# Project Towley - 1958 VW ragtop



## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

I was going to hold off on posting this build untill I had finished the Subaru install, but with all the recent VW builds lately, I couldn't resist!

This is Project 'Towley', my 1958 VW sedan. The car is Australian assembled so it has a few differences from your usual US models, namely RHD and semiphore turn signals.








For those interested, you can check out the resto so far here: NZ Vee-Dub Nuts • View topic - Towley the Polished Turd - '58 Ragtop

The design criteria for the build is pretty simple. I just want a nice sounding system that remains for the best part hidden, and use as little space as possible. The car will essentially be a daily driver plus be used for as many events as possible. These cars are small at the best of times, so every square inch of useable space is precious!









The headunit is to go in the glovebox and the amp under a false floor in the rear lugage space. The Blaupunkt puts out 55w x 4 @ 4Ohm with 250w @ 2ohm on the sub channel. It will eventually get upgraded for something with a bit more grunt, epsecially on the main channels (ideally a JL HD900/5 if I can get one for a good price), but it was cheap and will do for now. The front stage will be in custom made kick panels and the subs are to go in the cubby under the rear seat. I'm still undecided if it's worth using the Whispers as rear fill, but the will going in the rear side panels if they do get used. 

First up was upgrading the charging system. The existing cables wern't exactly ideal - 10 gauge from the alt to the starter, then a slight increase in size (6 gauge?) from the starter to the battery. The new cables are Kicker 4 gauge hyperflex, all soldered and crimped then covered in techflex and heatshink.
The existing battery to engine ground cable was up to scratch, so I just cleaned it up and added the new battery terminal along with a new battery to body earth.

























I've got more progress to post, but for now I'm off to the pub to watch New Zealand cane Australia in the Rugby World Cup semi-final.  GO ALL BLACKS!


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

Righto, on with the build.

For sound deadening I've used mainly Dynamat Supalite with a bit of Dynamat Extreme. Never used it before so I guess I'll find out if it's any good once the car hits the road, but we got a sweet deal on it at work that was too good to pass up. Can always add more later if need be. There's at least two layers on the wheel tubs front and rear, aswell as the rear firewall. I still need to put some on the tunnel and under the hood. I've also jammed the rear quarters full of polyfill which I'm hoping will kill a lot of engine noise. It was fun pushing it all through a 1/2" hole!
















































I aquired some 1/2" thick foam padding somewhere along the way, so have cut that to fit the floor.


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

Kick panels so far:
The kickpanels will be permanently mounted in the car and carpeted over, making them appear factory. The baffles will be removable for if (more like when!) I ever want to change drivers.
I started with the typical tape and foil combo and put down about 4 layers of mat.
In the first shot you can see where I've run some 0/1gauge cable tapped up the front bulkhead. This will give me a channel to run the signal cables and speaker wires under.
I still need to buy the RS150-4's, but I have some RS150T-8 drivers I can use to start with and get the baffles aimed.


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

Sub build:
Again, the area was tapped and foiled then multiple layers of may put down, along with some coremat for added strength.
























The main baffle was cut from 18mm MDF and the back ground down to fit the curvature of the enclosure base. I also went over the back of the baffle with a concave roundover bit so the TB's have some extra breating room.
















From there the baffle was duraglassed in place and more mat was put down.
















Flushmount baffle glued and clamped









Which brings us up to date. Next step is to get the amp rack and wiring done so I can hook things up and get the front baffles aimed.
Thanks for looking!


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## Mless5 (Aug 21, 2006)

I Look forward to seeing final product, but great job so far, very interesting project.


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

I'm enjoying this very much. I saw you more or less just had the car painted, but it looks like there are a bunch of places where the paint is scratched or something on the fenders. Is it bad or is it just the reflection of something nearby? Hope nothing serious.

Jay


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

Mless5 said:


> I Look forward to seeing final product, but great job so far, very interesting project.


