My Buggy Re-Build Project | ||||||
My Dirty Dash
This is a S/S dash that I made about 15 years ago, with VDO gages, even a Speedo. The only problem, with the new setup, I will have to get a different Speedo for street use, since the combo spindles don't have a hole for the speedo cable. The new dash will be aluminum!!! If your going to build your own Dash... Use Aluminum!!! Stainless Steel is a REAL Pain in the rear!!! You WILL burn up hole saws GUARANTEED! But change is good!
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The Front View
Here is an overall shot of the buggy from the front view. Yeah, the paint isn't looking too good anymore. But hey, it's a 20 year old spray bomb paint job, and most of the wear & tear of the paint is from tarps being blown in the wind and scraping the paint. The rest is just dirt on the car cuz it's been sitting for a while due to back problems.
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Front Suspension
Here is a shot to show the stock but reinforced front suspension. Not much travel here. The best thing about this suspension is the Bilstein shocks and steering damper. They made a major difference in the handling & ride. The new suspension should make this look & ride like a dinosaur.
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Rear View
Here is a shot from the rear of the car to get a look at the rear suspension, and the current cage work in back. It is going to look quite a bit different when it's all done.
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Rear Close-Up
Here's a close-up of the Bus reduction gear rear suspension, and the original rear shock mounts I had to flip over & swap sides of the car a while back. Originally the shocks went to the rear of the frame, and it seemed to me they attached at about the weakest point possible. If you look close you can see that the axle is almost level. This rear suspension is pre-loaded so much that it is almost like riding a ridged chopper. That IS full droop. All the suspension travel in the rear is up travel. It's a pretty rough ride...
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Top View of Rear Suspension
This is just a shot of the rear shocks (Dual Bilstein's) from the top view. You can see where the tire rubbed them at full compression. I remounted the shocks in a forward angle, and into the main hoop of the roll cage, it made a huge difference in the way the car handled & rode. I was amazed at the difference then, I can only imagine what the difference is going to feel like when I'm finished with this project. Behind the seats, you can see the 18 gallon fuel tank. Unfortunately, it's not a fuel cell, so can't race with it. Most likely won't be racing it anyway, but we'll see after I see how she rides with the new suspension, and what class I would have to be in. I think I would end up in a class where I would be WAY underpowered.
|  Under Hood View OK, here I popped the hood off to give a shot of the junk stock pedals, the stock steering box (leaking) the cross support bar that will have to be removed for the rack & pinion steering, and the handy dandy cooler holder bungie net. There is a small but very loud dual trumpet air horn under the inner tube water stopper. OK, yeah, inner tube is Mickey Mouse, but hey it was WAY cheep (free), and it worked pretty good at keeping a good amount of the water outta your crotch. Hey, sometimes that water is pretty cold, even though on a HOT day it feels pretty good BUT, you only need so much of it to cool off! Those front turn signals are old VW bus reverse lights... I had them, and they work great... FREE! If you notice the rear pictures, the third eye brake light is also a bus reverse light with the lens painted red. It works... FREE! LOL There is even a speedometer cable running up to the VDO speedo.
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