We had a LOT of people tells us we would never make it, had no idea, where stupid for trying etc. Funnily enough many of them have never raced shit and have no IDEA WTF they are talking about. It was only through the support of our Sponsors and awesome input from our Team Members that we succeeded where many thought we would fail.
I can not emphasis enough the need to use quality parts and skilled labor when you try such things. The only parts we had on the cars that let us down where from EMPI and another Chinese supplier. The majority of our Drivers where novice and did a great job of keeping it together. The suspension setup from Sonny at DownSouth Motorsports was thanked more than once as we his some pretty gnarly stuff at speed.
Anyway thanks again to everyone who gave us support and if you want any feedback on the products we used please ask. I will be doing up full reviews and posting as we go and I am VERY HAPPY to say that with the exception of those items mentioned above I will be using the same suppliers in all future builds without change.
A quick List of what we ended up with
Body - Meyers Manx DualSport Kit (MeyersManx.com)
Chassis - Meyers Manx Baja Edition Chassis
Front Suspension 4" over 1 3/4" Arms, King Kong Spindles Foddrill Motorsports (http://foddrillmotorsports.com/)
Rear Suspension 3 x 3 UpYerBug Micro's (UpYerBug.com)
Brakes - Jamar Performance Pro X and 14" Hanging Pedals, Turning Brake, 4 Pot Calipers, 2 Pot e-Brake, Micro Stubs rear (http://www.jamarperformance.com/)
Shocks - DownSouth Motorsports Custom 2.5" Fox Piggy Backs ( 10 up front 12" out back) (http://downsouthmotorsports.com/)
Engine - Subaru EJ 25 SOHC with stock ECU built by Chris at SubiWorks (http://www.subieworks.com)
Transmission - SubiWorks Built SubaruGears R&P Offroad Spec 4.86: 1 (subarugears.com)
Wheels - Method Race Wheels - 15 x 4.5 front, 15 x 7" BeadLock rear (http://www.methodracewheels.com/)
Seats - PRP Seats Baja Edition Suspension Seats with Lumbar Supports (prpseats.com)
Electrics - Pro Wires Material - Custom Loom and Install (prowireusa.com)
Comms - Rugged Radios in Car Comms with Rugged Radios VHF Car to Car (ruggedradios.com)
Headlights - JW Speaker 7" Projector from HeadLight Revolution (headlightrevolution.com)
Design - 202 Solution BendTech / Arclight CNC Production (http://www.bend-tech.com/) & (ArcLightCNC.com)
Fabrication - SteelArt Creations Brendale QLD - Paul did an awesome job, no cracks, no stress, no issues (steelart.com.au)
The Road to Mexican 1000- Building a Manxter DualSports
Re: The Road to Mexican 1000- Building a Manxter DualSports
Well the dust has begun to settle and the car has been cleaned. It will get some TLC over the coming weeks and have the RacePak removed and rear seat etc put in to put it back on family duties.
Re: The Road to Mexican 1000- Building a Manxter DualSports
Brad,
In my limited experience with off-road racing I have never seen anyone build two cars from scratch in such a unbelievably short time, drive them to the race, finish the race then drive them home. It speaks volumes of your skill, craftsmanship and dedication to the task at hand. I don’t know what kind of racing you did down under but up yonder you set a very high standard.
Congratulations for a job well done..!
Bob Kornoff
In my limited experience with off-road racing I have never seen anyone build two cars from scratch in such a unbelievably short time, drive them to the race, finish the race then drive them home. It speaks volumes of your skill, craftsmanship and dedication to the task at hand. I don’t know what kind of racing you did down under but up yonder you set a very high standard.
Congratulations for a job well done..!
Bob Kornoff
Re: The Road to Mexican 1000- Building a Manxter DualSports
Hi Bob,towd-dude wrote:Brad,
In my limited experience with off-road racing I have never seen anyone build two cars from scratch in such a unbelievably short time, drive them to the race, finish the race then drive them home. It speaks volumes of your skill, craftsmanship and dedication to the task at hand. I don’t know what kind of racing you did down under but up yonder you set a very high standard.
