Disney's VW Love Bug aka "Herbie": WIP

[stitchdup]

45 minutes ago, David G. said:

 

Oh, yeah! I remember those tool kits Les.

I used to see them in VW magazines and at car shows (remember Bug-O-Rama?).  Unfortunately none of the five Bugs I've owned ever had one.  

What I was hoping for was something more like an actual early VW wheel like this.

 

Like the one in the movie which had been "Made into a pizza" by Thorndyke.

I have several VW kits in my parts box but the wheels form those kits are all slugs similar to the one in this kit. There were some  Empi mags and Porsche wheels but no standard WV wheels... of any kind. 

Thinking about it, I don't know if I've ever seen an old VW wheel in kit form.

Well, at any rate. I've accepted things as they are and I'm ready to move on from this. 

Unless a stock VW wheel shows up, then all bets are off!  

Thanks again for your comment Les.

 

Indeed you are correct Bob.

But that thing which they put where the distributor is supposed to be looks more like a fuel pump than a distributor. So I painted it as such. 😎 

 

I just figured that maybe it's some kind of "Movie Magic" thing.  Maybe it's the thing that makes Herbie sentient. Maybe it's a magneto. Maybe it's just a mistake.

It could be any one of a number of things. One thing it's not is a distributor.

I thought about addressing the situation by using one the prewired distributors I have in stock but decided against it.  I'm trying to avoid rabbit holes on this build.

Besides, I'm kind of thinking of this kit as more of a cartoon character than a model car. Seeing it as such allows me to accept this... and some of the other inconsistencies and errors it offers.

Thanks for the comment Bob, I do appreciate your feedback.

the old style rims are in the tamiya bugs and the spare has the open centre. if your not in a hurry i can esy send ya one

[David G.]

2 hours ago, stitchdup said:

the old style rims are in the tamiya bugs and the spare has the open centre. if your not in a hurry i can esy send ya one

That would be great!

It's most kind of you to offer Les.

I'll PM you soon.

Thanks,

David G.

Edited April 9 by David G.

[milo1303s]

On 4/9/2024 at 9:39 AM, David G. said:

 

Oh, yeah! I remember those tool kits Les.

I used to see them in VW magazines and at car shows (remember Bug-O-Rama?).  Unfortunately none of the five Bugs I've owned ever had one.  

What I was hoping for was something more like an actual early VW wheel like this.

 

Like the one in the movie which had been "Made into a pizza" by Thorndyke.

I have several VW kits in my parts box but the wheels form those kits are all slugs similar to the one in this kit. There were some  Empi mags and Porsche wheels but no standard WV wheels... of any kind. 

Thinking about it, I don't know if I've ever seen an old VW wheel in kit form.

Well, at any rate. I've accepted things as they are and I'm ready to move on from this. 

Unless a stock VW wheel shows up, then all bets are off!  

Thanks again for your comment Les.

 

Indeed you are correct Bob.

But that thing which they put where the distributor is supposed to be looks more like a fuel pump than a distributor. So I painted it as such. 😎 

 

I just figured that maybe it's some kind of "Movie Magic" thing.  Maybe it's the thing that makes Herbie sentient. Maybe it's a magneto. Maybe it's just a mistake.

It could be any one of a number of things. One thing it's not is a distributor.

I thought about addressing the situation by using one the prewired distributors I have in stock but decided against it.  I'm trying to avoid rabbit holes on this build.

Besides, I'm kind of thinking of this kit as more of a cartoon character than a model car. Seeing it as such allows me to accept this... and some of the other inconsistencies and errors it offers.

Thanks for the comment Bob, I do appreciate your feedback.

your reference pic has 009 bosh dist. most factory dist 034 have a vaccum advance just letting you know like this

[David G.]

13 hours ago, milo1303s said:

your reference pic has 009 bosh dist. most factory dist 034 have a vaccum advance just letting you know like this

 

Correct once again Bob.

I do remember putting the 009 in when I built that engine. This was a 1971 engine with the dreaded "smog" distributor and 34 PICT carb. The vacuum retard on the stock smog distributor seemed to flatten out the whole advance curve and made the idle twitchy. The guy at the Bug shop I used at the time recommended swapping for the 009 and capping the vacuum ports on the carb.

It worked well. It felt like it had a tighter advance at the top end and a rock steady idle with no timing flutter. Of course I compensated for the low end flat spot by over jetting the carb and over advancing the timing a little. But it was a lot easier to get them through emissions back then.

