New member with a "new Bradley"

Welcome aboard, looking forward to the pics.
Warmest Regards.....

I'm from fort Wayne, in. To be honest I'm not sure if Its a I or II lol, I don't know much about them. I really don't know ask much as I should since I'm going to be re-building this lol. I figured it would be a fun and easy car to learn on.

no no no.....

If you have never built a car from scratch with a custom frame of fabricated anything like this before I would just stick with the VW chassis and get it running and driving first. If later on you a lot of money laying around you can build a custom chassis and have a far out 70's car. There have been a lot of people come and go that want to put this motor or that motor in it and then in the end the project just dies for lack of money or time or both. You can easily get 150HP out of a VW motor that will propell you faster than you would want to go in a VW. The car will only weigh 1500lbs. The famous Jeff Troy statement applies here. "Use the KISS method" when dealing with a new project. KEEP IT SIMPLE SILLY! (should say stupid but I am not in to name calling)

Haha, well thanks for all the input I do enjoy it. Are you saying I can get 150hp out of the 1600cc engine? Or swap another engine in the rear? I got a couple buddies that will be helping me that have done many projects, so I'm not to worried about anything. Your probably right about keeping it simple I'll just keep the engine in the back and wont do anything to crazy until I learn a bit more...

You can get a 2110cc that will propel a bradley like a rocket

The great thing about ACVW engines is they are very flexible and relatively economical to build. All the parts (or aftermarket replacements) are readily available. It is pretty easy to build a motor that is dependable that generates 150 to 175 hp. If you choose the turbo route, you can get that with a relatively stock motor (need stiffer than stock valve springs), bigger carb, and obviously a different exhaust system. You just adjust the psi for the power you want (staying in the above noted hp range - more requires stronger bottom end parts). If you go the normally aisperated method, it will take changes throughout the engine (more bore, stroke, cam, heads, dual carbs, etc.). My brother gets more than 350hp out of his buggy engine (obviously it has a turbo - but also fuel injection, cam, increased bore, stroke, heavier duty bearings, etc.), but maintenance definitely goes up - not only on the motor, but also the tranny, etc. There are places you can buy whatever motor you want pre-built. I am partial to Bernie Berman's due to the high performance fan/Alternator Porshe-like fan shrouds he uses. Depending on desired power & features pre-builts run from $2800 to $7000+
However, as said above these cars are light, so little hp increases result in great accelleration gains.

A 6 cylinder Corvair or Porsche can be hung on the back, but these cars are already rear-end heavy and you loose the economical and available parts advantage. A V-8 on the back would result in a permanent "Wheelie". As stated above, mid-engine or front engine is custom everything. V-8 in front would be difficult because of the limited depth and height of front end. Have to raise the body or really change the shape of "hood" area.

Make the first one as it was designed and while you are driving it, find Bradley body to put over a custom fabricated chassis, if you still have the bug to build a "wild one".

Just my input....
Warmest Regards

Thanks for the input, I'll probably just do a NA build for to keep it simple and go from there. Can't wait to get started now.

It's Nothing to drool over yet is all in pieces, I'll try to snap some tomorrow night when I get a chance to start cleaning it up.

Ft. Wayne? My fabricator buddy is there, and I visit once or twice a year, often driving the Bradley. We're airplane guys, too (RC, although Randal has also built a couple of ultralights). Was your trainer an RC model or a full-scale aircraft?

The following comments aren't mean. They're here to help you and prevent you facing a lot of aggravation for nothing. Please take them that way.

These are quirky cars that will cause you to rewrite all the rules you think are cast in stone. When it comes to a Bradley, most rules go out the window rather quickly.

Get your car back to driving condition -- stock -- then drive it until you come to understand it - which will take longer than you think. At 1550 pounds and steering that feels more like a kart than a car, you'll find that the little VW motor has plenty of snot. Shouting big horsepower numbers to impress your friends won't make a Bradley safe at high speed. These cars begin to lift their front ends at 80-85 miles per hour.

Also, try to remember that most street tires are only rated to 90MPH. A blowout in one of these cars can get you killed.

After you've driven your car for a year or two and are capable of correctly evaluating what you have, you can make the proper decisions about what to modify and how these modifications will need to be made. "Improving" something you don't already know rarely improves anything.

If nothing else, you'll certainly figure out very quickly that 150HP in a GT can be dangerous and is completely unnecessary.

I've said this maybe 100 times or more, but here it comes again. If you want a race car, why start with a antiquated sedan that was intended to be the most economical family transportation on the planet? Would you even consider modifying a Cessna 150 Commuter for supersonic performance? Same deal here.

You can make a Bradley go really fast if you want to, but doing so will take a lot more time and money than the end result is worth. As a rule, big cc VW engines don't last very long, especially at the hands of drivers who don't understand them.

Good luck with the car, and positively - KISS!

Don't mind my bad grammar/ writing habits I may be a little to drunk... lol, I mean you guys are probably right anyhow, I always try to go overboard on all my projects I do for some reason.
I think I should probably start proof reading things...

You do not upload pictures to this message board server like you do facebook photos. They must be hosted on another server and then the link provided on here. Photobucket is a common picture host server used by many of the members.

To post the picture you then simply press the picture icon in the tag menu (4th one over, second row) and then put the url (address to the picture - you may cut and paste it) between the "img" tags.

[ img ]address goes here [ /img ]

I put extra spaces in the tags so the computer would not think I was posting a picture.

The best solution for the manual is to buy Jeff Troy's CD. He put scans of the manual on it. But, you will also get a lot of extra pictures and how-to info as well.

Warmest Regards...

test pic

As you guys can see its pretty ruff, but its going to be fun.