Fiber jet Rough Terrain build

[Willstang]

Finally getting the buggy in the garage and torn apart ready for some well needed new parts and a new engine. Here are some starting pics.

This pic is with my custom blanket soft top, held on with spring clamps and it held even while I drove.

I have a new motor to go into it, a 90.5x74mm that I want to power with a Weber progressive.
I have about half of the brakes done, just need to put the rest of it together and bleed it all and it should be good to go, stop I mean.

It is a 69+ full pan with ball joint/IRS and drums all around. Started smoking really bad which is why the new motor was needed. I could go two blocks and follow the smoke trail back, it was that bad. The new engine with total seal rings and a really good air filter should protect this motor.



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[Willstang]

Ok so my wife actually said I should replace my naturally aspirated floor pans and spend more money on this build.


Since I wanted to do this once and get it right I am going to use Wolfsburg West pans as they have the reputation for being great and somewhat local. They shipped same day and arrived at my house the next day! They are not that far away but still, great service.


My fingers are crossed that I get this done this weekend. Now if someone would just make a good exhaust that works with lower tins and preheat that looks good...


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[Willstang]

My first attempt at replacing floor pans went well I think. I didn't get them welded in as they didn't sit completely flat at least not yet. Once the extra of the old pans were removed they fit better. I did add to the 1" square tube that was under the front most parts of the pan but for what ever reason the PO left it short of the rear. I guess just under the rusted through parts needed the extra support.


Also filled n the forward corners where it was rusted through and removed by PO.


Other things were cleaned up and prepped like the pedal assembly, transaxle cleaned up and some tunnel welding was completed. This coming weekend should see most of it come together. Now to find some undercoating or bed liner to protect it all.

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[Willstang]

I was able to get the pans all welded in, sealed, under-coated and top-coated using both really old rubberized undercoating and some newer stuff that hardens and sealed in the smell of the old undercoating. Top was finished in two coats of spray on truck bed liner. Also was able to run the long brake line and held it down with cord ties and rivets. I hope that works.







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[FulsGld]

Hey;

This is looking GOOD! I'm going to try and follow this thread. I have one of these that is sitting in my driveway. I'm putting in a new dash and redoing the rear seat. Other than that (and maybe a set of 10" Cragers for the back) it's done. Keep posting pictures...

What it looked like then...


What it looks like now...

[Willstang]

Hey;

This is looking GOOD! I'm going to try and follow this thread. I have one of these that is sitting in my driveway. I'm putting in a new dash and redoing the rear seat. Other than that (and maybe a set of 10" Cragers for the back) it's done. Keep posting pictures...

What it looked like then...


What it looks like now...

Thanks for the nice comments. Wasn't sure there if there were many of these left. Nice to see someone else rocking the sparkly green with kids in tow. Updates are coming.

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[Willstang]

Ok, so been doing a little bit at a time and going slow so that I dont completely mess it up.

I used standard body to pan rubber and riveted it down to keep it in place, I tried stainless screws but the cheap crap from Home Depot kept snapping the heads off.
I will get a pic here soon

I fiberglassed some new rear supports into the body last weekend and am surprised that they seem to hold well. I used 3/4" thick OSB just because I already had it lying around and free is great! Cut and fitted one then the other into place then mixed up the resin and did the passenger side first then the drivers side to give the passenger side a chance to cure a bit. Measured for the new rear blinkers first, don't want to make it uglier just because I didn't plan well.




I trimmed the inside lip of the body that always bugged me that it wasn't trimmed off. Then I made the body mount for the inside. They kind of look like hockey sticks except they are 1-1/4" x 1/4" thick steel to sandwich the body to the pan. I am hopeing this cuts down on some of the creaking that I used to have when on uneven roads. They should also give a good stable mount for the roll bars and seat belts to attach too. They were cut to allow for a custom bend in the front then clamped down and tack welded then removed and fully welded on both sides then ground flat and painted with new undercoating.



I did run some new wires for the new oil pressure and temperature gauges and cut the dash and installed the gauges. They are not wires up yet as I still have to figure out that mess before too long.


For the one really pain project was the solution to adding manifold preheat since I am going to run a Weber progressive carb. I purchased a new exhaust and muffler from Tri-Mil and into the center of the collector milled out a 3/4" hole right in the middle of all four exhaust pipes.




Into that hole went a tig welded double tube of 3/4" tube about three inches long and inside of that was a 5/8" tube about two inches longer. (I was initially going to connect this a little different)

This is an inside shot, I'm hoping for a good vacuum draw on this to help pull the heat through.


