Eco off-road on a budget? Or destroying a Prius, you decide.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by freebeard

It has Macpherson struts in front.

The only traditional rear-engined Volkswagen with McPherson struts in Brazil was the Variant II, not even the '93-'96 Fusca Itamar featured it.

[freebeard]

The 1302 had two years of production, hence Galane's question. It's the same as the Standard from the A-pillar back, but the frame head, suspension, hood and fenders are different. 1973 and later is the 1303. 1975 had rack and pinion steering and revised Macpherson struts. That's the front suspension I want to use on my 1958 Baja, on an eight inch frame extension to make it a rat rod.
The sway bar that locates the lower end of the struts would be reversed.


I've got an aftermarket stress bar on the struts. PNW lighting again.

OP — Sorry for the threadjack.

[bobo333]

I never realised how much room is under the front of a beetle, I could go a long way with 40L(?) more fuel!

Yesterday I gave up on the front bumper, il let it float around in my mind for a bit longer before buying the metal i need to build it. While that stews ive moved back into the interior. The rear seats were removed as soon as I bought the car, along with the associated belts, and now comes the time to replace them with some storage.

On my previous Subaru I built a big slim drawer that went out the back of the car, while great for fitting loads of stuff and having easy access even with the cargo area full, it raised the floor up too much giving me less headroom for sleeping on top.


In the Prius I decided to go out the side instead, keeping the floor flat from the hatch all the way to the dash when the front seats are reclined fully.


This also leaves enough room for my inverter, solar controller and maybe some extra 12v batteries next to the hybrid battery, bringing some of the weight that was going to be in the spare tyre well much further forward.


Next step is to build a frame to attach it to, and then a new flat floor on top, with a hinged section at the front and rear to allow the seats the full range of movement and access to the rear footwells and spare tyre well.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by bobo333

I never realised how much room is under the front of a beetle

Only the ones with McPherson front suspension, not the ones with the torsion beam.

In the Prius I decided to go out the side instead, keeping the floor flat from the hatch all the way to the dash when the front seats are reclined fully.

Makes me wonder if it would actually improve access to the drawer if you got rid of the armrests on the rear door trims.

[freebeard]

I never realised how much room is under the front of a beetle, I could go a long way with 40L(?) more fuel!

I burn clear premium in it, so it's a long way between stations.

I can sit on the spare tire cover with my feet on the ground. The hood makes a rain/sun shield.

[California98Civic]

Nice work! Put some partitions in that drawer to keep stuff from moving around and mixing up and making noise and maybe getting damaged?

[Galane]

What you need to go in top of all that is a self inflating sleeping pad. They have inner structure and open cell foam.

I wonder which came first, these mats or the self inflating whoopee cushion? A truly brilliant idea to take the original fart device and fill it with open cell foam so it provides repeat action instead of having to blow it up after each victim.

To deflate and roll into a very small package, open the valve then roll up tight to force out air, then close the valve.

To inflate, open the valve and unroll. Give it a bit of time to spring up then puff in a bit of air and close the valve.

I picked up an REI Sit Pad at a thrift store for under $5 USD. It's pretty nice, easy to adjust the firmness. If I blow in to fully inflate then let off before closing the valve it's a squishy pad. If I hold pressure while closing the valve it's quite firm.

If I was one to go camping I'd definitely want one of their sleeping mats, or a less $$$ one from Coleman or some other company.

[bobo333]

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

Makes me wonder if it would actually improve access to the drawer if you got rid of the armrests on the rear door trims.

The maximum door opening angle is the limiting factor, not the shape of the arm rest. I could make the drawer 3-4" longer (wider when facing the front of the car) with no arm rests, but its already over 4ft long so i havnt justified the effort of custom door trims yet.

Originally Posted by California98Civic

Nice work! Put some partitions in that drawer to keep stuff from moving around and mixing up and making noise and maybe getting damaged?

I will probably end up with a few partitions once ive lived with it a while and decided what goes where.

What you need to go in top of all that is a self inflating sleeping pad. They have inner structure and open cell foam.

I currently use a basic 4" foam mattress but its not the most comfortable after a few days of squishing it down, eventually il probably upgrade to a nice memory foam one cut to fit the space with a soft topper, it doesnt really need to fold up as small or be as light as the expensive self inflating ones.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by bobo333

The maximum door opening angle is the limiting factor

Not sure to which extent you would be willing to deal with a decrease to the resale value, but maybe it would be interesting to take a look at some of those adaptations meant for disabled drivers, such as rear sliding door conversions which used to be quite common in Europe in the '90s and AFAIK are still not so unusual in Japan.

[bobo333]

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

Not sure to which extent you would be willing to deal with a decrease to the resale value, but maybe it would be interesting to take a look at some of those adaptations meant for disabled drivers, such as rear sliding door conversions which used to be quite common in Europe in the '90s and AFAIK are still not so unusual in Japan.

That would allow the drawer to be a lot wider, and allow further opening when parked next to something. The next thing I'd run into is the front seat which I'd like to be able to recline all the way back.

Pretty much finished the drawer off today, next step is the flat floor on top, I need to get some more wood and hinges for that so it will have to wait till the weekend.