AMT Der Beetle Bus-OOB Version Completed

Hey looking good any ideas on color 

Thanks Nick. I'm looking at Mystic Teal Metallic. It's chameleon kind of color like this:

Do you have the paint already

Not yet. Getting it mixed up at the dealership I used to work at.

 I just ordered a Pro Stock Camaro with the wheels that I want that are a 5 bolt pattern instead of a 4 bolt pattern Weld Draglites. This Camaro kit's got a bunch of other "goodies" in it that I'll use as well. The aluminum wheels I've been mocking everything up with are a "special treat" for my Street Stock 1990 Mustang LX I'll be tackling in the future.

Here's the kit:



and a picture of what the wheels will look like outside of an artists box top art representation ( Say......... I like that "Chevrolet Power" decal on the side of that hood scoop! That'll be going on the VW somewhere alright) :

The first thing that I had to do to get the engine / transmission to fit was to get rid of the Lenco 4 speed transmission and replace it with a Turbo TH350 automatic transmission. I went to work by cutting the Lenco from the engine assy.



After some sanding and dry fitting to make sure everything would line up flush , I mated the two together:



This morning has been nothing but planning and fitting to make sure all these mods are gonna jive with each other. I cut the flooring out another 1/2" at the front to allow the engine/ transmission to fit in nicely. I think this'll be ok:



I've got a lot of work ahead of me to include rear chassis framework fabrication, engine and transmission mounting and figuring out where I want the radiator to wind up as well as figuring out how I want to do the seating arrangement because the OOB stuff is now shot all to Hell.

Good to see that the "Mad Doctor" is firmly in his realm. I have to admit that you have my head spinning on how this is all going to go together. But, given your past work, I am not doubting your process one bit. Now, your mental stability, mmm...maybe a tetch. With that said, I am impressed and hang with it. I've got to see this to the end.

You're awesome Bro!!! 

Hell my head's spinning Joe. Mental stability? Meh...........that's overrated.

Here's the latest so far with the body work on the main body complete and the roofline about 80% complete. Still gotta work out the roof to body fit a little but it's pretty clean other than that and I'm feeling really good about the way that it turned out. Got the Camaro kit in so here's the wheels from that kit. I have another set coming from Revell though. A few blems on these but you get the picture of the shiny rims. Just couldn't risk screwing the resin ones up with my limited Alclad experience and besides, I need a break on at least one portion of this build.

Oh Heck Yeah! Outstanding body work Joe. Looks as though you got that all to line up quite nicely. Although the wheels look sorta cool, they are nowhere near the uber boss touch that the lego bumper is. I mean seriously, You're putting some definite creative thought into this.

Jester75

Reminds me of one of Gas Monkey's creation

 

LOL about to post the same thing till I saw your post.

Thanks fellas. No Joe I aint gonna use that bumper. lol

Ok folks. Today I did some interior tinkering because I've got to figure out the seating and with that comes the question of how much of the forward part of the engine will be visible when the seating area is installed. I mean look..................this is the OOB seating:



The whole front of the engine will not be visible at all given that arrangement. So I got to thinking :What if I recline the firewall a few degrees and stick some better seats in there and widen the distance between the seats? This will allow the whole center section to have a clear panel in which to display everything up there since the engine is pretty much the showcase of this build AND what the entire build is constructed around. So I mocked everything up using the seats from the J2000 kit. Imagine this, with racing seat harnesses and everything in the middle clear.



I've got to move the seats back just a tad which means the firewall is going to have to be scooted back about 1/8-3/16 of an inch. Additionally I'll have to relocate the steering column to the drivers side to line up with the seats. Everything seems to clear the roofline as well:



While I'm on modifications, I had to correct a boo-boo. It seems when I tried to make the transmission cut out a little deeper the dremel got away from me and marred the cut out somewhat and I tried to correct it by widening it across the face panel:

Remember I started here:



and ended up here. See how the cut out is now more of an arc than a half moon shape?



the only way around this was to cut the whole panel out:



and drill a whole in some styrene sheet stock and cut a new panel out.



This is the kind of stuff that I really enjoy about custom builds. It seems like when I change one thing then it bleeds over into something else and then something else again and again. The vision I start out with on any given custom auto project often gets changed several times and dictates to me how it's going to go and before I know it's happening the build takes on a while new direction and life of its own. It's really a cool thing to watch unfold.

Awesome work!  The term 'surgical' popped up earlier in this thread, referring to your cuts and joins, especially for the floor pan.  I was thinking that before I read it.  So, with the exception of the runaway Dremel, how are you making those incredible straight cuts?!?

Gene Beaird,
Pearland, Texas

Good recovery on the trans pnl

Looks better than the original did, even before the gremlins  snuck in and messed it up  

Thanks Gene and Steve. I'll see if I can throw together a small tutorial of how I do things in regards to seams there Gene.

