Maggiolino Basso

Twisted Lemon Getting a new Turbo Mill

2012-01-14T20:38:00.000-06:00

Cale has been hard at work building a new turbo mill for Twisted Lemon.
Following are the specs for this bad ass engine:
2017cc.
78.4x90.5. DPR wedge mated crank.
Blue printed/balanced rotating assembly.
Holley 390 carb with a 600 base plate.
Boost referenced power valves, billet metering blocks.
T3/t4 hybrid turbo. Snow performance water methanol injected.
044 wedge ported heads. Manual boost control.

Cale and Twisted Lemon

Bay Window Full Lenght Roof Rack

2012-01-04T22:13:00.001-06:00

This is the first Bay Window Roof Rack I have fabricated. I will begin fabricating two short racks for another Bay Window this weekend.

USMC Toys for Tots benefit car show

2011-11-13T11:53:00.000-06:00

The Big Country Car Club Association held a USMC Toys for Tots benefit car show. It was a successful event with an outstanding variety of cars in attendance.

FORT WORTH VOLKSFOLKS 11th ANNUAL STAMPEDE AND ROUNDUP Saturday the 5th of Nov 2011

2011-11-05T23:44:00.001-05:00

Today the Abilene Aircooled Alliance folks drove to Dallas Fort Worth for the 11th Annual Stampede and Roundup. The show turned out great with some world class aircooled and water cooled v-dubs in attendance. Following are some of the pictures I took:

Marks Sirocco

Puerto Rico Bug

Sweet Looking Rabbit

Cales Twisted Lemon

Jasons '67

Puerto Rico Buggy

Puerto Rico Turbo Buggy

Puerto Rico Square Back

Puerto Rico Ghia

Puerto Rico Square Back

Seaside

To Do List

Love the bumper sticker

Air Ride Thing

FORT WORTH VOLKSFOLKS Hosts the 11th ANNUAL STAMPEDE AND ROUNDUP

2011-11-03T19:35:00.000-05:00

My friends barnfind in Texas a.k.a. "La Chinchita Roja"

2011-10-28T19:37:00.001-05:00

My friend stumbled across a barnfind here in Texas. This 1961 Splitty is sweet. Believe it or not it had a Porsche 356A engine installed!!! It had been in the barn over 20 years!!

Porsche 356A engine!

After Cruise BBQ

2011-10-23T13:02:00.000-05:00

Last night one of our friends who shall remain anonymous to protect his privacy invited us over for an after cruise BBQ at his place. As you can see he has a wonderful collection of vintage motorcycles and automobiles.

Seat restore

2011-10-23T12:57:00.000-05:00

I finally made time to restore my seats. I went from the black OG to TMI Brick Red. I am really happy with the results.

My buddies Typ 181, before and after

2011-10-23T12:43:00.003-05:00

He started this build in late August. My buddy did a lot of work in a short amount of time.

A couple of Pics of 1951 Split that showed up at the Abilene Aircooled Cruise on Sat night....

2011-08-21T13:04:00.004-05:00


51 Split Original Interior


1951 Split


Hand Cranking/Starting the original engine


Checking Fuel the old fashioned way with original gauge!


1951 Split This 1951 Split was purchased in Belgium in 1951 by US Service member stationed in Germany. It was subsequently imported to the States. This car is 100% original. It even has the original Metzeler tires on it! The current owner who happens to be a retired Geologist hand cranked & started the engine for us. That engine purs....... Definitely one sweet ride.

Vintage Speed Deck Lid Stand-Off

2011-08-13T15:35:00.000-05:00

I just installed my Vintage Speed deck lid stand-off. Super happy with the quick shipping and with the quality of this product.

