TheSamba.com :: View topic - Rick's Off-Road Doon Buggy Build

Thu May 29, 2008 11:15 pm

The roll cage for my off-road Doon Buggy is being fabricated by Zane Llewellyn at ZaNNetec Motorsports and is nearing completion :)

It features 10 mounting points and will be tied into the body lift kit and the front and rear bumpers to make an end-to-end space-frame. It also has mounts for the reverse-swing CNC brake and clutch pedals, as well as an adjustable steering column support for a 1302 super bug steering column :)

Fri May 30, 2008 6:26 am

That's sweet!! What'd that set you back, if you don't mind my asking? BTW, I think he put your pedals on the wrong side. Oh wait, never mind... :)

Fri May 30, 2008 6:37 am

neanders wrote: BTW, I think he put your pedals on the wrong side. Oh wait, never mind... :)

That is exactly what i thought....until i looked. :lol: :lol:

Fri May 30, 2008 6:41 am

neanders wrote: That's sweet!! What'd that set you back, if you don't mind my asking?

Thanks. It cost about £1000, which is a pretty good price. However, things are a lot more expensive over here :(

Fri May 30, 2008 6:47 am

neanders wrote: BTW, I think he put your pedals on the wrong side.

No, they're on the right side. It's just that you guys think right is wrong and that left is right!?! :? :wink:

Fri May 30, 2008 7:00 am

rick.d.brown wrote: neanders wrote: BTW, I think he put your pedals on the wrong side.

No, they're on the right side. It's just that you guys think right is wrong and that left is right!?! :? :wink:

hahahaha yea i guess

Fri Jun 13, 2008 9:45 am

There's not been too much progress on the cage over the last couple of weeks but here are a few shots of it from earlier today...

You can see from the shot above that the position of the rear upper shock mounts are being worked out. It looks like they'll be pretty close to the apex of the roll cage, which should make them nice and strong. The one below shows one of the lower shock mounts tacked in place.

The shots below show the adjustable steering column mounts and the mounts for the reverse swing pedals. As you can see, I'll still use the stock throttle pedal arrangement.

And finally, the a-arm front end is now bolted to captive nuts welded into the body lift kit.

Once the rear shocks are mounted, the next job will be the front and rear bumpers and skid plates. Hopefully, I'll have some pictures of those in a week or two :)

Fri Jun 13, 2008 10:30 am

Looks pretty sweet.

Fri Jun 13, 2008 11:10 am

rick.d.brown wrote: neanders wrote: BTW, I think he put your pedals on the wrong side.

No, they're on the right side. It's just that you guys think right is wrong and that left is right!?! :? :wink:

maybe so.... but we also know that having a picture of oneself wearing a "do-rag" over too much hair as an avatar can come off a bit creepy.
:D buncha wierdo's on your side of the pond :D

This coming from the guy with the Squidbillies pic I know, I know.... :roll:

anyway.... the buggy looks too cool. Keep the pics coming....(the pics of the car please :lol: )

Fri Jun 13, 2008 11:43 am

motorbreath53 wrote: :D buncha wierdo's on your side of the pond :D

I can't argue with that...

As for the name/avatar - I couldn't think of anything cool, so it's just my name and a picture of me. Never considered it may be creepy :oops:

Fri Jun 13, 2008 12:39 pm

Oh come now... don't be embarassed.... I have to give you some crap.... that way you don't get too proud of yourself....

When a car is looking that cool, we need to keep you knocked down a couple notches...

Its a checks and balances type thing.....

Fri Jun 13, 2008 1:20 pm

motorbreath53 wrote: Oh come now... don't be embarassed.... I have to give you some crap.... that way you don't get too proud of yourself....

When a car is looking that cool, we need to keep you knocked down a couple notches...

Its a checks and balances type thing.....

No problem :)

I would be proud if I'd done all the fab work myself. However, it's just my ideas (mainly stolen from you guys!) executed by Zane Lewellyn of ZaNNetec Motorsports who I have to say is a bit of a genius. As you can see from his web site, he mainly deals with drag race cars and American V8 stuff and this is the first off-road VW he's done, so I'm very pleased with the results so far :D

Fri Jun 20, 2008 9:11 am

Here's a few more pictures of this week's progress:

Rear lower shock mounts now fully welded.

Rear upper shock mounts measured, designed, tested and completed. Suspension cycles with minimal movement of the shock where it will pass through the body.

