FOUND: Monocoque No. ?

CairoManx · Post by **CairoManx** » Sat Jan 11, 2014 8:29 pm

It has one of the single tube bumpers Meyers sold. They were 3/4" diameter.

vwmanx · Post by **vwmanx** » Sat Jan 11, 2014 9:04 pm

Re the bumper, it has the brackets of the single tube front bumper but the width for the monocoque is much wider. I have one of the single tube bumpers and checked to see if I could get it to work on #7 but it will not. The brackets on the other hand will work. I will post a picture later showing the production single tube bumper against the monocoque for reference

vwmanx · Post by **vwmanx** » Sat Jan 11, 2014 9:10 pm

Re the black buckets, mine were painted blue like the body and I kept it that way. I had an additional set of diets which I painted and kept the original blue ones which were on the car. I think that they look better the color of the car personally although the black really gives it a utilitarian look. Thanks for posting the pictures of the Porsche monocoque.

Scott-Drolet · Post by **Scott-Drolet** » Sun Jan 12, 2014 9:23 pm

Here's some more pictures, this time the tub interior and the underneath:
The passenger side has a fiberglass cloth overlay under the outermost seat track. Battery was relocated behind the passenger seat:

Area under drivers seat is intact (Just really dirty!)

Plus, there's this wooden block assembly where a roll bar could go, but it's not large enough to hold one and it's only on the driver's side.

Prior owner was big on reinforcing, or bolts had pulled through fiberglass previously:
One of the seatbelts has a diamond plate square above and below with the seatbelt bolt running through:

Also reinforced in several over places with steel bars above and below (Little trash can has two bolts holding it in place (sigh):

Floor is intact on drivers side, but worn through the gelcoat, much of the car has been repainted.

Now underneath:
The hourglass wood piece stops at a piece of angle iron that is welded on to the rear of the bottom of the front end torsion housing:

However, there is another piece of wood (Masonite?) that is bolted underneath it so it is double thick in that area.

Here's the view from above under the trunk. You can see the hourglass board was cut off before it reached the angle iron, and held up by the board underneath:

This is where the front bumper bolts come up through both boards:

Here's another shot from underneath:

Here's looking back towards the rear of the buggy from where that Masonite board stops. You can see the reinforcement bars matching the ones on the top side:

Here's where the rear cage mounts, and where a gloppy repair to the gas tank was attempted:

The rear torsion bar is barely hanging on (Obviously had a rough life!)

Passenger side is not much better

Passenger side cage

Drivers side cage

Front bumper may be original? It has the same exact welds as the rear:

That's the pictures I took this morning. Please let me know if you'd like to see something that I might have missed and I'll take some more. It may take a little time to take more pictures, however. I've moved the buggies around today. I have a three car garage that will hold four buggies. Thankfully, I have a great friendship with my ex who lives only two miles away. She's keeping two of them on a temporary basis.

vwmanx · Post by **vwmanx** » Mon Jan 13, 2014 2:57 am

Hi Scott. Thanks for posting these shots. Fantastic.
The angle iron that the front of the board mounts to is supposed to be there. That angle iron part actually bolts to the backside of the main front suspension mounting holes.
The steel plate appears more to be aluminum plate. I am suspecting that that wood underneath is likely cracked or damaged. Mine was broken about 8 inches back from the front suspension from (I assume) a very early mishap. The wood block stuff is odd. I am thinking that the owner had something that he carried with him in the car and that is the holder for it. There are no indications of scratches or damage on the body near it so it might have been a fishing pole or something? I have to admit my first thought was that it is kind of made to hold a pistol pointed down into it.

You do have some significant damage to the glass holding the rear suspension frame in place at the bottom. WIth the way that it is held in place and the fact that your tank is leaking, I would say that your best bet would be to ultimately cut that whole rear suspension mount out of there (cut all the glass wrapped around it) . At that point you will need to grind back to fresh glass and "glue" it back in place.
The single tube front bumper that Nelson showed on up this thread was a production piece and it is too narrow for the monocoque front hood. I have one of these bumpers and test fit it. The brackets will somewhat fit. If you look at Perrys video, it appears that he has the same early brackets as Nelson shows. Realistically, these brackets were not available during the monocoque production...they came with the first generation Manxes.

I have some pictures of the bracket and bumper up against mine for reference. I will attach to this thread in a bit.

