AMT ‘71 short body Beetle

[oldcarfan]

Does this kit use the pan and parts from AMTs Meyer's Manx kit? I wanted to buy this one, but keep putting it off.

[Rocking Rodney Rat]

Yup, fun little bugger. Certainly, lots of possibilities: https://public.fotki.com/jferren/vw-bug-aafa-fuel-altered/9978y07y8.html -RRR

[Ace-Garageguy]

Paint looks great. Always good to see somebody reworking something until they get it right.

Your results certainly look like they are worth the effort you put in.  

Cool little kit, too. I recall seeing a few real Beetles modded like this in the distant past, to fit on the 14"-shortened pan used under the Manx and all the clones of it. Most all of 'em were pretty rough, as getting a smooth curve on the heavily modded roof takes far more than average skills.

The point was to build a short-wheelbase beach-buggy with full weather protection and easier ingress/egress than the climb-over high sills on a Manx.

Seems like somebody would have made a full-scale f'glass body like this at some point, but I don't remember ever seeing one.

 

Edited September 13, 2023 by Ace-Garageguy

[atomicholiday]

25 minutes ago, Rocking Rodney Rat said:

Yup, fun little bugger. Certainly, lots of possibilities: https://public.fotki.com/jferren/vw-bug-aafa-fuel-altered/9978y07y8.html -RRR

That is hands down about the coolest beetle I’ve seen.  Awesome job!

And a great example of the potential this kit has.?

[atomicholiday]

On 9/13/2023 at 9:35 AM, Ace-Garageguy said:

Paint looks great. Always good to see somebody reworking something until they get it right.

Your results certainly look like they are worth the effort you put in.  

Cool little kit, too. I recall seeing a few real Beetles modded like this in the distant past, to fit on the 14"-shortened pan used under the Manx and all the clones of it. Most all of 'em were pretty rough, as getting a smooth curve on the heavily modded roof takes far more than average skills.

The point was to build a short-wheelbase beach-buggy with full weather protection and easier ingress/egress than the climb-over high sills on a Manx.

Seems like somebody would have made a full-scale f'glass body like this at some point, but I don't remember ever seeing one.

 

Hey thanks very much man!  That means a lot to me coming from you.  I used quite a bit of the advice you gave me on one of the paint threads a while back, and I think it’s paying off.  I’m still not consistent, but it’s getting better.?

[slusher]

On 9/13/2023 at 8:31 AM, Rocking Rodney Rat said:

Yup, fun little bugger. Certainly, lots of possibilities: https://public.fotki.com/jferren/vw-bug-aafa-fuel-altered/9978y07y8.html -RRR

Fantastic!

[atomicholiday]

Now that the weather has turned I’ll be spending more time at the bench and less time outside painting.  I glued the front wheels on yesterday and I’m playing around with ride height this morning.
 I dunno.  Maybe I should have stayed on this bug before.  I’m kinda falling out of love with the project now.  Just looks goofy to me.  It’s definitely outside of my normal subject matter (as if I had a “normal” subject matter ?).  I plan to push through and get it done though.  I’ve carried it this far.  
 

[ewetwo]

It's not even finished and you already put mine to shame. Keep going! 

[atomicholiday]

I’m calling the seats done.

[atomicholiday]

One major issue with this kit is the interference between the engine and hood.  Instructions even say the hood must be mounted halfway open.  No way I’m doing that.  It’s time I started doing some engine work so I can mock everything up and find out what the problem really is.

But I’m seeing problems with the engine already.  Here are some issues I addressed today.

The cylinder heads don’t fit right.  If you build it straight out of the box, you’ll find that the heads angle up, instead of running parallel to each other.  To fix it, I filed some material away to get both sides to drop down more.  I forgot to get a before pic.  Sorry about that.

The yellow area was filed.

And here’s the fit after filing.

Next problem, the oil pan doesn’t sit flat.

After filing the engine block it fits much better.

 

More to come…

[slusher]

Looking really nice beautiful paint!

