Thread: VW rat rods? whats up?

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I'd 1/4 mile that thing. After all, some of us are suicidal

Originally posted by drg84
I'd 1/4 mile that thing. After all, some of us are suicidal

Hi all...another Volksrodder here. It seems that some "traditional" hot rodders don't like us cuttin' up VWs and calling them hot rods. I was one of the crew that built the Rat Patrol, and was hoping to provide you with some info about the car. We built it from beginning to end in 6 weeks. We started with a basket case baja bug, and built it into what you see. The car was narrowed 2 1/8" so that the roof would fit back after taking out 6"...The engine is a Class 5 racing motor, nothing to terribly special, except it has the NASTIEST cam in it ever. We call it the drive-in cam. The car also sports custom made bomber seats, black anodized stamped door panels, and a roll bar. It's got an extended Rat Fink style shifter, rollbar, and working scanner to round out the interior. Outside, the car has a speedway T bucket front axle, w/ shortened hairpins, american mags and Coker Cheater slicks...(Coker may use pictures of the car in their next catalog) The front axle extends the wheelbase by about 10 1/2" , the door handles are gone, and it's finished off in Black and white suede. We built it to show people what we are all about, and we get an amazing response wherever it goes. BUT, not everybody loves the car. We have caught quite a bit of grief from traditional hot rodders who think that because it's a VW it can't be a hot rod. The car wasn't allowed into the Goodguys Fall get together last year, because there was a "hot rodder" working the gate that said foriegn cars aren't allowed...while Miatas and Jags drove in behind him. If taking a group of guys who have never met each other and coming together to all put time effort and talent into building a car, or if building parts because you can't buy them, or stepping outside the boundaries a bit isn't the definition of hot rodding, then maybe I've missed the boat here...Anyway thanks to the open minded folks who enjoy the car, and the whole idea of volksrodding, come by www.volksrods.com and check us out. There is a complete buildup of the rat patrol with pictures and the crew's usual banter. Stop by and check out some of the killer projects we've got over there...

I have owned many cars over the decades and a volkswagen happens to be one of my favorite.My father is a Studebaker nut and quite possibly one of the biggest on the east coast so yeah,...I got one of them too.I own a 53 custom Stude lowered ,white walls,289 Studebaker motor 4 bar. 3sp column, side pipes that is currently getting an over haul.The volkswagen thing came into play when my vw hotwheels car (the one with the 2 turbines on top and the german guy's helmet sticking out) otu drop raced everyone in my click at Granma's.I have had hotrods ,mustang killers, camaro crunchers and either way I look at them they are cool.You ain't gotta come factory with 400hp and a stripe kit to be a great car,it helps but this little bean shaped doodlebug didn't need it.So, here in the states we gave it the hp's chopped it's top,extended it's front end (for that fuelie altered look) and had one heck of time doin' it.Yeah I'm in it all the way.Please this ain't a spam but I went so far as to add a business to help with my addiction.VWLab.com is my web site with volksrod and hotrod cool custom items I have either made or am making.It is new and I am adding stuff all the time but check it out.I am once again a fan of every thing with wheels and a motor so turn it on an get'er done.

hey all, glad to see you guys like some of the volksrods out there!

i am a former GM wrench that is also into VWs. my current stable has 7 of the cars and one is a volksrod. of course, i didn't know it was a volksrod for the 1st 7 years. it is now a midengined, 170hp VW powered topless VW... it is a kick to drive and has a power to weight ratio of 10:1 and even incorporates some carbon fiber hand built pieces. anyway, hello!

Well this a subjective topic with mixed emotion for me. My family rebuilt a '66 1300 over and over for about 20 years putting over 230,000 miles on a body and working through 4 engines including a 1500 and a Judson Supercharger on the earlier 1300 and in addition running a gold metalflake Sand Rover (black T-top, with big/little whitewalls) which was manufactured near here in Xion Crossroads Va. The main attraction was the cheap cost of parts and general sporty performance with that neat little short throw four speed. Still when all is said and done, the Judson huffer gave improved top speed but not much more torque. I have not had a chance to try one of the newer 2100 strokers and the biggest engine I ever built was based on the 1600 Porshe S90 specs so maybe the bigger engines are better. In addition we never went below about 22-24 mpg no matter how we modified the engine. Still none of the VWs I ever drove came even close to the acceleration of a 350SBC in my Dad's '69 Chevelle, albeit at the cost of lower mileage. So what do you want, low cost fun and pretty good mileage or the thrill of being pushed back in the seat? It depends on what you want, but my present quest is to build my 350SBC with a 700R4 in a light '29 Ford roadster body to get 20+ mpg AND acceleration more like a fast Camaro. VWs can be neat and make use of cheap parts, but the raw power is definitely lacking. Just comments, I could have fun again with a VW but overall I like the style of a Model-A roadster.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

well, the pink car i have will run very well, pin you back in the seat in all 4 gears, eat 5.slows for dinner and if i happen to be doing a long distance run, it gets 31mpg with 48mm dual dellorto carbs!!! best of all worlds. my old 84 Hurst/Olds was a bit faster in the 1/4 mile but was a heavy/thirsty pig. they are all good, this is just a different way of getting there... just like a good street rod should be

Hey Dr. Freakinstein, 1slo3 & RatRodVW & Krautwagen ~ Did I miss anyone? How funny...have you guys all been lurking an just decided to join the party cause of the VW Rat Rod thread? I know there are a few other newbies on this thread that didn't come back when it first started...but if ya come back...We promise not to give you a hard time about your toys RIGHT PEOPLE???? lol

Welcome to the boards guys...Post some pics of your cars when ya get a chance! By the way, VW's & "hot rods" are a frequent topic in our house...My kids own 2 VW's & I own a Trans Am...LOL...