Congratulations for a job well done..!
Bob Kornoff
Thanks for the positive words BUT I must correct one minor point. The results we were achieved were a direct results of meticulous planning and an awesome group of Team Players and quality suppliers.
The amount of work that the guys put it was hands down a very impressive effort. From Paul and Andrew taking holidays to travel half way around the world to bust ass in my shop for 3 weeks to Buck who clocked up over 3000 mile chasing those last minute parts and Chris from SubieWorks building three kick ass motors ( didn't even need the spare) and transmissions. On top of that was Nate from Turn Key Manx in there with us and towards the end Mark and Mike putting in.
Another small thing that most people miss is our suppliers, if you look at our timeline you will notice that if we had of been let down by any of them we would have failed. We did not have enough time in planning to recover from a sub standard on ill fitting product. The guys we used where not the cheapest but they were not selected by mistake and we benefitted from that decision to use quality and service over cheap. You can guarantee you will see their parts on EVERY build I do from now on as I was very impressed with everything we used ( apart from the empi crap Grrrr)
Body - Meyers Manx DualSport Kit (MeyersManx.com)
Chassis - Meyers Manx Baja Edition Chassis
Front Suspension 4" over 1 3/4" Arms, King Kong Spindles Foddrill Motorsports (http://foddrillmotorsports.com/)
Rear Suspension 3 x 3 UpYerBug Micro's (UpYerBug.com)
Brakes - Jamar Performance Pro X and 14" Hanging Pedals, Turning Brake, 4 Pot Calipers, 2 Pot e-Brake, Micro Stubs rear (http://www.jamarperformance.com/)
Shocks - DownSouth Motorsports Custom 2.5" Fox Piggy Backs ( 10 up front 12" out back) (http://downsouthmotorsports.com/)
Engine - Subaru EJ 25 SOHC with stock ECU built by Chris at SubiWorks (http://www.subieworks.com)
Transmission - SubiWorks Built SubaruGears R&P Offroad Spec 4.86: 1 (subarugears.com)
Wheels - Method Race Wheels - 15 x 4.5 front, 15 x 7" BeadLock rear (http://www.methodracewheels.com/)
Seats - PRP Seats Baja Edition Suspension Seats with Lumbar Supports (prpseats.com)
Electrics - Pro Wires Material - Custom Loom and Install (prowireusa.com)
Comms - Rugged Radios in Car Comms with Rugged Radios VHF Car to Car (ruggedradios.com)
Headlights - JW Speaker 7" Projector from HeadLight Revolution (headlightrevolution.com)
Design - 202 Solution BendTech / Arclight CNC Production (http://www.bend-tech.com/) & (ArcLightCNC.com)
Fabrication - SteelArt Creations Brendale QLD - Paul did an awesome job, no cracks, no stress, no issues (steelart.com.au)
The stories I could tell about the support they gave us could fill an entire article on its own. One occurrence that makes me laugh every time I think about it was Chris from SubieWorks who is about 45 minute from my shop.
He had said the engines will be there on Tuesday night and it was about 6.00 pm when I get a message saying they will be there just running a little late and would drop them over when done, no probs. Anyway he kept me posted and then at 01.30 am Wednesday his off sider Micah pulls up with two EJ 25's in the back of his Wagon with Girlfriend in the front seat dressed in her PJays and still smiling.
Seriously how many businesses do you know that would deliver engines at 0130, now that's support. More importantly I can only imagine what my wife would have said if I told her at midnight I was off to the shop to deliver some engines to a bunch of crazy Aussies .. I am certain it wouldn't have not been cool I will come for a drive lol
For anyone who is interested the Manxter DualSport Baja Edition will be at Big Bear for people to check out. It will not have the RacePak fitted anymore as it will be in DualSport Trim with 4 seats and kids. You have to love a vehicle you can race Baja in one day and cruise up to Big Bear the next ... yes I said Cruise, trailers are for picking up donor cars and dumping trash
Re: The Road to Mexican 1000- Building a Manxter DualSports
well not long to go now, been pretty slow going but oh well.
