NQ, Forget the clutch tube part...much easier to go hydraulic...save yourself the time and energy of matching it and then making a cable as well.
I too think they are a little to small to be usefull....would 12-18" really make that much difference? How about using two pans to make one that is longer...no pieces to match, just make sure you cut them in the right place so that they mate up. If you do itthat way, you might get more than 18" and would have everything "matching" You are probably going to want to use something stronger than stock for the shift rod since it would be better to have a single piece that wouldn't try to sag in the middle so much as two pieces welded together. Sure you don't want to just by a bay window? My 78 handles 4x8 plywood just fine with the spare tire out. BTW, congrats on getting married, you lucky guy! Cheers, dave On Tue, 1 Mar 2011, No Quarter wrote: > I've been doing a lot of thinking about making a light duty truck that > wouldn't cost as much as a good used single cab. Beetles are still > relatively easy to find and cheap to get parts for so I'm thinking of making > a light duty beetle pick up. > > I posted about this idea several months ago and Tim Osburn sent me a 2d > drawing of what mating a double cab rear to a beetle would look like. It's > doable but that might be a bit more than I can chew. > > I've looked at dozens of beetle truck conversion and one thing most of them > have in common is that the box is too darn short and hangs over the engine > farther than it does in front. It puts too much weight behind the axle and > is not aesthetically pleasing. > > So what I think would solve the problem would be to lengthen the pan about > 12". When people do fiberglass buggy conversions, they chop out 16 to 18" > if I recall properly. To get the strength back, I'd weld on rails like the > convertibles have. Along with the lengthening, you'd have to lengthen the > shift rod, brake line, throttle cable, clutch cable, fuel line tube, and > clutch carrying tube. I don't know how you'd go about lengthening the tube > other than welding a new one in or get a small version of a boiler roller > and flare out the end of one tube so it would slip over the other tube as an > extension. > > It's a lot of work but I've been doing a bit of welding in the shop lately > and my welding skills are getting to the point where I feel more comfortable > tackling something like this....to the point I can see it in my head. > > And yes, I own a crew cab but you don't just beat 'em up. I'm talking about > a beater beetle you could haul a few sheets of plywood in, or another > engine, or lumber, etc. Put in a low geared transmission and smaller tires > and you would have some stump pulling torque - even from a small engine. > > If a person wanted to do something with a pancake style Type 4, that would > get that box down nice and low too. > > I've seen a nice stepside conversion and full width conversions. They > really look neat if done correctly. > > NQ > > _______________________________________________ > vintagvw site list > vintagvw@lists.sjsu.edu > http://lists.sjsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/vintagvw > _______________________________________________ vintagvw site list vintagvw@lists.sjsu.edu http://lists.sjsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/vintagvw
