I guess I need somewhere to leave my thoughts on my dream Beetle build. Just general stuff that I prefer at this moment.
External stuff.
- Car color. Bumblebee yellow or Netherlands orange color with carbon fiber hood and rear decklid. Or black hood and rear decklid. I've read online that white, yellow, and orange are the best colors for cars to be visible. Why no white? Dirt and scratches would be more visible.
- Fix all rust on the body and floor pan. Plastic coat the underside of the car. Stuff to make the car last more years.
- No chrome trim. Door handles, hood and decklid handles, bumper, and headlight trim will either be stock chrome if the roof rack is the old school or Vintage Speed Taiwan ones, or matte black if it's the Thule roof rack. No running boards as well.
- Rims and tires. Stock color Fuchs rims or bronze RS Watanabe rims. It doesn't have to be original, I wouldn't mind decent replicas or look-a-likes. Keep it at either 15 inches or +1 to 16 inches, I'm not a fan of the low side profile 17-inch wheels. For the tires any decent all-weather tires that provide great grip, braking power, and not so loud during both wet and dry weather.
- Lights. Front fog lamps and rear third brake light. Bumper mounted, LEDs and circular housing for the fog lamps and roof mounted or at the top of the rear windshield for the third brake light. Headlights if possible replace with the new LED headlights similar to the ones used on Jeep Wranglers and Suzuki Samurais. The ones that have angel eye DRLs, low and high beams. I'm still keeping the (at least for me) iconic top of the fender mounted turn signal lights.
- Roof rack. Ideally the old school looking roof rack, or the Vintage Speed Taiwan sleek looking roof rack. The Thule roof rack is also okay but something about the former two roof racks matches with the old school look of the Beetle.
- Windows and rain gutters. Pop out windows for the rear passengers. Either chrome or matte black trim depending on the roof rack. Just make sure they seal properly so water won't go in when it rains. For the front windows the traditional Beetle rain gutters, either in chrome or matte black again depending on the roof rack.
- Apologies in advance but those JDM/Formula 1 style carbon fiber side mirrors. It will look weird but I'm hoping it offers good visibility. Second choice would be long stem bullet side mirrors usually seen on the Nissan 240Z, but this time door mounted instead of hood mounted. Again I'm going with the long stem so I can tilt it up and improve visibility when I look at the mirrors.
- Finally, a Kamei front splitter and a roof spoiler. Either the one Gerrelt's garage makes or something similar. These supposedly help stability in higher speeds. I'm guessing in the event I drive on highways here at around 80kmh or so these will help.
- Twin carb 1600cc engine with an alternator. Improved exhaust headers and muffler. Hopefully these improve power and fuel consumption.
- A/C system provided it doesn't get too much power from the engine and as long as the engine can stay cool when the A/C is being used.
- All new suspension components, specially the bushings. I've read about the death wobble and would like to avoid it as much as possible. Nothing too special for the suspension, maybe a 2 to 3 cm lift and sway bars for the front and rear to help improve handling. I want the ride to be stable and comfortable.
- All new wiring harness so it will be easier to buy replacement fuses. 12V system already instead of the older 6V system just so modern components will work.
- Front disk wheel upgrades at the last, at best all four wheels will get the disk brake upgrades. Not just any disk brake set but the legit VW Beetle brake disk upgrades.
- External oil cooler to help keep the engine cool, additional oil as well as a better oil filter would help.
Out.
