Desert Fox Spoiler meets Pikes Peak racer...mostly photos

[rugblaster]

I probably wouldn't have ever really put this car together myself, but it kinda just fell in my lap. A friend of mind gave me the decrepit old body, another gave me a upper roll cage assembly off of a CanAm ?? side by side. I paid $100 for a cut up sand car and got the front suspension, trans, and the rear IRS suspension, and still another guy I didn't know, left me some engine parts to put together for him. That was about 30 years ago, and I haven't seen or heard from him since.

_________________
'69 Karmy, '69 Camper, Meyers clone, '65 drag bug, 10.78 @ 128 (sold it) '51 Dodge farm truck,
'09 MB E350 '18 MB E400, '65 Plymouth Valiant convertible and a '19 Ford F250 King Ranch (nicer, but dirty, farm truck)

VWoA factory trained line tech 75 till 90 or so
ASE Master Certification
VWoA Assoc. of Quality Technicians inductee (One of 25 in the five state southwest region)
La Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin (San Angelo Chapter)
TCU ......GO FROGS!!!!!!

[rugblaster]

I started with the chassis pieces. I didn't have a vw pan, and instead of looking for one, I built one. Figured it would be stronger anyway. I don't have a flat table or jig to work with so I improvised the best I could. Built the two end pieces and then joined them together using a laser and some string. I had to cut away all the crap welds and tubes off of the parts and went through probably 20 cutting discs and grinding wheels.

_________________
'69 Karmy, '69 Camper, Meyers clone, '65 drag bug, 10.78 @ 128 (sold it) '51 Dodge farm truck,
'09 MB E350 '18 MB E400, '65 Plymouth Valiant convertible and a '19 Ford F250 King Ranch (nicer, but dirty, farm truck)

VWoA factory trained line tech 75 till 90 or so
ASE Master Certification
VWoA Assoc. of Quality Technicians inductee (One of 25 in the five state southwest region)
La Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin (San Angelo Chapter)
TCU ......GO FROGS!!!!!!

[rugblaster]

I struck a soapstone line of the floor of the shop, and used a plumb bob to find the centerline of the front and rear components. I used a laser to shim the front and rear so they would be on the same horizonal plane. After that was determined, I used some aluminum bar stock with tick marks to adjust the squareness and measured diagonally too to verify. The laser was interesting, it paints the soapstone marks with a red glow for some reason

_________________
'69 Karmy, '69 Camper, Meyers clone, '65 drag bug, 10.78 @ 128 (sold it) '51 Dodge farm truck,
'09 MB E350 '18 MB E400, '65 Plymouth Valiant convertible and a '19 Ford F250 King Ranch (nicer, but dirty, farm truck)

VWoA factory trained line tech 75 till 90 or so
ASE Master Certification
VWoA Assoc. of Quality Technicians inductee (One of 25 in the five state southwest region)
La Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin (San Angelo Chapter)
TCU ......GO FROGS!!!!!!

[rugblaster]

After all this, it was just a matter of filling in the rest of the components, center "backbone", the ribs and the perimeter. Also the seat belt and seat mounts. I used a piece of leftover birch plywood (made interior panels for ma camper) to make a template for a 2 by 4 outside chassis piece. The seats are out of a Suzuki SUV....got them for little money, if at all. Can't remember.

_________________
'69 Karmy, '69 Camper, Meyers clone, '65 drag bug, 10.78 @ 128 (sold it) '51 Dodge farm truck,
'09 MB E350 '18 MB E400, '65 Plymouth Valiant convertible and a '19 Ford F250 King Ranch (nicer, but dirty, farm truck)

VWoA factory trained line tech 75 till 90 or so
ASE Master Certification
VWoA Assoc. of Quality Technicians inductee (One of 25 in the five state southwest region)
La Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin (San Angelo Chapter)
TCU ......GO FROGS!!!!!!

[ppilotmike]

Looks great so far!! I will be watching this for sure.

[rugblaster]

Thanks !!


I have to make this thing in three levels, the chassis, the body and the upper roll cage. One has to fit on top of the other

To that end, I fitted the body on the tacked up chassis. I had to clearance BIG holes in the body for the roll cage tubes to fit through and also fab up the support pieces for the cage...

