38P Moss Green Manx II Restoration

[wvbowtieman]

Purchased a Moss Green metal flake Manx II body a few months ago from a fellow buggy enthusiast. My original plans were to build a buggy for my daughter who is 17 years old. She was wanting a Hot Pink metal flake buggy. She has now decided she wants to build a Baja instead of the Dune Buggy. So now I can keep the Manx II to build for myself.
Here is the body when I brought it home.

I had purchased a 1970 beetle NC car with new floor pans and complete drive train to cut down for a buggy project. Now this car will be a Baja for my daughter. She has changed her mind on Hot Pink flake and has decided on a Butternut Yellow instead.

I now need a chassis to put under the Manx II body and decided to go with a Berrien Chassis. Made a trip back down Saturday to Eden, NC to pick up a chassis from Carolina Dune Buggies. This will be a huge step forward on finishing this buggy for the MOTB 2014. www.carolinadunebuggies.com

I have picked up a complete IRS and balljoint front end from a 1969 donor car and will soon start to restore these parts to add to the Berrien chassis.
Right now I am collecting the rest of the parts I will need for this project.
So far I have picked up a steering column from a Ghia w/3 wire turn signal switch. 73 Thing fan shroud. Miata leather seat w/ speakers in the head rests.

[frizzardking]

Looking good Dave , can't wait to see it at the Banx , I am sure it will be beautiful ! From the guy who sold you the buggy, a fellow buggy enthusiast!
Good Luck Marc

[frizzardking]

Here are some before picture for you

[sbussard]

You're keeping it Moss Green, right? Can't wait to see it come together.

Scott
_________________
Manxter #122
First time, garage built, and living out the childhood dream of owning a life-size Hotwheel!

Check out my build thread-->My Manxter 2+2

[wvbowtieman]

[Humdinger]

Wow Meadowbrook Inventions is cheap when it comes to flake! I've been looking around and most of the stuff that comes up is way more expensive than that! Especially stuff like Roth Flake! Their flake i want is like 20 bucks for 2 ounces!

I'll be keeping up with this build... your lithia is my inspiration!

[Humdinger]

Wow Meadowbrook Inventions is cheap when it comes to flake! I've been looking around and most of the stuff that comes up is way more expensive than that! Especially stuff like Roth Flake! Their flake i want is like 20 bucks for 2 ounces!

I'll be keeping up with this build... your lithia is my inspiration!

[Humdinger]

Wow Meadowbrook Inventions is cheap when it comes to flake! I've been looking around and most of the stuff that comes up is way more expensive than that! Especially stuff like Roth Flake! Their flake i want is like 20 bucks for 2 ounces!

I'll be keeping up with this build... your lithia is my inspiration!

[Humdinger]

Wow Meadowbrook Inventions is cheap when it comes to flake! I've been looking around and most of the stuff that comes up is way more expensive than that! Especially stuff like Roth Flake! Their flake i want is like 20 bucks for 2 ounces!

I'll be keeping up with this build... your lithia is my inspiration!

[wvbowtieman]

[surfnc]

David
Glad to see that you are going to keep it Moss Green. The Meadowbrook numbers are the same except it is now a "P" instead of an "F" and they have most of the original colors available. The base is polyester instead of aluminum and is allot lighter.

As far as I know they all are the same price. I have bought 6 different colors and they were all the same price per pound.

Definitely cheaper per pound than anywhere else.

Here is the link to the color chart:

http://www.meadowbrookglitter.com/hiband/polyester-jewel.html

Vince
_________________
LOOKING FOR VINTAGE MEYERS MANX STUFF!!!
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1105228

[frizzardking]

David Glad to see your going to keep, it the Moss green , are you taking it to Big Bear if its done?

[wvbowtieman]

Well.....Hello!!
It has been awhile since I have posted to this build thread and want to update what has been going on for the last 6 months.

1) Drag Race season here with my 70 Camaro Bracket car.
2) East Coast Visits West (ECVW) July 2 through July 19 co-drove a Meyers Manx II across country to Big Bear, California and returned to Cross Lanes, West Virginia.
3) (Unexpectedly) sold my Lithia Mark III buggy to a guy that saw it at the 2014 Central Ohio Vintage Volkswagen Fest near Columbus, Ohio. Made me an offer I could not refuse!

Photo of the Wagenfolks club at the 2014 Central Ohio Vintage Volkswagen Fest 8/9/2014.

I have been picking up parts all year for Manx II.
1) Front disk brake set drilled/tapped for Chevy 4.75" bolt pattern.
2) Rear disc brake set drilled/tapped for Chevy 4.75" bolt pattern.
3) New ball joints.
4)New tie rods and hardware.
5) New steering box.
6) New hard brake lines.
7) Front beam adjusters (x2).
New rear wheel bearings inner and outer w/ new seals.
9) New rear adjustable spring plates w/ new torsion bars and urethane torsion bushings.

Today I received the wheels and tires along with some chassis paint from Summit Racing.

Started installation of the rear suspension and rear disc brakes to the Berrien Chassis.

