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'74...ish Dune Buggy
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neohic
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Joined: June 30, 2012
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Location: Colorado Springs, CO
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 30, 2012 11:43 am    Post subject: '74...ish Dune Buggy Reply with quote

Let me start with saying hello to everyone! I'm new here but not new to VWs or fabrication. My first car was a '76 Beetle that was sold off and replaced with my '72 that I still have.

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Anyway... the buggy! I've had the fiberglass body for about eight years now... it was a high school graduation present from me to me! Since then, it's been stored under my parents deck way too out of sight and out of mind. The plan was to use a donor car for the frame, drivetrain, and title.

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Fast forward to almost two years ago and I picked up this prime '74 donor. Very solid for a MN car, but not anything close to being anything that anyone would want to try and restore.

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The body was in good enough shape to sell off... you know the term, "sellable not usable". Still very good parts for someone to use. With the body off, I could move on to shortening the pan. With the body off, the findings? Rust... lots of it! Nothing structural, though... just the floor pans.

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Next on the list was to shorten the pan. I started with cutting out the nasty old floors.

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And the cut and squaring:

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Then some welding:

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This was a huge step but now comes all the rest of going through every little part and replacing, cleaning, modifying... should be fun anyway!

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Next was to start throwing some parts at it so I could get some basic measurements... backspacing, tire size, seat heights... you know... car building stuff.

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The wheels on it are 8" wide with 4" backspacing. I need around 3.5" to be on the safe side of clearing the body in the front. I also had an extra set of seats kicking around the shop for mocking up a simple cage (thus the large hammer and masking tape). Floors got done as well as modified brackets and stock seats out of a 2003 Sunfire. Pedals, completely custom shifter, and an engine are in place as well. I used 1x2" tubing to make up a frame around the outside of the floors and to add some structure. The engine is a stock 1600cc that I picked up from a guy who had it mounted behind his trike. Fortunately, he let the exhaust go with the engine so I can start to figure out all of the tube work in the bumpers.

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Seats are very comfortable and have deep side supports.
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Now that it's starting to look and feel like a car, I'm totally guilty of sitting in it and just looking at everything more than I should. Besides that, it's like sitting in a space ship looking over the hood!
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Engine... gotta love those trumpets!
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Very proud of the groovy shifter and center console.
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At this point I'm at a total of $760 and everything came to a screeching halt. My brother and I did a VR6 swap in his '87 Cabby, I did a fuel injection swap on a friend's '90 Wrangler, worked on several Jeep Comanches for myself, and then the wife and I decided to pick up and move across the state. Sadly, the buggy hasn't had any forward progress for about a year now. Right now, our new house takes importance over everything. I've got some construction and maintenance to do... hopefully I can pick this up again over this coming winter.

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My usual online hang-out is ComancheClub.com. Been a member over there for years now and that fills my Jeep obsession. Now I want to get back to my VW roots.

On a side note... I have no idea what body I have here. I've searched through the buggy identification pages and came up with nothing. It's kinda close to the an Imp, but the fronts of the fenders and different along with the scoop on the hood. Any help? Anyhow... that's my buggy!
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neohic
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 30, 2012 11:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Kinda cool bit of info here... I got in touch with the guy that sold me the body eight years ago and gave him the heads up that I'm FINALLY doing something with it and he was tickled pink! So much that he went through is old records and found a build manual for the Linton Spoiler.

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Thought it was cool of the old man! I know that I don't have a Spoiler, but it was still very awesome of him to send this my way.
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Wolfgangdieter
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 01, 2012 5:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great being able to get the original build plans. I habe buggy build by Dolphin Industries in Pompano Beach, FL. An although I've found maybe 4 others in existence have found no printed information at all. Contacts found were through the Dune Buggy Archives.
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neohic
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 01, 2012 7:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wolfgangdieter wrote:
...Contacts found were through the Dune Buggy Archives.


Looked there. The only other picture I found that matched my buggy body was on a site that no longer exists... that buggy was also in an "unknown buggy" section. DBA is an awesome site otherwise!... tons of information.
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hotrod100
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 01, 2012 12:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Welcome to The Samba! The buggy is turning out really nice. I really like the shifter. It sucks when life gets in the way of our projects, but what can you do. Hope to see some more progress on this in the future.
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tgodber
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 12:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hope you can get back to this project soon. Nice to have those old build plans. If you never find out the original model name, never fear, they are still a ton of fun.
Good seats. I used some from a Sunfire as well.
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neohic
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 6:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks everyone! This whole deal started in my old shop. The ball is rolling to start construction within the next couple weeks on a garage expansion. With everything done, I should be able to finish up most of the car over this coming winter. After that, if all I have to do is blow it all apart and tackle the bodywork come spring time I'll be pleased as punch!

