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Back in 2000 we were into building them, figured if we could get one done up for 5000 with all the bells and whistles we were doing pretty good. Took about 200 man hours to build them start to finish. Could probably build one for less if you are resourceful.
This Red Buggy was first built in 2000 with a stock VW 1600 cc Engine and '73 IRS Transaxle. Later upgraded to a built 1835 cc and the beefed up drive train and beefed up rear control arms to handle the abuse so they would not bend. External oil coolers really helped to pull the heat out of the air cooled engines and allowed them to run much cooler, plus the added oil capacity and remote filter was a good thing too.
There were unique sets of parts from the VW Bugs that were much better that others, so it took some experience to know what to look for that provided strength and application usefulness.
Probably best for someone starting out is to buy a used one as all the parts and package are completed. Then rework it from there as you see fit.
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Here are 2 pages of the 20 page build diagrams that I have on file here yet.
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Gave us something worth while to do to get through the cold Winters here, then we would head down to the Dunes in warmer Oklahoma in the early Spring and go use them.
The higher end long travel suspension buggies are taking over the market now.
The quad runners and new side by sides are popular now too, people can just go buy them.
We actually enjoyed building our own, then taking them out and using them to share our build experiences.
We were just so into it at the time, like an obsession . . Lol . . .
