Yep we're at it again , myself , Paul from Steel Art Creations http://steelart.com.au/?page_id=8,  and Buggy Brad decided that we just didn't need to slow down quite yet and what better way to get back into a mad run again than taking on the NORRA ( National Off Road Racing Association ) Mexican 1000 https://www.norra.com/mexican1000.php  .
Now being that this will be no mean feet the 3 of us have also bought on board a couple of people that know a thing or two about Buggy’s and offroad racing and he was one of the founders of the event back in 67 , Bruce and Winnie Meyers plus we managed to encourage a few of the American boys to come and join the fun too .
What are we going to competing in you asked , well being the die hard Meyers Buggy nuts that we are it wasn't long before Brad had put in an order for a brand new Manxster Dual sport body ( which will be a Baja Edition ) https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=IXt1uF-f0cY  and me being a Tow'd nut , yea you guessed it i'mm running Brads LHD 69 Meyers Towd .
Now one would have thought that we probabley are going to be taking on this race in 2016 as yes we have the Towd , but it needs a lot of upgrades to go racing , and hell Brads only just ordered the Manxster shell , but no we all work best under pressure so yep we've got to be in Mexico on the 25th April 2015 for tech inspection and starting on the 26th , oh and did i mention Paul and myself only get to the states on the 1st April.
So yes we’ve got a plan , a deadline , and 34 days and counting to pull off what will be the biggest thing any of us have taken on before , hey as we say , “thats how we roll “ .

All the best to you and the crew.
If you are able to, share some pics of the lead up and of the event also.

Cheers
D

Pics of the build-up.
LOTS of pics!


PS: Oh, and get a Go-Pro........

Wow you lads are going to be busy. I had a look at the supp regs and I wish we had something like that over here.. I have a couple of buggies that would be eligible (The offroaders - not the country buggy, that would be silly)

Good luck and don't forget the photos.

Peter

Go Team Oz

crazy!!

crazy?? I say crazy not to.....but lets see what we say once the checkered flag gets waved

WOW ...................I thought my 2020 DAKAR beetle plans were going to be pushing it, but you guys are going to be BUSY !!!
Best of luck Andrew and crew.

To give some indication of the upcomming late nights , here's a section of thread i'vve pulled from one of Brads build threads on the manxster


Now I had a rear torsion sorted I needed to get something for it to hang off. In this case the perimeter will be 2" RHS with a 0.120 wall. I am using RHS as opposed to tube due to the amount of stuff that needs to bolt to it from the roll cage to the body, to the seat mounts etc.

I used the spare Manxter Body I had to get it best fit and then made it square.



I then added some tubes in the center which I drilled through and then welded out. I added fischer plates at the area where the front beam will attach to help out with any stress.











Once I had that square and sorted I was able to fit the rear end. I need to get that square before I address the front as the front needs to be square to the rear beam not necessarily the body.



Now I have it square I can play around with the front beam.

So with Brad making plenty of progress on the Manxster i thought it only fair that i should do some armchair building of my own and make a detailed list of items that I consider need upgrading , redoing , to get the Towd race ready
Not an easy task when the buggy is in California USA and i'm still in Oz , but luckily i've got a pretty good memory and know a thing or two about Towd's
You'll get the idea but obviosly this list was written as questions back and forth between myself , my other team mates and Brad


Front and rear barwork including bash plates

Are we going to stick with the ball joint front end and VW steering box ??

Extended pedal area really needs finishing off and a clutch pedal stop

A full under pan , at least under the occupants

Front suspension / beam bracing back into the roll cage

Lower seat belt anchorage points where pretty light on for memory

Gear shift rod needs a support bush as it currently has approx. 12" of unsupported shaft hanging of the back of the Jamar shifter box

Cant remember it having any rear bump stops or limiting straps

Is the existing roll cage going to be all right in its construction , tube size , bracing ,and height from occupants helmet to overhead bars (pretty sure they'll have a minimum measurement) and if so rear of existing roll cage probably needs to be tied into the halo

Tech inspection won't like the original roll bar mounting points as they cant see the bolt heads plus they dont have enough thread hanging out of the nut

Will the bottom of the pivot box's handle the front mount of the subie box alone or should we also strap the box in

The rear torsion housing towers up to the halo look great with MEYERS TOWD cut into them but have we created a weak area that could well either crack or collapse with a constant pounding

This would obviously be a major rework area which maybe we just box the towers in , ie like an upside down pyramid

Can't remember there being any pipe work / bracing bars coming up from back of the rear torsion bar housing up to the halo near the back corners of the halo

Being a Towd obviously there is no head and upper back support in the seat , so was thinking maybe making an aluminium upper seat section with a similar shape to the high back PRP seats and then PRP making a full cover that is back and seat swabs with small sides in the bottom corners to try and eliminate bruised hips on the sides and handbrake area

Fiddler brakes with also a ball valve e brake , or do we HAVE to have a mechanical e brake

To make the chase cars life a little easier do we need to fab a larger fuel tank to roughly match the mileage capacity of the Manxter or will the stock tank plus Jims 7 gallon tank surface

Side panels up to the chest height side bar and obviously nets above that

Alloy roof panel

Damn that's a good looking Subatowd !!