_________________
'69 Karmy, '69 Camper, Meyers clone, '65 drag bug, 10.78 @ 128 (sold it) '51 Dodge farm truck,
'09 MB E350 '18 MB E400, '65 Plymouth Valiant convertible and a '19 Ford F250 King Ranch (nicer, but dirty, farm truck)

VWoA factory trained line tech 75 till 90 or so
ASE Master Certification
VWoA Assoc. of Quality Technicians inductee (One of 25 in the five state southwest region)
La Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin (San Angelo Chapter)
TCU ......GO FROGS!!!!!!

[rugblaster]

I mocked up a blank motor and worked on adding tubes to the cage. I found out part of the body had to be bobbed off to clear dual carbs. (That white soapstone line on the rear portion of the body)

Also built a engine cage at this time. And, moved the shifter and EEEE brake rearward. I'm not tall, but tall enough to move the seats to the rear a good bit.

_________________
'69 Karmy, '69 Camper, Meyers clone, '65 drag bug, 10.78 @ 128 (sold it) '51 Dodge farm truck,
'09 MB E350 '18 MB E400, '65 Plymouth Valiant convertible and a '19 Ford F250 King Ranch (nicer, but dirty, farm truck)

VWoA factory trained line tech 75 till 90 or so
ASE Master Certification
VWoA Assoc. of Quality Technicians inductee (One of 25 in the five state southwest region)
La Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin (San Angelo Chapter)
TCU ......GO FROGS!!!!!!

[rugblaster]

I mentioned a fellow had dropped off some motor parts, about 30 years ago. He had tried to build a vw air-cooled motor with no luck at all. It locked up after a short while apparently. He brought me by a line-bored case, crank, rods, pistons and cylinders and some dual port heads. An old fucked up set of Kadrons too.

And I never saw him again. I can't remember his name, so Im using his stuff for the storage fee. Weirdo.

I had some odds and ends but I did buy a Tri-Mil exhaust, clutch, flywheel, carb kits, fan shroud and cylinder tins, a Pertronix deal with a coil, Engle cam, lifters and springs sump and other stuff. I did a little to the heads, bowls, port match and unshrouded the valves.

I like Lubriplate assembly lube for the engine bearings and seals, Redline lube for the cam, Permatex Avation sealer for the case halves and Permatex ultra copper for exhaust and intake gaskets.

.
_________________
'69 Karmy, '69 Camper, Meyers clone, '65 drag bug, 10.78 @ 128 (sold it) '51 Dodge farm truck,
'09 MB E350 '18 MB E400, '65 Plymouth Valiant convertible and a '19 Ford F250 King Ranch (nicer, but dirty, farm truck)

VWoA factory trained line tech 75 till 90 or so
ASE Master Certification
VWoA Assoc. of Quality Technicians inductee (One of 25 in the five state southwest region)
La Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin (San Angelo Chapter)
TCU ......GO FROGS!!!!!!

[rugblaster]

More random motor pics....Balanced pistons with some Grant rings, new, small schadek pump, plugged....Engle cam and gear .....Staked the pump shaft

_________________
'69 Karmy, '69 Camper, Meyers clone, '65 drag bug, 10.78 @ 128 (sold it) '51 Dodge farm truck,
'09 MB E350 '18 MB E400, '65 Plymouth Valiant convertible and a '19 Ford F250 King Ranch (nicer, but dirty, farm truck)

VWoA factory trained line tech 75 till 90 or so
ASE Master Certification
VWoA Assoc. of Quality Technicians inductee (One of 25 in the five state southwest region)
La Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin (San Angelo Chapter)
TCU ......GO FROGS!!!!!!

[rugblaster]

The finished motor....

_________________
'69 Karmy, '69 Camper, Meyers clone, '65 drag bug, 10.78 @ 128 (sold it) '51 Dodge farm truck,
'09 MB E350 '18 MB E400, '65 Plymouth Valiant convertible and a '19 Ford F250 King Ranch (nicer, but dirty, farm truck)

VWoA factory trained line tech 75 till 90 or so
ASE Master Certification
VWoA Assoc. of Quality Technicians inductee (One of 25 in the five state southwest region)
La Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin (San Angelo Chapter)
TCU ......GO FROGS!!!!!!

