Death Cabrio And Some Cuties: Members’ Rides

Good morning and welcome to another iteration of Members’ Rides! I apologize that these have been far less frequent than weekly lately; I’ve been travelling for work and had lots of things getting in the way. But I’m back! In case you missed it, last time we went to France, where we met with Manuel and his wife Andrea and their excellent collection that even includes a wonderful, green Peugeot 306!

Members’ Rides is where we share the cars and stories of Autopian Members. The potential to be featured here is a perk for Autopian Members of every level, from the ultra-affordable “Cloth” tier all the way up to “Rich Corinthian Leather.” Click that link and join today!

Today, we are again going to take a look at an Autopian member that you might have heard of previously. Meet Jay, a member joining us from central Washington. My favorite car in this garage was talked about over on the old site a few years ago, but since it’s already gotten the deep dive there, I won’t spend as much time on it. Then DT spent some time with Jay’s old XJ Cherokee as well. There have been many changes to his garage though, and we’ve never gotten to see it all at once until now!

How did you get into cars?

Father was a Ford guy, and went to trade the family Pinto for a 1978 F150 on my born day.  I was always the flashlight holder when working on the old Thunderbird or Mustang projects.  Spent my 20s in the auto industry working/managing VW, Honda, & Saturn dealers.  Started getting into building and modifying cars while in grad school. Two-day champion of VW Trivia at H20i 2010 in OCMD and helped DT wrench on the FC in my garage for four days during the pandemic.

What’s currently in the garage?

• 1971 VW Super Beetle
• 1985 VW Cabrio (‘Death Cab’)
• 2019 Jeep Grand Cherokee
• 2019 Jeep Wrangler Sport

How long have you had the Super Beetle?

About two years.  My VW friends insisted I needed a bug or some sort of air-cooled VW since I had always had water-cooled VWs. It is in the process of getting a Subaru EJ22 installed.

So you wanted an air-cooled car, then immediately decided to make it water-cooled?

Putting the Subaru engine into the bug isn’t to piss off the purists, it’s more about I have driven lots of old air-cooled VWs and quite honestly they kind of suck.  They are glacially slow, unreliable, temperamental, and not something I really want to mess with.

I want the driving experience, but with modern usable power and reliability.  Just like the Cabriolet, it will be OBD2, so I can scan and tune it on the fly, because sitting on the side of the road waiting for AAA is not one of my favorite things to do.  I have worked with carbs, mechanical fuel injection, and EFI, and there is a clear winner.  I just try to stay in the sweet spot between 96 when OBD2 was mandated and the late aughts when everything went CAN BUS.

Was the plan always to swap this or what inspired the project?

The plan from day one was to swap this and turn it into some sort of sleeper drag car or LeMon’s racecar.  Inspiration was the Daisy build on Mighty Car Mods a few years back.  It was when I first started watching MCM, and the fear it put into Moog has always stuck with me.

How far along is it?

It was barely a shell when I got it.  So far, I have sourced all the replacement panels with real German steel as it had hit everything but the lottery when I got it originally.  This included fenders, a bonnet, a hood, a front A/C valance, and a rear driver battery tub.  71 is the first year of the SB, and it was a 71-72 body style only, so finding parts was tough, especially the front bonnet.

I also have the Subaru engine and have already done a junkyard rebuild with some fresh paint, water pump, and all new timing components. I bought a running, driving 96 Subaru Legacy wagon and harvested the engine and harness from it.

Have the bus transaxle, all of the required parts to make the swap work from Kennedy Engineered Products, EMPI, and a few other sources. A three-rib transaxle from an early bus has been acquired to handle the boost from 44 to 160+ hp.  I also have fresh glass and a ton of other parts I have been acquiring and hoarding for the past 2 years.  Overall, I would say it is about 50% there.  I just need to Lego it together, weld a few mounts, and run wiring/ plumbing to the engine.

What are the plans for the welding?

As KRS ONE once said, you must learn!  I plan to pick up a Harbor Freight welder this fall and start working on building some skills.  I have a few friends to help me along the way, so hopefully I can at least booger weld, grind, and paint well enough by the spring to start fabricating.

Where did you stash the radiator for this swap?

Goes in the front, and you actually use a Civic EK radiator.  I swapped from the solid front valance to the slotted AC valance and cut an access hole at the front of the spare tire well.  Then pick your piping of choice and either run it down the spine of the bug chassis, or, more likely in my case, use rivnuts to secure it to the underside of the vehicle out of harm’s way.

Any idea when you’ll be able to get this completed?

In a perfect world, it would be ready for Volksfest 26 at the end of next summer, so I can put down some baseline 1/4 mile times at the Renegade VW drags.

What shape is it in overall?

In its defense for how old it is, and the care it received from previous owners, it isn’t horrible.  Structurally, it is solid and has good bones, but it will never win any Concours.

Do you plan to do any interior mods to accompany the engine, or will it look mostly stock?

I am anticipating this to be way sketchier than the Cab, and probably more focused, so a roll cage will be essential to my longevity on this planet at some point…

Speaking of the “Death Cab,” how much has this changed since the article in 2021?

A fair bit. I finished the suspension with all the custom Vogtland parts from Germany.  Added new carpet, reupholstered some panels, tidied up some wiring, and added rear disc brakes from a 16V Scirocco. I put on a polished aluminum intake, added a TT 92 octane tune, had the suspension/steering professionally dialed in, and just a lot of little details to get it closer to being finished.  Mechanically, I don’t know if I will do much more at this point; now I am more focused on the interior and exterior.

Did you do all the work yourself?

With the exception of the suspension/steering tune, yes, it’s just a whole lot of me. That was done at Ralley Tuned in Cle Elum, WA by Brendon Porter.

