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hi I am new here but not new to cars, I got bored one day and decided to see what craigslist had to offer. I came across a 2001 Bonneville ssei with the supercharged 3.8. I thought it would be a good swap candidate as the car was totaled and I could pick it up for around $800.00. I knew I did not want a fiero to swap this drivetrain into. so I got back on craigslist to find a car with a few requirments.
1. it had to be cheap
2. something no one else had
3. I wanted a sleeper, and by that I mean looking at the body you would not see one deviation from factory
4. a car that would be cheap as far as replacement parts
I came across a 98 beetle shell for $250.00. it was in great shape. Had a clean title, decent body. and the replacement parts would be cheap and easy to find unlike the fieros. so I picked both cars up and got them to the shop.
Then I removed the drivetrain from the Bonneville
then I needed the front unibody structure from the Bonneville so I cut it at the firewall
that cut left me with this part of the Bonneville frame
I then took measurements from the Bonneville frame, this is where it gets really interesting At first I took measurements to check about just doing an engine swap..... then I had an amazing idea. I had never seen a new beetle with the engine in the rear like the old bugs had. so I took the measurements and moved to the rear of the car to see if it would fit. I came to the conclusion that I can make it work so I broke out the tools and got to work. the first thing to go was the trunk pan cause hey.... who needs that.
That left me with an empty soul feeling.
By some amount of luck the beetle has a "frame" in the rear so I took the measurement off the Bonneville frame piece and transferred those to the beetle frame and notched accordingly.
I then test fitted the Bonneville frame with suspension attached, I set my wheelbase back to the factory beetle specs.
once I got it where I wanted it I made a mark and cut for strut tower clearance
I then plated them and welded the strut towers in place
I then went to the inside and using 1/8" plate I boxed the Bonneville frame and the beetle frames together
1. it had to be cheap
2. something no one else had
3. I wanted a sleeper, and by that I mean looking at the body you would not see one deviation from factory
4. a car that would be cheap as far as replacement parts
I came across a 98 beetle shell for $250.00. it was in great shape. Had a clean title, decent body. and the replacement parts would be cheap and easy to find unlike the fieros. so I picked both cars up and got them to the shop.
Then I removed the drivetrain from the Bonneville
then I needed the front unibody structure from the Bonneville so I cut it at the firewall
that cut left me with this part of the Bonneville frame
I then took measurements from the Bonneville frame, this is where it gets really interesting At first I took measurements to check about just doing an engine swap..... then I had an amazing idea. I had never seen a new beetle with the engine in the rear like the old bugs had. so I took the measurements and moved to the rear of the car to see if it would fit. I came to the conclusion that I can make it work so I broke out the tools and got to work. the first thing to go was the trunk pan cause hey.... who needs that.
That left me with an empty soul feeling.
By some amount of luck the beetle has a "frame" in the rear so I took the measurement off the Bonneville frame piece and transferred those to the beetle frame and notched accordingly.
I then test fitted the Bonneville frame with suspension attached, I set my wheelbase back to the factory beetle specs.
once I got it where I wanted it I made a mark and cut for strut tower clearance
I then plated them and welded the strut towers in place
I then went to the inside and using 1/8" plate I boxed the Bonneville frame and the beetle frames together
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