Cheers, I hope I don't dissapoint!



JayinMI said:


> I'm enjoying this very much. I saw you more or less just had the car painted, but it looks like there are a bunch of places where the paint is scratched or something on the fenders. Is it bad or is it just the reflection of something nearby? Hope nothing serious.
> 
> Jay


Thanks man. Yea that would be my 'faux-tina' paint job. I wanted it to look like a ratty old barn-find paint job that's had a polish (Hence the name 'Towley the Polished Turd,), so after I painted it, I rubbed it back through to the primer in a few spots. Call me crazy, but it's definatley intentional!


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

The main part of the sub box is done, just have to figure out how to finish it cosmetically. I've only got .35 cu/ft after driver and bracing displacement so have made an opening in the top that will allow me to bolt a second enclosure to it to make up the volume. I'm still somewhat limited to the confines of inside the seat base, but I think I should be able to get around 1 cu/ft total. This will also give me the option of changing the top section for different tuning.

This shows the internal bracing and the upper flange to help seal the box.
























And making the grille to stop wayward feet damaging the subs
















I'll be ordering some of this grill material for a bit of a retro feel 
Speaker Grill Cloth Fabric Beige/Brown Yard 36" Wide 261-810


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

All the signal and speaker cables are now run. Starting off under the hood, they run down the LH side of the bulk head and to the rear. Everything is covered in Techflex and heatshrink.

























Amp rack/storage compartment is all done bar carpet and some sort of latch to keep the lid down.
































The holes in front and behind the amp are for 40mm cooling fans. I read a couple of reviews that the Blaupunkt can get a bit hot, so figured I'd take extra precaution. There's about 3/4" clearance between the amp and the lid, so I'll put some 1/4" spacers under the amp for extra air flow.


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

The next stage is making the new glovebox to house the headunit.
I started off by making a wooden buck to house the P80RS and an aux power supply and trimmed an old OG glovebox to fit.
















Then glassed them up. These will become the negative molds to make the 2 parts which will then get glued and glassed to make the final glovebox.


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## Wesayso (Jul 20, 2010)

Fun looking project! One thing i don't get though. You have one of the easyest cars in the world for an up front sub, why put it in the back seat?
Trust me, it will sound good when you put it in the front. You're not the first with a beetle and a sub in the back on this forum but I can't imagine why one would want to do that with all that room up front.


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## Loudy (Nov 10, 2010)

Nice. I love old Beetles. Is keeping an eye on weight a concern? Damping and MDF can add up, or are you bumping up the stock 36 HP?


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## neuspeedescort (Feb 23, 2010)

sub up front or in the back. space that was utilities is mint. still got cargo room if need be. can't say the same for the bug i just finished up.


NEUMAN


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

Wesayso said:


> Fun looking project! One thing i don't get though. You have one of the easyest cars in the world for an up front sub, why put it in the back seat?
> Trust me, it will sound good when you put it in the front. You're not the first with a beetle and a sub in the back on this forum but I can't imagine why one would want to do that with all that room up front.





neuspeedescort said:


> sub up front or in the back. space that was utilities is mint. still got cargo room if need be. can't say the same for the bug i just finished up.
> 
> NEUMAN


Yea you got it Neuman. One of the main ideas behind the build was to make use of the available space and still retain as much cargo space as possible. I plan to drive the **** out of the car and will need the room from time to time.
The other downside to a front-mount sub is cutting holes on the front bulkhead, not too keen on hacking up an early bug!



Loudy said:


> Nice. I love old Beetles. Is keeping an eye on weight a concern? Damping and MDF can add up, or are you bumping up the stock 36 HP?


Thanks mate. The engine is actually '67 1500sp so I'm not that worried about the bit of extra weight and I'll eventually throw in a twin carbed 1600dp later on.


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

Wow, bump from the dead! Last year was just nuts so this whole project got put on the back-burner for a while. Finally found some time to get back into it today!

