Robbie Rocket - New Beetle Cup Car Replica

Most of you guys who have been on here a while know my Robbie, and perhaps understood a fraction of what he means to me! So thought I'd post this on here.... it's mostly copied and pasted, so appoligies if dates etc don't make sense until we're up to date...


Ok, so probably not everyone's cup of tea on here, but have a read - you never know, you might end up enjoying it!

I've had Robbie since July 2005. He is a 1998 LHD New Beetle TDi. Originally sold in Houstan, Texas, he was shipped over to Scotland in the early 2000s and ended up at a small car dealer in London by the time I bought him in 2005. He'd been for sale for at least 6 months so was growing moss, was in dire need of a service and some TLC.







The first 'mod' was some stripes:




A personalised plate - birthday pressie from my parents. Normal plates looked much better then the square ones he came with:



Then some 18in EMPI reps:


Then lowering springs:

Continued the red/white theme with the mirrors:


Friends from Evvo came over and helped me fit a 'V5 Sport' front bumper:


Got some coilovers fitted (winter wheels fitted here):


Got the EMPIs powdercoated white:


Had a bit of fun on a small track after a remap from DNA Tuning:


Removed the old interior:


And fitted a black leather one:


Went over to Germany with a load of Beetle from Evvo.






Got him a teeny bit stuck in a hotel car park in Wolfsburg:


I used to do around 30k a year in him.... on a mix of country roads and motorways... used to look like this a lot:


2 tone wheels, anyone?


Never mind - he always cleaned up nicely!

Got to the magical 100k:


And the last show I did in him was BVF 2008:


Since July 2008 he's been sat in my parents barn up in Leicestershire:


This was all due to me buying my 2nd New Beetle - Herbie. I bought Herbie whilst I was training to become a driving instructor. Unfortunatly this meant that money was very tight (I was also doing my final year of university at the time) and I could only afford to insure one of them. I had to pick Herbie.

So for almost 2yrs now he's sat gathering dust in the barn. I normally go up to visit my parents around 3 times a year, and normally get him out and give him a trundle round on their farm and give him a bath. However the last twice I've been up there's been a 19.5tonne lorry stuck outside the door of the barn, so I haven't been able to get him out

Anyway - now I've qualified as an instructor and Herbie is paying for himself a bit more, I'm in a position where I can bring Robbie home so in the next few months we'll be taking a trailer up and bringing him back. Obviously he's not MOTd or taxed, but neither of these should be a problem... however, I have a few mods I want to do to him before I need to bother MOTing and taxing him for him to still be off the road.

Anyway - some changes are ahead. This weekend Steve and I went over to Kent in the T5 to pick up a genuine New Beetle Cup body kit. For those of you who aren't familar with them, this is what they look like:




And this is the kind of look I want for Robbie:





All the Beetle Cup cars are petrol, and if you were awake at the beginning of the thread, you'll have noticed that mine is infact a diesel. So, I'm going to build Robbie as what I think VW may have done if they'd built Beetles for their TDi Cup:

I've set the kit up in the garden (I couldn't resist!):








So that's where I'm up to with him. I'll post more as I collect parts and when I bring him home.

Really excited about this

I ordered some plastic ABS grill from ebay as it looks more factory than the aluminium or metal mesh you can buy from Halfords etc.





I put it behind the front bumper to see what it would look like. Will need 2 sheets to do the front:


But 1 sheet should be fine for the back:



Seeing as the bumpers were out, I started prepping them for paint by sanding them. I think a toddler had painted the rear bumper - there were tonnes of runs in the paint:

More sanding done:




Bit of primer on:


Primer is mostly to test for reactions and see where I need to prep more - I'm going to spray them properly with the gun at some point.

Been trying to sort out the front indicators. You can't buy RSI parts, so I'm going to have to work with what I can make fit and/or make from scratch.

I have 2 options at the moment. One is mk2 Golf indicators. These would require the bumper being cut to get them to fit:




Or late Beetle (in bumper) indicators:


Which with longer screws and a wing nut or similar would fit straight in:


And don't require the bumper to be cut:


And would be more 'in keeping' with a genuine RSI/cup car, as their indicators look like this:


So my plan is to make a plastic 'filler' to go in the indent in the bumper - I made a cardboard one to see if it could be possible:


Only a quick go, and my cardboard skills aren't that great, but I'm sure I would be able to made a reasonable plastic one....

