Manx Buggy build thread!

[Phil513]

OK. Here we go.

First i'll start with a bit of background verbage. If this is of interest to you, read away, if not, well just skip this part. hahaha.

When i owned this about 15 years ago, it was a running vehicle based on a 1956 volkswagen pan, with a '56 title, which is very good for smog and such. I took it all apart to fix it up, life got complicated and i sold the pile of parts. The guy just gave them all back to me, free of charge.

In the years that passed, the 1956 pan rusted horribly, rendering it unusable. Fortunately, he did cut the VIN number out of the pan, so i have a chunk of metal with a number that matches the pink slip. He gave me a rolling pan from a 1973 beetle, so once i weld the vin number in place, it will basically be a 1956 again. The downside is my front end and transmission (out of a 1956 VW Bus) will not work on this chassis. Not a big deal, the new one has the later ball joint front end, basically all i need is a later model IRS (independant rear suspension) transmission, and a motor of some kind. Pretty much any year will work.

The new pan has not been shortened, so that will probably be my first order of business. Its quite a chore, 14.5 inches or so has to be removed all the way across the pan then rewelded together, along with shortening the throttle cable, shifter tube, clutch cable, and various brake and hose stuff.

I did get back a lot of stuff i had bought that will still work. Gas tank, roll cage, side nerf bars, front and rear bumpers, steering column, etc.

Now for some pics.

Here is the rolling chassis in all its glory.

Here is the body sitting on the pan for transport. And a very dirty windshield. hahaha.

Here is the body with the nose piece sitting on it. The gas tank sits under the nose piece.

Here is a shot that shows roughly how much needs to be shortened. about 14 inches needs to be removed.

And here is a shot of the 1956 link pin front end and old bus tranny, which wont work for me anymore, maybe i can sell them off.

And so, thats it for now. Dont expect this thread to move very fast, but as i make progress, i'll keep you updated!

 

[Mark Wein]

Very cool! This should be fun to watch as it progresses....

 

[Chihlidog]

I'm looking forward to seeing this progress! Good luck with it!

 

[Phil513]

Thanks guys. Its like putting together a puzzle, but all the pieces are really dirty and need to be cleaned and painted first. hahaha.

I'll keep you all up to date.

 

[Prages]

Very cool. If I hit the lottery, I'll give you enough money to build the buggy.

 

[telecaster911]

I love VW's...not anything beyond the early 90s though.

 

[Phil513]

Very cool. If I hit the lottery, I'll give you enough money to build the buggy.

Well, that would sure speed up the process. hahaha. Thanks Prages. This should be interesting, because i'm not just going to be able to fill a cart with cool parts and slap them on. There is going to be a lot of scrounging, getting used parts and cleaning them up and painting, that sort of thing. Thus the desicion to not try and build a super trick off road car, but more of a nostalgia beach buggy. It will be much simpler and cheaper. I do have a full six-point roll cage for it though, which is going to look kinda cool. hahaha.

 

[Phil513]

I love VW's...not anything beyond the early 90s though.

Actually, i dont care much for anything past about 82 or so, whenever the vanagon went water cooled. hahaha. Volkswagens should be loveable, irritating, tempermental, and air-cooled.

 

[Johnny N.]

That looks like a lot of work. Fun, but a lot of work. Very cool Phil. I will definitely enjoy watching the progress.

 

[telecaster911]

Actually, i dont care much for anything past about 82 or so, whenever the vanagon went water cooled. hahaha. Volkswagens should be loveable, irritating, tempermental, and air-cooled.

I was trying to cover the earlier jetta in there with the later date. A pretty fun car in itself.

A vanagon would be great fun.

 

[Phil513]

OK, a few more pics. I went over to my boss' house at lunch to get some of the parts to take home and start cleaning up, de-rusting, and painting. Unfortunately it has a sorta flat white base paint coat, so all the detail just sorta gets washed out on a cloudy day like this.

Here is a pic of the junkyard removal of the old transmission. Note the axles were just torched off. hahaha.

A genuine steering wheel from 1956. I'll keep the column, but dont know if the wheel is worth saving.

Here are some parts in my trunk. A cool little shifter, some off-road lights, and a turning brake set-up, handy for VWs that play in the sand.

 

[Mark Wein]

It would be sweet to keep the steering wheel if yu can...

 

[Phil513]

It would be sweet to keep the steering wheel if yu can...

Yeah, i'm thinking of going with a powder blue color with black roll bars and bumpers, so i might be able to sand and restore the steering wheel and paint it blue.

 

[Chihlidog]

[x]Thread wins

[ ]Thread fails

 

[Prages]

That thing is going to be way cool.

Someday I have to do something like this.

 

[Phil513]

Thanks guys! It's not really too tough to do, other than the shortening of the pan, which might be tough. I think i have arranged for that to take place soon, maybe in a couple weeks. After that its mostly just assembling of stuff. Of course, money facilitates that process quite a bit. hahaha. But if you don't aim for a real show vehicle, you can save a lot.

 

[Phil513]

Buggy Build Update!

First the before picture. You can see how far back the rear wheels are sticking. No one really knows why Bruce Meyers made the manx buggy 14" shorter than a volksie, but he did.

After lots of careful measuring (measure twice, cut once) i figured out mine actually needed 14 5/8" removed.

The body off the VW pan.

I marked the areas that needed to be cut, then we traced the line across following a laser guide, the base was magnetic, you can see it stuck to the garbage can on the right. The guy helping me is Chris, a co-worker.

Here is the tunnel part removed, exposing the shift linkage, fuel line, clutch, throttle, etc. those will be shortened later. We did the cutting with a die grinder and a buttload of grinder discs.

Here i am under the pan cutting the underside of the tunnel. We lifted it up with a forklift.

And there you have it, a 14 5/8" chunk removed.

We shoved the two pieces together and started welding, after measuring again.

We added some additional gussets in spots to strengthen it.

And behold, the final product, it came out perfect!

Not exactly sure of the next step, but soon i'll have to scrounge up an engine and transmission from somewhere.

 

[Mark Wein]

Very cool! SO did you have the body from before and the VW bit was the other guys?

 

[Phil513]

Very cool! SO did you have the body from before and the VW bit was the other guys?

Yeah. When i had the buggy running it had a 1956 vw running gear. It was taken apart to fix up, but the guy just left it outside for about 15 years and it rusted away. So he had bought a pan from a 1973 beetle, and gave that to me with the body.

He did have the forsight to cut the VIN out of the 56 VW though, so all i have to do is weld that scrap of metal with the engraved number in place, and viola! Its a '56 again. :biggrin:

My pink slip still says 1956.

 

[Mark Wein]

Yeah. When i had the buggy running it had a 1956 vw running gear. It was taken apart to fix up, but the guy just left it outside for about 15 years and it rusted away. So he had bought a pan from a 1973 beetle, and gave that to me with the body.

He did have the forsight to cut the VIN out of the 56 VW though, so all i have to do is weld that scrap of metal with the engraved number in place, and viola! Its a '56 again. :biggrin:

My pink slip still says 1956.

With what I know of registering old cars in California thats a pretty cool thing...