Happy Birthday to Bigbore577

I passed my test in a 1961 Plymouth Valiant with the 198 c.i. slant six. My dad always bought B-bodies with the 318 c.i. V-8 for himself, but when my mom finally learned to drive, he got her the Valiant. After I got my license, I drove that Valiant right into the ground. It had a parking brake that you put on by depressing a pedal, and released with a pull-knob on the dash. I discovered that if you put on the brake at a light and put the push-button 904 auto tranny in low gear, and then stomped the gas pedal to the floor when the light turned yellow for the other direction, pulling the brake release when the light turned green would fry one tire for half a block on take-off. For some strange reason that tranny died within the first year... After that, my dad would by a new B-body with a 318 every two years, giving his older one to my mom and trading hers in the the new one. All through high school I tried to get him to by one with the 383 magnum engine, but he loved the 318 engine and never did. My first car of my own was a 1951 DeSoto with "Fluid Drive" - it had three on the tree, but would do one shift automatically. It was the proverbial car driven by a little old lady only on Sundays - he got in for me in 1966, and it only had 26,000 miles on it. It was a tank, but very slow with it's ancient straight-8. Now I have a '74 Dodge Challenger with a 440 six-pack, a '71 Dodge Demon with the 340 4-bbl, a 72 Duster waiting for an engine (I might try to squeeze a 440 into it, but the headers are problematic), a '76 RamCharger with a 440, and 3 old Dodge Power-Wagon project trucks. Thats why they call me moparsbob :D

But my son has shown me the advantages of turbocharging, so my daily driver/"grocery getter" is a Lexus SC300 with a upgraded twin-turbo Supra motor transplant. It's really fun leaving kids in Mustangs, etc. in the dust. Last week I was stopped at a light (after getting groceries!), and a kid in a brand new Dodge Challenger with the 392 Hemi pulled up next to me and wanted to race (I'd been moving "spiritedly" through what little traffic there was at the time, and he'd had to work just to catch up). When the light turned green, we both punched it, but I blew away my rear tires and had to back off a bit to let the tires hook, and he pulled about a half a car-length ahead. But then I got it into second and hit boost, and just walked away from him. My SC300 dynos almost 400 HP at the rear wheels on pump gas. The look on his face seeing an old white-bearded guy in a old Lexus leaving his brand-new 392 hemi in the dust was priceless! I was really hoping that the new 392 hemis were fast, but the new Challengers are just so pig-heavy that they are at a big disadvantage. I'm sure that the 392 hemi engine is probably producing more horsepower than my Lexus, but the cars probably weigh at least 600- 700 pounds more.

Once a car guy, always a car guy. ;)
 
Apparently my life time motto of Death before Dodge doesn't apply to everyone. You got some nice toys and a world of good stories to share. My favorite uncle was a devout Dodge man. Always a Dodge pickup for farm work. Loved em.

At the time of his death my aunt and my cousins were quick to inform me that I finally must have influenced him as his last pickup was a Chevrolet. Far as I know it's still in the barn or was last time I heard.

My first car was a 66 Mustang, had a lot of fun with that car, little 289 auto but fast enough and looked cool for high school.

Probably my most fun car was a 68 VW beetle. In high school I wouldn't even ride in one, my grandpa hated em and pounded the hate into me but eventually I think I owned 4 or 5.
This 68 was a sleeper to the extreme, faded red paint, near bone stock body but had a 1850 CC super motor we put together for it. Had a 4 barrel Holley on it for awhile but it ran absolute best with twin 2 barrel Webers. It turned 13's easy at the drag strip, people would turn up their nose even at what they called the Bug in where it was all VW's. That is until they saw it run, then the turned up nose went away.

