Nate's Manxter Build Ej22/Subarugears Upgrade

vduboy · 30 Jun 2013, 6:21 pm

Hi guys been a bit slack starting a build thread so here goes
The specs will be
Manxter 2+2 Body Kit supplied by MMA
Semi auto chassis- Ball Joint/IRS
2 inch body stiffener
Thing arms and stubs
Possibly notched spring plates to suit lift at front
Vw 1916 motor with dual kadrons (already have this from previous bug)
Type one gearbox with 4.37:1 ring and pinion and a mix match of the stronger parts from various swinger/irs boxes (until I can afford a sweet subarugears box)
Wheel and tyre combo still to be decided, probably sunrasia's from MMA with some nice BFG All terrains 28" upfront and 30" at the back
930 cvs and axles
Discs all round
Thats all I can remember now..

vduboy · 30 Jun 2013, 6:23 pm

So the donor body has been removed and sold to a guy who is restoring his dads old beetle that was lost for years then found again.., pulled out the horrible semi auto box and all related bits, pulled the front beam, gave the pan a bit of a wire buff, one floor half will go again but the non battery side is quite well ventilated and will need to be replaced! Had a productive day today, went out and bought some engine stands which I then modified to become a bug on a spit!
Stripped my old spare box to replace the ring and pinion that I destroyed on the street one day in my old bug
Went to my local Vw shop to pilfer parts out of various gearboxes he had there and managed to get enough good bits to build a reasonably strong type one Irs box. Which will have to do until I can afford a subarugears box.
Thats about it for this weekend will post some pics up when I figure that out!
Cheers

vduboy · 30 Jun 2013, 7:08 pm

Body ready to come off..

nils · 1 Jul 2013, 6:04 am

Sweet! New buggy build. 👍

love the look of the manxters

vduboy · 1 Jul 2013, 10:39 pm

Body going to its new home! Naked floorpan looking like a lot of work.. and dodgy previous repair to floor and some brazed up holes... this will be getting cut out.

vduboy · 1 Jul 2013, 10:41 pm

The bug on a spit! Chassis sitting on my modified engine stands. Will make life a little easier.

Aussie Dubbin · 1 Jul 2013, 11:23 pm

Nice look forward to it

vduboy · 2 Jul 2013, 7:43 am

Thanks guys getting all excited now! Cant wait to get really stuck into it.

wild baja · 5 Jul 2013, 9:23 pm

looking forward to see your build progress . as Nils says manxters are a looker

vduboy · 9 Jul 2013, 8:58 pm

So I went down to the local dub shop and borrowed their press jigs etc to get my gearbox sorted out, took it all home again to clean the cases etc and probably get back down there on the weekend to slap it all together with my 4.37:1 ring and pinion.

vduboy · 9 Jul 2013, 9:01 pm

With the gearbox guy unable to give me a hand this weekend I started to tackle the shitty left hand floorhalf. I had bought just a floor quarter section but after cutting out the hole for it then trying to weld it in it seems to be made of some form of brittle cheese...😬 so shelving that idea I just got into it and drilled out the 150 spot welds holding the pan half in, removed the jacking point from the new half, and trimmed and tacked the new piece in place. At least I got something done on the buggy this weekend. Trying to make sure I do something every weekend at least.

Aussie Dubbin · 9 Jul 2013, 9:57 pm

Are you going to reinforce the side rails with rhs? Or are you adding a cage?

herbug74 · 9 Jul 2013, 10:43 pm

Cool looking project.
Can I ask what you've done with the autostick parts, could you PM me as I'm am interested to build my parts bin.

vduboy · 9 Jul 2013, 10:46 pm

I had sold all the autostick parts to a guy but I haven't heard from him.. Feel free to shoot me a pm about them.

vduboy · 9 Jul 2013, 10:48 pm

Aussie Dubbin wrote:Are you going to reinforce the side rails with rhs? Or are you adding a cage?

The pan is getting a two inch body stiffener, and the manxter cage/roof support system, which is basically a six point cage I suppose..

vduboy · 10 Jul 2013, 8:10 am

herbug74 wrote:Cool looking project.
Can I ask what you've done with the autostick parts, could you PM me as I'm am interested to build my parts bin.

PM sent mate!

Aussie Dubbin · 10 Jul 2013, 10:40 am

Cool. Keep at it

vduboy · 16 Jul 2013, 8:03 pm

Finished my gearbox on the weekend, isn't shimming diffs fun??? Also finished welding in the floor half and got a second hand manual pedal cluster to replace the semiauto one, no photos yet as it just looks like a gearbox and a floorpan! Will start stripping down the beam, rear arms and torsion bars for some new bushes etc this weekend.

vduboy · 23 Jul 2013, 12:48 pm

Hi guys, got a bit more done on the buggy on the weekend, stripped the rear arms out, they were a major PITA, the pivot bolts were seized into the collars... after much cursing and head scratching I cut as much of the bush away to get some vice grips on the collar and turn the pivot bolt, two almighty cracked later they eventually were worked free.
On their way out though they managed to tear the first thread on each side of the chassis 😬 So after searching high and low I couldnt find my 14x1.5 tap.
I then seen my box of helicoil taps and a 12x1.5 is the same OD as the pivot bolts! Score! Ordered some goodies from MMA so I can finish the rear arms and start on the front end.

vduboy · 23 Jul 2013, 12:52 pm

Oh yeah I also bought a Cranky Kit from Fit Turn and Tech, AKA Manxiberty, (Subaru starter motor with a adapter to fit a type one box.)Really good looking bit of kit, very well priced too when Its only a bit more than some were asking for a reconditioned VW one. Cant wait to spin it and get rid of my heavy dual battery setup!

vduboy · 28 Jul 2013, 7:34 pm

Here's my pretty rebuilt gearbox with 4.37:1 r/p, 930 flanges and crankykit all fitted up! A tiny bit of crankcase flashing had to be filed down to let the adapter sit flat, but other than that was stupidly easy to fit! Gotta love how good machined alloy looks too, got some nylocs for the 7mm nose cone mounts and some for the diff covers as well, also had to buy an adapter to get the three bolt nosecone to fit the two bolt chassis..

vduboy · 28 Jul 2013, 7:39 pm

And here is a piccy of the crankykit, so much lighter than the old clunky starter too. And no more dicking around with starter bushes!!

vduboy · 28 Jul 2013, 7:47 pm

Supercheap had a special on spray guns on the weekend so they were bought with a heaps of associated paint stuff so I can get ready to throw some undercoat at this naked pan, also welded up the holes where vw smashed those stupid tacks through the pan to hold the body seal down 😬
I also took the liberty of sending the other jacking point to the scrap bin too.. maybe I wont loose any more blood on them..

Aussie Dubbin · 28 Jul 2013, 11:02 pm

Wish I could build my own g.box😢

vduboy · 29 Jul 2013, 8:40 am

Ha ha I'm a motorbike mechanic too so I have a little head start, its not actually that difficult its just nuts and bolts but there are a lot of special tools needed, I was lucky enough to be able to borrow them from the local dub shop.

vduboy · 4 Aug 2013, 11:34 am

Just a quick update, didn't get much done on the buggy this weekend, got sidetracked rebuilding my gas gas 300 (dirt bike), and repairing my mates bike after his expansion chamber lost an argument with a tree... Also rebuilding the bosses Karmann Ghia motor, he bought it as a project car after the fire that went through the engine bay whilst the previous owner was getting it tuned at the local mechanics! 😠
On a side note hoping Brad can answer this for me, are the chassis holes on the front corners of the chassis (very close together possibly 10mm holes) used on the manxter kit? They are the ones on the edge of the napoleons hat. If not I was going to weld them up as the seem like they would trap moisture and rot out that part of the frame.. Anyone else feel free to chime in too! Cheers!

nils · 4 Aug 2013, 8:08 pm

Not sure brad spends much time on aussie dubbers anymore. try him on the offroad section on shoptalk forums

vduboy · 4 Aug 2013, 9:13 pm

Sweet I've posted on manxclub as well, thanks mate will do.

vduboy · 18 Aug 2013, 7:12 pm

Hi guys, took the trailing arms to work and pressed out the old axles, got them all ready for a clean up and paint, anyone modified the lower shock mount so it doesn't hang down so low? doesn't look like too much of a drama to gain some ground clearance?
Also re-shimmed my motor to bring the endplay back into spec, I blamed this wear on stupid younger me flogging the hell out of it.. Thankfully the thrust bearing is still rock solid in the case. Ill squeeze a few more k's out of it yet! The torque tool/dude is such a fantastic tool made it a piece of piss job!
Bought a fancy breather box to route the breather hoses into, and some Guido spec gold pushrod tubes 2 piece to fix a nagging oil leak. Wish they had another colour! Got a cool CSP linkage for the Kad's and a BMW R80 airbox from work to attempt to make a airbox system to shut up the induction noise.
Thats all for now until the kit arrives.. not long now!

OZ Towdster · 18 Aug 2013, 7:40 pm

Yep the shock holes in the arms can be drilled up higher and the bottom of the shock pots cut off , just cycle the suspension to full up and make sure the shocky doesn't bottom out before the arm hits the bump stop , obviosly all done with the rear torsion bars removed .
With your now gained down travel of the arm ie the shock dosn't run out of travel when extended you can also either notch out the spring plate or grind the cast down stops ( I would recomend notching the spring plate ) to get a bit more droop , again check that you haven't gone to far and your CV's don't become the limiting down travel as they won't hesitate to make a mess of everthing if you pull the centres of them out .

vduboy · 18 Aug 2013, 8:14 pm

Sweet sounds like a plan, thanks! My 930cv's are coming over with the Manxter kit so ill be busy when that all arrives! I thought i might be able to cut the lower mount of and flip it so it will now sit inside but higher if that makes sense? Time will tell when I start mocking it all up. How are the tow'ds coming along?

vduboy · 20 Aug 2013, 9:17 pm

Hey guys thought I'd post some pics as everyone loves pictures..
Re shimmed crank all back together,

Guido spec gold pushrod tubes..

Csp linkages, very smooth, makes the stock kadron ones feel pretty crappy

vduboy · 20 Aug 2013, 9:27 pm

Trailing arms all stripped and ready for me to learn how to paint on!
And the reason I havent been getting much buggy stuff done, had to do a freshen up on the top end of my dirt bike, gotta love two strokes, rebuild the top end for less than $300! Apart and rebuilt in less than two hours including straightening all the bent bits!

vduboy · 25 Aug 2013, 9:11 pm

Hi Guys,
Got a little more done on the motor this weekend, removed the deep sump I had fitted to the motor while it was still in my daily, fixed a few nagging oil leaks, flywheel seal, fitted new fully sick pushrod tubes and added a few gaskets under the fuel pump to drop the pressure a tad as it was always quite high.

vduboy · 25 Aug 2013, 9:12 pm

Now where did I put my engine stands...

Craig Torrens · 25 Aug 2013, 9:14 pm

Pretty 😂

vduboy · 25 Aug 2013, 9:15 pm

Also trimmed down the cylinder tinware and welded back in the bits with the cylinder numbers. Also welded up the holes for the thermostats? I have never had a bug with them fitted!
Looks much neater now

vduboy · 19 Sep 2013, 8:23 pm

Hi guys been a bit busy playing dirt bikes, had a two day ride so had to get my bike and all the mates bikes sorted as well, 😎got a little buggy stuff done, removed the deep sump and swapped it for a CB pump with the outlets for the external filter, Cheers CT, will do a proper full flow of the case when it requires open heart surgery. I see why people don't like the in/out pumps as they are quite restrictive, fixed a few dags up with the die grinder so it flows a little better.
I also had to press the shaft through the drive gear so it had more than 1mm engagement with the cam...🥲
Apart from that the kit should arrive at mine on Monday so should finally have some pics of MY Manxter to post!

vduboy · 24 Sep 2013, 11:22 am

So bit of a crappy update... The bar work wasn't quite ready so that pushed back pick up for a week or so Which I was cool with as I got told about it, (but got an earful from the freight company) and I find out yesterday that the useless freight company didn't pick up my kit because the pallet didn't have wheels!! After telling them multiple times they'd need a tail lift and a pallet jack!😠 Now I'm probably going to get stung for storage until the useless twats can come back to get it! And the poor guys have to walk around my kit for another week...🙅
I might get to see it eventually...🥲

Craig Torrens · 24 Sep 2013, 2:40 pm

Bummer re the barwork. 🤪

Full flow the case when you do a cam change 😉

vduboy · 24 Sep 2013, 2:52 pm

Craig Torrens wrote:Bummer re the barwork. 🤪

Full flow the case when you do a cam change 😉

Yeah that's the plan. Ill use the life out of this motor first though! I had to reshim the crank the other day though, unsure why.. the bearing had no play whatsoever, maybe the shims wearing? All good now!

Craig Torrens · 24 Sep 2013, 5:33 pm

How much end float did it have ?

vduboy · 24 Sep 2013, 6:04 pm

I had 0.15mm, possibly a little more, set it back to 0.10mm

vduboy · 29 Sep 2013, 8:17 pm

Hi Guys, the wifey is away on holidays so I get to play buggy building for a whole week with out nagging! I thought I'd get some paint on the floorpan this weekend.. boy was I wrong. I still had a heap of welding to do, pulled the other seat mount off the original pan half, welded up the spots where I was a bit enthusiastic with the spotweld drill.. 😠
Made up a few little biscuit shaped bits to weld up the outer napoleon hat bolt holes, also a few for underneath. Ill fill this with fish oil to keep the rust gremlins at bay.
Cut of the heater cable outlets in the frame horns then stitch welded them for some strength. Gave the whole pan a pretty good wire wheel, and killed my ozito grinder, you just cannot get quality for 26 bucks anymore. Only got 15 years out of it too!😂

vduboy · 29 Sep 2013, 8:18 pm

And here is the stitch welded frame horn, had to dig through a pot load of atf sludge just to see it!

vduboy · 8 Oct 2013, 11:26 am

Its here! Finally! All tucked away in the garage, haven't had a chance to unpack it yet... Already got a nice gouge in the front guard.. not impressed, 😬 at least I don't have to worry about christening it now.
Will get stuck in when I get home and start unwrapping all the goodies and get some piccy's up. 😁

vduboy · 8 Oct 2013, 11:31 am

Its here! Finally! All tucked away in the garage, haven't had a chance to unpack it yet... Already got a nice gouge in the front guard.. not impressed, 😬 at least I don't have to worry about christening it now.
Will get stuck in when I get home and start unwrapping all the goodies and get some piccy's up. 😁

vduboy · 9 Oct 2013, 8:50 pm

So finally got to spray my floorpan, have been avoiding that like the plague.. but my first go at spray painting turned out all right.
But before I threw some paint at it this fell out of the tunnel...
The bloody clamp for the handbrake cable... 😬
So I found the spot weld drilled and tapped it for a 5mm allen bolt and got my skinny arm up the bum of the chassis bolted it in from the inside out then welded the bolt in place.

vduboy · 9 Oct 2013, 8:52 pm

And then...
This arrived!

vduboy · 9 Oct 2013, 8:53 pm

How sexy is that cage and barwork? Awesome welding on all of it..

vduboy · 9 Oct 2013, 8:55 pm

My wife wanted to be the first person in the car.. she was also the first the bang her head on the roll cage!!😂

Craig Torrens · 9 Oct 2013, 10:22 pm

she probably wished that her first "bang" in the car would have been kinda different to that ?!

vduboy · 10 Oct 2013, 6:44 am

Craig Torrens wrote:she probably wished that her first "bang" in the car would have been kinda different to that ?!

Hahaha that's disgusting Craig, they pee from that...😂

baghall · 10 Oct 2013, 9:03 pm

This is gonna be cool, looking forward to the finished product.

vduboy · 11 Oct 2013, 11:09 am

baghall wrote:This is gonna be cool, looking forward to the finished product.

