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1959 Volkswagen Bug
This is my '59 rat rod veedub.
She's pretty much mechanically stock, but not for long. I've got plans for a 1776 with baby dels (gotta back up them flames), but I also have a Judson supercharger, and I might try to make it fit on the 1776. Make the motor itself look stock with maybe some vintage speed goodies and the superchager. Thats a lot of work, but I think the results would be worth it (true oldspeed!) As for the exterior, I have widened (8"!!!) stock wheels for the rear and stockers for the front. They are all painted Honda Indy Yellow, with ALOT of pearl in them. (I'll put pictures of'em up soon). I've also got 3" white wall inserts for the rear and the small ones for the front. I'm thinking 205/70's out back and 135's up front for the true hot rod look. I know it aint much to look at now, but it's cheap so who cares. I have under $2000.00 in the entire car (including the price of the car!) and it's my daily driver.
I bought this car in 2001. It was painted school bus yellow. The kid's dad who I bought it off of worked for a local school yard, so it was really SCHOOL BUS YELLOW. It was pretty clean though so money exchanged hands, and I hopped in it for the long drive home, about 15 mi. I say long drive because these are the things the car didn't have: Turn signals, gas guage, registration, insurance, 2nd gear, shocks(front or rear), tail lights, brake lights, license plates, heater, front brakes, or a working e-brake. It was a fun drive home. I took the entire car apart and started from scratch. I rebuilt the front beam, swapped in an engine from a '74 Super Beetle, rebuilt the brakes, and re-wired the entire car. VW wiring is a real mess. Once the car was mechanically sound, it was on to making it look cool. I adjusted the beam as low as it would go(3"), shaved the front bonnet's handle, and sanded the whole deal down with 220 grit sandpaper. Then I went down to the local hardware store and bought myself 2 Quarts of semi-gloss black Rustoleum and some acetone. Thin the paint with the acetone, load the gun, shoot the car, and boom - instant hot rod. I have used this paint on other cars (my '54 Chevy)and it looks awesome if that's the look you are going for. It's cheap ($7.00 a quart), easy to use (if you've got a spray gun), and very durable. Plus, it'll never rust! A lot of people think primer will do the same thing, but it won't. Primer is very porous, and moisture gets under it, rotting the metal from the inside out. Any way, I was sitting back one day, with all the chrome shining, and all that black, and decided I was going to flame it. Down to my work (I work for an autobody supply store--use PPG, DuPont is crap!) I go, and pick up some fineline tape, and a couple of rattle cans of paint (red, yellow, and white). Half an hour later, and the bug is on fire! I will upload better flame pics soon, you cant really see them in these.
Future plans(way future plans):
Pearl white Tiajuana Tuck 'n' Roll
Freeway Flyer tranny
Full paint job 2003 Honda Indy yellow
2.5" drop spindles
Disc brakes (all the way around)
Custom Box for the sub to keep it hidden