VW panel van replica kart build

[fattony]

HI Guys I've been plugging away at this for a while. No rush really. hope to have it complete for Christmas for the kids. My daughter took it for its first test drive yesterday.

I used 2 old electric scooters for the wheels, brakes, motor , controller etc.
Its only 250 watt 24 volt motor which is fine for the kids as they are quite young but has problems pulling daddy up the hill.

One wheel drive one wheel brake.

Now that it moves and stops i'm moving on to making the sheet metal body. Looking forward to getting into it.

Thanks for looking

Cheers
Tony

 

[loud1]

Nice work! I'm sure the kids will love it, especially if you give it the Mystery Machine paint job.

 

[landuse]

Ha, that looks so cool! How fast does it go with that engine? I am just thinking if it maybe struggles a bit now with the kids, then with the added weight of the body then you might have a problem

 

[fattony]

Its fast with the kids the numbers work out at 20kmh but i'm slightly heavier ! If the weight becomes an issue its no bother to change to 350 ,500 or 800 watt , I even have a little gas engine for when the kids are older.

 

[landuse]

Its fast with the kids the numbers work out at 20kmh but i'm slightly heavier ! If the weight becomes an issue its no bother to change to 350 ,500 or 800 watt , I even have a little gas engine for when the kids are older.

Good to know.

 

[rubbermansteve]

That is awesome! I gotta give fabricating a shot next. Seeing stuff like this is really inspiring.

 

[itsid]

Great, I loove the T1 (I wish I could afford a Samba )
You took the measurements off of the original I assume
and scaled it down, is that 1:2 or 1:3?

'sid

 

[jonboy]

A micro Micro-bus

 

[landuse]

Fabroman kindly pointed out to me that this build has been long in the making (as fattony said). He introduced himself in this thread, and he has some information regarding the evolution of the VW that people might find interesting. Here is a quote from the thread

Hi Guys, I'm Tony from Ireland. I have been into vw buses for years but the lack of a garage has halted progress of my split panel van restoration. Well that and having 2 young kids doesn't leave me much time for my own projects.
So I decided to build a replica vw bus cart for the kids in the office over the winter.

The origianl plan was to make a pedal car but as you all know plans change. When I was looking for parts to start the build I can across 2 electric scooters 24 volt jobies. These have provided the wheels ,sprockets, motors, controllers and a few other nits and pieces.
So its early days yet but the plan is to make the chassis running gear motor steering etc and then build a scale vw body from sheet metal. Thats it for now. I will up date with pictures which are not much to look at right now. I hope to have the spindles done by friday as I am woking on them in work on my lunch. I am lucky as I am an an electrial technican but have access to all the metal working tools I might need in the tool room in work.

 

[OzFab]

A micro Micro-bus

 

[fattony]

Thanks for the interest guys I will try and keep the thread up to date now.
I stripped the kart down last night. all running gear wiring etc. I put some primer on the metal and am off the order some sheet metal so I can get stuck in to the body.

 

[Doc Sprocket]

I can't wait to see how this works out. Every now and then, I see a scale build that completely blows me away. The first one that comes to mind is Bando's Jeep. That thing is fantastic! I'm sure your veedub will be awesome too. I sure wish I had bodywork skills!

 

[machinist@large]

I can't wait to see how this works out. Every now and then, I see a scale build that completely blows me away. The first one that comes to mind is Bando's Jeep. That thing is fantastic! I'm sure your veedub will be awesome too. I sure wish I had bodywork skills!

All you need to do is go pick up a skid of Bondo, and a couple of rolls of chicken wire (it's so easy to form because it's so light)....

Oh, wait; were you talking about real bodywork?

 

[OzFab]

...am off the order some sheet metal so I can get stuck in to the body.

I'll be watching this, can't wait to see how the bodywork turns out

All you need to do is go pick up a skid of Bondo, and a couple of rolls of chicken wire (it's so easy to form because it's so light)....

Oh, wait; were you talking about real bodywork?

Are you belittling my profession? :toetap05:

 

[machinist@large]

Are you belittling my profession? :toetap05:

Relax Tony, I was just hinting at a couple of incidents I've seen along the way....

1] When I was in tech training while still in high school, whenever we needed to replenish our supply of lacquer thinner & mineral spirits, one or more of us had to hoof it to the other end of the complex to the body shop lab. Over the two years I was there, I watched one student who didn't cut (too many) corners on customer vehicles just turn his dream van into one of the most ghetto hacked rigs....

Fast forward ~ ten years; this ,"Individual", is now working in his uncles newly opened body shop, right next door to where I was working. One of the owners of my shop picked up a deer with his car, and asked them for a quote. Being a vehicle collector, he asked how they would repair his ride.

The first guy's Uncle (the owner) proudly showed my boss how they saved money by not replacing panels; they just reinforced them with chicken wire, and filled them with Bondo.....

 

[OzFab]

I've seen & heard a few horror stories myself...

A panel beater I used to work with travelled around the US after he finished his apprenticeship, working in various panel shops along the way. One shop was amazed when he & his travelling companion (also a panel beater) repaired a mustang write off by replacing a front rail... like they'd never seen it done before; over here, that's standard practice.

It seems the level of "expertise" is different between our two countries; over here we beat panels relatively straight before adding a thin skim of bondo (we call it nicky, bog, body filler), hence the term panel beater, not panel changer...

I love watching the TV show "American Restorations". Phil, the body guy, is a master at what he does; some of the work he does is amazing...

Sorry for the hijack

 

[fattony]

Update

Just a quick update..

Its going to take a whle to complete at this rate but sure i'm enjoying the build.

 

[OasisQc]

wow , i see a nice mini vw westfalia replica in the french flat6 magazine !

 

[fattony]

A little update.

One door in. As i'm still waiting on sheet metal I thought I would recycle some old bus metal.
I am painting as I go as my shed is damp and I can watch it rust as I weld it in

I will strip it all back when its finished and prep for paint.

THe kids have had a few test drives and it has high lighted a few issues. for starters its too fast so looks like I will have to gear it down until they are older.
I will make a count of the teeth on the sprockets later. I will be back on here to pick you collective brains on the best way to reduce speed but have an enough power to get it moving.

I will also need to strap the kids in as we have had a few crashes already. and as it is so long my daughter is able to crash the side in to a wall while taking the corner tight. I will have to put a bumper along the side or the body will be destroyed. just as well i tested it before doing all the sheet metal work.

Thats it for now. I might have a go at the other door today.

 

[Doc Sprocket]

That's coming along nicely! I haven't the first clue when it comes to panel work, but it seems you've got the character line about right! (certainly a lot better than I could do!)

I don't blame you for thinking about body bumpers. I know that if I went through all the trouble to build what is clearly going to be a beautiful and accurate replica, I'd be heartbroken if it got damaged in short order...