Cheers thanks mate. Just going through with the engineer now in regards to what he wants done to the chassis stiffener/lift kit with crush tubes etc.

vduboy · 14 Oct 2013, 9:27 pm

Well I couldn't leave that awesome bar work naked so I got stuck in and got it all in primer. Also got the chance to coat the pan in the raptor lining, that stuff is so fantastic, it makes my first spraying attempt look professional! Really happy with it, cheers Ben and Brad from MMA for getting me onto it.
Also got the engineer driving up from the gong to check it all out mainly how he wants the chassis stiffener bolted up so far he sounds really promising. Well thats all for now ill get some pics up..

Craig Torrens · 14 Oct 2013, 9:37 pm

I like the paint on the pan.👍

vduboy · 15 Oct 2013, 8:30 am

Me too, was really pleased with it, so easy to spray on too.

vduboy · 17 Oct 2013, 6:20 pm

So just had the engineer come round and check out the project.. good news all happy with it. He wants crush tubes through every hole in the chassis stiffener which will be a lot of work but it'll pass with flying colours he thinks. He is also happy to try and push for the maximum tyre size allowed which is good. And would like an upgrade to discs on the rear so Ill send him the specs of the disc kit I have and he will go through it for me. Finally found a engineer that doesn't have his head up his ass...😎
On the down side my chassis stiffener wasn't quite welded at the right angle over the rear of the pan so that has to be sent back to be rejigged. 🙁
But it's all good I still have a few things to do...

vduboy · 23 Oct 2013, 7:37 pm

Been busy painting... sick to death of being in that plastic room! But the bar work came out nice. Not as satin black as i'd hoped its more glossy in real life. I probably used the wrong thinners..
Am going to try and suss out which direction to go with my hydraulic clutch conversion. I have a few ideas now thanks to the guys who gave some ideas.
Also started to fix the lift kit so the angles match up at the rear of the pan.

bugboymatt · 24 Oct 2013, 7:33 am

Looking good mate.

vduboy · 24 Oct 2013, 7:42 am

bugboymatt wrote:Looking good mate.

Thanks dude. I am a little excited...

bugboymatt · 24 Oct 2013, 12:22 pm

I bet your excited mate.
It's great watching your progress.

vduboy · 10 Nov 2013, 4:07 pm

Well last weekend I got stuck in with the hole saw and put a few holes in the chassis stiffener...
Same on the other side, you can see the old vw hub cap full of my crush tubes. Cut them roughly then trimmed them to length on the lathe at work.
Welded the tubes in then ground them flat and hosed some paint on until I get my spray room back up.
Also started mocking up the air box set up I will be using, its from BMWs boxer twin motorbikes and even has the same dicky offset for the cylinders.

vduboy · 14 Nov 2013, 6:57 pm

Had the engineer over again today to check out my work on the crush tubes and he also had a look at the rear disc kit I purchased seems happy with that so now I have the go ahead to bolt it all together and get it down to him when its done so we it can get brake tested etc.
I also asked him about tyre and wheel combinations and got some ideas about what he can pass. He is happy with my plans for thing spindles too! hope to have some piccys for you after the weekend. 😎

vduboy · 17 Nov 2013, 7:40 pm

So woke up at sparrows fart to get stuck in and get a heap done, but was greeted with my road bike sitting in a puddle of fuel.. 😬 so after a couple of hours dicking around I finally got some buggy stuff done. Got all the rear arms assembled with new bearing and my 930 cv kit, painted them the trailing arms the spring plates and the rear seat bars. It felt so good to actually bolt something back onto the car.

vduboy · 17 Nov 2013, 7:50 pm

And some parts finally going back on! I set the spring plate angle at standard for now, it'll go up after it's all rego'd!

nils · 18 Nov 2013, 4:50 am

At the risk of being a kill joy, I think you might be pulling those rear arms apart again to notch the springs plates to get the most from your 930 cv's.

great to see you progressing though

vduboy · 18 Nov 2013, 6:59 am

Not a killjoy at all mate. That was the plan. I just want as little grief as possible when getting it rego'd. I appreciate all advice if I am about to get something ass about! Cheers.

vduboy · 1 Dec 2013, 5:42 pm

Well I got heaps done this weekend.. Started off cleaning out the front calipers, one was seized solid and entirely blocked up inside, had to bolt on a master cylinder and pump the pistons out one at a time while clamping the other one in. Painted them a nice red to give the chassis a little bit of colour.

vduboy · 1 Dec 2013, 5:46 pm

Also pulled apart the front beam, under the inch thick layer or grease grime and crud it looked quite good, still had the original ball joints which were absolutely buggered. pulled all the leaves out checked for broken ones re greased and put them back in.. eventually.. VW must have been feeling very sadistic when they designed that leaf pack. 😬
The tow point was all but sheared off so I helped it on its way to the bin.
Pressed in new ball joints all round fit new bearings to the re machined front discs, put some new shocks on threw some paint at the lot and now have a complete front end.😎

vduboy · 1 Dec 2013, 5:49 pm

So with the beam complete, with the help of my brother got it back on its own wheels!

vduboy · 1 Dec 2013, 5:50 pm

I also got my hands on a set of second hand 31's for the rear and couldn't resist throwing one under to see what it would look like. Pretty stoked on how they fill the guards!

vduboy · 1 Dec 2013, 5:51 pm

I then took to the body with the sander to flatten out all the high spots on the underside of the body so the chassis stiffener would sit flat, I was then reminded how much fiberglass itches. Oh well better get used to it I suppose!
So with little brother still around we were both dying to see the body on the pan..

vduboy · 1 Dec 2013, 5:52 pm

The body/rear seat bracket needs some tweaking to get it back about ten mill so I can get the bolts to line up. But am super happy with its height and look. 👍

rickp · 1 Dec 2013, 6:42 pm

looking great! and get used to the fibre glass, because there is a lot of grinding cutting drilling....oh it never ends.. and it is itchy as hell.

vduboy · 2 Dec 2013, 10:57 am

nils wrote:At the risk of being a kill joy, I think you might be pulling those rear arms apart again to notch the springs plates to get the most from your 930 cv's.

great to see you progressing though

I can't notch them at the moment as the trailing arms are just about touching the lower cage supports, so a bit of notching to the cage might be necessary..

vduboy · 7 Dec 2013, 9:31 pm

Well had a crap day on the buggy today.. nothing I tried to put on fit, except for the genuine stuff... gearbox mounts don't fit, unsure if this is because of poor quality mounts or the wrong ones.. might have to modify the original banana mount. Had to make some spacers for the handbrake cables as they were out of adjustment out of the box so I pinched the collars of the original handbrake cables so now I have a handbrake! Fit up the rear calipers after having to machine the brackets to get the discs in the centre, I also made some clamps for the barwork that clamps to the torsion housing, these are usually welded to the housing but I had already painted the pan.
Fit up the new steering box as the old one was very crunchy.. 🤪
Anybody know whether TRW steering boxes already have oil/grease in them??
Paul from Steelart also supplied me my hydraulic master cylinder and bracket for the clutch.. very nice work! I am going to attempt to move this right forward into the frame head area with a longer pushrod for easier servicing as my pan doesn't have any access holes and my engineer would have kittens if I cut a hole in the tunnel. Piccys to come.

vduboy · 7 Dec 2013, 10:08 pm

Rear calipers all bolted up, spacers for the handbrake cables and a handbrake that works!

vduboy · 15 Dec 2013, 7:58 pm

So had a whole weekend playing with the buggy, made the hard lines for the brakes, cut a bigger hole in the frame head to enable me to fit the clutch master cylinder in the tunnel, also made a new panel to cover it up and got some quick release bolts (1/4 turn) to make it easy to check the fluid level.

vduboy · 15 Dec 2013, 8:01 pm

Also made a bracket up for the slave cylinder with a heim joint to stop it from binding as it goes through its range, Then I greased up my 930 cv's and fit them up. What a crap job that is! 😬

Then I dummied up the rear barwork to see if the exhaust I want to run will fit, looks like I have enough room! 😎

I can now get the master in/out with the beam on without having to remove the pedal assembly and without a big hole in the tunnel to make my engineer happy! Stoked!

I also welded a plate to the master cylinder's mounting bolts so I only need to do up one side.

vduboy · 15 Dec 2013, 8:05 pm

The clutch master sitting in the tunnel connected to the pedal, I mounted the tab in the middle to make it easy to get the mounting holes on a flat bit of the frame head. But I then had to slot the hole slightly so I could get the pedal in the tunnel, minor over sight 🤪
I used the tool I made for straightening brake line to make RC rock crawler cages for funnily enough straightening brake lines..

vduboy · 15 Dec 2013, 8:06 pm

Bracket for the slave cylinder, made out of 8mm alloy plate should be plenty strong enough
Cv's ready for installation, one of them looked like it had been chewed on the outside so had to clean it up first.

nils · 16 Dec 2013, 7:31 pm

Mmm......... 930 cv's😎

vduboy · 17 Dec 2013, 6:34 am

nils wrote:Mmm......... 930 cv's😎

Yeah they are pretty sweet, they are huge though took about a kilo of grease!

vduboy · 28 Dec 2013, 8:29 pm

Hi guys, I have clutch and brakes! Took the plunge and threw some brake fluid in it and bled up the clutch and brakes, came up really sweet, clutch is very light and smooth. All my fittings are nice and dry, (once I done the last one up... 🙁 ) No pics as it all looks the same apart from some fluid in the reservoir!
Also finished of trimming the tinware and painting it all, unsure on whether the duct that routes the hot air off the cooler will clear the bar work yet. Really like the look of the motor with the trimmed down tin. Now have a complete rolling chassis! Just waiting on some bar work to get tweaked then on with it's body. 😎

Aussie Dubbin · 29 Dec 2013, 8:43 am

Looking great fella keep at it

No Dunes · 29 Dec 2013, 8:55 pm

Hurry up so we can go for a cruise.
If you need a hand Im always happy to lend a hand
Shane 0410639269

vduboy · 30 Dec 2013, 7:50 pm

No Dunes wrote:Hurry up so we can go for a cruise.
If you need a hand Im always happy to lend a hand
Shane 0410639269

Thanks dude, might take you up on that after I get the bar work sorted out. Cheers 👍

vduboy · 5 Jan 2014, 9:19 pm

Pretty much got the whole rolling chassis done now, I got stuck in and got the bar work sorted so the body would sit all the way back to get the bolts in the right spots.
Had to clearance the body at the front for the steering box as the notch is in the wrong side of the body.
I'm not a fiberglass virgin anymore!
Bloody yanks driving on the wrong side of the road..
Also made some hard fuel lines for the carbs, gave them a clean and reset, they were quite clean inside for 40,000k's on them.
Now the body is in the right spot I get get some sika to stick down the floor seals and start bolting the body down. 😎

vduboy · 5 Jan 2014, 9:22 pm

Got the motor all ready, bolted on the ignition system carbs all cleaned and set, bought a csp linkage which was a pain in the ass to fit, the short side wasn't short enough and the long side not long enough, and yes I did try and swap them! So I made a threaded extension for the long side cut down the short side and rethreaded it. Now it gets full throttle on both carbs at the same time! Bonus
The airbox I got from work is going to be too big..
So the noisy pods are back on until I think of a way of shutting them up. Love all the extra room around the motor with the chassis stiffener.
Here is the body dummied on far enough back to get the bolts in now!

vduboy · 12 Jan 2014, 5:50 pm

Got a heap more done this weekend, made a throttle cable with some better ends on it, fit a 31" to one of my spare rims, the offset is wrong but it looks awesome on the car. Changed my mind again regarding the side steps and fit a few more crush tubes to the chassis stiffener so I can bolt some on later, still need to con a mate to make some for me! Glued the body seals down, drilled a hundred or so more hole in it and now it has bolts holding it down! Fit really well except for a small spot on the front left corner of the body where it has a odd indent.. nothing a little sikaflex can't fix. Also bought a speedo ring for the 930 cv's and a hall sensor and bracket so I can piss of the speedo cable. Welded up the hole in the bearing cap while I was welding in the crush tubes. Just have to figure out a way to block the spindle side. Enough dribble, here are some more pics

vduboy · 12 Jan 2014, 5:52 pm

I also dummied up all the bar work without the body on to see if there were going to be any issues, all looks good,

vduboy · 12 Jan 2014, 5:54 pm

I also marked where the side intrusion bars go through the main cage to limit the amount of exploratory drilling.. So want to drive it like this it looks nasty. 😏

vduboy · 23 Jan 2014, 7:59 pm

So finally I am on holidays! Got two weeks off, have to spend the first week with the wifey 😂 Then I have a week off buggy building! Snuck in a extra day today! Finally plucked up the courage to drill some holes in the side of the body to bolt the cage to the side intrusion bars after pulling them into place, quite a few needed a bit more slotting to get the bolts in,
I also had to make some spacer plates up for the rear C hoop as I had heard horror stories about the glass cracking if they are pulled back to far into place, so went out and got some 10mm alloy plate cut it to shape and painted them black to blend in.

vduboy · 23 Jan 2014, 8:02 pm

I bought a second hand Tig off the guy who used to do our stainless exhausts at work, I love this thing! Been having a bit of a practice with it, very smooth and easy to start and no spit and spatter!
I have been trying to find the right shift rod for the car as well but have had trouble getting one. So I extended the shift coupler instead as it seemed a bit easier than trying to weld up an extension on the thin shift rod.
Installed the Empi quick shift Tbar as well, for once I didn't have a problem fitting Empi crap. But do think Ill have to fill the socket with thicker grease as it feels a little rattley. Cheers Empi!

vduboy · 25 Jan 2014, 8:31 pm

Had one of those days where I was at it all day but it looks like I did stuff all.. Think there will be a few more of them to come now all the major stuff is done. Fit up the air box cover, this took an embarrassingly long time to get done, but there was a fair bit of grinding cutting notching etc to get it all to fit, making the back of the fiberglass flat so the nuts/brackets would sit flat. Also made some rubber bump stops so the lid doesn't rattle against the body.

vduboy · 25 Jan 2014, 8:33 pm

Bolted in the tail lights as well, had to grind a heap of glass off the back of the guard as the studs barely poked through the holes as the glass is quite thick, also had to clean up around the holes to be able to fit a nut on them! I love itching!

vduboy · 25 Jan 2014, 8:36 pm

Here is the air box opened and shut, a decent amount of room there. So my brother helped me get some big 32mm conduit under both sides of the car following the lines of the side intrusion bars. They were a very tight fit!

vduboy · 25 Jan 2014, 8:40 pm

Fit up the rear seat bar and dummied up the rear seats, sat the lower dash tub on as well, starting to look like a car now!
Brad and Ben from MMA went and talked me into getting a Subaru steering column rather than the v dub one, as mine has a busted bush at the bottom the switch block is quite smashed up and the ignition switch was missing from the donor car it seemed like a good idea! Don't get any ideas about making me go Subaru motor too though not going to happen! 😂 So am going to pick up the column from Nils on Tuesday, Cheers mate!

nils · 26 Jan 2014, 6:39 am

hi Nathan,
I have a steering column from a later car in my baja. Its really nice to have all the wiper and light switch's at your finger tips, after you have done it you will wonder how you ever dealt with reaching to the dashboard to turn on the wipers.
. Nice safety wiring on the cv's by the way. That's been on my list of things to do for about 3 years now. What's the vss for? Seeing as you are still aircooled?
Anyways see you tuesday

vduboy · 26 Jan 2014, 6:45 am

Hey mate cheers, it's for the speedo, never liked the cable going into the front hub, going to seal it up so no extra water will get in the bearings. See you then.

vduboy · 31 Jan 2014, 7:29 pm

OK so I finally got my seat brackets sorted out, these wrx seats are really quite wide for a buggy at the rails, the seat itself measures the same as mx5 seats, they are very tall also, they probably wouldn't have fit without the 2 inch chassis stiffener. Neither would I for that matter!
It is f!@#ing embarrassing how long it took me to get the seats sorted but they are in now! Some muppet had welded on some extensions so they could sit even further back in their fully sick Wrx
Also figured out how to mount my subaru steering column, Here are some pics.

