RADBAK - A 64 Squareback - Hi-Tech Style

[b-man]

Your Type III looks great, brings back a flood of memories from when I was hard-core VW guy.

Back in '79 I built up a '69 Squareback.

It started out as a $300 wreck, light blue in color. I was able to drive it home.

At first I replaced the stock fuel-injected 1600 with a 1756cc engine with twin 42DCNF Weber carbs and an Engle 110 cam.

It just never had the get-up-and-go that I wanted, these Type III cars are about 300 to 500 pounds heavier than the Type I bugs depending on what year bug.

I swapped in a bone-stock '64 Buick V6 (225 cubes, 155 HP. 9:1 compression, 1-barrel Rochester carb)using a Kennedy Engineered Products adapter plate, flywheel, pilot bushing and 1700# clutch pressure plate. The trans was geared up as tall as could be done using a 3.875 ring and pinion and a Type II bus .82 overdrive 4th gear (all air-cooled VWs have an overdrive 4th gear) so I ended up with a 3.44:1 final drive.

The radiator sat up front where the spare tire usually lived, the spare found a new home on top of the fuel tank. I cut a license-plate sized hole right where the stock license plate location was and made a cutout under the bumper about the same size to let the radiator get cool air.

The hood was punched full of louvers to let hot air escape, the package shelf inside the trunk also had a hole cut in it to let hot air through to the louvered hood. Aftermarket twin electric fans kept the radiator happy in traffic.

I used 1-1/2" copper tubing that was run undernath the floor pans and a few pieces of rubber hose where flexible connections were needed to run the coolant.

This crazy machine has 30 ft of radiator lines and only 3 ft of exhaust tubing, twin turbo mufflers were hung off of the stock exhaust manifolds. The dual 2" exhausts exited through the one stock pipe notch in the rear apron along with another I cut in the opposite side.

It was finished in buffed-out Ditzler 9000 black enamel and had a set of 14X5-1/2" Porsche alloy wheels with 165 & 185 Michelin XZX radials. Had a set of early european tail lights lenses that flowed nicely with the rear body lines and some euro front fender side markers. All the side trim was shaved, rechomed stock bumpers without bumper guards front and rear. The side windows were all tinted, I used really dark tint for the rear side windows.

When it was finished it looked like a Porsche 911 wagon. I ran it down the 1/4 mile and it ran a 15.18 at 89 MPH, launching easy so I wouldn't tear up the transaxle. Top speed was 115 MPH.

I loved that Squareback, I sold it back in 1984 to gather up the some of the down payment for a house I was buying.

Bart