Other toys lets see em

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Mine

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memike said:
My new project is a 1959 Rocket roundabout by Feather Craft, 12.4 in length , first 3 pictures are how I got it, just pulled the hood off and going to replace it with a solid aluminum hood..fun fun.
The trailer is a Gator from 1959 and it's a great find that came with it

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Thats going to be a beautiful boat mine was completely rotten when I first got it pulled it all apart glassed in new stringers transom and floor new carpet seats paint came out pretty good.Make sure you post your progress. I like that Ramcharger too!!
 
George Jets said:
Yeah we built all those buggies here with the home made tubing bender setup on the wood splitter. I still have all of the Buggy Frame dimensions cataloged with angles and pictured to duplicate those frames like the Red Buggy if you ever feel the true need to build one.

We built these off the VW Bugs suspensions and drive lines which are in short supply now. Another one of those things that was good to do when the time was right, all the readily available parts are gone now.



People are still building them, but with the components they are building them with the price has tripled.

One of our custom modifications to beef up the drive lines was to put in the Super Diff (4 spider gears like the Sure-Grips) and the modified 280-Z Drive Shafts to replace the stock VW CV Jointed Driveshafts that would blow out all the time, that fixed that for good. They looked cool sitting in there too.

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Back in the 80s ,me and a bunch of buddies had some rail buggies. They were a blast off road. And alot cheaper to tear up than our 4x4s.
 
George Jets said:
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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 . . .
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Those are just plain badass!
Ever think of trying a Corvair engine in one?
I was big into Corvairs when I was young, and they have some pretty powerful engines for a light application like yours, and are a 6 cylinder as opposed to the VW 4 cylinder.............
 
Dartnut said:
Those are just plain badass!
Ever think of trying a Corvair engine in one?
I was big into Corvairs when I was young, and they have some pretty powerful engines for a light application like yours, and are a 6 cylinder as opposed to the VW 4 cylinder.............
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Yes saw a few buggies out in Little Sahara Dunes in Oklahoma with the 6 cyl Corvair Power. They had a very unique cool sound to them, unlike the Japanese V6s with the fart cans on them.

That's what was so fun about them during that time period. Everyone from all over the country were building their own buggies. All kinds of engine trans combos, and suspensions. Dual webber carbs were big at the time, and a few guys were just starting to stroke their VW Blocks to 2275 cc. That was the lastest and greatest stuff at the time.

Now the Guys are using the reliable water cooled Subaru's flat 4 configuration as top of the line.

Here is the local bunch from around here with the new long travel versions of the buggies that were all built from scratch.

Pictured at St Anthony Dunes in Idaho this Fall. Toyota Power, Stoked VWs, Turbos, Fuel Injected Subarus for power plants, and 5000.to 7000 dollar heavy duty custom built transaxles to take the punishment of the terrain and performance power.

They even have the electric power steering to handle the kickback from the long travel suspension up front.

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We went to Pismo Beach (public off road beach in CA, with dunes) and they had some $100K rails running around. 3 rows of bucket seats and LS/Hemi/Coyote power. Huge suspension travel and 100MPH plus on dunes! Insane.
 
Hallzy said:
Thats going to be a beautiful boat mine was completely rotten when I first got it pulled it all apart glassed in new stringers transom and floor new carpet seats paint came out pretty good.Make sure you post your progress. I like that Ramcharger too!!
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I sure will, I drove 80 miles to a family members home and cousin gave me 4 3x8 aluminum sheets, thickness is over a 1/6th a tic below 1/8, he worked for peerless trailers. New hood soon

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'37 Pontiac, 350/350, PS, PB, A/C just a nice cruiser! '58 Plymouth wheel covers!

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George Jets said:
.

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 . . .
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I bet they would be fun with "zero turn" capabilities
 
A56 said:
I bet they would be fun with "zero turn" capabilities
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For Sure. All the ones I built had the left and right steering disc brakes. The tall chrome levers just over the shifter.

Brake on one wheel power on the other through the Open 4 Spider Differential. Quick turn either left or right. Can also use the hand brake controls together as the main brake, then you can keep your foot at the gas instead of flip flooping between gas and brake pedal.

Worked great for our Cat and Mouse runs where we chase each other around on the Dunes.

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1986 FXST, purchased new June '86, Motor built 2002, S.E. 575 lift cam (biggest cam without doing case machining), Jims roller rockers, 82 cu. in, .30 over, S.E. Hi perf. heads, 10.5 -1 comp. ratio, S.E. adj. pushrods, S.E. lifters, Mikuni 40mm carb., Force Winder air cleaner, V-H Propipe 2 into 1 with competition baffle. Dyno'd at 91 hp 92tq. Factory stock 5 speed, belt drive.
Custom paint by Dragon Studios (retired)
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Treblig said:
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I worked on a 55 gallon barrel welding machine outside Lima, Peru in the mid-90's that used an 18" tall version of Thyratron tube like that one on the right to control the welding current. When you opened up the panel, there was that huge friggin tube glowing orange and staring back at you. I hated that stupid machine. It was a death trap.
Nice collection of toys.
 
A56 said:
1986 FXST, purchased new June '86, Motor built 2002, S.E. 575 lift cam (biggest cam without doing case machining), Jims roller rockers, 82 cu. in, .30 over, S.E. Hi perf. heads, 10.5 -1 comp. ratio, S.E. adj. pushrods, S.E. lifters, V-H Propipe 2 into 1 with competition baffle. Dyno'd at 91 hp 92tq. Factory stock 5 speed, belt drive.

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Beautiful bike
 
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