Ok folks. I've got my next automotive build lined up after I get through with "The VW Bus Project". I've been wanting to do a 460 Big Block Ford powered Fox Body Mustang for a while now. Initially I wanted to do the 1990 Model LX but now that I've acquired an older Fox Bodied car that just looked too cool to pass up I think I'll go with this one. I've already got the wheels and tires to make all this happen so here's where we're at:



and I just ordered a Big Block Ford (actually a 572 but we'll go ahead and label it a 460) for it:



It's already got an automatic transmission behind it so that's a plus. I didn't like the carburetor that was on top of it so we'll go with an 800cfm double pumper carburetor for the fuel induction side of things: I'll be using the one on the left hand side here:



After this VW deal I'll be making it a point to stick to just detailing the engine compartment and getting a set of "GT 460" stripes made for the lower rockers like the old GT 350's and 500's used to have. I think I will have had all the deep mods I want for a while after this bus.

The beauty of your builds Joe is that for every new development that crops up you meet it with creative and well thought out solutions. Very admirable.

I'm still WATCHING !! . 

A tutorial would be awesome.  What's the kit number for that Revell Mustang Street Machine?  That's very close to an 86 model GT a friend has that I'd like to reproduce in scale form.  All I'm finding when looking for a Revell Street Machine Mustang are the Mustang II kits.  Thanks.

Gene Beaird,
Pearland, Texas

mustang1989

 

This looks like an awesome mustang build.

mustang1989

 
I think I will have had all the deep mods I want for a while after this bus.

 

I also like your sense of hummor ….. 

DUSTER

mustang1989 I think I will have had all the deep mods I want for a while after this bus. :headslap: I also like your sense of hummor …..

Yeah! Like - look at this modest, quick out of the box build!

Good luck with your pprojects and have a nice day

Paweł

Ok...............let's face it...................I'm addicted.

Awright brother Joe! While this is a serious condition, there are many things that are/could be worse! At least you have us to help you get along...

Good luck with your builds and have a nice day!

Paweł

I appreciate that Pawel.

 I've got where I want the radiator to go planned out. First I robbed the radiator out of my Pro Stock Thunderbird kit and then robbed the cooling fans from the Pontiac J2000 kit. I sanded the back of the cooling fan assy to where I could cut the area between the fan blades out to give them more of a realistic look. I'll be cutting the floor of the chassis on the drivers side to allow me to install the radiator and cooling fan assy there. I'll also be drilling holes in the cooling fan "platform" in which to run the supply and return cooling system hoses through into the radiator underneath.
Here's the parts:


and here's where they're going to wind up when installed:



More cutting on the way......................

Joe, you are on the edge of insanity! great work! Where is that TH350 transmission from?

Thanks Lee.

No I'm ok ............................really. lol .

I got the transmission from ebay but it's from Perry's Resin. Speaking of which I've gotta call him still on my 1980 Malibu Station Wagon progress. Lemme tell you, if you want a resin body casted you might as well go to the patience bank and withdraw alot of it. I'm just working around it right now but man it takes a long time. If his body casting is anything like his transmission turned out then I'm going to be very happy with it.

Excellent creativity my friend. Love that Mustang kit. That's Boss!

Joe, I do believe you ARE the crossroads of ambition and addiction.

Being a VW nut and old Hotrodder in the day, I enjoy this post a lot. Fun project! Fortunately after many sessions at Volkswagen Anyonomus, I'm almost back to normal and can drive cross country without all those stops inspecting VW carcasses in fields and behind barns.

Keep up the good work!

Max

Thanks Joe and Max.

I made some headway by cutting out the floor for the cooling fan installation. Good 'ol Gene seemed interested in a tutorial so I'll do that here.

It's really hard to cut the sides that arent accessible by the sides like the center of the floor. I start by making consecutive holes in line by drilling them out with my pin vise like so:

Then I just connect the dots with the X-acto knife to make the "line". Then I cut out whatever I'm going to cut out, like this floor, smaller than what I need it with a razor saw. See, its just a tad smaller than the radiator:

Then you can safely file away at the sides until you get the dimensions that you want:

and then everything fits in there, once trued up, perfectly:

I also worked on the seating platforms some by cutting the whole bench into two sections so the engine'll be able to fit . I've got the dimensions down but I'm going to have to work a little more on the specifics of how I want the seat platforms braced and "fastened". I've also gotta move the steering column towards the drivers door just a little bit due to relocating the seats.



Looks like I'll need some seat belts as well. I'll be going with these (which I'll be ordering on my next payday):

That's some solid progress Joe. Nicely done. I like those seatbelts. Guess I never considered Eduard making automotive PE stuff. Very cool.