jbwelda Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 (edited) Some of us may have followed along on the build thread: http://www.modelcars...showtopic=26850 its finally wrapped up, for now that is...just in time for NNL 2012 (not that its likely to be noticed there...amongst the 1000 or so exquisite builds!). needs to have the deck lid clearanced to fit and could really use a new front end narrowed 6" scale inches or so, but its looking pretty good. for those not along on the build, its mostly a box stock tamiya karmann ghia, with motor, trans and rear running gear from the fujimi 356 enthusiasts kit, quad cam porsche carrera motor, heavy duty anti sway bar, kool azz wheels on all four wheels, disk brakes up front and finned drums in the rear, front suspension moved up about a scale 6" drop, pretty hokey but it worked and doesnt look too out of place underneath. 356 seats, dashboard and accessories, steering wheel etc but basically pretty non-flashy outwardly, just lowered. things could have gone better but you just cant blame the fit when its a tamiya like this...everything fit beautifully right out of the box...the bumpers have the right angle and they arent even glued in...in fact the chassis should come off the body still because i never glued it and its in solid. my mods made some fits problematic but even that wasnt that dramatic. and turned out pretty kool too! any questions, comments or suggestions truely appreciated, thanks for looking! Edited February 7, 2012 by jbwelda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinfan5 Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 that is beatiful, well done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Laski Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Great build, great pictures! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qwit Pushin Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Fantastic!! Nice mod's too!! Like you, I'm 'cramming' to get one more done before Saturday, a '67 Vette. Anyhow, love your latest creation, see ya in Santa Clara!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisR Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Great conversion and model! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffs396 Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 She's a beauty!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FASTBACK340 Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 That's stunning. You absolutely nailed it.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MicroNitro Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 very tastefully done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcandela Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Nice!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyjim Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Most excellent build. Any closer pics of the engine? SHINY :) RULES! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bartster Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 I REALLY like this! Glad to see some VW conversions, I've got a bus w/911 turbo power coming up & this is great inspiration! Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maindrian Pace Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Beautiful, and a very unlikely sleeper - because in 1:1, that would be a $15K car with a $150K engine. -MJS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike502 Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Great build! Love The Vw's! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
84vanagon Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Too cool! I love all the details you did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3men2s Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 You will be surprice in how many of us will b looking at this one closer at the nnl. great job, great look....an inspiration for my next bug project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
montelsc Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Cool build never seen one built great eng detail Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espo Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 Outstanding build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chopper430 Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 that's a good lookin biuld, ive done one of those about over ten years ago "box stock". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danno Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Exquisite! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VW Dave Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Love it, love it, love it!! Honestly, IMO the 6" narrowed beam would be too much; the car looks well proportioned and 'sorted,' as my mates in the UK would say. I really like the wheels without caps, as that's a style that you almost never see in scale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbwelda Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 (edited) >IMO the 6" narrowed beam would be too much; well i kind of agree with you on the current stance (minus a problem or two that arent visible in the photos), i like the wide look. but the problem is more that i had to grind like mad away from the inside of the wheels as their offset sets them way out there especially when you figure in the brakes, and i also had to grind away the portion of the front suspension arms where they connect to the wheel backs. thats why you arent seeing photos of the underside! its not really that bad but my initially visioned level of detail didnt carry through because of the narrowing i had to do to get it to the point you see it. so that 6" i mentioned counted that it could use a good 3" of it just to let me avoid excessive grinding, then the other 3" would go to actually narrowing the track. the tires are hitting the top of the fender and actually have slight camber with tops in and bottoms out, like the rears. so some slight narrowing would help that out a lot and better center the tires in the wells side to side. (btw, 1/8" in 1/24th scale = 3" 1:1 scale, so the 3" i mention above means 1/8" when it comes time for cuttin...). thanks again for looking and im glad youre enjoying this build! edit: oh i forgot to mention, i bought some micro magnets on ebay and when they arrive i am going to try using them to hold the deck lid on. i really wish that one air box werent a bit crooked, that happened when the carb snapped off at some point and i had to reglue it. i wasnt going to glue the air boxes to the carbs until i was able to check the fit of the hood, but oh no, i got impatient! i could have easily taken a sixteenth inch off the bottom of them to let them fit under the hood. oh well, lesson for next time! as it is, the hood sits slightly crooked as it rests on the air boxes otherwise i would just lay it on there with magnets to hold it and call it good...might still work out. Edited February 10, 2012 by jbwelda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave B Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Beautiful build William, that is VERY impressive Dave B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorvairJim Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 K/G's are favorites of mine, but then I like ALL air-cooled cars. Great workmanship all around, and the paint looks flawless from where I sit. This reminds me of a 1:1 car a friend of mine had back in the early 80's. He worked at a local Porsche+Audi dealer as a mechanic and one day a rolled 911 Turbo came in on a rollback. A lightbulb went on over his head, and he got the info to contact the insurance co. that now owned what was left of the car. He bought it for basically chump change and gutted the hulk for anything and everything that was still usable... like the entire drivetrain, for instance! This is when things got crazy and he took his daily driver, a tired '70 VW Squareback, off the road for what is now called a "Radical Makeover"! He shortened the car's wheelbase a couple of inches to allow room for the longer Porsche drivetrain to fit, tubbed the wheelwells all around for the much wider rolling stock, and adapted the entire Porsche suspension to the l'il wagonette. He then repainted it in the factory yellow. He even had a set of wheels made for it that would take the stock VW hubcaps. This car was the mother of all sleepers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cherokeered Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Beautiful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainAhab Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 Awesome build. Those tires and wheels look very realistic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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