Dune Runner Mini Mercedes new member 1st build

[scooby223]

I recently purchased 3 buggies (po did not want to separate) so after some research on here I have decided to start with a 1972 IRS ball joint pan which is full length. I have the pan striped down to just the tunnel but wanted to get some advice before i just start cutting the tunnel in half.

This is the point I am down to now. Any help is much appreciated.

[Dale M.]

First time cut is always an adventure...

The sketch below is the style cut I like to make.... But with floor sheet metal removed all that is important is the center section...

The 14.5 inches in sketch will vary somewhat depending on the body so measure carefully....

LEAVE FRONT BEAM ON PAN its a critical part of layout and measurement process and reassembly when welding

You may want to look at this link to see what is inside the tunnel to see what you do not want to cut and how things are attached and what you will need to do to re-attache them. once you have done cut...

http://www.vwdcqinc.org.au/vwdcqimages/insideabugimages/insidetunnel.html

When doing cut do not go wild and just hack through center tunnel... There are lines and tubes in there you need to reuse (clutch, throttle and fuel tube, also e-brake tubes)... I like to use 4.5 inch angle grinder with 1/16 or .040 disk and cut really slow... No deep plunge cuts or going wild with sawzall and big old long blades you do not want to damage any tubes inside as they are a B&^%H to repair and if you weaken them and they break later you are going to be really miserable. The better you measure and lay out the better the joining up of the two segments when you bring then together... When cutting out center section open up center section by making cuts parallel to floor line to you can expose all the tubes inside...

At rear of pan where clutch tube and throttle tube are welded to sheet metal (under access plate), just cut them loose, as you slide the two cut pieces together let these slide out back, you will weld them back to pan sheet metal and shorten them later, same with fuel line..... For e-brake tubes you can cut them 3-4 inches forward of rear cut as you will be bringing them forward and poking them back in to bracket below e-brake assembly...

IF you have something as a couple of large timbers leveled out on drive way or some large diameter pipe you can make a sort of chassis jig to do reassembly work on ... main thing is you can support the two sections and keep them level and square... Have uses a couple of cable comealongs to hold the two halves together while tack welding together...

The main thing is to use a ruler and measure often and be sure of dimensions you want, from front beam to rear torsions has to be equal on both sides and you need to check square by measuring from same points on rear torsion to front beam across pan in "X" fashion (left rear to right front- right rear to left front - this why you need from beam on pan) and distance has to be same on both measurements for pan to square...

Its not a hard job, takes about a hour to cut pan, a hour or two to wrestle it back together and alignment and about a hour to weld it up.... I like to dedicate a whole day just for this project so the setup (Jig) can be setup and used and taken down when done and I don't have to fall over it or have the whole thing in my way for days or weeks...

Also when tunnel weld is done I like to take a band of removed tunnel material about 2 inches wide and band over initial weld so you have first weld bridged by material of same thickness of tunnel and a second set of welds holding it all together...

Real care and good workmanship will make rest of buggy build a pleasure, as the pan and tunnel are the base for everything, how the car is alined and assembled and drives and its strength and safety all depend on how well you do pan shortening ...

Yes the threaded adjuster end for shift rod is the cure all for any misalignment or for any mistakes when shortening shift rod... My preferences is to use early style adjuster and early style donut coupler and I dislike later model box coupler (its to complicated) ...

MANX Club pan shortening document can be found here... ITs another resource..

http://www.meyersmanx.com/garage/garage_shorten_p1.htm


Good Luck...

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)
============================================================
All suggestions and advice are purely my own opinion. You are free to ignore them if you wish ...

[Dale M.]

oops...

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)
============================================================
All suggestions and advice are purely my own opinion. You are free to ignore them if you wish ...

[Mike1991]

If your tall you might think again about cutting the full 14 1/2 inches out of that pan.

I'm 6'2" and I am cramped in that pickup style body. An extra couple of inches leg room goes a long way in resale value. Besides your shortened body lines may flow better with a bit more length.

[scooby223]

Dale, is there any chance you could post a pic of the jig you use for pan shortening? thanks in advance. If anyone else has a pic please post I am about ready to shorten for the first time and am kind of nervous about screwing it up.

[Dale M.]

Basically it was a steel frame out of 2x2x.120 ( or .125) wall square steel tubing about 4 ft wide and 8 feet long.... Was on legs about 24 inches tall.... Was original built to take a 32 Ford Roadster body (hot rod) to paint shop but cooped int o a build framework also as a body dolly....

It was simply a steel rectangle, where one could throw looses pieces pf 2x2 steel stock under "certain" areas for support, tack weld in place if necessary, or "C" clamp them in place, or wood 2x4 ...

Here is a side pic, where 69 IRS pan marked read to cut.

Here is shot after cut and weld and paint...

More pics in gallery here....

http://www.mydune-buggy.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=2&page=6

If you want something really exotic, you build something like this...

Here is some ideas and what others have done...

http://images.lmgtfy.com/?q=auto+chassis+jig

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)
============================================================
All suggestions and advice are purely my own opinion. You are free to ignore them if you wish ...

