Project: Lucy

Thought I'd toss up my recent 3 year project for your enjoyment. This is Lucy, the daughter of the devil. She's a 1973 VW Super Beetle Sports Bug that's been slightly warmed over. She got her name because the suspension was so shot, the night I picked her up she would randomly veer left or right, without warning, and usually when there was something to hit. Did I mention it was a 20 mile drive through the mountains to get home?

This is what she looked like the next day...

A week later she was stripped down and had the suspension/brakes replaced. The suspension came from an 87 944 turbo (951), and the brake calipers/master cylinder came from an 87 911 turbo (930). The front struts had to be sectioned and shortened to accept 84 vw rabbit inserts, the rear suspension is basically a bolt-on affair. Replace the pivot bushings in the aluminum arms and spring plates with urethane vw beetle pieces and bolt them on the car.

This does make the track quite a bit wider so 4" wider front fenders and 5" wider rear fenders are used to keep everything covered.

Next up was a strut bar with universal camber plates, a one size fits all RLR weld-in cage, ATL fuel cell, gtc-300 knock-off rear spoiler, and a new turbo motor.

I built the motor as well. It's a 2165cc, alu bubble top case, k8 cam 308 dur./.378" lift, CB 78mm forged crank, CB H-beam rods, Mahle 94mm pistons and barrels, tapered chomoly pushrods, straight cut cam gears, CB 2 stage dry sump pump, CB mini-D wedge port 42x37.5 heads, LS1 K-motion springs, 1.3 forged rockers (.491" lift at valve), t3/t04s turbo, ported manifolds, 48mm throttle bodies, DTM shroud, MS2 fuel injection, 750cc RC injectors, bosch 044 fuel pump.

Back to the car... new tires and rims. 18x8/10 yokohama A048 235/285. Tested the rear tire on the front to test clearance, no rubbing at full lock. Also got the dash in the car and wired up. Installed new rear coilovers, and new Rancho racing transmission (Single side cover Z case, Albins chromoly gears, pro-synchros, super diff, 2.90/1.86/1.26/.93/3.875 R&P)

Started working on a new front spoiler assembly by widening a front bumper by 8" and cutting a ronal spoiler in half to match. That's still being worked on and ready for fiberglass. The bug went to the dyno and after a long session on the dyno on a 98 degree day we managed 237whp/225wtrq at 21psi.

Some aero mods were next, venting the front fenders, and trimming 5" off the rear fenders to reduce drag. I also installed new swaybars, and finally got the car painted.

Now the payoff, it's fast, stupid fast. If RWB did a bug, I imagine it would be something like this. 240hp, 1900lbs wet with driver, 0-60 in 3.5 0-100 in 7.5 and stays flat through the corners.

And some video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fhHhclOv2E http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GX0RxM4AEPc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FxWIC6jfPI

Cool Car! What class does it run in?

Awesome! I love it.

Nice, talk about all the things i wanted to do to my ol'beetle

and that was his first post......

Damn. My vague desire for an ACVW just turned into a serious craving.

Man thats a cool build! Please update us when tat chin spoiler is done.

Thats alot of plumbing....cool.

Awesome post!! I'm a mild beetle fan, been working with Formula Vee for 4 years. That thing flies!!!

Did you say that she was "slightly warmed over"? I can't wait to see what happens when you radically modify her! (jet engine? impulse drive? warp drive?)

totally unreasonable, which is just about perfect! i heart ACVWs.

That looks like all kinds of fun, in a very unwholesome kind of way. I love it.

That's awesome!

I had no idea the 951 parts (or anything similarly useful) could be adapted so readily...

Yowza! Many kudos for developing a car that few take seriously into a monster! With the rearward weight bias and that big wing, are you able to keep the nose planted and biting?

Fron the moment I saw the front suspension, all I could think of was EVIL

Then I saw the engine with the locomotive pistons and I realized that you were demented and that this was going to turn out just right!

Nice work.

Ever since talking with an older mechanic about how he and a couple buddies modified an old Beetle with a bunch of salvage Porsche parts, I've had something like that in mind.

Awesome job turning it into a reality.

That's pretty badass. I bet it must be an entertaining handful to drive with that drivetrain setup.

I like Lucy.

I named my project SUE for Series of Unfortunate Events. I could start my own thread on that, so I digress.

That's a hot bug. Would love to see it in action on the track.

Given how the VW/ghia body lifts right off of the chasis, I've always thought that they're a natural for a tube spaceframe underneath with all modern components. My other pet idea is to use the reversing pinion setup to make an AWD rear-engined Subaru WRX-based Ghia or bug.

But enough sidetrack. THIS build is real and it rocks.

VIDEO please!

Love it, stupid me took the mildly warmed over seriously for the first few pics. I was thinking, why does he need 951 brakes for a mild car, must be a poser!!
I love it!. For the humble mortals amongst us, what is achievable with an ACVW engine staying with a slightly more common interpretation of 'mild' both in terms of build and wallet?

Hello, EMPI? Send me your whole catalog.

Nice build! Who says you can't make a Fatchick fast?

Wow, you guys work fast. I didn't think I'd get so many replies so quickly. I'll try and answer all the questions here in order :)

-Graefin10, I autox in OSP locally, but could do XP nationally. It would be the upper echelon classes for road racing.

-Raze, I want to set off on the right foot. Hopefully, there will be plenty more.

-4cylndrfury, it's more than a chin spoiler, it's actually a full airdam/splitter assembly. Got lots of good input from a handful of ustcc guys, and i'm making the plug now.

-pinchvalve, I figure a full-on tube chassis with carbon body is the next inevitable step... and yes I think I know where I can get one :D

-ransom, the super beetle was vw's first test of the strut front end, very similar to the 911's of the day. The bastard 924 had the same basic suspension pickups as the late super beetle (1303 chassis, 73-up), which got passed on to the 944. The 951 and 930 just happened to share similar brake components so things just bolt together.

-kreb, she needs more front downforce for sure but the weight bias is perfect 45F/55R and a 50.5% cross weight. It really surprises folks to see how well she turns in, but touch the gas pedal and the nose gets light.

-CarRacer, It's like an on off switch really, at first she feels fast, then the cam/turbo come on at the same time at around 4k rpm. At that point it feels like you're piloting an explosion and you hope you have enough room to slow down. She's definitely a handful under boost, but you have to stay in it to go quick.

-Adrian_Thompson, in the "mild mannered mortal" engine category, I would go with a 2007cc or a 2165cc, but nothing bigger than that. For about 4-5k in parts you can build a warmed over torque monster that will last 80-100k miles now, and keep it cool.

-friedgreencorrado, I actually had that cartoon in mind when I named her :)

Very cool build. I'd say you need more than an air dam up front once you get up to racetrack speeds if it is a handful at auto-x. Something like this maybe with an integrated splitter?

you did a great job on the car.

I've been into ACVWs for 15 years, and this may be the first build I've seen in which I'm truly impressed. Everything you need, and nothing you don't... good show!