TheSamba.com :: View topic

Tue May 15, 2012 11:38 pm

I've never started a build thread yet, and thought it was about time. Figure I'll jump right in to where I currently am. Thanks to all of those who have answered my PM's and helped with the posts of your builds. They really do help.

The dream was a 3 year build with my 13 year old son in our 3 car garage. And tonight he and his 11 year old brother actually helped for once! It was nice spending some time with them!

Tonight was a productive night. Offspring channel on Pandora, and jamming through the work. I know how everyone here likes pics, so here's a few....

We started a year ago last fall with a tunnel that was given to us. Long story, but it took me over a 1 1/2 years to get the title.

We stripped it down using a hammer & cold chisel. Yes, eye protection was worn.

Stripped down to nothing. Only 3 stitches at 1AM one time, while getting the gas line out. Nothing like waking the misses from a deep sleep to tell her you're going to the ER.

The body was delivered last February by Stewart Transportation. Luckily no snow then.

All tucked away next to the family truckster.

Major milestone, brakes installed & bled.

Blue tape to try to protect the finish from kids.....

Momo Nero steering wheel. Had the wind taken out of my sails when my wife asked why I would buy a NERD steering wheel.

Rolled on Duplicolor Bed Liner, with Kevlar no doubt. :roll: Sixty bucks for the gallon. Turned out okay after 5 coats.

Speedhut Legacy gauges. I like them a lot. GPS and no messing with a speedo cable and regearing it since the front tires won't be stock size.

Tonight's whirlwind pics:

I think I should be done next summer, 1 year ahead of schedule. If I had the money I could punch it out now, but alas we have other bills to pay and vacations to take.

Thanks for looking and I'm looking forward to meeting those of you that will be at Carlisle this weekend.

Scott

Scott

Wed May 16, 2012 4:44 am

About time you started a thread! Looking good so far. However, now that you said it, I can't unsee "NERD" on your steering wheel.

Sat May 19, 2012 8:45 pm

nice manxter Scott, I really like the metal flake green color.
I built Manxter #90

Sun May 20, 2012 6:41 am

X2 on the beautiful green color.

Green has been my favorite color and I would love to paint my buggy a green like that!!! :cry:

Sun May 20, 2012 7:49 am

Nice! Love the color. I plan to use a Speedhut gauge also.
Why is yours showing 5 mph?

Sun May 20, 2012 10:53 am

Thanks for the compliments on color. I carried the paint chip chart around for over a month before narrowing a color down to a few. My wife picked the final color and we can't be happier with it. The pictures don't do it justice. I can't wait to the point where I can remove the blue painter's tape and see it all again. :D

Adam - I can't "unsee" NERD either, but it's fitting and I'll drive it with pride. 8)

greg mom - the gauge was still in the box when I took the picture. I never noticed it showed 5 mph until you mentioned it. Strange that I looked right over that, how could I miss that. I'm hoping that once power is applied to it that it will sort itself out, but now you have me wondering.

Thu May 24, 2012 7:50 am

Any chance you wired the speedo up yet? Looking to see how it's working out.

Thu May 24, 2012 8:12 am

The speedo in our KickOut is also a Speedhut GPS. Out of the box it read 5 mph. I set it up in my pickup and as soon as it figured out where it was in relation the the various satellites all was well.

After installing it in the KickOut and leaving it sit for several months the speedo started to show 5 MPH again. I hooked the battery up and in about 20 minutes it sorted itself out again.

I think you are worrying about a problem that does not exist.

The speedo in the KickOut is more accurate than the factory speedo in my truck. It is going to be great not to have to find adapters for various tire sizes, and all the other problems that go with a speedo in a kit car.

Thu May 24, 2012 9:08 am

Love that color. We have a Speedhut GPS speedometer in my wife's buggy. Works great.

Thu May 24, 2012 2:02 pm

greg mgm wrote: Any chance you wired the speedo up yet? Looking to see how it's working out.

Once I applied voltage it went right to zero and stayed there.

Thu May 24, 2012 3:55 pm

Perfect! Going to get a speedo/tach when I get a chance.
Looking forward to your progress pics.

Sun Jun 03, 2012 5:15 am

Slow moving, but still going forward. I'm sure most of you have been in the same situation. Kids and work eat up most of my time, and what is left over is devoted to the buggy. I'll get enough sleep when it's done. I'm still waiting for the powder coater to get the main bars done and back to me, so I've been trying to keep busy with little things and gathering supplies.

