When starting a project like the VeeDub ReDub platform, the best way to start is to get your hands on the parts that you'll be designing around. For example, our chassis obviously needs to match the classic Beetle body so we needed a Beetle body.
We searched Facebook Marketplace for a Beetle in good enough condition to pull measurements off of. We found a 1965 Beetle for a decent price and had it a couple of days later.
This Beetle isn't much to look at but the important parts were in good enough shape. We pulled the body off of the pan and used tram gauges to collect the data we needed for the model.
Another consideration when designing the chassis was the powertrain. There are packaging constraints and mounting constraints. In other words, we had to make sure the powertrain would fit and we had to model the mounts to hold the powertrain in place.
Just like with the body, we obtained the powertrain so that we could take measurements. For this, we headed to Copart.com to bid on a wrecked car to get our powertrain of choice, the turbocharged 2.0 liter with the dual clutch DSG from a Mk7 Volkswagen GTI.
We ended up buying two donor GTIs. The first was a 2016 GTI with the 6 speed DSG.
This donor car was in good enough shape that we were able to drive it around a bit and even play with launch control down our shop driveway.
The second donor was a 2018 GTI with the 7 speed DSG transmission.
It is hard to see from this view but this donor was in far worse shape. We were just pulling the engine and transmission for measurements so it all worked out. We disassembled this donor and got the dimensions we needed.
These three cars helped us get the measurements we needed for the chassis.
Keep an eye out for upcoming blog posts to see the next steps of developing the VeeDub ReDub platform.
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