First of all, there's been a few changes to the equipment line-up.
I'm sticking with the P80RS, Blaupunkt amp and TB subs, but have ditched the Dayton drivers up front for some SB Acoustics SB17NRXC35-4 mids and Vifa XT25SC90-04 tweeters. I'll lose the Whispers as well, they were going to be a bear to integrate.









With the bigger drivers up front, I've had to re-think the kick panels, but pretty sure I have them under control now.

I've also got the second part of the sub box figured out. I should be able to net .7 c/ft which will be more than enough to run the pair of TB's sealed.

Pictures to come as soon as I make some actual progress!


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

I'm subscribed and will be following as I love anything Vw.


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## sydmonster (Oct 5, 2009)

IN! 
Good to see its back on!


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

Somehow I managed to miss a bunch of this one, and I was following it originally. Nice to see it back on. Why did you switch the front speakers?

Jay


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

JayinMI said:


> Why did you switch the front speakers?


A few reasons really, the first being simply that I got a deal I couldn't refuse. 
:laugh: I only had the 8ohm truncated versions of the RS150's on hand, so needed to buy some 4ohm versions anyway (better sensitivity + being able to throw more power at them), but I was concerned that the 150's might not provide midbass I'm looking for, due to being closer to a 5-1/4" driver than a 6".
I was also worried that the ND20's wouldn't play low enough so when the opportunity to buy the SB's and Vifa's as a package came along at a stupid-cheap price, it was a no-brainer!


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

I had to re-visit the fiberglass molds for the glove box. By cutting out the section in the OG glovebox for the dropdown section, I lost a lot of strength and it warped to **** while drying. Fortunately I had another good one I could use (although this one subsequently died a horrible death when removing the plug).








Here's the two parts removed from the molds








These were then mocked together and joined using fibre-reinforced filler.
























I've done the final gel coat, just need to sand it smooth and polish the molds ready to lay them up for the finished pieces


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## Reyne (May 18, 2010)

Nice work mate. Good luck with the finished pieces.


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## Mrnurse (Sep 8, 2011)

very cool! good work man!


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

Reyne said:


> Nice work mate. Good luck with the finished pieces.


Cheers dude. Any more work done on the Curren?



Mrnurse said:


> very cool! good work man!


Thanks!


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

Okay, so ONE more change to the equipment line up. This just arrived in the mail


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## Frequency (Nov 29, 2011)

Nice  Brought in yourself?

I got a mate at Repco to price one up through Monarco. They had never heard of the model before but said they could "probably get one in for $1300".

Don't even get me started on how much they quoted for the DEX-P99


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

I picked it up on TradeMe believe it or not. I nearly shat when it popped up! The price was even more amazing!

There are a couple of P99's floating around that I know of, but good luck getting the owners to part with them!

Where in NZ are you?


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## Frequency (Nov 29, 2011)

Wow yeah good score

I'm up in Palmerston North, used to work for a few different places up here as an installer but got out of it a few years ago. Also used to do the competition thing way back in the CANZE days.

Good to see other guys around the country still hitting it hard though with installs, makes me feel all nostalgic :laugh:


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

Frequency said:


> Wow yeah good score
> 
> I'm up in Palmerston North, used to work for a few different places up here as an installer but got out of it a few years ago. Also used to do the competition thing way back in the CANZE days.
> 
> Good to see other guys around the country still hitting it hard though with installs, makes me feel all nostalgic :laugh:


Yea there's still a few of die hards around, but it's definitely not the scene it used to be  It's a shame really. There's still a few guys from the CANZE days on the NZICE forums. Check it out if you're not already on there?


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## diqq80 (Jul 2, 2011)

Nice work on a nice car!


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

diqq80 said:


> Nice work on a nice car!


Thanks man. It'll be even nicer when I finally get to drive this thing!


