vw-t

[flatheadgary]

i built a vw powered t back in '76 that was great to drive. there is a pict of it in the photo thread. speedway used to sell the kit to build one, though i had built everything myself for mine at the time. i called them the other day and they said those were just a fad back in the 70's and 80's. some fad!! they don't sell them anymore. i wonder what they did with the tooling. mine got upwards of 40 mpg. sure could use it now. i know people called mine a dunebuggy but i never understood that considering the fact people put just about any kind of motor in a t bucket and they don't call it something else. if a t has a studebaker motor, do you call it a studebaker or a t? anyway, i build alot of drag racing altereds and have had this on my mind for awhile. it is a full roll caged center steer altered '23 t drag car with a vw motor in the back. i have seen plenty of altereds with the vw in the front, but not in the back. i know it will wheelstand, but wheelie bars in the back will help that. i figure i can build it to weigh about 700-900 lbs, which should make it quite fast with a mild motor. one of the reasons i want to build this is because i like to go to the vw drag days, but get burned out after a while because there isn't enough diversity in the vw world at these events. there are some volksrods and buggies dragging, but not much else. i also like to push the boundbaries of peoples imagination and have found my ideas are always about 3-5 years ahead of everybody elses. i tend to build things nobody else is thinking about, then i get tired of it and sell it. then a few years later everybody wants one and you can't buy them inexpensive anymore. i know this is more of a street t site, but what do you guys think about this? here are some drawings i did along time ago. wouldn't this be cool to have a big blown t bucket to tow it to the line to run. you know everybody would say "the tow car is faster than the race car"

 

[Mike]

A few years back, I thought NHRA's G/D was a class with a ton of potential. The index got zinged a few times and the advantage was lost, but before that happened I think someone that could really drive the finish line and protect the index could have had a real shot at winning some races.

 

[Rick]

i built a vw powered t back in '76 that was great to drive. there is a pict of it in the photo thread. speedway used to sell the kit to build one, though i had built everything myself for mine at the time. i called them the other day and they said those were just a fad back in the 70's and 80's. some fad!! they don't sell them anymore. i wonder what they did with the tooling. mine got upwards of 40 mpg. sure could use it now. i know people called mine a dunebuggy but i never understood that considering the fact people put just about any kind of motor in a t bucket and they don't call it something else. if a t has a studebaker motor, do you call it a studebaker or a t? anyway, i build alot of drag racing altereds and have had this on my mind for awhile. it is a full roll caged center steer altered '23 t drag car with a vw motor in the back. i have seen plenty of altereds with the vw in the front, but not in the back. i know it will wheelstand, but wheelie bars in the back will help that. i figure i can build it to weigh about 700-900 lbs, which should make it quite fast with a mild motor. one of the reasons i want to build this is because i like to go to the vw drag days, but get burned out after a while because there isn't enough diversity in the vw world at these events. there are some volksrods and buggies dragging, but not much else. i also like to push the boundbaries of peoples imagination and have found my ideas are always about 3-5 years ahead of everybody elses. i tend to build things nobody else is thinking about, then i get tired of it and sell it. then a few years later everybody wants one and you can't buy them inexpensive anymore. i know this is more of a street t site, but what do you guys think about this? here are some drawings i did along time ago. wouldn't this be cool to have a big blown t bucket to tow it to the line to run. you know everybody would say "the tow car is faster than the race car"

Go here i did some reshearch and came up with this.Good Luck
http://forums.rodandcustommagazine.com/70/1103619/whats-on-your-mind/t-bucket-plans/index.html

 

[butch27]

Go to <www.volksrods.com> They have it there I'm sure.

 

[flatheadgary]

butch27, i am not sure what you mean about the volksrod site. i belong and i haven't seen that many t buckets on there. mostly street ones if any.

 

[butch27]

Walt Leatherman has built 2.

 

[fatboyman05]

I am 99% sure I have a copy of the article on the V-8 mid engined t bucket...........

 

[Shawn F.]

I almost bought a VW bug (old 1970 or so) and was going to turn it into one of those "Volkrods". I found one from a friend but he wanted way too much for it with no motor so I passed. Even thought I like hot rods and most hot rodders or classic custom car guys think these VW's are stupid, I think they are a bit odd and cool looking. Heck, they are CHEAP to build and haul butt! They even handle quite well. I remember looking for interior parts and an engine for the one I wanted to buy and I could have gotten a new headliner for like 50 bucks and new door panels for around that same price, the engines are simple, they are like motorcycles, buy new jugs, crank, rods and piston and the parts for them are CHEAP. For about 3500 bucks you can have a very nice and fast streetable car. Maybe prices have gone up quite a bit in the past 4 years or more but that is what I remember it as.
If I find a VW around here for cheap with a title (this is the hard part is finding old ones with a title) then I will probably buy it and explore with the VW deal. I am sure I'd learn a lot from them and I do know that I would never buy a new VW or anything german for that matter.
I can't wait to see what you come up with, keep us posted!

 

[bill4u6]

back in the 60s a friend of mine raced FV whitch was a mid engine vw. they would flip the ring gear and run it mid engine. i did one of these for a guy to run in a dune buggy that thing would clime a tree..

 

[T-Odd]

Yo flatheadgary, check out AC Manny's car from Volksrods.com

And here's a flathead for ya.

 

[T-Odd]

You can check out all of Manny's pics on his photobucket thingy.

vwr23 - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

 

[Shawn F.]

Those are awesome! I wonder how much it costs to build a motor like that. I do know they can be built rather cheap and produce heaps of HP! The second one is pretty cool.

 

[T-Odd]

Shawn F. "Those are awesome! I wonder how much it costs to build a motor like that. I do know they can be built rather cheap and produce heaps of HP! The second one is pretty cool."

Actually, "cheap" is a relative term I suppose. I have in my hotrod a 250HP/350lbft SBC long block was $1500 brand new, with old junkyard stock HEI, intake, Q-Jet, water pump, fuel pump, etc.

The VW engine I'd like to built would cost about the same and be less than half the HP but also lighter... probably less than half. HP/weight ratio could be really close.

I know my VW is slow but it's also fun, and that's all I really care about anyway.

 

[Shawn F.]

Yeah because I remember looking at building one and thought about spending 3500-4000 on one and seen that I didn't even need that much for a nice and fast street motor. I do know that once you start going crazy (just like any motor) they will be very unreliable and do not last as long as most other engines do. I can't remember the milage people were getting out of them but I do remember it was very low. With them being that cheap I guess you can afford to have it that way. :lol: