Scarlett Gets A Makeover!

[abgiles]

CLICK ON THE PICTURES FOR LARGER SIZED ONES

Last June, we were afforded the opportunity to purchase the Manx Resorter #12 from a gentleman in California. Tim, another club member and Manx enthusiast, was working for Bruce and Winnie at the time, and found this one for sale. He was awesome in helping with the transaction by speaking with the owner, assuring him it was going to a caring home, and helping persuade him to drop the price some so that we could afford it. We were excited, but shipping costs were going to make it out of the question.

Fortunately for us, not only did he help broker a deal, he helped arrange shipping with some club members headed east for a club event and were bringing an empty trailer! The timing was perfect and we couldn't thank Tim, the Cushman's, and Joe Wheeler enough for all the help.

We got her in August and brought her home. Some carb issues kept her from being a distance runner, and my work schedule (I work during the week 250 miles from home, and am home on weekends only) kept us from doing a bit to her, and I drove her only on weekends, for short trips to and from the store.

[abgiles]

We originally purchased the Resorter so that my wife would have a buggy to drive during the events, and because it was a good price for the rare vehicle. Ok, I pushed for it, and she said "do what you want". Unlike things I've heard from others, when she says that, she is truly supportive, and there is no double meaning.

Fast forward to now, and she's not liking it that much. She likes the sporty look of the KickOut SS and Manxter. She likes to sleek low profile. So, what to do now? We don't have the money or space for a third buggy, and I really, really, really wanted to keep the Resorter (named Scarlett, as she's a southern Lady, and the color....).

We kicked around the idea of selling it to fund a build, keeping it and purchasing a KO SS kit, etc... The issue is if we did the new one, there would be no funds for restoration, and all that stuff. Finally, we agreed to build her back in a similar style to the one that Bob Hunter did back in 2010.



Sleek, low profile, and overall killer looks. Tanya says she'd love one, but it has to be the same stance, her specific color, and have shiny wheels. Other than that, it's up to me she says.

She's picked her color, and is just starting to figure out just how many choices there are on interior options, etc...

As we're doing this on a budget (famous last words), we're re-using as many parts as we can. The pan is in excellent shape, and is just going to need a little cleaning and liner applied. All the suspension will be gone through, as will the brakes (maybe a disc conversion), and we will keep the same 1600, now that the carb issue is mostly sorted out.

[abgiles]

Now for the fun part! Wesley loves a good project, has a great history with VW mechanical work, is local, a friend, a former Navy colleague, and all around good guy. He did an entire build on his Manx in just a short few months, but has since sold it. He has the space, the time, and the longing for a project, but is waiting until next year to purchase and build his. He's bored out of his mind without a project, and wanted to do some painting. Perfect setup for us.

A few weeks ago, I took Scarlett to Wesley, and the fun began!

He got right to work with taking her apart, and is about 50% done with the sanding. Lots and lots of layers to get to the original Lime Green gelcoat. NO, she won't be lime green.

[abgiles]

[joescoolcustoms]

Like Tom Petty said: "The Saaaaaaannnding is the hardest part!"

[abgiles]

Wesley has been hard at it, and helping me figure out some engine issues at the same time. My current plan is to install an 1835 in Loretta, and put her engine in the Resorter, but all that is subject to change. I never know what the real plan is until it's done, so everything is up in the air.

For now, she's been sanded down to the original gel coat, and down to raw fiberglass where needed for repairs.




So, she's not quite sanded down in these pictures all the way, but you get the idea.

While sanding, he found a few places where previous repairs had been done correctly, and a number of holes that had been filled with Bondo. Since he's wanting to do this correctly, he's drilled them out, and corrected the process with some Cabosil.



Just a couple of holes there. 119 to be exact, but that's small in comparison with Loretta, that had 386 holes. Still a lot to contend with. Fill and sand, fill and sand.

[abgiles]

One of the other issues he ran into was a broken bit of fiberglass on the rear where the body bolts through the pan. The fiberglass on the Resorter is exceptionally thick, with the exception of the rear package tray and the where this break is.





This break received some fiberglass matting to fix, and he added some additional matting to the opposite side to make sure it's strengthened up. It will be sanded smooth, obviously, before prepping and priming.

