Volkswagen Beetle with a Hemi??

[Kern Dog]

Ever get on YouTube and get lost going from one video to the other?

I saw THIS tonight....




Pretty cool. I'll bet it looks really strange up close.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Back in the 70's there were a few Hemi Bugs, most were early Hemi's, at least two were 426 powered...

And there was a Jumbo Beetle was somewhere in the Middle East... They have a bunch of other Jumbo Sized vehicles as well...

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Couldn't find the beetle buttttt.....

 

[Tony Tee]

Godzilla verses Beetle. LOL!

 

[PlymCrazy]

"Ocho" with a "V-Ocho"

 

[Runcharger]

One raced at our track in the 80's.

 

[Budnicks]

I built a 68 (?) VW (it was VW bug in body only) with a 2x3" frame
377cid SBC w/front drive distributor, th350 upfront
& a 9" Ford rear/Ladders & coil overs rear,
Did the wider fiberglass fenders,
& a lil' bump in the rear of the hood, just under the winshield
to clear the carb/air cleaner, damn near under the dash
firewall set back some 10"s IIRC
I louvered the crap out of the hood (Bob Monroe did) & it still got hot
sat 'damn near' sitting 3/4s of the way to the rear end
just behind the B pillars, rear of an engine doghouse like a van inside
sit where just in front of where the org. rear seat would have been
2 Pro-car buckets, no back seat obviously, some serious engine setback,
had like (IIRC) 10"-12" driveshaft & it had nice polished kidney slots 8s & 10s...
Just a mild-built motor, bunch of extra parts, or old race parts laying around
just a street car, shockingly it really was an easy build...
Just dropped the floor pan out, started from scratch, cut out the rear inner fenders
front firewall & tank & org. sheet metal in the engine bay,
cell over the rear where the engine was
Alston steel tubs, sat really low, and looked pretty damn cool IMO

I also did a SBC 377cid/400 block-350 crank & th350 in a 66 Corvair Corsa same deal,
ill handling lil' bugger,
a lil' longer WB than the bug was too
back end (9" Ford on ladders/coil overs) it wanted to swap places/ends too much
mini tubbed, with 295/50/15 rears Rad. TA street tires, like 225/60/15 front
It ran 11.0s (118-120-ish IIRC) on 28x9 slicks, w/2800-3000 B&M Holeshot converter
I made (or attempted) it look like a mini 66-67 Chevelle 396 SS
had the hood bulges & all, I cut down a grill for the front, Scirocco rad
all electric pumps & fans (just like above) late 70's early 80s stuff
sat on a 2x3" frame w/Mustang 2 front parts suspension, parts from Alston Engineering

a Good buddy of mine Rob D. from Concord Ca.
had a nice 70 Datsun 510 with a 468cid BBC PG 9" stretched the front fenders 4"s
it was fast a hell, low 9s high 8s, mechanical FI Hilborn 8 stacks
It ran with a BarryGrant electric pump, reg. mech nozzles too, on gas, sort of 1 off deal...
He also built a 48 (?) Morris Minor Coupe with a turbo'd 231cid 60* v6 4 speed
when he ramped up the boost, that thing was a riot...

I als had the obligatory multiple SBC & BBC/glide V8 Vegas too...

dang I can't find the photos, need to look in the slides

 

[SteveSS]

cool

 

[PlymCrazy]

I built a 68 (?) VW (it was VW bug in body only) with a 2x3" frame
377cid SBC w/front drive distributor, th350 upfront
& a 9" Ford rear/Ladders & coil overs rear,
Did the wider fiberglass fenders,
& a lil' bump in the rear of the hood, just under the winshield
to clear the carb/air cleaner, damn near under the dash
firewall set back some 10"s IIRC
I louvered the crap out of the hood (Bob Monroe did) & it still got hot
sat 'damn near' sitting 3/4s of the way to the rear end
just behind the B pillars, rear of an engine doghouse like a van inside
sit where just in front of where the org. rear seat would have been
2 Pro-car buckets, no back seat obviously, some serious engine setback,
had like (IIRC) 10"-12" driveshaft & it had nice polished kidney slots 8s & 10s...
Just a mild-built motor, bunch of extra parts, or old race parts laying around
just a street car, shockingly it really was an easy build...
Just dropped the floor pan out, started from scratch, cut out the rear inner fenders
front firewall & tank & org. sheet metal in the engine bay,
cell over the rear where the engine was
Alston steel tubs, sat really low, and looked pretty damn cool IMO