1776 engine now installed

2011-07-27T20:33:00.000-05:00


Engine mock up


Copper Vein powder coat


Ready to go


On the way home


Engine bay waiting for new paint and seals

All new seals installed

New engine finally in

O'Reilly's Car Show Pictures

2011-06-19T21:35:00.000-05:00

1776 Assembly Begins

2011-06-19T19:25:00.000-05:00

CB Performance straight cut gears, HD gland nut, full flow oil pump,oil filter mount

CB Performance UNI TECH Connecting Rods

CB Performance 69mm Forged Chromoly Crank

AA 90.5 Pistons and Cylinders

CB Performance crank, rods, straight cut gears and Engle 110 cam

Torquing everything down

CB Performance lightened billet flywheel

O'Reilly's Car Show in Abilene Texas Saturday the 18th of June 2011

2011-06-17T19:25:00.000-05:00

Abilene Car Walk

2011-06-10T06:14:00.000-05:00

The city of Abilene hosted a "Car Walk". There were some sweet rides present...

Heartland Cruisers Car Show in Brownwood Texas

2011-06-05T14:42:00.000-05:00

Abileneaircooled Alliance drove down to to the Heartland Cruisers Car Show in Brownwood Texas.
There were some really nice rides at this show. Abileneaircooled Alliance's own Randall came home with best in show in the import category with his Green 71 Beetle.


Best of show


Best of show engine

572 SS Camaro


Camaro with Corvette LS3 Engine


V-8 Tractor


I think I can, I think I can, coming back from the show, it was hot as hell.............

The engine build begins

2011-05-28T18:54:00.000-05:00

Today I went over to James workshop to perform an autopsy on the old engine. Randall was there doing the same to his engine. So today was engine dis-assembly day. Found that the reason the engine broke down was because the brass gear on the distributor shaft was striped. Case and heads look good. Now that it is all apart I will be sending it off to get bored for 90.5 pistons and cylinders. I am going to build a 1776 for "Maggiolino Basso". I don't want to get too crazy on the engine size. I want to build a reliable engine that can cope with this Texas heat. It was 112 F today! Randall picked up a used 2332 engine that was on a sandrail. He got a really good deal. We dis-assembled that engine as well to make sure everything was serviceable. Here are a few pics of the action :)

5th Annual O'Reilly's Auto Parts Car Show, Abilene Texas

2011-05-22T11:24:00.001-05:00

Abilene Cruise Night

2011-05-22T11:18:00.000-05:00

Last night the Abilene Aircooled Alliance got together with the other car clubs in Abilene Texas and went on a cruise. We had 65 cars show up. Cool cars, cool people, good times. I only had my I-Phone on me so I apologize for the quality of the pics.

2011 Texas VW Classic

2011-04-20T20:36:00.000-05:00

This years Texas VW Classic was better than last year. Most of the Abilene AirCooled crew drove their rides down to Fredericksburg on Friday morning. The weather was beautiful, the swap meet was great, the quality of the full on show cars was awesome, and the variety of vehicles at the show was vast. The Texas VW Classic show staff put on a great show/cruise this year. The Texas style BBQ on Saturday was awesome!! Already looking forward to next years show!!

2011 Texas VW Classic

2011-04-14T21:00:00.000-05:00

The boys and gals from Abilene AirCooled and the Texas Oil Drippers will be heading down to Fredericksburg Texas for the 2011 Texas VW Classic. We will be rolling from the gas station at Industrial and Treadaway, Abilene, Texas at 8:00 AM sharp on Friday the 15th of April. See you there.

Abilene Aircooled meet at Ricks and Carolyn's Burger Place

2011-04-06T08:36:00.000-05:00

Kafer Tag

2011-03-09T21:54:00.000-06:00

Going Cruisin' in Abilene, Texas

2011-03-01T20:29:00.000-06:00

Jay chillaxing before the cruise

Big Ron cruising....

James and me talking wheels....

Sam driving his Meyers Manx Resorter on the Sonic Cruise

San Marco-Menare 6th Raduno Maggiolini, Vespe, and Lambrette

2011-02-21T12:48:00.001-06:00

Abilene Aircooled Sonic Cruise

2011-02-19T21:29:00.001-06:00

Let it snow, let it snow....

