TheSamba.com :: View topic

Tue May 31, 2011 9:27 am

I just picked up a well worn, beatdown ,neglected, but titled and street legal, sand rail. The intent is to rebuild it into a comfortable daily driver with some swamp, trail and sand capabilities. (we have lots of that here in SW Florida.

It's a Bugpac 90 in. W/B frame, 5 rib trans (002 I think, IRS, stock arms)
4 wheel 'giha (2 puck caliper) disc brakes. 1600 DP. It fires up and runs smooth, otherwise a big unknown. Ball joint frontend with gas shocks. (stops have been removed, shocks are limiting travel and with my lard butt jumping up and down on the beam, the arms didn't move much.)

I was heavy into all things BUG, back in the 60's and 70's, in Southern Californica. SCORE, Glamis/Tahoe and street custom's. Now , 40 years later, I'm getting back to my roots with this new project.

The sheer amount of aftermarket stuff available today just blows me away, I'm gonna need a bunch of advise on part selection and integration.

First order of business is the pedal set, The Jamar BC-2 in it now, is trashed, what do you guy's recommend to replace it? ((I'm 6'4" @240 Lbs. with big feet) What size master cylinder combination, what clutch slave? Should I change the clutch slave to a higher/pivoting style? (I'd like to go with the changeable/rebuild able style master cylinders, rather than the billet style. This is, most of all , a DD streeter. Safe, reliable, dependable first, trick stuff can be added later.

Next up is seats. 'galss or poly ain't gona cut it, (I'm an old fart) What Buckets can I use , from the bone yard? (Looks like there might be room for Mustang II or Fiat buckets) what works? (they don't have to adjust)

OK, thats enough dumb questions for now, (many more to come, I'm sure)

Thanks for reading, Paul

Tue May 31, 2011 9:37 am

Souds like you have a good start. im currently working on my own rail.. i do not have much advice cause im new to all of this but good luck with your project!

Any pictures?

Tue May 31, 2011 10:03 am

Paul

Tue May 31, 2011 10:06 am

First pics

Paul

Tue May 31, 2011 10:27 am

Awesome, looks like a good start. I'm working on the same type of project. 70 percent street, 20 percent off road and 10 percent tore apart in the garage.

Tue May 31, 2011 10:28 am

you could try seats out of pontiac sunfire. around 97-99 or so im thinkin. i got a set from the salvage yard and they were to wide for my frame but as it turns out my frame is very narrow compared to most :roll:

Tue May 31, 2011 10:31 am

dixon_cass wrote: you could try seats out of pontiac sunfire. around 97-99 or so im thinkin. i got a set from the salvage yard and they were to wide for my frame but as it turns out my frame is very narrow compared to most :roll:

Dixon, have you found any that will work for you yet? I have a very narrow buggy as well I can just fit 2 poly seats in but they touch each other. I need alot more comfort though.

Tue May 31, 2011 3:24 pm

thats what im running is 2 poly seats that are touching.

Tue May 31, 2011 7:04 pm

AJ_Payne wrote: Awesome, looks like a good start. I'm working on the same type of project. 70 percent street, 20 percent off road and 10 percent tore apart in the garage.
:lol: :D :shock: :D :D Sounds JUST like mine.....

Sat Jun 04, 2011 6:16 pm

well, mine is close to 90% tore apart in the garage now!

I ordered a CNC 114 BB pedal set W/slave, still looking for a slavesaver, I think I need one on the 5 rib tranny. Waddy'all think?

I'm thinking of going with an adjustable pedal set up, (SWMBO might want to drive it) Any particular favourites? I want heavy duty, low or no flex or rattle, and change it without draggin' out the roll-a-way. (is all that even possible?)

I spent most of the day today welding up screw holes and fabbin' new sheet metal behind the beam and a front floor piece, tomorrow I'll add a few braces to the floor to support the new battery box location. Rollin', Rollin' Rollin'...

Paul

Sun Jun 05, 2011 3:51 pm

A little pic catch up, Rip out done.

Toe box mockup

A little dry storage?