After thinking about feedback I got about the temps on the trip and not wanting Todd to do it to hard being he is a Sydney Boy I figured I should make a few additions to the DualSport Baja Edition to take it from Race to Cruise.
Started off by giving my mates at Vintage Air a call, a few days later a box or three showed up and I started fitting up the new Air Conditioning and Heating unit. It is from their compact range and full servo so no issues with cables. I am using the Vintage Air Gen 11 Compaq.
The Condenser goes up front with a SPAL fan to keep it cool. Unlike the radiator the ECU doesn't turn the fan on and off, it just stays on in most cars when you turn the a/c on.
With that underway I made another call to Chris at SubiWorks in Temecula. Being I was running one of his EJ25 SOHC engines I figured he might have the bits I needed to fit the compressor. As I had hoped he had a factory Compressor and fittings to suit so a quick trip up the road saw me able to fit the factory compressor and a few tig welds later factory hard lines.
After thinking about feedback I got about the temps on the trip and not wanting Todd to do it to hard being he is a Sydney Boy I figured I should make a few additions to the DualSport Baja Edition to take it from Race to Cruise.
Started off by giving my mates at Vintage Air a call, a few days later a box or three showed up and I started fitting up the new Air Conditioning and Heating unit. It is from their compact range and full servo so no issues with cables. I am using the Vintage Air Gen 11 Compaq.
The Condenser goes up front with a SPAL fan to keep it cool. Unlike the radiator the ECU doesn't turn the fan on and off, it just stays on in most cars when you turn the a/c on.
With that underway I made another call to Chris at SubiWorks in Temecula. Being I was running one of his EJ25 SOHC engines I figured he might have the bits I needed to fit the compressor. As I had hoped he had a factory Compressor and fittings to suit so a quick trip up the road saw me able to fit the factory compressor and a few tig welds later factory hard lines.
Re: The Road to Mexican 1000- Building a Manxter DualSports
Wow seems like just yesterday we were staring the build and now the Baja Edition is half way across the USA. I said when I started this project that the aim was not to build a race car, it was to build a true DualSports Vehicle which could be raced, drive across USA or just taken to the local shops for milk and some ice cream.
A few days ago Todd headed off across to Buffalo NY in the Buggy and last I spoke all was going well and she was crusing on a lazy 2500 - 2600 RPM at 70 - 80 mph. The only issue so far is that the Air Con we put in the day it left had a dicky pressure switch so the compressor won't kick on Grrrrr, oh well.
Since racing we put in a rear seat ( Thanks PRP), took out some bracing, swapped over to some All Terrain tires and fitted Air Con.
No need for Head Sets in the DSBE the Subaru Engine is nice and quiet and with the 5 speed and the all terrain tires you can easily hear yourself think. The curved design of the Manxter Screen is so much better for wind noise.
The Air Con unit it from Vintage Air and has 4 face vents, 2 feet vents and 2 demist vents. When it left it was icy cold so I am happy to say once we sort the pressure switch issue it will be a great edition to the DSBE and keep the wife happy.
Not a real good picture but I was lucky enough to have the guys at PRP Seats help me out with a custom rear bend seat to match the awesome front seats. Everyone who has sat in it comments on how comfy they are so big thumbs up to PRP Seats.
Wouldn't be much of a road trip without some scenery shots. Made it to Zion National Park .
Made it to Los Vegas.
They tell me Pikes Peak is beautiful this time of year ... Todd sent me a picture to show it off
Anyway will post more updates as I get them. By the time the buggy gets back it will have over 10 000 miles on it since it was built so I guess that is enough to be happy with the design and components we used.
A few days ago Todd headed off across to Buffalo NY in the Buggy and last I spoke all was going well and she was crusing on a lazy 2500 - 2600 RPM at 70 - 80 mph. The only issue so far is that the Air Con we put in the day it left had a dicky pressure switch so the compressor won't kick on Grrrrr, oh well.
Since racing we put in a rear seat ( Thanks PRP), took out some bracing, swapped over to some All Terrain tires and fitted Air Con.
