New Thomas Crown Manx

CairoManx · Post by **CairoManx** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 6:34 pm

There is a guy from France that is building a new replica Thomas Crown Manx. The wheels look awesome. The engine looks great too. http://corvairdunebuggy.com/

mel hubbard · Post by **mel hubbard** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 9:31 pm

Cool Project, its a shame the guy says ''that due to road legalities he cannot copy the TC headlamps, so an alternative will be found'',,,,,,, this IMO would be sacrilege on such a replica. Road legalities are no excuse,,, thats just a bridge you cross when you meet it :driving: there is always another way around the bridge. Tell me,,, if you used a Thing/bus trans and replaced the RGB's with sedan axles would I be right in thinking you could run a Corvair motor without the need of the reverse rotation cam?

CairoManx · Post by **CairoManx** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 9:53 pm

Yes, but a swingaxle Thing/Bus trans is just a sedan trans with the ring gear flipped to the opposite side. First gear is very weak in a sedan trans for a Corvair. Plus because the input shaft is turning backwards the power is being applied to the "coast" side of the gear teeth, not the "drive" side. There's a couple more things you need to do that are touched on here: http://www.corvair.com/user-cgi/catalog.cgi?function=goto&catalog=SPECIALTY&section=OTTO&page=OTTO-36 The best solution is to have the engine converted to reverse rotation like he has and then use a suitable trans like an 091. I wrote and suggested he go ahead and install the TC style headlights in the hood under plexi covers and then put opaque covers over them. He could use small buggy type headlights to get it registered and maybe drive on the street, but for shows and such(or when the cops aren't looking) he could remove the buggy headlights and uncover the ones in the hood. In the states the big challenge would be to get it registered with the little plexi windscreen the TC Manx used.

mel hubbard · Post by **mel hubbard** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 1:13 am

Not sure about France, but in UK the plexi windscreen would fail an MOT test, so the get-out would be to remove it and have no windshield for the test, then refit it after. The headlights could be overcome by a daytime use only MOT, or as you said. When Allen came to UK we were talking about rules & regs for special type vehicles in USA & UK,,, seems its getting tough world wide,, I think France have it worse than us,, but we seem to be catching them up fast. Lots of good info on those Clark's pages

I've always fancied one of those motors in a buggy,, but you don't see them here very often, infact I can only ever recall ever seeing a few flat 6 powered buggies here since the 70's.

CairoManx · Post by **CairoManx** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 1:40 am

This guy has had this reverse rotation engine for sale on ebay for a while. If you got it for the opening bid, it would be a pretty good deal, if you were converting L.E. to $s. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/corvair-reverse-rotation-engine-complete-and-running_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33615QQihZ001QQitemZ110218233134QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

mel hubbard · Post by **mel hubbard** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 1:56 am

[QUOTE="CairoManx"]This guy has had this reverse rotation engine for sale on ebay for a while. If you got it for the opening bid, it would be a pretty good deal, if you were converting L.E. to $s. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/corvair-reverse-rotation-engine-complete-and-running_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33615QQihZ001QQitemZ110218233134QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW[/QUOTE] WOW!!!

How Much Is A Divorce now daze??

manx4dan · Post by **manx4dan** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 4:35 am

Why wouldn't the headlights be legal? I've got the TC scooped headlamps on mine and they're legal in USA and Canada.

mel hubbard · Post by **mel hubbard** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 10:58 am

[QUOTE="manx4dan"]Why wouldn't the headlights be legal? I've got the TC scooped headlamps on mine and they're legal in USA and Canada.

[/QUOTE] Maybe its just a French thing, Im not 100% sure of the legality issues here in UK with those headlamps. Have you just restored that buggy?? I seem to recall seeing pics of one very similar,, could have been an ebay link someone mailed me a while back,, it was pictured in the snow,, maybe just another one the same color. Im just thinking > a few hours molding work from your hood & sides could save that French fella a lot of plugwork time.

manxdavid · Post by **manxdavid** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 5:02 pm

Here's the snowy one Mel, I think it was from Canada. The hood corners are rounded off so a stock screen won't fit.

Here's a nice old period ad...

mel hubbard · Post by **mel hubbard** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 7:14 pm

Ah must be getting things mixed up,,, sure Ive seen a blue one very similar to Dans someplace before,, I knew one of em was in the snow

Dave, was it you that mailed them both to me? The yellow one looks like its been made from a real early model.

Tom-Kathleen · Post by **Tom-Kathleen** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 11:04 pm

I don't think that headlight set-up would be legal in Connecticut. Not only do we have a height rule 22" min to 54" max to center of light, but also "and be far enough apart to indicate vehicle width". There is no size for this, it seems to be a catch all for rejecting something they don't like the looks of. I guess you could argue that if it is as wide as a Jeep, it should be OK. It could be worse in France for the guy building that nice recreation car. Tom

manx4dan · Post by **manx4dan** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 5:24 pm

Hi Mel, No, mine hasn't been in the snow and it was restored in 1993. You may have seen the web article I did on my 1965 Hunter buggy though, since I also had a link to some old magazine articles that I had shared. http://danadkins.net/dunebuggy.aspx Actually the yellow buggy would be an ideal candidate for the restoration as the dash and windshield would fit nicely. My windshield is shorter than normal, so it feels like I'm driving with the Thomas Crown marine windshield anyways. Maybe some of the information on my site will help the French enthusiast. Tom, I could see Connecticut imposing that requirement on your new Manxter, but on a 1965 VW, which is how mine is titled?

mel hubbard · Post by **mel hubbard** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 7:52 pm

WOW, nice web article Dan, its not where I'd seen it before, maybe someone mailed me pics a few years back when I was (at that time) being hounded to reproduce a replica TC buggy plug/buck/molds. Its a rare buggy in a small world, guess snap shots get around. Now I know after all these years why the TC buggy had 2 gas filler caps. Nice touch with the ''Hunter'' badge

looks much better on your buggy than on the Hillmans

Tom-Kathleen · Post by **Tom-Kathleen** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 11:22 pm

In Connecticut, if you register a dune buggy as a Bug, you do it at your own risk. You can lose the registration and insurance coverage. We have a classification called "composite vehicle" for highly modified vehicles, or vehicles that don't look like their former selves. To legally register one of these, you have to go to the main DMV office, only on Thursdays, only with an appointment and no temp plate to get it there, it must be trailered. After you get it there, they look at it top to bottom and apply all the rules from a 5 page separate rule book. It is an ordeal, but it can be done if you follow the rules. After you get it registered, you can back off on some things, but be prepaired to put it back to legal if you get caught. Tom

manx4dan · Post by **manx4dan** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 12:52 am

I don't really know what the Hillman Hunter looks like, but I bought the badge on eBay from a bloke in Australia. I hope David will email a nice copy of that brochure - I've been looking for 4 years for one. It sure cleared up a few things; I thought the company was Conn-Ferr and I thought McQueens buggy was the Queen Max until I saw the brochure today! The stuff we all share with each other is Amazing! When I'd bought the buggy, I knew absolutely nothing about it. Here's a couple of other Hunters in Canada...

Manx Club

New Thomas Crown Manx

New Thomas Crown Manx

Thanks Mel,