Double-Double’s Adventure Bug Build

[Double-Double]

Put in some time sanding down the body today. Amazed at the lack of rust. There is none! I found one door ding I need to address however.

Trying to get as much accomplished as I can before my friends come over to help me pull it off and put it on the dollies.

[Dark Earth]

[Double-Double]

[Double-Double]

Pulled the bug out today to get some current pics so you can see what I’m working with. Almost have all the paint stripped off and then I am going to epoxy primer and raptor line inside and out when the body is off the car. Got the garage all cleaned up and blowed our so I am ready to take the body off tomorrow. Looking forward to getting the new floor pans and redoubt the entire chassis in the next couple weeks!

Anyone know of a good solution for getting the grease out of the trailing arms and front beam before I drop them off to the powder coaters?

[jsturtlebuggy]

If you are planning on using this off road where rocks and stuff is going to hit the suspension, powered coating is not the way to go. It will chip off and scratch off.
STEEL-IT is a stainless steel coating that being used in off road racing because is stays on parts and is easy to touch up. You can even weld through it.
Comes in spray cans, quarts, and gallons.
Two colors, stainless and black.
Can be found at several off road shops, including KarTek in Corona, CA
I use it on my stuff and seen what it looks like on a Trophy Truck after it has raced in Baja.
_________________
Joseph
Fair Oaks/Orangevale, CA
Elrod Motorsports
Motion Tire Motorsports
Having fun with Dune Buggies since 1970
Into Volkswagens since 1960

[Double-Double]

[jsturtlebuggy]

All my stuff is covered with dirt now, have not washed it since last outing.
There a couple of videos on KarTek site about STEEL-IT
_________________
Joseph
Fair Oaks/Orangevale, CA
Elrod Motorsports
Motion Tire Motorsports
Having fun with Dune Buggies since 1970
Into Volkswagens since 1960

[Double-Double]

[jsturtlebuggy]

Spray cans goes pretty far, I do one coat dusting then a final coat.
You can buy a quart and spray it with paint gun. best to have a 1.7 size nozzle.
Or brush it on, it flows well.
I did the front bumper on my truck with it using a spray gun with smaller size, had to thin it to make work.
_________________
Joseph
Fair Oaks/Orangevale, CA
Elrod Motorsports
Motion Tire Motorsports
Having fun with Dune Buggies since 1970
Into Volkswagens since 1960

[Double-Double]

[Double-Double]

Had a buddy from my old work come over today and help me and my father take the body off. Put it on some cheap Harbor Freight dollies so I can roll it around when not working on it. I thought I had forgotten to take something off, but it was just the body to pan gasket and engine gaskets sticking and they needed to kind of snap off. Anyways, got it done, and I am excited, now I can finally see what exactly I am working with. I will take more detailed pictures for reference photos later, but now I can start cutting out the old floor pans and trim the new to be welded in. Then I will take all the parts off the chassis I can before sanding it down, seam sealing it, and then raptor lining the whole thing. The mechanical suspension parts are now going to be done in the black Steel-It, after sandblasting, instead of powder coat so I can do it at home, on my own time and it will be a much more durable surface. After the chassis is all painted, I have every seal, bearing, and piece that can be replaced sitting in my shop so I can rebuild the beam, brakes, etc... I am finally going to start getting somewhere on this build before I have to start painting the body in Raptor as well.

As you can see I am pretty pleased with what I am starting out with. Seems to be a pretty nice, rust free car. Should go pretty smoothly from here on out once the new floor pans are installed. Time to get going finally!

[Double-Double]

Rolled the chassis out front today while the wife taking a nap and hit it with some engine degreaser and a steel brush. I was going to pressure wash it, but my pressure washer sprung a leak so I need to get some new o-rings for it and then wash the chassis again with more degreaser. I can finally see where the bolts are now! I honestly thought it was some sort of undercoating on all the parts but it was actually just grease and road grime, 51 years worth. Overall I think I lucked out on the lack of rust and I am excited to start taking things down. I think I will leave it together to weld the floorpans on first so it retains its shape the way it would while driving and then take everything down. I have to find a hex bit large enough for the rear trailing arm screws and I am also considering rebuilding the steering box while I have access to it. Anyone know of a kit for doing this?