2011-02-01T10:03:00.000-06:00

2011 World of Wheels

2011-01-27T05:27:00.001-06:00

1947 Harley

Abilene Aircooled and Texas Oil Drippers meet and greet

2011-01-22T22:18:00.001-06:00

We started the day by getting Chucks 914 ready to cruise. Ron came over and synchronized his dual carbs and now the "Porker" is running smoother. Here is Ryan's "Flamer" actually of the trailer, LOL.


Jeff's Fat-Chick now for sale

Leaving Chucks place for the meet/cruise

We went to Double Dave's Pizzeria and met up with the folks from the Texas Oil Drippers. Only one Oil Dripper aircooled car in attendance. Cale brought over his yellow turbo bug. The rest of the Oil Drippers are working on their rides over the winter. After dinner we went for a short cruise around town. Here are a few pictures of tonight.


Cale's Turbo Bug


Chuck's recently painted 914


Abilene Aircooled, only five of us showed up tonight.


Chilling after the cruise at the Burger King parking lot on North First Street.

Another day of fun at the body shop

2011-01-16T19:10:00.000-06:00

Today we made some head way on Dans car. We cut out and replaced both floorpans......

Cutting old, rusty pans out....

New pans welded in

Having fun at D.A.'s Body Shop

2010-12-18T15:17:00.000-06:00

Chuck having fun prepping the 1967 Mustang for a new rear quarter panel

Dan's Bug waiting for some body work before hitting the paint booth

Freshly painted door for Jeff's Typ 181 Thing


Freshly painted fender for Jeff's Typ 181 Thing

New VW PT Cruiser....I mean Beetle......

2010-11-13T05:47:00.000-06:00

Spy shots of re-designed new VW beetle......sorry guys I think it looks like a Chrysler PT Cruiser......Why doesn't VW realize that they have it wrong and design a beetle closer to its roots visually? Dodge has proven this theory is possible by designing and marketing the Dodge Challenger which looks almost identical to the '70's Icon. If VW designed, and marketed a VW beetle closer to the original pre'70's design I am sure they would have a hit on their hands.

Dallas Fortworth Texas Volksfolks 10th Annual Stampede and Roundup Car Show

2010-11-06T17:22:00.002-05:00

Customers roof rack is complete

2010-10-11T13:50:00.001-05:00

I hand fabricated a roof rack based on the classic design. Rack is made from 0.065" wall tubing and TIG welded. Wood slats are made of Oak. I offer these racks in steel, and stainless. I have another design I am working on and will post pictures as soon as I have it done.
As per customers request I have painted this rack in black.

BIG COUNTRY MUSTANG CLUB all makes car show at mall of Abilene Sat the 2nd of Oct

2010-10-02T16:01:00.000-05:00

Abilene Aircooled Meeting Thursday the 23rd of Sept 2010

2010-09-23T20:26:00.000-05:00

2010-08-18T19:07:00.000-05:00

Abilene Air Cooled Meeting

2010-07-21T20:26:00.001-05:00

Abilene Air Cooled Meeting on Thursday the 22nd of July @ 6:30PM over at the McDonnalds at the mall of Abilene

Abilene Air Cooled Meeting on Tuesday the 6th of July

2010-07-03T09:46:00.002-05:00

Abilene Air Cooled Meeting on Tuesday the 6th of July @ 6:30PM over at Grandy's on the North-side.

Tristan's newly acquired 1958

2010-05-23T13:04:00.000-05:00

Its a late 58 bus from Aug or Nov. Been sitting in a storage container in northern Cali for 20-30 years! Bought it from the wife of the late VW guru, Al.

Repairs to a 1967 hood

2010-05-10T21:27:00.000-05:00

Tonight I helped Jason out and weld repaired the hood for his 67. It was cracked on both the right and the left side.

Last nights meeting over at the Grandys on N 1st

2010-05-05T05:49:00.000-05:00

We had a very productive meeting. We had a guest speaker from the Mustang Car Club and we discussed upcoming car shows and the planning for our very own Abilene air-cooled car show next year. We also had a new member show up with his “new to him” bay window. Welcome to the club Justin... Don't forget we have a cruise to the Town & Country drive-in coming up this Friday to watch Iron Man II... Meet at Kmart parking lot at around 7:45PM and cruise up at 8:00PM.