vduboy · 31 Jan 2014, 7:31 pm

Made the seat mounts out of 40x40 at the back and 50x50 at the front to get the right seat angle, and braced it with 20x20. All tigged together with endcaps and nuts welded on the bottom for mounting.

vduboy · 31 Jan 2014, 7:33 pm

Had to trim the crap out of the plastic side covers for the seats to clear the side of the body, Had to space one of the seat rails in to clear the sides of the body and also get the seats down low enough that my head clears the roll bar. Also got the hole for the steering column in the right spot straight away! I was stoked! Just got to make the bracket for mounting the column now. What do you guys think of the angles on the uni's?

vduboy · 31 Jan 2014, 7:37 pm

Here is a side on view of the uni angles, the steering column dummied up and the mounting plate.

vduboy · 31 Jan 2014, 7:38 pm

And where it sits now.

vduboy · 2 Feb 2014, 5:59 pm

Today I woke up at sparrows fart and went for a quick dirt bike ride before I'm back to work tomorrow, came home cleaned the bike, finished making the steering column bracket and welded that in place.

vduboy · 2 Feb 2014, 6:02 pm

Also stole Brad's idea for a steering column support plate and made that as well. I also had to reinforce the seat bracket on the passenger seat as it was flexing down and just touching the glass.

vduboy · 2 Feb 2014, 6:04 pm

Mocked up the lower dash panel and started cutting that out to fit around the column mount, then trimmed the crap out of the column covers to clear the dash. Pretty happy with how it is looking

vduboy · 2 Feb 2014, 6:15 pm

Last two pics for today..

vduboy · 9 Feb 2014, 5:31 pm

So got the lower dash bolted in, started dummying up the seat belts, bolted on the the windscreen surround, noticed the bottom corner sitting a little bit proud of the frame, so I pushed it back down and shattered the windscreen. F@#$ing so pissed off at myself. What a dick head. Just packed up after that happened. Didn't feel like screwing anything else up.. 😬

Craig Torrens · 9 Feb 2014, 5:42 pm

faaaaark. What a bummer.🙁

vduboy · 23 Feb 2014, 7:28 pm

Not a very exciting update for today, pulled the old Vw wiper motor down and started to mock up the motor I got off Nils to match the steering column I also got off him, the wiring colours didn't seem to match any diagram I could find so got to work with the multimeter to figure out what went where, got it all working except for the intermittent wipers... I think it is a faulty switch. which was one of the main reasons I wanted this set-up. I'm sure I will run into some luck sooner or later!!

vduboy · 23 Feb 2014, 7:32 pm

Dummied up the Trimil exhaust too, it fills in the gap at the back of the car really well, I have to space the cage back a little and try and move the muffler as far right as I can to clear the rear bar. Also have to extend the tail pipe to exit after the bar. Ben from MMA also said he'd give me some spare flanges to space the bar back for free which is really nice of him. Cheers!

vduboy · 23 Feb 2014, 7:37 pm

Some more pics of the exhaust.. and the rear bar brackets that'll be spaced out to hopefully clear the exhaust.

vduboy · 8 Mar 2014, 7:29 pm

Hi guys and girls, no exciting updates for today, had my engineer around again the other day to talk seat belt mounts, went out today bought some steel and started making them, they are overkill but that is what he wanted.. embarrassed to say it took half the day to make them.
Lucky I am good at fixing bikes, I'd go broke doing this for a living!!

vduboy · 8 Mar 2014, 7:32 pm

Also had to take out the empi t bar shifter I had previously fit as it hit my knee... got a few shifters from the local wreckers to try, a early 6v angled one which I really like, and a stock one, trying to fit them up has led me to thinking the shift rod I have in the car is twisted... and not letting me get first second or reverse, no matter how much I try to move it over I can't get it to work, it was OK with the empi on there but that had a ridiculously short throw.
Pulling the shifter back out when the coupling at the rear is parallel with the car the socket at the front is not. I believe the socket should have equal movement left to right when in neutral? Here are some pics.. First one is coupling to the left, the next is coupling to the right

vduboy · 8 Mar 2014, 7:34 pm

And these pics are with the coupling parallel to the car, the socket up the front isn't sitting parallel. What are your thought on the best way to fix it? take the shift rod out and try to twist it back? or cut and re weld? or just go get a straight one?

vduboy · 9 Mar 2014, 8:07 pm

Fixed the problem with the shifter, the shift rod I got from the wreckers was twisted...😬 so i flipped the coupler over and welded another nut in the new 'right' spot, I now have all gears, stuffed if I know how the shift rod got twisted though.. it was a good ten degrees off square??

vduboy · 23 Mar 2014, 5:23 pm

Finished off a heap of little things this weekend that have been bugging me, finished making the front and rear seat belt mounts, bolted up the rear seats, fit the exhaust properly, trimmed off the outlet and made a new one to go past the rear bar still have to trim this a bit more. Got my fuse box and relay holders as well, have got my wiring diagram drawn up, just need to check lengths and figure out which colour scheme I will use for the wiring, I have a mix of vw, honda suzuki yamaha and gasgas colours all rattling around in my head!

vduboy · 23 Mar 2014, 5:30 pm

More pics, fuse box and relay mounts, seat belts all in, and the tailpipe extension.

vduboy · 23 Mar 2014, 5:32 pm

Anyone got some ideas about how I could fill these gaps on the dash assembly..? 🤪
Was thinking over making the vinyl dash cover come down a little further? It is still in the mocked up stage at the moment, was thinking of making the dash panel bigger to make it easier to fit my gauges neatly, although that will mean I have a bigger gap to fill..

vduboy · 31 Mar 2014, 9:33 pm

Got a few more niggly jobs done this weekend, made the bracket for me remote oil filter, Tried to remove the exhaust studs to install longer ones, only one wanted to come out so I decided to stop there and not have to pull the head to drill out a broken stud.
I ended using some stepped nuts to use the whole stud and not just the last three threads to mount the bracket,
still need to sort out some decent lines and fittings for this,
Got my wiring diagram roughly drawn up, enough to at least get my colour codes and number of colours sorted, ordered all the wiring heatshrink and terminals today.
Am still trying to decide where to put the battery, I am trying to get a smaller gel style or glass mat battery. I don't want it up the front, was either going to put it in the standard spot under the rear seat, although was trying to save this for a hidden speaker location, or make up a bracket and box it in above the gearbox.. any suggestions?
I could even cut a hole in the rear parcel tray area and make a lid/box there?
Also started mocking up the dash, looks like I will have to make a bigger dash panel to neatly fit my gauges and idiot light pod. I thought i had a good location for it all then fit up the switchgear and it covered the idiot lights perfectly... 😂

vduboy · 31 Mar 2014, 9:38 pm

Does any one have the size of a battery of a ej22 on hand? Since that is the starter I have installed and I figure my motor will have less compression than a ej22.
What are your opinions on the best routing for the oil lines? I can swing them over the top then underneath the header, probably heat wrap them so they don't get toasty,
Or go down between the filter and motor depending on whether or not I can get fittings to do a 180 turn then to the pump?

vduboy · 31 Mar 2014, 9:48 pm

Anyone know the proper filter that is supposed to go on these? I believe it was supposed to be for high pressure? The motor in the old car used to get 450kpa when revved when the oil was cold!I got some side blinkers for the buggy but still not sure if I can get away with not having them, I think they ruin the lines a little.
Bought these Narva ones but didn't like them so got some bike ones that are very flat, and e marked.
I have two spots to put them unsure which placement I like better.

vduboy · 6 Apr 2014, 7:06 pm

Got a bit more of the dash done today, dummied up my gauges, realized i'd have to make a bigger panel to fit them in neatly, so without a fancy pants plasma cutter I had to do it the old fashioned way hole saws files and die grinders! Turned out quite well I think. Stuffed up the speedo hole by using a 102mm hole saw when the speedo is 100mm. I thought it would ha a little leeway but was too loose for my liking so made up a small ring around the speedo to fill the gap.
Also made a bracket to lift the left hand side of the lower dash tub as mine was a little saggy. Fitted up the hinge to the glove box lid. Then fit the lock to the other mis-supplied glove box lid. That was my dumdum moment for the day! 🤪
The wiring supplies should be here this week but I'm off playing dirt bikes for the weekend so Ill have to get stuck in next weekend.

vduboy · 6 Apr 2014, 7:08 pm

More piccys

nils · 6 Apr 2014, 8:26 pm

Neat 😁

vduboy · 6 Apr 2014, 8:50 pm

Cheers mate.👍

vduboy · 13 Apr 2014, 8:53 pm

My ride got canned so I made a start on the wiring, had to finish up a few loose ends on the motor first, got a K&N oil filter for the motor that can handle the high oil pressure on cold starts, but the bastard is the biggest filter I have seen! So I had to remake my filter mount bracket, little chop and weld and it now clears the bar work. Gave me a chance to get some more alloy welding practice in. Got some hi temp hi pressure oil lines as well, these are still to be heat wrapped to protect the from the exhaust. These are only temporary until I figure out how to decipher those bloody AN fittings that everyone uses...
Also gave the tank a good flush out and a sand and primer and threw some paint at it too. Had to clean up the corners of the tank so it would fit in the recess. I almost couldn't resist the temptation to hit the corners with the angle grinder but then somebody else would have to finish it for me! So out with the tin snips and a file and gave the tank four nice round corners.
Started laying out all my wires for length marking down the colours as I went so I didn't have to try and remember them. Got one side heatshrunk and pulled into the 32 mm conduit. Was probably overkill having two of them either side but at least I have space for more later on. Left a extra wire in there as well incase I need to add pull more through at a later stage, or when I figure out what I've forgotten.
Also got a set of later curved windscreen wiper mechanisms as per Ben's recommendation. These will sweep much more area than the standard 1500 ones.

vduboy · 13 Apr 2014, 8:55 pm

Here's a pic of the new battery I got from work, cranks the motor way quicker than the stock one did. Big thanks to Paul from Steelart too, that is the first time I've had a chance to try out his Cranky-kit, The old Vw starter needed two batteries to turn it over where now it only needs one. I am stoked!
This is what I had to do to make the oil filter fit

vduboy · 13 Apr 2014, 8:57 pm

Couple more pics of the conduit into the lower dash tub. Will silicone when it is all in place.
Here is the fuel tank painted, pretty sure I will need to shorten the filler neck to clear the bonnet. Had to buy a new fuel sender, the one out of the donor car was rooted. Hope it works with the Vdo gauge..

vduboy · 13 Apr 2014, 9:00 pm

One side of the wiring done, taped it on to another wire to pull in through the conduit.
Other side waiting for heatshrink, Finished instrument panel in place.

tayloredvw · 14 Apr 2014, 7:30 am

What kind of oil filter did you end up getting? Is it specifically a high pressure one?

Looking good by the way.

vduboy · 14 Apr 2014, 7:42 am

tayloredvw wrote:What kind of oil filter did you end up getting? Is it specifically a high pressure one?

Looking good by the way.

From what I read on their site it is, It is a HP 3001 K&N. Thanks mate!

vduboy · 21 Apr 2014, 8:20 pm

So was up to my eyeballs in wiring this weekend, it's very slow going and tedious. Got the motor/starting circuits and all the rear lights hooked up at the back and the right hand harness heat shrinked and pulled into place. Haven't been able to find a wiring diagram anywhere that matches the colours/plug of my subaru steering column so have been going through everything with a meter to figure out what's what. WTF is it with subaru's idea of switching the earth on everything?? Bloody weirdo's.. Still haven't sorted out where speakers etc are going.. ill leave that for later!
Was figuring out the wires on the ignition switch and couldn't get a good reading of most of them so pulled that apart and the contacts were toasty as... I will catch a break soon! Hahaha, so repaired them for now, there was actually a spare terminal that I repurposed instead of the toasty one..
I popped a few more holes next to the rear brake line for the starter motor leads as it was getting a bit busy there.
I also ran the negative lead straight to the starter motor's mounting bolt to get rid of the poxy original earth strap.
Here are some pics

vduboy · 21 Apr 2014, 8:23 pm

Got a battery box from work that my battery fits in, score! Got some rubber mounts for it mounted in the original spot under the rear seat, I wanted it as close to the starter as I could. Made up a mount for the fusible links and the starter relay that attaches to the box as well.
These are some of the cable mounts I was talking about before, gives a nice neat spot to tie up too.

vduboy · 21 Apr 2014, 8:25 pm

My wiper motor frame off the donor car wasn't going to sweep enough area for my liking so went out and got a L-Bug one (big curved windscreen) this looks like it will do the job much better. Still going to get rid of the Vw wiper motor and fit the subaru one to the Vw frame. Had to figure out an easy way of getting the holes in the right spot for the wiper motor so I could start mocking up the fuse box etc, so traced around the windscreen rubber and the left hand drive hole indents in the windscreen frame, flipped it over and transferred the mark to the other side. Got a few circuits wired up and done, and haven't let any smoke out of the wires yet..

vduboy · 27 Apr 2014, 7:35 pm

So got some more wiring done, it was the wifey's birthday so I had to spend some time with her... some people are very selfish.. haha
Finished wiring the instruments, some muppet broke the windscreen earlier so I thought i'd remove it to make the wiring a bit easier, I would recommend doing it before the windscreen frame is bolted in permanently. It made it a lot easier, also stopped me trying to reach through the windscreen twenty thousand times..!
I used the angle bracket I removed from the glove box lid to mount the idiot lights, not sure why it was installed on the lid as it made the lid sit out too far in my opinion. I'm sure it will become apparent later!
The idiot light console look very neat installed, the seat belt light runs off a signal wire from the alternator so once the motor starts charging it goes out automatically after 15 seconds, only problem with that is my alternator light comes on at idle when the motor is cold (very low idle) so the seat belt light comes on and off until the motor is warm. More of a annoyance than anything.

vduboy · 27 Apr 2014, 7:36 pm

Here is the hole I drilled for the lower wiring harness, (front blinkers, horn, brake light switch, and possibly the front washer bottle) it's almost a bit of a guessing game where the drill will come out on the other side! Been pretty lucky so far.

Boozo · 27 Apr 2014, 10:19 pm

thats neat. where did you get the fuse box?

vduboy · 28 Apr 2014, 6:04 am

Thanks mate, from Repco it's a narva one I'll try and find the part number for you.

vduboy · 30 Apr 2014, 8:54 pm

Boozo wrote:thats neat. where did you get the fuse box?

The part number for the fuse box is 54450BL.

vduboy · 4 May 2014, 7:22 pm

Got a little more wiring done today, Had to work yesterday, All the column switches are hooked up and working, headlight relays wired up, also wired it up so the horn, hazards, brake lights and hi beam flash work anytime like a modern car just in case it has to be wired that way for ADR's. Only have the two small front looms so finish up now, they are for the headlights indicators horn and side markers. Just waiting on a mate to get some vinyl wrap for the last two and the wiring is done! Just need to find a spot for the front washer bottle too but think I might put that next to the front left wheel well. Had a bad earth in the steering column possibly due to dirty steering column bearings? So bypassed that by using the unused cruise control terminals, just repurposed one to use as a earth. Works good now. Started to tidy up the loom in the front still a bit to go, And a pic running with lights!

vduboy · 18 May 2014, 7:11 pm

Got a few fiddly jobs that I have been avoiding done this weekend, sorted out my wiring for the subaru wiper motor, made a adapter arm to go between, stripped the vw wiper arm frame, cleaned and re greased the spindles.
Plugged the motor in and ran it then parked it so I had a reference point to mount it to the frame.

vduboy · 18 May 2014, 7:14 pm

Gave it some paint and took the plunge and screwed it to the car. I had little paper pointers on the arms first just in case I stuffed up my angles etc. Was a bit of a mission finding a good spot for the motor that cleared everything in use but also came out in one piece when removing it.
Luckily it is all good, sweeps a good range of the screen now. Heaps more than I could have managed with the 1500 arms.

vduboy · 18 May 2014, 7:19 pm

Made some blinker brackets up front out of some el cheapo motorbike headlight brackets and countersunk the mounting holes so it looks neat.
Dicked around for about an hour trying to find a spot for the washer bottle ended up settling for just in front of the beam in between the body in the little recess for the steering box on the LH drive Manxters.
Extended my dash support bracket to also support the wiper motor.

vduboy · 18 May 2014, 7:22 pm

Cut down the fuel filler and tigged on a slight angle to get the fuel to run down into the tank and not over my wiring!
Also bought a LED no plate light and de cased it cut out a hole and mounted it nice and flush. I think I will have to space out the bottom of the number plate to get the right amount of light on it.

nils · 18 May 2014, 7:46 pm

Great work, keep it up. 👍

vduboy · 18 May 2014, 8:00 pm

Thanks mate. How are your toys coming along?

baghall · 19 May 2014, 5:40 am

It's looking good keep plugging away at it!

vduboy · 19 May 2014, 11:59 am

baghall wrote:It's looking good keep plugging away at it!

Cheers mate getting there slowly, would be further along but my brother bought his new Liberty GT along on sunday to ticker with and had to mow the lawn...😬

vduboy · 1 Jun 2014, 9:05 pm

Been a while since an update, been really busy with work and doing six days a week hasn't left much buggy building time..
My brother also bought a Subaru Liberty GT, that had been serviced well except for the missing timing belt service. 😬 So got stuck in and did that for him, Glad I made him wait to drive it too as there were a few idlers and rollers that were about ten minutes away from imploding! 🤪
Not a massive fan of the car to drive though, bit dull down low until the hairdryer kicks in! Then it is out of there!
Mounted up the washer bottle and made a few brackets for the filler neck. Cleaned out the mud that was in there too. Filled it with water and test the pump, all good but the grommet leaks! Ill fix that later!
Also got a cool L.E.D light bar, don't know whether to mount it to the front bar or under the bonnet to keep it away from prying eyes.. Will pop some pics of locations later.

vduboy · 1 Jun 2014, 9:06 pm

Just about finished all the wiring up the front of the car too, just need to hook up the headlights when I can get a hand to put the bonnet on. Finished tidying up the wiring, not real happy with how it looks but I was going to make a cover for it anyway. Want to piss off the white conduit in the storage area too.

vduboy · 1 Jun 2014, 9:08 pm

Bought a cool steering wheel online too, got the boss kit which fits the column but has no provision for what I think would have been the cruise control switch? So not quite sure where to got with that one..

vduboy · 7 Jun 2014, 8:19 pm

I got the steering wheel sorted, found a Autotecnica boss kit that fits and has the hole for the cruise plug, So If any one needs a boss kit for a 94 Liberty without cruise control let me know!
Also got the bonnet mounted up and finished wiring the headlights. Still need to make a few tabs to tie the wiring too, put some plugs on there too so I can slide the whole bonnet off if need be.
There was a bit of dicking around getting the lenses in square as the headlights are mounted off to the side, was a little careful trimming with tinsnips to re notch the buckets to get them in square and not looking like some goofy cross eyed geek..

vduboy · 7 Jun 2014, 8:21 pm

The head lights came with these big honky washers that wouldn't have sit flat against the bonnet, so used some of the old shock bush rubbers and some dished washers I had lying around instead, also trimmed off the 30cm of extra stud coming out the base..🤪
And I finally got to stick the badge on the front, I have been dying to do that! It looks tops. Not sure If I will put the 2+2 badge on the back with the Manxter one though.
Got a LED light bar to put up front too, was going to mount it to the top of the bar but the bonnet swings to far forward for that, so decided to make a mount off the inside bonnet hinge bolts and mount it under the bonnet, at least it is away from prying eyes and hands now.. And yes I know the photo looks like my buggy has a tongue...!

nils · 8 Jun 2014, 7:26 am

Hi Nath, won't have been the cruise control. All the switch gear on that model was in the dash..

vduboy · 8 Jun 2014, 5:37 pm

Hey Nils, yeah it looked like a after thought hack job after having a closer look at the steering wheel, but mine is the second one I have seen with that plug, anyhow all sorted now. Finished making up my dash infills just have to try my luck at covering the dash panel now!

vduboy · 8 Jun 2014, 8:26 pm

Got a little more done today, folded up some alloy to fill the gaps in the dash, found some neat H section plastic joiner to make the panels disappear once they are in.
Went out to Supercheap today to check out what goodies they had for my tunes.. was going to put a amp under one of the rear seats and try and squeeze some speakers under there too and just have my phone going straight to the amp but it was getting a bit cluttered under there.
Found a really neat head unit with phone connectivity bluetooth sub/amp preouts etc that is tiny! It's about the size of a CB radio. Things have changed since I bought my last one...
Still going to make a small centre console in under the dash mainly to house the speakers.
Going to try and tackle covering the dash tomorrow and making the top and latch for the glove box and buttoning that up. My new steering wheel is just smaller than the suby one that was on there and covers up a couple of idiot lights, if it pisses me off enough ill just make a new panel.. 😬

vduboy · 18 Jun 2014, 8:30 pm

So been busy making a centre console for the buggy so I have a spot to put my front speakers, was going to put the head unit there as well but it is a little wide for my liking, so will hide it in the glove box. Also bought one of them universal pockets to pop in the glovebox next to the head unit so I can put more than a pair of gloves in there! 😂
Been going a bit crazy on Evilbay at the moment and bought some heated seat elements, to try and get some element of warmth in a open top car! 🤪
Also got a dock for my phone so I can link it straight to the stereo via bluetooth so I can do all the controls from there without having to open the glove box every time I want to change something. Also got some cool vw logo'd mudflaps. Would have some pics to put up but ended up giving myself a cracking black eye while making a panel to cover the centre of the console.. The bench grinder won that little fight! 😬

nils · 19 Jun 2014, 5:48 am

Tested my seat heaters last night, have to say I am very happy.. You defiantly don't notice they are there to sit on. It takes about 4mins to realise your seat is warmer than you and at 10mins on high it's time to change to the low setting, otherwise you're getting a sweaty crack.

nils · 19 Jun 2014, 5:59 am

Oh, and nice head unit. Been looking for a media unit that supports an external mic for the telephone. Where did you pick that up, ebay aswell?

vduboy · 19 Jun 2014, 11:52 am

Cool thanks mate, I bought them anyway! But glad to hear that's how good they work. I don't think i'll need to worry about sweating in my buggy.. 😂
Nah just Supercheap for that mate, Got the bluetooth head unit, pair of 6x9"s pair of 6"s with tweeters for $260. I cringe when I think what my last stereo install cost me..

vduboy · 22 Jun 2014, 9:13 pm

So had a even worse weekend than giving myself a cracker of a black eye last weekend.. crashed the wife's car... (only one we have at the moment) So fucking pissed of at myself.. she did want a new one just not quite this soon. So that has pushed my buggy fund back quite a bit and might have to wait until after my mates Texas wedding to get it on the road. At least I have just about all I need to finish it off so It's ready for rego/engineering when the wallet says yes!
Brother came around today to re-tension the belts on his Liberty today, he bought the same seat heaters as I did, so he pulled my passenger seat out and practiced fitting up the heating pads on mine first! Mine were glued to the foam underneath which made it a bit of a pain to get the elements sitting flat around the contours. got it looking pretty reasonable. Not a show car so I'm not too fussed. His seats were a nightmare has these silly hog ring things binding the leather to the foam underneath and took him ages to get them on.
Got the centre console covered today just need to make up the face/switch plate now.

vduboy · 13 Jul 2014, 6:39 pm

Had another weekend working on Saturday so got stuff all done... and all these little niggley jobs are taking forever! Bought some Vw logo'd mud flaps, they look a little ridiculous with the cheese cutters on but that'll change later, Got the handbrake switch mounted up as well.

vduboy · 13 Jul 2014, 6:41 pm

With the front speaker locations sorted I decided to make up a kick panel under the rear seats to hide the rear speakers, Was going to try and make this open up to get at my compressor under the seat but this was going to be too much dicking around, Ill just plumb the fittings through the panel at a later date. Ended up mounting it with rubber coated P clamps, these worked well for mounting the mud flaps too. I will also mount the front number plate with them as well so the bonnet has a nice rubber stop to rest against.
Also lined the inside of the glove box installed the head unit and got a spare pocket to put alongside the head unit and 12v power point. Makes good use of the dead space behind the glove box. I lost the switch I just bought for the light bar so haven't been able to finish the last of the wiring as yet. Still need to run the wiring for the head unit, 12v socket, heated seats and the speakers. Also been trying to cover the dash top which has been a prick of a job, all the glues I had at home were taking ages to set and the vinyl I got to cover it with is only stretchy in one direction, Just need to glue one more side then it's done.

vduboy · 20 Jul 2014, 9:17 pm

Got most of the wiring for the centre console done, the stereo is all but wired up, I think I have more wiring in the console than in the rest of the car... But I can remove it with a 3mm allen key and 27,000 plugs!
Ended up running a separate accessories fuse box as I didn't want to over load the main one and it was getting a bit busy around there. Finished covering the cock of a dash panel never going to become an upholsterer that's for sure! Had to trim a bit of the top of the glovebox lid and bevel the edge to fit under the now thicker covered dash top. It looks pretty reasonable though. Really wish I didn't have to cover it though. Bloody Adr's are a pain in the ass!

vduboy · 20 Jul 2014, 9:18 pm

Supercheap had a sale on so got some strip LED's for the inside of the glove box and was also thinking of making a overhead console for a CB or UHF in between the T-bars of the roll cage and some map lights off that too, does any one use CB's or UHF radio's anymore? I know a few of my mates with fourby's still do..
Still couldn't find the switch I bought for the light bar so bought some more off Air on Board site, really neat looking switches too, couldn't resist taking the piss a little though..
The locker one is not used.. yet! I'd love to get a Kombi box with a locker like Manxiberty's maybe he'll sell it to me cheap!

vduboy · 27 Jul 2014, 8:27 pm

So woke up this morning and found I'd decided to grow a pair of balls overnight and finally put my new windscreen in! It went in so easy and fits so much better than the first one did, and has a cool tint at the top of the screen now. 👍
I'd recommend breaking their windscreen to anyone... It did make wiring a lot easier though!🤪

I got a electronic antennae from supercheap that is supposed to be 12 volt amplified but works fine just plugged in...? Anyone used one of these before? It does have a braided lead that looks like a earth and a extra wire coming out of it but makes no difference to the reception, I was picking up a central coast station in my garage in Sydney!

vduboy · 3 Aug 2014, 9:00 pm

So Wifey is back to uni for the weekend so I got some uninterrupted buggy time!
Embarrassed to say it took me the most part of saturday to get the bastard wipers sorted out..
I went to the wrecker and got some Lbug arms which were better than the Sbug ones but still crap so I went and pilfered some of the Camry down the road from work that the guy from the 4wd shop practises driving over!
These have the proper size hooks on the end that are easy to get arms for. A bit of surgery to marry them up to the Vw arms and now have wipers that cover enough of the screen to pass engineering. Needed to modify the spindle arms as well as the drivers one was just going of the edge of the screen and the passenger one wasn't travelling far enough and leaving a dead spot in the middle. Also got a Night/Day rear vision mirror out of it too. Just need to find some glue to stick it on.
Had to double check my notes about ten times.. just didn't make sense that I needed to make the spindle LONGER for the arm that was traveling too far, and SHORTEN the one that wasn't traveling enough!
Would have liked the passenger arm to sit a little lower so the bonnet covered it but too late now..

vduboy · 3 Aug 2014, 9:02 pm

Got some alloy welding practice in today on my dirt bikes busted ass subframe... didn't even bin it last ride and had to fix something!
Anodized alloy is a pain in the ass to weld! But got it done in the end.
My mate put some clear lens indicators on his Mx5 so I scored his original ones to stick on the side of the buggy. Cheers!
I can get the bonnet to clear the wiper arms by running a small rubber stopper so the bonnet doesn't rest down so far but it looks crappy, but the snowball effect just moves along and I don't think the rubber latches will stretch that far..
Was thinking I might be able to put a spacer in between the bonnet and hinge to move it forward a tad? Will mock something up and see how I go with that. If I do run the rubber stops, the bonnet latches will probably have to be turned around so the pin is on the bonnet side. Pics to come.

vduboy · 3 Aug 2014, 9:07 pm

So my to do list is
-Finish covering wiring
-Make overhead console (can do this later)
-Fit compressor under rear seat
-Fit heated element to drivers seat (wiring ready to go)
-Still need to tweak steering column slightly as it is still notchy due to the uni angles.. 😬
-Fit the dash when wiring is covered up
-Engineer it and rego!

nils · 3 Aug 2014, 9:14 pm

Ah....... details,details and yet more details. All in the name of road legal.

What ever happened to the days of rolling the beetle body off one weekend and driving a Manx the next?

vduboy · 3 Aug 2014, 9:21 pm

nils wrote:Ah....... details,details and yet more details. All in the name of road legal.

What ever happened to the days of rolling the beetle body off one weekend and driving a Manx the next?

Pfft! Haha I wish! Although it does say that in the "instructions" 🤪 it's just all the fiddley shit that takes the time as I'm sure you are aware off..
The to do list is getting small though, I'm actually getting a bit nervous!
Any news on the bus?

nils · 4 Aug 2014, 12:33 pm

I heard it went into highfill on Saturday morning, so its on it's way. Might drop by again when I pass by again on Saturday. Maybe the week after that? Parts permitting

vduboy · 24 Aug 2014, 9:40 pm

Got a bit more fiddly shit done today, The bonnet latches are on and the wipers clear the bonnet. 😀
Ended up putting a 5mm spacer in between the hinge and the bonnet to move it forward, and putting in some rubber stops as well so it has a nice cushioned landing, mocked up the hinges and they wouldn't work the way the manual says to install them as the pin would be sitting on a angle, possibly due to moving the bonnet forward, so flipped them around and they work great.
Finished covering up the wiring, need to try and find some self fusing tape to cover the last bit as the expensive wurth fabric tape I bought is crap and has just unravelled itself. 😬
Installed the top dash cover man is it tight now with the covering and padding over the top, it doesn't even need screw to hold it in! That was after I nearly ran over it moving the buggy out while it was still sitting on the cage... 🙅 It only rolled a few times down the driveway! Lucky I'm a fan of character scratches! Also finally got the balls to glue the little metal tab in place for the rear vision mirror, only been putting that off for a month or so! I think it's on straight...
Mocked up the widened steelies I got from the Vw nationals a couple of months ago, the offset is very wide and looks great on the rear but they hang out over the front guard quite a fair bit. So back to square one there, considering just getting two modified up front to legal specs (no more than 1 inch track increase) And leaving the wider ones for after engineer time! Thoughts?

vduboy · 24 Aug 2014, 9:45 pm

The dash cover turned out quite well, (for a motorbike mechanic!)
Pulled the drivers seat out and started stripping it to put the heater elements in, glad I did too, pulled the rubber mats I had on the floor to protect it while I was throwing tools around and found a nice pile of drill shavings that had gone all rusty.. :shock:
So after I cleaned the poo out of my pants I gave the car a very good vacuum, lucky I found that before it made its way through the raptor lining..
Not sure if I posted any pics of the subaru seats all naked, not much to them but #%@# they weigh alot! So does the rubber matting I bought to put down before the floor mats.
Also got some water resistant canvas seat covers, figured it wouldn't hurt, and I liked the fact that there is another layer between the element and my ass as they got quite hot through the mesh seat during testing.

vduboy · 24 Aug 2014, 9:47 pm

Got some rubber matting, like what Paul said to let the mud and sand fall to the bottom, and some floor mats that'll sit on top to keep wifey happy, trimmed the drivers around the pedal, then flipped it over and use it as a template to cut the passengers forgetting the little difference the passenger side has no pedals and the floor mat is longer. What a dipshit. 🙄
So I glued that bit back on lucky it is hidden by the seat!
Took the buggy outside to bake in the sun for the few minutes it decided not to rain while I get the garage a quick sweep. I like the white it is really growing on me. Just need to get some nice black wheels on it now!

