1969 Manx project

[ppilotmike]

Your buggy restoration turned out perfect! I am going to spend a lot of time with my California Clipper this summer.

[dlyle]

I don't have a lot of recent photos since I brought the car back but here are a few before and after shots.

John Kieslich of JK Classic Buggies in Valley Center California did all of the work you see here. John and his wife Sonya specialize in restorations, preservations and new builds. I can't be more pleased and impressed with their work. They did wiring, brakes, clutch, seats, upholstery and all the little details involved to make this exactly the Manx I was looking for. We had a goal to preserve as much as we could and John shared my vision and made it happen.

It's so nice having a working fuel gauge and he fixed the tach too. The windshield angle was a bit to steep so he corrected that. Shifting is amazing now too and the car starts with just the turn of the key without touching the pedal.

Once John was done Miguel Diaz took over and made the buggy look super shiny. The gel coat now looks brand new. Look how he fixed the hood!

I could go on all day. Don't hesitate to call John and Sonya if you need work done on a buggy. I had to drive 860 miles round trip to get him my buggy and I'd do it all over again (and have).

Thanks John and Sonya.

https://www.jkclassicbuggies.com/

The front Meyers Manx emblem is held on with studs like original.

Rims are the same but new General Grabber A/TX really help the stance. Fronts are 27x8.5R14LT and the rears are 31x10.5R15LT

I think the log behind the rear tire is just habit. The parking brake works great.

[oprn]

Looking simply wonderful!
_________________
Our cars get old, we get old but driving an old VW never gets old!

[dlyle]

All that's left now is to put on the license plate and a rear view mirror. One of the front tires has a bubble so that will need to get replaced too.

[impaleale]

Very nice, simple clean elegant build. Don’t stop!

[dlyle]

[dlyle]

Miguel Diaz spent a lot of time matching the color on the hood. He took it to numerous paint match experts that eventually all told him don't come back if it doesn't match. He had to experiment with different base coats and spent a ton of time but finally got it as close to perfect as possible.

This is what we started with.

A night and day difference from before.

[dlyle]

The floor was dirty and needed some cleanup.

Lots of scraping needed here.

Now much better and has a new brake line going to the rear.

A new rubber mat was installed over the tunnel.

Kuhltek floor mats were used.

[dlyle]

The exhaust was also replaced. The old one was ok and from what I was told was either a Thunderbird or SS exhaust but it stuck out too far. The muffler cost back in 1975 was $50. The replacement is a Shoemaker exhaust which was a common option for the Manx.

This is a before shot.

This is an after shot. The muffler has been tampered with so it sits too high. Unfortunately the chrome exhaust tip has been shortened by a previous owner.

John fixed the muffler. It looks great and the exhaust sticks out about 7" less than the old exhaust.

[slayer61]

Doug, your attention to detail is off the charts. Very well done, Sir,

This wire tying technique (using waxed string) is now lost to history, with the exception of a few phone guys

Be good!
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[dlyle]

The engine ran fine before but it got a little attention. Upgrades included a new 34 Pict carb, a replacement intake manifold as the old one had the preheat tubes cut off, an electronic ignition, and an alternator. New plugs, wires, oil change and tune up were also performed. The crank Power Pulley was installed in 1975 at a cost of $11.50 so was left in place. The bolt was another $2.75. At this same visit in 1975 the dual port heads were installed along with push rod tubes, rod bearings, muffler, distributor, and dual 40 DCNF carbs. I still have the carbs in a box of spare parts that came with the Manx.

I had the intake manifolds vapor blasted. They came out looking like new.

The type 3 air filter will get hidden behind a stainless panel that the license plate goes on.

While we have the motor out it gets a new throwout bearing, pressure plate and disc.

[dlyle]

The old De Carbon Bilstein shocks were probably original to this build back in the late 60's so they were cleaned up and reused. I see a 70 on the housing so maybe it was 1970.

[dlyle]

Steering rag joint was good so was reused. I've noticed most of the replacements are conductive so they don't isolate and your horn wiring won't work. This was one of the few that work as intended. .

The shift rod bushing now has a Delrin replacement and the rear couple was also replaced.

[dlyle]

The aftermarket seats came out and were replaced with PRP Roadster seats.

The rear seat will get mounted on a 1/2" board and then will get installed. This buggy never had a back seat but I think it needs one.

[dlyle]

All the gauges now work including the Racimex tach. Most importantly the fuel gauge works.

Not sure why there are so many toggle holes. We had to fill the holes so some of the switches are not hooked up.

[dlyle]

The seats will get replaced so while they were out it was a good time to clean up the floors.

Lots of junk to scrape off.

Much better. Brake line to the rear of the car now replaced too.

[dlyle]

Now turning our attention to the brakes. They worked but there was a really hard pull to the right. I use DOT 5 silicone fluid on every car I work on. It lasts forever. You can look at your brakes years after a rebuild and the fluid will still be purple. The only downside is that it can kill the brake light switch. I've tried switches from a Harley Davidson which also use silicone fluid but still had problems so a mechanical switch will be used.

The pedals came out for some clean up and painting. The single circuit brake master was replaced with a dual circuit.

The after shows the care that was taken to make sure these last another 50 years.

Now back in place with the floor having also been cleaned up and painted. Note the brake line to the rear has also been replaced. The pedals received a "Big Boy" clutch pedal shaft upgraded that adds another 3/4" between the pedals. You can get theses from Ron at Classic Bug Parts. https://www.classicbugparts.com/big-boy-pedal-extender/

I also opted for their X-celerator pedal.

DOT 5 brake fluid was used which can destroy the hydraulic brake switches so a mechanical switch was added

This is a before shot of the front end.

Parts that were within spec were retained but anything worn was replaced. All hard and rubber brake lines were replaced.

Rear brakes getting the attention to make them reliable and safe.

[dlyle]

[squareweave]

Any updates on this? I believe I saw pictures of it online with a new wiring harness etc?? I'd love to see it done

[dlyle]

Cleaned up the new wheels and painted the backs.

Miguel Diaz helped and applied the color. We used Eastwood Argent silver which was very close to the original color on the back of the wheels. This paint dries immediately. You can paint it and by the time you put the can down you can take sandpaper to it.

The rear tires are Genneral Grabber AT/X 31x10.5R15LT

The front tires are Genteral Grabber 27x8.5R14LT.

The new rear tires on the right at 31" are just a bit shorter than the Gates Sand Command XT tires that came off the buggy.

The tire on the far left is what came off the car and the middle tire is the new 27x8.5R14LT tire. The tire on the right was a temp set of roller tires.