SS100 “replica” Project Car

[CaddmannQ]

Last year I bought this custom 1980 fiberglass kit car, which is on a Volkswagen chassis from 1973. About 800 of these fiberglass bodies were produced by a company called Antique and Classic Automobiles. They vanished into the world of legal bankruptcy about 35 years ago.

Anyway, nothing about it is antique or classic. This was a kit put together on a rusty and repaired Volkswagen chassis, evidently by some total amateur, without much patience or skill.

The extent of the chassis repair and existing rust was concealed by a lot of paint and body sealer when I bought this car. Since I live in California and this car came from South Carolina I expected the chassis to be totally rusted out anyhow, but I was surprised to find that only the front half was rusted out. Since the serial numbers are stamped on the rear half of the chassis I decided I could cut the front part off and replace it without a problem.

Well of course it is an enormous problem, And I’ve been working on the solutions for a while.

What I did not expect was that the car would be damaged upon delivery, having a bent rear subframe and lots of gasoline which had leaked into the carpet and upholstery + padding. It also got into the wiring and washed the colors off of the wires. Evidently this wiring kit was all white but the wires have been dyed different colors after the fact. I had to strip the entire wiring harness from the car, but frankly it needed removing anyway, as you will see.

I stripped the body completely off the car and did analysis of everything I could, uncovering a world of ugly welds, rusted stove bolts, and crookedly aligned body panels.

So here is a photograph of me in the car in my garage, a photograph of the car in South Carolina as purchased, a photograph of the chassis completely stripped of the body, the set up of my fender brace reinforcements, and an aging computer geek, crawling on the floor, doing out-of-position tack welds for your amusement.

Hey, check out that patriotic new welding helmet! (You can check out my new TIG welder in the thread High Quality TIG Accessories.)

[milomilo]

Originally Posted by CaddmannQ

Last year I bought this custom 1980 fiberglass kit car, which is on a Volkswagen chassis from 1973. About 800 of these fiberglass bodies were produced by a company called Antique and Classic Automobiles. They vanished into the world of legal bankruptcy about 35 years ago.

Anyway, nothing about it is antique or classic. This was a kit put together on a rusty and repaired Volkswagen chassis, evidently by some total amateur, without much patience or skill.

The extent of the chassis repair and existing rust was concealed by a lot of paint and body sealer when I bought this car. Since I live in California and this car came from South Carolina I expected the chassis to be totally rusted out anyhow, but I was surprised to find that only the front half was rusted out. Since the serial numbers are stamped on the rear half of the chassis I decided I could cut the front part off and replace it without a problem.

Well of course it is an enormous problem, And I’ve been working on the solutions for a while.

What I did not expect was that the car would be damaged upon delivery, having a bent rear subframe and lots of gasoline which had leaked into the carpet and upholstery + padding. It also got into the wiring and washed the colors off of the wires. Evidently this wiring kit was all white but the wires have been dyed different colors after the fact. I had to strip the entire wiring harness from the car, but frankly it needed removing anyway, as you will see.

I stripped the body completely off the car and did analysis of everything I could, uncovering a world of ugly welds, rusted stove bolts, and crookedly aligned body panels.

So here is a photograph of me in the car in my garage, a photograph of the car in South Carolina as purchased, a photograph of the chassis completely stripped of the body, the set up of my fender brace reinforcements, and an aging computer geek, crawling on the floor, doing out-of-position tack welds for your amusement.

Hey, check out that patriotic new welding helmet! (You can check out my new TIG welder in the thread High Quality TIG Accessories.)

Cool looking Sunday street cruiser.

[arizonian]

That car is screaming for a 2180 cc with dual Webers or Del'Ortos. Del'Ortos are less finicky, your call.

[BukitCase]

Bill, my thoughts exactly; when we lived in Hawaii a friend bought a bug that'd been built that way - 2180 with a pretty "lumpy" cam, IIRC his had a Zenith 4 barrel carb - sounded NOTHING like a V-dub, but would bark the tires in 3rd gear. Made me really bummed when I had to get back in my stock '63 ... Steve

[CaddmannQ]

When I was in college I worked in the Volkswagen shop during the summer, and I rebuilt a number of Volkswagen engines. I owned a ‘66 fast back and I built two different engines for that.

My experience is that we can get lots and lots of horsepower out of a Volkswagen engine but it’s difficult to get enough cooling air to it. (And I live in the desert.) Once they get hot enough they just literally pull themselves apart.

I would be much more likely to put a smaller lighter engine in the back of his car, and possibly a water cooled motorcycle engine.

But until the state of California gives me a bona fide title to this car, I’m not going to invest any more time and money than absolutely necessary to make that happen first. They won’t title it to me until I show them, “a complete and roadworthy car.”

I got to go finish that welding and bolt this baby back together.

[CaddmannQ]

So here’s another example of my welding where I had to close up a big gap.

I had 95 amps and I used 1/8” filler rod, 3/32” electrode, extra argon.

The whole weld only took 15 seconds with that much heat, but I was dabbing like a maniac.

Last is the frame painted & bolted under the car.

[toprecycler]

In Michigan, as I understand it, the cost of yearly registration is based on the MSRP when the vehicle was new. It never depreciate due to current value of car.

And they collect 6% sales tax each time the car registration is transferred based on current selling price, or value of car if they think you wrote down a too little declared selling price.

Taxes are waived if transferred between immediate family members.

And I think dealers are waived from the sales tax, since they can reassign the title like three times.

And you are supposed to pay late fees after 10 days of sale. I try to make sure that that date never gets out on vehicle I buy, and only put it on when I am ready to put the vehicle on the road.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[CaddmannQ]

Originally Posted by toprecycler

In Michigan, as I understand it, the cost of yearly registration is based on the MSRP when the vehicle was new. It never depreciate due to current value of car.

And they collect 6% sales tax each time the car registration is transferred based on current selling price, or value of car if they think you wrote down a too little declared selling price.

Taxes are waived if transferred between immediate family members.

And I think dealers are waived from the sales tax, since they can reassign the title like three times.

And you are supposed to pay late fees after 10 days of sale. I try to make sure that that date never gets out on vehicle I buy, and only put it on when I am ready to put the vehicle on the road.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If I sell you my vehicle in California I have to report it to the state within three days. I have to report who I sold it to & their license number.

When you go to register that car they will know when you purchased it and what you paid because I’d be required to tell them.

Some people do make shady deals in this manner, but if you get caught it can cause you a lot of trouble. They can access a big fine and if you can’t pay it in time they will just sell your car, They will sell it cheap on the wholesale market and send you a bill for the difference when you still owe them money.

I think the tax is almost 8% when you buy a car. The value of the car depreciates with time and so does the cost of your license tag. There is an assumed certain minimum value so there is an assumed certain minimum tax, for any car that can be legally driven.

[CaddmannQ]

Before and after shots when installing the plates.

Blue tape hi-lights the area to be trimmed and shaved.

The “After” shot shows the snaggletoothed fender tips, now trimmed straight.

[CaddmannQ]

This dress-up plate that I made from aluminum covers the ugly hole in my fender where the steering shaft penetrates.

It was a big pain to install. To remove the steering column, I had to cut the steering shaft while it was in the car, due to a broken screw that was in the spot I could not drill. The shaft had already been cut before and spliced back together but I drug up the torch and spliced it again.

It’s not pretty and it’s not straight but if you don’t open the hood you can’t see the ugly part of it.