Smiley · 25 Aug 2014, 12:25 am

Looking great dude!

I'm loving your progress! Soon it will be all finished. Then you can start modifying things! It never stops!!

Smiley 🙂

nils · 25 Aug 2014, 2:04 pm

Yeah those seat heaters sure put out some heat, even in the snow with your ski pants on you sure can build up a lot of heat. A set of these will end up in the baja at some point too.

vduboy · 9 Nov 2014, 7:44 pm

So wedding season is over! Finally got back into the garage today, almost forgot what my buggy looked like! Finished of wiring my compressor under the rear seat in the empty space I had and got it all mounted, wired in up so nobody can accidentally turn it on and kill the battery too. Pulled the other seat out to slip on the water proof cover. Will also take a bit of the sting out of the seat elements to as they were a bit close to the surface. No pics as wifey has my computer watching the Batchelor... Anyone know how to disinfect a lap top??
Not much more to go on the list. Side steps are on there way, got a mate still to make the rear tow bar mount and fix the offsets on the wheels I bought, while they look great the engineer won't pass anymore than 1" over track increase.
Bought some roll bar padding from a place in brissy but it came in grey instead of black and fits like #%@# on the roll bar tubing. PayPal won't do #%@# about it so I hope they get ass cancer. Now I have to make covers for the padding. More to add to the to do list! :roll:

vduboy · 16 Nov 2014, 8:25 pm

So I am pretty much done doing the things I can without some more cash injection.. or some talent on the sewing machine. Fitted up the crappy roll bar padding, all cut to length now just need to make some covers. The cage look heaps tougher now! And cut down the sun visors so they will fit behind the bar work. Wifey has a few more jobs now!

vduboy · 16 Nov 2014, 8:26 pm

Also got the compressor I got off a mate mounted under the rear seat in the dead space between the speaker panel. Turned out pretty good.
So not too much more to go now! Getting really excited now. Still waiting on hearing back from the engineer regarding my tow point and if I can go ahead and get that done.

vduboy · 6 Dec 2014, 6:50 pm

Had the engineer over today for a looksie, the last time he seen the car it was a chassis on a spit! So he was impressed! It's good to see someone else getting excited, it's a bit different when you are building it as you only see small changes at a time. Was happy with everything so far except for a few small points, he wants the mud guards to go all the way to the body (like DD450's) and wants another bar welded from the top of the rear bar work then bolted up to the rear cage from underneath. Then he'll be happy with the vertical loads on the tow point. He was more than happy with the latitudinal? strength of the assembly. Funnily enough there is already holes in the cage mount under the body! 😎
Need to put a cover over the fuse box/wiring (was doing this anyway)
Have finished doing the cut and shut on the sun-visors just waiting for the glue to dry then nut-sert them in place.
My mate gave me some original mirrors off his mx5 so was about to bolt them on when they snapped off in my hands... 😬
The bolts and springs holding them together had rusted away completely.. probably about 4 seconds away from self ejecting off his car!
So carefully stripped them, I love prying glass out.. and rebuilt them with stainless bolts and a couple of motorbike clutch springs for tensioners! And I slapped some normal white paint on them too... couldn't have white pearl mirrors! Way too fancy.
Also got my wheels out getting the offsets changed to something that will fit under the guards. Then its new tyre time!
Got a mate with a tube bender coming over tomorrow so I can give making my side steps a go too. Got any clues on that??
Oh almost forgot I passed the noise test! &$#!@# yeah! 😂

PAZZAN · 7 Dec 2014, 4:43 am

whose doing the engineering😵‍💫

vduboy · 14 Dec 2014, 7:42 pm

Got my mates pipe bender so thought I'd have a play at making some side steps and doing the strengthening the engineer want done to the cage for the tow point.
Also was trying to make the front bar look a little better as I am not a fan of it at all.. Bent up a hoop for it but it was too high and looked ridiculous, coudn't go any lower as the bonnet tilts forward and the stupid new ADR's on bumper/bull bars say that all vertical members need to tilt backwards. Anyone got any ideas there?
I had to draw myself a little template on the ground to try and get the bends in the right spots/the same. Worked pretty well.

vduboy · 14 Dec 2014, 7:44 pm

So scrapped the front hoop idea until I get a better idea there. Bent up some side steps.
Cut some plate up to mount them, Then made another brace from the cage down to the step. Should be plenty strong I think.

vduboy · 14 Dec 2014, 7:45 pm

Wifey popped in after being out making hats all day.. So got her to hold the Mx5 mirrors my mate gave me and punched a few holes in the guards for them. Now my brother can stop nagging me to put the mirrors on!
Mock up of the steps, still need a coat of paint but ill do it all in one hit after the tow point is done.

adlbeetle66 · 17 Dec 2014, 12:33 pm

👍👍👍
Cant wait till the stickers are all on!!
[Surprise for everyone else...]
👍

vduboy · 17 Dec 2014, 12:35 pm

adlbeetle66 wrote:👍👍👍
Cant wait till the stickers are all on!!
[Surprise for everyone else...]
👍

Me too. did a mock up on photoshop. Looks great!

adlbeetle66 · 17 Dec 2014, 1:01 pm

Will get them to you asap!!
Cheers

vduboy · 21 Dec 2014, 8:26 pm

Got a bit more knocked off the engineers checklist today, spent most of yesterday fluffing about with the silly barwork.. 😠
Got the sun visors bolted up, need to stitch the end all the way around though as the bloody glue has started to come off.
Was just going to clamp them on but it looked crap so borrowed the nut and bolt guys nut sert tool and popped a couple of them in each side.
Made the cover for the fuse box so it doesn't get covered in fuel in the case that I miss the filler... 🤪
Had to make it hinged on one side so I could slide it out, otherwise the filler neck would have to come out to replace a fuse! Just ended up using some foam weatherstrip and a couple of motorbike quick release fairing clips to hold it in place.

vduboy · 21 Dec 2014, 8:28 pm

Also had to make my mud flaps closer to the ground... They are allowed to be up to 300mm off the ground for a vehicle that is used off road, and had to fill in the empty space like DD450f's buggy, so off to supercheap for some super cheap mud flaps, cut and drilled them on. after dicking around with glue I figured I would be better off bolting them on to the body instead of trying to glue them. I will get some nice countersunk stainless bolts that will be less offensive.
And on a side note my Vw mud flaps line up perfectly with the body holes! What a coincidence!
I actually don't mind the plain mud flaps up top but over the bar support thingy instead of under it. I'll see what looks better after there is a plate screwed to it.
I also need to get a fan guard for it too, but I don't think the generic empi s#%t one will work as it will hit the exhaust. Might just end up making one.

vduboy · 21 Dec 2014, 8:30 pm

And finished off the strengthening bars for the tow point also. They were a pain in the ass to get the right angles on, ended up making another pipe bent the same but cut shorter to use as a template, had four bits of welding wire tightly taped to it to push against the pipe to get my cut angle.
Worked ok and only had a minimal gap in the end.
Cut some thick ass plate for the mount and welded some captive nuts, tacked it all in place then burned it in.
Now just have to get the tow point done, sew up the visors (again), make the roll cage covers, mount the roof, buy some BFG's in 215/75-15, get the rims powder coated after they come back from having the offsets corrected. Paint all that bar work and bolt it on.
Definitely at the pointy end now!

vduboy · 2 Jan 2015, 8:58 pm

Got a few more things knocked off the engineer's list, bought a el cheapo belt guard, obviously wouldn't just bolt straight on.. nothing has so far!
Had bugger all room to slide it in with the 4 into 1 exhaust and wasn't about to pull the exhaust for every belt change or tappet check.. insert subaru joke here..! So carefully cut the bottom open riveted on a hinge and made it so I can get it out without taking the exhaust/cage off.

vduboy · 2 Jan 2015, 9:00 pm

It fits! Just! And it covers up those hideous red pulleys.. don't know what I was thinking there..
Just need to cover up the blue oil hoses now!
Made some plates up with some captive nuts so I don't need 47 hands to bolt the side steps on too. Should make things a bit easier. Ill have to throw some paint on all these soon when I get the tow bar assembly back from the fabricators. I really hate painting so not looking forward to getting in that booth again.
Got the awesome idea of hinging the front bar work, thanks Pud! So bent another one up that I was happy with, made a mount for it and welded some heavy door hinges to it. Think it looks heaps better now. Had to make a couple of stops for it and some posts to put in a few quick release pins. Still need to make a limit strap so it doesn't stress the hinges on full droop.

vduboy · 2 Jan 2015, 9:02 pm

Also notched up a couple of pipes to go in the corners of the bar for a little extra bracing. I like them a lot. Just need to burn them in place.

nils · 3 Jan 2015, 6:10 am

Nice work Nath, I am curious as to how you got such nice bends with that super cheap pipe bender. I had to modify the gebus out of mine for it to work reasonable.

I'm excited to see what you have come up with for the body

vduboy · 3 Jan 2015, 6:19 am

Only the simple bends are mine mate, the rest of it came with the kit, I love the rear bar/cage but the front was a bit too plain for me. Not my bender either! He has a proper die on it, but it is too loose on the ram and makes repeating the same bend hard, and he has replaced the pins/formers up the top with half tube sections welded to box section. Seems to roll around the pipe a little better. The bends are ok, bit narrowed at the radius but more than happy with it. 😏

vduboy · 4 Jan 2015, 4:17 pm

Finished of painting the side steps and the front bar and the tow supports in the morning, I had missed a few bits!
Got busy with the nut sert gun again and popped a few in the front bar for the limit straps that I need to stop the hoop from swinging too far. It worked out well, if the straps wear out prematurely I will just make a few cable ones up at work. But the seem pretty strong. The bar then rests against the back edge of the hoop brace.
Don't think I like my spot lights but they'll do for the moment. Will also have to move my Light bar as the plate covers it now.
Might put it on the roof. But not sure of the NSW's adr's on that.

vduboy · 4 Jan 2015, 4:19 pm

Bumper all done..!

baghall · 9 Jan 2015, 10:03 pm

Looking great!

vduboy · 10 Jan 2015, 5:25 am

baghall wrote:Looking great!

Cheers bags, so bloody close now! How'd you go with the haltech? Get it all sorted?

vduboy · 18 Jan 2015, 8:59 pm

So got myself a herbie sticker set off adbeetle66, thank you very much mate!
As I thought it needed a splash of colour!

vduboy · 18 Jan 2015, 9:04 pm

Wifey finally finished off the roll cage covers, they look pretty neat, was a bit hard to get them to fold around the corners of the cage well, but it will mostly be hidden by the roof.
Bought a CB radio and a aerial from supercheap and fitted that in between the t bars, and mounted the tow bar supports.

adlbeetle66 · 19 Jan 2015, 7:57 am

Great work!!

I wish i have a manx now..!! 🙅

baghall · 2 Feb 2015, 5:50 pm

Looking forward to seeing this on the road.

Got the Haltech sorted, only stuffed up a couple of wires, fortunately no damage done. Just gotta get it tuned properly now.

Bizarre · 2 Feb 2015, 5:57 pm

Stickers look great 👍

vduboy · 2 Feb 2015, 6:07 pm

Thanks guys, yeah I love them. Might get them painted on later, too many curves to put them on the rear or all the way down the bonnet. I'm stoked with how it's looking. If only the guy would hurry up with my wheels!

adlbeetle66 · 2 Feb 2015, 6:23 pm

I was gonna use those stickers for down my workshop wall but i'm glad they have been put to good use!!

vduboy · 3 Feb 2015, 10:55 am

Thanks again mate! 👍

vduboy · 22 Feb 2015, 5:10 pm

So not much has happened to my poor wheel less buggy.. still waiting to see if the guy can un-crooked weld my wonky ass wheels..
If not I have seen some 5.5 inch steelies for sale in the standard offset/backspace, just a bit unsure of what tyres to get, if I can get the 6 inchers fixed up i'd probably run some bfgs all terrains in 215/75r15s, or if I go for the 5.5 inchers I have seen some maxxis trepadors in 205/70r15 that look awesome but I am a bit unsure how ridiculous those muddies will be on the road? Which if I am honest is where they will spend most of their time.. 🥲
Any ideas/recommendations?
Also big thanks you to Mr PUD who went up to his elbows in his donor car to find a dimmer module so I can tick off one of the last boxes on the engineers check list! There was a little fluffing about getting the Suby bits to talk to the vw/aftermarket gauges but I now have dimmable dash lights! How fancy!
Also got the side curtains delivered from the states from Mr Brad, Cheers! They look like they will do the job nicely, has anyone figured out a place on the car to store the windows/doors when they aren't being used?
Had to route my tank breather a little higher to as after I filled it up about ten minutes later I heard the fuel being siphoned out on to the ground! 😠Lucky I was still in the garage! Will stick a much longer breather tube on it soon. The fuel gauge doesn't quite go all the way to full so also have to suss that out.

vduboy · 4 Mar 2015, 7:21 pm

Still haven't sussed out the fuel gauge issue, the gauge was perfect while still in my old super, but this new sender doesn't go all the way up to 0 ohms when full, stops at about twelve, goes down to 75 when empty and is accurate up to 3/4 of a tank but stops there, wonder if there is a limit stop that can be adjusted?
Craig Torrens has kindly lent me some wheels so I can do my engineers test next Saturday, 👍 Can't wait! Will be going over the car with a fine tooth comb to make sure it is all sweet.
Will sort out the fuel gauge after I have used some of the full tank...!

Squalo · 5 Mar 2015, 7:59 pm

vduboy wrote:If not I have seen some 5.5 inch steelies for sale in the standard offset/backspace, just a bit unsure of what tyres to get, if I can get the 6 inchers fixed up i'd probably run some bfgs all terrains in 215/75r15s, or if I go for the 5.5 inchers I have seen some maxxis trepadors in 205/70r15 that look awesome but I am a bit unsure how ridiculous those muddies will be on the road? Which if I am honest is where they will spend most of their time.. 🥲
Any ideas/recommendations?

Hi mate

I discovered this build today and have lost a lot of work time due to being glued to it page by page 😊

I have been involved in 4wding for a few years and have learned a lot about AT and MT tyres. Personally I would not run AT tyres on ANYTHING - they are not great dry tarmac tyres, they are average at best offroad, and wet tarmac can be frightening.

MTs on the other hand are - these days - a totally different kettle of fish to what they used to be. Due to the 4wd boom all over the planet, most of the tyre companies money has gone into MTs, and it shows - the latest generation actually stop and turn on wet tarmac, are quieter, and are insanely good offroad.

ATs are now starting to see the development bucks so they will catch up, but for now I personally steer clear of them and run MTs fulltime on my Patrol

When I say noise levels are down, it's relative - they are still noisy compared to HT or AT, and you don't have an insulated cabin to block out the noise. So I'd be a little wary of running MTs unless you are going to be ok with a little tyre howl.

Given that the car will most likely be a weekend car only, you can probably get away with ATs as well, just be aware of the fact that they can be a bit scary on wet roads - brake earlier, slower through corners etc.

Your Manx would look insane on a set of BF Goodrich KM2s which are the best MTs I've tried, and they come in many sizes. Kumho KL71 are also at the top of the tree as far as modern MTs go.

