VW Builld Meyers Manx Classic "Lady in Red"

This photo was taken in the 1st week of September 2016 before i went on Vacation to Vegas that I tackled the engine case... Yes its been a long 4 years in the making

So my total for this quieter exhaust system is $205.99

Here is the video of a Stacey White who has this same setup

Empi header with M2 muffler on my Dune Buggy EMPI 4 into 1 with a U-bend, 2" SS band clamp and an M2 Performance stainless muffler. This header is hard to seal. Right now it is leaking on the 4 exhaust...

The motor parts are all in and just waiting to get down to business and build the motor.. i think there is still one part we are waiting for so in the meantime i decided to work on the Exhaust system... you will love what i found...

Looking over the exhaust systems i thought of not using the standard exhausts most people use with actually are not good performers and not enough back pressure for the motor.. so it is best to go with a 4 into 1 collector.

This is what i had in there which is just about what you see everyone have.
So i decided on getting the Empi 3462 Comp Exhaust, 1-1/2" w/ U-Bend 2" OD Stinger in Chrome for $138.00
-Attach a 2" OD M2 Performance Stainless Steet Muffler and curved tip outlet on Ebay for $55.00 Free Shipping
- The 2 " chrome clamp is only $12.99 FREE SHIPPING
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Well today was the day to take it apart until it began to rain..
So here is what i was able to get done today...

I went to WalMart last night and bought a gallon of Rust Oleum Truck Bed Liner .. a whopping 124 oz for only $43.97 which is a deal since it sells on ebay for $118.00
-Time to remove the body off the pan so i can get to work on my buggy.

Pedal Cluster looks bad.. will need repair
-Right side front bulkhead area by Napoleon Hat
-Removed Side Pods first before attempting to lift body off pan
-Steering looks worse now

I sent my heads to be rebuilt at VWAS Shop in Miami and for $98.00 this is what i got back...
there was some damage to one of the spark plug threads so an insert was used to repair the spark plug hole.

Here is a Before and After shot then subsequent pics of the heads.

These Classic '82-'92 Trans AM wheels are up for sale and sold in less than a week on Ebay.. .. they are huge 16" x 8" and 10" wide.. sold on ebay for $400 plus shipping

Chrome Roll bar came off..
It was bolted to the body instead of the rear latitudinal frame for safety.
It's crazy but whoever put this buggy together was rushing or was just careless.. what a mess
-These hideous seats have to go and they are on sale on Facebook and soon here on the samba
-Very bad job at making seat rails.. or rather fixed stationary seat tracks .. no movement
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Engine Painting...
Here is an interesting read that will shed some light on what kind of paint to use on your block.

"The basic reason for painting your engine to begin with is to protect it from rust and corrosion. But since all paints serve as insulators to some degree, you want to pick a paint that, ideally, will help your engine run as cool as possible. "

VW - Engine Paint Engine Paint In the several years since it was posted my article on painting VW engines has probably produced more mail than any of the oth...

It's really sad when people just don't take care of a VW..
This buggy sat under a tree outside for almost 5 years....
Look at this steering wheel...
Years ago I bought a chrome steering shaft in hopes that i may use it and the time has come...Here is the chrome steering shaft
Lets mock it up with the stock '64 rusted steering column and tube

According to a friend he suggests to go with a stock cam instead

I have a good friend Marcelo that offered me this one .. smooth lobe

It was a mission to get the phenolic pieces that goes under the mechanical fuel pump.. it finally broke into small pieces that then required to split the
case..

Cam coming off and look what i find...Corrosion ate up the gear

More of the tearing down process.... I didnt think i was going to go this far.. but oh well more surprises
- Bearings are worn.. you can see the copper..
- The fuel pump thiggamajig dealie i could not get out so i used a flat punch.. it was stuck

Continue tearing apart the motor

Removed the oil pump...No wonder the motor wouldn't turn over.. water got in everywhere

Time to tear down the motor .. get ready for some graphic images.. not for the faint of heart.