[scooby223]

I cut my pan down yesterday measured a lot marked tunnel measured some more and then cut it. was very careful and did not hit any of the lines underneath. We then cut the e-brake out and shortened it and remounted it using nuts welded into the tunnel so that it can be accessed at a later point to put the cables thru. Its not seamless but will help later to install cables. we then butted the two halves together took a lot of measurements and tacked it together. Took some more measurements and began welding it together, then ran out of gas for the welder after a trip to get that finished the butt weld. We then put a piece of the tunnel over the butt weld and welded it into place. We then flipped the pan over secured it again and once again measured some more. Then we butt welded the bottom seam together and got kind of creative for the strengthening plate on the bottom. I am very happy with the out come I am going to order the sheet metal and 1x2 tube to start the floor boards today. stay tuned for more as the build goes on thanks for all the help.

[Dale M.]

Cool.... Welds look really good,.... See what I mean about not getting to wild with the "cutting"...

Got a pic of how you "jigged it up"... After above discussion, just curious...

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)
============================================================
All suggestions and advice are purely my own opinion. You are free to ignore them if you wish ...

[scooby223]

I built a jig like yours but out of 2x4's glued and screwed. after we made the cut we leveled up the front and ratchet strapped it down then moved the rear section in measured and checked it for level and strapped it down. I should have taken more pictures I was just excited to get it done and not have any issues. On to sand blast and floor pan fab work. I think I will keep using the jig through out the build it is nice on the knees. thanks for the help so far I'm sure I will have more questions as the build continues.

[scooby223]

build update I got metal today went with 1/16" for the floor and 1x2" x1/8" I also got 2 18' sticks of tube for the roll bar.

off to sand blast then a trip to summit racing and hopefully I can start rail and pans shortly.

[scooby223]

got frame sand blasted and floor pans welded in, power was out for almost two days here and battling 90 degree plus weather held me up a little but I am happy with the outcome so far. I have a list for berrien, Jims VW, Gino's, and JcWhitney. The other two buggies I had for sale sold today as long as the buyer takes them I should have some funds to work with and the misses should be happy to have them out of the drive way.

This is where I am at now, hopefully Tuesday I will bolt the body windshield and roll bar in to determine where my seats should be mounted then continue on with the fabrication.

[buggy2430]

Great Work! I wish mine had been done that well.

[scooby223]

well the other two buggies are gone now, I went to Jims VW over the weekend for the show and swap and got a whole truck load of parts working on mounting the seats today, hopefully by the weekend I can have the roll bar done. Then next week a trip to Harrisburg for ACME/Berrien parts. more pics will be added later tonight.
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http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=516085

1969 Dune Runner Mini Mercedes
1985 Ford F250 460 1 owner 64000 mi

[73SpeedBuggy]

great progress so far! How was the show at Jim's? Still waiting for my replacement parts here (supposed to arrive Thursday) so I wasn't able to attend.
_________________
Manxter #39 on a 1971 Pan
Turbo-charged Subaru EJ25D (DOHC)
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3923620/1971-volkswagen-beetle#

-Adam

[scooby223]

Finally got the seats mounted in today. They are the summit racing seats they are so wide you have to set the body on first then bolt the seats in, I reinstalled the hood, windshield, shifter, pedal cluster, and e brake for mock up as I used a slider for the driver side so I wanted to optimize front to back movement. with everything semi secured I hope to start on the roll cage Thursday.

Adam: there wasn't as many cars or stuff in the swap as I had hoped for, I think the chance of rain and the fact that Canfield swap was the same weekend played a roll in the attendance, I was there both days there were even less people Sunday than Saturday.
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http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=516085

1969 Dune Runner Mini Mercedes
1985 Ford F250 460 1 owner 64000 mi

[scooby223]

Got the roll cage about finished up tonight, also bought a set of tires going with 225/75/15 rear and 195/65/15 front now i just need to find another stock 4 lug 5.5" wheel for the rear, here are some pictures.

well that is where I am at now, hopefully by next weekend I will have the nuts welded into the perimeter and the bar and pan painted. then do ball joints, tie rods and reinstall front end. also want to get tranny looked at just in case. If anyone knows where I can get a set or even a single 5.5" stock wheel please let me know. thanks
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http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=516085

1969 Dune Runner Mini Mercedes
1985 Ford F250 460 1 owner 64000 mi

[addicted2atvn]

has your project made it any farther? Are you still in search of stock wheels? I too have a dune runner mini mercedes and am interested in how yours turned out.

[scooby223]

Well the pan and cage are primered now, I ordered stock 5.5" wheels from CIP1 they should be here Thursday. I recently installed upper and lower ball joints. Tonight I installed the front end again and bolted the Bugpack bumper (item # 5539)on to see how it fit and realized I am going to need to make some upper mounts to weld to the shock towers. If anyone has any pics of how they mounted this bumper please share them. I tend to work on projects from April to September then store them for the winter. I am also looking for another hood I was hoping the mini mercedes hood would grow on us but it hasn't. If I can't source a good used one I'll order up a Berrien.
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http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=516085

1969 Dune Runner Mini Mercedes
1985 Ford F250 460 1 owner 64000 mi

[pallen]

I think this bumper is similar... I didnt like the mounts all around so cut them off and made them a little beefer...

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