Project, the Second
 

[For those who are following along at home, since the consensus on the motor home is I should just get in it and get out of town, and it's the most wild-eyed fantastical; I'll put that off until 4th. Third will be the boat tail SuperBeetle]

In ~1980 my 1954 Type II 23-window Barndoor bus was hit in the rear and totaled by some drunks in a Ford pickup (the guy who owned the truck was too drunk to drive so it was his buddy that hit me. The third guy probably egged him on). With the insurance settlement I bought a 1961 Type II panel van.

Fast forward (topped out at 85, and would crest the coast range at 75–but it would lift the inside rear wheel. so I had my mechanic de-camber the rear so it would keep all 4 wheels on the ground as it went over the top. ahem) to just last year and I had about 95% of the rusted sheet metal replaced.

The engine has been sitting on the bench since the IT bubble popped in 2002. It was built following Karcey's guidelines, but since that was before the HVW Mileage motor series, I went with big valve heads instead of the fuel injection heads (the theory being that if I go to CNG (which is tempting, this motor has never run on gas) it would need better breathing). And the lower pulley is only 8 lbs instead of 50.

But that was then. I hinted that this one comes with a business plan. That goes like this:

As the highest use for this body type would be a local delivery van (I spent a lot of miles sitting right on top of that left front wheel), there is an opportunity unique to the Eugene (and Portland), OR city limits. Firstly, a business that offers petrol-free deliveries in Bluegene would enjoy first-mover advantage.

Next is I'm a Green Driver

Green Driver

tldr: Turn by turn GPS that displays the cities' traffic lights *and* calculates your route to minimize red lights. I know, right? ;)

I'd bet FedEx doesn't use it because it won't filter up their corporate structure until 10% of the cities on the planet have signed on board. The pay-off for Eugene and Portland is by opening themselves up to monkey-wrenching hackers they get less pressure to build up their infrastructure (believe me, there are people around here that would DDOS this because they think it would encourage people to drive more).

So anyway:
•electric power
•hemp (or synthetic) lubricants
•highly efficient, dynamically re-routable dispatching
•bamboo roof rack (advertising)
•drivers with piercings and tattoos

Where's my start-up capital?

quote: Where's my start-up capital?

I'll bite, squirreled away :snail: under your house ? :eek:

So sad your '54 Van was totaled, sounds painful if anyone was inside it at the time.
I have never owned a CNG vehicle but i have had 2 propane vehicles, a 1972 dodge D300, flat deck and a 1988 chev half ton. The '72 dodge had the HD 318 wide block . That truck was amazing both with its mileage and its performance,it had a 4 speed with a bull low that pulled like a tractor. One of my favorites.

VW vans have a friendly demeanor very different then a ford or Chev.
Its ahead of its time,the first mass produced mini van.

There is a huge job market for people with vans
The possibilities are next to endless.
I was thinking:confused: since you mentioned tattoos the van could be airbrushed by a Tattooist or some other talented person.


This Beetle is my first VW.
Post of a picture of your '61

Hey, a comment; and I didn't have to grovel or anything.

This is the 'elevator pitch' in case I'm in the elevator with a Venture Capitalist. rolleyes.gif

The hipster drivers, bamboo roof rack and (as you say) graffiti signage are all for marketing. The electric conversion and smart-phone routing are for competitive advantage. I forgot to mention the software. A local bike shop uses it, but it is available for other business--point of sale, invoicing, trip tickets, stuff like that. All in the Cloud. I'll ask them tomorrow what it's called.

In fact it's getting late for me. How about a picture of the '54 to hold us over 'til tomorrow?
http://i.imgur.com/X9MyP.jpg

I called the bike shop. They use Affordable Point of Sale Software by MerchantOS

I don't have many recent pictures that show the whole vehicle. Here it is in the middle the metal replacement
http://i.imgur.com/ldakB.jpg

This is a plastic model I made in the 80's.
http://i.imgur.com/7j9vs.jpg
As we knew back then, Type IIs are much improved by big mudder tires on the back. I could back up uphill on wet leaves, drag horse carcasses, etc. The fender flares are Beetle rear fenders swapped side for side and trimmed to fit.

The side fairings and front bumper are plywood, the bumper being built up from 1/4" laminations, with a skin of redwood benderboard.

A newer addition is the 6" West Coast rear-view mirrors. They are mounted Dekotora style. In fact the bumper is sort of Hippie Dekotora.

If you recall, I need to settle on one project or another. The trade-off here is that the resale value is the highest vs the possiblity of working myself into a job.

I was writing a reply when i hit some key and it skipped me back 2 pages.
Deleting everything i had typed, now i have lost my drive to type it out again haha.
In brief:
The storage bumper fits the van perfect,gives it that road Train look !
Also the '61 is a bad ass van, Wish i had it..:thumbup:

That's cosmic! I clicked Go Advanced without copying the text, and my 2nd try was shorter (but therefore better, 'teh' best writing is re-writing).

To further the topic, here's the wheels that were on it at it's peak:
http://i.imgur.com/AOTcp.jpg

I've owned these longer than the panel. They were on my first VW, in 19-(mumble, mumble), a black on black 1958 convertible.

They're not terribly aero, and they're worth about as much as the motor home.

I have to ask; did you know or Google 'dekotora'?

