What to do with a super beetle?

That sucks. I just spent three nights at the hospital but that was because my son stepped on a nail. About half of our events are run at Brianne's place in Maxwell, which is google says is a bit over three hours from Dallas. The other half are run in College Station which google says is a little under three hours. We're actually probably about the same distance from Brianne's. They used to run them up around Dallas somewhere but a quick googling shows that's not happening any more. Bummer There's a two day event in College Station in March. If you want to give it a try, let me know and you can co-drive my car for a day to see if you like it. It'll be fun.

All of this...

I +1'd the comment about "no title = no project", though I don't agree with the part about scrapping it.

I'd work on the assumption that I won't get the title. Ever.

At that point, either pass it on to someone who can use it or make it a race car. I haven't had my Scooby-engined Bug out yet, but it should be entirely too much fun. Rallycross, Lemons/Chump, whatever.

Mental wrote: If you insist on not trashing it, non turbo scooby engines are over 120 HP and are availible 2 for $400. They are faster than you think

^this. The 2.2 subie swap is probably the best documented swap out there. Buy the adapter from Kennedy and you'll get a life size wiring diagram to lay the subie harness on which shows you exactly where to cut and splice.

The 120ish HP of the 2.2 with the gearing of the VW is plenty fast. The Wartburg, using that combo and weighing more than a Bug got down the 1/4 mile at the Challenge in just over 15 seconds.

The front suspension and brakes from a 944 will bolt up. The rear brakes from a 944 will bolt up and you can even keep the parking brake with a little adapter for the cable.

The suspension in the super is much better suited toward road work than rallyx.

Do it well and convince your Uncle that the rampside will be in good hands :)

In reply to JThw8:

For what its worth (and I'm not 100% sure who exactly I ordered through), I did not get a life size wiring diagram. I didn't get jack E36M3 other than the adapter, the flywheel, and the clutch bits I asked for. I am pretty sure I ordered through an intermediate party though. I remember reading somewhere that the lead time from Kennedy was stoopid, but that you could order from a parts house that kept several adapters in stock to reduce the lead time.

Is the 944 suspension/brake swap Super-specific, or does that work for Std Sedans as well?

VG30_S12 wrote: Rotary bug anyone?

the high performance one is shown for 580 dollars, 7.8 lb flywheel uses the 200mm VW clutch or their "base" model one is 438 dollars for a 17lb flywheel.

ransom wrote: Add me to the chorus calling for rallycross.

also this.

sometimes I think I am the only person who likes the super beetle,

All the calls for rallycross.. I don;t know how the strut front would hold up to that kind of abuse. Like the 924s and early 944s, they are prone to some pretty aweful vibrations if not set up EXACTLY right with all new parts. I think a single pass through a rally cross course would leave the car unable to even get up to 25mph on the street without the steering wheel getitng yanked out of your hands

In reply to mad_machine:

Looks like they are having fun.

Its just a reversed MK1 Rabbit front end, nothing magic about it other than Porsche carefully corrected the suspension to ensure the geometry was as close to correct as it could be.

Does anyone know if the later Karman Ghias had the SuperBeetle pieces or not? Will the 924 stuff bolt to them as well?

If it were made into an AWD rallyX car, the front suspension would have to be heavily modified to accept power anyways. Make your own control arms and use struts off a Subaru or something.

kreb wrote: Does anyone know if the later Karman Ghias had the SuperBeetle pieces or not? Will the 924 stuff bolt to them as well?

Nope. They were based on the Type 3 which was torsion bar based in the front.

I believe the IRS parts might allow parts swappage in the rear, but the front would require aftermarket parts.

turboswede wrote: In reply to mad_machine: Looks like they are having fun. Its just a reversed MK1 Rabbit front end, nothing magic about it other than Porsche carefully corrected the suspension to ensure the geometry was as close to correct as it could be.

Those porsches are probably better built than your average rusty superbeetle

This:

http://www.rorty-design.com/content/beetle.htm

JohnInKansas wrote: In reply to JThw8: For what its worth (and I'm not 100% sure who exactly I ordered through), I *did not* get a life size wiring diagram. I didn't get jack E36M3 other than the adapter, the flywheel, and the clutch bits I asked for. I am pretty sure I ordered through an intermediate party though. I remember reading somewhere that the lead time from Kennedy was stoopid, but that you could order from a parts house that kept several adapters in stock to reduce the lead time. Is the 944 suspension/brake swap Super-specific, or does that work for Std Sedans as well?

kreb wrote: Does anyone know if the later Karman Ghias had the SuperBeetle pieces or not? Will the 924 stuff bolt to them as well?

Obviously the 944 struts wont work on a standard beetle (or ghia) but if you want to swap to the disk brakes the rears are a bolt on for both cars. The 944 trailing arms will work too but there's little advantage to that.

The 944 front brakes can be used on a standard beetle or ghia but you need to get modified spindles or have the 944 hubs milled to accept the bug's wheel bearings. If you happen to have all the 944 parts sitting around it's fairly cost effective but if not then it's probably cheaper to buy an aftermarket big brake kit. Ghias should come with front disks stock but they have some tiny calipers.

I think you only get the diagram if you order directly from KEP. You can order the wiring diagram from KEP for $20 if you find you really need it.