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AMT ‘71 short body Beetle


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Sally’s out doing the Black Friday thing (yuck 🤮) with a friend, so I’m taking advantage and getting a little bench time in.

 I dry brushed on a little dark gray to the floor pan to add some depth.  This is something I have been wanting to practice and start applying to all my builds going forward.  First attempt was a total failure.  So I watched a couple videos and figured out what I was doing wrong.  Still got a little heavy-handed with it, but I think it’s better than just plain black.
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Also, it’s pretty cold outside today.  35f.  But I stepped outside long enough to get some satin black on the shocks and steering components.

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I’m beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel on this one.

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On 11/23/2023 at 10:57 AM, bluestringer said:

Yours looks great. I built it as a dune buggy, had lots of fitment problems. Didn't come out very good.....

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Man im glad i wasnt the only one, i recently built this kit too and the fitment of mine was awful. im not even sure what to do with it now that its built. I had an issue with another coke kit i bought at ollies, was the 70's chevy truck, chassis was warped so bad that one tire lifts up while the other three are level. 

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Doing some rear suspension work today.

 The rear shock mount location doesn’t work well because the shocks are a little on the long side.  The body of the shock interferes with the mounting point.

Some round stock was added to the mounting position, and sticks out a little to give the shock something to attach to.

After the cement is dry, I’ll touch up everything.

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This is something I’ve been putting off for a while.  Finally getting around to solving the clearance issue between the hood and engine.

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 Started by moving the belt cover closer to the engine.  To do this, the back of the generator, front of the engine and back of generator pulley were filled down.  This got me closer.  I could now get the hood to stay on, but it was still hitting.  This caused the body to slide back and made the wheels sit too far forward in the wheel wells.

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Next, I opened up the holes in the transmission where the axle goes through.  Making it oval shaped helped move the entire engine/transmission assembly in towards the center of the floor pan, away from the hood.  That did the trick.

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On a whim, I decided to make a steering column support loop for this project.  No idea what possessed me to tackle this.  It was totally unplanned and not something I would usually tackle.

I blame you guys and all the model car related YouTube videos I watch.😁

It was actually very easy.  Two small holes were drilled into the front roll bar behind the dashboard.  The support loop is just a piece of paper clip cut to size.  Then that will be fitted into the holes after the steering column is installed.

For now, I’ll leave it off until the roll bar is painted and the instrument panel is detailed.

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5 hours ago, slusher said:

Glad you tackled that hood! You have mentioned that early in the build!

Yup.  I knew I wouldn't have been happy with it if I couldn't get that closed.   Even after mods, it just barely fits.

Not a lot to report now.   I did some detail painting of various engine components last night. 

Really there are only two hurdles left.   I still need to work out what I want to do about the ill-fitting steering damper, and I want to rework the exhaust.   I'd kinda like to have just two pipes exit out the rear end, near the center.   I have a few ideas.   Just need more bench time. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Front suspension work is coming along nicely.  I ended up remaking the torsion bar so it would fit better.  Pics coming on that this weekend once the paint cures.

While waiting, I decided to run battery cables.  I’ve never done this before on a build.  But the battery is so visible in the interior that I felt it would dress it up a bit.  This was pretty fun, and I can see myself doing more of this kind of stuff.

I’m definitely not going full detail here, so no terminals were used.

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2 hours ago, mustang1989 said:

I'm with Carl on THAT!!  Sheesh......I done went and forgot all about this one Jeremy. This is one cool little build you've got goin' on here.

It’s coming along, but slowly.  I had a few issues I wanted to think through before acting, but now it’s moving along again.

I Tend to build a little on the slow side anyway 😎

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Edited by atomicholiday
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  • 2 weeks later...

I completely forgot to post the finished front suspension.  This was done last week.

To recap briefly, the tie rods don’t fit as it is straight out of the box.  Almost like it’s not for this kit.  To fix it, the steering damper was separated from the original tie rods.  A new tie rod was then made from round stock.  Next, holes were drilled into each hub to give the tie rod ends something to positively locate them.  Not really correct for the real world, but it got the job done.  Then it was just a matter of gluing it all in place.  It ain’t perfect, but it’s better than the original part.

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Great looking floor pan and front suspension. Something I have wondered about this kit and others based on the same floor pan. The front brake drums look as if they are mounted backwards. I know this is the way the instructions show them, but mounting face to the wheels should be turned around based on appearance. Did the instructions show mounting the battery in the passenger foot well or did you want it there? The stock Type 1 would have had the battery under the back seat on the passenger side. 

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On 12/24/2023 at 12:10 PM, espo said:

Great looking floor pan and front suspension. Something I have wondered about this kit and others based on the same floor pan. The front brake drums look as if they are mounted backwards. I know this is the way the instructions show them, but mounting face to the wheels should be turned around based on appearance. Did the instructions show mounting the battery in the passenger foot well or did you want it there? The stock Type 1 would have had the battery under the back seat on the passenger side. 

Hey David,  I believe you're correct about the drum brakes.  Now that you mentioned it,  I think every set I've seen is the reverse of what this kit shows.  Knowing that,  I think if I were going to build another one,  I'd look into correcting that.  

Also,  instructions do show the battery in the passenger foot well.   I don't think it would fit under the gas tank here.   You could always raise the tank. 

This whole thing is so far removed from stock though.   You sort of have to either go with it or make it your own.  I'm doing a little of both.   Actually,  I'm just now sitting down to do some more work on it. 

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I think I’m going to call the dashboard done.  I thought about painting the bolts around the perimeter but I’m thinking of quitting while I’m ahead.  I don’t want to overdo it and make it look too toylike.
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Also, pretty sure I have the exhaust figured out.  At least I hope so.  I just shot primer on it.  Pics of that coming once I get it assembled.

Edited by atomicholiday
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Made a little progress on the “interior” today.  I also almost destroyed the front roll bar.  While fiddling with it, it broke into three pieces.  The assembly is very weak and fiddly anyway, so it didn’t take much to mangle it.  I pinned the main support bar to get it back together.  I’ll probably just use ca to re-attach the front support bars when I install the whole unit.

Here’s a shot of the progress so far.

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Another quick update.  Got the engine nearly complete.  All that’s left is to mount the exhaust and touch up the paint, then it’ll be ready to go in.

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Also, the dashboard was installed this morning.  Still need to reattach the support tubes that broke off.  This has been the most difficult and frustrating part of the entire kit.  I just want this step to be over with.  Honestly, it’s exactly the kind of thing that in years past would have seen me shelving the whole project.  But I’ll push through and get this little bug across the line.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Between taking a break while my daughter was home for the holidays and starting two new group builds at the first of the year, this little bug kinda got put aside for a while.  But I got back on it today and finished the exhaust system.  

I wanted to do something a little different than what the directions said, so the kit piping was cut down and repositioned to get the look I was after.  All parts were drilled and pinned to help keep them together better and aid in assembly so it wasn’t as fiddly.

I still need to touch up the paint in spots but they the engine will be ready for installation.

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13 minutes ago, mustang1989 said:

Oh SHOOT!! I've been slackin' heavy in this thread Jeremy. I'll follow it so I don't miss anymore updates. Lookin' fabulous so far bud. 

Don’t sweat it my friend.  I’ve been slacking’ on the build too!😂
It’s still on my radar, but my GB’s have taken the front seat lately.  

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