Welded in a little extra insurance that the control arm bolt will not back out. Added a 1 5/8" diameter sleeve and drilled a 1/4" hole to keep the bolt from backing out.

Isn't that right Adam??

[laughlin]

I would like to see a pic of that orange buggy in pic if possible

[wvbowtieman]

Got around to do a little work on the chassis this weekend. I needed to get the Front beam adjusters installed so I could move forward with my mock up of my suspension before painting. Called on Joescoolcustoms to help with the cutting of the front beam to add the adjusters. Joe's home made spreader and engine stand/beam stand made the project much easier.

Installed the beam onto my Berrien chassis to check fit and noticed the steering box limiter was not going to fit on the chassis. Broke out the old trusty reciprocating saw and removed the bracket. Also the Zerk grease fittings will not clear the front beam mounting caps so they were drilled out with a 9/16" hole to clear the zerk fittings and still be able to grease the front end.

Installed the front lower and upper spring packs into the new beam adjusters and installed the front upper and lower trailing arms with all new ball joints.

Started to install the new Master cylinder but Berrien did not drill out a large enough hole for the bolts. Tried to drill out and retap the MC mount but ended up breaking the tap. Had to cut the nut from the bracket retap the bracket and the weld a backing nut back on to the chassis.

Fixed

That's all for now!!

[joescoolcustoms]

David is moving along on the Moss Green Manx Build. He has a goal to have it ready to drive on the ECVW '15 trip to Big Bear CA and back.

He asked for some help on the roll cage/bumpers/nerf bars and a few other odd and ends.

The project is looking really good with some cool tweaks to the Berrien Chassis. Up under the rear of the Manx II body, David welded in some bracing under the package trey that not only supports the package trey, but helps support the battery box, the oil thermo-controlled oil cooler, rear transaxle forks and ties the roll cage in with the large bolts.

You can see in this picture where David cut the rear of the body, then widened it about 3/4 inch per side so it now fits the full width of the chassis. And the oil cooler. The transaxle is a re-built stock style 4.12 R&P built by a close Friend who is a ex-VW drag racer.

The Berrien fiberglass floor pan is sweet! David has made the mounts needed to set the Mazda Miata seats into place. He cut a small section out of the rear inside tunnel area so as to get the seats all the way back to the package trey ledge. This gives me, (6' 2") full room on the passenger side to completely stretch out my legs straight and still not touch the front firewall unless I point my toes. So, the driver should be able to get comfortable on those long hauls across the US.

It is hard to see from up underneath, (may snap a few pictures when the body comes back off), but David brought up some supports from the chassis inside the tunnel to both the shifter base and the E-brake base. This was done to support the shifter and brake handle better than just mounted in fiberglass. Will give a much better feel when shifting.

The front beam and suspension is in place to check for all clearances.

Next post will be the start of the tubing work.
_________________
Bad News Racing 2018 NORRA 1000 3rd in Class
Best Day Ever Racing 2022 NORRA 1000 2nd in Class and first All Female team to complete the race

Everyone is gifted. Some just do not open the package.

Looks like it was painted with a live chicken,polished with a brick and buffed with a pine cone

[BL3Manx]

[clonebug]

[joescoolcustoms]

[joescoolcustoms]

The best place to start a roll cage project is with a solid foundation. Good pan rails, good anchor points and a design. If not, you may be wasting your time, and risking your life.

David started with a Berrien Chassis that has 2 X 2 frame rails, and then on top of the body lip, laid down a 3/16 X 1 1/2 inch plate. It sandwich's the body to the chassis with 7 bolts per side and is super strong to weld a cage to.

I start a cage with a properly mounted windshield at the final angle I want, (Davids is at about 25 *), then I make the second hoop at 41 inches back from the leading edge of the windshield. This fits TJKustoms Sombrero Top perfectly. I also use the original Manx design on the second hoop, which is what the Sombrero is designed to fit.

Now, each and every old body has shrunk, twisted and somewhat moved out of exact shape, so, a little tweak here and a slight bend there, and the second hoop came out perfect. It traces the body dead on on both sides and just misses the seats in their fully reclined position.

So, tape makes a nice design. You can change it, change it again and get a decent idea of what you have planned and how it may look, how it make hit your head and what it will take to get it there.

The rear hoop also fits snuggly next to the hard top. Not touching it, but very close for a nice look. A set of 1 5/8" roll bar clamps make a nice way to securely mount the hard top.

Next I fit the front hoop. And again, to get that dead on look, it is not bent perfectly symmetrical, but tweaked to fit the body lines and contours.

Getting set up, making these two hoops, checking all clearances and making alterations took David and I about 20 man hours. This is why a custom cage costs so much money to build. You can buy a generic "show" cage, but it will look generic. For a really nice custom fit properly installed cage, experience costs money.

The tubing used is 1 5/8 inch diameter, 0.120 wall DOM. Very nice stuff to work with.
_________________
Bad News Racing 2018 NORRA 1000 3rd in Class
Best Day Ever Racing 2022 NORRA 1000 2nd in Class and first All Female team to complete the race

Everyone is gifted. Some just do not open the package.

Looks like it was painted with a live chicken,polished with a brick and buffed with a pine cone