For the love of BUGGIES

[scouthead]

For Racing or for Play, most of us have been bitten by the buggy at some point in our lives?

give me your tired and your air cooled, and your poor swing axles, your huddled masses waiting to breathe while your "here, hold my beer" moments become campfire tales and MacGyver style rescues and repairs!

 

[scouthead]

I grew up with a friend who's dad owned a vw repair shop. That man and all his friends came from off road desert race pedigree - we drove dune buggies. all basic air cooled vw and related suspension... ATCs, and vw Burros. lots of memories. I was in my early 20s when I could afford my own buggy for the first time.

this thing came to me for about 1700 bucks. came with a 75 cubic foot tank of N2 with reg for the shocks... had 3x3s and 14 inch sway aways on the back. stock DP1600 and an 002 bus trans with 930cv joints.

the previous owner was a big guy, and cut the top of the frame off to make it taller. all the new tubing was bent and tacked into place. PRP suspension seats installed, and he wanted out of the buggy life and wanted his garage space back

 

[scouthead]

learned a lot about the genius of the VW design with this car... I had to make my own heim joint kit for the outside of the torsion housing- some cheap kit was installed, and all of the geometry was terrible - caused binding and bending of the plate the heim was attached to - after redesign and relocating the pivot point, and mounting it in double shear. I beat that car pretty good! Im not big into jumping vehicles, and the photo above sort of hurt my back on the landing... dont think i need to repeat.
that car was stolen before I could redo the front end, but it helped infect me with the buggy disease.

after this one came:
- a 69 baja with a Budweiser headliner
-a red buggy with a swing axle and locked up motor that i ended up parting out
-a single seat stadium race car with body work... has changed hands several times in my group of friends and i still may buy it back
-a retired vintage race car HI jumper with a lot of character and spunk
-a mid engine round tube burro
-a "burvair" burro with corvair engine and powerglide trans
-a crappy 4 seater "temporary" rail with a supposed 1914 engine
- buggy works 4 seater frame that i am hoping to build
-fairly modern vw chenowth 4 seater frame with the front chopped off -might build or give to a friend

 

[Barrman]

I built the pictured Darien 4 seater for a buddy. It was my first chance to examine all of the Porsche design genius. So many parts seem to have been designed to have 2 functions. Very impressive really.

Funding issues stopped the project before I got to finish it and drive the thing. Maybe later.

 

[scouthead]

suburban looks good in primer green! what's powering the buggy?

 

[Capt Ron]

should go post some stuff in the new buggy thread i started over in "other rides". I wanna hear about the pinto without creating 100 off topic posts in the PAD

Not a lot of details. I bought it as a driver, have the specs on the engine build somewhere. Basically cammed,Weber carb and a small over bore iirc. Was a 4 seater but front seats were moved back a bit to convert to 2 seater.

Took it out a few times with my son and once with my girlfriend, both who are usually up for my extreme driving.
Did a couple of runs but both refused to go for another ride. Something about crazy, death wish, yada yada.....
Bought an almost finished Baja and robbed the rack, wide beam, wheels/tires and 3x3s and sold off the rest for more then I paid for the Baja. It has been stored for about 3 years now, gotta find someone who is not afraid to ride with me.
An ah-oh moment after going over a jump at IMI. Sheared the studs after coming down a little sideways

 

[scouthead]

Not a lot of details. I bought it as a driver, have the specs on the engine build somewhere. Basically cammed,Weber carb and a small over bore iirc. Was a 4 seater but front seats were moved back a bit to convert to 2 seater.

Took it out a few times with my son and once with my girlfriend, both who are usually up for my extreme driving.
Did a couple of runs but both refused to go for another ride. Something about crazy, death wish, yada yada.....
Bought an almost finished Baja and robbed the rack, wide beam, wheels/tires and 3x3s and sold off the rest for more then I paid for the Baja. It has been stored for about 3 years now, gotta find someone who is not afraid to ride with me.
An ah-oh moment after going over a jump at IMI. Sheared the studs after coming down a little sideways
View attachment 438957

huh. didnt try the "move front tire to rear, and drive very carefully with front wheel off the ground"?

wonder if the extra weight in the back helped crack those studs off.
I have a couple of the Saturn 1.9L DOHC motors from 1995... supposed to be light weight (with coolant system maybe 100 lbs heavier than the VW motor fully dressed) but maybe not as durable as a pinto? i think they are 125HP stock. Have the Kennedy adapter and flywheel, but have yet to use them for anything.

FYI I have a buddy that has a foot so heavy he is always breaking stuff... fun to watch, but nothing wrong with taking the girlfriend out for Sunday afternoon buggy ride to coffee either?

 

[Capt Ron]

huh. didnt try the "move front tire to rear, and drive very carefully with front wheel off the ground"?

Spindle mounts in front, no hub. And studs still needed pulled out to put tire back on.

