Texas Manx Club

by **MikeL** » 18 Wed Jun, 2008 7:32 am

I think you need a new broom. lol :lol:

by **CoryN** » 18 Wed Jun, 2008 8:06 am

I think you've been watching too much HGTV. ;-)

Just kidding, I like it. 8-)

by **staggerwing** » 18 Wed Jun, 2008 8:08 am

Nice job Adam. I think the color choice will be a knockout and the wheels will really be the icing on the cake. Any chance of sticking some chrome smoothies on em? If you saw the wheels on "The Judge" in Salado - that's what I'm talking about!

by **Vee Dub Nut** » 18 Wed Jun, 2008 8:13 am

Hahaha.. thanks guys

Like I said.. the pics don't do it justice. It looks awesome in person. I guess ya'll will just have to wait and see :lol:

by **Texasbuggys** » 18 Wed Jun, 2008 12:09 pm

Looking good man!!!

by **CoryN** » 18 Wed Jun, 2008 12:55 pm

What was the word on the bottom tins? I left them off of mine as well, so I am curious what the consensus is there.

by **Vee Dub Nut** » 18 Wed Jun, 2008 1:04 pm

My gut reaction is that I'm good with what I have... most all of the other tin was there to seal the engine in the engine compartment of the beetle and direct air accordingly...

Being that the buggy engine is hanging out in open air.... you don't need a lot of it.

I'm just wondering what other folks are running on theirs too....

by **GregR** » 18 Wed Jun, 2008 1:12 pm

only lower tin I have are the pieces that fit snug in between the cylinders (between the pushrod tubes and cylinder) seems to run fine.

by **CoryN** » 18 Wed Jun, 2008 1:14 pm

I'm thinking if I was running it offroad without a skidplate, I'd want something to offer some protection, but we all know Texas Manx Club buggies never see anything but pavement. ;-)

by **CoryN** » 18 Wed Jun, 2008 2:48 pm

I think you should paint the buggy black and white and put a big 12 on it. ;-)

by **Vee Dub Nut** » 18 Wed Jun, 2008 3:22 pm

CoryN wrote:I think you should paint the buggy black and white and put a big 12 on it.

huh?

by **CoryN** » 18 Wed Jun, 2008 3:32 pm

Oh thats right - you're just a young-un

One Adam 12, One Adam 12, see the woman....

by **Vee Dub Nut** » 18 Wed Jun, 2008 4:18 pm

Oh! hahahaha..

Just did a little googling.. show ran from 1968-1975.. just a touch before I was around :lol:

by **blackthree4me** » 19 Thu Jun, 2008 5:23 pm

build what you like not what I like.

hell they might even start a brown dune buggy club
right Greg
you could be the BDBC

sweet!

by **Vee Dub Nut** » 19 Thu Jun, 2008 5:38 pm

Yea definately..

I just expected that most peoples first impressions would be about like my wifes.. "you want to paint them brown?"

Until I got her to see the vision in my head.. she just couldn't follow me on the brown. She really is liking how its turning out. Good thing to since this is technically her buggy :lol:

by **Vee Dub Nut** » 22 Sun Jun, 2008 12:18 pm

Floors finally...

We'll I guess the old farmers delima applies here too.. by the time I figured out how to build the floor it was done. You learn as you go, and about the time I got the hang of it, I was finished. I wish I would have known what I know now before I started it :lol:

All in all.. its a big step up from my first buggy.. and I came up with some better ideas for my next one.

Didn't get as many pictures.. but I have a 2"x1" perimeter tubing and 16Ga floors. Getting the floor panels cut was the toughest.. no easy way to measure them with all the contours on the frame. I let the inside of my floors slope up the curve of the tunnel as it goes to the back of the frame. Next time I think I would stick to strictly flat floors instead. Having the contour made it hard to tack in the supports..

But the floor is very solid!

Here is a few pictures..

I do have the floors tacked to the cross supports now.. It was touch to get the floors snugged up to them..

All in all I'm happy with it.. Like I said.. If I were to do it again, I would approach it completely different. Its not perfect but I think it will work great!

by **Vee Dub Nut** » 22 Sun Jun, 2008 12:22 pm

Did a little fiddling with my engine..