I am going to use a corrugated stainless steel flexible pipe to connect this to the #4 side of the manifold preheat. I did have to drill out the #2 side and file quite a bit to get that opened up. The #4 side I just cut off completely from the exhaust. This will allow me to have an exhaust mount for the full flow oil filter.

-Will

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[lastmanx]

wow just wow. your build looks great, you have a plan and are working forward to completion. you are correct in doing it right the first time. don't give up, you are at the point were the fun is diminishing and work is increasing. I have been there ; you just need to tell yourself to work at it even if it is only for one hour at a time. you seem to be intimidated by redoing the wiring; I was too once. if you take it one wire at a time you can get through it (it worked for me). seriously concentrate on one wire at a time connecting it on one end and then connect it at the other. then take another wire and do the same. after awhile you will have it all done. rather than stressing on connecting all wires at the rear and then connecting them all to the front; it is how I got through it. it may sound long and tedious (and it is) but once done you won't have to revisit it. I prefer the stock beetle harness as you have a separate color for each wire and a official wire diagram to follow. if you can find an early Bentley manual (66 -69 ) it has a color coded diagram that is easy to follow. it may be a swap meet find as reprints don't have the colored diagram. I have wired a dozen buggys and gotten good at it, but that first one was nerve wracking. as for grounds; I have seen it done many ways. my way is simple. engine trans grounded by solid mounts. dash ground by drilling 1/8 hole on top of tunnel center by front bulkhead. stainless screw holding thick gauge wire or wires for dash instruments. by grounding to the wiper assembly you can use that to run more grounds like stock vw does. the rear tail lights ground to the stock engine tin nut bosses that would connect to stock engine outer tin. one on each side. in front on frame head by front outer bulkhead near stock brake hose mount I drill 1/8 hole to screw for wires on lights and gas tank ground. if using a voltage regulator I mount it near stock placement under rear seat area. in rear glass body and run ground wire to 1/8 hole in floor. that's it. if I suspect a ground issue I now have only 5 places to check that are easy access. I prefer spade connectors (like vw used); because if the wire gets snagged or pulled accidently it releases not breaks, so you can reconnect in the field. oops sorry this may be more info than needed. I just wanted you to know what works. I have seen too many people try to reinvent the wheel and overcomplicate things. my philosophy is that the dune buggy is based on the beetle that was a simply designed vehicle so a buggy only needs to be as simple as the beetle's design; a design that has worked simply for decades. I am looking for a winter buggy project nowadays and your photos have inspired me and reminded me at what it really takes to build one correctly. keep at it spring is right around the corner and you will want it finished by then. keep smiling and buggy on!

[Willstang]

Thank you for the kind words of encouragement. I have not done much more with the holidays and family responsibilities not to mention that thing called work. I have pressed on with the plans to rewrite the buggy almost entirely. Since I have installed the two oil gauges, temp and pressure, I ran some wires for them. I have a Speedhut tach on order and expect it within two weeks. I will put it to the right of the column and move the headlight and wiper switches to the left of the speedometer. I'm just waiting on the gauge and new switches. I am also going to wire in hazard lights. All of these silly things add up when there isn't one great source for wiring diagrams that I could find. I also purchased some new fuse blocks with modern fuses and a copper ground buss. It seems that the majority of the issues I had with the lights not working well were he result of poor ground.
I opened up the high beam relay switch and cleaned it up and it works great from the column as long as the ground was good.
The hood was removed as well as the fuel tank which will get a cleaning and a new fuel sending unit so that I don't have to guess how much fuel is in that thing anymore. No slosh test to see the fuel level (well hopefully). I have seen a neat way to support the front of the floppy body with some welded brackets from the shock towers to the headlamp bases and will try to replicate the concept on this buggy. By brothers buggy is so much more rigid with this setup.
I have most of the parts and wiring figured out in my head, just need to put the plan into action in the next few weekends as time permits.
I'll post pictures as I actually get stuff done in this project. Thanks for playing along!

Will-


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[Willstang]

Well, I have been at it again. You know, you go out to work on the buggy and just stare into the whole mess of it and before you know it nothing has happened. That was the last month or so (or longer).

I have the new Speedhut tach that I received as a Christmas gift. The oil gauges and all new switches for the headlights, wipers and horns. O yeah, I'm going to attempt to put in hazard lights too.



I finally bought a mig welder with bottle and cart, it's a little late but better than never.


I fabricated two different front supports, one under each headlamp base from the top of the shock tower and one under the front lip to help support the fuel tank.



Yes, that hole was created by the top of the shock before I got the car. The fenders were really floppy. This bracket made huge improvements in rigidity and leveled out the fenders as well. The passenger side was always noticeably lower than the drivers side.