The holes for the shock are not cut in the body yet but you can see that they'll pass pretty well through the centre of the rear arches.

Rear bumper is starting to take shape but is only tacked.

What do you think about the possible position of the rear lights?

View of the main cage with the body back on.

The main cage is now braced down to the a-arm frame for extra overall rigidity. (Yes the petrol tank does still fit :) )

Removable tubular seat mounts between the lift kit and the central tunnel.

Diagonal bracing on the main cage.

Hats off to Zane for great progress this week :D

Fri Jun 20, 2008 9:14 am

looking too damn cool friend....

Fri Jun 20, 2008 9:22 am

Very Well Done Rick....Almost makes me want to build another one.. :D

Fri Jun 20, 2008 10:27 am

man that is looking pretty freaking sweet.

Fri Jun 20, 2008 2:37 pm

Very nice car! Lights look good, maybe move them out a little? I think one of the lamps on this page will look cool. http://www.customclassic.com/products/lights/frenched.htm

Fri Jul 04, 2008 10:33 am

The rear bumper is now almost finished and just needs final welding :)

The rear tubes from the roll cage now continue down through the body to meet the rear bumper to make the whole structure stronger but rather than being welded to the bumper, they are bolted, as this makes it much easier to get the bumper on and off.

In the picture above, you can just about see the frame horn supports coming down from the rear sub-frame but they're shown more clearly below. They're welded to both the sub-frame and the frame horns.

The picture below shows the tubes that will support the skid plate 'wings' that will protect the cylinders, heads and push-rod tubes. By bringing the rear tube up to the main hoop of the bumper, I hope to prevent the 'wings' bending upwards into the cylinders if they're hit hard.

Rear view of the cage, showing the rear engine mount and how I'll have to move the proposed position of the rear lights outwards so that they clear the down tube to the rear bumper. I'm glad I didn't already drill the holes - thanks to those that suggested moving them outwards for aesthetic reasons - I think you were right.

A couple more pictures of the rear engine mount. It's made from 4mm tempered aluminium and will be bolted to steel brackets on the bumper.

Here you can see the ally boss used to brige the gap from the upper mounts to the plate, because all 3 mounting bolts are not in the same plane. By mounting the rear of the engine to the bumper, I hope to reduce the stress on the frame horns and the front gearbox mount which is notoriously weak.

The front bumper is also starting to take shape. The ends of the horizontal tube are angled up and back to follow the line of the body and will be shorter than they are currently when it's finished. The two uprights will be angled out more so that they meet the horizontal where it bends. Two lights will be mounted above the centre flat section with a bar over the top to protect them.

The tree-bars are also starting to take shape. These will give side protection to the body, help people getting in and out and also be used for load carrying.

What do you think of the size and shape of them?

Too big, too small, about right? I hope that they'll end up looking something like these.

Hopefully, there will be further updates next week...

Fri Jul 11, 2008 10:44 am

The front bumper is now taking shape and looks closer to the finished article than last week's picture did. The driving lights and the light protector bar have been mocked up to see how they fit. The light will sit slightly lower and further inboard than shown in the photo and, obviously, there will be two of them :)

Fitting the lights and light bar has shown up a slight cosmetic problem, in that the angles of the light bar and the front of the bumper don't match if I want the light bar to actually protect the lights :(

The difference in angles shows up more clearly in the photo below and the red line shows how the angles will be adjusted so that they line up to look right.

The photo below shows how the tree bars are coming along. As you can see, they now have mounting brackets bolted into the lift kit and the vertical brace has been mocked up.

Looked at from this angle, you can see how the vertical brace needs to come in a bit at the top.

The photo below shows how the second side bar (on the floor) will fit to complete the basic structure. Once the steel mesh has been fitted to the bottom, each side will be able to carry two jerry cans for fuel/water or equivalent camping gear.

The rear bumper is now fully welded up and the photo below shows the rear of the car at about normal ride height,

This one's from above and behind and you can see the left side rear upper shock mount quite clearly.

Finally, this one shows the front and rear suspension at about normal ride height and gives a reasonable idea of what the completed car will look like. The suspension will be set up so that normal ride height is at about 50% of the available travel, or perhaps slightly less to give about 60% compression and 40% extension.

Once again, thanks to Zane at ZaNNetec Motorsports for some great fabrication work :D

Fri Jul 11, 2008 12:39 pm

wow man that looks great, i am really diggin those nerf bars/storage things. i might have to copy you on the design if you dont mind...