Bring chairs and a portable radio (so we don't kill the VW's) See you all there.
Here are a few pics from last night’s meeting...

Abilene Air Cooled meeting

2010-05-04T05:56:00.001-05:00

Abilene Air Cooled meeting Tuesday the 4^th of May @ 630pm at

Grandys on N 1st by McDonalds.

Smoking Guns Car Show

2010-05-02T22:34:00.001-05:00

VW Transparent Factory in Dresden Germany

2010-04-26T21:00:00.000-05:00

2010 Texas VW Classic had free car washes!!!

2010-04-18T23:29:00.000-05:00

2010 Texas VW Classic

2010-04-18T23:25:00.001-05:00

2010 Texas VW Classic

Steering wheel resto.....

2010-04-15T22:03:00.000-05:00

As found.......

Rust and rotten wood removed

New Red Oak wood....

Finished wheel......

Abilene Aircooled at the American Heart Association 60's theme Heart Power gala

2010-04-10T21:55:00.000-05:00

Tonight we met at the Abilene Civic Center for the American Heart Association 60's theme Heart Power gala.

Then off to Sonic Burger for drinks and food.....

Abilene Aircooled

2010-04-06T20:46:00.000-05:00

Abilene Aircooled

2010-03-18T20:21:00.000-05:00

Spring is here....

2010-03-14T20:07:00.000-05:00

I have been very busy with my studies and work so I haven't posted any updates in a while. After 5 months of body work I decided its time to get the car back on the road so I can enjoy the summer season. I mounted my new tires and rims. The tires I originally mounted in the front where 165/45-15s. Unfortunately the roads around here are in disrepair so the car was too low for comfort. I used the car 1 day before deciding to swap front tires to 145s instead. I will begin this post by showing you a few pics of the car the way it was sitting with the 165/45-15s.

Here is the car with 145s out front and 205/65-15s out back sitting in front of Big Rons VW Shop in Abilene Texas.

Got some more work done today....

2010-01-22T19:44:00.000-06:00

Filler sanded and its now in primer........

I hung the fender to make sure everything lines up.... and it does...

tomorrow I plan on giving the fender some much needed attention...

Once the fender its done I will put it on and ensure the fender beading is on properly............

Finally patched the black hole....

2010-01-21T21:34:00.001-06:00

I had cut this rusty spot above my Rt rear out back in Oct...

I also cut out another rust spot in front of the above hole...

Here it is all welded shut waiting on some icing...

Icing is on will start sanding tomorrow...

Speaking of sanding this picture pretty much sums up how I feel about sanding...

Yeah block sanding Sux!!!

Got some more work done today...

2010-01-20T17:24:00.001-06:00

I noticed that the door and the quarter panel are not even so I started working on squaring things up today...

I also cut out another rusted spot on the rear wheel housing.

Out with the old and in with the new...

Now copious amount of icing (first coat)...

More block sanding

2010-01-18T18:39:00.000-06:00

Today I worked on the rear quarter panel again. More putty, block sanding, guide coat, more putty, block sanding some more then primer. It will be worth it in the end.

In between putty drying times I pulled the dent on my front rt fender. Putty, block sanding, guide coat, more putty, block sanding then primer.

A little more work today

2010-01-17T17:37:00.003-06:00

Cut out a rusted spot on the rear wheel housing (fender attach point). I welded new sheet-metal in as required. After I finished welding I began working on the rear quarter panel. I applied some USC Icing Polyester Finishing Putty and began the tedious sanding/blocking process.

I also pulled a dent I had on the LT front fender.

Ran out of "Icing" so I must let her rest for the night. The goal is to have her finished for the Texas Classic in April.

My Dad sent me a pkg. I have been after this cooler for years. It has been in the family since the '60s. This will be my next project after I get done with the car.