I have started on the filler panel to cut down on cold airflow from under the hood and fuel tank. It may also hold the fuse boxes and relay as well.
The template

The real thing so far



I will have the radio and speakers this week, today actually, and get the details hashed out this weekend. Placement, wiring and speaker locations. I hope it doesn't sound like crap. I am thinking of mounting the rear speakers below the rear seat in the fiberglass and if my measurements are correct it should have plenty of clearance on the backside. The fronts I want to mount to the steering column support bracket that I fabricated.


I was able to modify the bracket for the Ah-oo-gah horn and fit it tightly in its little nook in the front of the buggy. I took this out for my first buggy project where they had it mounted inside the passenger compartment up by front passengers feet. How loud would that have been?


After this stuff is done I will clean out the fuel tank again, and drop that in one last time with some added weatherstripping to get some added clearance for the rag joint and steering linkage which had both worn holes in the tank. Those have been sealed for now until I can replace it with a new better fitting fuel tank.

Enough for now.

-Willstang


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[Willstang]

I know it's been too long between posts. But I have been up to some good work on the buggy. I have been able to cut all the holes in the dash and install all of the buttons and gauges that I had intended to use. A Speedhut tach is to the right of the column and then the two oil gauges. I have replaced the fuel sending unit as well and installed some new lights on the original cluster to be a bit brighter. I haven't turned them on yet but they should look similar to each other with the possible exception of the tach as that is led lit. The two buttons beneath the oil gauges are for the horns, the stock beetle and the ahoogah horn.

There is a place for the stock type hazard switch to go as well next to the steering column on the right. It took a hole bunch of head scratching and image searching to make sure the wired all went to the correct locations but they work as they are supposed to even the switch light itself.



I have also been up to wiring most everything in the buggy too. I was able to mount the subwoofer (I know overkill but it should sound nice) and all the fuse panels and the ground buss to the divider panel. Most of the wiring is complete now, just need to make sense of how to pretty it up and still have it work.



Current state:



I had a bit of a problem with how to attach the hood to the buggy with the divider panel in place as most of you know the hood bolted along the inside and under the hood almost all the way down and the only way to get there was with some really long arms. Well I came up with another way using some aircraft nutplates that I will rivet to the inside of the hood after I locate some new mounting locations and drill some new holes in both the body and hood 4-5 down that section per side should be enough I think.



I gave in and purchased and installed a Carter rotary fuel pump under the tank on the support bat that runs just in front of the firewall above the ahoogah horn. I have it all wired up but may change to a relay off the alternator light so that it only pumps when the engine is running. I have run the brake hoses to the reservoir as cleanly as I could, I kinda went a little short on the hose length when I ordered it but it just fits well for both circuits. I still need to bleed the brakes and fill that reservoir before the gas tank goes in.




I'm not near done but progress is being made, albeit, slowly but I have not given up.

Thank you to lastmanx for the pep-type many months ago. While it may seem that it was ignored I have re-read it many times when I get discouraged and it helps bring me back out to the garage to tackle the next wire.

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[Willstang]

Almost there! I had a scare with a broken exhaust stud Thursday night but was able to finally drill it out and chase the threads and it worked out wonderfully. The hood is attached, the wires are all run and in their looms. The roll cage is installed. All the lights work properly. New brake lights / tail lights are installed. Brakes are adjusted as much as can be before driving. So much has been done in the last few weeks that I don't remember them all. I am getting excited for the Big Bear Bash and need to get any bugs worked out before then.




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[Willstang]

This past weekend and on the 4th of July I was able to get the motor in and almost ready to start it up and break it in. Oil system is plumbed and primed. Fuel gauge works so far and the lines are primed, clear and connected. All gauges are hooked up and seem to function properly. I'm nervous to fire it up for the first time with new carb and new CB Magnaspark distributor. I need to cut and re-weld the seat track to fit better and drive it.

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[Willstang]

Well I have driven it a little but it runs like crap. Missing, sputtering and lots of hesitation. And now it nearly dies at anything over 3000 rpm. I'm not sure what is going on. I have a new carb and new distributor so it could be either of those or both I really don't know right now I am so frustrated with it. Hopefully aircooled.net and CB Performance can help me tomorrow.

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[Willstang]

It’s been a long time since I have moved forward on this build. I was finally able to get the engine issues worked out. It was a very faulty distributor. It would test well but function poorly to make it seem to me and others that it was carb related so that is where I was focusing all of my attention. Swapped out for my worn and abused 009 and it is a night and day difference. I am disappointed that it didn’t work correctly all this time and frustration but am happy to be able to move forward from here.

All other work on the build had been put on hold until the engine issues could be worked out. Now that I believe the hard part is figured out I can start on the rest of things. More to come.



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