Whatever you do, don't fit Coopers. You probably will never need to worry about delamination, punctures, and total failure in remote areas, but still... they are like Jeeps, average at best but with terrific marketing campaigns.

vduboy · 5 Mar 2015, 8:05 pm

Hi mate, thanks for the kind words! Sorry about your work time...!
I decided to go with the hankook at's last week, was really close to getting their muddies, but was a bit worried about the noise.. The whining from the passengers seat when wifey comes along for a ride would drown it out though... Where's the heater? Or the windows? How come it's got no doors? 😀

Squalo · 5 Mar 2015, 11:35 pm

LOL! Mate the only sounds from wifey will be laughter and 'I want to drive!' 🙂

Hancooks are a pretty decent choice. I don't think you've revealed the final rims you're going to run? (I might have missed it)

I'm a Kombi guy but read heaps of aircooled topics because there's always a little tip or two hidden away that you can apply to whatever VW you have. Glad I found your topic though, fabrication in a build is really something special. And I'm into bikes too, so this topic is all win for me.

vduboy · 6 Mar 2015, 5:00 am

Again thanks for the kinds words, I am only running stock widened vw rims, I'm not one for bling, (says the guy that built a buggy) yeah I agree I loved the fabrication side of it heaps, the skillset I have now is huge compared to before. I was just a motorbike mechanic!

Smiley · 6 Mar 2015, 1:23 pm

You won't be able to hear the tyres over the engine, wind noise and cheers from people as you drive along!

Smiley 🙂

vduboy · 6 Mar 2015, 8:38 pm

Squalo wrote:LOL! Mate the only sounds from wifey will be laughter and 'I want to drive!' 🙂

Hancooks are a pretty decent choice. I don't think you've revealed the final rims you're going to run? (I might have missed it)

I'm a Kombi guy but read heaps of aircooled topics because there's always a little tip or two hidden away that you can apply to whatever VW you have. Glad I found your topic though, fabrication in a build is really something special. And I'm into bikes too, so this topic is all win for me.

I would love a nice dual cab baja bus, but it appears I missed the boat on affording one of them now.. kombis are getting silly money at the moment! What bikes are you into?
Cheers

vduboy · 6 Mar 2015, 8:39 pm

Smiley wrote:You won't be able to hear the tyres over the engine, wind noise and cheers from people as you drive along!

Smiley 🙂

Hahaha You didn't mention the wife... she'll drown out all that for sure! 😂😂
I am getting really excited to drive this thing now..!

vduboy · 8 Mar 2015, 8:04 pm

So finally have some grown up shoes on the buggy! Looks awesome! The left front hangs out more than the right front does...??
Don't know what the go is there, hoping it's just slightly different offset on the two front borrowed rims.
Went out and got a label maker and labeled the fuses and relays then put the dash on for the last time I hope! My engineer is coming around on Saturday to do a check over so we can see if anything else needs to be changed.
One thing I did notice on my quick test drive on a "private road" to check the steering,brakes and speedo out was the steering feels quite slow compared to my old Superbug, this normal? It already has a smaller than standard wheel on it, the sway bar isn't installed as yet on the front, would this make a difference?

vduboy · 8 Mar 2015, 8:06 pm

Some recent pics with the new Hankook 215/75r15s AT all round. Looks heaps better, raised the whole car about two inches

adlbeetle66 · 8 Mar 2015, 8:11 pm

I can't stop smiling!!
Cheers on the good work! 👍👍

Bizarre · 8 Mar 2015, 9:09 pm

you need a big "54"

vduboy · 15 Mar 2015, 12:49 pm

So good news on the engineering, we went out for a drive, did the brake tests, pulling up from 100k's as quick as a could and pulled up well, passed the figures required.
But the backs just locked up before the fronts so will need to fit a proportioning valve.
Apart from that I just need to get my wheels on and get the car weighed after the engineer is finished writing out the report. 👍

vduboy · 22 Mar 2015, 6:49 pm

So Wifey has been whining non stop about the roof still being in the spare room so decided to crack on and get that mounted up, got the hole saw out and made the holes for the pivots, that was heaps of fun having a hole saw so close to the windscreen! Made up a few grommets for filling in the gap around the spacers and glued them in. Mounted the light bar I had under the front of the bonnet on the roof, had to set it back further than I liked as the reflection from the light bar shined straight on the headlight shells! Started mounting the side curtains as well, I hate using pop rivets on fiberglass feels like crap when they pop! Also got some of the spare seat belt collars that have a nylon washer to use on the roof pivot, feels a lot nicer than just pivoting on the bolt.

vduboy · 22 Mar 2015, 6:50 pm

Mounted the light bar on the roof, not sure if I like it yet, will have to see if they work well enough to leave it there. Only one extra hole to grommet up if I move it.
Started fitting up the side curtains, would have liked it if the rear rails for the curtains were a bit longer, the mounting holes are very close to the edge of the glass.
Will have to get some thinner padding for the rear hoop as it makes the top very tight to fit. Only done one side so far.
Stuffed up with my speedo hall sensor on the cv, mounted it too close and heard a ting ting ting SMASH! So have rewired that and moved it away from the cv ring gear. The cv adaptor has a little to much float on the splines for how close I mounted it.

vduboy · 22 Mar 2015, 6:52 pm

Oh yeah also got it weighed, it's a bit of a porky! 860kgs! I guess all that barwork and heavy tyres/wheels does add up!

adlbeetle66 · 22 Mar 2015, 6:53 pm

🙄 Very well done.. Great work!

nils · 22 Mar 2015, 8:31 pm

vduboy wrote:Oh yeah also got it weighed, it's a bit of a porky! 860kgs! I guess all that barwork and heavy tyres/wheels does add up!

Don't be too stressed, that's still well short of what my Baja weighs ;-)

vduboy · 23 Mar 2015, 5:09 am

Haha so what's you Baja weigh?

nils · 25 Mar 2015, 7:38 pm

vduboy wrote:Haha so what's you Baja weigh?

Couldn't say for sure now days but was at 880kg before hanging 2 extra cylinders of the rear end.

vduboy · 29 Mar 2015, 7:30 pm

Bit more done on the engineering side, Had a couple of hours after work measuring braking components, pad material dimensions, rear caliper bracket dimensions, reservoir diameters etc for the report the other night.
Need a few more bits of information for the engineer now, he hasn't got any figures for the seat belt mounting strength wise, so hopefully Ben/Brad can help out there!
As he is mostly talking jibberish to me with relation to 550mpa of pressure at the point of mounting. I'm hoping this can be all sorted soon as I was hoping to take the buggy away to Orange for it's first trip in two weeks!
I fit up the side curtain kit yesterday, pictures to come, it fit up pretty well, needed to move some of the padding around as it was too thick in some spots and wouldn't fit without massive stretching.
The doors needed a slight bend in the bottom to match the curve of the body, I added a button at the top to help support the weight of the door when closed. Not sure what to do when the window is open, maybe add another button down the bottom as well.
One the rails was bent the wrong way so had to carefully bend it the other direction, they had about five holes to mount with but I only used two as they are also a wedge fit in between the frame and roof support system. And I hate putting rivets in thin fiberglass!

vduboy · 31 Mar 2015, 6:25 pm

Given all the measurement to the engineer to do the strength calculations, hoping like mad that it is all OK, otherwise don't know what to do!
Had to re order some approved padding, the stuff I got previously from the muppet online who said it was compliant is not, so had to spend another couple hundred bucks on approved padding... what a joke!
Anyway hopefully I get some good news tomorrow from the engineer, a little win would be nice right about now!

vduboy · 3 Apr 2015, 7:06 pm

So got the approved padding, expensive #%@#... and hard as concrete...! Fitted that up, ended up wrapping it in some of the the other softer stuff I had as well so I don't get a mild concussion if I bump my head. :roll:
Gave the engineer all the measurements for the cage, hasn't said anything yet so I'm guessing no news is good news, he is ticking his way through all the bull#%@# at the moment. Cutting it fine for my Orange trip with the wife.. We leave on Friday.
Feels like a Brad timeline...!! It's getting to me a bit, the car has been drivable for over six months now. Have done a total of 19 k's in it so far!
Really hoping it's done soon so I can at least drive it to work and back a couple of times first, that's a 90 odd k round trip.

nils · 4 Apr 2015, 8:32 am

Ah bureaucracy......... I can see why so many hot rodders ect are now headed over seas. It is actually easier to get a TUV recognition than deal with any of the Australian transport sectors. Things have changed In Europe and things like common sense are now allowed to be used to make decisions. Give it another 20years and we might. Catch up.

vduboy · 5 Apr 2015, 6:37 pm

Sealed up the gap between the lower dash tub and the windscreen frame and down the edge of the door channels, lets just say we can cross tiler of my list of future professions!
I also dicked around trying to figure out a way of making a real wheel carrier, but all the new standards in vsb14 make it all but impossible, you have to be able to see the taillights and blinkers from 45 degrees inside angle and 80 degrees outside, the only place I could do that was sitting on top of the rear bar but i'd have to pull that off and weld/paint it again and I couldn't be bothered really! Or I could hang it off the tow hitch but it hangs so low it's ridiculous.

vduboy · 5 Apr 2015, 6:38 pm

Also stuck another button on the lower edge of the door so in can stay secured while the top of the door is folded down. It sits much better now.
Still waiting for some good news from the engineer, have my blue slip and green slips lined up just need to call Shannons when that is done to pay through the nose for insurance!

Bizarre · 5 Apr 2015, 6:55 pm

Do you need a rear wheel carrier?

Cant you have a can of "goop"

If you need to carry a wheel - make sure you can fit what you are taking off so you can take it home

vduboy · 5 Apr 2015, 7:05 pm

Bizarre wrote:Do you need a rear wheel carrier?

Cant you have a can of "goop"

If you need to carry a wheel - make sure you can fit what you are taking off so you can take it home

Probably not really, the tyres are six ply, and I carry a puncture repair kit anyway, thinking I'll shelve the idea. Always thought I should carry a spare, but ten years driving my old bug I'd never used one. If I'm going somewhere serious with the trailer and bike on the back I can tie it down on it.

vduboy · 9 Apr 2015, 6:37 pm

I HAVE F$&@ING REGO! So excited! Taking it for its first shake down run tomorrow to work then if all goes well to Orange on the weekend! Was a massive mission today, had to ride down to Wollongong then back to Hornsby for blue slip and rego, then I forgot the hard copy of the greenslip so had to go find a nrma then back to the registry... I'm shattered now! Watch this space to see how the first run goes!

grinderman · 9 Apr 2015, 6:59 pm

Love that feeling when a project is finally registered. 😵👍 Good job.

vduboy · 9 Apr 2015, 7:13 pm

grinderman wrote:Love that feeling when a project is finally registered. 😵👍 Good job.

Thanks mate, I actually felt sick to the stomach going in to the rta, was such a bloody relief holding a pair of number plates!

Bizarre · 9 Apr 2015, 9:03 pm

excellent stuff!!

Now....... what next for ya?? 😀

nbturbo · 9 Apr 2015, 9:22 pm

That's a good build you have achieved.Love your roll bars.You have way more serious Govt shit to deal with compared to SA.

vduboy · 9 Apr 2015, 9:35 pm

Bizarre wrote:excellent stuff!!

Now....... what next for ya?? 😀

Wife says no f$&@ing way! Hahaha if anything later on I'd love to do a square back or a dual cab bus. But that would be a retirement plan! Going to drive the wheels of this one first!

vduboy · 9 Apr 2015, 9:37 pm

nbturbo wrote:That's a good build you have achieved.Love your roll bars.You have way more serious Govt shit to deal with compared to SA.

Thanks mate, not roll bars... 'Roof support system'
Hahaha yeah it's a shame to cover them up, I love the lines of them.

vduboy · 10 Apr 2015, 11:10 am

Well made it to work all sweet today, have a small leak from one of the kadron top gasket so i'll make a gasket before I leave to go to Orange.
Just wanted to say a big thanks to everyone I got inspiration/ideas from, and all the bits and bobs I have got from guys on here.
Ben, Brad, Paul, Pud, Craig, Nils, Smiley Oz towdster, etc Sorry if i forgot anyone!

adlbeetle66 · 10 Apr 2015, 11:24 am

ME! 😀

Well done. Post pics when you can !

vduboy · 10 Apr 2015, 11:52 am

adlbeetle66 wrote:ME! 😀

Well done. Post pics when you can !

See I knew i'd forget some one! Thanks mate! Will do mate.

vduboy · 13 Apr 2015, 9:01 pm

Was a two hour drive home from Hornsby on Friday night... what a joke that was!
Had a bit of electrical interference with the speedo, I think that'll go away after I fit some resistor plugs. Speedo was wandering around all over the place at high revs, stopped wandering while coasting along with the engine off. The doors leaked a bit at the gap near the front, a bit of duct tape kept out the water out on the drive up to Orange.
Not a drop came through anywhere which was great. But we weren't really stopped anywhere so it didn't get much of a chance to roll in. Ill try and make up some sort of deflectors to point the water outside at the bottom of the windscreen frame.
How good are intermittent wipers?! What a fancy car! Anyway ill pop up some pics before you get bored reading...

vduboy · 13 Apr 2015, 9:03 pm

Couldn't drive within a 50 k radius of a winery and not go in with the wife in the car..
So went to one on Saturday.. Had a really cool old Chevy truck on the hill, even had it's original crank handle on the tray.
So I had to take a few wanky arty shots.
Pity there were a few too many new cars there...!

vduboy · 13 Apr 2015, 9:05 pm

Our trip got cut short with a death in the family, so we woke up early on Sunday and we made the trek back to Sydney.
There was a crap load of cold air leaking through the dash onto my hands and feet, it could have been worse... it could have been leaking on wifey's side and I'd have sore ears too...!
But the heated seats are nothing short of brilliant! It is amazing how warm they keep your body. All in all I'm stoked being able to do 1000 k's and having very few issues.
The buggy gets a bit wallowy at speeds above 120 but that was to be expected with out a sway bar. I had thought it'd be too stiff but it feels nice and comfy. If I can sort out the speedo and seal the dash and side curtains at the front I will be a happy camper!

vduboy · 6 Sep 2015, 12:22 pm

So got about 5000k's on my manxter now and all has been good except for the broken front gearbox mount and the floating steering column..!
There were a couple of issues with rain rolling in off the windscreen frame and when you put the squirters on the water rolls straight in to the car so I fashioned up some deflectors out of some thin alloy I got from bunning and siliconed it in to place, now the rain rolls out under the gap in the side curtains and the squirters only squirt the windscreen! Unless you put them on at speed the water rolls straight around the frame and does a mid air turn and smacks you in the face! But not much I can do about that...
I fired up Wobbly the lathe at work and machined up a extension for my steering wheel so I could lean back a bit more in the buggy and have more hope of looking out the windscreen, I would have really liked to be able to go another inch higher with the lift kit originally but the engineer said nope.
If Id had my time over I could have also got some narrower seats that sit down lower in the pan too as I am just a tad tall for it as it is now.
I just have to drive it like I'm a gangster, which only looks partly ridiculous!

Bizarre · 6 Sep 2015, 3:26 pm

vduboy wrote:except for the broken front gearbox mount

If it is the late style mounts they just suck - and that is the good ones.
I changed mine twice - lasted about 3 months each time.

Get a Berg style mount and fix the problem once and for all
Adds a bit of transmission noise - but you will be surprised how much "crisper" the gear change is.

vduboy · 6 Sep 2015, 6:59 pm

Bizarre wrote:
vduboy wrote:except for the broken front gearbox mount
If it is the late style mounts they just suck - and that is the good ones.
I changed mine twice - lasted about 3 months each time.

Get a Berg style mount and fix the problem once and for all
Adds a bit of transmission noise - but you will be surprised how much "crisper" the gear change is.

Yeah my mate showed me some of his front mounts that he copied from that design by the looks of it! Ill look into doing that next time i'm in there. Hopefully the next time I have the box out a suby gears box will be going in. In front of the vw motor naturally!

adlbeetle66 · 6 Sep 2015, 7:50 pm

😁

Keep up the good work and happy cruising Nathan!

vduboy · 6 Sep 2015, 8:00 pm

adlbeetle66 wrote:😁

Keep up the good work and happy cruising Nathan!

