Texas Manx Club

by **Faron** » 21 Mon Nov, 2011 1:26 am

I have talked a lot about my new Dune Buggy but have not done much to it since I bought it, haven't even started a Build Thread. This weekend I started to do a little work on it, I guess I better seeing as I set a competition date of April 15, 2012. I really want my first show to be at a show where the people of this club are, because I have learned so much from everyone. I am pretty sure I know what it will look like when I am finished, but I have to be honest with myself I know things will change
This is the day that I brought it home, and I do plan to a few things to it. I really want to have a rollcage, change the color, and the BUTT UGLY wheels have got to go.

by **Faron** » 21 Mon Nov, 2011 1:52 am

Here it is right before I got started with the rebuild, I am so excited.

Here it is with the Butt Ugly wheels removed, but I am going to wait to sell them until I have the new set so that I can move it around as needed. (Having a hard time figuring out what I want) I also removed the roll bar, seats, rear view mirrors, and the chrome visors over the Headlights.

The interior is all gutted and ready to go to a Fab Shop to get a couple of supports and the roll cage.

I removed the exhaust because I don't car for it, I have my eye on another. I will also have the Fab Shop make me a cool Bumper that has a bracket for the plate as well as the light for the Plate. I do not plan to go back to Quaalude Purple so all the purple that you see on the suspension, engine, and what not have to go. I think I will paint the tins with a waving Checkerboard Pattern and the rest in Flat Black.

by **Bill K** » 23 Wed Nov, 2011 12:26 am

We'll be lookin' for you at the Classic, and then plan a trip back to Texas in May for the Buggy Blast at it's new location in Burnet, Texas.

by **Faron** » 23 Wed Nov, 2011 12:33 am

I loaded up my buggy on a trailer and took it to two guys asking them to give me a estimate for a rollcage. One guy was very detailed in his measurements, and really didn't listen to what I had to say in the design. He builds Race Cars for a living, and once and a while does funky a car like mine. But not very often. I made the mistake of telling him who my Dad is, and he didn't care for him. HaHa Oh well..... He said that he would call me tomorrow and give me a price, I am far from hopeful
While I had it on the trailer I took it to another shop. This guy was very young but loads of people recommended him. He came out and looked at it, never took out a Tape measure and talked to me a little and gave me a price.
I also got a estimate from Niel Decker.....I am pretty sure I will be up for a road trip pretty soon. LOL

by **Aquabuggy** » 23 Wed Nov, 2011 2:32 pm

Keep the updates coming, Ill be looking forward to watching your build progress.

by **Fred** » 26 Sat Nov, 2011 11:47 am

I Absolutely Reccomend Neal- but- Call Neal before you pay anyone else for stuff you need done before you go cause when you get there you're gonna see things you want and you didn't think of. Neal will beat the pants off of any prices of all aspects of buggy work!!!

by **Faron** » 28 Mon Nov, 2011 11:25 pm

Bill K wrote:We'll be lookin' for you at the Classic, and then plan a trip back to Texas in May for the Buggy Blast at it's new location in Burnet, Texas.

What made you choose Burnet? Not that I think its bad, I just wondered what do you know that I dont. I know there are some really pretty lakes around Burnet.

I have been doing a ton of thinking about what I am going to do for a Rollcage. I asked Hawkeye Buggies, Texas Buggys, and two local guys about doing some work for me. And after crunching the numbers, and thinking a ton. I have decided that I am going to use a Local guy (Coach at www.coacheschassis.com) to Build me a Rollcage as well as a do some chassis work on my Dune Buggy. He normally builds Race Cars but will step out of his norm to do my build. When I put pen to paper Coach was about the same after I took Travel expenses into consideration, and in addition I will have it back by the end of the year. Tomorrow I am going by his shop to set up the date that I will drop off my Buggy and take by the photos of what I am thinking about as far as the style of cage I am looking for. Needless to say I am pretty pumped!

by **BrianB** » 29 Tue Nov, 2011 6:38 am

Got a drawing of what you have in mind? I would go as simple as possible so as to not overpower the simpleness of a buggy. You wont have a chance anyway when the lady putting makeup on while texting driving the land barge runs into you :mrgreen:

by **Faron** » 29 Tue Nov, 2011 11:06 am

BrianB wrote:Got a drawing of what you have in mind? I would go as simple as possible so as to not overpower the simpleness of a buggy. You wont have a chance anyway when the lady putting makeup on while texting driving the land barge runs into you

Ahhhh Look at the BURST of Sunshine from Brian B! LOL

You are correct in the fact that a Buggy is far from as safe as a Volvo, but this cage will give me a fighting chance. The guy who is building it wouldn't do it unless he built in a few things for safety, he is a race car builder. However I am going to do my best to stay away from testing the very little safety I have.

by **BrianB** » 29 Tue Nov, 2011 1:00 pm

I like to spread hope where ever I go.