No need for Head Sets in the DSBE the Subaru Engine is nice and quiet and with the 5 speed and the all terrain tires you can easily hear yourself think. The curved design of the Manxter Screen is so much better for wind noise.
The Air Con unit it from Vintage Air and has 4 face vents, 2 feet vents and 2 demist vents. When it left it was icy cold so I am happy to say once we sort the pressure switch issue it will be a great edition to the DSBE and keep the wife happy.
Not a real good picture but I was lucky enough to have the guys at PRP Seats help me out with a custom rear bend seat to match the awesome front seats. Everyone who has sat in it comments on how comfy they are so big thumbs up to PRP Seats.
Wouldn't be much of a road trip without some scenery shots. Made it to Zion National Park .
Made it to Los Vegas.
They tell me Pikes Peak is beautiful this time of year ... Todd sent me a picture to show it off
Anyway will post more updates as I get them. By the time the buggy gets back it will have over 10 000 miles on it since it was built so I guess that is enough to be happy with the design and components we used.
Re: The Road to Mexican 1000- Building a Manxter DualSports
Hi Brad,
Did you reverse the intake on the DSBE? I'm trying to figure out how you got the alternator and AC compressor on there without doing that...if you did. Any extra pics would be appreciated. Also, where does the boob go? Am I supposed to cut it out because it doesn't look like it will fit anywhere LOL
Thanks!
Jeff
Did you reverse the intake on the DSBE? I'm trying to figure out how you got the alternator and AC compressor on there without doing that...if you did. Any extra pics would be appreciated. Also, where does the boob go? Am I supposed to cut it out because it doesn't look like it will fit anywhere LOL
Thanks!
Jeff
Thanks,
Jeff TSFR
Jeff TSFR
Re: The Road to Mexican 1000- Building a Manxter DualSports
TSFR wrote:Hi Brad,
Did you reverse the intake on the DSBE? I'm trying to figure out how you got the alternator and AC compressor on there without doing that...if you did. Any extra pics would be appreciated. Also, where does the boob go? Am I supposed to cut it out because it doesn't look like it will fit anywhere LOL
Thanks!
Jeff
Hi Jeff,
The DSBE is NOT a good example for anyone to try and copy anything off as it is built from the ground up to be what it is and not simply a modified VW trying to fit in.
In answer to your questions though I have built more than the DSBE and if you want to run Air Con etc on a Manxter then you will need an invert manifold and a rear Boob. The invert manifold bolts onto the factory Subaru Manifold and moved the Throttle Body from the manifold stock position to on top of the manifold so it clears the stock alternator etc.
You can also relocate the TB by cutting up the stock manifold. Here is an EJ 22 one I did where I swapped the Coil Pack and TB over
Re: The Road to Mexican 1000- Building a Manxter DualSports
do you have any pictures of said boob installed? I have one already and an idea, but the actual execution escapes me. I appreciate how you bump custom up a few notches. 
Thanks,
Jeff TSFR
Jeff TSFR
Re: The Road to Mexican 1000- Building a Manxter DualSports
Is this the boob? I have this, but Winnie called the other thing I got the boob, the one that actually looks like a boob LOL Where does that one go or do I even need it since I have the above pictured item?
Thanks as always!
Jeff
Thanks,
Jeff TSFR
Jeff TSFR
Re: The Road to Mexican 1000- Building a Manxter DualSports
post a picture of what you have and I will tell you what it is.
Re: The Road to Mexican 1000- Building a Manxter DualSports
It is sitting on the package shelf in the back of the buggy... The boob looking lump. Sadly, that's about the only pic I have because it is slightly buried at the moment 
Thanks,
Jeff TSFR
Jeff TSFR
Re: The Road to Mexican 1000- Building a Manxter DualSports
I need to see a picture of the bit you have.
The black bit in the back of the blue car is the Mk1 SubaGears Boob, we then when onto Mk2 which is wider to allow for easier access.
The black bit in the back of the blue car is the Mk1 SubaGears Boob, we then when onto Mk2 which is wider to allow for easier access.