I got the body pan gasket put down with 3M weatherstrip adhesive. Worked great!

Also got my "cheap" rims and tires mounted. They are not what I want for the final, but I've run out of funds for now. 15 inch steel rims that were given to me. I had them sandblasted & painted. They cleaned up fairly good. General tires from Tirebuyer.com, the only place I could find 235/70R15. She's a roller now.

I made sure I had all the bolts, washers, etc for the steering rag joint. Can't do much more until I get the cage back and see where the column will land.

Thanks for looking,
Scott

Sun Jun 03, 2012 5:35 am

What's the delay at the powder coater? I'd never have recommended him if it had taken anywhere near this long when he did my rollbar.

Sun Jun 03, 2012 10:46 am

73SpeedBuggy wrote: What's the delay at the powder coater? I'd never have recommended him if it had taken anywhere near this long when he did my rollbar.

I think I sent him on a fool's errand. I bought a billet aluminum steering column bracket and asked him to weld it to the roll bars before powder coating, along with welding in the seat belt bungs. It wasn't until I started talking to friends this weekend that I've discovered aluminum & steel can not be welded together. A few quick google searches tell the same story.

When I dropped it off, he said "no problem" but I think that has been his holdup. I plan on calling or stopping by his shop tomorrow to talk to him about it. I'm thinking I need a steel bracket welded up and then bolt the aluminum to that. All of the other parts other than the main bars I have back from him and they look great.

I'd still go back to him in the future, but I wish I had the main bars back now. I'm pretty much at a standstill without them

Scott

Thu Jul 05, 2012 8:51 am

I finally got the main bars back from the powdercoater. They turned out great also.

In the mean time, I glassed in some 3/4 inch conduits from front to back. This is my first time trying to use fiberglass. and over all it turned out ok. Most of my work will be hidden either by the roll bars or the side pods, so I'm not too concerned with how bumpy it is.

I hot glued the conduit down first with a HiPURformer glue gun. Probably overkill to just tack it in place, but I've had my eye on this gun for a few years now and this was a prime opportunity to buy it. The glue bonded so well I had thought about not glassing them in at all. But I was concerned that flex over time might not hold it.

I used Tiger hair to fill in the gaps. Worked ok, but lumpy. I could have sanded before doing the glass cloth, but being that it will be hidden I didn't. Also it would have needed to be hand sanded in most places since there wasn't room to get the die sander into the tight spots.

Glass cloth laid over the tiger hair. I found that I should have wetted the bottom before laying down the cloth to get it wetter. Where I didn't do that I had air pockets beneath the cloth.

And final product after rattle canning it with what I had, high gloss. I plan on getting a can of flat black to make it blend in a little better.

And the chassis is now a full roller! First time out of the garage this summer. I'm ahead of my self-imposed schedule. I planned on having it rolling at the end of summer. Time to start bolting the body to chassis next and getting the steering column installed.

Thanks for looking.

Scott

Thu Jul 05, 2012 12:30 pm

That is going to be a very nice buggy!

Sun Jul 08, 2012 7:19 pm

Lookin' good Scott!

Fri Aug 03, 2012 6:02 am

Any updates. I sent you a pm.

Fri Aug 03, 2012 7:57 pm

wvmedic - I sent you a pm back.

As for updates, I bolted the body to the chassis today!! What a PIA, nothing lined up. I also got the main bars bolted down to the floor, but not to the side roll bars. Wife has the camera out of town for the weekend, so I'll post pics when she gets back.

I also now have all of the parts to finish the steering. I bought a 5/8"-36 spline stub from Chirco (part number CPR953103S) The neighbor helped me out. He took a factory VW steering adapter (the male one that bolts to the rag joint), cut off the spline on it (I think it's 16mm-60 spline?) drilled out the base, and welded on the 5/8"-36 spline. Should work like a dream, mate that to a u-joint, and then to a Flaming River column.

Only stumbling block to getting the steering 100% complete is drilling that 1 3/4" hole in the front firewall to put the column in....

I'm scared to punch that hole! 8)

Scott

Sun Aug 05, 2012 8:27 pm

Yeah, I'm sure I'll feel the same way about cutting a hole in that new fiberglass. Good luck. Got your pm. Looking forward to your pics. What about those little cracks?