The stories that car could tell, I blew off kids all the time. Was going home one night following a brand new Vette, completely careless just heading home. Guy was going slow so I went to pass and he sped up so I thought ok, whatever, kept following. Slowed down again just not paying attention, not trying to tick me off I don't think.
Did this 3 or 4 times and I thought enough, threw it down into 3rd and went to pass, he sped up again, I just stayed beside, turned out he had a real pretty girl riding with him.
I just stayed beside him still in 3rd, finally waved at the girl (she waved back!!!) shifted into 4th and left him in the rear view mirror. It was great.
Best part of the story is I got pulled over a mile down the road going over a 100. Told the deputy the story and he let me go.
He went after the Vette so he wouldn't be laughing at me, don't know if he ever got him or not, I felt blessed to not get a ticket so I turned off and took another route home. Fun times.

Thanks for waking up very old memories.
 
LOL Bawanna, I had an old VW bug the 303 model (slight upgrade from basic) when I lived in Germany. Sadly someone had put a rock through the oil pan and the engine had frozen up. so I got it for about $100 US (about 550 DM back then) Hubby, who in those days was a "boyfriend with potential" took it to the junk yard and they squeezed in a Porsche Carrera 4 cam engine for about another 600DM. Ever seen a 160hp VW Bug?? :D In Germany they tell you NEVER buy a used BMW as the owners run those things to death. But I used to love cruising along in my bug waiting for BMWs to get annoyed and try to pass me. I never went under the speed limit you understand but BMW owners just have this thing about having to pass every bug they can see. About the time they would pull out to pass I would step on it. The front end was so light that if I got into it too hard I wound up with the front hopping for about a mile before it would come back to the point I could steer LOL. Never had a BMW catch me once I decided I was leaving either. Someone literally ripped the stereo out of it one day to steal it. (the dashboard in the stereo area is heavy molded cardboard) and with the hood having an air intake right in front of the gaping hole in the dash, I used to have to drive in 1 right glove even during the summer or my hand froze. I miss that FrankenBug! But it was responsible for my love of Porsche that fills my garages today.

Ah, forgot to mention I took my drivers test in my Dad's 1965 Barracuda. Not a 'Cuda. The older fastback with the round rear glass. Looked great but like the older mustangs... very little GO for all that SHOW.
 
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My youngest sister had a Bacaruda for a first car. I liked it, didn't drive it much myself except to work on the thing.
 
One of my best friends has a Karmann Ghia race car that he races with a vintage racing group, along with a collection of about 20-25 old VWs, including buses and a number of very old ones, including a 1949 european bug with semaphore turn signals. The engine in his Karmann is well over 2 liters and is probably making close to 200 hp. I think he's running dual Webers on it. His collection of VWs is his retirement plan :-)
Back in the '60s I also knew a guy who swapped a Porche Carrera engine into a bug. He was blasting down the New York State Thruway near Syracuse at well over 100 mph one night and ran through a State Police radar trap. When they finally caught up to him and saw it was a bug, they were very confused. One officer even looked at the engine and went, yep, it's just a VW engine. They decided that their radar must have been malfunctioning, because there was no way he could have been going as fast as the radar indicated, so they let him go.
 
I took my test in 2001 in a 1989 Nissan Pathfinder 4x4. That thing was a beast. Got into TOO much trouble in it over the couple years I had it. Great first car.
 
Passed my test driving a boat: Big old Mopar station wagon from the 70s (8 seats including driver). Parallel parking was fun. Test guy yelled at me to slow down.
 
