Aircooled VW South Africa

vw59beetle wrote: ...We can talk more about it over a beer at Speedweek

Barry wrote: Look forward to that beer, but I'll bring some real ones with 'cause I don't touch that commercial piss they sell there .....LOL

Sorry for the hijack, Wernher I sure hope its not thay lumpy sour beer

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Sorry for the hijack, Wernher I sure hope its not thay lumpy sour beer [/quote]



The stuff you guys threw down my drain. I hope not.

Has anyone ever attempted this?

Hi John, the thread is a little dated, but did you have success in finding a 550?

Riaan

I have shelved the idea mostly due to cost, however I have been toying with the idea of building my own special similar to the pics attached.
body styling to follow.

That's a pity you shelved the 550.

These cars really interest me for a future project, and was hoping someone in Cape Town already has one, just to get some idea of how good the local kits are, and what it will take to build.

Your special seems like a cool idea though. Just be careful of manufacturing a chassis, unless it is intended for track use only. I believe it is near impossible to register a self built chassis for the road these days. The authorities need all sorts of test data and certification for the chassis. I speak under correction though, but maybe worth checking first.

What ever happened to the early Beck you were looking at in JHB?

I saw first hand one of the universal 550's in barebones and for what you get, it's cheap. Garth's price was about 70k for a full tube chassis with everything except the engine and gearbox. I'm in love with that car.

As far as I know the JHB Spyder is sold, I am aware of the registration nightmare that is why I was considering
using a modified beetle chassis as per pic. This project is still at dream stage, I have a front end and a 1600TP motor that needs a re-build.
I will start a new thread if it ever takes off

Good luck John. Keep us posted!

Hi John
I'm sad to hear that you are abandoning your Spyder plans. Apart from you and me there seem to no other member working on a 550. I bought a kit from KKC many years ago. The frame seem to be based on an early Beck, but I want it to be as close as possible to the original, so the first thing to go was the coil over shock rear suspension. Here is a picture of my first attempt. There was a small problem though; not enough space for the engine! I hope you will some day get your dream on track again.

Piet wrote:Hi John
I'm sad to hear that you are abandoning your Spyder plans. Apart from you and me there seem to no other member working on a 550. I bought a kit from KKC many years ago. The frame seem to be based on an early Beck, but I want it to be as close as possible to the original, so the first thing to go was the coil over shock rear suspension. Here is a picture of my first attempt. There was a small problem though; not enough space for the engine! I hope you will some day get your dream on track again.

That looks like a nice chassis you have there! What motor are you going to be running?

I will take some pics of the gear linkage on my mid-mounted 718 for you.

Hi alfaquad
I've started my own thread to keep the 550 spirit going
http://www.aircooledvwsa.co.za/viewtopic.php?t=33544

Enjoy the process, Garth makes life easy if you let him do it for you . I was very particular but couldn't have achieved my look I was aiming at without his guys . I've done the odd thing myself which has added a personal touch to my car which is lovely , I'd recommend doing that - like my gauges I did ( the facings , and race number on the car "37 " : represents not just a random number but a hidden message of Jesus rose in "3" days and created the everything in "7".
I've also customised the gear box housing by having it sanded to the aluminium giving it a machine like feel with more metal around the car visable and finally the headrest - that was a dream if mine to have that too , I worked out the dimensions with Garths guys and a lovely helpful girl who use to work there called Demi who bore with me and we got it right eventually - Iam so happy with it all .
Thanks Again to Garth . So have them help you if you can do it that ways , it's a lot less stressful and you can think of finishes rather than screws .

Another place that has been really helpful is Pro-Auto pannel beaters in Randburg . Adrian there has been super on helping me with the mechanical things that need doing from time to time . Auto Rosen for the Duel choke carbs is good but painfully slow but the working great now ( I imported a great pair from the USA which he installed ).