I also did a SBC 377cid/400 block-350 crank & th350 in a 66 Corvair Corsa same deal,
ill handling lil' bugger,
a lil' longer WB than the bug was too
back end (9" Ford on ladders/coil overs) it wanted to swap places/ends too much
mini tubbed, with 295/50/15 rears Rad. TA street tires, like 225/60/15 front
It ran 11.0s (118-120-ish IIRC) on 28x9 slicks, w/2800-3000 B&M Holeshot converter
I made (or attempted) it look like a mini 66-67 Chevelle 396 SS
had the hood bulges & all, I cut down a grill for the front, Scirocco rad
all electric pumps & fans (just like above) late 70's early 80s stuff
sat on a 2x3" frame w/Mustang 2 front parts suspension, parts from Alston Engineering

a Good buddy of mine Rob D. from Concord Ca.
had a nice 70 Datsun 510 with a 468cid BBC PG 9" stretched the front fenders 4"s
it was fast a hell, low 9s high 8s, mechanical FI Hilborn 8 stacks
It ran with a BarryGrant electric pump, reg. mech nozzles too, on gas, sort of 1 off deal...
He also built a 48 (?) Morris Minor Coupe with a turbo'd 231cid 60* v6 4 speed
when he ramped up the boost, that thing was a riot...

I als had the obligatory multiple SBC & BBC/glide V8 Vegas too...

dang I can't find the photos, need to look in the slides

I’d love to see pics of that. Post ‘em if ya got em!

 

[khryslerkid]

IIRC Hot Rod magazine had an article (back in the 70's) on a stock looking beetle, hub caps and all with a small block V8. You had to look close, the guy was driving it from the back seat.

 

[Kern Dog]

I'm sure there were a few front engine Corvairs screwed together long ago too.

 

[khryslerkid]

I'm sure there were a few front engine Corvairs screwed together long ago too.

They had rear V8 kits for Corvairs. I know where one is in my neighborhood. They had rear V6 Buick kits for Beetles.

 

[PlymCrazy]

They had rear V8 kits for Corvairs. I know where one is in my neighborhood. They had rear V6 Buick kits for Beetles.

And still air cooled?

 

[Budnicks]

I’d love to see pics of that. Post ‘em if ya got em!

I'm looking thru the slides trying to find some I can convert...
so far not too successful...

 

[Budnicks]

And still air cooled?

NO, couldn't be...

 

[PlymCrazy]

NO, couldn't be...

Pardon my ignorance here, but why is that? What was the key to those engines surviving on just being air cooled? Dad had a ‘64 Corvair with an air cooled engine too. I never gave it much thought as to what made the engine sustainable off of just being cooled by air out the vents in the trunk. Your $.02 I’ll take if you’re up to giving it. I’d rather hear your answer than to just go google it TBH.

 

[Budnicks]

Pardon my ignorance here, but why is that? What was the key to those engines surviving on just being air cooled? Dad had a ‘64 Corvair with an air cooled engine too. I never gave it much thought as to what made the engine sustainable off of just being cooled by air out the vents in the trunk. Your $.02 I’ll take if you’re up to giving it. I’d rather hear your answer than to just go google it TBH.

