Der Beetle Bus

[Psychographic]

Fuel lines are done.What a PITA!

 

[bobthehobbyguy]

Nice job on the fuel lines.

[disconovaman]

I'm watching in awe!

[Zoom]

Nice, cool and different 

 

[Nytrozilla]

Outrageous David.

[Psychographic]

I decided that I hate the gas tank. I've got a new idea, 1/2" tube, clear ends covered with the VW emblem from the front. I need to strip and fix this one, then I'll cast a pair in resin.

 

 

In the time it took for me to put the tank and mounting bracket together, I lost the VW emblem. I hope it shows up before I knock it on the floor and the chair rolls over it or I step on it.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 23, 2016 by Psychographic

[JollySipper]

I wonder if there's a way to show the fuel level thru the clear tank ends........ That would be a neat touch!

[Psychographic]

I wonder if there's a way to show the fuel level thru the clear tank ends........ That would be a neat touch!

That's already in the works.

[Nytrozilla]

Great progress Dave. Loving the fuel tank concept.

[Psychographic]

The emblem is still MIA.

 

I made a quick set of disc brakes. I didn't go crazy on them as you have to look pretty hard to even see them in the car. I cut two circles from .030 sheet and cast the calipers from a set of Pegasus disc brakes.

 

 

Then I started the plumbing. Beading wire for the lines, #1 crimp tubes for the fittings, .060 half round with a slot cut in the back for the clamps, some scrap rod that I drilled for the tee fitting, and some small diameter wire jacket for the flex line.

 

 

 

[Psychographic]

The Brake lines are done.

 

 

The fuel lines are almost done, I made the filter out of some scrap rod and tube.

 

 

I started on the radiator hoses.

 

And made an old style Accel Supercoil. I sanded a piece of scrap rod to have a slight taper to it, ran 4 pieces of .060 half round to square it up some, and made the top from  some .030 scrap. I ran a small rod through the center of the tube, drilled the top and used some Styrene Bondo to mold the curve into the top. I need to paint it yellow.

 

 

Edited October 1, 2016 by Psychographic

[cobraman]

Just about my favorite build going on right now. Carry on !

[OldNYJim]

Just about my favorite build going on right now. Carry on !

Mine too!  A fun subject with some GREAT building techniques and a tonne of cool ideas!  10/10 for this thread so far!

 

[crazyrichard]

coolness!!

[Psychographic]

VDub emblem is still MIA.

 

One of the last things I need to do to finish the plumbing is the coolant lines. That's pretty far to go from front to back, I decided to cheat and have the lines go into the rockers and the rest would be internal and hidden from sight.

The two main pipes being shaped.

 

 

Here's where they meet up with the braided lines off the engine.

 

 

Here's how they fit in the body. I do believe the steering box and arm will just clear the lines. If not I'll have to make a shim for it.

 

Edited October 8, 2016 by Psychographic

[Psychographic]

Things are moving right along. The coolant lines are painted, along with the shifter, and butterflies for the injector hat. The fuel tank is also ready for paint. I made a plate for the the throttle cable and return spring to connect to.

 

 

The coolant lines.

 

From the braided lines on the engine to the hardline.

 

 

The hardlines go into the rocker and the rest of the lines run inside the body to the radiator in the back. This saved a lot of work and kept the underside pretty clean.

 

 

 

Edited September 28, 2016 by Psychographic

[Rider]

Wow this is a very cool build, love the paint. Love it! 

[Psychographic]

If I don't screw these up, they are going to be a big improvement. I'm waiting to assemble these until I can get some more info on how to bend them into shape.

 

[GerN]

Wonderful, inspiring build!

[Nytrozilla]

Sorry I've missed a couple of updates Dave. I've been, um, distracted.

Mind blowing skills being shown here. I'm in love with the throttle guide / bracket.

The spokes, I'm certain, will be amazing.

Build on Bro. build on. 

[Psychographic]

I haven't found much in my searching on the best way to go about doing the PE spokes. I remember seeing a pic of RMoM's wheel kit and it looked like it came with a jig for bending the spokes. I thought about it for a while and this is what I came up with so far.

I cut most of the spokes out of one wheel, leaving just enough to hold the hub. This allowed me to see how the rim will line up to the jig. The first step was to match the inside diameter of the rim onto a piece of .030 sheet. I backed this up with some .060 x .250 rectangle strips. This gave me a depth slightly deeper than half the width of my center hub. The hub is the 1/8" tube centered inside the jig.

 

I took  piece of .030 and cemented that to another piece of .060 x .250, then drilled a 1/16" hole for a metal axle through both. The reason for the .030 is to shorten the depth of the bend on the spokes. I ran a metal axle through the stock wheel, centered it, and glued the .060 in place.

 

 

This is what the jig looks like, top.

 

 

Bottom.

 

 

The way I see this working is to load the PE center onto the axle, then cut a hub half the width of the actual one I'll be using, load that onto the axle, followed up by the stock rim. Pushing down on the stock rim will push the center of the PE center bending the spokes up. As the rim reaches the outer circle it will flatten the outside edge of the spokes.

 

 

Edited September 28, 2016 by Psychographic

[Psychographic]

Got some color on the new fuel tank. I nixed the of the tank having it's own mini graphic and blended this one into the overall design. The clear end is from a googly eye, unfortunately I can only get one side to where I want it as you need to push it into place from the inside. I also want to make sure the tank is water tight, I plan to tint some water to represent gas. I can fill it with a pipette.

 

[Darren B]

Got some color on the new fuel tank. I nixed the of the tank having it's own mini graphic and blended this one into the overall design. The clear end is from a googly eye, unfortunately I can only get one side to where I want it as you need to push it into place from the inside. I also want to make sure the tank is water tight, I plan to tint some water to represent gas. I can fill it with a pipette.

 

This thing is totally over the top and totally insane love it and my favorite build on the board. I do have a suggestion thou on the fuel, not sure how long real water will last for the gas. I build a lot of low-riders and like to add aquariums to them like they used to have back in the 70's and 80's. I found a resin at hobby lobby , its a two part that you mix together.

these are the most recent that I built, the top one for my Egyptian raider build, and the bottom one for the Aztec warrior build. It last forever once it sets up in about 8-10 hours. You can tint the resin as you are mixing it with a clear like tamiya clear yellow to get the fuel color. Just an idea.

Edited September 28, 2016 by Darren B

[Darren B]

I just have to say this is one of the wildest, best thought out builds I have seen on here in years, I love it...I have seen the bus you have been emulating and I have to say you have done a better job than the 1:1 bus, this thing is totally cool.

[exesivefire]

Just caught up on this one.. wow is all I can really think to say, its hard to have over the top look clean, and you are nailing it.

Also, I kinda like the reversed colors, I know it was an oops, but I think it "pops" a bit more.