More work

2010-01-14T21:34:00.000-06:00

I finished the front wheelhouse. Now work starts on the rear of the car.

I started to work on the rear quarter panel. It was heavy with body filler. It was over 1 inch thick in some places. Once I got all the body filler off it was obvious that there was a major dent in the quarter panel. My work colleague let me borrow a H & S 5500 UNI-SPOTTER STINGER STUD WELDER-Dent Puller which my son helped me utilized to pull the panel back out. Really happy with the results.

Texas VW Classic April 17th & 18th 2010

2010-01-05T21:09:00.000-06:00

Texas VW Classic 2009 from cwnation on Vimeo.

Happy New Years

2009-12-31T14:12:00.000-06:00

I am sorry I have been dragging my lazy ass during the holidays. Should be back on track in the new year.
Happy New Years to all and hope 2010 is full of peace and happy times for everyone...........

Merry Christmas

2009-12-24T22:44:00.001-06:00

Front wheelhouse welded in........& New Wheels arrived...

2009-11-10T17:38:00.000-06:00

Got the front wheelhouse welded in and applied "Icing" finishing putty............now I have to sand and prep for paint........

I also received my Flat 4 Enkeis in the post today.......they look better than I expected...

Heater Channel In

2009-11-03T21:25:00.001-06:00

Had a break from the World Series tonight and decided to work on the car. I unbolted and lifted the body to facilitate Heater Channel installation. Had to perform minimum trimming for it to fit properly.

Once I installed it I sanded and primed it to protect it until I get the car in the spray booth. After the World Series on Wednesday I will finish welding the Heater Channel and the front wheel housing in.

Rear Wheel House Installed

2009-11-01T17:02:00.000-06:00

I welded the new rear wheelhouse in today. I am not going for trailer queen status here. This car is a daily driver...........

Ryans "New" Fastback....

2009-10-31T17:04:00.001-05:00

My buddy Ryan came over today to show me his "new" fastback. This fasty is solid and sweet....

Floorpan is in!

2009-10-24T18:18:00.001-05:00

Finally had an opportunitty to work on the car today. Got the floorpan and seat track welded in. Will hopefully install heater channel tommorow. Once I install heater channel I will begin work on both the back and front wheelhouses.

Heater Channel is out

2009-10-10T17:29:00.000-05:00

I worked on the car a few hours today. I finally removed the crusty heater channel. I will have to wait until my new AFT and FWD wheel house sheetmetal arrives in the mail. Once I weld in the new sheetmetal then I will begin welding in the heater channel and floor pan. As you can see the pile of rust on the ground keeps growing by the day.

Finally had a chance to work on the ride

2009-10-08T16:35:00.000-05:00

Today I worked on bracing the body (door opening) removing the door, cut out rusted back half of floorpan and started cutting out the heater channel. I only was able to work on the car for about 4 hours today due to work and studies. Will continue removal of heater channel tommorow. Here are some pics.

Oktoberfest Texas!!!

2009-10-02T19:05:00.000-05:00

Going with some friends to enjoy Oktoberfest in Fredericksburg, Texas so don't expect much progress on the car this weekend :)

A little surprise

2009-09-26T20:36:00.001-05:00

Took fenders off in preparation for heater channel surgery. When I removed the rear fender I discovered a rust hole where one of the fender bolts attaches. As you can see by the pics I have some serious rust. I got all the rust off and discovered that there was some sort of foam insulation inside the panel. I cleaned it all out as much as I could. Now I will have to order more sheetmetal. I guess thats how it goes somethimes....especially in this game :)

Quick update

2009-09-23T20:31:00.000-05:00

Worked on the car this past weekend. Removed carpeting, and wire brushed interior to better see what I have to deal with. As a result I have ordered the Danish sheetmetal from OE VeeDub. I will be updating blog as much as possible. I have a very busy schedule so I will probably limit my work until the weekends.Here are a few more pics..........

So it begins................