Faron wrote:
Ahhhh Look at the BURST of Sunshine from Brian B! LOL

by **Jack Duncan** » 29 Tue Nov, 2011 8:13 pm

I find that a cage makes a nice support for a Bikini top, outside rear view mirrors, and a hand hold to enter and exit the vehicle. The object is to NOT get upside down. Not sure what a side impact would do to the side bars. Probably plenty, but it's still better than a motorcycle.

by **Faron** » 29 Tue Nov, 2011 10:41 pm

If you are looking for the safest possible ride..........You are looking in the wrong place. With that being said " When it your time its your time".

by **Jack Duncan** » 29 Tue Nov, 2011 10:58 pm

Something to consider is seat belts, better yet seat belts with a shoulder harness. You don't want to keep going if your car stops. A shoulder harness would be attached to the roll cage.

by **Faron** » 29 Tue Nov, 2011 11:21 pm

Black 4 point seat belts, will be installed.

by **Faron** » 04 Sun Dec, 2011 12:41 am

Well a friend of mine and I pulled the engine this afternoon. Really looks good, but I gotta repaint the purple. Hummmmm...... Waving Checkered Flags

by **Jack Duncan** » 07 Wed Dec, 2011 8:33 pm

Things to consider for a reliable engine.....A serpentine belt system, electronic ignition, machined valve covers, and an air box to relieve pressure build up.

by **Faron** » 13 Tue Dec, 2011 1:10 am

Before

After

Its not finished yet, but I couldn't wait to post up a pic. I airbrushed the Checker board flag on the fan shroud, I am sure very few people will see it. But I know its there, and it makes me happy. Over the next few days I will be be sanding down the Bugpack Exhaust and repainting it Black, along with installing everything on the engine. Friday I will take the Buggy and Chassis to a guy so that he can do a little chassis work, as well as building me a Roll Cage.

by **Faron** » 14 Wed Dec, 2011 1:40 am

I put the exhaust on to see if it fit okay before I sanded it all down to give it a fresh coat of flat black ehaust paint. Unfortunatly I dont want it to be flat black so I am going to have to stop on my way home to get another can that gas a little more gloss. Ohh well, more paint will be better!

by **Jack Duncan** » 19 Mon Dec, 2011 6:30 pm

Ceramic coating is really nice for exhaust and can be done in gloss black. Not that expensive either. Check it out.

by **Faron** » 21 Wed Dec, 2011 9:36 pm

I talked to the Fab Shop today and they are pretty far along. They have all the chassis work done, built all the Floor braces, and the front and back hoops finished. So it looks like I will be able to pick up the finished product on Tuesday. I am so looking forward to it. So happy!

by **Aquabuggy** » 23 Fri Dec, 2011 8:05 am

Engine looks good, cant wait to the cage..

by **Faron** » 25 Sun Dec, 2011 1:02 am

Aquabuggy wrote:Engine looks good, cant wait to the cage..

Thank You, I am pretty pumped myself.

by **Faron** » 27 Tue Dec, 2011 10:07 pm

After all kinds of talking and waiting to see my Street Buggy with the roll cage in it, I finally have it home. I am very happy with it and look forward to getting it all cleaned up and painted. But for now this is how it looks!

by **BrianB** » 28 Wed Dec, 2011 6:21 am

Looking good Faron 8-)

Are you going to tie in a lower cage around the motor to the two bars at the back?

by **Aquabuggy** » 28 Wed Dec, 2011 12:35 pm

Nice looking cage :!:

by **Faron** » 08 Sun Jan, 2012 11:32 pm

BrianB wrote:Looking good Faron Are you going to tie in a lower cage around the motor to the two bars at the back?

No, but it sure stiffened up the chassis & I sure like the way it looks! I am very happy!

Aquabuggy wrote:Nice looking cage

Thanks!

I am going to get rid of all the Purple, put some black bed liner on the pans as well as ad a little airbrush work on the center tunnel. I have a new adjustable polished billet front beam in the way, it should be here Thursday or Friday. I am going to order the wheels & tires, the front disk brake kit, replace all the brake lines, and buy the front shocks at the end of the the week. Everything is starting to come together. I will finish this one, and in time for the Texas Classic!

by **Bill K** » 09 Mon Jan, 2012 8:57 am

You've committed, so we are planning on seeing you at the Classic.

by **Faron** » 22 Sun Jan, 2012 1:00 am

On 12-16-11 I screwed up and hit another truck with mine. Thank goodness there was no damage to the other truck, so we took off without calling the authorities. I took it to get a few estimates from body shops, but I didn't want to spend $2700. to fix my truck. So I fixed it the best I could, replaced the headlight, bent back the fender, JB Welded the front bumper, and the put it all back together. It is far from perfect, but I can live with it. I think when my Street Buggy is finished, my truck will be my next project. We will see what happens with it.

I have been working all week to fill all the welds with body filler, self etching primer, and finially I painted the cage Black. No clear yet, because I have reassembly and the such.

I really like this rollcage, infact I like it better then the one I had built for the last one.

