Dune buggy build

[32vsnake]

Well, now that my 66 is nearing completion.....I've finally decided on a new project.

My 8 year old daughter and I are going to start building a dune buggy together.

Eventually when she turns 16, the car will become hers, so a lot of the design and build will be her choice…and that means we start with a new yellow manx style buggy.

Sent half of the deposit to dunebuggiescanada.com for a body…..it should be ready for pickup in about 3 weeks.

Still looking for a pan..but I’ve got a line on a couple of potential victims…and I’m already accumulating parts for the build…(autometer 3905 tach/holley red pump/jammar pedal/7' H4 headlights/CE drag shocks)....the only thing for sure at this point is color (yellow) and the car will be running a stroker 2165 or 2332, CNC mini wedge heads and 48idf’s

Preview shot of a red buggy from http://dunebuggiescanada.com/

[Chris]

that will be a lot of power for a light car!

[32vsnake]

that will be a lot of power for a light car!

 

[fukenbroken]

Sweet another buggy! make sure you cut off the ugly huge carb box of the back of that body when you get it 

[32vsnake]

Sweet another buggy! make sure you cut off the ugly huge carb box of the back of that body when you get it 

Interesting....hadn't thought about the carb box....it is kind of an ugly addition....
Parts collecting is starting again.... daughter decided on wide 5 empi sprint star rims, so just placed an order for them tonight.
Now all I need is something to bolt all this stuff onto. Had a line on a good pan/parts car....only to find out the owner isn't really the owner .

[Chris]

Find a nice set of ercos for it

[32vsnake]

Find a nice set of ercos for it

Not really my thing.....plus I just unloaded my centerlines last month...

So it looks like I might have my pan/reg looked after....found a decent donor and I'm trying to pick it up next weekend....

[32vsnake]

More buggy stuff showed up today



And some other accumulated stuff

[Brassmonkey]

It sounds like your off to a great start and ya mite want to consider removing that carb box its huge! I took mine off.

[32vsnake]

Thanks for the suggestion about the box..it seems to be the general consensus that it has to go...
Your buggy looks wicked. Since you have the same body,  have a question for you if you don't mind.
Did you run a narrowed beam on your buggy? If so, did you run into any clearance issues with the body and the shock towers?

Thanks

[Deacon Blues]

I've been looking at the same kit.  I'll be following your build closely.
DB

[fukenbroken]

As for your question about brass monkeys black buggy the beam in his is a stock width king and link adjustable front beam with chrome cb performance drop spindles he's just got the proper custom made ercos to set the front tires in the front fenders perfectly as for running a narrowed beam they usally come in contact with the gas tank and rubbing on the inside of the body by the drivers and passengers kick panel area.

Question for ya did you order the side pods also?      

[32vsnake]

As for your question about brass monkeys black buggy the beam in his is a stock width balljoint adjustable front beam with chrome cb performance drop spindles he's just got the proper custom made ercos to set the front tires in the front fenders perfectly as for running a narrowed beam they usally come in contact with the gas tank and rubbing on the inside of the body by the drivers and passengers kick panel area.

Question for ya did you order the side pods also?     

Thanks for the info...I figured there was a good chance that a narrowed beam would interfere with something on the body.
And yes I did order the side pods as well....

Cheers

[Brassmonkey]

It's king & link Chris and the front end is stock I just have 0 off ste on my front rims

[32vsnake]

I've been looking at the same kit.  I'll be following your build closely.
DB

Well the thread should become a little more interesting pretty quickly....headed out to pick up the donor car on Sat and got an email last night saying that the body had been ordered. So it looks like things are starting to come together.
First order of business will be re-organizing my garage to accommodate all my junk.

[32vsnake]

Well...long day today...went to Nanaimo late last night, caught the first ferry at 6:30 to Horseshoe bay, then jumped on the lang-dale ferry and picked up a 72 donor for the buggy. Reversed the orer an got back home at 7:30 tonight.
Started going over the car a little bit, but serious disassembly will have to wait until tomorrow.

Thanks to Tedd and Laura for hooking me up with a super solid pan for the buggy!

Pics to follow.....later

[32vsnake]

Got some work done today .....started striping the car. took out the speedo/steering column/gas tank/removed the front seats(that was tougher and took longer than you might imagine) pulled the headlights/shifter/wiper motor and got one side of the pan unbolted.
Also took some time to change the jets in my 66...it's almost ready to run.

