TheSamba.com :: View topic - Buggy Shakedown this coming Sunday at Silver Lake

Wed Oct 05, 2016 7:12 pm

Ok, so I've had this rail now for 2 or 3 months and we've finally scheduled a trip to the dunes! I have a feeling that it's good and reliable having run it on the trails around these parts, replacing the alternator, belt and tuning up the disk brakes.

I'm sure we'll take pictures to post, it's supposed to be a brisk 59° and with the wind coming off the lake not always predictable, I think we might just want to bring some carhardts just in case!

Any suggested tools to bring just in case? My quick list would be metric sockets and wrenches, screwdrivers, Milwaukee M18 driver and a couple battery packs (charged), floor jack, extra fuel, extra (street) tires if paddles tear or go flat, 5 gallon air tank, couple quarts of oil...

Fri Oct 07, 2016 8:11 pm

The most common things I see at silver lake...

Blown cv joints or spider gears in the transmission by people who have their foot into it when they land after taking flight. Driveline shock tears stuff up. Keep your door out of it and clutch in if you can if you take flight. :lol: honestly, that saves a ton of wear and tear... If you have an irs rest end, an extra half shaft assembly makes a quick fix of blowing a cv.

This summer I saw a few instances of the eye of shock absorbers popping off KYB gas adjust shocks. An extra shock never hurts to have.

And those D@NG K&N style air filters!! Don't run them without a pre cleaner. Foam is best. Honestly, an oiled foam pre cleaner is probably a better filter than a properly oiled K&N. A guy I was up there with ran the dunes for an hour until it started missing at idle and off idle. He swapped in a pair of new Weber ict'S, ran for an hour and had the same problem. Took them off and blasted out the jets and she ran great again. Told him to loose the gauze air cleaners. Swapped them out for paper and never had another issue with plugged jets. I see that a lot on sandy/dusty areas. sand isn't just a bunch of coarse granules, there is also very fine powder. Sand getting baked in the sun makes the surface very dry, and that powder gets sucked in thru crappy air cleaners and cakes up on internals. I have seen more dust down carb troats with K&N filters than probably all others combined. And no, it's not just a bad seal between the filter gasket and base/top plates (although that is certainly an issue as well).. Bring carb cleaner in case you plug a jet.

Bring extra oil as well. :wink:

Fri Oct 07, 2016 8:22 pm

Thanks for the response Vanapplebomb! If you might check out my most recent help post, I've got some stripped out disc wheel stud holes. oh crap! should I just bite the bullet and drop the 75 bucks at Appletree when I get there for a replacement rotor and a set of lug bolts and call it good?

Vanapplebomb wrote: The most common things I see at silver lake...

Blown cv joints or spider gears in the transmission by people who have their foot into it when they land after taking flight. Driveline shock tears stuff up. Keep your door out of it and clutch in if you can if you take flight. :lol: honestly, that saves a ton of wear and tear... If you have an irs rest end, an extra half shaft assembly makes a quick fix of blowing a cv.

This summer I saw a few instances of the eye of shock absorbers popping off KYB gas adjust shocks. An extra shock never hurts to have.

And those D@NG K&N style air filters!! Don't run them without a pre cleaner. Foam is best. Honestly, an oiled foam pre cleaner is probably a better filter than a properly oiled K&N. A guy I was up there with ran the dunes for an hour until it started missing at idle and off idle. He swapped in a pair of new Weber ict'S, ran for an hour and had the same problem. Took them off and blasted out the jets and she ran great again. Told him to loose the gauze air cleaners. Swapped them out for paper and never had another issue with plugged jets. I see that a lot on sandy/dusty areas. sand isn't just a bunch of coarse granules, there is also very fine powder. Sand getting baked in the sun makes the surface very dry, and that powder gets sucked in thru crappy air cleaners and cakes up on internals. I have seen more dust down carb troats with K&N filters than probably all others combined. And no, it's not just a bad seal between the filter gasket and base/top plates (although that is certainly an issue as well).. Bring carb cleaner in case you plug a jet.

