This is my first major project I have attempted and have a ton of learning to do! It all started when I started a new job at a garage and one of the other mechanics drove his dune buggy to work one day, and I instantly fell in love with them and decided right there I would build my own!
It all started with tons of searching for sites to purchase frames from and I finally found Berrien Buggy. I gave them a call and explained, basically, that I have no idea what I need and where to get it. They gave a great explanation of the basics needed and even pointed me towards a local shop they are affiliated with and gave me their number.
A few days later I brought this purple beast home! Yes I know it is a Super Beetle but they were nice enough to give me a complete BJ front end!
I quickly got to work and removed, very forcefully, the entire rear end, yielding one dead beetle.
Now the fun part began, cleaning up ~40 years of rust and mysterious tar like stuff!
In the mean time this quickly arrived from Berrien Buggy, a wonderful 295 kit!
Put the two halves together.
Doing some test fits with my front and rear ends, each sandblasted to almost new status!
Then things slow down as parts started to pile up!
Starting to cap off the Torsion Housing.
Assembly!
Finally tacked together!
Rear bars added, had to shorten them because of the second roll bar.
Finally fully welded together, and upside down for some reason!
Rebuilt front end installed with less than good shocks
And that concludes the summary of where I am at so far! Sorry for flooding the gallery pages . Now most of the posts in this thread will be me asking tons of questions. Hope you enjoyed all the pictures and there will be more to come for sure, still lots to add and do stay tuned!
Last edited by darkflaw on Fri Dec 16, 2011 5:36 pm; edited 2 times in total
Joined: December 14, 2010 Posts: 930 Location: Axtell Kansas
Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2011 7:39 pm Post subject:
SEXY!!! looks like you have the same welder as me. looks like you have a very good start. what are you going to run for a motor and tranny? are you going to use it for dunes, trails, street? _________________ My build thread:
Joined: September 27, 2011 Posts: 120 Location: United States
Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2011 7:42 pm Post subject:
Thanks! This is going to be a mostly trail buggy. I don't have a motor currently but plan on using a 1600 DP, maybe slightly modified. The beetle I bought came with a transmission but it will mostly likely be a last resort as I would rather have a 002 or 091.
Looking good! I'm welding my Warrior frame right now and our builds are running almost parallel with each other. I am going to order the second rear roll bar because my back bars ended up being about 1" too short. (Everything else lined up exactly as it should and I have 5 degrees on the front beam.)
Thanks for posting good pics, it helped me to solve my back bars problem.
I will be watching this thread for sure.
Joined: September 27, 2011 Posts: 120 Location: United States
Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2011 6:17 pm Post subject:
CJBRODEY wrote:
Looking good! I'm welding my Warrior frame right now and our builds are running almost parallel with each other. I am going to order the second rear roll bar because my back bars ended up being about 1" too short. (Everything else lined up exactly as it should and I have 5 degrees on the front beam.)
Thanks for posting good pics, it helped me to solve my back bars problem.
I will be watching this thread for sure.
Not a problem! Let me know if you need better pics of the back bars, they were kind of tricky to do.
Also decided to call Todd at Avery's and we redid my trailing arms. I went with a dual pivot setup, instead of a torsion delete kit, since I will be running dual coil overs on each side, had him add a wilwood caliper bracket, and he even talked me into upgrading to his heavy duty bearing housings for free! Byfar the nicest guy I have ever dealt with, beyond informative.
Joined: September 27, 2011 Posts: 120 Location: United States
Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2011 5:34 pm Post subject:
Think I may be in a bit of a pickle. As you know I purchased a 091 transmission and I was going to use the 10 degree mount but after looking at my frame more closely it looks like I am going to have to remove some stuff, specifically the bars in red (frame horn supports.) It also looks like I will either have to make my current transmission bracket use pieces from the 10 degree kit or have to somehow rig the skid bars on the bottom as they attach the to transmission bracket. Nothing is ever easy
Joined: September 27, 2011 Posts: 120 Location: United States
Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2011 5:07 pm Post subject:
Well after trying to get my BugPack T Handle to even function properly I gave up hope. Had to do tons of grinding, adding metal to the lockout plate and still it is a lump of poo. Guess that is what I get for buying before knowing what is good. Now onto a question. I really like the look of those Jamar Super Shifters, sepcifically this one http://www.pacificcustoms.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=AC711271 I have done some searching and some like them and some don't. Anyone have any advice? And I know Gene Bergs are all the rage but I am not a fan of T handles anymore since I realized my hands are to big and they are painful to hold.
Actually I think this shifter may solve my above problem also, I can mount it higher and wouldn't have to use the 10 degree kit and wouldn't have to modify my chassis!
Also sorry for all my double posts, I just have a ton to say
Joined: September 27, 2011 Posts: 120 Location: United States
Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2011 5:04 pm Post subject:
Still debating, the suspension components such as trailing arms and front beam will be all black and I am not really sure on the frame yet so many possibilities, most likely a darker blue or green!
Soon as the 091 is done getting cleaned it will be getting setup for 930s!
Joined: September 08, 2005 Posts: 901 Location: POWAY
Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2011 6:57 pm Post subject:
I'm not sure if this was suggested already...
but for your trans mount issue:
Why not ditch those current supports in favor for some that could be added after the trans is in?
_________________ Shameless buildthread plug:
..."cut n' turn in progress"...
Joined: September 27, 2011 Posts: 120 Location: United States
Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2011 3:59 pm Post subject:
Another decision to be made. When I ordered my frame I didn't know as much as a wish I had and I got a ball-joint frame, being that my rear end will be rather beefy with 3x3s and dual coil-overs I have taken into consideration going with a widened bugzyla conversion beam and using some wider stock link pin arms, either that or a-arms which are way to much money! Opinions?
Joined: September 27, 2011 Posts: 120 Location: United States
Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2011 4:23 am Post subject:
That is my brother lawn trophy. It is a 79 F150 custom frame on 38s I believe and has a ranger cab put on it and a thrown together hood we did quickly before a bog. It currently has a blown up 460.
Joined: September 27, 2011 Posts: 120 Location: United States
Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2011 1:01 pm Post subject:
Sorry for a quite boring build thread, been waiting on parts. Trailing arms should be here this week sometime and things should take off quickly from there, trans mounts, axles, brakes etc. Also made my first attempt to find an ecotec at a local you pull but to my surprise there wasn't a single 03-05 cavalier or sunfire!
Been acid washing the trans over the past few days and it is starting to look nice. Left side is almost done, Right side hasn't been directly scrubbed yet but some run off has already started eating away at the crud.
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. Now most of the posts in this thread will be me asking tons of questions. Hope you enjoyed all the pictures and there will be more to come for sure, still lots to add and do stay tuned!