Scott-Drolet · Post by **Scott-Drolet** » Mon Jan 13, 2014 5:44 am

Thanks Chris, It looks like my hourglass board is missing about six inches back from the angle iron, and is now held up by the bumper bolts holding the two boards together.
I agree about undoing the suspension pieces, then re-attaching them to the body. I'll probably leave that part to a professional, however, I have no idea how to do that cleanly and guarantee it'll hold. That'll also give me a chance to sandblast off all the rust and repaint or powder coat the torsion housing and rear suspension bits. Also, with the sad condition of the gas tank, maybe an insert like the one Perry used makes sense. It's beginning to look like Jay may be the right guy to handle this!
I had to laugh when you said the wooden blocks might be designed to hold a pistol . .that's exactly what I thought when I saw it. But, the way those blocks are arranged also look like something a mold maker or boat builder would come up with. They're very precise in form and fit. The original cage / surrey top structure had two "J" hooks above both sides of the windshield, and I figured that must have been a rifle rack.

1856 · Post by **1856** » Mon Jan 13, 2014 5:52 am

Scott thanks for the great pics. They show the depth of the coming project. The advantage of having Chris nearby with his knowledge and experiences will surly simplify your coming tasks ...
We're look'n froward to you continuing stories
MnC

dcamomanx · Post by **dcamomanx** » Mon Jan 13, 2014 6:35 am

Scott,

Thanks for posting all these pics. It really neat to see how these manxes were made and all the details that went into them. I'm always amazed at how creative Bruce is.

Doran

Ed-Chenal · Post by **Ed-Chenal** » Mon Jan 13, 2014 11:36 am

Scott,
Thanks for posting all the pictures. It's like a history lesson.
Even with the front tires in place, it makes me nervous seeing pictures of the bottom of your buggy and no jack stands.
Sorry to sound like your father.

Scott-Drolet · Post by **Scott-Drolet** » Tue Jan 14, 2014 6:10 am

I agree Ed. Rest Assured I didn't get under it . . I used a monopod stick with the camera on a timer. It allowed me to get as far away from the bottom of the car by placing the camera almost flat on the floor.

Ed-Chenal · Post by **Ed-Chenal** » Tue Jan 14, 2014 6:15 am

Thanks Scott. I'll sleep better tonight knowing that.
You're much smarter than the average bear.

calvin · Post by **calvin** » Tue Jan 14, 2014 1:20 pm

Thing I noticed about the Mark Gerragos car is that the front tires were Goodyear racing tires. I think they were what you would have found on a road racing bigger open wheel road racing car. That plus the combination of the Porsche engine somewhat implies that it may have been used in slolam, autocross, or maybe road racing events at some time, as were more dune buggies than most people realize.

Scott-Drolet · Post by **Scott-Drolet** » Sat Jan 18, 2014 11:38 pm

I have to thank my good friend, Bob Kornoff, and my new good friend, Mike Presley, for helping me on Friday.
Bob was kind enough to not only give me a complete, running, 40 horse, he also was willing to bring it down with him on a trip he was making to Arizona. The only problem was that he was heading down on Thursday via Barstow, but I was stuck in a conference and couldn't make Barstow until Friday afternoon. Enter Mike, who both lives in Barstow and was willing to act as the drop off point. Not only did Mike hold the engine until I got there, he threw in another 40HP that I could use for parts. What a great group of people who belong to this club! Thank you both for going out of your way on my behalf. It's really appreciated!
I'll be rebuilding one of them as a 6-volt for the monocoque to make it a bit more period correct.

vwmanx · Post by **vwmanx** » Sun Jan 19, 2014 12:49 am

Scott,
Make sure to look for a 6V battery that will fit that battery pocket. I ended up going with a 356/912 Porsche generator. Same size physically as a 6V standard VW generator so it looks correct but you can run 12V stuff.

Good deal re the old 40 HP. I would like to find a 356 for mine but the cost is prohibitive...Any "friends" out there have a 356 engine they would like to give up for a worthy cause

Scott-Drolet · Post by **Scott-Drolet** » Sun Jan 19, 2014 2:12 am

UPDATE: Seats are stock, not lowered Chris Lewis checked his stock seats and they're identical.
I'm still on the fence, it might be 12 volt. There's so many small footprint 12v batteries out there that it would probably be easier.
One of the other things I did was check out the seats. It looks like the were lowered. The front is 4 inches from the top bar to the top of the track slide:

The rear are 4-1/2"

A couple of welds, too: