climbing.
quick spec as is restored shell and floor pan with fiberglass wings and plastic windows. Was running porsche 944 brakes and suspension but have since changed the brakes back to beetle ones with a aftermarket disc set up on the rear. The 11" vented disc's all round with the porsche calipers was very heavy and a bit overkill on such a light car.
Front end is rose jointed on the tca with adjustable platform struts, rear end is all porsche 944 which bolts into the beetle.
Inside is stripped of everything with just a seat and steering wheel plus a few guages. A safty devices 6 point cage is installed but will be getting changed this winter as i build roll cages and it seems a bit daft having somone elses cage in my car.
gearbox is a close ratio uprated one built into a standard case, i have got a ZF lsd to go in this winter.
Engine is a 2ltr out of a 70's cmaper van so still a 4 cylinder aircooled engine. Its running on a omex 600 ecu and 50mm throttle bodies, dry sumped, 314* duration cam, heavly reworked heads , stock crank and h-beam cr-mo rods. All this adds up to 148bhp @ the wheels and 151ft lb of torque.
got a few things to change this winter to get it ready for next year main one is going over to 17" rims so i can get better tyres, theres a lot of part worn rally tyres out there also the above mentioned lsd andalso some more areo work which i hope to develope over the winter, mainly undertry and rear defusser.
so down to the pictures
this is what i started with
[img]
Photo0002 by robjudge1313, on Flickr
[/img]
and this is it now
[img]
bug6 by robjudge1313, on Flickr
[/img]
full build up photos here along with some raceing ones as well
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14062637@N03/

Cheers Rob

[redturner37]

I am trying to work out why you would want to remove an approved roll cage to fit one of your own. You are obviously qualified to make a cage, but are you an (MSA) 'approved' constructor and can you issue a certificate if some-one else wants one....

[judgie]

I build cages for any car and have had them all inspected and passed for hill climbs and drag racing. As long as you build to the blue book specs and out of the proper spec tube then anyone can build a cage and get it passed. There is ,as far as iknow, no msa approved cage manufators. Only companys that build and submit cages for Homolagation so they can be produced in large numbers. As i only do bespoke one off cages i just have to follow the specs and drawings.
Going to build a full multi poiunt cage that ties in the front suspension turrets and rear sub frmae as well as proper x door bars. Proberly overkill but its a rolling advert for what I do.

[carl talbot]

Originally Posted by redturner37

I am trying to work out why you would want to remove an approved roll cage to fit one of your own. You are obviously qualified to make a cage, but are you an (MSA) 'approved' constructor and can you issue a certificate if some-one else wants one....

I believe the ones you refer to are for off the shelf bolt in cages , also if a company wants to sell a certified kit [ the welding will need inspecting after build ]

[redturner37]

Originally Posted by carl talbot

I believe the ones you refer to are for off the shelf bolt in cages , also if a company wants to sell a certified kit [ the welding will need inspecting after build ]

Thats what I was aiming at. I have seen the pictures attached to the post and the cage looks good. I know of a cage in a car which was not built of specified tubing and it always passed. It was built by the owner, a specialist welder who wouldn't have put his life at risk and was probably stronger than a factory built one. The welding was superb. It needed a hole in the tubing which homologated cages don't.

[judgie]

only thing i have against the safty devices cage apart from it not being one of mine is that its made from 38mm tube which is fine for a homologated cage but i owuld be a lot happer with a 45mm tube cage around me. As far as i am awere the need for the hole in the tube is nolonger requierd. All my cages come with a tech/build sheet stateing the tube [this is given to me by the tube supplier Elmdon metals] used and when it was fitted.

[redturner37]

Originally Posted by judgie

only thing i have against the safty devices cage apart from it not being one of mine is that its made from 38mm tube which is fine for a homologated cage but i owuld be a lot happer with a 45mm tube cage around me. As far as i am awere the need for the hole in the tube is nolonger requierd. All my cages come with a tech/build sheet stateing the tube [this is given to me by the tube supplier Elmdon metals] used and when it was fitted.

Blue book used to say that unless the cage was from an approved manufacturer, it had to have a small hole, forget the size though.............

[eastwyke]

Is this thread turning into an advert for cagesforyou.com???????????

[dennis.doyle]

Eastwyke, are you sure you pasted the right link? When I checked it out I wastn't expecting a cage-dancing site.

P.S. Love the VoPo, but do you smoke heavily enough to need the thingy on the roof?

[Alpinepg]

Originally Posted by eastwyke

Is this thread turning into an advert for cagesforyou.com???????????

I think so....which is amusing as its not going to be the fastest car around (although definitely an interesting one which is whats most important I think). Not many serious accidents, or even injury accidents in speed events full stop, let alone in production cars.