Again Brad has been making brief visits with his bed and has made great progress in the last few days on the manxster

So with the material in and the plan confirmed it was time to get down to making the chassis for the Baja Edition. The majority was made from 1 1/2" x 0.095 walled DOM 1020 grade with a few select pieces made from 0.120 wall.

The design as simple enough get full travel with 2.5 shocks and keep it all under the DualSports Body.

Got to spend a bit of time playing with the bender.



Front shock hoops are 158 degrees if anyone wants to make a set



The primary upper and lowers are sleeved onto the beam and front section. I do this but chamfering the 1 1/2" tube and then making a sleeve from 1 3/4" cut on the same angle / notched. When they are installed I run a root pass on the 1 1/2" tube and then slide the 1 3/4" over the outside and tig it in place as well.



Doing this reduces the stress point and gives you two separate welded about 1/4" apart.

The end that is not going onto the other tube etc is notched at 90 degrees so that the weld sleeve is not a straight shear,



Everything is then cleaned, cleaned and cleaned again. Fit and checked and checked



Once I am happy with the fit it is time to get welding. My original plan to get my mate to weld it out didn't work out as he is crook as a dog and this build time line waits for no man. With that sorted I spent a few hours running some beads and getting my heat issues sorted and set to welding it out.





Once the roots were done I could push the sleeves down and burn them in as well. I had to get the sequence correct.



Anyway far from perfect but I am sure by the time I finish welding it out they will get better.

Hope to have her on wheels by the end of the weekend so I can do steering geometry and start buttoning up.

And some more

with the chssis underway it was time to look at shock towers and getting the most out of the setup. I had heard a lot of interesting numbers quoted but from the outset I was going to be happy with anything over 12". With that in mind I pulled out the 4" Foddrill Arms and pressed in the bushings to the carriers. I have gone with King Kong Stubs and matched them to the Jamar Pro X 4 pot callipers.

Pressing the bushings into the spindles I was very impressed with the fit and finish, Foddrill had done a great job and they all went together well.

Once done I hung one side and started playing with shock placement.







I had the body on and off many times and was very happy to have a body I could use for alignment before we pickup the real Kit next week.

Fast forward way to many hours and the chassis is welded out and ready to move to the next stage. I was lucky enough to have my custom weld positioner on hand to let me flip it around and avoid any bad out of position stuff.



With that done it was onto the lift for the next phase which will be getting it on wheel, getting steering mounted, getting rear support sorted, getting shocks mounted and then laying out the additional braceing before pulling it all apart again to weld out to put it back together again to keep moving.



The engine and transmission combo I will be using is a SubaruGears 5 Speed Transmission mated to a Subaru EJ25 SOHC engine. As I don't actually have my actual engine and trans yet I have managed to get a setup engine and mated it togeather. With the SubaruGears rear mount the point of balance is spot on and with a SteelArt Creations 3" shorter sump there is plenty of clearance.



Talking of sumps Paul will be here next week to join the build but just cause he aint here yet don't mean he ain't working. Like all good buggy guys he just started making the sumps for the car in the few days before he fly's out.





Sweet

And for those doubters yes that April 1 dealine of a rolling chassis is achievable , you've just gotta be willing to do the BIG hours

It was a pretty big weekend with lots of thinking, assembly and testing. Of course with the race around 3 weeks I would have liked to get a lot more done than I did and I know I am going to be pulling it down a few more times yet before it is time to bolt it up finally.

I managed to get the wheels on front and rear and start cycling the suspension to see what hits what and what I need to take into account when I add in the rest of the support bars.

I should be picking up the DualSports Kit from Meyers Manx this week so until then I just keep using my other body.





Now I had the body on I also started to looking at mounting the PRP front seats. I was lucky enough to get some spare frames so I could move them around without any chance of damaging them.



The Fortin 2.0 Steering rack was also put in place so I can begin to design a mount. To start with I made an adjustable setup so I can get it in the best position to limit bump steer.



Then I pulled it apart a few more times and hope to have the engine and trans mounted this week along with some more tube work done.

Quote:

Originally posted by modnrod Pics of the build-up. LOTS of pics! PS: Oh, and get a Go-Pro........