[Slotto]

Super cool. Reminds me of a computer mouse

[espo]

A thought on the engine and hood interference. Depending on just how much and where the contact may be consider shortening the hood? Another consideration would be a cooling trick VW guys used to use. Look at old photos where the top edge of the hood just under the rear window would be spaced away from the body to allow additional engine cooling. This may also allow you additional engine clearance without cutting the hood or the engine. 

[atomicholiday]

1 hour ago, espo said:

A thought on the engine and hood interference. Depending on just how much and where the contact may be consider shortening the hood? Another consideration would be a cooling trick VW guys used to use. Look at old photos where the top edge of the hood just under the rear window would be spaced away from the body to allow additional engine cooling. This may also allow you additional engine clearance without cutting the hood or the engine. 

That could work.  I’ll have to look into that.

You got me started on something too.  If you ever feel like going down that rabbit hole, there are tons of pics of old custom beetles on the web.?

[atomicholiday]

3 hours ago, Slotto said:

Super cool. Reminds me of a computer mouse

Actually looks pretty close!?

[Slotto]

45 minutes ago, atomicholiday said:

Actually looks pretty close!?

I think it's closer to 1:32 scale. I dig it.

I almost picked that kit up at Ollie's but I saw it was the shrunken version so I put it back. Your build is looking great

[espo]

1 hour ago, atomicholiday said:

That could work.  I’ll have to look into that.

You got me started on something too.  If you ever feel like going down that rabbit hole, there are tons of pics of old custom beetles on the web.?

Been there and done that. I have only personally owned one Bug in my whole life, a Baja, and that was the only reason I bought it. I had many friends that were deep into the VW seen and through them I always had an interest. 

[atomicholiday]

1 hour ago, Slotto said:

I think it's closer to 1:32 scale. I dig it.

I almost picked that kit up at Ollie's but I saw it was the shrunken version so I put it back. Your build is looking great

Yup, I probably wouldn’t have bought it if I’d noticed it was the short body.  I can’t say I regret it though.  The rims and tires are cool.  And I only gave $5 on clearance at Walmart, so it’s totally worth that.

[T-Ray]

23 hours ago, atomicholiday said:

 

But I’m seeing problems with the engine already.  Here are some issues I addressed today.

The cylinder heads don’t fit right.  If you build it straight out of the box, you’ll find that the heads angle up, instead of running parallel to each other.  To fix it, I filed some material away to get both sides to drop down more.  I forgot to get a before pic.  Sorry about that.

 

Those are exactly the problems that I had with mine. Good to know that I'm not alone

[atomicholiday]

Doing a little more work on the engine today.  This part doesn’t fit properly either and needs trimmed.

Here it is after reshaping, mocked up with white glue for now.  I won’t glue anything else on permanently until I figure out how I want to handle the hood clearance issue.

[slusher]

Is yours having problems shutting the hood? As nice as your build is I hope it works out!

[atomicholiday]

15 minutes ago, slusher said:

Is yours having problems shutting the hood? As nice as your build is I hope it works out!

I haven’t tried yet.  But I know it’s a common problem.  And the instructions say to mount the hood open.

I’ll get it to close one way or another.  Even if I have to go curbside.  But I think I can find a way.

[atomicholiday]

So back to this one after a little break.

 Working on getting the roll bars together.  Both are quite fiddly, but this seems to work.   The front bar is already glued together, but won’t get attached to the floor pan until after it’s painted.  
I’m only gluing one side at a time, allowing the glue to cure between sides.  Trying to do both at once would probably be a real pain.  More than my shakes would ever allow.?

 

[NOBLNG]

That was a beautiful paint job…too bad about the clear coat.?

[atomicholiday]

8 hours ago, NOBLNG said:

That was a beautiful paint job…too bad about the clear coat.?

Thansk!  it was getting a little frustrating,  but it was worth it.   The experience I gained was well worth the annoyance.  

I still haven't gone back and rubbed out the final finish, but I plan to fairly soon.