Mocking up the carbs

Slid the engine around the back of the body

by **Bill K** » 22 Sun Jun, 2008 12:58 pm

Your work is looking great

by **Vee Dub Nut** » 22 Sun Jun, 2008 1:51 pm

Few more pics

Should be trying to get all the suspension ripped off soon. Then start painting the frame and slowly put it all together.

by **CoryN** » 22 Sun Jun, 2008 2:49 pm

Good progress. You will be caught up with me real soon, and will be done well before me as well, cuz your body is already done.

Looks really good, including the brown. 8-)

by **David Head** » 22 Sun Jun, 2008 7:11 pm

Are the cross members doubling as seat supports? That would sure be better than bolting them to the floors.

by **Texasbuggys** » 22 Sun Jun, 2008 8:43 pm

Looking good Adam! Wife must be cracking the whip to get'r done!

by **Vee Dub Nut** » 22 Sun Jun, 2008 9:10 pm

David Head wrote:Are the cross members doubling as seat supports? That would sure be better than bolting them to the floors.

No.. that's what I wanted to do originally.. but with the sloping floors and the span of the seat tracks.. there was no easy way to do it. I will have to spend some time modifying the seat tracks to get them to mount to the floor correctly.

Adam's tip of the day.. flat floors are better :lol:

Oh well.. maybe next time

by **CoryN** » 23 Mon Jun, 2008 8:17 am

Did you run the beam across the rear shock towers or did it come that way?

by **blackthree4me** » 23 Mon Jun, 2008 8:35 am

before you move on
you need to work on your break pedal
if you are going to use the stock break assembly
it probobly will no longer fit that area :cry:

looks great so far!
blackthree4me

by **Vee Dub Nut** » 23 Mon Jun, 2008 9:24 am

CoryN wrote:Did you run the beam across the rear shock towers or did it come that way?

Yea I put that up there.. it will support the back of the body under the cargo area...

by **Vee Dub Nut** » 23 Mon Jun, 2008 9:26 am

blackthree4me wrote:before you move on
you need to work on your break pedal
if you are going to use the stock break assembly
it probobly will no longer fit that area

Hmm.. I'll have to check that this afternoon. Thanks for the heads up!

by **CoryN** » 23 Mon Jun, 2008 10:26 am

I ran into the same problem with the brake pedal. It didn't fit with the new floors. I marked out the area for the recess and spent a good hour with the ball peen hammer and formed a new recess.

by **Vee Dub Nut** » 23 Mon Jun, 2008 10:44 am

how far off is it? I wonder if I can just modify the pedal assembly?

by **CoryN** » 23 Mon Jun, 2008 12:25 pm

My recess is about 1/4" deep. I asked the same question and was told to modify the floor not the pedal. Could have been bad advice, but that was what I did.

by **Vee Dub Nut** » 23 Mon Jun, 2008 12:32 pm

Guess I'll have to check it out when I get home..

by **CoryN** » 23 Mon Jun, 2008 12:48 pm

basically its just the nub on the bottom of the brake petal that hits up against the boss to keep it from coming too far forward that creates the problem.

by **Vee Dub Nut** » 23 Mon Jun, 2008 12:53 pm

Cool! I'll have to lay my eyes on it and see what gives..

I'm leaning towards modifying the pedals if I think I can get away with it.. not real anxious to start modifying my new floors :lol:

I used 16Ga on my floors and they are pretty stiff.. so I don't think I could get away with the ball peen hammer. I would end up having to do some cutting

by **Vee Dub Nut** » 23 Mon Jun, 2008 9:58 pm

scoped out the situation with the pedals.. does have a clearance problem. I think I'm going to modify the pedal assembly though, as opposed to modifying the floors

by **blackthree4me** » 24 Tue Jun, 2008 9:40 am

my advice

free
do the floors
you need to leave the pedal as is
it will only take a bit to bend it down with the hammer.
:idea:

a bit of heat works well to sofetn it up.

chance to get a new cutting rig :twisted:

by **Vee Dub Nut** » 25 Wed Jun, 2008 6:47 pm

What's the downside to modifying the pedals? There is a lot of extra material on the base of the brake pedal.. can't see how this would be a problem. Be a lot cleaner than beating a dent in the floor..

