ShopTalk Forums | Aircooled VW Tech & Restoration Help

turbobaja wrote:Good eye on the center caps Chris, I didn't notice those, or even know they existed... They look a little cleaner than those stamped chromed china tins.

I can't imagine how it couldn't be an wheels-up walking machine with a powerplant like that , you build it?

I like the center caps a lot more than the chrome ones. Plus, being aluminum, I don't have to worry about them rusting the first time I wash it. As for the motor, no, I didn't build it. The friend of mine I bought the car from built it. It was a package deal. I got two mid engine sand rails and this buggy from him. I pulled this motor and trans from one of the rails then gave that rail to my brother. Here's a pic of the rail and my buggy.

cool.

its been a hell of alot of work for you in my front yard. but i can say first hand, it flies and the suspension works great. good job

And the roll cage looks a million times better. The old one looked like it was made for a helicopter to land on!

Clelandracing wrote:its been a hell of alot of work for you in my front yard. but i can say first hand, it flies and the suspension works great. good job

Yes it was, but, like I said it was well worth it. Thanks!

Clelandracing wrote:And the roll cage looks a million times better. The old one looked like it was made for a helicopter to land on!

The first trip to Glamis is winding down and the buggy did great. Up until today that is. Both of the springs on the #4 intake valve broke and bent the valve. On a happier note though, the keepers stayed in place and the valve just barely kissed the piston. You cant even see where the valve touched. So fortunately, all I need to do is replace the springs and one valve and I'll be up and running again. The only other things I had to do were reindexing the rear torsion bars and trimming some fiberglass so the rear paddles wouldn't rub. The car is a blast to drive in the sand with all that power! I got a lot of good video with the GoPro so I'll post a couple when I get home from Glamis tomorrow.

For now, here's a short video my brother took with his iphone.

Buggy sounds good, smooth!

It do sound good. At times I wish my engine was a bit bigger.

Lee

That was a fun video! We need more of you around here, people who spend more time playing than building. I agree that engine sounds super smooth.

Thanks for sharing, looking forward to the "real" videos.

Love glass buggies. Very nice job!

Leatherneck wrote:Buggy sounds good, smooth!

Ol'fogasaurus wrote:It do sound good. At times I wish my engine was a bit bigger.

Lee

RyanB wrote:Love glass buggies. Very nice job!

Thanks! It runs surprisingly smooth. At least until the intake spring breaks!

ts39136 wrote:That was a fun video! We need more of you around here, people who spend more time playing than building. I agree that engine sounds super smooth.

Thanks for sharing, looking forward to the "real" videos.

Thanks! It just isn't fun if you don't take them out and beat them on a regular basis. As for the videos, here's another one I finished up. I've still got another 80 gigs of video to go through.

OK, lookin' good but you can't rest on your laurels; what are you going to do to it next?

Lee

Ol'fogasaurus wrote:OK, lookin' good but you can't rest on your laurels; what are you going to do to it next?

Lee

Well, there will be a few months of resting then the work begins again. I'm going to be building a tube chassis with A-arm front suspension and 3X3 rears. I plan on building all of the components myself so it should be a lot of fun.

Will you use this buggy body or build using another one and keep driving this one in the mean time?

Lee