[rugblaster]

few more misc....ports, homemade solid mounts, break in oil i'm using, welds

_________________
'69 Karmy, '69 Camper, Meyers clone, '65 drag bug, 10.78 @ 128 (sold it) '51 Dodge farm truck,
'09 MB E350 '18 MB E400, '65 Plymouth Valiant convertible and a '19 Ford F250 King Ranch (nicer, but dirty, farm truck)

VWoA factory trained line tech 75 till 90 or so
ASE Master Certification
VWoA Assoc. of Quality Technicians inductee (One of 25 in the five state southwest region)
La Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin (San Angelo Chapter)
TCU ......GO FROGS!!!!!!

[rugblaster]

Chassis all painted with the front end installed. New ball joints and tie rod ends. I had to replace one of the lower trailing arm bearings in the beam

Painted engine cage. The parts I got from the blue sand car included some new KYB gas shocks, so that worked out well.

_________________
'69 Karmy, '69 Camper, Meyers clone, '65 drag bug, 10.78 @ 128 (sold it) '51 Dodge farm truck,
'09 MB E350 '18 MB E400, '65 Plymouth Valiant convertible and a '19 Ford F250 King Ranch (nicer, but dirty, farm truck)

VWoA factory trained line tech 75 till 90 or so
ASE Master Certification
VWoA Assoc. of Quality Technicians inductee (One of 25 in the five state southwest region)
La Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin (San Angelo Chapter)
TCU ......GO FROGS!!!!!!

[rugblaster]

I got a disc brake kit for the front, rotors and drums are drilled for Chevy bolt pattern....got some Nitto track tires in. put them om American Racing Torqur Thrust 2 wheels, 15 x 10 and 15 x 6

Since I had to move the e brake back so far, I came up with a Rube Goldberg setup

_________________
'69 Karmy, '69 Camper, Meyers clone, '65 drag bug, 10.78 @ 128 (sold it) '51 Dodge farm truck,
'09 MB E350 '18 MB E400, '65 Plymouth Valiant convertible and a '19 Ford F250 King Ranch (nicer, but dirty, farm truck)

VWoA factory trained line tech 75 till 90 or so
ASE Master Certification
VWoA Assoc. of Quality Technicians inductee (One of 25 in the five state southwest region)
La Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin (San Angelo Chapter)
TCU ......GO FROGS!!!!!!

[rugblaster]

Battery mount, negative ground stud, adjusted rear torsion bars

_________________
'69 Karmy, '69 Camper, Meyers clone, '65 drag bug, 10.78 @ 128 (sold it) '51 Dodge farm truck,
'09 MB E350 '18 MB E400, '65 Plymouth Valiant convertible and a '19 Ford F250 King Ranch (nicer, but dirty, farm truck)

VWoA factory trained line tech 75 till 90 or so
ASE Master Certification
VWoA Assoc. of Quality Technicians inductee (One of 25 in the five state southwest region)
La Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin (San Angelo Chapter)
TCU ......GO FROGS!!!!!!

[rugblaster]

With the chassis about done, I turned to the bodywork. This body was so messed up with 600 holes drilled everywhere (I don't know what it is with people, fiberglass and drills???) numerous whiskey cracks and chips and had been in a pretty hard front end collision which damaged the nose almost beyond repair. I used a fiberglass reenforced plastic to back up all the big holes and used a half a quart of kitty hair bondo for the repairs. Along with the regular resin and fiberglass cloth. This body had at least 4 different color paints jobs in it's shitty life.

I used about 3/4 gallon of primer surfacer, about 8 coats all together. Probably sanded at least half of that off. Also about 1/2 of a squeeze container of glaze. Used a guide coat along the way.

It turned out to be not as much work as I thought it would be, I guess because the body is really not that big, really.

_________________
'69 Karmy, '69 Camper, Meyers clone, '65 drag bug, 10.78 @ 128 (sold it) '51 Dodge farm truck,
'09 MB E350 '18 MB E400, '65 Plymouth Valiant convertible and a '19 Ford F250 King Ranch (nicer, but dirty, farm truck)

VWoA factory trained line tech 75 till 90 or so
ASE Master Certification
VWoA Assoc. of Quality Technicians inductee (One of 25 in the five state southwest region)
La Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin (San Angelo Chapter)
TCU ......GO FROGS!!!!!!