[abgiles]

Getting some additional progress made. It's amazing how much I have to research just for small things, and it's certainly keeping me busy, trying to learn what I need to do to make sure the parts of the build I'm doing are done correctly.

Spoke with Jeremy at Rebel Wiring over the last few days, and he's building a custom Beetle Deluxe loom for me. It's custom, as I'll be reversing the location to allow the fuse block to be in the back, in the space behind the rear seat. It was there originally, and done well, but I had a few changes we wanted to make. As usual, Jeremy was great to deal with, brought up all the extra challenges a rear mounted fuse block would create (long run of power from rear to ign. switch and back), and decided to add a few relays for the heavy power stuff to prevent any future issues. And also as usual, he gave me the Manx Club 10% discount. Can't say enough about how much I love the company. Has that old school charm and detailed customer appreciation that's hard to find these days.

[abgiles]

So while I was busy on the phone with Jeremy, Wesley was busy doing some actual work. He's completed the sanding and shooting some primer and slicksand. I have no clue as to how many hours of sanding he's spent, but he's had to get through ten different layers to get to the original Lime Green gelcoat. Lots and lots of work.

[FulsGld]

I'm liking all of this information. I never thought about putting the fuse panel in the rear. Would like to get a picture of that if possible. My wife's Turista is Lime Green under the newest paint also. Keep at it...

[abgiles]

I'm liking all of this information. I never thought about putting the fuse panel in the rear. Would like to get a picture of that if possible. My wife's Turista is Lime Green under the newest paint also. Keep at it...

Will do once we get it mounted. It will be a bit though. Wesley had to head out to sea for a couple of months, so he stopped at the primer. I chose the rear mounted option since it was there already, and much easier to get at behind the seats. Mine has a cover between the back seat and the rear "firewall" and all that. Jeremy at Rebel Wiring was great to work with. Due to the length of the power run, we opted to use more relays than most would, and he split the harness into a back section with main fuse block, and most leads, and a smaller separate relay block for under the dash. Very well thought out.

[abgiles]

As most of you know, Wesley is active duty Navy (we met while serving on the same submarine before I retired), and is out to sea for a couple of months, so his part is stalled right now at primer.



So, Scarlett's body is currently sitting on her current chassis, and it's time for me to get some work done.

My plan was to totally strip her solid chassis, sandblast the entire thing, and coat it top and bottom with U-Pol Raptor, as Joe did on Loretta. Being as I work 250 miles from home, and am home on weekends only (and that I'm slow as heck when working, as I'll research for 20 hours to do a 1 hour job), I am very limited with my time (I try to spend as much time with the family as possible when I'm home, obviously), and knew it would be a huge challenge to get the chassis ready, send the chassis and body out to the roll cage guy, and get it back so that Wesley could shoot the body and we could start the re-wiring and final assembly once he returns.

[abgiles]

We had planned on Chevy pattern discs, adjustable beam, etc... Low and behold, I found an incredible deal last week on a 1971 chassis (same as she was already on), that had been fully stripped, new Wolfsburg West floorpans installed, King Kong torsion adjusters, a CB Performance 2" narrowed adjustable beam, 2 1/2" CB dropped spindles for disc brakes, a complete front disc brake complete kit with Chevy bolt pattern, bearings and seals, stainless brake lines, caster shims, boxed narrowed IRS trailing arms (won't be using them), a brand new steering gear box, and a few other items. The price I paid was the same as I would have for just an Empi adjustable beam and the disc brake kit. Best part is that the pan had already been blasted and had a liner applied to the bottom. There was a thin topcoat layer added, which would be great in the drag car he was planning on building, but needs U-Pol Raptor on top.

This has considerably sped up the process for me, and weather permitting, I'll be spraying the Raptor on the top this weekend.

[abgiles]

So, I just checked the weather for this weekend, and while the temperature surely supports it, the precipitation will not support shooting. I have to shoot outside, and mother nature told me it's not going to happen this weekend. I will, however, get the front beam assembled and test fit it on the current chassis, just to make sure the stance is correct.

[joem32380]

whats with the standstill. You have missed about 3 weekends of updates.
--we want Scarlett!!