My Manxter 2+2 Build Thread

[Muskrat]

[sbussard]

Down to gauges left to wire. No updated pics of the wiring, but they'd be boring anyway.

My youngest son and a friend's kid started the tear down of the donor motor. It's one I rebuilt ~20 years ago and have only ran a few times in the woods buggy. At that time in time in my life I was broke, so all of the tins got cleaned up the best they could and rattle-canned. I'm not planning on doing anything to the internals, so I told the kids it was up to them to get it apart, paint the new tins, and reassemble it. I'd have to say they went at it with gusto. I pointed them in the right direction and then I went back to work on the wiring. I thought I'd let them figure it out, only answering questions if they asked. I was impressed at how they worked together and wanted to do it on their own.

Hopefully they finish before MOTB!

Here's what they started with:

Jack wasn't doing anything at this moment, so he picked up a screw driver and hammed it up.

_________________
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

[73SpeedBuggy]

Looking great Scott! Hope you can make it in time for MOTB!

Here's a link to an older thread of mine about how I and some others got our seats as low as we could.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=434522
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Manxter #39 on a 1971 Pan
Turbo-charged Subaru EJ25D (DOHC)
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3923620/1971-volkswagen-beetle#

-Adam

[jsturtlebuggy]

To keep dash panel from flexing with gauges mounted in it. I made brackets from 1/2in wide flat stock for each side. To keep from seeing more bolt heads on out side of dash tub the right side uses screw for the limit cable on glove box lid, and left side is longer and covered by dash top when it is in place. Screw for left side is countersunk. Hardware is stainless using antiseeze on threads.

_________________
Joseph
Fair Oaks/Orangevale, CA
Elrod Motorsports
Motion Tire Motorsports
Having fun with Dune Buggies since 1970
Into Volkswagens since 1960

[sbussard]

Thanks Joseph. I did something similar to the top of the dash, but used shorter brackets. I can now see where your method would have been better, but it's all water under the bridge now for me. The way I did it, I have a button head bolt showing on both sides of the dash tub. I did use stainless with nylon locknuts, but didn't know it galled so bad that antiseeze is needed. What's your experience when it is not used?

Thanks,
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

[sbussard]

Finally got around to taking some more pictures. Next on the agenda is wiring the rear view mirror and the gauges.

Her smile:

Side mirrors mounted and wired:

From behind with the turn signals on:

And some wiring pictures:

Thanks for looking,

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

[vincent9993]

Looking good! Keep pushing, you'll be on the road soon my friend!

[jsturtlebuggy]

Scott,
You will find out how bad stainless galls when you take it apart. That how I found out years ago of what happens. Threads together easy, taking apart and most of the time bolt will break trying to get nut off.
Buggy is looking good.
_________________
Joseph
Fair Oaks/Orangevale, CA
Elrod Motorsports
Motion Tire Motorsports
Having fun with Dune Buggies since 1970
Into Volkswagens since 1960

[73SpeedBuggy]

You have to wire your rear view mirror?
_________________
Manxter #39 on a 1971 Pan
Turbo-charged Subaru EJ25D (DOHC)
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3923620/1971-volkswagen-beetle#

-Adam

[sbussard]

[Kreelak]

we put a map light rear view mirror in my sons Samurai it was out of a Ford Explorer I've seen them in Crown Vic's and thunderbirds also
they make a clean easy to reach light for over the dash

[73SpeedBuggy]

[sbussard]

I did a lot of searching and picked the mirror I wanted first. Amazon had the best price, still more than I wanted to spend...but I bought it anyhow. Here's the mirror I bought, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00029WSX6/ref=oh...uctDetails

I got all of the gauges and mirror wired over the weekend. I now know why others take the extra time to make drop down fuse panels and have extra lengths on gauges. I had to be a contortionist to get some of the crimps done.

I had a hiccup ystdy with the wiring. When I went to test it, the mirror and both gauge's backlights didn't work. Took me a minute or 2, but finally figured the 5A fuse was blown. Hadn't hooked anything up to that lead on the fuse panel, so I can only assume it was blown from factory? Clamp on amp probe shows less than 1A on the circuit, so I know it's not overloaded. Whew, easy fix.