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## Datsubishi (Jan 9, 2012)

Sub'd for a cool install. Spent some time in NZ in '98. When i was 15. Beautiful place. The racing/ car show/ audio scene. Really got me heavy into import cars. Props on all your work so far. Looks great.


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

Datsubishi said:


> Sub'd for a cool install. Spent some time in NZ in '98. When i was 15. Beautiful place. The racing/ car show/ audio scene. Really got me heavy into import cars. Props on all your work so far. Looks great.


Thanks man. You should come back some time. Unfortunately the audio scene has died off dramatically, but the show/drag/drift scene is still going strong.


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

Well I had hoped I was done with changing out equipment, but I'm back to using the Dayton RS150's. The SB Acoustics are just wayyy to beefy to fit in the kicks without building huge, protruding enclosures. I'm trying to keep the car somewhat stock looking, so that's something I don't want to do.

Anyway, on with the pics. I've added more glass to the kick panel bases I had started. Still need to add a little bit more at the top to build them out some more.








And here are my baffles. I've started with 18mm MDF which will be built into the enclosures. The actual drivers get bolted to 4mm aluminum plate which I drilled and tapped for M5 cap-head screws. The alloy then bolts to the MDF. If I decide to switch drivers again, all I have to do is make new alloy plates. Modular!









Progress on the sub box. I worked out the max available space have will just do a sealed box for now. I've got .65 c/ft shared by the 2 6.5" Tang Bands.
The top section bolts to the bottom with 16 M6 cap-head screws.








Added some bracing and polyfill
















And then some clamp gangbang action


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## Reyne (May 18, 2010)

Awesome mate. Fabrication skills gone into overdrive.


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

i love old beetles. i plan on using one for a SQ car in the future. i have some very cool ideas for mine


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## pocket5s (Jan 6, 2012)

I will be building one out of my wife's 67 beetle over this year. Hope to have it ready for next season, but the big is getting a full resto as well


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

Will you be preserving all of the 66-67, and 67-only parts? Or is it just going to be a freshening up?

Any pics? '67s are by far my favorite year of Beetle.

Sorry for the hijack.

Jay


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## pocket5s (Jan 6, 2012)

It pretty much needs a full restoration and except for the audio it will be stock appearing, just as she got it from her dad. At the moment the only pics I have are with weeds growing through it. Been sitting for about 20 years


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

req said:


> i love old beetles. i plan on using one for a SQ car in the future. i have some very cool ideas for mine





pocket5s said:


> I will be building one out of my wife's 67 beetle over this year. Hope to have it ready for next season, but the big is getting a full resto as well


I'm looking forward to watching the builds!

My sub box is all done. I may coat it in bedliner at some stage later on.

















Here you can see how it all fits in the dead space under the seat. Super stealthy


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

oh wow, nice hiding spot for that sub box 

i dont currently own one - but i want one. i have seen them sell already 'freshened up' for fair prices - thats most likely what i will do...

but mine will have three seats. center, and two ***** steats


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## Datsubishi (Jan 9, 2012)

sinister-kustoms said:


> Thanks man. You should come back some time. Unfortunately the audio scene has died off dramatically, but the show/drag/drift scene is still going strong.


My dad's moving back down there in a year or so. His wife agreed to ten years in Canada and then they'd move back to her homeland. I hope to visit again soon. I got a personal tour through the Ralli///Art shop by a driver that is a family friend. 

Not trying to thread jack but this is one of my other hobbies. I love the rat rod look.


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## Datsubishi (Jan 9, 2012)

It took me like 10 tries to add that pic. Let me try another just for practice.


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

Datsubishi said:


> Not trying to thread jack but this is one of my other hobbies. I love the rat rod look.


Those are sweet! Is the square back custom or one of the rat rod series?


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

Datsubishi--Are you familiar with Volksrods.com? Lots of really cool projects, and a lot of rat-look stuff. I know there's a guy over there who builds scale RC VW models, too.

