The Street Buggy

[66DB]

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[Geoff]

Welcome to the ASF! Cool project, make sure you keep updating us as it comes along. Ask as many questions as you like, we will do our best to help you out.

[orangecrush]

.. found this pic of a buggy that looks like yours..




Rob

[66DB]

That body is probably the closest to the one I have, but I think the rear on the one I have is quite unique, I have yet to see one like it. O0

The floor pans will be changed out to 1x2 box tubing and sheet metal but it's fairly straight forward I've just got to make some time to get it done (if there's anything in particular I should know before I start tearing the floor out give me a heads up) .

Right now I'm beginning to design the roll cage, I'm hopefully going to be going with a 6-point cage (with some ties to the front beam and "side bars") similar to the one in the mock up on the previous post. The top between the 1st and 2nd hoop will look something like the pic below (but the 2 main bars will be a bit closer together, I think it looks better) and then go out straight to the 3rd hoop.
 

Anyways I've got a free version of Cad so I'll just mock it up on there and post it up here when it looks good. The one thing I was thinking is that I should probably figure out what tube bender I'm going to use because that will decide what the bend radius is...since I'm on a budget I'm probably going to end up modifying a pipe bender like it was done here: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=230317&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=tubing+bender&start=20 . I know it's not the best option but it seems to work plus I have a rain check on the pipe bender at Princess Auto from when it was on sale...If I can find a tube bender for even double the price I'll take it, but at $700  for a full setup I just can't afford it...

[85fastlane]

duuude, i bought a seized engine off of you about a year ago! it makes a great lawn ornament, but the crank and cam are reusable. welcome onboard!!!

[66DB]

Woops...I think I remember that, my bad like I told you I didn't know much about engines if I knew it was seized I definitely would have told you..well at least you got a crank and cam out of it did you ever end up building an engine?

[silas]

cool project...good luck with it!!! the buggy community seems to thrive in these parts!!

those are interesting front wheels. i kinda like 'em. any idea what they're off of and what the bolt pattern is?

[85fastlane]

Woops...I think I remember that, my bad like I told you I didn't know much about engines if I knew it was seized I definitely would have told you..well at least you got a crank and cam out of it did you ever end up building an engine?

dont worry bout it, it was mostly just for fun. i havent built one yet, i have a new one to swap in, and mite rebuild my old one. good luck with the buggy!

[66DB]

Well glad it worked out for you 85fastlane, if you do a performance build be sure to post up the specs!

Silas I'm not sure what the rims came off, I'm pretty sure it's got a Chevy 5 on 4 3/4 bolt pattern(I'll have to check to be sure...), though I think I saw them on an older Chevy a while back (70's?) I really don't know...

Again thanks for the welcome's guys I'm hoping for an update soon, life's a little chaotic at the moment (when isn't it?    )

[Randy]

those are interesting front wheels. i kinda like 'em. any idea what they're off of and what the bolt pattern is?

They are an after-market wheel

[66DB]

A small update...
Today I went out took all the measurements I need to start designing the roll cage. Then I took off the body etc... and got the pan ready so I can start cutting out the floors. The flooring is not too bad, but I figure I might as well change them now than have to take the whole thing apart a few yeas down the road, also it will stiffen the chassis up a bit... I plan on replacing it with 1x2 box tubing and 14ga (I think that should be enough?) sheet metal.

Oh I also ended up buying the pipe bender and will be modifying it. I know a lot of people disagree but it's all I can do on a budget and it beats having no cage...

Here's the pics:


The bottom of the pan (looks a little rough)

[66DB]

So far I've chopped out the old floor pans and made the replacement rails, I just need to weld them in...(I'll try and get some pics when it's complete...)


Where does everyone get their steel from? I'm looking for 1 5/8" 0.120wall DOM and the cheapest I could find it for is $4.80ft anyone know where I could get a better deal?

[66DB]

So I finished the flooring and got the IRS swap done, here's some pics:

There's a gas can in the back I'm just asking to blow up the garage!

Rotted chunk I had to cut out and replace

The bottom finished

As it sits now

IRS bracket welded


What do you guys recommend for chassis paint, lots of people recommend the POR15 route what do you guys think is best for the condition here?

Here's a 3D model of the cage I'd like to build. Before modifying the pipe bender I broke it and after working with it for a bit I didn't think the mod was going to work for me. Right now I need to figure out what I'm going to do for a tube bender and get to work.


And finally I ended up getting an engine that I think I'll use for a swap, it's a 4af out of and 89' corolla, I got the whole car for $200 with 220k but it's mechanically sound. It's not the best engine but 96hp should be plenty for a buggy plus the adapter plate fits the 4age if I want to upgrade later on...

Well that's about it, progress is going way slower than I would have liked 

[66DB]

What do you guys recommend for chassis paint?? I would prefer to find something I can get locally but don't know what or where

[Geoff]

Like you stated before, the Por 15 works very well and is available from Lordco and Mopac among others.

Otherwise talk with Russ at FRancis Andrew site Furnishings, he can powdercoat it for you.

[GRK]

Did you buy this near Cultas lake?

[66DB]

Thanks Geoff I never even thought about phoning Lordco to see if they carried Por15 I will give them a call, I just didn't want to go through the hassle of shipping.

