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beach buggies?goaferboy
@GUEST
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Sept 8, 2005 22:40:26 GMT
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anyone know anything about vw beach buggies? how expensive are they to fix if something goes wrong? how easy is it to get parts? how reliable are they?
I'm seriously considering sacrificing the performance of a westfield for the pure style of a beach buggy
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Last Edit: Sept 8, 2005 22:41:07 GMT by goaferboy
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Sept 8, 2005 22:52:37 GMT
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I'm a big fan one is on my list of future projects looking like 2k plus for a half decent one, but was off put following beetle owners i know fixing it all time. lot of new parts avalable these days for em, ideal plan is a custom car build, I'm sure the hard core air cooled gang will let us know what were up against...
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it doesn't matter if it's a Morris Marina or a Toyota Celica - it's what you do with it that counts
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Sept 8, 2005 22:53:58 GMT
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keep the westy
buggies not that quick spend ££ on engine to get decent go
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2001 HONDA CT110 (NOT RCV)
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beach buggies?goaferboy
@GUEST
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Sept 8, 2005 22:57:38 GMT
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like i said, I'm thinking of sacrificing any performance for the sake of possibly the best looking car ever. ill happily drive a slow car if it looks like this:
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beach buggies?DarrenW
@darrenw
Club Retro Rides Member 74
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Sept 8, 2005 22:58:20 GMT
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They aren't that heavy are they? Fibreglass bodywork etc. Can't be that much heavier than a Caterfield? But yeah, I don't know much about aircooled VW motors, but I do know that quick ones are expensive. Random thought: I've never seen one that's based around the 1303 Macpherson strut setup. Is there one? Then it could be made to handle, too
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Sept 8, 2005 23:17:55 GMT
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but saying that a gp version with a 2.0 scooby motor sans turbo looks and performance find a old donor tax free too think you can get hard tops too
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2001 HONDA CT110 (NOT RCV)
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AFAIR there isn't room under the front wings for the struts. The best combination is to use the torsion bar front and the swingarm rear.
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probably being slightly biased, but i love em! They are light, can be made to handle, and can very easily be made to go quick. A decent set up 1600 on twin carbs will go ok. Buy the CB performance turbo kit which pretty much bolts on (about £2500) and you're flying. Easily the best wasy to get performance from an aircooled engine. Go for IRS rear and not Swingarm if possible though. and you make it go quicker and want to uprate the brakes you might also want a brake bias adjuster. All the weight is at the back, so you're likely to lock the fronts without one
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Beach Buggies, Groovy 70's Man ;D (and who's old enough to remember the start of 'it's Cliff', with Cliff Richard on at Saturday evening in the early 70's ...they used one at the start of the credits )! Everyone likes a Beach Buggy and to my knowledge they are welcomed at every form of car show/event I can think of (from a classic car show to a 'Chavvy' Saturday night cruise at a Tesco's car park : . To build one it isn't just a case of 'plonking' a GRP body tube on to a VW Beatle floor pan for the beatle floor pan needs to be shortened. Then again not all are VW Based for there is always the Siva ...which uses a ... Mini
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not all vw beach buggies use a shortened floor pan. You can get kits which use a full length pan, but they are aren't half as nice imo.
When it comes to beach buggies, you cant beat what Bruce Meyers started - and i Mel Hubbard now sells the Meyers Manx 2 shells/kits.
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BigWig
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,101
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Sept 9, 2005 10:51:02 GMT
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Sweet
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jabbo
Posted a lot
soy un perdedor
Posts: 1,151
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Sept 9, 2005 10:57:39 GMT
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IMO big power engines aren't as expensive as many people seem to think. If you want to get an engine properly built, yeah it's gonna cost ya, but if your willing to buy a reputable second hand one you can pick them up fairly cheap. I was recently offered a 2184cc, complete inc tinware carbs etc for £2.5K. Think it'd only done 5000 miles since being built, and was pushing out about 160bhp.