Shavru, awesome story and I can relate. In my early days I was a gear head boosted by adolescence and testosterone. I started building a Meyers Manx dune buggy in the late 60's with my dad. We did so at a shop that was well renowned for such back in the day for said conversions. From there I became a shop rat back in a time when underage workers were OK if agreed upon by all parties, parents included. I wasn't sold into labor or exploited cheap child labor, it's what I wanted to do and I'd do it over again. Actually I look at it like years of shop class but, I got paid! I helped work on some of the best buggies at the time rivaling the ones coming out of California in the same time frame. I'll spare the details of my first solo built sand rails. Instead I'll share the last iteration I finished before I was sixteen. I had original Cheneworth sand rail frame shop drawings available from the shop. I could not afford such but my dad was a pipe, valve and fitting salesman and had connections. So I produced the shop drawings, had the pieces fabricated out of Schedule 40 A106 seamless boiler tubing, a wee over kill and heavier but safer and free. Then a great pipe fitter welded it together for a couple cases of beer. So far, so good. I then started on the drive train. I started with a stock 1600cc dual port motor. Remember there was no internet back then, all was done with magazines, library, word of mouth and snail mail. I ended up, with the biggest at the time possible, a 2180cc fire breathing beast. The heads were sent to Cali for porting and polishing, oversized stellite seated valves and maximized for air flow. I ordered via mail an SPG roller Crank Shaft from Germany, yes crankshaft not camshaft, it took three months to arrive. Those are a few highlights, now fast forward. Turbocharging was fledgling at the time but propane was being experimented with, so that's what I did. Perhaps one of few propane fired 2180cc VW motors ever produced. The performance was awesome but had many downsides, mostly because the throttle response time was near zero and blew the CV joints of later VW transaxles out in short order. Back to the drawing board. First was the transanaxle issue. Through research I found that a 1959 transanaxle would fit the bill perfectly. Torsion bar, close ratio 3rd and 4th gear because of the anemic 36hp motors of that time. OK, how do you find one? Now it was 1974 and at that time dealers were not required to stock parts for models over fifteen years old. The light bulb went on and I called my best friend at the time, a Ford parts man. More details I'll skip. That said, I ended up with two brand new 1959 VW transaxles in their crates for $50.00 intercepted from a trash hauler. Good golly, I miss the old days. Anyway, I'm sure I'm boring others at this point. I ended up with a very light sand rail, with the perfectly matched transaxle. I did have to modify the housing for the larger 12 volt version flywheel. I switched from propane to a huge progressive two barrel Rochester, custom intake and extractor, 12 quart oil capacity with cooler, trans oil cooler, fully belly pans and even ran Kerr McGee blue synthetic before most knew what synthetic even was. Sadly shock technology is not what it is today and I just ran coil overs which made it to springy for the speeds. All said, it really was a beast, near 220HP in a vehicle well under a thousand pounds. I could dig ruts in asphalt with the fitted lug style Terra tires. It took twin Bendix electric fuel pumps just to satiate it's fuel requirements. When I fired it up, it could be heard for miles mostly because of it's megaphone exhaust. It started to build a legend when I smoked the neighbors 500cc one lung Kawasaki motor cross bike in so many runs, of course my steering brake afforded much help. It didn't take long before the "farm boys" brought out their best to challenge me. It was a half mile run from one end of our property to the other. I couldn't legally run on the street so, I stayed on ground. My path included a field parallel to the road, through an orchard, through a front yard including driveway, more field, actually jump over a creek and to the finish trough another orchard at the end of the property. I was never beaten. Please know, those ol' farm boys had some serious machinery. FMC, CMC, GMC they all lost and many were far from stock. Anyway, that's my long version of understanding the grin on your face after peeving off BMW drivers. I understand fully and find it quite a hoot accompanied by belly laughs. I have a few others that might make you chuckle at a latter time. I always have loved sleepers. A Holman Moody 460 in a Lincoln Town Car, a near 10K RPM 283 in a 66' Chevy farm truck and my Remington 90T that smokes rich old farts and their Kriegoffs, what a stuffy bunch. It all makes me smile.
 
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Hehe, Sounds like a lot of us had great fun as kids and young adults with our vehicles :D I love that so many VWs did so much for humiliating more renowned brands! I also get a kick out of all the sleeper stuff. One of the primary reasons to go with the Carrera motor. The 911 motor did not fit into a bug withut MUCH body modification because it is actually significantly longer than the VW engine bay LOL. But the fact that the Carrera motor LOOKS just like a VW motor unless you start really looking at it, Just exactly like what happened to the police in MoparBob's friend's story. Love it! Man BB, you must miss that beast. What happened to it? Do you know where it is now? Sounds like the kind of thing I would seriously regret losing touch with. Hubby would have it all coated in heavy rust from the drooling if he ever saw it. I just more enjoyed driving the VW. He and a mechanic at the junk yard were the guys who plotted and planned and made it all work. I just got to enjoy the results as well as just the sheer joy of watching a couple of gearheads in their element. Amazed me how excited they got messing with the details.
 