They are water-cooled engines,
need a functioning radiator, some 'liquid' pump & water/liquid cooling

Corvairs & the earlier style bug/VW's flat or opposed engines,
were all air-cooled, a fan directly on them in a captured shroud
And most importantly, most air-cooled engines, had fins cast on them,
(like motorcycle engines) to help remove/dissipate heat too
Any water-cooled engines, have water jackets, several deep layers to cool
& can't dissipate heat like the air-cooled can do,
too many layers of them to try 'air to cool'
a water/liquid-cooled engine like a SBC or Hemi or whatever,
don't have them provisions, (no fins or solid blocks or heads with fins)
it would severely overheat,
ruin the rings & camshaft in short order, and bearings too
wouldn't live long

The offroad world calls them 'pumpers'
mainly because they need a water pump & a radiator

You could run them for a 'very limited time', without water/liquid cooling
many drag racing engines, run alcohol/methanol
it cools it quite a bit but still not enough
& partially fill the blocks, with block hardener & top it off with water/liquid
or just solid blocks, they only have to run for only like 1-1/2 to 2 min.s max

Now you could put a radiator up front or somewhere else,
&/or electric fans
Plumb it (radiator hoses/pipes) back to feed the water-pump,
it's water (or liquid of some sort) to cool them off,
for them 'water-cooled styles of a domestic V8'...

unless it's something else you're asking about

 

[ESOXER]

My neighbor had a 72 Beetle with a 73 Vette motor he built in 74 when he was in the Air Force in Colorado, I saw it in his garage, I asked him WTF is that? He forgot about it, sold it to guy down the road he had a new 350 put in it, the original Beetle owner won a BB Chevy in a raffle actually tracked it down and bought it from the guy down the road. Strange story. I know I have pics somewhere.
A guy nearby had a Pacer 440/833 I think, project on CL years back I would have loved, just needed wiring, interior was even done and looked stock, wanted 11.5k... Too much IMO.

 

[PlymCrazy]

They are water-cooled engines,
need a functioning radiator, some 'liquid' pump & water/liquid cooling

Corvairs & the earlier style bug/VW's flat or opposed engines,
were all air-cooled, a fan directly on them in a captured shroud
And most importantly, most air-cooled engines, had fins cast on them,
(like motorcycle engines) to help remove/dissipate heat too
Any water-cooled engines, have water jackets, several deep layers to cool
& can't dissipate heat like the air-cooled can do,
too many layers of them to try 'air to cool'
a water/liquid-cooled engine like a SBC or Hemi or whatever,
don't have them provisions, (no fins or solid blocks or heads with fins)
it would severely overheat,
ruin the rings & camshaft in short order, and bearings too
wouldn't live long

The offroad world calls them 'pumpers'
mainly because they need a water pump & a radiator

You could run them for a 'very limited time', without water/liquid cooling
many drag racing engines, run alcohol/methanol
it cools it quite a bit but still not enough
& partially fill the blocks, with block hardener & top it off with water/liquid
or just solid blocks, they only have to run for only like 1-1/2 to 2 min.s max

Now you could put a radiator up front or somewhere else,
&/or electric fans
Plumb it (radiator hoses/pipes) back to feed the water-pump,
it's water (or liquid of some sort) to cool them off,
for them 'water-cooled styles of a domestic V8'...

unless it's something else you're asking about

Ok. So not limited by space it sounds. And makes sense that you could do a V-8 in the rear still. But it would just need the plumbing and air movement as you alluded to.

Could a V-8 be modified to be air cooled? Seems nearly anything we can think can be done these days.

And please forgive me if you sense even the most remote bit of disrespect here. Absolutely none intended. But the moment I hear the word “can’t” the wheels start spinning in my mind of how one “can”. Hence my initial question. I appreciate the time you took to explain there sir.

 

[PlymCrazy]

My neighbor had a 72 Beetle with a 73 Vette motor he built in 74 when he was in the Air Force in Colorado, I saw it in his garage, I asked him WTF is that? He forgot about it, sold it to guy down the road he had a new 350 put in it, the original Beetle owner won a BB Chevy in a raffle actually tracked it down and bought it from the guy down the road. Strange story. I know I have pics somewhere.
A guy nearby had a Pacer 440/833 I think, project on CL years back I would have loved, just needed wiring, interior was even done and looked stock, wanted 11.5k... Too much IMO.

Sounds pretty interesting. If you find those pics please share ‘em!