On to the fuel tank mods, and putting the shiny parts on the engine, once the engine gets scrubbed. Only other major tasks to complete would be terminating the wires (all pulled and coiled in the engine bay) on the motor once installed and figuring out how to mount the seats. Thanks Adam, for the post on your seats. I still have your pics saved on my hard drive somewhere, but you saved me the time to look for them. Mine might mount different, but it gives me a good reference to start with.

What's the best way to scrub a long block to degrease it? Is Engine Brite too caustic for a VW case? Simple Green and water?

Thanks,
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

[sbussard]

If I had to pick a single word to describe how I feel at the moment, it would be "Stoked!" I wasn't planning on buying wheels & tires for a few years, and didn't really have the cha-ching to do it now. Especially since I've found the motor I planned on using needs rebuilt, but I couldn't pass them up. Thanks Gary! They make the car EXACTLY what I've pictured it in my head. My FIL says you have quite the shop and loved your Thing.

How often do all the phases of the planets align? Gary (bornred62) posted last week that he dropped the price, and that was the first I had know they were for sale.

-With the same bolt pattern that I have (Chevy 5X4.75)

-Already mounted on a Manxter already so I knew what the offset would look like.

-1/2 hour away from where my father in law parks to catch the metro and he was willing to pick them up for me

-and my FIL was already planning a trip to my house (5+hours away) the same week, with an unloaded truck!

I couldn't have asked for the deal to come together any better. It's almost as if I was meant to buy them. At least that's what I'm telling the wife.

I flew home today from work and threw one side one. I am pumped now to get finished for MOTB. Just need to get my a$$ in gear and get building. I may want to reindex the rear to make it lower, but want to wait until I get the motor in to see if it squats it any.

Before pic:

After pics:

Thanks,
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

[Gary0302]

Oh hell yes, Scott; absolutely! It's looking great, my friend.
_________________
Gary David Holbrook
Facebook and YouTube
Coastal North Carolina

Check out my videos on Youtube

"It's a buggy not a space shuttle...." - Dale M.
"When in doubt, blame it on the previous owner" - Gary0302

[Skulptorchaz]

You da man!!!

[joescoolcustoms]

It even made the metal flake POP better!

Looks great!
_________________
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

[73SpeedBuggy]

Looks nice Scott!
_________________
Manxter #39 on a 1971 Pan
Turbo-charged Subaru EJ25D (DOHC)
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3923620/1971-volkswagen-beetle#

-Adam

[lhutson]

When you mounted the body did you use the type 1 body mounts or are there mounts that come with the manxter kit. We are getting ready to order the kit and I need to know what to keep in my parts pile. The greet looks awesome.

[sbussard]

Thanks for the compliments, guys. I'm still pinching myself to make sure I'm not dreaming. I so happy with how it is finally coming together. Now if I only had the funds to punch it trough. I spent my motor money on the wheels/tires, but still think I did the right thing. They are exactly that I envisioned.

I found out last week that the motor I planned on using is junk and needs rebuilt, excessive crank end play measuring 45 thousandths with the cylinder & heads still bolted on. I'm sure the end play would be more if I tore it down to a short block. Local quotes to rebuild it as a long block are $1200-1400 from 3 different shops. I'd attempt to do it myself, but I haven't split a case before, plus I'd probably still need the case line bored. It might be beyond my skills.

I picked up another old froze motor I had at a friend's farm ystdy. Today, I pulled the spark plugs and sprayed PB Blaster in each cylinder. By afternoon, it was spinning again. Yeah!! Torn it down to a long block and the end play looks much better, I can't perceive it with my eye, but haven't measured it yet. The only thing not right with this motor is the years of mud caked in the cylinder & head fins. The heads on the motor with excessive end play were rebuilt 20yrs ago and never used. I've been reading up on how to CC the heads, measure deck height, and setting compression ratio. Between the 2 motors, I think I can build one good one, without splitting the case.

lhutson - First, welcome to the Samba! The bolts came with the Manxter, The body bolts from any donor VW will be of no use, you can toss them. The bolts that came with the car are though bolts that get a washer and nut in the channel of the floors. What are you plans? Have you ever built a buggy before? This is my first attempt and it has defiantly had it's ups and downs.

Thanks,
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