I haven't built a Bug since that one got wrecked in 2003 so I'm sure my knowledge curve has flattened out a little but I still remember what a distributor looks like.

 

Thanks again for the input Bob.

You seem to be someone who builds and/or runs VWs. VWs have always been a passion of mine, do you have any current VW builds or projects going on?

Cheers,

David G.

[customline]

On 3/31/2024 at 2:22 PM, Deathgoblin said:

Love it!    Gonna have to get one of these.  I've heard the "real" Herbie had an engine out of a Porsche and was surprisingly quick.

 

That sounds like an urban legend to me, D.G. 🥴.

[milo1303s]

10 hours ago, David G. said:

 

Correct once again Bob.

I do remember putting the 009 in when I built that engine. This was a 1971 engine with the dreaded "smog" distributor and 34 PICT carb. The vacuum retard on the stock smog distributor seemed to flatten out the whole advance curve and made the idle twitchy. The guy at the Bug shop I used at the time recommended swapping for the 009 and capping the vacuum ports on the carb.

It worked well. It felt like it had a tighter advance at the top end and a rock steady idle with no timing flutter. Of course I compensated for the low end flat spot by over jetting the carb and over advancing the timing a little. But it was a lot easier to get them through emissions back then.

I haven't built a Bug since that one got wrecked in 2003 so I'm sure my knowledge curve has flattened out a little but I still remember what a distributor looks like.

 

Thanks again for the input Bob.

You seem to be someone who builds and/or runs VWs. VWs have always been a passion of mine, do you have any current VW builds or projects going on?

Cheers,

David G.

I do a 73 Superbeetle  I've owned for 30 yrs and a 1998 Golf the daily money pit !!! lol

[David G.]

3 hours ago, milo1303s said:

I do a 73 Superbeetle  I've owned for 30 yrs and a 1998 Golf the daily money pit !!! lol

That's a great looking Bug!

Dual carbs, nice! 1776 CCs to go with the carbs?

I once has a 1776 with a prog 2bbl. I loved smokin'  Camaros with it. That really peed them off.

I don't know much about the WC VWs but that's a cool looking Golf. I'll bet it's pretty quick too.

Thanks for posting those pics, they brought a smile to my face.

David G.

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

I'm still crankin' away on the Love Bug so here's the latest update.

Ah, this is a little closer to the white I'm looking for. It looks like painting Tamiya TS-7 Racing White over a base of Tamiya TS-26 Pure White with the TS-45 Pearl White over top of that was the way to go. Doing that brightened up the Racing White and took a lot of the yellow cast out of it.

The color has just a touch of that ivory blush, as it should.

 

 

This calls for a celebratory mock-up!

 

As always, thanks for your time and attention, comments are always welcome.

David G.

[LennyB]

So I've heard of triple black cars, guess you would call this a triple white car. 😆 I told you you were on the right track. The color totally works. Pretty soon it will be ready to roll out of the fire house and roam around San Francisco.

Just wondering though, after your done with the love bug what's next?? The Love Boat.😮

[David G.]

11 hours ago, LennyB said:

So I've heard of triple black cars, guess you would call this a triple white car. 😆 I told you you were on the right track. The color totally works. Pretty soon it will be ready to roll out of the fire house and roam around San Francisco.

Just wondering though, after your done with the love bug what's next?? The Love Boat.😮

Thank you Len. Now that I have the color where I want it to be, I'll have to sort out the markings. The kit comes with stickers instead of decals. 😕 

David G.

[LennyB]

1 hour ago, David G. said:

Thank you Len. Now that I have the color where I want it to be, I'll have to sort out the markings. The kit comes with stickers instead of decals. 😕 

David G.

Ouch, stickers? Really? What were they thinking.

[David G.]

On 4/13/2024 at 5:33 AM, LennyB said:

Ouch, stickers? Really? What were they thinking.

Maybe they intended the product to by bought and used by people who are to young to have memories of or much interest in the movies on which it's based?

Other similar kits have provided both options. That would have been nice.

David G.

[LennyB]

10 hours ago, David G. said:

Maybe they intended the product to by bought and used by people who are to young to have memories of or much interest in the movies on which it's based?

Other similar kits have provided both options. That would have been nice.

David G.