by **Bryan Porter** » 25 Wed Jun, 2008 6:57 pm

Thats the stop to keep the pedals from falling forward
but you should know this look at your bug.

by **Vee Dub Nut** » 25 Wed Jun, 2008 7:03 pm

Yea I know that.. but I think it can be trimmed to clear the floor without loosing the pedal stop

by **Aquabuggy** » 25 Wed Jun, 2008 9:21 pm

I had the same problem on the aqua buggy, it was on a tube chassis but also had flat steel floor. I had built my pedel assy bracket to low, a little grinding on the on the bottom of the pedel assy and it was good to go.

by **Texasbuggys** » 25 Wed Jun, 2008 9:23 pm

Yep and just build you a new stop and bam done

by **Vee Dub Nut** » 25 Wed Jun, 2008 9:27 pm

That's what I was thinking... I'll check it out further this weekend.

by **Vee Dub Nut** » 04 Fri Jul, 2008 5:49 pm

Got some painting done.. not all the way finished yet.. going to let everything cure real good for a few days.

Next I will put the chassis up on jackstands, pull the front suspension and rear driveline out, and prep and paint the last bit of the chassis. Slowly but surely I'll be painting and rebuilding the front end and drive line and installing them back in to make my chassis drivable 8-)

A few pics:

On the bottom I used a textured black paint.. same stuff I used under the fenders of the Beetle. I'll use this same stuff to finish up the chassis after I get the driveline off

On the top side I used the Duplicolor roll in bed liner kit. I have to say that I'm pretty impressed with it. It goes on real easy and looks great. As usual, the pics don't really do the finish justice, but it will give you the idea. One word of advice though.. only work with this stuff in a well ventilated area. Its very strong and gives off lots of vapors

Close up..

The poor neglected Beetle had to sit outside during the painting process... unfortunately several showers rolled through this morning :cry:

Thats all for now... Slowly but surely getting a little closer..

Can't wait to go for the first spin 8-)

by **CoryN** » 05 Sat Jul, 2008 12:09 pm

Looking good - I've been wanting to get out and work on mine some this weekend, but so far the honeydoo's have been winning...

by **Texasbuggys** » 05 Sat Jul, 2008 12:19 pm

Looking great Adam! Keep up the grat build and pics for new builders are always inspirational!

by **Bryan Porter** » 05 Sat Jul, 2008 12:47 pm

Hey Adam I was getting worried
about you not posting much in
the last few days

by **ElijahTurtle** » 05 Sat Jul, 2008 12:59 pm

Man that is shaping up nicely! I really like the roll on bedliner idea. Did it require alot of prep?

by **Vee Dub Nut** » 05 Sat Jul, 2008 1:21 pm

ElijahTurtle wrote:Man that is shaping up nicely! I really like the roll on bedliner idea. Did it require alot of prep?

Nope.. just scuff up any existing paint with a scothbrite pad, and make sure to clean any grease and oil off the surface. It went on well and seems like it will be a good durable finish.

by **Vee Dub Nut** » 05 Sat Jul, 2008 1:23 pm

Bryan Porter wrote:Hey Adam I was getting worried
about you not posting much in
the last few days

Haha.. we've been really busy. I try and sneak in some work here in there when I can.

Glad ya'll enjoy the pictures!

by **Vee Dub Nut** » 04 Mon Aug, 2008 10:11 pm

Nothing real big and new.. just taking baby steps at it as time and money allows. Been out on business last week, going again next week, then were off to Georgia to visit the wifes family for a week...

Slowly but surely :roll:

Got the used trans painted and installed.. actually had to take it in and out three times. I sure hope that I don't have to take it out anymore

couple of pics of the body sitting down on the pan

tucked off in the corner

sprayed some quick paint on the wheels to see how the color is going to turn out. Still need to get them blasted, but gave me a good idea of the outcome

by **Bill K** » 04 Mon Aug, 2008 11:37 pm

Luv the photos, Adam. Keep them coming.
Your work is really looking nice.

Texas Manx Club

Vee Dub Nut's buggy build

Who is online