Putting something like that in a buggy would make it absolutely fly!
As for the rest of the car it's all stock vw stuff and a fibreglass shell. Cheap, easy to acquire and reliable.
And yes, a good looking buggy is very cool!
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Sept 9, 2005 12:16:16 GMT
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easy way to get cheap BHP out of a buggy is to slap in an Alfa 1700 16v Boxer lump - adaptor plates to fit to the VW gearbox are available.
many years ago I chatted to a guy in felixstowe who had one with that conversion - it wheelied in 1st & 2nd !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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71 Alfa GT 1300 Junior 89 Alfa 75 3.0 V6 Veloce 89 Alfa 75 3.0 V6 America 2015 C220 estate Daily shunter
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mercmad
Posted a lot
Flush Hard,it's a long way to McDonalds.
Posts: 1,740
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Sept 9, 2005 22:21:29 GMT
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I have piles of old HOT ROD mags from the 60's and 70's ,the golden age of the "glas buggy kit and there are dozens of different manufacturers featured..I also remember lots of beetles in NZ being cut up to fit a body on.You basically cut 14" from the floor pan ,join it all up again and drop the shell on top.I doubt very much if any one has made a body in the last 20 years... But compared to the normal "dak dak" they were great,sharp handling and the impression you were doing 100mph.Plus you nreally could drive in dunes with them,lots clearance and with big tires it easy to chug up and down the sand all day....great stuff!!! www.manxclub.com/www.classicmotorsports.net/projects/manx.php
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Many years ago I changed my driving style to cope with rising fuel prices; I have now reached the stage where I am contemplating keeping my eyes shut in order to lower wind resistance.
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beach buggies?goaferboy
@GUEST
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Sept 11, 2005 14:40:26 GMT
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i was thinking about bidding for this but the rear wheels look a little off. the guy whos selling it told me that its normal for vw buggies to have wheels at this angle. anyone heard anything about this?
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Sept 11, 2005 18:37:22 GMT
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Beach Buggies, Groovy 70's Man ;D (and who's old enough to remember the start of 'it's Cliff', with Cliff Richard on at Saturday evening in the early 70's ...they used one at the start of the credits )! ... And then there was the one on 'Challenge Aneka'... must admit I was more interested in Aneka Rice's ar$e
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... the only injury I sustained was a bumped head when I let the seatbelt of without realizing the car was upside down and that's not really the car's fault.
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Sept 11, 2005 19:44:50 GMT
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i was thinking about bidding for this but the rear wheels look a little off. the guy whos selling it told me that its normal for vw buggies to have wheels at this angle. anyone heard anything about this? its common for the cars with swingaxle rear suspension, hence why in my earlier post i said make sure you have rear IRS. This removed the negative camber as seen on the pic. A swingaxle can be quite easily converted to IRS these days tho. Oh, and new shells are still made.
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mercmad
Posted a lot
Flush Hard,it's a long way to McDonalds.
Posts: 1,740
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Sept 12, 2005 8:51:06 GMT
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i was thinking about bidding for this but the rear wheels look a little off. the guy whos selling it told me that its normal for vw buggies to have wheels at this angle. anyone heard anything about this? its common for the cars with swingaxle rear suspension, hence why in my earlier post i said make sure you have rear IRS. This removed the negative camber as seen on the pic. A swingaxle can be quite easily converted to IRS these days tho. Oh, and new shells are still made. Yes i just googled up a whole bunch of people making shells,But i just remembered the big trick of the 70's...combi back axle drives..you got height and a low ratio really suited for off road work.That camber angle doesn't mean a thing and when you are serious about off road stuff you don't need IRS because it starts getting complicated. simplicity is the key.
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Many years ago I changed my driving style to cope with rising fuel prices; I have now reached the stage where I am contemplating keeping my eyes shut in order to lower wind resistance.
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