Any opinions or suggestions are welcomed

Been prepping the lower spoiler today. I dunno what this is made out of, I suspect some kind of dense foam? Anyway, there was a few chunks missing out of it from being in storage:




So they were all circled so I couldn't miss them:










Bit of filler later, and all was ok again:

After a tip off about some Genuine RSI/Cup wheels, these have just arrived, all the way from Germany!




Obviously, they will be powder coated white before he's finished.

Tried the new wheels on Herbie to see how funny they look. The Cup/RSI kit is 3in wider than a standard Bug, and the wheels are made to fit the kit, not a normal Bug. This is what happens when you fit them to a normal one:








Monster truck, monster truck, monster truck!

And with a standard steelie:

A few weeks ago I managed to source one indicator surround. Now I have to make the other side!




Been trying to fashion an indicator surround from fibreglass... not going too well so far tbh... I'm not very good at making things


I also have the most podgy hands ever:



Today I've been sanding again. This time the driver's side front wing. I think they've painted it with the same paint (and same toddler) as the rear bumper...




With very random bits of tape stuck on it:


Mostly sanded down now:


But I've got to take all the paint off as I found out that it wasn't prepped very well - I was able to pull massive chunks off..







Thankfully I've found someone on VZi who can make the indicator surround out of fibreglass for me so hopefully that problem is now sorted!



Ok, so that's us up to date so far.

I collect him from my parents place in Leicestershire next weekend - can't wait!

looking good, keep it up

Love it, I have to say Lucy, you are an inspiration and to me epitomise what the 'scene' is all about!
Keep us up to date!!

woop roll on robbie, hes gonna look ace

nice work keep them pics coming!! i do like them mk2 golf indicators, but itill be a lot more work sorting it!

Lucy,
before you prime the bumpers , as you have gone through the outer finish on the wings and bumper you should be spraying a plastic sealer on first, as this will stop any sinkage or chemical reaction from the plastic, when painting.

maybe worth chatting to a painter about it, it would be a shame to paint it then get reactions.

Keep up the top work and it will be good to see him on the road.

andy

Fair play, this will look bitchin... Good luck getting it all together, look forward to watching the progress

fair shout gonna look ace

Cheers guys! As you have probably worked out, I'm looking forward to getting him back and getting the kit fitted so much! Our of all the Dubs we have, Robbie is, and probably always will be, my favourite. He's not the most desirable one we have, or worth as much as most of the others, but I just love him to bits!

Mr Scoops wrote:

Love it, I have to say Lucy, you are an inspiration and to me epitomise what the 'scene' is all about!
Keep us up to date!!

aww

joker 67 wrote:

Lucy,
before you prime the bumpers , as you have gone through the outer finish on the wings and bumper you should be spraying a plastic sealer on first, as this will stop any sinkage or chemical reaction from the plastic, when painting.

maybe worth chatting to a painter about it, it would be a shame to paint it then get reactions.

Keep up the top work and it will be good to see him on the road.

andy

Thanks for the info - I hadn't thought of anything like that. I'm totally new to painting plastic bits.... I should probably get a book and read up on it a bit.

Cool something i can say ive definately never seen before!

I'll be checking in for updates, It'll look great once done. Please take lots of photos

Always loved the Beetle RSi's. Even if yours will be a derv and not a howling V6.

Cant wait to see it with the kit on!

Someone's retrofitted a 2.0l diesel into an actual cup car - he says it wipes the floor with the petrol ones


Today is a happy day! Robbie's home!

We went up yesterday in Widget to go and bring him home:


This is how we found him:


Mmmmmm.... dust!






After a bit of shuffling around, we got him out. He's been there since July 2008 and last moved in December 08. He started up first time and ran without any issues whatsoever - always nice!





All loaded up and ready to go:




hehehehehe



Home safe and sound! Going to give him a bath in the mo before I tuck him away in the garage

All clean and shiny now



Tried on his new Jarmies!


Then tucked him up in the garage with the other 2:

Do you live in Yeovil? I was working on a street last week and saw a Herbie Beetle learner car. Looked ace!

No, but I teach in Yeovil!

he looked a proper little barn find lol