Shavru, I witnessed similar conversions as yours on several occasions, the shop I worked with was known for such. Another thing back in those days was retrofitting Corvair motors to the buggies but, it made them too rear end heavy. They could could straight run but, not climb a dune to save their souls. VW bus transaxles were best for climbing because their rears stood up under excelleration due to transverse gears in their drive trains. Standard VW transaxles would squat and dig in which made them great for field/dune use and also good on the road. The hairiest one ever that I personally experienced was an early bug set on top a built 327. The only thing VW was the front end and body. You sat atop a stubby drive shaft connecting the trans and differential. Really scary but a hoot to run. I now kind of feel remorseful after butchering all those VW's for aforementioned reasons. Quite unfortunately those were the times.
Why did I get rid of mine? Good question. Such is life. My mom sold the farm, regretfully so, I no longer had a place to run the beast. I had a young family with no place for storage. I had my priorities, the buggy did not fit the bill. I sold it for a pittance for what I had into it or what it was worth. Yet, the dufus that purchased it complained it didn't run like I claimed. This of course was BS , he couldn't tune a fish. I can only hope someone grabs it from a junk yard someday and appreciates what they found, I'm sure they'll certainly be pleasntly surprised.
 
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I gotta ask! I had a bet with my friend that I could get a VW engine out of the vehicle and on the workbench in less than 30 minutes with just hand tools. I raised the car slightly so the doghouse would clear the back end and left enough room for my skateboard to roll the motor out. I rolled the motor over to the bench and picked it up, droped it on the bench in 23 minutes! He owed me a case of beer!
Loved that car1 It was a 1972. I also had a 65 squareback.

Savru: When i bought my bug I got a good deal on it because the tank was rusted and dirty and such so they said i couldnt drive it. I brought a long hose and one gallon of gas and a bungee cord. When I got there the girl asked "Whats that for?" I bungied the gas can to the back bumper and ran the hose to the fuel pump inlet and cranked it up and made it home. Shortly after I was driving down the road and started to hear this nasty metal on metal grinding sound. Eeeeek! I noticed a trail of oil behind me and discovered that whoever changed the oil last didn't tighten the drain plug and it had fallen out and all the oil drained out. Well crap! What to do? Well if this ever happens to you here is what you do. Take one spark plug out and use it for your drain plug. I luckily had a quart of oil on me so I put one quart in after pouring a few teaspoons full in each cylinder the cranked it up. Ran a bit rough but it got me home. I never got stranded in that machine!
It used to vapor lock at the same place everyday on the way home from work until I wrapped the fuel pump and lines with aluminum foil. Problem solved! I got so many stories with that bug. Some dumbsh.. tboned me in it one day and I ended up selling it for scrap and a trade on a 1966 230s Mercedes from Germany. Loved that car too!

Steve Tall said:
Passed my test driving a boat: Big old Mopar station wagon from the 70s (8 seats including driver). Parallel parking was fun. Test guy yelled at me to slow down.
Click to expand...
I used to see them boats as well as the Olds station Wagons at the demolition derby all the time. You could beat the heck out of them things and they'd keep on going.

BB I know of all them parts your talking. I was poor and never got to build me up anything. I wanted a Manx and even more so a sand rail badly in my younger days. Still do actually. I read all the magazines religiously and dreamed of them monsters. i remember they used to flip the engine over to make a mid engine rail and use Lenco transmissions, dual webbers, Porsche doghouses, CB performance 2500cc, etc. Dang! Dont get me started! I miss my bug!
 
Ndog I have no doubt you could extract the VW engine as you stated. They're very straight forward and easy to work on. They certainly are one of few autos I truly enjoyed working on. I'll share a quote from a writer about a complete other subject matter but applies to the gratification of playing with the old VW's. "If you understand, no explication is necessary. If you don't, no explanation is possible."
 
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My VW was a microbus with a camper pop-top.

Didn't go too fast. It was all about the journey. Blew up the little air cooled engine one day on a mountain pass and had to get another engine from a junkyard. The interior was also air cooled. We kept some blankets in the back for backseat passengers in winter.
 
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