So what do you want, low cost fun and pretty good mileage or the thrill of being pushed back in the seat? It depends on what you want, but my present quest is to build my 350SBC with a 700R4 in a light '29 Ford roadster body to get 20+ mpg AND acceleration more like a fast Camaro. VWs can be neat and make use of cheap parts, but the raw power is definitely lacking. Just comments, I could have fun again with a VW but overall I like the style of a Model-A roadster.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder [/B]

This motor could be built for a fraction of what you have into your car, and it will yank the front tires in three gears...

I've been around fast VWs and fast hot rods, and in my opinion, the only thing lacking with the VW is the noise...That T-bucket is easily a low 13 sec car, docile enough to be driven daily, and idles like a stocker. You actually forget that the Holley 650 is like 3" from your head...Oh and it nails down well over 20 mpg too.

My first car was a '54 Chevy, and my second a '69 Camaro, so I know the attraction to V-8's, lumpy cams, and smoking tires, but technology for VWs has gotten so advanced that you can easily make a sedan run high 12s for very little cash outlay...to each his own though...

Originally posted by Jerilynne1965
Hey Dr. Freakinstein, 1slo3 & RatRodVW & Krautwagen ~ Did I miss anyone? How funny...have you guys all been lurking an just decided to join the party cause of the VW Rat Rod thread? I know there are a few other newbies on this thread that didn't come back when it first started...but if ya come back...We promise not to give you a hard time about your toys RIGHT PEOPLE???? lol

Welcome to the boards guys...Post some pics of your cars when ya get a chance! By the way, VW's & "hot rods" are a frequent topic in our house...My kids own 2 VW's & I own a Trans Am...LOL...

LOL...I'll stick around...I really don't care what sombody else thinks of my car. I'm the one who gets in it and drives it, and nobody else has to ride in it if they don't want. My car makes me smile, and that's all that matters to me. But I'll hang around and post when I have something useful to say (Don't worry, it's not too often... )...

Hi, my name is Rob and I am a volksrodder!

I was also one of the builders on the Rat Patrol project, and I am glad to hear that you liked it.

This seems like it is a really cool site.

Here is my personal ride!



Rob

Hey, no offense intended here, VWs are nostalgic for me and it might be fun to build a really big engine with the latest available parts, but I wonder if anybody out there has a VW with a Corvair engine? My younger brother had a '60 Porsche coupe with the smaller 110 H.P. Corvair engine and the engine cover would just barely close over it. It had the bad property of suddenly throwing the contents of the glove compartment into the back seat upon acceleration in low gear! Now that was a sleeper and perhaps a precursor to the Porsche flat-six models. Of course the engine rotation is reversed and the "right" way is to buy expensive rear gears, but the easy way was to merely flip the ring gear over and it worked pretty well. Another way is to buy a reverse-camshaft and run the engine backwards but I do not recall if the there were piston pin offsets that had to be changed, so it was easiest to flip the ring gear in the transaxle and let the engine run as it was designed. I guess Corvair engines are scarce today, but If I were building a VW today I would look hard for a Corvair engine. It was an interesting play on words in the movie "The Thomas Crown Affair" (the first one with Steve McQueen) because in that movie there was a dune buggy based on a VW pan with a Corvair engine and no doubt using a "Crown Adapter". What this thread needs is a picture of a VW with a Corvair engine! Maybe someone on this Forum has a picture of the Thomas Crown Dune Buggy (some folks on this Forum have some amazing pictures!)? Still no offense intended, at one time or another I rebuilt or replaced every part on a pre-SuperBug ('60-'66) except to rebuild the magical wunderbox transaxle so I have about 20 years of VW memories. Just reminiscing.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

the corvair engine is fun, but with modern parts, getting 170+hp from a VW engine originally designed for 25hp is very cool and not nearly as $$$$ as the corvair. i can tell you my 170hp VW engine idles smoother than my stock 65hp engine, gets better mpg cruising, runs cooler and requires much less shifting! i can literally role through a community at 35mph in top gear, roll through the throttle and be at 70 in the blink of an eye.

There are some cool links in here...thanks guys! I love VW's, especially the old-school "Cal-Look" stuff. I used to own a 1970 Bug . It was my first car...man did I sink some cash into it.

Here's my old Bug...


Thanks again for the cool links. Makes me wanna get another bug to do up!

Funny you should mentio putting a Corvair Motor in a VW...That's how we were going to get by the "Must be American powered" at Goodguys events...

Originally posted by Jerilynne1965
Hey Dr. Freakinstein, 1slo3 & RatRodVW & Krautwagen ~ Did I miss anyone? How funny...have you guys all been lurking an just decided to join the party cause of the VW Rat Rod thread? I know there are a few other newbies on this thread that didn't come back when it first started...but if ya come back...We promise not to give you a hard time about your toys RIGHT PEOPLE???? lol

Welcome to the boards guys...Post some pics of your cars when ya get a chance! By the way, VW's & "hot rods" are a frequent topic in our house...My kids own 2 VW's & I own a Trans Am...LOL...

Not lurking just had an intro from our site(Steve's) to yours and liked what I saw.Warning from the Doc ,be prepared to get it as good if not better than you give it if you talkin' 'bout my ride.lol.We don't need no stinkin' 8.lol. I like things with wheels,I love it when my wife puts on roller blades.lol....kinda adds a new meaning to the term "double pumper!"lol.What model T/A?bandit or other?oh I see 81.YNOT,..dig the bug dude,gotta get a nuthern.