Low down Hillbilly

[OCD Garage]

Managed to get the lower hoop done for the rear section of the cage this weekend before running out of material.

[OCD Garage]

Added four 3.5" extension tubes to act as bridges to the final hoop, the cross tube was in place to hold the pieces in alignment for welding. Only the last hoop, a lower left connector bar, a few braces and this part of the build will be mostly complete.

[OCD Garage]

Braces added to side bars on both sides.

[OCD Garage]

Nearly finished the fab work for the cage. Left to do: an X brace for the main hoop, tie-ins for the rear floor and possibly a pair of 45* braces under the corners of the windshield. I'll need to remove the cage to complete the final welding and clean-up.

[OCD Garage]

I decided to fill in the open area above the last installed braces by adding a 90* bend each side to balance the overal visual.

[OCD Garage]

Nearly there. Budget old school hot rodding all the way! X brace added to main hoop and 45* braces to both corners under winshield.

[OCD Garage]

Just added the last four supports to the rear of the cage, which is now complete. There are still a few welds to do that I can get without removing the cage, but it will eventually need to come out to be finished. The rear supports bolt through the body to an angle iron frame and will be tied into the rear bumper mounts.

[OCD Garage]

Everything fits as it should. I have materials to do a second fire extinguisher mount for the driver's side. Once I grab an air manifold and a few fittings, I'll connect the air ride switches and use the shop compressor to run the system for now.

[NJ John]

The Rigid Midget! Is that politically correct?
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1973 standard, yellow, lowered, 3” narrowed front, 1600 blo-thru turbo w/single dell 15.4@86, so far
11.41 et buggy. Long gone
Let’s go O’s! Let’s go O’s!
https://www.youtube.com/@AirSpooledGarage

[OCD Garage]

[NJ John]

Maybe they have timed attack days. That’s for street cars.
_________________
1973 standard, yellow, lowered, 3” narrowed front, 1600 blo-thru turbo w/single dell 15.4@86, so far
11.41 et buggy. Long gone
Let’s go O’s! Let’s go O’s!
https://www.youtube.com/@AirSpooledGarage

[OCD Garage]

They have open lapping at the Vancouver Island Motorsport Circuit for beginners, experienced and racer classes with instruction, tech inspections, etc. Once the car's roadworthy, maybe I'll treat myself on my birthday. lol.
https://islandmotorsportcircuit.com/driving-experiences/open-lapping/

[OCD Garage]

Today's addition of two lower tubes for the cage up front. Parts are on order to build a distribution system for the air ride switches in the console so I can finally ditch the four schrader valves.

[OCD Garage]

Last week. I built a support under the overhang of my garage roof and today brought home a chain hoist to help with the 'heavier' jobs. First up was lifting the roll cage out of the buggy so that I could remove the body and bolt the cage back down to finish the welding without it twisting or distorting.

[Kafer_Mike]

Any recent updates?
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Kafer_Mike
Build 'em fast...or let 'em sit.

[Bikerndiver]

OMG! That roll cage is really put together.... I've never seen a dune buggy with such a sophisticated crash protection cage! Very impressive
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1966 Manx clone (possibly a Joe Poty Enterprises) named SANDY. '70 to '73 1300 cc w/1600 DP heads, twin carbs and headers

[oprn]

[OCD Garage]

No current updates to report. The warming weather in my part of the world has caused me to take some time off from building to catch up on a couple of long promised outdoor projects for my spouse. I last put the buggy up on jack stands, removed the air bags/lines and caught up on some of my chassis welding. I haven't worked on it for a few weeks but will be back at it soon.

To address the cage: In my eyes, 95% of buggies with a single hoop 'bar have a level of crash protection simlar to a Goldwing motorcycle. Apart from potential fallout from my 'spirted' driving, there are a lot of unattentive people on the road these days, I want to keep myself and my wife feeling safe so we can enjoy the ride. Most of my cage is invisible once the roof is on, it hugs the sides within 1/4" and the front corner down tubes are in the blind spot of the windshield pillars (which I reinforced/reduced in size).

This is likely my last build of this scope due to my impending retirement plans. My wife has forbidden me from spending our savings building cars when I do pull the plug.

There's a lot of cars in life I never got around to building. In this one I wanted to roll a lot of influences into my (I swear this time...) last build. I wanted to theme it along the lines of an old dry lake bed/drag racer with some modern touches like leather upholstery, air ride and a few digital gauges. Apart from a few quirks, I wanted it to look like something that could have been built in the mid/late 60's. A polished rat rod so to speak.

I've really have my eye on one of those Berry's Blowers low profile kits and pretty sure it'll tuck up inside the body to top off the stroker motor I build once the car is otherwise finished and on the road with it's stock but shiney 1600dp.