Fresh from Storage

[stevemariott]

Thank you for the complements! I appreciate it.

I unfortunately don't know the exact offset of the rear wheels - they appear to have the same backspacing as stock wheels. They are 15x8.

I also have no idea what the offset or backspacing is on the front wheels - they are 14x7. The insides rub when turning too sharply; I wish they had more of a negative offset.

The front beam is the stock width. The wheels and tires tuck slightly because the fenders are maybe 2" wider on this body than the average Manx copy (the tops of the rear fender are twice the width of a Manx, and I think the extra width just carries forward through the waist of the body to the front fenders).

Besides that, I believe the rest of the body tub is a copy of the early square tail Manx. I cut away the parts surrounding the engine section 20 years ago so Baby Dells would fit; I now wish that I hadn't, but somehow I still have the pieces of the body.
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1963 Manx copy
1968 Bus

[greenhornet-1]

Very nice! I'm in the middle of a Speedster replica restore that was setting in the woods for 18 years. I'm like you, can only buy parts when i have extra cash.

[herbsflat4]

Thanks for the reply. No worries on the wheel details. I like the way they tuck underneath the fenders. I hope to achieve the same thing without a narrowed beam too.

Looking forward to seeing more pics as you continue.

[herbsflat4]

Also, if you don't mind to post some details or links on how you chopped the windshield that would be of interest to me. Thanks in advance!

[stevemariott]

Herb,

I knew the simplest way to chop the windshield would be from the bottom, so I removed the glass from the frame and marked off 1-3/4" from the bottom edge. I didn't want it too short; I wanted a subtle chop to go along with the slightly lowered suspension and seating position.

Once I had the windshield back from the glass shop, I placed it back in the frame and reinstalled the frame bottom so I could mark new mounting holes.

The mistake I made was that I cut the bottom edges of the frame too short. I figured that since I'd cut 1-3/4" from the the windshield, I'd just cut 1-3/4" from both sides of the frame. It looked okay, but the gap between the top of the fender and the edges of the windshield frame were bigger than I wanted, maybe an 1-1/4" or so - I really only wanted maybe 1/2" at the most, and ideally less than that.

But since the windshield had been off of the car for a couple of years, I hadn't ever thought of measuring that gap. Two years ago I didn't think I would chop the windshield either, though. Since I had a second frame, I just redid the whole thing.

The other part is that both frames I owned had 2 big (3/8") holes drilled into each side of the windshield frame to mount it all to the body. One of the reasons I ended up redoing my whole dash frame was because these mounting holes no longer lined up at all, and the windshield angle was all wrong.

I spent a decent amount of time trying to get the windshield angle right to my eye, and marking new mounting holes properly. Heck, I bought a floor mount drill press so I could drill accurate holes for this - maybe a little excessive, but I'm happy with how it turned out. The windshield is slightly more upright than where Meyers Manx recommends it, but I like it where it is.

Windshield leaned too far back for my taste:

Better, but slightly too upright:

Where it ended up:

[aluk]

I saw your buggy last weekend in Portland at the car show on Hawthorne, looks great. Hung out hoping to meet you and chatted with the owner of the silver Manx parked around the corner. It was this thread that help me get through the rebuild axles and brakes stage of my buggy restoration. See you next time!
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"It's all a matter of what you like. That's the great thing about buggies and kit cars. I'm going for a pseudo/updated/old school/semi-clean look".

[stevemariott]

I wish I would have known you were hanging out, I would have stuck around! I was with a friend or two checking out everyone else's cars all morning. Thanks for the kind words!

Your location says Nevada, but are you local? I'm about to attempt a June (?) meetup for Portland-based members of the Northwest Dune Buggy Club Facebook Group. The more the merrier, I'll keep you posted.

[aluk]

I was visiting family in the area that weekend. I will be there again the middle of June for several weeks. Yes, keep me posted. Thanks
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"It's all a matter of what you like. That's the great thing about buggies and kit cars. I'm going for a pseudo/updated/old school/semi-clean look".

[stevemariott]

Long time, no posts. aluk, I apologize for not getting back to you. My car event plans for the summer changed at one point because of one reason or another.

I did manage to drive it to the Washington coast in August, however, and took this photo:

I’ve done a lot of work on the car since my last posting, including updating and installing a new engine, finally installing the roll bar, and buying a very rough fiberglass top for it, but that’s for another post.

I’m changing my wheels and tires, and the new wheels require studs, or at least a longer lug bolt. I ran screw-in studs on my bus successfully for a number of years, but they always seemed a little cheesy for what I was asking of them.

I’ve read about as much as I could about installing press-in wheel studs, and came close to just having a machine shop do it, but doing these types of things yourself and learning as you go is what I like about this hobby. This is definitely not a how-to guide, but rather just how I did it.

I purchased a set of 14mm press-in studs from Bergs:

. . . along with a 9/16 drill bit, and one of these wheel stud installation tools. Although most everything I read said to use a hydraulic press to install wheel studs, I figured I would use one of these since I wouldn’t probably have much of a use for a hydraulic press besides this one job.