Who has a mirror in the garage?

by **BrianB** » 23 Mon Jan, 2012 6:40 am

Looking good Faron. You are on track to make F'Burg!!!

by **CoryN** » 23 Mon Jan, 2012 8:45 am

They have this incredible thing nowadays. A kid will deliver it to your house every morning, and it has all the news in the world for you to read. Then when you are done with it, you can put it on the floor in the garage when you paint something. :mrgreen:

by **Faron** » 23 Mon Jan, 2012 11:03 pm

HaHaHa Yepper I heard o that there stuff!

by **Faron** » 30 Mon Jan, 2012 10:55 pm

I ordered a few items today! I ordered a set of wheels, and they are scheduled to be here in a couple weeks. I will buy the tires from my wife's uncle who owns a local tire shop. I ordered 18" X 9" for the rear, and 16" X 6" in the front with 0 offside for both. I also ordered a set of disc brakes front as well as the back. Lastly I just bought a hard top. I am so looking forward to having everything all installed and ready to go. Don't get me wrong I am having fun with the build, but it sure will be nice to have it all finished up!

by **Faron** » 31 Tue Jan, 2012 9:55 am

Guess who is going to be spraying a little Self etching Primer this evening? That would be me.

by **BrianB** » 31 Tue Jan, 2012 10:10 am

Do your new seats fit on the stock rails?

by **Faron** » 31 Tue Jan, 2012 10:42 am

I am going to have the seats reupholstered that came in it. I am worried about the fit as I did have the sidebars installed on the roll-bars. We will have to see what happens as we go.

by **Faron** » 02 Thu Feb, 2012 12:26 am

Faron wrote:I am going to have the seats reupholstered that came in it. I am worried about the fit as I did have the sidebars installed on the roll-bars. We will have to see what happens as we go.

Sorry, they were bolted to the original rails.

by **Faron** » 02 Thu Feb, 2012 12:40 am

I got a call this evening asking if they could save the sale, and after arguing with me for a little while they offered me a $88.00 discount. So the order is back on. I will keep you in the loop! Hummm You are right about it taking forever to ship as I will not get my wheels for about 2 weeks. I also ordered a front and rear disc conversion Monday evening, and I still don't have the shipping number. However I ordered a distributor Monday and it will be here Thursday!
I did get the Pans all painted up perdy!

by **RDCII** » 02 Thu Feb, 2012 9:03 am

Very nice job, Love the new roll cage. Great job on the fan shroud, very custom.
Keep up the awesome work.
Hope to see it in person.

RDCII

by **Faron** » 03 Fri Feb, 2012 2:12 am

I got my distributer today, it has a orange cap, would it hurt to change it out for a Black one? I just want it to match. The Disc Brakes I ordered Monday were shipped out today. The wheels that I have had such a time with, will be shipped out on the 10th. I need to head over to the local guy to pick up a few things,but I think I am just about domne buying....or so I think! LOL

by **CoryN** » 03 Fri Feb, 2012 8:11 am

I put a black cap on mine.

by **Faron** » 04 Sat Feb, 2012 2:59 am

I "think" I am finished with the chassis. I painted a chassis like this before, but I didnt finish it that one before I sold it. I am looking forward to seeing what it looks like once it is finished. Next photo will be of parts being INSTALLED!

by **Faron** » 16 Thu Feb, 2012 10:54 pm

Well, after a HUGE pain in the neck of ordering online. My wheels finaly arived at the house here this evening. Looks like MORE money will be spent on it this weekend in buying tires. I "think" I am going to get to spend a little time building rather then just wishing I was! LOL
18 inch for the rear & 16 inch for the front is going to look so good.

by **GregR** » 16 Thu Feb, 2012 11:27 pm

test fit the rims before you buy tires and make sure the zero offset isn't going to burn you.
Oh...and take a pic for us of the wheels on the buggy ;-)

by **Faron** » 17 Fri Feb, 2012 12:00 am

For the most part it is a open wheel car, how could the 0 offset be a problem? Not being a smart butt, just do not see it. Help?

by **GregR** » 17 Fri Feb, 2012 12:16 am

too far in and you can't turn. too far out and it might be a workout to turn, especially if you have a small diameter steering wheel.

by **BrianB** » 17 Fri Feb, 2012 6:08 am

What is the bolt pattern? Did you already install those fancy brakes? I would like to see how they go together, if there are any parts needing rework.

by **Faron** » 17 Fri Feb, 2012 10:40 am

I dont think I will have to rework anything to get my wheels on. I am thinking that I am going to need a Press from Harbor Freight this weekend....

by **BrianB** » 17 Fri Feb, 2012 1:07 pm

Wheels almost look like Raidir wheels
http://www.kustom1warehouse.net/Empi_Ra ... raider.htm

by **Faron** » 17 Fri Feb, 2012 7:45 pm

BrianB wrote:Wheels almost look like Raidir wheels
http://www.kustom1warehouse.net/Empi_Ra ... raider.htm

Yes, only much better looking. LOL I know, I know its a matter of opinion. LOL

by **Bryan Porter** » 23 Thu Feb, 2012 11:05 am

Whats going on whats it look like now?????

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