[rugblaster]

Front nose job...

_________________
'69 Karmy, '69 Camper, Meyers clone, '65 drag bug, 10.78 @ 128 (sold it) '51 Dodge farm truck,
'09 MB E350 '18 MB E400, '65 Plymouth Valiant convertible and a '19 Ford F250 King Ranch (nicer, but dirty, farm truck)

VWoA factory trained line tech 75 till 90 or so
ASE Master Certification
VWoA Assoc. of Quality Technicians inductee (One of 25 in the five state southwest region)
La Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin (San Angelo Chapter)
TCU ......GO FROGS!!!!!!

[rugblaster]

Sparing the details, suffice to say a lot of spraying primer surfacer, slapping kitty hair, glaze and sanding but eventually you get to paint....which is the fun part.

I was going to try my first candy paint job.....they told me not to do it, but I couldn't control myself.

_________________
'69 Karmy, '69 Camper, Meyers clone, '65 drag bug, 10.78 @ 128 (sold it) '51 Dodge farm truck,
'09 MB E350 '18 MB E400, '65 Plymouth Valiant convertible and a '19 Ford F250 King Ranch (nicer, but dirty, farm truck)

VWoA factory trained line tech 75 till 90 or so
ASE Master Certification
VWoA Assoc. of Quality Technicians inductee (One of 25 in the five state southwest region)
La Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin (San Angelo Chapter)
TCU ......GO FROGS!!!!!!

[rugblaster]

So, I bought all my paint from Summit Race Parts. I heard it was good stuff. They wouldn't tell me who supplies it, but I'll bet they are well known. I also bought another paint gun, a P-500. I like these throw away cup systems too. It is supposed to work well with a garage paint booth and a 5 horse compressor. I am impressed with it.

First I sprayed a silver base coat, then the orange candy and then about 3 coats of clear. I think it came out really well. No orange peel at all. It flowed out like a mother effer...
only a few runs.....I'm not a pro.... All my reducers and hardeners were 80 degrees plus, but it was 70 degrees or so when I sprayed.

Shout out to my wife for putting up with me during this time.

I like drinking Shiner beer when I paint.....I don't know why......??

_________________
'69 Karmy, '69 Camper, Meyers clone, '65 drag bug, 10.78 @ 128 (sold it) '51 Dodge farm truck,
'09 MB E350 '18 MB E400, '65 Plymouth Valiant convertible and a '19 Ford F250 King Ranch (nicer, but dirty, farm truck)

VWoA factory trained line tech 75 till 90 or so
ASE Master Certification
VWoA Assoc. of Quality Technicians inductee (One of 25 in the five state southwest region)
La Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin (San Angelo Chapter)
TCU ......GO FROGS!!!!!!

[rugblaster]

I used a cheap, and I mean cheap Harbor Fright bead roller to make some interior panels. I made paper templates and used Dzus fasteners for the back panel so I could get to the seat and seat belt mounts. The front panels got the 3/16ths big head rivet treatment.

_________________
'69 Karmy, '69 Camper, Meyers clone, '65 drag bug, 10.78 @ 128 (sold it) '51 Dodge farm truck,
'09 MB E350 '18 MB E400, '65 Plymouth Valiant convertible and a '19 Ford F250 King Ranch (nicer, but dirty, farm truck)

VWoA factory trained line tech 75 till 90 or so
ASE Master Certification
VWoA Assoc. of Quality Technicians inductee (One of 25 in the five state southwest region)
La Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin (San Angelo Chapter)
TCU ......GO FROGS!!!!!!

[rugblaster]

Some misc. pics of different things...I added some material to the cheap-ass pedal bracket, shortened and widened the clutch and brake pedals and built a adjustable clutch pedal stop.

_________________
'69 Karmy, '69 Camper, Meyers clone, '65 drag bug, 10.78 @ 128 (sold it) '51 Dodge farm truck,
'09 MB E350 '18 MB E400, '65 Plymouth Valiant convertible and a '19 Ford F250 King Ranch (nicer, but dirty, farm truck)

VWoA factory trained line tech 75 till 90 or so
ASE Master Certification
VWoA Assoc. of Quality Technicians inductee (One of 25 in the five state southwest region)
La Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin (San Angelo Chapter)
TCU ......GO FROGS!!!!!!