Those wheel's look decent, i like the hard sharp lines, gives it that industrial look.

Fun delivery trucks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKsx59XbDN0

Picture those wheels on a tire changing machine. What's wrong. :)

Dekotora is like a Pachinko parlor (think casino) turned inside out.

This topic isn't exactly setting the woods on fire; but before I move on, here's an idea that came to me at 2 am this morning. Collapsible boat tail. The cutouts where it attaches are to inflate it but I think 2 fiberglass rods from the gutter to the tip would hold the shape when it's not moving.
http://i.imgur.com/n67oH.jpg

The trick with inflatables is there needs to be a small vent to bleed air off so more air can ram in. See Frei Otto for sizing.

I am thinking a ram air & small exit air vent would not work so well, you could fill it that way though then seal it off.
Stopping at the stop light it would deflate and go limp, then flap and blow around until you get up to speed.
I think it would work real well on a Dekotora :turtle: though.

I like the inflatable boat tail, having the floor fold down and act as a base for it is a great idea.
The nose of it, above the roof has got to go.
A redesign must be executed!!
Spare no cost !

You're probably right. 5–6 fiberglass rods would probably be less hassle in the end.

What, the stinger? I was particularly proud of that. It makes up the difference between the height and width, and it looks like a stinger. In actual practice it would probably be more like a plate with license and taillights.

Ram air and small air bleed make for a parachute.

If you split enough hairs it adds up to a large effect, once they are piggybacked onto each other. The rooftop tip is a big"hair" ripe for the splitting.
Having a 2nd hinge near the tip, you could lock it open then fold it inward for storage.
If you used the fiberglass rods or wood / old hockey sticks to form a frame you could then secure canvas over it and tighten it like a draw string to the bottom.
I like the collapsible function, I assume you made it that way to elevate parking issues.
I would love to see a boat tailed vw van, i expect others feel the same way.

Your venture capital is already in your possession: Put those buses up for sale on The Samba! Especially if you still have the '54! haha!

Seriously though; I'm sure you know that old VW 'splitty' buses are going for a king's ransom these days. Good quality rebuild parts are getting harder and harder to come by each day. The only reason guys like Ronnie in Lake Havasu are able to sell those green replacement sheetmetal panels, is because their value has risen so much, it almost makes financial sense to restore one. Interesting, and way up there on the 'cool-scale' but I'm afraid rebuilding VW buses is not a very good foundation for a profit oriented business plan. Take that with a grain of salt, it's just one man's opinion.

Having played with VW's for 30years, having driven the famous All pre-'68 Bus Shasta Snow Trip 3 times, have driven over 100mph in a '65 VW bus several times, I have some input...

I'm not sure you will get the torque you want in a bus, using John Karcey's FE bug engine recipe. You read hotVW's, I highly endorse the engine showcased in the recent Wolfgang (my friend Steve Phillips) 2liter engine build series. I have put a few thousand miles on one of Steve's 2liters, with a regeared trans it's a great combination. On the downside, it's no FE machine. The high mileage motor might work ok, but you won't like that engine with tall gears in a splitty bus.

Aerodynamics: A few years ago, before taking my friend's '65 Bus on the Beetle Ball 24 (bootleg, under the radar, vw race from Vancouver, BC to Ensenada, Mexico) I did a few things to make improvements, not so much for FE, but to make the engine not work so hard at higher freeway speeds in the heat of July. I built a front airdam, using 1/8" thick polyethylene plastic and conduit underframe, wrapped around the front, attached just under the lower pinch weld. I removed the front bumber, as well. I also added plastic side skirts, and salt flat wheel covers (there was a small picture of the bus, both Greg and I in hotVW's after winning the 2010 Beetle Ball Rally series championship). Unfortunately, I never was able to get any meaningful FE or A-B-A aero test data, I just ran out of time and energy. I will say the bus handled so much better, very noticable around semi-trucks, and was incredibly quieter than before.

Fortunately, those same parts, the airdam, side skirts, wheel covers are going onto a second VW bus being raced at Bonneville WOS in 10 days! Jason Lang is trying to become the first guy to get a split window Bus over 100mph during competition on the salt. After that feat is in the bag, he will try to put it into the 130mph club! I will try to convince Jason to do some comparisons, top speeds with and without airdam and side skirts.

I'll stop rambling now... ;)

Ramble on...

The '54 has been gone about as long as I've had the panel van. :( The next owner had it under a tarp in his back yard for 10 years. Last I heard it resold for $14K. But your right, I might sell on the wheels, then the motor, then the van to finance the eRat (in my Profile pic).

The original proposal was to go electric for in-town deliveries. I just threw the boat tail out there to lure someone besides ecomodded into the thread. :) The full business plan would be partnering with a local electric conversion shop for 3 conversions, with an option for 2 more. The rest would be Vanagons (since it is a 'standard' conversion), and the van would become Old Number 1, and used only for back-up for the others when the drivers run down their batteries.

I've ridden in a 2-liter, freeway flyer double-cab at traffic speeds. It was nice. What's you friend Jason running for a motor?

euromodder -- a wake-filling parachute. :)

ecomodded -- My model was limited by the length of a jumbo paper clip. Your right, a license-and-lights panel would probably be double hinged.