Cheers dude!

vduboy · 29 Sep 2015, 11:02 am

So I got my greasy hands on some original Italian 40mm webers and have been cleaning them up and undoing all the stuff ups previous 'mechanics' and carby experts have done, but after having to drill out a few seized screw etc I have a usable set of carbs to give the buggy a bit more poke up top. Should be interesting! Will be making a airbox system up like smiley's beast in the near future too to shut them up too.

vduboy · 11 Oct 2015, 5:53 pm

So my manxter is now a 40mm Weber fed beast! Finally got those carbs sorted out and bolted up and balanced, the thing is so much smoother off idle now and rips through the rev range where before it would only gradually get through it, the redline feels a bit higher too, jetting is good with 50 idles F11 tubes 135 mains and 200 airs, and that is with 27 venturi's, so I still have some room to play with up top if I decide to go bigger heads/stroker later on.
All in all very happy with my second hand weber purchase even if there was a metric f@#k ton of work involved to get them right!
I saved a heap of cash rebuilding these over buying a new spanish kit, although I probably would go that direction if it came up again! 🤪
Still have to make a airbox for them but they seem quieter than the kads until you get the motor singing up top! 😁
Wish I had of done this years ago, they are such a better carby all the way through!

DDWR450F · 3 Nov 2015, 10:07 pm

Great stuff mate the Manxter is looking sweet!!! Will have to catch up sometime!!

vduboy · 4 Nov 2015, 10:45 am

DDWR450F wrote:Great stuff mate the Manxter is looking sweet!!! Will have to catch up sometime!!

Cheers mate, Sounds good I'll let you know when I'm passing through, should be going up to see Mum in Bonny Hills soon actually.

vduboy · 18 Dec 2015, 7:57 pm

So the buggy got a gut full of water the other day sitting in the rain at work one day and hydraulic locked when I went to start it... 😬
So been a bit distant from my other favourite forum since the buggy has been done! Because I've been driving it!
Still puts a #%@# eating grin on my face every time I drive it!
So I went and bought some turbo tops from Cb performance, some guido spec silicon hose, a repurposed stainless tail pipe, and some dual layer pod filters I got through work and a splash guard under the airbox lid and I have a high flowing filter system that is waterproof! At least I can keep water out of the engine... not so much out of the buggy...! But that is not too bad considering it has a fiberglass roof and vinyl sides!

vduboy · 30 Jan 2016, 10:34 pm

So had a #%@# week with the new dirt bike... the f@#ker has porous engine cases and is using it's gearbox oil as a crank lubricant... smokey as all hell, so while I wait for new cases thought I'd go about giving my Manxter a altitude adjustment!!
Bought a set of thing stubs and arms off Paul at Steel art, and got him to press in some new german ball joints while he was there.
I also bought some of his stronger tie rods as well.
Got up this morning gave them all a quick clean and paint and set about stripping the front end, I bought home some longer lines as well but turns out I didn't need them as the cnc'd caliper mounts that Paul also supplied lift the calipers up higher so I didn't need the extra length, score!!
I still need to fit up the tie rods and will do that tomorrow morning if it bloody stops raining. 🤪

vduboy · 30 Jan 2016, 10:37 pm

So front end finished and it's now got a funny car stance so I get to sorting out the rear end, I plan to get some 6'' wide rims with either some 235/75-15's or some 30x9.5-15's depending on if I can squeeze them on a six inch rim.
I stripped the double spring plates down after putting some paint marks on the lower stopping edge, managed to sneak them out past the trailing arms without having to undo the trailing arm bolt which would have meant motor out to remove the rear bar lower support as it clamps to the torsion bar tube right next to the bolts..
All I had to do was remove the bump stop and lower shock mount and jack them up as far as they would go.
I was planning in notching the plates 6mm but changed my mind at the last minute and did 4mm instead. This worked out perfect as the shock only had a couple of mill of travel left!!
I clearanced the lower edge of the trailing arm where it would of hit the cage/bar support just with a small semi circle with the dremel. I didn't go anywhere near the spot welds so it should be fine, it was only one side of the skin that was overhanging anyway. Ended up settling on 25 degrees for the spring plate angle.
So with that all back together the buggy is much higher! I can clear a bucket too Smiley! I may or may not have chose a smaller bucket than you... 😂
Found a little possum making a home in the shed too.. scared the crap outta me!

vduboy · 30 Jan 2016, 10:40 pm

Anyway enough dribble here are some pics of the beast now..

vduboy · 22 Feb 2016, 7:32 pm

Been playing with the jetting on the webers a little lately, I had 50 idles, F11 tubes, 140 mains, 180 airs and 32 vents, it was almost perfect but very rich at idle unless I had the mixtures wound in to half a turn or less, but this then left a lean hole and a flat spot just above idle, tried 45's and the idle was smooth and crisp but the lean spot remained unless I went out to one and a half on the mixtures which was again eye watering rich at idle.
So lots of research into weber emulsion tubes and decided that F7's would bring the mains on a little sooner and were also a tad richer up top so I leaned out the mains and airs to suit.
Now have 45's, F7's, 135 mains, 190 airs and stayed with the 32 vents. I might try some 34's later for shits and giggles.
Now the buggy idles nicely rips through the rev range nice and cleanly and no flat spots. Very happy!

vduboy · 4 Sep 2016, 2:21 pm

Well the Vw pobjoy motor has finally died. 😬 The f@#king thing has a cracked case right next to the dizzy drive.. I was supposed to be pulling it out this weekend to do the main seal again...
I am really at a loss to what to do with it.
Do I give someone $7000 for a vw long block (2276) or buy a kit myself for $4-5000 then put it together myself run the risk with no warranty...?
Or go the Subi route? How much head f@#k am I in for engineering wise? And then I will probably have to do the subaru gears thing as well.. which either way was going to happen when the vw box eventually died...
I am really not a fan of the rear wing look but also don't want to dick around with side mount radiators and the #%@# tyres will throw at them or the front mount thing either...
On the other hand how often do you look at the back of your car while driving it?
Come on guys convince me!

vduboy · 5 Sep 2016, 7:22 pm

So I went out today and bought a liberty with a EJ22 in it with 180k on the clock.
It still has rego till January so I can drive it around for a bit to make sure it is all behaving. Unfortunately I got a front wheel drive model so ill just have to get Mr Subarugears to do one for me!
One less thing on the to-do list!
Thinking of all the options now, to try and get a plan happening.
Subarugears box- Todd recommends 4.1:1 diff with my 29" tyres. Am seriously considering a Subaru Torsen diff option as well. Opinions?

Fuel system- MMA Long range tank with factory Subaru pump lines running along the side intrusion bars to do away with putting more crap in the tunnel.

Exhaust- Not sure hoping someone makes a nice off the shelf stainless item otherwise I will.

Sump- Whoever does the shortened but same capacity ones

Wiring- will probably shorten the myself to maximise wire length. Will be trying to mount the ECU relays etc in the space behind the rear seats, too crowded up the front now. Can be convinced otherwise!

Cooling- Not a fan of wings but don't mind the location, might try to save the Manxter's boot/airbox cover assembly and make my own shroud with possibly using the stock radiator if suitable.

Rear cage- this must stay as the buggy is my only tow vehicle for the bikes so if the experts can let me know how Todd's rear gearbox/engine mount fits in with the Manxter's rear cage/tow point/frame horn stiffeners please chime in.

Feel free to let me know what I have forgotten/suggestions.
Cheers, Nate

vduboy · 8 Sep 2016, 9:44 pm

I have been doing a pot load of research online and in my head at night... welcome back sleepless nights!
I think I can rework the stock exhaust for the mean time to be legal etc for certifying and hopefully get Brad or Pauls S/s system on there afterwards.
The front gearbox mount will be one of the Subarugears ones, but the rear gearbox mount from them will need a massive amount of surgery to fit in with the Manxter's cage.
Not sure if it is worth buying one to hack up or using the coin to make one. Todd might cry if he sees what I do to one of his pretty mounts! :oops:
Basically the rear cages lower arms run straight into where the brackets for the engine mount rest.
I am still very unsure of where to put the radiator, there is a awesome spot for it up behind the front bar, but running the pipes will be a hassle and i'll need to put in a few bleed points. If I go this way i will be putting a header tank up high in the engine bay to make it a little easier. But it will keep some nice cool air for the intake system.
I would of liked to do some side mounts but I think these will work much better with pods I don't want to run. If I ran some vertically just infront of the side steps support bar I think they would be way to narrow to work. And i'd also need to protect them from the crap slinging of the rear tyres and possible put scoops on the front side to pick up air.
Maybe I should stop my procrastinating and poofsooks and wait until the motor and box is in to do a mock up! :roll:
I think I will modify and shorten the loom myself just so I know what is in it.
I will be doing the timing belt/pump/tensioner as a precaution and will probably throw a clutch at it too. I'm going to try something different this year and see if I don't have to pull the motor three times in a year..
Yes maybe I am still a little bitter at only getting 48k out of the VW motor! 😬

vduboy · 21 Sep 2016, 12:09 pm

So starting to get my head around everything I need for the conversion now.
I have ordered my gearbox and mounts off Todd at Subarugears. Very excited to get that in my hot little hands!
Also ordered a long range alloy fuel tank and the axles, reversed manifold and shortened sump from Paul at Down South Motorsports. I am thinking I will pull the Vw motor and box soon and start chopping for the gearbox, not sure If I will need to clearance the body for it yet, as I have a two inch lift already??
I might start mocking up the front mount radiator and the lines to the rear of the car while I still have a car to drive around (donor liberty) will look ridiculous dragging around 3-4m of alloy pipe hanging off the back of the road bike!
I can also fit the alloy tank and run the hard lines for fuel.
I think I have some out of the box thinking to get the Subarugears engine mount working around the cage assembly. Will have a better idea when I start mocking up. Might try and pick up a bare block for mock up.

vduboy · 7 Oct 2016, 6:01 pm

Got a big f@#ker of a box from Paul at Steelart the master fabricator this week, full of awesome buggy goodies,
Shortened sump -a lot of hours tigging in that! Reversed manifold, correct axles for the Subarugears box, a super sexy alloy fuel tank about 55L worth, which as I got 480 k's out of 40L in the donor should make for a awesome range now.
Also got my Exedy clutch kit, Timing belt/water pump/tensioner kit and a genuine subaru slave to match the box.
Toddy said he'd drop the box off personally which is awesome and I might con him into throwing it in for a beer or two.. 😀
Not long now and I can get cracking on it all and start driving my bloody car again!
I also found a cool formula online for roughly calculating sufficient radiator size and the one I have mocked up in my head (honda civic 91-00) (350x350) should fit the bill nicely.
I plan to shroud the back of it to pull out the hot air and maybe even put a scoop or the like at the bottom if room allows. My mate has a second hand MX5 one which I can dummy up as well to see if it'll fit, but i think the outlets are on the wrong side for that one.
Try and get some pics up this weekend.

PAZZAN · 7 Oct 2016, 9:32 pm

https://www.summitracing.com/int/search/part-type/radiators?SortBy=Default&SortOrder=Ascending&retaillocation=int&tw=rad&sw=Radiators

vduboy · 9 Oct 2016, 8:10 am

Cheers mate, that is a dangerous site!

vduboy · 16 Oct 2016, 3:44 pm

Started pulling out the old vw box and cv's in preperation for the new axles I thought I needed, turns out the ones I received were wrong, but i already have the right length installed, according to Todds subarugears page! Had to have a win sometime hey?? Also cleaned and painted the shortened sump, and found my type 3 wagon torsion bars that I never got around to fitting to the old bug thankfully.
Might have the box sold to a guy who has a Baja so it'd be good to get some cash flow coming in for a change!
Anyways pics cause I know everybody likes them!

vduboy · 16 Oct 2016, 3:46 pm

Anyone else have a Subarugears and Ej22 shaped hole in their buggy??
Luckily I have this now! Massive thanks to Todd for dropping it off personally and having a chat about it all, my seem like brown nosing but I don't care, the dude had a brilliant idea then the balls to pull it off... pardon the pun!
My buggy and I thank you!
I also got this for the front end so it wouldn't feel left out..

vduboy · 16 Oct 2016, 3:52 pm

On a side note there is no way the box will fit with the 'vw' style rear frame horn support and I am going to have to re-make the lot of it... 🙄 I guess the best way forward there will be to mount the box first with Todd's engine mount and then make everything else around it. Should have a plan by next weekend.

vduboy · 22 Oct 2016, 11:40 am

Ok so I am a dips#!t and can't measure for s#!t... my million dollar honda civic radiator wont fit the hole I have cut, (too tall) so it looks like I will be stuck having to make one.
So there goes my plan of having a off the shelf radiator.. I suppose in the grand scheme of things it ain't that big a deal, I mean my gear box is a custom item as is most of the other stuff of the car, so If I did hole a radiator I would just be getting it towed..
All I managed to get accomplished today is a big hole in front of the fuel tank and cleaned up the mounting hole for the big alloy tank. Yay! 😬

vduboy · 29 Oct 2016, 8:49 pm

So did a #%@# ton of grinding cutting and heave hoeing today... and my buggy now has a subarugears 5 speed shoehorned in! It was a tight fit and only just clears the two inch lift kit where it pokes through into the chassis. I still haven't got my subaru shifter so that isn't hooked up yet. I think I have enough cut out for it though.
The nice guys at All drive subaru in peakhurst sold me a bare block for $50 bucks which saved a lot of effort lugging around a complete motor hanging off a box to get the mock up all done.
I ended up tigging up the frame horns as well, the left hand side hadn't opened up but the right had, I needed to grind it back a fair bit more than in the pic too, almost flush on the right hand side

vduboy · 29 Oct 2016, 8:51 pm

Took the frame horn support/brace off to fit up all the suby driveline, I will have to re make all of it. I also have to make a bracket for the rear cage/tow bar to tie into the subarugears mount.

vduboy · 29 Oct 2016, 8:55 pm

Made up a little rubber flap to cover up the hole in the frame now, Might need to make something a little more permanent later on. I really hope I never have to change that neutral switch!!
I also dummied up the extended sump to make sure it fit... lucky I did because it hit the mount on the right hand side, a little love tap with the file and it now has clearance.
I was swearing a little wondering why the hell the sump plug was on the front of the sump (next to the clutch) thinking that was a stuff up, it wasn't until later when I seen the angle the block sits at I realized why! It has a pretty decent slope downhill to the front.

vduboy · 29 Oct 2016, 8:57 pm

Now this lives here,
Not sure if I put the pic up of the fuel tank sitting in it's hole yet so here it is.

vduboy · 15 Nov 2016, 10:11 am

I got a few hours in on the weekend between sorting out the silly pool and mowing the weeds..
I got the hole cut out for the transmission cover humpy thing, cut a bit more fiberglass out up the front for the radiator and figured out a mounting bracket for that.
I also made a connector up for the subarugears to vw shift shaft.
Similar to Brads design but the coupler is on the shaft end rather than the gearbox side.
It works O.k but the 5th gear gate seems a little heavy, might get Todd to swing around one day and have a looksee to make sure I am not loading up the shift shaft at all.
I think it is just a side effect of not having the correct alignment (straight coupling) between the gearbox and shift shaft.
Will see what the experts say. 😀
I'll throw some pics up later.

vduboy · 21 Nov 2016, 10:57 am

Got my transmission cage/frame horn support all made up on the weekend. One day I would like to make some bar work up that doesn't have odd ball angles and cuts to make my life a little easier!
I think I figured out a good solution for mounting the rear cage to Todd's Subarugears engine mount. Of course that has silly angled mounting face as well! :roll:
The riv nuts I put in for the humpy cover hit the tranny bar.. (i'm sure there is a joke I there somewhere) so I have to make something else for the top two bolts there..
Just once I want to bolt something on without having to redesign something else..!
I got the radiators rubber cushioned and rubber mounted lower brace done too. Ill sort out the top mount after the bonnet hinge is attached to something again.
Pics to come.

vduboy · 27 Nov 2016, 5:57 pm

Made a few bits and pieces today and yesterday, got the lower radiator mount made up, bolted a bit of flat plate to it glued down some rubber and also rubber mounted the radiator mount as well.
Also took the radiator in to work to hole saw the fitting in and get my mate to tig in the outlets I had put a bead on with my home made bead roller.
It works pretty well, just have to take it slow to keep the bead nice and square until it runs true itself.

vduboy · 27 Nov 2016, 5:59 pm

Got the radiator sitting on the lower mount while I figure out a way to re mount the bonnet to the non existent fibreglass. Most of the radiator is out in good airflow so I think it'll cool ok. I will probably change to those thinner plates so the sail at the front doesn't block it off.
I think I will also get some of that heavy style expanded alloy mesh to stop rocks and what not hitting the radiator like bikes have.
I started making the rear cage and tow bar assembly fit the subarugears engine mount and its honky angled mounting face! I also made the transmission/frame horn brace and got that all cut up made and painted in a day with the worst case of man-flu ever... I nearly died!
There were a few casualties though as bitey the grinder tried to make its way through my fingers a couple of times. Luckily the garage first aid kit is well stocked!!

vduboy · 27 Nov 2016, 6:01 pm

Here's a pic of a couple of practice beads. The first one is way too small and the other one is maxed out, you can see where the pipe has started to flare out at the end, so somewhere in the middle is a good compromise.
I took my time with getting the angles right on the plate for the rear bar/cage. It was a fair bit of dicking around to get the angles cut so there was minimum gap. but it turned out pretty good I think. I think I have enough clearances around the vital components but wont know until I have the actual motor in. The dummy block is actually a ej20 but the sump/engine mounts etc all bolt on so it should be good I hope!

vduboy · 27 Nov 2016, 6:03 pm

Shortened the cages lower legs to mount to the old transmission mount bracket. Got it precariously balancing on the bench while I tack it for welding.

vduboy · 4 Dec 2016, 8:29 pm

Had a good weekend ripping into suby, got its heart and nerves out in a box for a lot of man hours of love turning into something useful for the buggy.
Pulled out everything else I needed as well, fuel pump, tank straps, interior lights, I really wanted to use the heater and blower out of the suby too but it was bloody huge! There was no way I could make it fit in my buggy. I guess I'll be getting one of those aftermarket heater core blower things instead.

baghall · 6 Dec 2016, 3:29 pm

Keep up the good work.

vduboy · 6 Dec 2016, 6:14 pm

baghall wrote:Keep up the good work.