Sun Jun 05, 2011 4:12 pm

ammo cans work great for storing stuff in! i always put the wallet and cell in it. small tools as well

Tue Jun 07, 2011 7:55 am

Well, yesterday was a pretty productive day. I got the "knee bar" raised 3 inches. (much easier for an old fart to climb in and out, lol)
I got the toe box bent up and bolted together, just have to fab mounting tabs, an it's done. Welded in a stiffner for the shock towers, a good place to hang the headlights...

I'm going to hit the local "pick N' pull tomorrow for seats and wiring stuff, might look for a tilt wheel to adapt for the steering, anybody done this before?

Check out the pic of the trans, I think it's a early 70's bus IRS, but my buddy the Audi mechanic say's it's not. Would someone tell me exactly what I have?

Paul

Tue Jun 07, 2011 10:37 am

that tranny is a 75 and later bug tranny. ever thought about doing a quick disconect steering wheel?

Tue Jun 07, 2011 10:43 am

Thanks Dixon,
Yep, the quick disconnect is allready ordered, I just thought a tilt setup might be usefull too. A lot is gonna depend on what seats I end up with, as to how much room I have to play with. (I have some minor health issues that dictate, a little bit strange, driving position and I may have to relocate the shifter some also.)

Wed Jun 08, 2011 3:41 pm

Had a pretty good day at the boneyard. I scored a pair of seats from a late 70's Alfa Romero. One mounted, one to go...

Tue Jun 14, 2011 3:58 pm

Moving right along.

The gas tank mount is next under the knife.

I want to lower the mounting position of the gas tank, relative to the CG, and make room for a small custom stowage box above it.

This is as low as I can go with the 10 gal, 10 in dia. tank. I'm planning a 2 bar, hanging type, setup. (new bars spanning the existing cross bars, fore and aft, with the tank hanging below them) A 4 inch rise, above the cross bars, leaves the tank bottom ~ 1 3/4 inches above the front trans mount strap and plenty of wrench and wiggle room for the starter.

Questions:

Opinion. Will two, 1 inch square tube (11 gage wall) mount bars, with the existing strap type clamps, be strong enough to support the 78+ pound tank (full) Or should I add a third bar and hanger clamp ?

How best to rig a rollover fuel stop vent ? (Tank has a vented cap now)

How best to control fuel slosh in the tank ?

Paul

Tue Jun 14, 2011 10:19 pm

IMHO you're gonna have a really hard time getting those big tires moving with that trans, it's really high geared. I have the same trans in my buggy but I'm running 25" tires and it's just right. A friend of mine tried to run that trans with 31" tires on the street and couldn't stand it (he swapped for an 091 bus trans).

Not sure what you're planning on doing with your rail but if you're hill climbing you'll be killing your clutch to get up there. If you can get ahold of an early 4.12 or 4.37 irs trans you'd be much better off. Better yet would be a bus trans but that's a little more work/cost.

I guess worst case scenario you can run what you have now, on a rail it wouldn't take more than an hour to swap in a new trans anyways...

Wed Jun 15, 2011 4:34 am

red caddy wrote:

Questions:

Opinion. Will two, 1 inch square tube (11 gage wall) mount bars, with the existing strap type clamps, be strong enough to support the 78+ pound tank (full) Or should I add a third bar and hanger clamp ?

How best to control fuel slosh in the tank ?

your not going to control slosh unless you get a tank that is baffled or foam celled.

1 inch tubing should work but add gussets where you can and braces between the two bars lower than the tank. if you can add a brace down to the horns or torsion housing then that would be a plus.

just add to your wish list doing a custom tank/rack.

Wed Jun 15, 2011 7:12 pm

Thanks guy's,
The tires that came on the rail are 28 inches tall (at 35 PSI) I guess I'll just have to try 'em and see.

There ain't many hills to climb here in SW Florida anyway, gotta go damn near to the Ocala Natl. Forest to find a hill over 6 feet high. (The highest point of land , here in town, is the post office steps. The local Barney's are a little touchy about the kids skateboarding on them, so I think I'll keep the rail on the street, lol)

I have a notion to extend the filler neck with a piece of tubing, weld in a bung for a rollover valve and a non vented cap. Anybody have a source for the valve?

Paul