[Double-Double]

Got started cutting out the old floorpans today. Started with my cutoff wheel but it was going too slow for my liking so I used the air chisel to cut away up to about 2” from the lip. I then hammered the old floorpans up to see where the layers were and air chiseled along the lip separating the two. My first time doing this, I think it turned out pretty good. I managed to keep all the whole lip all the way around in pretty good shape, now I just have to grind it smooth and start fitting the replacements.

The passenger side gave me confidence to tackle the more difficult driver side. I will have to remove the pedal cluster and brake lines before I go.

While I was doing this I also used the air chisel to get rid of the tarboards on the tunnel since I am raptor lining the whole thing and then putting sound deadener. Plus it lets me inspect everything as I go.

[Double-Double]

Not as much done today because of doctors appointments, but managed to get the master cylinder out, pedal cluster and more of the tunnel stripped to make way for epoxy primer. Hope to get more done tomorrow. Would like to get the floorpans and welding done by the end of the month.

I am looking up parts to rebuild my pedal cluster since I have it out. Might as well replace the bushings, Springs, clutch cable hook and repaint it all while I have easy access to it.

Received my “bulletproof” throttle cable from Aircooled.net which was repacked Scat HD throttle cable and hardware kit, and the proper sized urethane bushings for the Atomwerk spring plates. Also received a Wolfsburg West pre-67 grab handle so I can fit that one to my dash since I will not being using a dash pad and I will weld in the holes.

[Double-Double]

Managed to get some more sanding of the chassis done today, still working on that, but didn't get as far as I'd like today. Had to deal with refinancing our house.... Anyways, did manage to get my mirrors in from Kartek. I think these will be really nice. I have never had a passenger side mirror on a bug before, so that will be a first. I went with the 6" convex mirrors and I think they will be a great addition. It should be easier to see blind spots. Only drawback will be I don't think I'll be able to open the wind wings all the way, but they seem to flop back when you hit a certain speed anyways, so not a huge deal. I will be mounting these with nutzerts, before I do the raptor liner, so I don't have to drill through the bed liner.

[Double-Double]

Managed to get the driver's side floorpan cut out today. I only used the cutoff wheel to get a starting point and then just went at it with the air chisel. I found that if I ripped it around the pan, about 1-2" from the welds, I could hammer up a section and then use the air chisel to chase it all the way around the chassis. It was much simpler this time, the only hard part was working around the seat tracks, but I just bent the old floor pan down and smashed the track away with my hammer and it busted the welds enough to tear it off. I will clean up the lip with a grinder and start fitting the new floorpans very soon.

I am excited, almost done stripping everything down and done with the dirty work. I will be anxious to start painting and putting in new clean parts, and making progress.

[tobiism]

Great progress!
_________________
"There has never been a genius without a hint of madness."
-Albert Einstein

[Double-Double]

[Double-Double]

Did more sanding on the chassis today and some general cleaning up. I am almost ready to start fitting the new floorpans. I have to trim atleast an inch off of them. They are substantially more heavy than the ones I cut off. Either they are heavier duty or the originals shed so much material over 50 years.

Also did some experimenting on cleaning up the heater boxes and the transmission. I believe I will be able to make them look like new. I will probably put them off the motor at some point and freshen them up. The transmission will be removed because I have to put in the 100mm final drive flanges anyways and new mounts.

[Double-Double]

Got the passenger side floor pan mostly fitted today. I have to get a deburring bit and an air grinder to finish because I still have some old welds left over I can’t quite get to with my 4.5” grinder or the air cutoff wheel I have. I am taking my time and fitting it and grinding on the edges to get a nice small gap along the tunnel. After it is fitted I will run my air flange/punch tool down the edge to make the holes for the spot welds. Anyways, I feel like it’s going pretty good (albeit slowly) for my first time. I was pretty nervous about messing up a $250 floor pan. I have had to take off approximately 3/4” almost all the way around.