"FYI I have a buddy that has a foot so heavy he is always breaking stuff... fun to watch, but nothing wrong with taking the girlfriend out for Sunday afternoon buggy ride to coffee either?"

I have a few other toys for that.

 

[scouthead]

hmmm found a picture of the K5 towing the silver buggy - guess im obligated to share THAT one here

 

[ZooMad75]

I’m always down for crazy insane rides. Just letting you know @captron

I’ve always had a fascination with buggy’s and Baja bugs. I worked at a independent VW type shop in college and came real close to buying the bosses old Baja bug with a bus transaxle with the portal boxes. It lacked an engine but the stories he told me of taking it up jeep trails in the mountain almost sold me.

 

[ktmoutfront]

Myers tow'd, the day I bought it in 1994. Tub number 3.



Dads home build Corvair powered 4 seater towing his 26' buggy trailer. We slept in it. Pismo, 1976.



Dads buggy top. He built 7 of them. My Tow'd in the early 70's that belonged to a family friend. He also owned the white one, built by my dad. I was driving the Tow'd. You can see the pillow in the seat so I could drive. The bottom one is a VW pan car. I am not in the picture, so probably peeing down a dune somewhere.

Edit. This was Pismo in 1975.




So long ago.

 

[Barrman]

Not green primer. 383 Army green Military vehicle paint.

The buggy has a turbo charged 2000 or so cc engine. The owner said when it was a bug if he played with the boost correctly he could lift the front end.

 

[Wes Harden]

My niece in the Hi Jumper, a few years ago. I think she was 13 or 14. Me in co pilot spot. My brother filmed on his dirt bike, and edited this clip.

This Jumper was built to do Baja and ran 2 races in 1980 1600 class. We blew up the trans(6v so no loss) jumping it, suspension seats make all the difference @scouthead. Put a Trans Co. close 1st and 2nd 12v type 1 4.37 ring. Few years later teaching all the young teenagers to drive stick at El Mirage we melted down #3 piston. Had a 1914 built for it, ran all over High desert, KOH, and Lake Havasu, in AZ was street legal. So garage space was needed after my dad went to the dark side, Polaris RZR xp1000, I put that 1914 in my Manx type we sold less engine last year. Those are Gates Commando's on the front.

 

[scouthead]

My niece in the Hi Jumper, a few years ago. I think she was 13 or 14. Me in co pilot spot. My brother filmed on his dirt bike, and edited this clip.

This Jumper was built to do Baja and ran 2 races in 1980 1600 class. We blew up the trans(6v so no loss) jumping it, suspension seats make all the difference @scouthead. Put a Trans Co. close 1st and 2nd 12v type 1 4.37 ring. Few years later teaching all the young teenagers to drive stick at El Mirage we melted down #3 piston. Had a 1914 built for it, ran all over High desert, KOH, and Lake Havasu, in AZ was street legal. So garage space was needed after my dad went to the dark side, Polaris RZR xp1000, I put that 1914 in my Manx we sold less engine last year. Those are Gates Commando's on the front.

fun video!

those look a lot like some of the mickey thompson patterns that you can $till purchase today?


ha thats funny... my baja melted #3 on the freeway one night. What a coincidence!



by 914, you mean 1914? or a type 4 motor like what was in the 914 and the later buses?

 

[scouthead]

towds are so damn cool.

 

[Wes Harden]

they are MT on the back, I have the other 2 in the shed. Yes 1914 cc built by Joel Mohr in Apple Valley. Gates Commando tires on the front.

 

[kennyw]

I have one being built for my wife... learning as I go with this one.

Patina Baja Buggy

This thread is for the general discussion of the Item Patina Baja Buggy. Please add to the discussion here.

ck5.com

 

[scouthead]

I have one being built for my wife... learning as I go with this one.

Patina Baja Buggy

This thread is for the general discussion of the Item Patina Baja Buggy. Please add to the discussion here.

ck5.com

oh yeah - I have seen that thread - turning into a "full body baja"

really cool.

I also saw a picture posted of it in a garage... looking out over MULTIPLE IH Scout 2s in the yard?

 

[kennyw]

oh yeah - I have seen that thread - turning into a "full body baja"

really cool.

I also saw a picture posted of it in a garage... looking out over MULTIPLE IH Scout 2s in the yard?

My friend is an IH guy and has several pickups, scouts, a loadstar etc. He also has a rare shortbed 3/4 ton up for sale, or did at one point.

 

[Wes Harden]

This was my step dads Buggy, He drove to high school in the 60's. Sold it, found and bought it back in 2011. Rebuilt it had for a few years, then sold it again. The couple that bought it lived in Paradise Ca, we've no idea if survived the fire.

The body is a Buggy Master design and manufacture, in Gardenia Ca. The low swept side allowed easy entrance and exit, very nice feature of the body. Mine not so much.
The color was a 70's metallic green originally, that paint is 2003 Chrysler PT Cruiser Plum something. Towing it home from Top shop 2014 I have more pictures of it, just need to find the hard drive I stored them on.