Manx Club

I thought I’d start a build thread for the resurrection of my Bounty Hunter dune buggy. I’ve had the car less than two weeks so I’m just starting to tear in to it. This buggy is on a 1964 VW pan and has the Hadley Transvair adapter with a 98 HP Corvair motor and 4 speed Corvair transmission/transaxle.

When I got the car it hadn’t been started in over 1o years. First thing was to get a new battery. The battery in the car was “new” but was over 10 years old. Looking at my latest Consumer Reports issue I find that one of the better batteries out there was a Super Start Platinum AGM. They sell these at the local O’Rielly stores. It was rated better than Interstate, Die Hard and several of the other big name batteries. Wouldn’t think that an auto store battery would be that good but it was the highest rated.

With a new battery and some fresh oil I tried cranking it over. It spun over but didn’t start. It’s getting gas (manual pump is bypassed for an electric pump) but showing no signs of life even with a bit of starting fluid. A quick check shows it’s getting no spark. Pulling off the distributor cap I can see the points aren’t opening. .016 point gap later and they are now where they are supposed to be. Still didn’t fire so I did a little more investigating and cleaned some wire contacts and then it fired right up. Seems to run ok but does smoke a bit. Not at idle so much more when it has a few RPM’s.

Plans call for the following

1) A redo of all the brakes. It currently has Corvair rears and VW fronts with sand rail type pedals including a hydraulic clutch. I’m going to go back to VW pedals.

2) Rewire the whole car. It really is a mess.

3) Redo the exhaust. Need to find what will fit with the Transvair cage around the motor.

4) Replace the starter

5) Convert from generator to alternator. Already have all the parts (I hope)

6) Convert to HEI distributor (already have a new Set of new wires)

7) Fix the hardtop. It currently has a hinge to make it a Targa type so it will need some fiberglass work.

8 ) Replace the tires.

9) Add a turn signal lever…does not currently have one.

There will be more but this is just some of the short term goals.

Thanks in advance for all the tips and pointers. I need all the help I can get. I've got this thread on another site so you may see it over there too.

The rear brakes have been converted to Corvair 5 lug by re drilling the drums. The drums have some play so will need to be replaced. Im hoping the later 5 lug Corvair drums will bolt up.










These pedals will go away and will be replaces with stock VW pedals.





I'd like to find a way to use the existing Crager wheels with Chevy 5" 4.75" bolt pattern. Are disc brakes the way to go up front? Would consider if I can get a set with the right rotors for Chevy wheels. Also don't want to increase the track too much. My wheels are 14" too and it seems many of the conversions require 15" wheels.

Judging by the rear axle bearing, it appears you are dealing with a '63-'64 Corvair axle assembly

manxvair wrote:Judging by the rear axle bearing, it appears you are dealing with a '63-'64 Corvair axle assembly

Thanks Mike. Does anyone out there have an extra set of 63 axles and yokes? Some of the Corvair vendors have told me the welding is a common practice since the big tires cause a lot of strain in the spline/yoke area.

It looks like Corvair Underground in Oregon has shut down, limited items available, you might try calling them. California Corvair doesn't list them online, again might try calling them. Clark's on the East Coast list's used ones http://www.corvair.com/user-cgi/search.cgi?part=CU388 but will also need the bearings and splined yokes.

manxvair wrote:It looks like Corvair Underground in Oregon has shut down, limited items available, you might try calling them. California Corvair doesn't list them online, again might try calling them. Clark's on the East Coast list's used ones http://www.corvair.com/user-cgi/search.cgi?part=CU388 but will also need the bearings and splined yokes.

CC doesn't have them now but will be getting a set down the road. I'll try a few other places too.

Looking forward to following this thread...

I've been spending a little bit of time on the buggy almost every day. Making good progress.

Had a lot of problems with the rear ales. The yokes were welded to the axles and one had a little wobble in it. Pulled them out and cut the yoke off. The ales may still be good but they are not from the same year and have different bearings and backing plates. So new axles are on the way.

Also got to work on the front brakes. I've finished the driver side so we've got new bearings, drum shoes, springs and wheels cylinders. Still need to clean up and finish the other side.

I've got all the sheet metal carbs, generator, and everything else off the motor. Changed the spark plugs and and installing a new bearing on the fan. Once that's done it gets a new chrome shroud. I'm also changing from a generator to an alternator. The old distributor gets tossed and will be replaced by an HEI unit.


Before picture of the transmission and transaxle. That caked on dirt and grease is like concrete.


Much better after a little elbow grease. The ale seal also got replaced.



A little front end clean up.


All new brake shoes, wheel cylinder, and hardware. Hard and rubber lines will all be replaced too and I'll be running Dot 5 silicone fluid.






Ready for an appointment at the bead blaster.



Brake backing plates were different from side to side. When it's all done we will have matching axles and backing plates.


Axle looks a little wonky at the end.



Backing plates were pretty crusty


A little Evaporust and they are ready to go.


Now some paint and were ready to go back together.

If the axles ends are still good, you might be able to get new yokes from Calif Corvairs, I recently had to replace 1 of mine and they had it in stock.

One of the axles may be good but I'm not going to fool with the one that has a wobble. The flanges were welded on....possibly because they had no ale bolt. Both flanges were worn out and the short yoke had been hammered. It''s all been replaced by Jeff at California Corvairs. New u-joints are already installed too.

I'm getting rid of the Neal pedals and replacing with stock VW pedals and clutch cable setup. I went with the cast pedals with the Big Boy option to get a little more between them. Also am going with the X-celerator pedal upgrade.

All of this is going away.







New grease seal. The drive side had two installed back to back.


Test fitting the new front shocks. I went with Bilsteins all the way around.

[quote="dlyle"]I'm getting rid of the Neal pedals and replacing with stock VW pedals.

All of this is going away.










I'm interested in the hydraulic clutch components, brackets and detail photo's of how installed.

dlyle wrote:One of the axles may be good but I'm not going to fool with the one that has a wobble. The flanges were welded on....possibly because they had no ale bolt. Both flanges were worn out and the short yoke had been hammered and have been replaced by Jeff at California Corvairs. New u-joints are already installed too.

Jeff has been a great supporter of the Manx Club

manxvair wrote:

dlyle wrote:I'm getting rid of the Neal pedals and replacing with stock VW pedals.


I'm interested in the hydraulic clutch components, brackets and detail photo's of how installed.

From what I'm told the bracket in front and behind the slave are components from the Hadley Transvair adapter. They were intended to use for the manual clutch cable. The front bracket would hold one end of the bowden tube. I think the picture above showed it all but can try to dig up more if you need me too.

I don't need any of these pieces and would be willing to part with them.

manxvair wrote:

dlyle wrote:One of the axles may be good but I'm not going to fool with the one that has a wobble. The flanges were welded on....possibly because they had no ale bolt. Both flanges were worn out and the short yoke had been hammered and have been replaced by Jeff at California Corvairs. New u-joints are already installed too.

Jeff has been a great supporter of the Manx Club

He's been awesome so far. Really helpful and gets my parts out the door same day. It's always really well packaged too. He doesn't offer discounts to Manx members does he? Ordered a Rebel harness the other day and they give a 10% discount.