Anyway some buggy/donor pics....car is a standard 72 with a swingaxle tranny....



donor sits Way higher than the turbo car

Pretty recent tank, in really nice shape

And a crappy shot of the speedo....glass is in really nice shape and it's perfect for the buggy, with the fuel gauge inside the ring

[fukenbroken]

Wow those orange standard beetles always get cut up for dune buggys thats what my other buggy was before I chopped it up and made it into 55ovals new buggy I was just up at Dons and your body sounds like its gonna be done this week I picked up my new side pods from him make sure you call the day before you leave or you will be sitting around kelowna for a few hours waiting for him to answer his phone 

[32vsnake]

Wow those orange standard beetles always get cut up for dune buggys thats what my other buggy was before I chopped it up and made it into 55ovals new buggy I was just up at Dons and your body sounds like its gonna be done this week I picked up my new side pods from him make sure you call the day before you leave or you will be sitting around kelowna for a few hours waiting for him to answer his phone 

Very cool...I was expecting the body sometime in mid-late July.

Got a little bit of buggy related stuff done today...also worked on the 66 for a bit
Got the rest of the body bolts removed...
cleared out some more misc stuff
cleaned up the underside of the gas tank....it was a replacement tank but it was installed in bare metal...so I cleaned it up and sprayed some tremclad rust paint on it, followed by rocker guard and a final coat of hammer finish tremclad...the spigot is just on there to keep the paint off of the threads...At any rate, it should keep the tank from rusting out on me

Looks good enough for the underside of a gas tank....so now that the bottoms taken care of, the top can get some "real" primer and paint....Think I'm going to paint it the same light tan color as the tank in 66

[fukenbroken]

Heads up dont paint the top yet you might have to hammer in the corners to make it fit under the hood just saying from experience  and dont got to fancy with paint you wont see the top only the bottom throught the front tire wells

[32vsnake]

Heads up dont paint the top yet you might have to hammer in the corners to make it fit under the hood just saying from experience   and dont got to fancy with paint you wont see the top only the bottom throught the front tire wells

Thanks for the heads up about the possible tank "customization".....As for painting the top, I was actually going to look into latching the hood as opposed to riveting/bolting it down. I like the smooth look on the hood (no gas cap sticking through the hood) and the idea of having easy access to the tank.

Also decided that the buggy will be painted with Volkswagen's Saturn Yellow from the early 70's

[buggy1]

Okay now you're just making me feel bad about not working on my baja. Landscaping this new house and work just keep getting in the way. Keep posting the pics, enjoying 'em lots!

[32vsnake]

Okay now you're just making me feel bad about not working on my baja. Landscaping this new house and work just keep getting in the way. Keep posting the pics, enjoying 'em lots!

I hear ya about life getting in the way...our daughter is a provincially ranked gymnast and does the horsey thing...amongst other stuff.....time is never on my side..

back to the buggy....

Talked to Don this morning and said that the body was ready to go.

Looks like we'll be making a mad dash up to Peachland on Saturday morning and then attempt to get back down in time to catch a late ferry home....

To be continued

[VWNotcher]

Thanks for the smooth pickup of the 72.  My sister said all went well.  I am glad your happy with the purchase.  The '62 is still available.  Maybe she will follow your lead and do a buggy as well.  I will forward this link so she can watch her old car become something better than she could ever imagine   I am sure she will be envious. eheh  Good luck with the build.  Ted.

[32vsnake]

Thanks for the smooth pickup of the 72.  My sister said all went well.  I am glad your happy with the purchase.  The '62 is still available.  Maybe she will follow your lead and do a buggy as well.  I will forward this link so she can watch her old car become something better than she could ever imagine   I am sure she will be envious. eheh  Good luck with the build.  Ted.

Very cool....


Long day yesterday...2 ferry rides and 1000km later...I have a buggy body and no space left in my garage.

Got the body separated from the pan on Friday night...just need more human bodies or an engine hoist to lift the body off the pan...

Side pods and the hood are currently being stored in the media room...





And the reason I'm building a Yellow buggy...

[32vsnake]

forgot to add....yes the carb box is getting sliced up...that thing is HUGE!

[fukenbroken]

Take a pic of the carb box and let everyone know what kinda eye sore it really is

[32vsnake]

Got the body separated from the pan on Sat and managed to get a recycler to drag the body away about an hour later....started cleaning the pan up today

Pan is in pretty good shape...little surface rust but the metal is all solid

[32vsnake]

Well...with the black car "blowing up" progress on the buggy has stalled slightly...but I have started stripping the pan, hopefully get it cut in the near future.

In the mean time..the new lowered beam showed up last week and I ordered front/rear wide 5 disks from socal today...also ordered a 1 5/8 tri-mill bobcat exhaust...and I'll probably end up using the 78mm crank from the black car for it.

So the parts collecting continues...

[32vsnake]

hey the dead thread is back....I've pretty much been ignoring both cars for the last month....but last week kind of got back in the game....

The pan finally got shortened a couple of weeks ago...took 14.5's out of it and went with a chevron cut.... fits pretty well with the body. Thanks to my dad for all his help....got to say it's not an overly fun job...but it's mostly done

Just some minor finishing and the pan will be ready for stripping/paint/detailing...



how the buggy currently sits....I keep telling myself that I'll get on it once the turbo car is done...we'll see





Cut and welded pan...just needs some finishing on the tunnel