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my 20x20 metal building

bugdust

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Joined
Dec 2, 2008
Messages
580
Location
Middleburg, FL
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vw003.jpg

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64VW005-1.jpg


Build cost - under $7k
I need a bigger one already.
 
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Bib Overalls

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Dec 4, 2006
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3,318
Location
Jonesboro, Arkansas
No matter how big you build it will be to small. Nice shop for the investment. You are really going to enjoy having a place to work that is out of the heat and wet of Florida's climate.
 

Red Green

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Dec 5, 2007
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1,905
Location
South Central Michigan
I was wondering what car would fit in a 20x20 untill I saw the VW. Then I thought man thats going to be cold in the winter untill I saw the Florida tags. LOL by the way a cargo van makes for nice added storage.
 
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bugdust

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Dec 2, 2008
Messages
580
Location
Middleburg, FL
I was going to go bigger but I got a deal on this dealer's "demo" building. I will go bigger on the next one. I may also go with stick-built for the next one.
 

Lesbos

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Jun 24, 2008
Messages
13
Location
Mönchengladbach, Germany
looks like VW Ruska or sth. like that...

I'm from Germany, and here you can see one or another Volkswagen Käfer driving around :)
It' cool to see you americans working on our small cars :)
 
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bugdust

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 2, 2008
Messages
580
Location
Middleburg, FL
DSC00318.jpg

quote]

What kind of buggy do you have there?

It was a Stephens Sand Shark. I sold it a couple years ago. Fun toy.

looks like VW Ruska or sth. like that...

I'm from Germany, and here you can see one or another Volkswagen Käfer driving around :)
It' cool to see you americans working on our small cars :)

Your small cars? I'm pretty sure we ended up with a lot more of them than you did.:lol:
 

Kevin54

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Jan 12, 2005
Messages
29,341
Location
Urbana, Ohio
I'm from Germany, and here you can see one or another Volkswagen Käfer driving around
It' cool to see you americans working on our small cars

You should have seen how many Volkswagens were worked on around 30-40 years ago:wtf: Dune Buggys were a huge modification, then came fiberglass fender flares and wide tires, then came modding them into Trikes, then Baja bugs, then I think Sand Rails were about the last. VeeDubs then died out for a short period for the muscle cars and ricers. Now in the last few years, I think the VeeDub has a new following. And to find one in decent shape commands a little bit of money. I don't think that there is an older person around that has not owned at least one Volkswagen in his life. I have had 4 and really miss them all. My favorite was a '71 that I received for $100 plus painting a friends '71 LTD. The paintjob was a two day turnaround. At the time he did not have the money to pay for a paintjob and we worked out a deal. This was back in '77. I got the Bug, painted it blue from the grass green, added (at the time) L60-15's on the rear on Cragars, 4" x 15" Cragars up front, blue diamond tufted interior, chromed out the engine, so on and so forth. I could have sold that car 100 times over:( Also my buddy, when we were in school.....his dad was some kind of a supervisor at a VW dealership. He always came home driving different Volkswagens, new and used. I wish I had a few of the 21 windows that he used to drive. Huge money today.
Hey BugDust.....post up some more of the projects, garage and rides:thumbup:
 

woodbutcher

Active member
Joined
Nov 23, 2008
Messages
44
Location
new york
we have to work on them or theyd be littering up all our shops lol

my mechanic picked me up in his, can u say loud? i thought it couldnt get any louder then he stepped on the gas, the best part was when we came to a stop light and this metal on metal noise reverberated from the rear axle. i fired him as my mechanic, he couldnt even keep his peoples vagon workin correctly what was he doin to my chevy.

i dont ever want to be that close to a man again lol
 
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bugdust

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 2, 2008
Messages
580
Location
Middleburg, FL
I've owned about 60 VWS in the last 20 years. They have reached collector car status, especially the buses. I'd like a 23 window deluxe but I don't have $30-60k to spend on one. Prices will drop soon like they always do. Check out www.thesamba.com or if you're into cut up hot rod, rat rod VWs check out www.volksrods.com

Here's a few past VWs of mine:
67 bug
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70 baja
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a different 70 baja
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70 bug
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65-based Stephens sand Shark buggy
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Allison Daytona buggy
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custom RHD suicide-doored 69
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67 bug
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current project, 64 bug I'm building for my 15 yr old son
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I've replaced both pan halves, blasted the entire chassis, coated it with 2 coats of Masterseries silver and 1 coat of chassis black top & bottom. I'm replacing almost everything on the car. Not a show car but should be a decent first car/daily-driver.

My next project, 62 bug vert
62vert024.jpg
 

Der Bugmeister

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 29, 2005
Messages
445
Power to the Air Cooled People!!! ;-)

Nice shop - might be too small already, but it's better than working outside...

I've got 3 in my 30 x 30, and could fit another 4 in there if I didn't want to move around much.
 

sparky1562

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 30, 2008
Messages
115
Location
Nashville, TN
Nice Building!

Those bugs bring back memories for me. I had my 69 upside down in the drive way back in college days rebuilding the heater channels.

Had 3 bugs and one square back. Always wanted a Gia, never had one.

With a name like mine, you know I had to take a lot of ****!

Herb.
 

autoist

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Joined
Aug 20, 2005
Messages
1,107
Location
Gurley, Alabama
Nice 73 standard!
Thanks....One-owner with 72,000 & change original miles (about 2,000 miles per year).....little old lady (my deceased mother-in-law) who always had all the maintenance done per the manual by the same dealer from whom she bought it....& she always kept it indoors.
 
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Mad Man

Member
Joined
Dec 4, 2007
Messages
8
Good looking shop... I was looking at some of those the other day but I noticed quite a bit of condensation dripping from the roof... What have you done to deal with that???
Also what is the brand of your garage???
 
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bugdust

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Dec 2, 2008
Messages
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Location
Middleburg, FL
I live in Florida and it is very humid here. I haven't really noticed a lot of condensation but there is some once in a while.

If I was going to keep this building long (I'm planning on moving next year) I would have to look into some kind of spray-on coating/insulation on the inside and something like cool-seal on the outside. This is a non-insulated metal building. It is very cold in the winter (not bad if it's a sunny day) and extremely hot in the summer. I was going to add a fan in the rear wall to get some blow-through ventilation but I have never done it. It is also very noisy when it is raining. The rain drowns out my radio and if it's a hard rain it is so loud you can't think.

The biggest problem I have with this type of building is I can't just put a nail in the wall to hang something. I ripped down some 2x4s to 2x2-1/2s to frame up behind the pegboard I put up. Then, add in that the frame spacing is 5" apart down the sides and almost 7" on the rear wall and you'll have to frame up all kinds of support if you want to add interior walls.
 

sammerdog

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Jan 18, 2008
Messages
1,477
Location
West Michigan
Hey Bugdust - nice building, great job on the floor pans! I also am an air-cooled guy - have a 79 SB convert. The oldest boy and I took it apart, replaced all four fenders, driver's floor pan, carpet, dash, wheels, etc. Prepped it up in primer and had a buddy shoot it with a Toyota red, and put it back together over the years. Not completely done, but a fun car to play with.
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....now if I could just figure out why it's eating fuel pumps.
 

sammerdog

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Jan 18, 2008
Messages
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West Michigan
Hey bugust - Thank you for the lead on STF & Samba. Never seen either, I'll have to start poking around in STF for some ideas. Heck, I even stumbled across this Garage Forum on a lark while looking for some security ideas after getting my main garage broken into.

My 79 is single carb'd converted and I've tried a handful of pumps including Bosch and Purolator 4551's. I've tried a couple different psi pumps also, but I seem to get about 35 miles out of a pump, then she dies. I'm hitting between 11.8 and 12.8 volts to the pump, but the things keep frying dang nab-it.

I put the ol' girl away for the winter in the building out back, so I have the winter to surf STF - thanks again for the lead to the sites!
 

sammerdog

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Messages
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West Michigan
I think Facet is the store brand manufactured by Purolator. My last 3 pumps were the base line Facets of two different psi's (the ones that are flat on one side and rounded on the other). I bought a "premium" Facet (about the size of a toilet paper roll) late this summer and have it in my parts cabinet for next spring. They mount right under the tank, slightly above the front axle, passenger side, with fuel filters both upstream AND downstream. Off the top of your head, for carb'd VW's, what is your pick for psi in a pump? Everyone I talk to seems to have their own idea....

....now throw in the idea that my 79 was converted over to a Solex carb from FI sometime before I bought it, and you can see where I'm a little confused.
 