I have a 12 year old nephew that I bought the whole set of movies for. He just loves them. So I guess they have no clue about their target audience.

 

I did find these on fleabay, the numbers seem a bit off though.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/156141607469?itmmeta=01HVFHXGNVKNXRGNSPA1QXE2JE&hash=item245ac3da2d:g:VhsAAOSwNGtgrIXf&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA8LXIBPZqY3156xKjpSoOxQ0nvJzaihj4fGtUh4PO6UHkmphv8QpLU2bBZgfQMK8EaL0yBdiv57s29uRNcQ1jzJEYI1wC9oH%2FZIK7EzqC0QCHqNwOLdv2VmKmtR70Km4%2FbXLAc0VR9zNQLKEqvcb%2Bb2xjNi2bt5XAzE9iNB4%2BfxFe3u5a5AcH0%2FUqPt1ftScaupd6EnDiRu4GRrx01dn0MrO4hBYfYv9GtyjXLlLd49ymWEiTdBCW9WFgXh05A17cQi4ZCGaQm9kY63XH3KEz4WMNdR0dahnIK6Pqe%2FbNT1mu9d9aYbeG3Y%2Bk0BsaGxeD%2Fw%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR_6K9vHbYw

 

And one thing I noticed about the real car is that it actually has a white stripe between the blue and the red ones, it's not just body color.

[David G.]

11 hours ago, LennyB said:

I have a 12 year old nephew that I bought the whole set of movies for. He just loves them. So I guess they have no clue about their target audience.

 

I did find these on fleabay, the numbers seem a bit off though.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/156141607469?itmmeta=01HVFHXGNVKNXRGNSPA1QXE2JE&hash=item245ac3da2d:g:VhsAAOSwNGtgrIXf&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA8LXIBPZqY3156xKjpSoOxQ0nvJzaihj4fGtUh4PO6UHkmphv8QpLU2bBZgfQMK8EaL0yBdiv57s29uRNcQ1jzJEYI1wC9oH%2FZIK7EzqC0QCHqNwOLdv2VmKmtR70Km4%2FbXLAc0VR9zNQLKEqvcb%2Bb2xjNi2bt5XAzE9iNB4%2BfxFe3u5a5AcH0%2FUqPt1ftScaupd6EnDiRu4GRrx01dn0MrO4hBYfYv9GtyjXLlLd49ymWEiTdBCW9WFgXh05A17cQi4ZCGaQm9kY63XH3KEz4WMNdR0dahnIK6Pqe%2FbNT1mu9d9aYbeG3Y%2Bk0BsaGxeD%2Fw%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR_6K9vHbYw

 

And one thing I noticed about the real car is that it actually has a white stripe between the blue and the red ones, it's not just body color.

Thank you Len.

I have some other options to consider. Currently, I'm kind of working through that part of the build.

I usually don't dive into a build like this unless I've prepared at least one fallback position. 

David G.

[Anglia105E]

Well I am impressed David . . . Using all three shades of Tamiya white has really worked for you. I found that the TS-7 Racing White was just the right cream shade that I needed for the Phantom III, but you have found your perfect white for Herbie also !

David

[David G.]

23 hours ago, Anglia105E said:

Well I am impressed David . . . Using all three shades of Tamiya white has really worked for you. I found that the TS-7 Racing White was just the right cream shade that I needed for the Phantom III, but you have found your perfect white for Herbie also !

David

Thank you most kindly David!

-D-

[milo1303s]

for those talking about the toolkit it was called a Hazet tool case fyi

[milo1303s]

heres your decals 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/266768157282

[Anglia105E]

11 hours ago, milo1303s said:

heres your decals 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/266768157282

I can these decals have been produced by someone who has done a really good job, but also they know exactly what they are talking about, and they have gone to great lengths to explain all the details . . . Most impressive !!!

David

[David G.]

14 hours ago, milo1303s said:

heres your decals 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/266768157282

 

3 hours ago, Anglia105E said:

I can these decals have been produced by someone who has done a really good job, but also they know exactly what they are talking about, and they have gone to great lengths to explain all the details . . . Most impressive !!!

David

 

Thank you both. That's actually my next option, these are the very same ones I ordered as a backup! 😮 

 

I was just a little put-off by the fact that they're vinyl decals, not waterslide decals. But it looks like they are going to be my best option.

As you can see, I've been fiddling with them a bit already.

Thanks for the tip and the endorsement!

