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Thu Oct 02, 2014 2:39 am

This horrid (awesome) thing doesn't really need a project thread as the plan is to get it useable and fang around a bit so not a proper "project" as such but I figure you might like to see it/will be able to provide some advice :)

Anyway it's a Beach Buggy/Offroader thing based on a shortened Beetle pan and suspension... the rest of it is rust and plumbing/scaffolding pipe.

here are the pics the fella I bought it off sent me:

You can see why I wanted it right??... no, not "because you are a f*#king moron!" but thanks :P

Got a couple of mates to lend a hand, hooked up a trailer and toodled 3 and a half hours north of auckland, down a dirt road and onto some farmland and hauled this thing on board!

One mate said "f*#k me the wheels are rusted to all buggery" i was like "nah man, they will be sweet"... then I looked at them:

hmmm... yeah, ok, need a new set of wheels... unfortunately they are neither cheap nor easy to come by in New Zealand... so will have to keep hunting or get some centres welded into new wide shells

Anyway... Apparently "The engine goes sweet, just broke the clutch cable and couldn't be bothered any more mate, might need to adjust the dizzy though coz there's a new on on there..." and "brakes work sweet now I think"

Sure it does... meh, made a silly offer, wasn't silly enough apparently cos he said yup, sweet... 7 hours later and it's on my lawn:

Plan is chop all the rusted cage out, so essentially the top section (and then some), weld in some fresh steel that will supply some strength and head room, plate up a bit of rust in the "chassis"... just rough and ready to make sure all is strong. Get engine going, attach seats, maybe move pedal box forward as currently I can't change gears because leg is jammed against gear lever then fang over summer... camping/fishing/exploring/jumping sand dunes etc.

Discuss as you will... I would like to bypass the steps between now and dune smashing but that might be wishful thinking lol.

In short the aim is a less pretty version of this:

Ok so... engine number is 6348684

which would suggest early 60's 1200cc? Lying bugger I bought it off told me it was a 1500 lol

Thu Oct 02, 2014 4:20 am

That "buggy" is the perfect example of what not to do in every respect. I especially like that windshield frame. Why did they even bother?
I hope you didn't pay good money for it.

Thu Oct 02, 2014 4:25 am

If wheels are that hard to get, just order some adapters to whatever is available by you.
You definitely have your work cut out for you though. You're going to learn a lot about VW's and be an expert by the time your done!

Thu Oct 02, 2014 4:32 am

ORANGECRUSHer wrote: That "buggy" is the perfect example of what not to do in every respect. I especially like that windshield frame. Why did they even bother?
I hope you didn't pay good money for it.

Paid, very little for it which is the only reason I picked it up, very much just a base and parts, but yup some of it is just horrible, I only paid a couple hundred for it which is all good, especially if the engine goes. Fortunately I have a good buddy who is a welder by trade and can replace all the horrible barwork for nix:-D gonna start stripping it all back this weekend, only a couple months till summer arrives.

Thu Oct 02, 2014 4:34 am

ORANGECRUSHer wrote: If wheels are that hard to get, just order some adapters to whatever is available by you.
You definitely have your work cut out for you though. You're going to learn a lot about VW's and be an expert by the time your done!

Yup, she's a biggie, fortunately it also isn't super complex. I will get the wheels sorted, easy enough to get some 10/12" shells to weld centres into worst case

Thu Oct 02, 2014 5:57 am

Think I would keep engine and transaxle, and front suspension and let the rest go, consider it as a "parts car"... Going to take a little more than a wash and wax to make it usable....

Dale

Thu Oct 02, 2014 7:08 am

The heart of the matter.

Thu Oct 02, 2014 8:34 am

Is this strictly off-road? I can't even imagine the WoF report on that... :lol:

Thu Oct 02, 2014 9:54 pm

WD-40 wrote: Is this strictly off-road? I can't even imagine the WoF report on that... :lol:

Haha, I don't even know how you would go about getting one certed for road use here. Yup definitely off road only, couple weekends over the summer so no need to go mental with it, as long as it works and is structurally ok :)

Thu Oct 02, 2014 10:53 pm

Don't be alarmed, but I think the steering wheel is on the wrong side! :D

Thu Oct 02, 2014 11:09 pm

Brian wrote: Don't be alarmed, but I think the steering wheel is on the wrong side! :D

Nah... Definitely on the "Right" side ;)

Thu Oct 02, 2014 11:36 pm

damn Kiwis.

Here is some useful information if you need to go over your bus axles: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=603570

Fri Oct 03, 2014 12:36 am

Brian wrote: damn Kiwis.

Here is some useful information if you need to go over your bus axles: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=603570

haha yes indeed ;)

Many thanks :D

Fri Oct 03, 2014 1:08 am

No problem :D

That whole build looks like a Mad Max build though, its pretty rough. but the re barb "oh shit" passenger grab handle is the best part

Sat Oct 04, 2014 7:08 pm

Well...October is the month of All Hallows Eve..aka Halloween. So it's appropriate that that car is so scary looking. Dr. Frankenstein did much nicer work.

You lot down there in the Auckland area must be a bit light-headed from hanging upside down. My late brother-In-Law Kevin was from outside Auckland (He pronounced it "Oak-Land", then I would say "Oakland", and he would shake his head and say "No, you got it all wrong." Oh well :roll: ). He passed away while partying and climbed out the sunroof of a BMW to sit on the roof and fell out, hitting his head on the concrete curb. A week later, he was living in a grassy lot on the side of the hill overlooking the Burbank Television studios.

Looking at the roll cage of this buggy, the driver and passenger's seats seem about as safe as sitting on the roof of that BMW.

The bright red one though looks pretty good. Good luck building a replacement. Use better quality material than water or fence post or scaffolding pipe.

Sun Oct 05, 2014 5:30 pm

Yup, lots of replacement cage to be built :)

Tue Oct 14, 2014 1:39 am

Super minor update, some cutty cutty bendy weldy will likely happen next weekend,

in the meantime I got some replacement wheels to replace the rusted out hulks that were on there... they even fit/work. Miracles

Tue Oct 14, 2014 4:24 am

I'm super minorly anxious to hear that. give it hell

Tue Oct 14, 2014 7:22 am

must see welded pipes. 8)

Tue Oct 14, 2014 11:28 am

HERC wrote: must see welded pipes. 8)

Hmm mmm.

Herc....That's "TUBES", NOT "pipes". Pipe is for water, oil and other liquids and gasses. Tube is the proper term for structural hollow material. I've designed race car chassis and roll cages to be made of tubing. And I've designed pipelines up to 16" diameter for water mains and 12" for petroleum. There is a difference.
8)

Del Fuego, I hope in building the new frame, that you will be learning from the mistakes of the old frame. Problems like offset junctions, tee intersections, unsupported roll cage uprights (where they land on top of a horizontal tube with no tubes underneath to provide support for the horizontal piece, ... things like that.