Date: Fri, 3 Dec 1999 17:01:36 -0500
Reply-To: Bulley <gmbulley@BULLEY-HEWLETT.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Bulley <gmbulley@BULLEY-HEWLETT.COM>
Subject: Re: Amphibious vehicle
Okay...now you have me spinning...do you have access to a scanner. I want to make one.
G. Matthew Bulley
Bulley-Hewlett
Corporate Communications Counselors
www.bulley-hewlett.com
Cary, NC USA
888.468.4880 tollfree
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-----Original Message-----
From: Todd Francis [SMTP:tbf@PACIFIER.COM]
Sent: Friday, December 03, 1999 4:09 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Amphibious vehicle
>>Crazy!
>>
>>Did the article go into any depth (pun) about how they kept the alternator
>>& cooling tin from soaking/sucking water? I can see it would be easy to
>>protect the carburetor intake, and the exhaust with a snorkels like the
old
>>military jeeps had, but I can't figure how they would do the cooling fan
>>stuff.
>>
>>I have a Hot VW mag form 1975 that shows a bunch of guys that cut the top
>>off of bugs and welded cv joints to the lower engine pulley and hooked up
a
>>prop to that. They had races with these things. The water line on these
>>cars
>>was at about the door handle. Todd
>
I dug the article out and it is in the October 1974 issue of Hot VWs.
There was a association that even gave out fliers on how to build these
things. They cut the tops off, filled everyting like the heater channels
and tunnel with urethane foam (watching out for the cables and shifter
operation) welded the doors shut and attached the prop (10") like I
described earlier. the magazine said that the engine can be run wet or dry.
Dry means to build a waterproof enclosure around the engine. It says that
if it is run wet that all of the sheet metal should be removed and the
engine should be sealed up a remote breather. I would guess that you would
have to seal the crank (pulley end) also. I was wrong about the waterline.
There are a couple of pictures and the waterline is about at the bottom of
the headlights!! They really float pretty high and level. You can also see
all of the tail light. Oh , I see the text says "The Waterbug using stock
VW wheels and tires, is supposed to float in a slightly nose high attitude
with the waterline at the lower end to the hood in front, and up to the lock
handle in the rear." Can you picture crusing across a lake in one of these
things? The address given is in Akron Ohio. Todd Francis