David G.

Edited April 17 by David G.
typo

[LennyB]

David, how thick are these? I saw them as well but just like you was put off as soon as I read "self adhesive decals".

[David G.]

12 hours ago, LennyB said:

David, how thick are these? I saw them as well but just like you was put off as soon as I read "self adhesive decals".

They're not as thin as water-slide decals Len, but they're thinner than the stickers included in the kit.

Considering my recent experiences, these vinyls are looking better all the time. I'm nearing the end of the "I just want everything to be right" phase of the build and entering the "I just want everything to be done" phase.

David G.

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

I'm sure that many of you have worked out that my work-in-progress postings are a couple of build cycles behind my actual build-in-progress... progress. So while I post here about the re-chroming of the hubcaps, I'm currently working on finding suitable decals so I can get this build wrapped up, which is why the current conversation doesn't seem to match up to the current updates.

That being said...

Here's the next update on the Disney Love Bug.

The "chrome" on the hub caps was a bit stained and not too good looking so I stripped and "re-chromed" it.

 

 

The newly chromed hup caps have been mounted to the wheels along with the de-shined tires. I've also completed the foil work. There wasn't much of that to do.

 

 

And just for grins and giggles I installed the rag top and both of the deck lids.

 

As always, thanks for taking the tine to look and please feel free to comment.

David G.

[Anglia105E]

2 hours ago, David G. said:

Hello Everybody!

I'm sure that many of you have worked out that my work-in-progress postings are a couple of build cycles behind my actual build-in-progress... progress. So while I post here about the re-chroming of the hubcaps, I'm currently working on finding suitable decals so I can get this build wrapped up, which is why the current conversation doesn't seem to match up to the current updates.

That being said...

Here's the next update on the Disney Love Bug.

The "chrome" on the hub caps was a bit stained and not too good looking so I stripped and "re-chromed" it.

 

 

The newly chromed hup caps have been mounted to the wheels along with the de-shined tires. I've also completed the foil work. There wasn't much of that to do.

 

 

And just for grins and giggles I installed the rag top and both of the deck lids.

 

As always, thanks for taking the tine to look and please feel free to comment.

David G.

I also have difficulty keeping up with the work in progress, in terms of photographing the work I just carried out, and then posting on MCM forum.

Those hub caps were certainly worth re-chroming, and they look great on the car . . . The tyres, wheels and hub caps do have a very realistic appearance, which must be as a result of your skills . . . The rag top is an important addition. Do the stripes / decals / stickers go all the way over the rag top?

David

[David G.]

20 hours ago, Anglia105E said:

I also have difficulty keeping up with the work in progress, in terms of photographing the work I just carried out, and then posting on MCM forum.

Those hub caps were certainly worth re-chroming, and they look great on the car . . . The tyres, wheels and hub caps do have a very realistic appearance, which must be as a result of your skills . . . The rag top is an important addition. Do the stripes / decals / stickers go all the way over the rag top?

David

Thanks for your post David.

I've tried to make a habit of taking my progress photos at the beginning of my build sessions. I find that this helps me in a number of ways.

It helps me plan what I want to get done in that build session. 

It helps me get my head into the work. 

If I neglect to take photos of key points of progress during the build session, I'll at least have a summary of the work completed when I take the snaps at the start of the next session.

To further help me keep track of my builds I also have my Work-Shelf Wednesday album on my Model Cars, Mostly Facebook page. It's an album where I post a weekly photo of the little shelf where I keep my in-progress builds. With the weekly photo I post some notes describing what's on the shelf, where I am in the progression of the build and what my plans are for the upcoming week. There's a link to my Facebook page in the signature.

Here's the photo from my most recent posting.

Which I think also answers your question about the racing stripes.

 

I also have a spreadsheet but that's a story for another time.  

Thank you for your kind comment regarding the wheels. The appearance and look of the wheels is more important than some people realize. It's one of those details that everybody sees but not everybody notices. When building a daily driver, a junker or most any car for that matter, few things break the illusion of the build more effectively than glossy black tires and hyper shiny chrome wheel covers.

For the tires, I most often just roughen up the tread with a coarse emery board and brush the tread and sidewalls with a fairly stiff nylon bristled brush. I tried spraying them with dull coat but I find that it tends to get mucked up while handling (sometimes manhandling) the the tires onto the wheels.

Thanks again for your post.

David G.