Before I continue with this post I'd like you all to know that I have a huge respect for the old Aircooled VDubs and have rebuilt my Buggy several times since my Dad built it in the early 70's.
A while back a friend of mine was going to brake up and dump a 67 1500m Beetle because the pan and body was rusted beyond the point of no return. I convinced him to drop the wreck off at my place instead as I had quite a few VW spares and engine parts that I have accumulated over the years.
When I took the body off the Beetle I saw that about 75% of the chassis was rusted away but the main structure was mostly in tact. Because of the state of the Body and Pan I thought I'd need to build up something different to keep the VW alive and with this I began to design my "Lawnmower on Steroids".
We live on a Small holding with plenty off grass to keep in trim so I thought it a good idea. I also had an old industrial lawnmower lying in the garage with quite a wide cutting blade which was added to the mix.
Firstly I completely cut away the Left & Right sides of the pan and shortened the wheel base by about 900mm. I also removed the 4 shock absorbers and front torsion bar. I then removed the VW rear suspension and added ( with modifications )two Shocks + Coil springs which I had from Offroad Motorcycles. This gave the Bug a much softer independent suspension all round. I drilled a hole in each of the VW shocks that I had removed and drained the oil to remove the dampening. I used the 4 shocks to support the Lawnmower cutter unit and also made up and attached a cradle on springs to carry the mower engine. The mower engine is positioned on the left side where the passenger seat would usually be, and the cutter where the driver seat was. The cutter is powered from the motor by a long fanbelt and hight adjustment is controlled by a slightly modified VW Beetle Jack. I then made up pipe frames where necessary and moved the Pedals and Steering mech ( With added steering linkage and universals from Toyota High Ace ) to the center of the Bug. To cut a long story shorter, at the moment the Bug Mower is provisionally only tacked together but in testing it works like a dream. The VW 53HP 1500 motor comes in handy as some of the grass areas are pretty steep mounds that need to be mowed.
I intend to add a set of Disc brakes to either the front or rear as the original brake systems were also removed because of rust. Also need to find a Voltage regulator so I can complete the charging circuit.
I have attached some pics for those interested. Oh, and I nearly forgot, - It does have a Beer holder next to the driver seat as well
++ Live on BlackMax