Bring extra oil as well. :wink:

Sat Oct 08, 2016 4:18 am

Drill them out and install studs? What did you find for insurance?

Sat Oct 08, 2016 7:28 am

Don't count on Appletree to have them in stock. I ran into that before. Most times they had to order them in. That said, they have a newer place now with a lot more warehouse space. Maybe they stock all that now. Give them a call today if you get this in time.

I would install studs into what you have. I got a 9/16" and a 37/64" drill bit that can be used to drill out the holes if you have a good drill press. 9/16 for sway away, 37/64 for empi/bug pack. The bits have a 1/2" shank, so most drill presses should work with them. I won't be able to get them to you for this weekend, but if you ever need them in the future :wink:

Mon Oct 10, 2016 10:12 am

So Appletree's new warehouse must be working for them, Jay helped me a ton and got what I needed with a new rotor and a new set of Chevy adapters to replace my worn out ones. A stud was broken, another stripped, time for replacement. I also shimmed my alternator to give the belt a little give, I thought it was a bit too tight when I replaced it but had no more shims so I just backed the nut off a smidge and hoped for the best.

The trip was great and I learned a ton about handling a buggy vs a truck or quad! We pulled a late night before our trip and fashioned some quick side panels out of semi trailer wall (tear out blanks from reefer installs). They were a Godsend!

Things to work on before next season:

Better fuel delivery. The bumps and steep hills were very unpredictable at the very least. Any idea how to identify this carb? We zip tied the choke open to get rid of some sputtering but it didn't eliminate the issue. Floats too high? Jets wrong? I also had a couple issues of the throttle sticking open, seems the secondaries were getting stuck and I cleaned the sand and some grime out of the linkages and it seemed to help, but I might open it all up to really clean the thing good.

More power. See above bullet point. I think a good running carb or a set of tuned duals might do the trick, but maybe even power adders like a small turbo could be in the works. Not sure exactly.

More front travel. I've wanted this from the get-go, but things take time and money. I'm thinking a 4" wider warrior front end and staying with stock riding springs with a good set of shocks with 2-1/4 x 1 trailing arms.

Better handling rear. In any whoops or bumps situation, the front ran (plowed) through or over whatever it was given and the rear bucked like a wild stallion with it's first saddle. Probably I'll do a rear trailing arm kit

TURN BRAKES! I found myself in a few situations that I couldn't navigate around a close obstacle and ended up burying myself and getting towed out. I was running 6 psi in the rear and with my mostly bald paddles I still just dug down or plowed forward.

Wed Oct 12, 2016 9:42 am

I think I've figured out that my carb is a Weber (empi) 32/36 DFEV. Any tuning advise would be much appreciated! Are the floats adjustable?

Wed Oct 12, 2016 7:07 pm

So I have done a bit of digging and research, then talked to Jay at Appletree. I'm going back to the dunes this weekend with the family and I just placed an order for a dual 34 kit, some rear gas shocks, a carb sync. tool and some outerwears for the cone style filters that come with the 34 kit. Hopefully they'll arrive on Friday!

Along with the goodies on the way, I'm going to check/adjust the valves and make sure the timing is at 30-31 degrees full advance. I'm hoping this makes the ride much more enjoyable!

Thu Oct 13, 2016 4:48 am

Good choice, those progressive carbs are more of a headache than they are worth. What size is your engine?

Thu Oct 13, 2016 12:27 pm

It's a 1641 DP, MOFOCO heads, 110 Engle cam and soon to be dual 34's.

Thu Oct 13, 2016 1:59 pm

So I ordered the EMPI 34's kit, but it was out of stock. I upgraded to the Weber kit, I'm sure I won't be disappointed. It shipped today and I'll get it tomorrow! Love being in Michigan 8)

Fri Oct 14, 2016 7:30 pm

I've got the duals on, small setback with family matters, my brother's house burnt and we spent the day cleaning up and boarding up. So far, the engine runs better than the progressive, with zero tuning or balancing! It can only get better from here, right?