Thanks bud!
Bought a vintage air heater/demister to go in the buggy, had to do a little thinking to get it to work in with my designed cooling system.
Subaru runs a full flow heater core as part of the thermostat loop and without it would soon overheat. And controls the heat by altering the flow of air through the core.
The vintage air unit throttles the coolant through the core to control heat so if id had the heater off the thermostat would never open and the motor would cook.
So I figured out a quick solution where I can use two tee pieces hooked up in a H fashion as a heater core bypass.
This won't be ideal for the heater when the motor is cold but should still work ok.
Eventually I want to use possibly two of the variable water taps but operating opposite each other so as I open flow to the heater core the bypass is closed and vice versa.
Will think about that more later.

bevoracing · 6 Dec 2016, 6:50 pm

Check the heater tap on a VY V8 Commodore. They have 4 hose conceptions and shut off the heater and run the flow back around. Might be what you want.
Cheers
Tony

vduboy · 6 Dec 2016, 8:14 pm

bevoracing wrote:Check the heater tap on a VY V8 Commodore. They have 4 hose conceptions and shut off the heater and run the flow back around. Might be what you want.
Cheers
Tony

Cheers mate I'll have a look into it. Thanks!

vduboy · 15 Dec 2016, 7:53 pm

Been cleaning up the motor and resealing any minor leaks it had, quite amazing how little there was actually, considering the motor has 190k on it!
I did the timing belt and tensioners, waterpump, rocker gaskets and filler o'ring. One thing I did find is the whoever did the last timing belt almost killed the motor by installing the tensioner roller with the plastic washer under the bolt head the it comes with to keep it all together in the box. The bolt was finger tight ready to wind its way out! 🙅
Bought some intake and coolant manifold gaskets for piece of mind too.
Got a new clutch kit to go in as soon as I get the motor back on the engine crane. Tested the TPS as well and think I found my hunting throttle issue. I have ordered a replacement and waiting on a reply from the suby guy. Also ordered the metal version of the oil/air separator plate as the plastic ones are known to crack. I am waiting on Paul to get back from the states so I can swap the axles I got incorrectly for some exhaust bits to make up a decent stainless system.

vduboy · 27 Dec 2016, 11:22 am

Finished off the harness today, spent all day yesterday and till lunchtime today stripping off kilo's of plastic conduit, electrical tape, cable ties etc, removed all the unnecessary stuff, pulled all the plugs out of their respective pins so I could cover the harness in some nice pvc tubing. Buttoned it all back up so it is ready for when I get back from holidays! Really looking forward to driving this thing and now it will go like it should have from the start!

vduboy · 23 Jan 2017, 10:50 am

Back from the desert holiday and straight into the buggy, after I got over the nasty chest infection from the disgusting people on the plane..
It seems like it is one step forward five backwards with this buggy every time I spin a spanner on it.
Got the motor in after I'd fit the new oil/air separator plate, new clutch, coolant manifold seals, intake gaskets, timing belt, pulleys and water pump.
After I took the flywheel off again to fit the silly tin cover that won't go on after due to the shortened sump 🙄
After all that bloody reversed throttle body hits the f@#king cage...! :evil: So that was a waste of money.
Ill stick it up soon to see if anyone needs one.
I have sorted out what to do to rectify the situation, need to cut a hole in the transmission hump cover and fibreglass it up when I have some clearance.
I have FINALLY got a complete air box in my buggy mounted up as well. It is a very tight fit but at least I have a waterproof intake system now.
I am not able to run the coolant lines as high as I wanted too but they will still be out of harms way.
Slowly moving forward I think! Getting edgy now I want to drive the bloody thing. 😬

vduboy · 29 Jan 2017, 8:36 pm

Motor is in, found a spot for the over flow bottle, I have hidden the charcoal canister up high behind the air box,
I had to cut a big hole in the transmission cover so the intake tube had some clearance. Will seal it up soon.

vduboy · 29 Jan 2017, 8:38 pm

Been finalising placements for all the things I have to jam in the engine bay, running out of room really quickly.
I have mocked up all the alloy cooling lines down the side of the buggy, waiting on a mate coming round to help with the alloy welding. Not to confident on something that has to hold the engines life blood just yet.
Also started making the mount for the bonnet to swing off since I had to cut that part off to fit the radiator. I had a look at where I am fitting the heater from vintage air too. That will be bloody tight too! I kinda wish my car was about 30% bigger. I wasn't paying the $600 some people wanted for a bead roller so I made my own. Will do the job I think.

vduboy · 5 Feb 2017, 8:16 pm

Got a far bit done this weekend even though it was 40 degrees in the garage.. Made up the mount for the bonnet, refit the cv's and axles and checked their clearance, all good thankfully. I went to fit my stiffer type 3 torsion bars that I bought years ago but it turns out I only have one stiffer spring and one stock one... 😬
Seriously f@&k my luck sometimes! Also the bay window front shocks I bought to get a little extra droop out of the rear end are shorter than the ones on there now! So I just added a few
degrees on the spring plates to help with the extra weight out back now.
I also connected up the rest of the Ecu harness and all the idiot lights and gauges for the motor. I still haven't plugged the Ecu in yet as I need to still wire in the fuel pump and fans as well as the engine light.
I still need to do a bit more clearancing up the front for the radiator fan as well.
I made a throttle cable and modified the pedal so I get full throttle now. Also remotely mounted the reservoir for the hydraulic clutch master cylinder as I can no longer get to the tunnel opening with the radiator up front now. I also made a hump for the transmission hump cover thing so the intake pipe now has clearance.
Slowly getting there!

vduboy · 12 Feb 2017, 8:01 pm

Had a big day yesterday with my mate helping me weld up the cooling lines and a couple of small fittings for the heater.
Had another day in the garage today, mounted up the coolant lines, made up most of the heater lines as well, made the harness for the fan, hooked up a switch so I can turn the fan on manually (low speed) if I am tootling along for what ever reason. The ECU still has full control over the fan and turns it on when it sees fit (high speed).
Finally grew a pair and plugged the ECU in and turned the ignition on. I was going to do a full double check of all the pin outs but I didn't!
No smoke!! No crazy fault codes either. It cycles the fuel pump (just a light at this stage) just like it did in the donor.
I can't quite remember the outcome of the test connectors when the car was together, but I plug the blacks together and the fuel pump and fan cycles alternately and the check engine light blinks slowly. But not blinking a code. So happy days. If anyone can remember please chime in.
So still need to mount the fuel tank pop a couple of big holes in it for the fuel pump and the yet to be purchased sender. Mount the heater unit and wire that in, remake whatever doesn't fit around it.
Buy a muffler, catalytic converter, some shiny stainless and make it all one piece.
If anyone knows who makes a quiet stainless muffler in 2" please let me know!!

vduboy · 12 Feb 2017, 8:02 pm

I have two fill points, a low one just under the air box on the suction side, and the high point in the car on the pressure side. I also have a bleed point on the radiator.
Hopefully that'll be enough to get all the air out. I don't have any bleeds on the heater/bypass lines but I think I won't need them. We'll see.

vduboy · 26 Feb 2017, 9:13 pm

Well I had the worst couple of weeks I have ever had, my wife and I had to put our beloved cat Misha down, she was almost 12 years old we have had her since she was 3. She got a virus and pneumonia just after we got back from holidays and just couldn't shake it. We are absolutely gutted. This has affected me so much more than losing my father a year ago.
Haven't really been in the mood to do anything but I have been forcing myself to get something done on the weekends at least.
All the small crap seems to take so long to do and get sorted but it is almost there.
Got the fuel lines all bent up and flared and connected, Made a heat shield/deflector for the radiator, as to not blow hot air through the dash, mounted the fan and wired them up.
Took a dirty great big hole saw to Paul's work of art, that beautiful fuel tank so I could mount the subaru fuel pump, I make up some quick release fuel fittings so I can undo the straps and have the tank out in under five minutes if need be. (makes topping up the reservoirs a lot easier.)
I was going to re use the ones out of the suby but figured out these fabric tie downs are a lot easier and neater. Will re use the rubber strap covers though.

vduboy · 26 Feb 2017, 9:14 pm

Started mounting the cooling lines and the heater lines today but ran out of them rubber coated 'p clamps'
Got one side done though. Had to crack out the hole saw again and punch two holes in the side of the car just in front of the pedals so I can get coolant to the yet to be fitted heater. Ended up having to recess the holes as the grommets supplied were obviously not meant for a thick fiberglass body and sat all funny. So I got covered in fiberglass once again.. (I thought I was done doing that?)

vduboy · 26 Feb 2017, 9:15 pm

I bought a shortened set of headers in stainless to build my exhaust from, really not impressed with them at all, I have never seen somebody so unimpressed with their tig welds that they have to be ground down.. and they are still too bloody long and foul on the cage. So it looks like I will just have to remake them as well. Should have just done that from the start. It looks like I will have to flange them just after the headers and bolt the short headers on before the motor mounts get bolted up. Hopefully won't have to pull too much stuff off to lift up the motor. :roll:
I got the intake system all finished too.

vduboy · 18 Mar 2017, 7:39 pm

IT RUNS!!! 😁
Finished building the exhaust today and got the balls to turn the key, fired up instantly and sat there and purred like a kitten, really stoked with the note of the exhaust, (I built a unequal length header system for that subaru burble) it is a tad too deep but I have a low volume insert I can put in to quieten it down if need be. Just have to bolt everything back in now then I can take it for a squirt.
Pics and video to come tomorrow!

baghall · 22 Mar 2017, 6:49 pm

Nice one. Look forward to see the vid and hearing the sounds.

vduboy · 10 Apr 2017, 8:17 am

Well I am finally on the road again legally!! After doing battle with the RMS's new 'updated' system for 2 1/2 hours the car is registered and engineered.
I have done about 400k's so far love the motor!
It is very smooth, it has a awesome note that I am so proud of! 👍
The ratios that Todd suggested are great and I only have to remember that I have 5 gears now every second drive! I went with the stiffer subaru group n engine mounts which are a lot stiffer than stock but vibrate a hell of a lot less than any stiffer vw engine mounts.
I have a couple of niggling oil leaks to sort out then wifey and I are heading up the coast to visit my mum.
Sorry for not getting any pictures or videos up yet as I have been silly busy sorting all the legal crap out...
will happen soon hopefully.
So far on the fuel economy I have used 40 litres for 400k's of mostly around the block testing and no highway k's at all, so I am stoked with that too.
I have since moved the front number plate off to the side and the temperature has dropped to 85 when moving all the time, where as with the big plate in front of the radiator it was sitting on 90-92 degrees.
It'll eventually creep up to 95 degrees when stationary then come down to 90 when the fans turn off.
So I think i'll just get a set off slim line plates and call the cooling system done.

vduboy · 24 May 2017, 9:13 pm

Sorry guys I forgot to throw up more pics... and I can't sort out putting a video up of the sound because I am retarded..
But here are a few pics of things I got done before..
Here are a few of the heater I got from summit, It works pretty well, it would be better if I didn't have such a big run of heat shedding aluminium pipe to the heater. I was thinking of wrapping it in some of that air-con foam insulating stuff.. I'm sure the heater loop could be bypassed with another electronic heater tap working opposite to the main tap, but couldn't be bothered re-inventing the wheel at this point..!
Got another pic of the alloy tank all plumbed up and strapped down as well, I have since had to make a fuel vapour separator as the charcoal canister was filling up with raw fuel...!

vduboy · 24 May 2017, 9:15 pm

I had to basically remake the headers, I should have done that from the start as they were appallingly bad. If a gumby like me can do nicer welds then you should re think your business model... 😬
Pretty pleased with how they turned out, would have been nicer if they were purged on the inside but not 100% necessary.
I am f@#king stoked with the exhaust note though!! Which is really what I was going for with the uneven primary lengths.

vduboy · 24 May 2017, 9:16 pm

And I also had to make a heat shield/cage thingy for the special people that are too dumb to realize that exhausts are hot...
I ended up making a new v.s.s wheel to try and keep the ECU happy on deceleration but I ended up just having to earth the neutral switch and now it is happy and doesn't stall.
After all that work though I didn't get my wish and had to pull the entire driveline to fix a oil leak in the box, Todd the gentlemen he is got it sorted as quick as possible though so now it is happy days! If I figure out how to put up a video I will though because I love the sounds this thing makes now! 8)
I had another small issue too, the steering uni joint had seized up while I was doing the conversion and now with the Torsen differential wanting to just go straight I need all the steering I can get!
I got another uni joint and had a close look at it to see if I could improve it.
The uni's were not clocked correctly from the subaru factory on either of my uni's and each one had tight spots in various points in rotation.
I cut, removed and re pressed and welded the uni's in phase like drive shafts are and now I have smooth steering all the way through the range. It drives and steers so much nicer now.One thing I will give the old Vw motor is that it had a heap more punch off idle which I contribute to the big webers, but once over about 2500 the EJ22 would leave it for dead.. It is heaps better on fuel too and stays in the one gear up big long hills but to be fair it now has 5 nicely spaced gear ratios to choose from.
(when I remember I now have 5 gears) 🤪

BlasterTheRedBajaBug · 24 May 2017, 9:23 pm

I just bought chicken wire to put over my engine because that is what the engineer told me to do for a cheap fix until I build one myself.

vduboy · 24 May 2017, 9:28 pm

BlasterTheRedBajaBug wrote:I just bought chicken wire to put over my engine because that is what the engineer told me to do for a cheap fix until I build one myself.

I just used aluminium fly screen, hasn't melted yet...!

montybug · 25 May 2017, 8:45 am

Wish i can get this house reno of mine out of the way faster so that i can spend time working on my project again.. 🙂

baghall · 26 May 2017, 6:54 am

Congrats, glad to see it's on the road. Happy trails!