What was the hardest part of the swap?

Finding an OBD2 VR6 with intact timing that wasn’t insanely priced was initially the biggest issue.  It started as a 20v 1.8t swap, and I had sourced all the parts for that, but I had always wanted a VR swapped MK1 or 2, so I audibled at the last minute.

Beyond that, it was making it start, actually.  I got it all assembled and preliminarily wired up, and could not get the damn thing to start for like 2 weeks.  I went through all of the wiring, sensors, ignition system, and ECU multiple times and couldn’t figure it out.

How did you finally figure it out?

One morning, I just woke up with a hunch as to why I had no spark, and it turned out to be correct.  The lead that went to the ECU was not getting power when it cranked over, which I didn’t know, as I was in the car and could never check the voltage while cranking.  For shits and giggles that Saturday morning, I went out and directly hardwired all of the positive ignition wires to the battery, and the thing fired up first crank.  This caused quite a stir in both my house and neighborhood, as it was very early and there was no exhaust hooked up to the headers yet.

It looks like it was in fantastic shape for the most part back then. Is it still going strong?

Yes, if anything, it isn’t getting used enough!  I have some things I am going to clean up, like the fuel lines, and some maintenance items that need to be addressed, but she still runs like a champ.

Any additional mod plans for it?

Everyone thinks I should turbo it, but it already struggles to find traction through 3rd gear.  I want to get the body straightened out and painted, replace the top, and wrap up a few odds and ends in the interior.

What’s your favorite thing about this beast?

The sounds it makes ripping through the canyons around here, especially between 3-6.5k, and the maniacal laugh I always make the first time I launch it towards the horizon when it has been a while.

Anything you don’t like?

I have thrown a bunch of money at the suspension, but it will always have boat anchor weight distribution and be wrong-wheel drive.

I understand the Grand Cherokee replaced a Tiguan, how did that happen?

The Tiguan was only two years old and already had major oil consumption issues, along with having almost no towing capacity.  The GC Summit was FCA’s halo car for a few years, and it has a 6200lb towing capacity with the 3.6. My wife is a bit spoiled and requires lots of creature comforts, while also being terrible at driving, so I wanted all the advanced driving assists to keep it shiny side up.

Is there anything you miss about the Tig?

Fuel economy and interior packaging.  For a smaller vehicle, the inside just always felt cavernous, where the GC feels comfy.

Why is this a better car for you?

It can tow things and blow cold air on my ass in the summer at the same time.

Any mods on this one or plans for them?

Just all the stuff required for towing a travel trailer.

Given how much you’d done to the XJ, how did it get replaced by the Wrangler?

Back before this guy I knew went Hollywood, we would always talk about Jeep things and his time working on the JL project and he really sold me on them.  He also introduced me to a few of the other engineers who worked on the JL and connected me with them down in Moab for my first Easter Jeep Safari for a trail ride.

I loved that XJ and learned so much bashing it around Central Washington, but I reached a point where it was starting to turn into a wheeler and reaching the limits of its capabilities.  I could either spend a whole bunch of money leveling up the XJ, or start out with a newer, already more capable vehicle and spend the money there.  Also, I wanted a “real” Jeep with round headlights and 2 doors.

What does this do better than the Cherokee?

Haters gonna hate, but literally everything.  Just in stock form with the factory rear LSD, the Wrangler was multiple times more trail capable and way better on the road than the XJ.

What made you pick a Sport specifically and not start with a Rubicon?

It was peak COVID, and finding a two-door Rubicon that wasn’t insanely marked up was impossible.  I looked into what the differences were and what the options I would lose out on and decided the Rubicon wasn’t worth the wait or price.

And how much have you modified on this thing?

That is a dangerous question…

• Rubicon JL axle swap with 4.10 gears and e-lockers
• A few JScan Mods and reprogramming
• MOPAR/JPP Suspension in a crate 2.0 with Bilstein shocks
• Skyjacker dual rate 2.5′ lift springs
• Skyjacker front and rear adjustable track bars
• RockJock Currie CurrectLync Steering
• Steel bumpers and rock sliders
• 12k winch
• TerraFlex front sway bar disconnects, rear spring helpers, and spare tire delete kit.
• OSC oil separator
• Auxbeam switch panel to control lights and lockers
• GMRS radio, bimini top, tonneau, BMS Rubigrid
• Gladiator Mojave wheels with 35×12.5×17 Milestar Patagonia MT02s

This has truly been a Just Empty Every Pocket experience for me this time around.

Do you have some fun stories to share about this one?

So many, this thing has taken me everywhere and always gotten me back eventually.  I do not do well snow wheeling for whatever reason and have gotten this thing BURIED twice now, out with the wife, where I thought we were going to have to resort to cannibalism to survive.  Last time it required many hours of shoveling, winching, and apologizing, and she will not go out in the snow anymore.

But if I had to focus on one general theme, it is all the people I have met and the experiences I have had in this little Jeep all over the country, from South Dakota to Utah to Washington.

I understand there are a lot of additional mods coming for it?

Phase 2, after the Bugaru is on the road, is one ton axles from a Super Duty, Dana 60, and the Sterling, most likely, more lift, upgraded transfer case, and bigger tires. Currently, the Jeep is really dialed in, so I don’t want to do too much, but I have already begun acquiring parts. Learning to weld is going to be a big part of this build moving forward.

How many times have you been down to the Safari?

I have gone to either Easter Jeep Safari or made it down to Moab each of the last 4 years – twice in the XJ and now twice in the JL. I already have my reservations for the 60th EJS next spring.

Thanks Jay!

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