After lots of careful eyeballing and centering the drill bit, I used my drill press to drill out the holes for the wheel studs. This wasn’t difficult, but was somewhat time consuming to do it with every lug hole. Lots of oil and care since I didn’t want to buy more brake drums than necessary.

Marking and clearancing the studs before pressing them in.

I tapped the stud in from the behind the drum to get it started, and then used my wheel stud installation tool (along with a sacrificial lug nut) to pull the stud into place.

This likely would have worked better had I used an impact wrench, but I was trying to do this with a regular socket and ratchet Not only was this quite a bit of work (trying to hold the drum steady while turning the lug nut to pull the stud through), but it became progressively more difficult as I kept going. Eventually I couldn’t get the lug to turn any more, and when I removed the nut I found I had stripped the stud AND the lug:

Disappointed, I called it quits for the night and began searching for a hydraulic press. Two days later, I picked up a little used 6 ton Harbor Freight press from an older woman who had used it for her jewelry business.

After a few adjustments and with considerably less effort than my previous method, my new tool works like a charm:

After I installed all 5 studs, I put the drum back on the car to see if the studs needed additional clearancing. After clearancing a small amount, and then reinstalling the drum, and clearancing some more, and reinstalling the drum, and clearancing some more, and reinstalling the drum, we were in good shape - no more noise when spinning the wheel.

Finally, I used my little buzzbox welder to tack the studs into place to make sure they wouldn’t move.

After some more tinkering around, and bolting on the proper lug nuts, the final product is complete. Whoo!

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1963 Manx copy
1968 Bus

[crickifur]

Man i love those solid rims. Where did you find them?

[Dale M.]

Good job on wheel studs and rims look great...

Something to be said about using proper tool to do the job like the hydraulic press....

Dale
_________________
“Fear The Government That Wants To Take Your Guns" - Thomas Jefferson.

"Kellison Sand Piper Roadster" For Street & Show.
"Joe Pody Sandrover" Buggy with 2180 for Autocross (Sold)
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All suggestions and advice are purely my own opinion. You are free to ignore them if you wish ...

[aluk]

I saw that beach pic when you listed your tires for sale. I figured you had made the drive to Long Beach. Hiway 26, then up the coast? I was in your neighborhood around Thanksgiving and almost called you on those wheels, that was a good price. I would like to have a set of widened stock style smoothies. Unfortunately, "would like to have" wasn't enough justification for me at the moment.
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"It's all a matter of what you like. That's the great thing about buggies and kit cars. I'm going for a pseudo/updated/old school/semi-clean look".

[stevemariott]

Thanks Dale! The proper tool for the job is exactly what I was thinking!

crickifur, these particular rims are USA Wheels, although CMS, Erco, Bogart, and one or two others make the same basic wheel. I picked up the front rims locally for pretty cheap, and the rears are on order. They look pretty close to the original DDS wheels, which is what I was going for.

aluk, that's right! You should have called, I would have loved to have sold them as a set. I couldn't find a buyer for all four, so I just shipped off the rear wheels to their new owner today, and I still have the fronts, although they're far from perfect.

I just saw your gallery though, and your yellow buggy looks awesome as is!! Are those CMS wheels?
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1963 Manx copy
1968 Bus

[ejon]

steve,

ever seen this car ?


you have

it normally has 14.50 paddles on

[stevemariott]

Oh wow, is that my old Baja?!? The last time I saw it in person, it was brown and orange with white spoke wheels, and "Baja Rat" was painted somewhere on the body. I wish I had a pic of it then! Glad to see it's still around!

[ejon]

that sounds right. Didn't any baja rat on it. you were working at a car lot in Springfield.

I knew the car from years before, when allen smith ( white city/medford) it . I was after the trans, because it's irs with 4:8 somthing r&p. I used that. the bug was going to scrap.

you see it there thats than 5/6 years ago, I know you see the change, I did put a v6 in, then went back to vw.

That trans was done by "transform " which on here gets ragged all the time, but the trans is still being used today in a daily driver Baja / 2176 not mine

The car is up around Portland, trade it for a harley. Then gave the bike away LOL

Guessing you still have that blue Bus ? I'm now feeding $$$$$$$>$$ into a 70 westy , but am thinking of doing a F/G buggy to take to The Gambler 500

You F/G looks great and even runs, until some show buggys we knew about lolol. I still have afew none runners

[stevemariott]

Hey!! Good to see you on here, that was 15-16 years ago! I was just a kid then, and didn't know much . . . now I'm older, and I still don't know much

I do still have my bus, although it has been in storage for many years. $$$ into your Westy is right - the buses are so much more valuable than they used to be, but the high prices take a lot of the fun out of it all for me.

My rear wheels showed up yesterday:

[stevemariott]

After lots of wheeling and dealing, I got all of the parts and tools together to finish my new wheel setup. The rear drums went together just like the fronts did, but I spot-faced the insides of the drums where the studs would go before pressing them in.

Rim sizes are 15x4 and 15x6 in the rear. They’re narrower than most guys on here run, but they look the part I wanted, and I’m happy

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1963 Manx copy
1968 Bus

[herbsflat4]

Man you did great. That is a good looking ride!

[stevemariott]

Thanks herbsflat4!