In 1972 I visited Santa Barbra CA. I saw a house that had 5 beatles. The whole family drove them. I'm sure they had become very skilled at maintaining them.
I did a 73 VW conversion in the early 1990's. It was super easy to do. I put in a 10 HP forklift series-wound brushed motor! I could get it up to 55, but not for very long. The bug is a great platform because parts are so available. I donated my vehicle to a local technical school, but I wish I still had it.
I loved my beetle in the 70s. Once the throttle cable broke at my parents house a 100 miles away so ran a piece of string through the bonnet (Hood) and into my widow and round my finger. Drove the whole way back by tugging on this string to control the speed. Another time the clutch cable broke and I got out and pushed the car off, then jumped in and crashed it into gear. Drove a huge distance like this also. Managed to swap engines out in 30 minutes, then read the world record was 5 minutes by a team of Royal Engineers.
@@EVSwap When I traveled in my Beetle, I carried a milkcrate of spare parts. New cables, a full distributor, etc. I even did a clutch swap on the side of the road on one trip. I knew better - I knew that clutch was nearly worn out. Trip was fine and we had a good time.
Yeah, the Beetle's simplicity was a major part of its charm. That was one reason why it was a major part of the kit car movement in the 60s. It was easy to lift off the body, get a self sufficient chassis and drop a fiberglass body on it.
In fairness that Beetle is in lovely usable condition, it has been very well maintained by the look of it . I suspect that there will be very little rust in it. Everything is built around the central spine with the torsion tube front and rear suspension. It'll be interesting to see what weight it is with the EV kit fitted .
Poor little ignored VW engine. I've owned an aircooled VW for decades now. I really like the design of their boxer engine and would have a hard time replacing it with an electric motor and batteries even though we really, really like our Kona Electric. Great video!
@@EVSwap We own a Hyundai Kona EV. There is no nicer drivetrain in a small car than an EV drivetrain. We will always have at least one EV at our house going forward. And this Kona Electric does 95% of our miles. I can see all the ways it would be a nice update to a vintage vehicle but - but - I really like the vintage drivetrains in vintage cars. They are quirky and interesting. For me it's not just about driving an old car for the looks or being seen in the old car - it is the car and upkeep that the old engine and driveline requires. I like the ticking valves, the quirky carburetor and the smells of an old car. I'm also very glad that the age of the EV is upon us finally. I want everyone's daily drivers to become EVs in time. Drive whatever you want to - but for the average person who mostly cares about the entertainment system and the color, etc - just buy an EV already. 😉
My issue with them is the absolutely atrocious aerodynamics. Their coefficient of drag is 0.48, with a frontal area of 1.8 meters this results in a 0.86 CdA, which means it will have much less range than something more aerodynamic at higher speeds (above 60 km/h) like a second-generation Honda CR-X. Of course this can be improved with fitting a flat undertray, but still will be a lot worse than a lot of other alternatives.
I think the original design specs was to make a car that can go 100km at 100km/h and aero science was in it's infancy back then. I appreciate that you not only list the Cd but also the frontal area, most people forget that it's those two factors that contribute to aero drag. Smaller is better!
Hey Jimmy - any chance you could also read out the kilogram numbers for your international viewers?! Even in the UK, pounds doesn’t mean much to most people.
It's simple enough to just divide by 2.2. I convert back and forth between metric and imperial almost every day in my head. I use both because both are useful. I'm not a big fan of metric absolutists. You want me to use kilograms but you're gonna then get on the road and drive in MPH 😂 To me, pounds is more useful for car weight because you can measure smaller increments with whole numbers.
Nice work, Jimmy! Keep it up!
Can't wait for follow up on this project
Looking forward to following the Beetle build Jimmy!
It's great to see you busy doing your thing. Wish I had a shop of my own.
thank you Jimmy for weighing these vehicles and sharing those numbers with us, luv that part of the show !
Thanks! I think it's really interesting too to see how the weight changes from stock to EV conversion.
In VW shows, they often had engine pull contests to see how quickly a crew could do it.
I looked up some videos to help and there are people that can do it in 5-10 minutes with a beer in one hand! It's very simple.
@ did you see the Australian crew that removed the engine and put it back in one minute four seconds?
In 1972 I visited Santa Barbra CA. I saw a house that had 5 beatles. The whole family drove them. I'm sure they had become very skilled at maintaining them.
In the 1980's my roommate and I could pull his engine, replace the clutch and replace it within a lunch hour.