Still collecting parts though. Looking for a set of 15x8" Chevy truck rally wheels to cut up for the shells. Figure out what kind of stance this thing will have then do a simple cage. Probably go through the engine after that and hopefully just throw some seals at it for now... figure out wiring... figure out suspension once the total weight is there... and so on.
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buddhaman007
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 6:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice work! It's good to see another Minnesota buggy guy out there. My folks live in Alexandria too. I will be driving my buggy up (weather permitting) to see them and cruising around over the July 4th weekend.
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neohic
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 10:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

buddhaman007 wrote:
Nice work! It's good to see another Minnesota buggy guy out there. My folks live in Alexandria too. I will be driving my buggy up (weather permitting) to see them and cruising around over the July 4th weekend.


Cool! I actually moved here from the St. Cloud area and I want to say that I remember seeing yours. I'd love to compare notes if mine wasn't so buried right now! There's a couple others running around town here. One was purple and the other was silver. I always manage to see them when they're driving around... no time to stop and chat!
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manxdavid
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 04, 2012 6:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice looking shell. It looks like whoever made the mould started with an EMPI Imp, smoothed out some bits and added a few of his own to disguise it a bit.

Makes a change from all the usual Manx-a-likes...
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neohic
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 04, 2012 6:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

manxdavid wrote:
Nice looking shell. It looks like whoever made the mould started with an EMPI Imp, smoothed out some bits and added a few of his own to disguise it a bit.

Makes a change from all the usual Manx-a-likes...


From measurements and research that I've done, mine is the same length as an Imp too. A bit longer than a Manx which is awesome because I'm kind of a tall guy!
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neohic
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 23, 2012 11:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hate to keep teasing this thing, but a huge construction project on the house put a huge stop to the whole thing. Now that the garage is as done as it's going to be for now, I picked up another project in the form of yet another Jeep Comanche (I have a few already) that will be turned into a SCCA tribute truck so that might take over the shop stall just to get the suspension mocked up, but I've still got hopes of picking at the buggy this winter.

Doesn't really have anything to do with the car other than the fact that this is where it gets worked on.

Old storage stall:
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With the construction done it got some room of its own. So... it's a little dirty, but at least I can sit in it again and get the juices flowing.
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neohic
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 07, 2013 7:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I hate those updates that are few and far between and then out of nowhere the thread pops back up with the original poster saying that the car was sold a while ago. Well... I'm happy to say that this one is still around!!! However, really been thinking about selling it. I literally haven't touched it for a year now but it still looks just as it did then.

Question for everyone though... anybody know what something like this is worth? The whole car is mocked up and waiting for bodywork, new seals in the engine, a finished interior, wiring, and wheels/tires. I hate to even ask such a thing, but I've just got too many projects and this one keeps getting pushed back. Thanks, dudes!
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bim55
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 08, 2013 5:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

you should be able to get 1,000 to maybee 1,500 range as is, but someone will try to lowball you also.
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glassbuggy
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 09, 2013 11:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

This may very well be a Linton body, Linton had that very hood design on the Spoiler. I've also seen a Manx clone with this hood detail. If the old man had this it may have come with the car Bart Dunebuggyarchives
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neohic
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 10, 2013 7:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the opinion and info, guys. Really up in the air with what to do with it. I really don't have all that much in it right now, it's just in the way more than anything else.
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neohic
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 12, 2013 7:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

glassbuggy wrote:
This may very well be a Linton body, Linton had that very hood design on the Spoiler. I've also seen a Manx clone with this hood detail. If the old man had this it may have come with the car Bart Dunebuggyarchives


Hu... look at that! Did some searching on DBA and came up with a match. Neato!
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HillBuggy
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 14, 2013 9:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Id keep it ... things will change and you'll wish you did
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neohic
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 15, 2013 6:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

HillBuggy wrote:
Id keep it ... things will change and you'll wish you did


Agreed. I don't really spend all that much time on here, but I've found myself checking this section of Samba a few times a day lately... pretty much ever since I said I was thinking of selling. So many awesome buggies here! I think I talked myself into it. Aw, well... Rolling Eyes

New question for everyone... would your average glass place be able to cut a new piece of safety glass for my windshield or do I have any better options?

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joescoolcustoms
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 15, 2013 7:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have had my local glass shop cut and install a tinted, DOT approved safety glass for a buggy windshield I broke by mistake.
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