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bugdust

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Dec 2, 2008
Messages
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Middleburg, FL
It's been a few years ago but I used a regulator and got it down to 3-4 psi I think...not more than 6 anyway. IIRC, the stock fuel injected pump is about 25psi. or something crazy like that. I have just enough knowledge to be dangerous...not enough to be helpful.:)
 

cyclopsblown34

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Jan 26, 2007
Messages
597
Location
Russellville, Missouri
Do you still have an in tank pump? if so, remove it, that's what was causing my Toyolet to fry add on fuel pumps. It was FI and converted to a 350 Shivallay with a carburetor. It fried the add on pumps with impunity, once I discovered the reason for the pumps failing, I removed the in tank pump and resolved the problem.
 

sammerdog

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Messages
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West Michigan
An in-tank pump, huh? Never thought to look for one - I always assumed there was just the external pump hanging on the firewall. That's what the regular beetles always had, just thought the superbeetle was the same. Well, now I know the first thing I'll look for.

And Bugdust, that's the number that about 3/4 of the people I talk to say I'm looking for in a pump (4.5-ish), once in awhile a guy will say I want to get up around 12 psi. I've tried a higher psi pump like that and it burned up as well.

Thanks for the insight guys - I didn't mean to hijack this thread away from Bugdust's garage.
 
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bugdust

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Middleburg, FL
I have never heard of a VW bug having an in-tank pump, just the filter in there as far as I know.

Check on STF and thesamba...make sure you're wiring it up correctly. I would think it would have to be a wiring issue to keep burning them up like that. Good luck with it.
 

cyclopsblown34

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Jan 26, 2007
Messages
597
Location
Russellville, Missouri
I know my truck was burning up electric pumps in less than 40 miles and it turned out to be the in tank pump that was never removed. As for the VW, I don't know enough about them to know where the fuel pump was located. I'm thinking it is either too much resistance in the tank (plugged sock or other obstruction) or insufficient voltage at the pump. I think they probably need at least twelve volts to run properly.
 

sammerdog

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My volt guage shows good voltage - just over 12. I have not played around with a tank screen. I thought the tank has an open flow and the fuel filter is externally mounted..... I have attempted to "flush" the tank by filling with fuel then draining from below into a gas can. Just for giggles, I ran it through a coffee filter in a funnel - no visible sediment.
 
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bugdust

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Middleburg, FL
There should be a screen or sock filter around the pick-up tube in the bottom of the tank. They do get old & crusty but they usually just fall apart. It could certainly impede fuel flow if it clogged the line. You would hear your pump getting louder if it was clogging the line before the pump because the pump would be dry. Most pumps have their own filter but if yours doesn't and it pumped some trash past it and the line got clogged between the pump and engine then maybe it could burn up a pump, but I doubt it. Your engine would be starving for fuel first and die so the pump would shut off when you turned off the key. Later water-cooled VWs have a feature where the pump runs for a few seconds and if no fuel is present it stops pumping for that very reason. Being that you are using generic pumps that probably isn't the case...they will run as long as there is power to them. Every old VW I buy (I've owned about 60) I blow out the fuel line that goes through the tunnel with an air hose.Will all that said, I'd still bet $10 to a doughnut that it's a wiring issue.
 
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bugdust

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Dec 2, 2008
Messages
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Location
Middleburg, FL
I've been working on the VWs some more lately.

Here's a rotisserie I built so I can work on the body.
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...with the 64 bug body on it.
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I've been working on the pan more. I narrowed the front beam 4" for better tire clearance since the car is lowered quite a bit.
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I still have to take it back apart and paint it. I also have to cut down the tie-rods and tap them deeper.

Just about everything on the chassis has been blasted & painted. I have replaced or rebuilt pretty much everything so far.
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Here's a pic from today.
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bugdust

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Dec 2, 2008
Messages
580
Location
Middleburg, FL
I've had a few friends come by lately to help out on the VW stuff. Here's their rides.

Cason's 65 bug
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Donald's 60 Karmann Ghia vert (sorry for blurry pic)
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Clint's 68 Karmann Ghia coupe
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bugdust

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Dec 2, 2008
Messages
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Location
Middleburg, FL
This little building has had a lot of VWs worked on in it.

This '67 got lowered, new steering box, engine gone through, etc
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This '65 deluxe was a stripped out shell. I welded in a bunch of metal, went through the drivetrain, engine, interior, etc
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/bugdust69/65%2013%20window%20deluxe/005-3.jpg[/IMG

I went through everything on this '67 westy
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/bugdust69/67%20westy/2011-11-09164853.jpg

I just got the engine back together and in this vert
2012-05-12170242-1.jpg
 
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