Sinister--Sub box looks good, looks like it might take some of the cushion out of the back seat tho...luckily, you'll probably never have to ride back there. lol

Req--Watch out if you buy one already freshened up...people notoriously hack them together for resale, and the disintegrate quickly. See if you can get pics of the resto...pay special attention to the heater channels, floors and the panel where the running boards mount.

Jay


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

JayinMI said:


> Sinister--Sub box looks good, looks like it might take some of the cushion out of the back seat tho...luckily, you'll probably never have to ride back there. lol


Haha, you got it man. Yes, it has taken some (most) of the cushion out of it. I sat on the bare seat frame and thought I'm glad I'll never be in the back!:laugh:
I'm going to wrap the top of the box in some 3/4" CCF and add some extra padding when I recover the seat base, so hopefully it won't be unbearable to sit on.


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

Got the amp rack pretty much done now. Only thing left to do is carpet the top...which might have to wait a while. I want to use German square-weave woolen carpet throughout the car, but it's mega spendy at NZD$175 p/linear metre - which means I'm looking at over $800 JUST for carpet 

Anyway, so here's where I left off.








And here's where it's at now. Amp, fuse block and relay mounted and wired.








I made up some 1/2" alloy spacers to get a bit of air-flow under the amp.
















I made the manifolds for the 40mm fans from 18 gauge sheet metal. There's 4 intake and 4 exhaust fans, which move a suprising amount of air when all running at once. They come on with the amp thanks to the remote-on relay.
















Intake








Exhaust








Should keep the amp nice and cool


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## EditTim (Mar 15, 2012)

LOVE the early Type 1's. I always wanted a '53-'57 oval window, but settled for a '66 before moving to a '66 Type II bus. The audio install was pretty funny in the bug. I had a tiered arrangement where the back seats used to be, with (2) 12's, (2) 6's, and (2) tweeter all back there. I'll look for an old pic. That was over 20 years ago, lol.

Excellent work on that sub install, very stealthy! I was thinking the same thing about using the under bonnet area for a front sub, but what you did is awesome. Well done.


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## Datsubishi (Jan 9, 2012)

sinister-kustoms said:


> Those are sweet! Is the square back custom or one of the rat rod series?


Thanks man! Those all started off as shiny "vee-dubs" by Jada Toys.


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## Datsubishi (Jan 9, 2012)

JayinMI said:


> Datsubishi--Are you familiar with Volksrods.com? Lots of really cool projects, and a lot of rat-look stuff. I know there's a guy over there who builds scale RC VW models, too.
> 
> Jay


I haven't been on that site, but I'll be sure to check it out. I'm a Datsun guy, so I check out ratsun.(net or com)


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## NA$TY-TA (Mar 25, 2009)

Looking great


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

EditTim said:


> LOVE the early Type 1's. I always wanted a '53-'57 oval window, but settled for a '66 before moving to a '66 Type II bus. The audio install was pretty funny in the bug. I had a tiered arrangement where the back seats used to be, with (2) 12's, (2) 6's, and (2) tweeter all back there. I'll look for an old pic. That was over 20 years ago, lol.


Sounds very 80's  Would love to see a pic! I would love a bus one day, but prices down here are rediculous! I had '59 single cab project for a while, but had to let it go to clear some bills. 



NA$TY-TA said:


> Looking great


Thanks!


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

Picture-less update - got the kick-panel baffles aimed yesterday but ran out of time to get them wrapped and resined. Turns out it's a good thing, as I've just got on to some far superior 5" mids which have the same cone area as the Dayton 6" mids, but 3/4" less mounting depth - meaning I can pull the baffles in slightly, improving PLD's and asthetics.


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## Reyne (May 18, 2010)

Looking foward to seeing the finished kick panels. The baffles look awesome.


