Six seater buggy build ( long term project)

[matthewl]

I'm going to call the part supplier Monday. There is no way I could hit a stump and not have the drivers side pull out. Just sucks that it took over a week to get shipped and it is not useable. To me it looks like they shipped a narrowed drivers side by accident.
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[matthewl]

So tried finding out tie rod length with not much success. I did find that Pacific customs ( not where I got mine ) sell two sizes of drivers side tie rods. They say the 10" is for link pin and the 9" is for ball joint. Today I thought that maybe somehow I screwed one in farther than the other ( this was a stop and go project). So I marked the threads and unscrewed the rod and found one side has about 5/8 " engagement and the other 1 1/8" engagement. I decided to split the difference and have about 7/8 on each side. It's a lot better but one day I want to get the 10" for the drivers side.

What it looks like now

The way it was
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[matthewl]

So it's been a while... First off I did something stupid, and have been recovering from it.

Nine stitches in all. Respect the death wheel.......

But almost all healed now. Today my brother came over and helped mounted the motor on the buggy.

The adapter kit is well thought out and the instructions are ok, but could use a few more details on the auto trans.

Used these guys for my connection to the chassis

When we got done installing the motor, my brother was all gung ho and said let's not stop. Let's make it run, its so close.
So we rigged up a fuel system and mounted the battery, and pow.... She came to life. I have some transmission issue to look into, but it was great to hear it run. Below is a video of it firing up for the first time
https://youtu.be/JKC5sHJapqU
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[cbeck]

I feel your pain(except for the part that is now numb between the cut up to the middle and index knuckle). 2 weeks ago, 6 stitches on right hand, 4 stitches left finger. 4 1/2 " grinder with cutting wheel.

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My cut in half and rebuild thread
www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=647779

[matthewl]

Same here lol, 4 1/2" grinder with the diamond tip blade. Cut a nerve on the thumb and have that numbness in part of the thumb. I knew better than to hold the metal with my bare hand, and did not listen to the voice saying this is a bad idea. Won't do that again LOL.
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[liquidrush]

Isn't that strange how you always seem to have that premonition? You start to do something and right away you know that it's a bad idea and you're going to take some damage yet you go ahead and do it anyway? Sort of like holding a 16 inch piece of jagged sheet metal in the drill press with a bare hand and a drill going too fast. I can't count the times I've done that myself. (Not the drill press, just the bad ideas)

[Wulfthang]

[matthewl]

Well... It's been a while and I would love to say I have made great progress....But that's not the case. After we got the buggy to run we noticed the trans is dumping lots of ATF from the Bell housing. So looks like a rebuild is in order for that. Then I got tied up in a friend's project and now the virus situation has tooken all my spare time ( teaching all the kids at home).
But there is good news. I lost all the space in my garage 😁. How is that good you ask? We'll look at what I got.

I ordered it at the beginning of the year, and they called to tell me it was done the day before CA shut down LOL. So it has been sitting at Bruce's house waiting for a truck for almost a month LOL.
But now I have some motivation to get the rail buggy done. Can't start on the manx until the buggy gets done.
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[matthewl]

Well about a month has passed and no progress on the buggy. But I have been collecting parts . The trans definitely put me down a little bit, it's an 003 and I didn't realize you HAVE to have the original shifter to make it work ( doesn't have detents in the trans to let you find a gear). So I was debating weather or not to rebuild this trans and hunt for a stock shifter. Or get a later model trans that has more parts available and a shifter with it.

Lucky a friend of mine was looking on Facebook marketplace and found a guy in the next state that had a 84 vanagon trans and shifter and torque converter. So now I can run a trans cooler and get parts easily. I've already ordered some seals for it from go westy. I'm not going to rebuild it unless I have to, but will replace the converter seal, diff seal and put a new filter on it.

Looks like I might be able to use the shifter right here.
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[matthewl]

So I got some time to play with the old buggy. Mounted a turn signal on the driver's side, a backup light, front and rear steps and the drivers seat belt. Now on the subject of seat belts I went with three point belts as they were D.O.T. approved and would not cost almost a grand. I am open to suggestions on the upper mount, it was the best location I could think of.

The turn signal is from tractor supply, it was cheap and D.O.T approved

The foot steps are grab handles from empi.

The backup lights are pencil led lights off amazon, will have four total.

Got to get a longer flex line for the front. But got the mount welded on.
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[matthewl]

So I got some more stuff mounted on the buggy. Found a home for the shifter and the turning brake. Plus I moved the battery up front to get more weight on the front wheels. Then I plated in the A piller so I can mount a mirror there later.

Turning brakes

Yes the shifter sticks out a little but not bad.

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[matthewl]

Mounted the out side mirrors today and a few more lights.

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[Powaypete]

Hope you have better luck with those mirrors I did. Mine lasted about 200 miles before the plastic adjustment ball became useless (mirror just flopped from the car bouncing on the pavement). I had to tighten the mirror adjustment every time I took it out. I replaced mine with motorcycle mirrors (metal not plastic).
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David

We're all here because we're not all there.

[matthewl]

Powaypete these are old school baby turbo mirrors, made in italy. They are probably 30 years old and have a metal ball and socket joint. They should last for a while, at least until the meet a tree lol.
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[matthewl]

So today I mounted the dome lights in the buggy. They are under truck lights ( rock lights) from Amazon. I drilled and tapped the tubes to mount them, went with green as that's going to be the main color.

Video of the progress
https://youtu.be/TOOLg-uCG1E
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[dustymojave]

I hope that when you put that thing on the road, you install the headrests the seats are designed for. A few years ago, there was a guy who had his family in their 4-seater buggy at Glamis, CA. He hit a mini track that are often made by kids going around and around next to camp. It's deep grooves and steep banks caused the buggy to get airborne and land on the back bumper. Kinda like getting rear-ended. He died of a broken neck due to no headrests and the seat broke.
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Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet.

[matthewl]

Great info as always dusty. Yes I have the head rest for the seats. Just storing them out of the way, while I get the nitty gritty stuff done.
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[matthewl]

So started to try to make the dash. Using HDPE plastic as it is form able and cheap. It looks better in person, really it does lol.

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[unclebilly]

Do you actually need a dash? Why not just roll bar padding over the tubes?

[JWHracing]

Where did you get the plastic from?
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65 Baja - Class 5 Unlimited Race Car

2021 STORR Pro Air Cooled Buggy Champion
2019 AZOP Unlimited Buggy Champion
2017 SADR 1300 Class Champion
2016 AZOP Limited Buggy Champion

Currently "retired" from racing