Manxter #160 Build - Gunmetal

[TSFR]

Hello everyone. Ever since MOTB 14 I have been secretly stalking these cars, I blame sbuzzard for a large portion of this! I have also received the "go ahead" from the wife but, I'm not quite sure she has a full understanding of what is entailed. This is going to be a street machine and the only time (god willing) it will be off-road is when driving on the beach once or twice a year. I will be driving it to work every chance I get which is highway mostly (70mph) and totaling around 45 miles round trip. I see us taking road trips and one day driving it to Big Bear.

My First/Last build took around 11 months to complete. This one I'm hoping to finish in 4 years mainly because of 2 reasons. MONEY and MORE MONEY. After this, I don't want to build another Dune Buggy for myself and I'm the type of person that believes; If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing. That being said, I am also the type of person that will do as much of the work myself as I can...within reason. Let’s face it, I can't be good at everything

This is where we're starting...

A "reconditioned" chassis with many very nice stock parts that will end up at new homes to help fund the build, and speaking of....

The Great Part Acquisition of 2015 has already begun!



Progress so far....I've started removing the front beam. Tomorrow I will be disassembling it in preparation for adjusters.
Today I also mailed off the personalized license plate form to the DMV for my current dune buggy (moab) that will be sold once this one is finished. I will transfer the tag then because they wont let me reserve/hold MANXTER for as long as I need. Hopefully I can explain away any confusion.

[TSFR]

Small update so far...
Ordered some parts...
Pulled the beam, did initial cleaning in prep for front adjusters.



Received the BEST piece of mail EVER!!!

[TSFR]

Good News/Bad News/Better News
Good - The drop spindles arrived today and even though the box was a little beat up, the spindles appeared to be well intact.
Bad - I shipped my beam out to have adjuster installed only to find out it is bent and not worth trying to put adjusters in. The bottom tube near the tow loop caught something and has it out of whack. It is what it is so back to the web to figure out what to do. After looking at the options...
Better - I sent back the drop spindles and ordered an AirKewld Ultimate Adjustable Beam. It has enough adjustments in it to get me where I need to be running my stock spindles. In 4 weeks I will let you know how I feel about it LOL.

Side note: I'm already committed to run a 091 bus transmission and I'm researching what changes I will need to make in order for that to work. With that in mind I ordered a set of used 944 Stubs, Axles and CV joints. I just have a fear of the available other options...not saying its a rational fear

I am planning to clean up the inner rear horns by trimming the lip and welding the leftover seam but I'm a little unclear what other shifter changes I need to make. I want the shift tube in the tunnel and for it to work with the black mamba Schwarz shifter that's in my future, I know that much. I guess I'm going to have to use the Empi #3195 Transmission Mount Kit.

Any help with this is appreciated as there is no turning back on this part.

[jsturtlebuggy]

Rancho Transmission sells ERCO adapter gear carriers (part that attaches to main trans case) for both the 002 and 091 trans that convert the trans to use a Bug shift housing/nosecone.
This is the same type of gear carrier Gene Berg came up with years ago to convert the Bus trans into a Bug for drag racing.
It is not cheap for the part or labor to do it, but I would consider it the best way. It what I plan to do on the 091 I have for the next buggy build.

[TSFR]

Getting on a plane headed for California to have lunch with Bruce and Winnie then take delivery of the kit. Not too much to report other than my super pimp brakes are for a Linkpin front suspension

I'm working with Pete from AirKewld and he's going to get me sorted out. I'm looking forward to my Ultimate front beam.

And there's this....

[TSFR]

My Coast to Coast Adventure has finally come to its conclusion. Like David said, I flew out Wednesday evening, took delivery Thursday morning with the help of friends new and old! We all went out to lunch where I had to have a drink calming my nerves in case the buggy didn’t fit in the trailer. YES, it was THAT close LOL. Luckily, it did drop into place like it was meant to be. However my credit card company (gotta love points) wasn’t feeling it and declined my transaction for fear of fraud… Yep, panic mode about set in on that one too, but nothing an hour on the phone answering security questions wouldn’t handle. I’m glad they were looking out for me, just not quite so much at that point 
Anyway, enough yappin and on with the show!


The Newest Manxter 2+2 #160 with the Oldest Manx….Old Red!


Time for some California Sun!


To give an idea of how the flake dances…
http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj31 ... ahef7t.mp4

When I say close, I mean tighter than OJ’s glove!


Once the body was in and we knew it would fit, it was on like Donkey Kong!


Then with all the extra space, we loaded up a few things for my buddy Vinnie which he wanted back on the East Coast in a more trusted manor than the US Army movers would supply.