GRK yes I did buy it from a guy who lives right by the lake, how did you know ?

[66DB]

I'd like to give a shout out to Alp for letting me borrow his engine hoist!

So I'm finally swapping in the Corolla engine, I'll have some pics as soon as it's all bolted up. Do I need to run the cat to pass aircare? It's titled as a 1970 so does that mean I only have to pass the 1970's standards, would it pass with just a straight muffler?

[GRK]

Thanks Geoff I never even thought about phoning Lordco to see if they carried Por15 I will give them a call, I just didn't want to go through the hassle of shipping.

GRK yes I did buy it from a guy who lives right by the lake, how did you know ?

There friends of mine.  I recognized the pan. It was pretty fugly when he got it! Steering column / gas tank gauges are from Hansk. I haven't talked to them in awhile. I wish I would have it would be mine! did you see his 32 ford coupe he's building! Did he start some of the fiberglass repairs on the buggy? I know he was going to make some carbon fibre pieces for it.

Gary

[66DB]

Haha cool small world I guess. I never got the gas gauges...some of the fiberglass repairs were done but there's still a few more and about a hundred holes! I got a quick glimpse of the 32 it's gonna be sweet. I'm glad I bought it, he gave me a pretty good deal too!

So anyone have any idea for the whole aircare/cat situation? I got it all bolted up I'll try to get some pics soon

[66DB]

Here's a couple shots of the engine bolted up. Still gotta make the rear bumper so I can mount all the accessories and run the exhaust, I'll take my chances and won't run the cat it should pass 1970's standards though...I'm gonna keep the rad in the back since the one I have won't fit in the front, the electric fans should have no problem keeping this small of an engine cool, and the body will need a little trimming, not too bad though. I can't wait to get it running!

[Chris]

wheelie machine!

[Chris]

or wait til next year when aircare starts closing shop....

[66DB]

wheelie machine!

Haha it will be! Hopefully I don't pop the trans tho, but it's only roughly 100hp which will make a 1400lb buggy fly!

I guess I can keep the cat for aircare since I have it anyways, I can debadge the main badge but I won't be able to get it off all the switches, connectors etc... I didn't think aircare cared what was in it as long as it passed the standards, hopefully they will be too distracted by the car and forget about what's in it!   I would wait t'ill next year but I want to drive it ASAP!!!!

I like to Toyota VW mix, reliability, decent power and gas mileage but also dirt cheap! (I got the whole car for $200!) The best thing is the swap is less than $1000 cheaper than a fresh 1600 and 40+more hp!

[Chris]

100hp and the toyota motor probably weighs at least twice what your vw motor would

[66DB]

Actually the toyota motor only weighs 250lbs which is only 25lbs more than the VW, mind you it's also about 4" longer...and there's the radiator to deal with etc...but to me it's a good trade off...

[66DB]

lol the gas and brake pedal are definitely going to stay VW! (Although I can't count the number of times my gas pedal got stuck), I'll let you know how the aircare works out, a rotary swap would be sweet but cooling might be a challenge. There's a rotary powered buggy on thesamba classifieds.

Anyways with spring break I got tons of work done. Got the rear cage fabbed up, engine wired and running, rad mounted,  body cut and mounted, roll cage tacked together...I'm sure there's more that I'm missing.


Ended up mounting the rad in the back since it won't fit in the front and I don't have the money to get a custom one fabbed up...we'll see how well it works

Body cut



Windshield mounted

Roll Cage!!




That's about it for now. Still gotta get the seats, seat belts, steering column and a few other pieces mounted, then final welding, bodywork, paint and wiring, finally getting there! 

P.S sorry about all the missing pics I moved them, I'll have to take some time to replace all the links...here's a link to the album though: http://s478.photobucket.com/albums/rr142/thebuggyproject/The%20Street%20Buggy/

[66DB]

Finally got it running and driving! Runs pretty well still a few problems to address, the alternator is done (running off the battery), transmission whines a bit (a lot in reverse) after reading up it looks like the mainshaft bearing is almost out, I think I'll run it just as is for now... CV's rub the frame horn sometimes and I need to bump the rear up another spline. The engine makes good power I haven't even got on it yet it will wheelie at about a 3.5k launch but that's with no weight in the front and the rear sitting lower than the front...the extra weight in the back definitely isn't ideal so I'll eventually figure out ways to better distribute the weight (right now I have the battery and radiator hanging out back, they could be moved to the front), still tons of fun!
Anyways can't wait t'ill it's all done hopefully soon.

Video:
http://s478.photobucket.com/albums/rr142/thebuggyproject/The%20Street%20Buggy/?action=view&current=M2U00010.mp4

CV joint rubbing




Before disassembly:

Lots more pics in this album:
http://s478.photobucket.com/albums/rr142/thebuggyproject/The%20Street%20Buggy/

[66DB]

Some more progress getting the body primed and painted. I'd like to give a big big shout out to Stu(Stu817) for all his help wouldn't have been able to do half the job without him!
I'll let the pics do the talking the color's off in the pic I'll try and get a shot with a real camera not a cell phone, if all goes well it'll be painted tomorrow!

[GRK]

What kind of bender did you use to bend the cage?
Gary