Water in the intake ports of head. Some of the cylinders were so badly rusted that they only came out with the heads after some hitting with rugged rubber mallet

The windshield is off and so is the hood and now to remove the gas tank .. had to siphon water that was in the tank...

Removing the windshield.. What a mess... under it all...wow !

I have the complete build of my dune buggy on the samba... if allowed i will share the link:

TheSamba.com :: Kit Car/Fiberglass Buggy/356 Replica - View topic - Manx Dune Buggy Build (Ms. Lady in Red) Classified ads, photos, shows, links, forums, and technical information for the Volkswagen automobile

Thanks for liking my page.. I will post new pics of the build soon

Thanks to everyone who has visited this page and subscribed to it. I have been busy but i will upload new content in the ongoing saga of restoring a Dune Buggy...

Post # 6
I got back from Colombia last week on the 14th, There is nothing better than sleeping on your own bed and it takes me 3 days to recover from a trip only to come down with my first cold in 5 years but here we are conitinuing with the restoration saga of getting this buggy built.. so here some more pics.

I am on vacation til May 14th.. i will post updates sometime after that.

Post #5

It's really sad when people just don't take care of a VW..
This buggy sat under a tree outside for almost 7 years....
Look at this steering column and the amount of rust everywhere...

Post #4

This drawing and the other information in Bruce Meyers assembly instructions will provide good information on how your buggy should have been assembled. It appears the original builder had his own ideas.

Details like how the gas tank should be secured. How the windshield frame, dash/hood/ and body should be secured together in a unit(you have the new fiberglass dash which follows the instructions above. You also use the new H cross section rubber strip under the dash (not the L aluminum angle and flat rubber strip). How the hood should be attached. The brackets to attach the body to the chassis. The secure mounting of the steering column. All these as well as the chassis and engine mechanicals, make the difference between a safe and reliable buggy or something that really shouldn't be driven on the street.

Post #3

July 23rd, 2016
Time to remove the gas tank.. the guy who built this dune buggy used a plumbing contraption hardware as you can see by the pic.. it didn't seal well and was not even centered properly as you can tell by the Yellow tape i used as a center guide... in some future posts you will see the nightmare of water I removed from the gas tank...

Post #2

July 22, 2016
It was filthy .. i will post a prelim pic.. but in this pic i had already brushed some debris.. there was a puddle of water and mosquitoes , ants, dead roaches and sludge and look what i found in the intake ports.. The CAM gear was just disintegrating from the corrosion..The Cylinder jugs were rusted.. no wonder we couldn't get the motor to turn over. this motor will need a complete rebuild

Post #1

I just bought my first Dune Buggy July 7th, 2016.

I drive Uber part time on Sundays only to make some extra money for my project bus and when i was dropping off an Uber Rider passenger I just happened to have glanced over the parking lot area of a condominium complex and seen what looked to be a buggy under some tree partially covered in a brown tarp.

I wasn't going to do anything because i was working on getting another Uber Rider then since nothing was coming into the Uber App i decided to knock on some doors and was led to a woman who had owned it for about 8 years and she told me that it had been sitting there under the tree for about 4 1/2 years and she said: "It Ran when parked" I hate when people say that... LOL

I told her that i had worked on one with a friend when I was 17 and always wanted to own one. She said if i hadn't come along it would probably sit another couple of years.

What i thought would be an easy flip turnaround and make some money to fund my '67 Split Window Bus project turned out to be an All out Full Restoration. Gail said the guy she bought it from said it was a Meyers Manx.. at the time i didnt know what to look out for and then I was able to track down the guy who built and he said that he left 4 holes where the ID tag was and for me just to recertify it with Meyers Manx. I asked him for the registry number or the actual tag itself and he said he could not furnish that to me because it held sentimental value to him since it was built for his dad that passed on. He did however send me a blurred image of the tag on the red body.. oh well i guess some thing is better than nothing.

I paid $1,800.00 for "Lady in Red"