Buttoned up and hit the road headed for Home with Some Amazing stops along the way!
Dead Horse Point State Park, Utah! It commanded a moment of reflection.


VW Slug Bug Ranch, Texas!


Finally Home and opening the trailer to make sure everything was in good order. Looks like we picked up a stow away along the way 


Let’s free up some room and get that shelf out of the way!


Better, now we have room to maneuver.


Stow away comes out first. AWW YEAH!


Start unloading…

Into the yard for the moment…



Now we need something to set this body on, oh wait, I’ve got just the thing!




MORE COW BELL!!! But it’s still missing something…


This picks up some many surrounding colors


A truer representation of the color..


I need to do A LOT of organizing, cleaning of the garage and polishing of wheels. I'm going to spend the majority of the next year turning tricks to pay for the transmission so this build can really get underway.

Time for a yard sale!

[Brad]

Damn that looks SWEET , should be great to see it coming together. What transmission are you running with the engine ? I am guessing it is an Out Front setup ?

[vincent9993]

Great color!

Can you share the trailer dimensions? Looks like that would be the foundation for the minimum space required for a Manxter body. Good luck with the build.

[Josh702]

That really is a great colour, it will look pretty cool cruising the streets

[TSFR]

Damn that looks SWEET , should be great to see it coming together. What transmission are you running with the engine ? I am guessing it is an Out Front setup ?

Hi Brad,
I've actually picked up a Subaru 5 speed transmission from an 09 Impreza that I will cut down myself after a good cleaning. I cant really move forward to much without the transmission and waiting until I have $5000 for the built SubaruGears trans was going to delay things even longer. This way I can at least get started (or closer to) mocking up the torsion to the chassis and making sure the cuts for the trans are correct. I've also decided on a 3" body lift so I can see out of the windshield.

Great color!
Can you share the trailer dimensions? Looks like that would be the foundation for the minimum space required for a Manxter body. Good luck with the build.

Vincent,
5'9" interior width is the BARE minimum that you can have. the box was 12' long and then a 2' V-nose. It was supposed to be 6'x12' but that was the exterior LOL

That really is a great colour, it will look pretty cool cruising the streets

Josh,
Man I hope so...For the moment it only looks nice in the garage.

[TSFR]

Remember this pic? Funny thing about this pic....the front rotors are for Link Pin Suspension which are not even a little bit compatible with what I'm doing...well I guess they would bolt to the wheel, but not the car LOL. Anyway, a HUGE shout out to Pete at Airkewld for getting me squared away. I called him up, explained that things weren't matching up and he took great care of me. I can’t say enough good things about that group! So I'm about 2 weeks away from the front end being on the ground under its own support.


Progress: While waiting on new ball joints to arrive, I decided it was time for some love on the front suspension. I've had the Airkewld Ultimate Beam for a little bit now and the drop spindles just came in, so it is time to pretty some things up. I was going to have everything (control arms, drop spindles, steering arm, caliper mount plates) powder coated until they said it would cost around $250. I promptly headed to the LPS (Local Parts Store) and picked up some paint/clear, headed to my good friend Dale's house and we went to town! Now I don't have any before pictures but if you look at the old beam, it was that crusty, old multilayered black. I wanted something a little different and this is what they had. Should add a little contrast without screaming look at me like I want the brake package too.

So here's the Airkewld Ultimate Beam...soupa sexy


and here is all the work we did for the attaching parts. Subtle change that won’t be seen too much. It was the best option for what they had on the shelf. Should look better when it’s all assembled.





As mentioned I'm still few weeks out, but I can see front wheels on the ground in the near future.

[Brad]

Looking good, I would have a real good check of that upper arm though as in the picture it looks like it has been in bearing hell in a previous life.

The AirKewld beam looks to use push in bushes not bearings so that should help out if it is slightly damaged all though ride quality will suffer over bearings.

So will it make it to Big Bear

[Brad]

You had a boob Question, this is the Mk2 Boob hole pictures

[TSFR]

Looking good, So will it make it to Big Bear

That's the plan, to drive it to Big Bear Bash 2018 if I'm lucky

[TSFR]

Independence Day Weekend Progress: Steering Box refurbification
I took the steering box apart and cleaned all the old grease/grime out. While apart, I figured it would be a good time for some beautification as well. Honestly, that was always the plan LOL. I wire wheeled everything I could and repainted. I only cleared the bolts so there would be some contrast.









Once I get some John Deere Cornhead Grease (yes it's a real thing LOL) I will clean up the inside edges of any overspray and get it buttoned up. I also repainted the Tie-Rods. I already have new Tie-Rod ends and my new ball joints should be in this week. I'm hopeful the front end will be assembled this weekend, but with a car show/drag night happening it seems a little unlikely. It's all good though and should be another great event.