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## EditTim (Mar 15, 2012)

sinister-kustoms said:


> Sounds very 80's  Would love to see a pic! I would love a bus one day, but prices down here are rediculous! I had '59 single cab project for a while, but had to let it go to clear some bills.


I kinda looked already and failed, but I know there are pics around here somewhere. Now that you mention it, I really want to find 'em.

Actually, the '66 I had was all stock that I bought from the original owner, a sweet old lady. A seafoam greenish color. She cried when I drove off. I felt bad. Awesome car in outstanding original condition. I kept it stock, except for the pull-out radio (Alpine) that I almost always stashed under the seat... 

The '66 bus was a camper top conversion. Not something on see very often.

I always wanted a mid-60's Microbus, and a '64 Notchback, in addition to the oval window bug I never had. A Ghia 'vert was on the wish list too...

It was a '71 I had that was ready for the cover of HOT VW's lol...

Beside the audio install, which was done in a nice custom grey interior, the motor was bored to 2.0L, dual Webber 48IDA's, all chromed out, etc... It was very fast. The bass hit the hardest about 10 feet away from the car, NOT inside the car, lol. Black cherry (multiple layer) lacquer paint, filled in dash, VDO gauges. Polished 8-spoke wheels, louvered engine lid, chrome running boards, etc... Yep, it was 1987-89 in SoCal... :laugh:


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## EditTim (Mar 15, 2012)

Found some pics of the custom '71.

Unfortunately, the only pics I could find were after an accident that trashed the car. At a busy intersection in Long Beach, CA, some lady in a truck made a left turn into me. Yes, it was my face that broke the windshield.


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

Oh man, that brings a tear to the eye. My condolences!


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

On a positive note, my new mids came in  When I say 'new', they are actually used, but besides the worn labels on the magnets, they're mint.

Behold my Morel MACROM 59.13 5" drivers. These babies have a 3" alloy voice coil!




Compared to the Dayton RS150 6" mids

The added bonus is that the baffle hole and mounting pionts are exactly the same


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

So I set to work on the kicks.

I added a strip of PVC around the edge for a press-fit grill to sit in and made a jig to sit my laser pointer in for aiming



Once they were aimed, I masked out the edge of the kick panels and wrapped them with fleece. The idea behind taping the edges is that once I've added a couple of layers of fiberglass to the fleece, I can remove the entire front panel, build it up and add some mass by way of 4lbs of lead shot per side.


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

Got the glassing done one the front part of the kicks. After resining the fleece, I tapped it off using alu foil and glassed over that.
Once that was dry, I removed the faces, trimmed them up and re-aimed the baffles. I also ran a coving bit around the back of the baffle to open it up for the woofer.





Hoping to get the panels reinforced and glued together this weekend.


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## Woosey (Feb 2, 2011)

subbed!


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

I totally missed the kick fab part of this. Not sure how. 

Jay


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## plcrides (Mar 21, 2014)

i love the semiphore's.do they work? i had two bugs back in the day with huge subs firing towards the rear,very deep bass.nice car brings back memories.


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

JayinMI said:


> I totally missed the kick fab part of this. Not sure how.


And you can ignore it as well! I'm not happy with them, they look too volcanoey (for lack of a better word!) so I'll be redoing them 



plcrides said:


> i love the semiphore's.do they work? i had two bugs back in the day with huge subs firing towards the rear,very deep bass.nice car brings back memories.


Thanks man. The sems arent installed yet, so technically no they don't work! Seeing as they are 6V and the car now has a 12V system, I'm not sure I'll bother wiring them in, unless I can find some kind of reducer to step the voltage down. They're too valuable to fry!


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## War Bandit NZL (Jun 10, 2011)

I Just about had a Heart Attack when i saw this thread come back up!! I thought there was no way he's actually done some work on this bug  Haha


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

Voltadrop. I remember seeing a lot of people use them to run Semaphores in 12v converted bugs and busses. I'm sure they're still out there.

Jay


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