Buggy GP mk1 rebuild pics

bparravicino · Post by **bparravicino** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 9:02 pm

That's all for now. Hope you like my 'Third world , shadetree' build.For all the fun and reliability that this buggy has given me in the past years, the least I can do Is fix her up to the best of my abilities and resources.

letterman7 · Post by **letterman7** » Sat Jul 04, 2009 6:54 pm

Looks great so far! But why the aftermarket alternator when you could have gotten a 'regular' VW alt for the same money and not had to worry about making a bracket?

bparravicino · Post by **bparravicino** » Sat Jul 04, 2009 8:40 pm

Good question letterman. That's life in de islands. For an auto part you can expect to pay four times as much as you guys would pay in the States. Shipping and lots of import duties really add up. The set up worked fine for about four years
Because the buggy was put aside for two years, I had to completely dis and re assemble it. Please wish me luck that I've put it back together correctly.
Thanks for the interest and I'd appreciate any advice or pointers. I've lurked on the Samba and here for a long time and now feel honoured to be part of STF. Makes me want to start another one as soon as I finish This one. (I'll make a lot less mistakes)

letterman7 · Post by **letterman7** » Sun Jul 05, 2009 7:36 am

It's all part of the learnin' curve! Head on over to the Dune Buggy Archives (www.dunebuggyarchives.com) for more buggy specific questions. It's also a little more active than this particular part of the STF.

Rick

bparravicino · Post by **bparravicino** » Sun Jul 05, 2009 8:21 pm

Thanks Rick,
Yes I've been there too . Unfortunately I did not peruse these sites when I first started this rebuild. How the heck I got through the first build/ conversion I truly do'nt know. That was 17 yrs ago, The 'roll bar' was fabbed from P V C! That was put there just to put a bit of a roof over it.
Hopefully, some pics of the buggy with the final paint applied tomorrow.
Did a bit of money earning today but still put a few hours into the paint prep.

bparravicino · Post by **bparravicino** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 9:24 pm

I will not give up trying but posting pics is a real PIA!!!. Is there a John Muir type tutorial for dummies like me?
Anyway ,the supposedly 'final ' paint job ended up with a few imperfections which were caused by my over exuberant use of the clear coat. So I let it sit for a few days and sanded with 1,000 paper and proceeded to shoot one last final ,'final coat' . DARN! for some reason most of it erupted in 'fish eyes'.
I stopped clear coating the outside @ an early stage but proceeded to clear coat the inside of the tub and that came out perfect. Why? Somehow I believe that the tack cloth some how got contaminated. It was the second time I'd used it and it was not properly sealed. I concluded this because I did not use said cloth on the inside. Sh1t! more sanding ,time and money. "We shall never surrender".
On a more positive note, This morning I was lurking, as usual ,and realised that I had one too many springs in my 009 distributor so proceeded to take the Compufire out fixed the problem and did'nt break one single thing!
I then went to our local place which specialises in bolts &nuts etc and got the engine mounting bolts and stud which I somehow did not have. Luckily I had the bolt which goes next to the starter. Then I went to the place which specialises in hoses and tubes etc and picked up some kevlar reinforced fuel line and some copper fuel line.
The fuel line @ the engine side is installed (apart from the hose clamps which I forgot to get) and the wiring on the engine was also completed. All in all not a bad day. Guess I"ll have to make a trip to the hose clamp store in the near future . Money earning for the next two days, so not likely I'll get much done . Maybe I'll try again with my evil and vindictive photo programmes tomorrow . Later guys.

Ol'fogasaurus · Post by **Ol'fogasaurus** » Wed Jul 15, 2009 7:31 am

See if this will help:

http://www.shoptalkforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=106599

bparravicino · Post by **bparravicino** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 9:12 am

Here'a a bit of an up date and some funky stuff.

That' my Shadetree dashboard complete with Epson colour printed door. I was experimenting with a funky theme but ended up painting it in flat black. I really do not like the matt black . Any suggestions ?

I scored a turn signal assembly and some various switches from a subaru that a friend was junking. To get the turn signal set up to work, the steering column had to be dropped a bit and i made a collar to fill the space . So now I've got turn signal on the left, hazard light switch and horn button on the right.

My 'Hoover bit"

Printer cover. Think I'll put fuses and relays behind here.

bparravicino · Post by **bparravicino** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 9:39 am

To get paint up inside of the tunnel , I took the sprayer nozzle off the HVLP gun and was surprised how far it went ! Sprayed from front and rear and it worked like a charm. I had a nut welded around the drain hole and will be bunging it with a bolt so that i can dump some oil in there when she gets on the road.
Taking a picture was a much better way to see inside of the tunnel also.
Guess I'll also put this up on the paint/bodywork forum also.

bparravicino · Post by **bparravicino** » Tue Aug 18, 2009 11:59 pm

Yes I am on the correct side.

The pics are not in the correct order but the body was fitted for the final time today.

bparravicino · Post by **bparravicino** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 12:04 am

Still lots to be done . Wiring comes next. I was told that all electrical components come with smoke that is put in at the factory and if you do'nt let the smoke out all will be OK. Is this true?

bparravicino · Post by **bparravicino** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 12:31 am

Here's my drop down fuse/relay panel. The plan for this project was to have no plan so from here I guess I'll just wing it.
The dimmer /indicator unit is from a Subaru that a friend was scrapping. With a few changes to the steering column and a lot of hours , it turned out pretty nice.

bparravicino · Post by **bparravicino** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 12:46 am

Fuse panel. "stashed".

Ol'fogasaurus · Post by **Ol'fogasaurus** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 5:22 am

Very interesting build. I do like your rims and the drop down fuse panel is not a bad idea. I may have to steal it if you don't mind.

Keep up the good work.

bparravicino · Post by **bparravicino** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 9:47 am

Thanks Lee.
The drop down panel idea is not my original , I'll be taking pics as I go along and let you know how it goes and what I'd do different next time.
While I'm at it, thanks to all of you regular and not so regular contributors at STF for a whole ton of knowledge ideas and inspiration.

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Buggy GP mk1 rebuild pics

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