I did a 73 VW conversion in the early 1990's. It was super easy to do. I put in a 10 HP forklift series-wound brushed motor! I could get it up to 55, but not for very long. The bug is a great platform because parts are so available. I donated my vehicle to a local technical school, but I wish I still had it.
I loved my beetle in the 70s. Once the throttle cable broke at my parents house a 100 miles away so ran a piece of string through the bonnet (Hood) and into my widow and round my finger. Drove the whole way back by tugging on this string to control the speed. Another time the clutch cable broke and I got out and pushed the car off, then jumped in and crashed it into gear. Drove a huge distance like this also. Managed to swap engines out in 30 minutes, then read the world record was 5 minutes by a team of Royal Engineers.
Haha great stories. Simplicity and good mechanical know how is key. You're a VW MacGyver!
@@EVSwap When I traveled in my Beetle, I carried a milkcrate of spare parts. New cables, a full distributor, etc. I even did a clutch swap on the side of the road on one trip. I knew better - I knew that clutch was nearly worn out. Trip was fine and we had a good time.
Funtastic. When the price comes down a bit more, everyone should convert their Beetle.
Yeah, the Beetle's simplicity was a major part of its charm. That was one reason why it was a major part of the kit car movement in the 60s. It was easy to lift off the body, get a self sufficient chassis and drop a fiberglass body on it.
I'm interested in converting my old Land Rover with a Leaf set up. On keenly watching this space!
SOH is the battery health, so still fine 98% - hx is internal resistance
In fairness that Beetle is in lovely usable condition, it has been very well maintained by the look of it . I suspect that there will be very little rust in it. Everything is built around the central spine with the torsion tube front and rear suspension. It'll be interesting to see what weight it is with the EV kit fitted .
It's a really nice rust free Beetle. Definitely a good candidate.
Poor little ignored VW engine. I've owned an aircooled VW for decades now. I really like the design of their boxer engine and would have a hard time replacing it with an electric motor and batteries even though we really, really like our Kona Electric. Great video!
It's a tough choice to make but once you feel the torque of an EV you may be converted!
@@EVSwap We own a Hyundai Kona EV. There is no nicer drivetrain in a small car than an EV drivetrain. We will always have at least one EV at our house going forward. And this Kona Electric does 95% of our miles. I can see all the ways it would be a nice update to a vintage vehicle but - but - I really like the vintage drivetrains in vintage cars. They are quirky and interesting. For me it's not just about driving an old car for the looks or being seen in the old car - it is the car and upkeep that the old engine and driveline requires. I like the ticking valves, the quirky carburetor and the smells of an old car. I'm also very glad that the age of the EV is upon us finally. I want everyone's daily drivers to become EVs in time. Drive whatever you want to - but for the average person who mostly cares about the entertainment system and the color, etc - just buy an EV already. 😉
"Designed in the 1930s by you know who." I have a feeling you weren't thinking of Ferdinand Porsche. The designer of of beetle. :)
And what party was he a member of?
Tacoma and Bug updates!? I’m here for FJ40 updates! : )
Gotta pay the bills first!
My issue with them is the absolutely atrocious aerodynamics. Their coefficient of drag is 0.48, with a frontal area of 1.8 meters this results in a 0.86 CdA, which means it will have much less range than something more aerodynamic at higher speeds (above 60 km/h) like a second-generation Honda CR-X. Of course this can be improved with fitting a flat undertray, but still will be a lot worse than a lot of other alternatives.
I think the original design specs was to make a car that can go 100km at 100km/h and aero science was in it's infancy back then. I appreciate that you not only list the Cd but also the frontal area, most people forget that it's those two factors that contribute to aero drag. Smaller is better!
Perhaps include the weight of the fuel. A full tank of gas adds a lot of weight.
Will do!
Hey Jimmy - any chance you could also read out the kilogram numbers for your international viewers?! Even in the UK, pounds doesn’t mean much to most people.
UK metric is Chinese to me
@ metric isn’t the UK’s! It’s everyone everywhere, with a couple of notable exceptions.
It's simple enough to just divide by 2.2. I convert back and forth between metric and imperial almost every day in my head. I use both because both are useful. I'm not a big fan of metric absolutists. You want me to use kilograms but you're gonna then get on the road and drive in MPH 😂 To me, pounds is more useful for car weight because you can measure smaller increments with whole numbers.
@EVSwap for small we use mg
Not the perfect car for this. I literally cannot sit behind the wheel of a VW Beetle. EVs need to be large classic full size sedans.