2009-09-07T22:07:00.006-05:00

I have commenced taking the car apart to restore the floorpan. At this time it looks like I need to replace back half of RT side floorpan and both forward portions of the LT/RT side heater channels. The LT side looks solid. Just needs a good cleanup and treatment with rust inhibitor. Not sure at this moment if I will perform repairs with the body on or off. I will post pictures as I go along. Here are the first set.

Entry At the track.....$40, race motor.....$10K +Having a picture to show your kids where the college fund went....Priceless

2009-09-03T19:34:00.007-05:00

www.cal-look.com

Where were these guys the last time I took my engine out?

2009-08-23T00:57:00.001-05:00

What did I do today?

2009-08-16T13:51:00.002-05:00

I replaced my passenger door window lift channel which was severely corroded with a new one. I also replaced my broken drivers door vent window lock. Both where top quality from Wolfsburg West. Sorry no pics this time. Camera was dead....

Italian Turn Signals

2009-08-08T18:35:00.004-05:00

Just found these in my garage when I was cleaning today. It seems that they where produced for the Italian market. I got them a few years ago in Pordenone Italy.

2009-08-06T21:27:00.007-05:00

The Italian Drop.............
The Boys in Italy keeping busy on their "Spaghetti Rides"....

Insane 993 B-Turbo powered Bus

2009-08-04T06:18:00.004-05:00

Race Taxi is just insane!!!!

The Ride Has Arrived!!!

2009-07-26T12:26:00.006-05:00

Wow...its been a couple of months since I have seen my ride....The car made it to Houston Texas last week. It was delivered to VWOA receiving port. When I arrived it was surrounded by all the flashy 2009-2010 VW's, Audis, and Porsches...... How Ironic is that???
Unfortunately my tool set that was behind the rear seat was stolen on the way here. My car battery was also swapped for a POS battery that could not be jump started or charged. Once I installed a new battery I was good to go and drove to San Antonio Texas where I spent the night.
The next day I took the ride to the Buggy Warehouse in San Antonio to buy some stuff to help the bug deal with this Texas heat. Once I got that done I began my drive to Abilene. About 47 miles into the drive my front passenger side tire burst. Luckily I was only driving about 60 MPH so I did not loose control. You guessed it there where sparks flying everywhere as my beam was destroyed. Lucklily It was only around 4:30PM so I was able to call several tire shops to see if they had Continental 145/65-15 tires. You guessed it..no one had the tire I needed so I contacted U-Haul to rent a truck and a trailer to get the car home. I finally made it home about 1:30 AM. Boy was it nice to be home!!!! I only took a few pictures which I have posted.

Welcome to Texas

2009-06-17T09:30:00.001-05:00

Just made it in to Texas.....boy is it hot and its only gonna get hotter.

Bug is on the Boat!!

2009-06-14T01:11:00.002-05:00

Finally shipped the bug to Texas. Hopefully all goes well and it will arrive in around 8 weeks.

Third Ear Syndrome in Europe!

2009-05-24T12:27:00.002-05:00

Third Ear Syndrome is Available for bookings in MADRID and ITALY from May 27th to July 24th . . . for bookings contact:
ramses@bacteriarecords.com

The Italian Drop Spring BBQ!!!!

2009-05-13T07:47:00.004-05:00

BIG-BUG PIC-NIC 17 Maggio Vò Euganeo PD Maggiolini Patavini

2009-05-13T07:44:00.003-05:00

4° Raduno Maggiolini Vespe and Lambrette Conegliano TV

2009-04-16T22:05:00.004-05:00

Conegliano Sunday the 26th of April 2009.

Castelbug in Castelfranco Treviso Sunday 29th of March

2009-03-21T02:44:00.002-05:00

Texas

2009-02-13T17:49:00.003-06:00

After 7 great years in Italy I am moving to Texas. Looking forward to moving back to the U.S. and meeting new aircooled friends.

SA Sprint Stars Price: $3500

2009-01-21T22:58:00.005-06:00

Greg is selling a second set of South African Sprintstars on the samba.

They look sweet on the Reichpost