Hot Wheels 2 - Pine's new Buggy build thread

[BUGGOFF]

lyk goed adriaan. jaco het my laat weet hy het die oval gekry by jou, dankie.

[Typ_315]

Pine,

Thats a genuine VW of Australia Country Buggy. It was built before the Thing/Trekker. Why is that disgusting, it's incredibly rare these days. It has a full metal jacket, and even had a factory hard top as an accessory...

Update 18/11/2008 - bling bling bling, what a shiny thing!

Got the SP (Beetle) steering wheel back from Speedline yesterday, and I am totally blown away! Those guys have done a very professional job in re-covering it. The small stitches are perfect, and the wheel looks brand new, even better than the day it left the factory some 30+ years ago. Interesting how they make the 'grip' part thicker - a glued nylon rope is wound around it, covered with sponge and then with the vinyl. As I said earlier, this is a birthday present (to Pine, from Pine ) and I might have gone a bit overboard with it - but hell, the steering wheel is in your face all the time (while 'behind' the wheel), why not make it looking nice? I assembled it last night, using brand new stainless steel allen-head bolts. The plastic cover was polished with Black Back, and I am sure you'll agree the end result is lovely!





PS the steering wheel is probably the only visible part on the buggy that will carry the VW logo. I'm quite difficult with this principle, I feel Wolfsburg shouldn't get any credit for the whole buggy phenomenon, when they had the opportunity to develop a similar vehicle (fibreglass body, shortened chassis), they swept the concept under the rug. This is the best they could do



The pics below are ACVWSA history in the making - the very first batch of 20 Proudly South African specially manufactured EMPI Sprintstar center caps, also made by Speedline. Chris (van der Heever) from Lichtenburg made the investment to have the die made, and asked Speedline to make a few, as he needed 3 sets. IMPI and I also ordered a set, so these below are all spoken for, but Speedline can make another batch should the demand be there. Take note they are slightly larger than Rostyle caps, so they won't fit their South African cousins..



Compared to an original EMPI cap to the left, you can see that they are as close as bliksem to a swear word, to the real thing..



IMPI have had these EMPI GT decals made, exactly like the originals - they can also be reproduced, should the demand be there..



An of course the proof of the pudding is in the eating - or fitting it to the wheel in this case. Perfect!

[1972]

Wow it is looking great Pine!

[dsan]

Pine

this just looks hot, seriously! damn

[friekske]

verry nice steeringwheel .

[Farhaad]

who's speedline. are they the s/wheel manufacturer? that is some fancy stitching, couldnt agree with u more

[Pine]

Thanks, Guys. The steering wheel is currently on the Khaki Cruiser - I have done some measurements, and unfortunately it is too large for HW2. It is, however a great improvement on the original Type 3 steering wheel, and I even managed to get the horn working!

HW2 will most probably get a smaller 'woodrim' steering wheel, like HW1 had, in spite of the fact that the bottom spoke of it ripped my top right leg open in the accident...

who's speedline. are they the s/wheel manufacturer? that is some fancy stitching, couldnt agree with u more

I am very impressed with their work. No fancy website, but all their details here http://home.intekom.com/speedline/

[Pine]

Update 7/11/09

Skymac has offered that I continue the assembly of HW2 in his garage, so no more working in the narrow-door bottom floor flat! (THANKS Skymac! )

The direct implication of this move is that everything that will be assembled on the chassis from now on, will be permanent.

I masked off the front suspension yesterday, and gave it the final coat of gloss black. For a few consecutive Saturdays, the weather was a bit bad (windy, rainy) but yesterday afternoon the sun came out, the wind settled and I could do the spraywork.

I also resprayed the steering box I got back from Dirk (Pretoria), after it had been completely re-bushed, still need to put grease in it (have to figure out how to insert it through the small holes).

Also in the process of sorting out the wiring - as I said in the past I will keep the original VW harness colours, and use a late-model fuse box.

Slowly but surely everything is coming together, and hopefully progress will pick up quite rapidly from now, so stay tuned!

[69bug]

Pine, that steering wheel looks great! Stickers for centre caps as well. Had standard EMPI gel stickers made for mine.

[Dutch_Diver]

Great news Pine on being able to work easier on HW2! We need a new picture some time!

[DaveW]

Hi gents.

Quick question pine.
What do you do paperwork wise if the chassis is vrot and you use a different one? My skoonpa just used to cut the plate out of the original and weld it onto the "new" chassis.I don't know if this is the norm or not so thought I would ask. I'm looking at a buggy that has all the right paperwork and a nice body but the chassis is poked.

Cheers

Dave

[DaveW]

Sorry, by plate I mean the section with the chassis no. on

tks

[Pine]

Although I am personally going the legal route with the donor chassis, there is a small 'loophole' when it comes to building a buggy...

Early 70's Beetles and later never had a number stamped on the chassis in the factory, in other words it was only the 'removable' plate on the BODYSHELL (spare wheel well) which identified the car. So if you can find a 'blank' chassis, the process is simplified.

Be careful though for a number starting with AAP.... elsewhere on the chassis, that is usually an SAPS number stamped afterwards when a chassis was previously re-registered.

[Pine]

My skoonpa just used to cut the plate out of the original and weld it onto the "new" chassis.I don't know if this is the norm or not so thought I would ask.

I can't see anything wrong in doing that, provided that you are not using a stolen chassis.... you change parts on any car, why not a chassis?

[DaveW]

Are you going to have any kind of top to your buggy or are you leaving it completely open?