BcBee buggy project

[harleyh77]

In my intro I said that I. Inherited this buggy after my grandpa passed away from cancer. He had leukemia. So thank you to all that participate in the fundraising for the leukemia and lymphoma research.
When I got the buggy it was in rough shape. It had stock beetle seats that were chewed up, brand new dry rotted tires, floor was thin with holes, brakes froze but engine was free.

That was the start of my project. After I got the seats out I could see that a previous owner had rolled the buggy and cracked the body. When it was repaired they laid glass right over the paint. I removed all the repairs to fix correctly.



The further I got, the more I thought I took on too much.

That is the passenger side, crack went down the side and back over the rear seat area.

Pic from the outside same area.

Crack on driver side up front.

Repairs started, I screwed a piece of 1x1 to the body for alinement. I put vasoline on the wood as a release agent.




I filled in the taillight and got rid of the cut out for the air cleaner.
That's all I am going to do in this post. I'll put pics of the chassis and finished body later. Any comments are welcome.

[dubfreak1]

Thank you so much for posting this. The results on your buggy are great and what you started with was so much worse than my Imp. Very inspirational posting! Thanks again.

[Ruffuss]

I sure wish my Grandpa was still around to see and ride in "Ruffuss" now, changed alot since he owned him. Cool Ride! Being it was your Grand dad's makes all the sweeter. Thanks for sharing.

[mikegatch]

Looking good. My grandpa always has a good laugh when I destroy something on my bug. He drove it 10 years before I got it back on the road.

[harleyh77]

Thanks guys. I'm glad my story brought back some fond memories. My Grandma had a difficult time watching me pull the buggy home. The thing sat for 16 years and here's my little Grandma walking around it, touching the lights, checking the oil and telling me I better get a new fan belt. The whole time she had tears in her eyes. Grandma is still in good health but I hurried along, doing bare minimum to be safe. I was able to take her for a ride this last summer. She said it ran better than ever! That's all she said, later my mom caught her crying. More pics soon.

[bren]

The bcbee is a cool tub. I like them alot. A buddy of mine used to race one and was very fast. Unfortunately he sold his and got out of the hobby. Did you know the bcbee was designed and built in Battle Creek, MI? George's father-in-law was involved in that. (George of George's Hot VW's.)

[harleyh77]

When the weather cleared last April I brought the chassis up to the garage. I removed all brake parts, tie rods, bumper, and cut the floor out.





New pans are in. The welder is not a VW Guy. He wasn't sure how to join the pan halves. I just cut slots and folded and bent the metal then put self tapping screws in. It looks ugly but is covered by the seats.


That was a fun day! That was my first paint job and it turned out pretty good. My body work was not good. I used a day sander to take the paint off. I tried to be gentle but there are a bunch of low spots. I tried to fill and sand but honestly I got frustrated and was ready to move on. Also I didn't know about glazing to fill little pin holes. You should be able to see the imperfections in the pics. I had about four months into body work.






Finally back on the road! I used hot rod headlights with built in turn signals and red dot center. Flush mount 39 Ford led taillights. They have running lights, brake and turn signal all in one.


I like how wide the back looks. Makes me want to jump in and take her for a ride! a yellow rose was my grandpas favorite flower so I got the decal. Now he is with me on every ride, grandma thought it was a nice touch.
I used spray can bed liner on the pan and tunnel. I sparyed chrome paint on steering column, headlight buckets, and cooling tin. I do plan on getting fresh chrome in the future.
That's about all for now, thanks for looking!

[ghiastein]

Even though you did the work earlier seeing the project during the winter months makes me want to brave the bitter cold to work on my stuff.

Thanks and it looks good

[dansam]

Great fiberglass work man. I dont think Ida bought it like that! Skilz that pay the bills...

Dan

[vwfanatic]

Looks Great !

[vintagevwnut]

Nice. Im sure it made it worth it knowing that your gramps would love it.

[harleyh77]

Did a compression test, results:
#1 90
#2 95
#3 100
#4 110

I felt those readings were low considering the amount of smoke coming out of the case vent. I pulled the heads and cylinders. Plugs were well coated in oil and carbon. Need to take some measurements to see if the p/c are reuseable. I hope they are so I can just hone and rering. Want to save my money for a turbo stroker in a couple years.

[harleyh77]

I have confirmed 85.5 pistons and stock valved 043 heads with as21 1974 AJ fuel injected case.

[harleyh77]

I picked up a 34 PICT 3 carb at buggy builders to replace the h30/31. I was looking around on ebay the other day and won an auction for dual kads, no linkage or air cleaners for $80. If bushing are still good I think I got a good deal. Since carbs are a costly piece of a bigger engine, I was going to go stock. Now I am considering a small stroker, 74 x 90.5 or 92, fk41 or fk42 cam, 1.4 rockers, raise compression, bigger valves, port/polish. I think the carbs will fuel this combo good.

[harleyh77]

Its been a while since I posted on this. I went with 87mm P/C's, stock cam, 1.4 rockers, ported and polished heads with stock valves, 3 angle valve job, high rev springs and the dual kads. Still working on getting everything together. Seems bugpack can't supply the pushrods I need so still waiting on those. I also still need some of the linkage cams for the carbs. So another order to the kaddie shack should do it.