Opening hood on dune buggy????

[Bikerndiver]

Is there a kit that allows you to hinge the front hood to open? I think that would add some ability to take small tools and such along and be out of sight.

[Letterman7]

Anything can be engineered to make work. You have to decide if it's worth the effort. Most buggies have the gas tank in the front under the hood - no other room for even small items.

[clonebug]

When I found my buggy body the original owner had cut the dash from the hood....on the Safari body the hood and dash is one piece.
The dash then was sort of fiberglassed to the body but needed work.
I ended up building some metal dash supports and then mounting a piece of bent metal to the correct angle to mount the hood to the body/dash.
It took a couple years of thinking about it but I now have a solid mounted dash and the hood comes off by pulling only two bolts.
I then had complete access to my wiring which I would never have been able to do if the hood wouldn't come off.

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[Bikerndiver]

Wow, that hood removal really lets you get to everything. When you have the hood installed, does it shake around while driving?

I'm really interested in doing this. I have an idea that would allow it to tilt forward from the windshield on hinges. Since there is only an 8 gallon gas tank up front, there may be some room to have a small tote bag of tools and parts like points....

[oprn]

This is what I need to do too!
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We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age)

[clonebug]

The hood just rests on the body and the two bolts in the upper corners are the only thing holding the hood on.
Its been that way in one form or another since 2004 and I've been over 100 mph with no movement or lifting.
I think I'm over 80,000 miles of driving from local driving to round trips of 4000 plus miles.

I can lift the hood up and get it past the headlights without having to remove anything else.
I do have to remove the drivers side wind wing to get enough room for the hood edge to slide past the windshield.

If you look at a Safari hood you will notice the front has a forward slope to it and not the backwards tuck like a Manx or Manx style hood.
That does allow me to get it off fairly easily since I lift it up and then move it back towards the windshield and then up and slide the bottom narrow part of the hood past the headlight buckets.
I have the fuel cap door that I open and it gives me a nice handle to lift the hood with.
I do have working wipers now so I added a six way Deutsch plug that I can detach easily. I used a flange style female side and mounted it on a piece of aluminum that I can reach from under the dash to unplug.

Everything is easily accessible and I could never have the cluster of wiring I have if the hood wasn't removable.
I was going to get a new Manx body back in 2021 but we never made it the the Big Bear meet so I never ordered one. I'm kind of glad I didn't because it would have been a nightmare fitting everything into a Manx the way their hoods and dashes work.
I think they could be modified but the headlight might have to come off the lift the hood....or you could try to make a hinge like the newer Manx SS.
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[Bikerndiver]

I really like what you did. Being able to lift the hood is a big plus to me. As soon as I get the buggy home, I can start figuring what will need to be done. I think its worth the effort though.

Thanks for the insight on what you have done.

[williams63]

I don't know of any kits but I have seen a few buggys that they made the opening hoods themself. I posted pics of them years ago. let me see if I can find them. give you an idea if you wanted to try to make one.

[williams63]

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=7910258&highlight=#7910258

[Bikerndiver]

[NJ John]

Your hood comes off. But the windshield will come with it. Not sure if your roof rack is incorporated into the windshield. Some kind of quick patches and a wire connector on the wipers and the process could be streamlined. My drag buggy was dzus on and I had no windshield.
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1973 standard, yellow, lowered, 3” narrowed front, 1600 blo-thru turbo w/single dell 15.4@86, so far
11.41 et buggy. Long gone
Let’s go O’s! Let’s go O’s!
https://www.youtube.com/@AirSpooledGarage

[Misclecarsonly]

DZUS fastners

[Misclecarsonly]

DZUS fastners

[saltypete]

I have a dune buggy that I purchased and the prior owner did a hack job with this very idea.
Id post a photo but I am not wise in the ways of doing that here. Sadly they usedtwo triangle shaped stainless steel hinges and cut the bonet open. Im deciding when I want to rectify this giant scar now.
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71 Bay Window
Stock 1600cc
aka Hackasaurus

[Bikerndiver]

I looked at the hinges from the Polaris Slingshot. I think they might do what I want.....
Trying to get a set from a crashed one.
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1966 Manx clone (possibly a Joe Poty Enterprises) named SANDY. '70 to '73 1300 cc w/1600 DP heads, twin carbs and headers

[MrGoodtunes]

I used hinges from an MG Midget (and springs from an old bed frame) on my Mini-Camaro kitcar.

[Bikerndiver]

[slalombuggy]

Cutting the hood is one thing, but there is nothing underneath the hood so you're going to have to build a storage area. And dont forget about building something to seal the openning you cut to prevent the air from getting under it and tearing it off. The hood sees an incredible amount of air and force at highway speeds. You'd be better off building a box to fit behind the seats.

[oprn]

The wind issue has been solved by every car company out there and the use of hinges and latches from one of them is quite possible. Another issue for me is making the hood reasonably water tight so that when driving in the rain the wiring and my knees will stay dry.

The real concern for me is that the hood is part of the structural rigidity of my car. No amount of chassis tuning (shocks, anti sway bars, tires etc.) is going to be effective if the body twists like a snake in the corners and over bumps. If I were to cut the hood loose then some other form of structure needs to take it's place. Just like we see here:

Another solution of course is a full roll cage... then the structural component of the hood is of much lesser importance.
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We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age)

[slalombuggy]