Beetle Side Pipe

Nigel888 · Sep 19, 2008

Here are a few pics of my latest mod.

I believe the Samba pipe is originalt from a baja, but never being one to accept defeat out came the blow torch :2guns: and the header was modified to allow the pipe to sit inside the beetle body.

The main reason is that although wheelies are fun, too much weight at the back made it undrivable.

Nigel888 · Sep 19, 2008

More Pics

A couple more pics ...

jasrx · Sep 19, 2008

intresting , but i don't think the quick/zip ties are going to last all that long with the heat ..

Nigel888 · Sep 20, 2008

New brackets

I have done three tanks and no sign of zip tie failure but they look pants so I will fabricate a bracket to support it properly.

Nigel888 · Oct 3, 2008

Further Mods

Ok, so after an hour of mental racing, the zip ties were reduced to a sticky puddle. And various parts seems to be melting. The day ended with a major incident Full speed, rabbit hole, tree/big bush.

After hunting through the tree to find the dog bone that had been thrown of in the impact, popping the shell back into shape a quick fix had me running again ... shortly followed with the exhaust falling off the manifold ... man it has some top end speed like that!!!

Day light was going so we packed the cars up and headed home.

:helpsmilie:
Being the first time I stripped the car fully I took my time. Everything stored safely for the rebuild.

I took the chassis to the work shop and bent it back into shape, oh and polished it to a mirror finish (easier to keep clean :nono

Next the engine came apart to check for dirt, and we discovered the head/carb was very badly aligned. SO we port matched it whilst it was apart.

Other parts were off the shelf, front/rear anti roll bars, shock socks and outwears starter cover.

Them we re-addressed the exhaust, wrapping it to shield the internals from heat and stop me burning myself so much., and creating a propper mount system.

On the list to do ...
Paint engine next time I strip it
LSD diff or fill with heavy oil
hydro brakes (can't get cable to pull up well enough)
custom header for exhaust to smooth bends out

Nige

Super654 · Dec 30, 2008

FG Beatle

Good job Nigel. I like your radio tray, super thick and strong..:cool2:

Shiny · Dec 30, 2008

Nice. Like what you did to it.
Keep the pix coming.

Ducky · Dec 30, 2008

Nige, about time you updated those pictures as they are ooold!

GH Racing · Dec 30, 2008

very nice
can't wait to see more pics

Nigel888 · Dec 31, 2008

There have been a few changes ....

Where do I start ...
Engine has been stripped down, Oneil's 2mm over stroke crank and ported head intalled, 30.5cc now. All supported on alloy mounts.
The cable brakes were ok but having an open diff and one rear brake was a bit cack, so of course it needed hydro all round :no:
This resulted in a set of KPD's for the rear and Magura for the front, after mounting issues they got swapped for KPDs aswell.
I remade the radio tray to allow the Ace to control the brakes and stuck a Futaba for the throttle only. This caused some fun but I now have the radio gear set to controll the throttle on channel 2 forward only and brakes on channel 3 back only, and two fail safes!
Allong with new bearings, relocated radio box and a really bashed shell I thinks thats everything ....

I'll take some more, but having too much fun playing at the moment :blush:

Oh, Ducky ... you're ment to be rebuilding yours not surfing !!!!

Shiny · Dec 31, 2008

Nice thanks for the update.

Nigel888 · Jan 1, 2009

Just the way to finish off 2008

Well, hadn't planned on stripping the beetle so soon but after a great few hours racing at Joss Bay carpark, I found a foot deep hole at full speed ... I lost count at 7 cart wheels, with the odd barrel roll thrown in :no:

Most things survived apart from the carb pulling the threads out ...

Well worth the trip if your down that way over the winter.

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&h...378431,1.446585&spn=0.00121,0.002403&t=h&z=19

All back together now ... and a couple of pics of the revised radio tray and brakes.

Super654 · Jan 2, 2009

Good set up Nigel. I found the kpd hydros where the best brakes at the time when i used to race 1/5road cars , glad im an off roader now , much more fun:rockon:

Nigel888 · Jan 9, 2009

Revised Radio tray and brakes

mg:
So it seems that there was a little more damage than originally seen.

Nothing too major but every nut, bolt and screw, regardless of locktight had worked its was loose. I even got a turn and a half on the head bolts!

I have now increased the diameter of the spacers that hold the master cylinders and set them both at the same height to prevet twisting the servo.

The bolt holes to take the insulator block had to be drilled out and a thread insert put back into them, I think the insulator block got worn with the vibrations so a new one and all the gaskets ore going in today. This will hopefully prevent the air leaks and trouble starting it. :badair: (If not, a new carb next!)

Anyone running an 813 on a big bore?

Whilst it was apart I eventuall got out the soldering iron and shortened the wireing, heat sheilded it to stop chaffing and connected the servo power direct to the switch to stop voltage drop through the receiver. Much better and far more tidy.

mooman007uk · Jan 10, 2009

here's how I set my kpd's up so i can run 2ch mixed for the brakes and set bias front to rear..just had to alter the th rod.
i'm running an 813 with reed ported 28.5...awesome carb

Nigel888 · Jan 12, 2009

And it used to look so good

h34r:
Had a great blast out today, still very icy in the shade but the grass grippy.

The newly tuned engine is going strong but still not enough grip to try it out fully ...

The KPDs are awsome.

After about an hour the combination of over confidence, ice and kerb saw the demise of the lower rear arm ... right one for a change but not fixable! New one ordered ....

:no: And a couple of pics of how it looks after about 30hrs running ... oh well. :no:

Trip · Jan 19, 2009

Is the samba made from steel or aluminum? Did you put the dent in it intentionally?

If you want to get rid of the dent (providing it is aluminum) You can fill the pipe to the top with water and tape off the openings (so the water doesn't leak out) and toss it in a deep freezer. Or if you live in Canada or someplace really cold, you could toss it out in the yard... When the water expands as it freezes, it should pop out the dents. You may have to do this a couple times, but it usually works on the first try. I have no idea if this trick will work with a steel pipe.

I have done this with 5 or 6 Nitro pipes and it works.

Good Luck,
Trip..

dc2 man · Jan 19, 2009

great runnig nigel
what kind of engine have you in her?
i am having radio issues with my own at the minute,think i need to invest lol

so hows the pipe doing in her?

Ducky · Jan 19, 2009

Nigel runs an O'Neils 30.5cc race ported lump.

Nigel888 · Jan 19, 2009

Pipes great ...

The weight to one side makes for interesting skids under braking but help keep the nose down ... (most of the time)

Ducky runs a face book group ... I have a couple of videos on there.
http://www.facebook.com/video/?oid=50343387305

Same on youtube as well
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6p5JxLiu3aU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roFL1rToKzs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tn6SfOQP_D0

Nige

Beetle Side Pipe

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