In the summer of 1997, there was a boy (let's call this boy Kris for the purpose of err..importance)
But in the summer of 1997, this boy kris, his father (we'll call him Kent) found a classified ad in the tradin times for a "free dune buggy" that read something like this:
To good home only, nds TLC
Phone #, Address
So Kris immediately threatened bad things, lest Kent not surrender the newspaper. Kent surrendered it, fearing for his life. Kris used the information in the ad to dial a telephone, and left a message to call him back on an answering machine. The next day, sometime in the evening, a woman called back to give some information about the car. The dune buggy was not running, and needed a lot of TLC (Tender Loving Care) on the engine, interior, exterior, and electrical systems (Yep, everything...). This kind woman offered directions to her house, which Kent took, because at the time, Kris was unable to drive. The following Saturday, Kris, Kent, and Dave (Kris's Grandfather) went out in Kent's old chevy truck, with gooseneck trailer close behind. They went to the home of the woman, and found out more history on the car. The Dunebuggy (that was destined to become the greenbuggy) was originally a 1959 VW Bug and had been modified and shortened sometime between 1960 and 1975. Her son had acquired it around 1982-83 (when it was yellow) and had driven it around until some engine difficulty around 1986. The dunebuggy was put into this woman's driveway by her son, and later put behind the house so it wasn't such an eyesore to the passing traffic. The car was inspected and after a not-so-lengthy conference between Kris, Kent and Dave, it was decided that it could be taken home and after a while turned into a nice ride for Kris when he was older. The car was physically pushed by Kent, Dave, Kris, Brian (the son of the kind woman, who originally owned the car) and the woman's husband. The car was pushed around halfway, by a fence that was taken down, so that Kent could hook a towing chain between the old Chevy and the dunebuggy. Kent started the old chevy, and it puttered out. With some ether, the old chevy roared back to life, and the dunebuggy was pulled from behind the house, uphill to the road, where the chain was unhooked, and Kent and Dave pushed the dunebuggy while Kris steered so that the dunebuggy could be put on ramps, and was pushed up onto the fifth wheel trailer. The old chevy and trailer were driven for several miles, to a local McDonalds, where food could be gotten, the tiedowns were checked over, and from thence, Chapter 2 Begins.
After being driven home, the dunebuggy was left on the trailer, which was temporarily parked in front of the barn, where the sheep could admire the incredible ugliness of the dunebuggy.
The dunebuggy was a mess. A horrible mess. The dunebuggy had a canvas & vinyl top, which had been unbuttoned from the body and left in the front passenger seat, where it rotted and would need to be replacing. The interior had been exposed to the elements for the past ten years, which meant that the original VW seats had rotted beyond repair. Any carpeting that had been in the car had also rotted, and was thrown away. The yellow paint was cracked, peeling, scraped off or chipped, depending on which portion of the body you happened to look at, and exposed the red base. There were also several large cracks in the fiberglass in the front kick panel, the battery pan and around the perimeter of the chassis. Both of the pan halves were rusted through, barely holding in the seats, and there was rust everywhere. The engine didn't have an air cleaner on, so it was completely seized. All glass, except for the front windshield, was broken or missing, and the windshield had yellow paint on it from overspray, apparently from the last paint job. The gas tank had long ago rusted through, and was removed.
After assesing the damage, Kris realized that there was much to be done. While still on the trailer, the engine was removed, as was the seats, a bunch of bolts, some wires, and an unholy amount of dirt and grease. The engine was stashed in the garage, where it was torn apart as far as it could be torn apart (as the jugs were rusted to the pistons and the crank was seized). The wiring was removed and stored for later examination, although preliminary assessments showed that several sections were torched, and that it lacked a fusebox (which is probably why several sections torched). The seats were thrown behind the house, along with other junk that has to this day not been disposed of.
Once down off the trailer, the dunebuggy was pushed behind the house, to a relatively clear area, where it was put up on blocks and brakes, suspension, transmission, body, and everything else was removed. The body was stored near the bare chassis, held down by the tires removed beforehand.
The parts removed from the chassis, with the exception of the body, were sandblasted and repainted or replaced, and slowly grew a stockpile of parts in the garage, much to the annoyance of Kent, who, to this day, is convinced that even though it is the family's mess, it is his, and only his, garage. He is, of course, wrong.
While discussing the resto of the greenbuggy at one of the many Twin Cities Robotics Group meetings that Kris attends, a friend, Jeff Sampson brought up that he had a spare VW engine in his garage. He said that because he did not need it, he would not mind if Kris took it off his hands. Two months later, Jeff pulled up by the Science Museum Of Minnesota in his station wagon and Jeff, Kent, and Kris moved the engine to Kents caravan, from where the engine went home. A few phone calls later, it was arranged that the engine would go to a machine shop in watertown to have a steam cleaning and a valve job. After the machine shop, all parts were brought home and assessed. The case (a 1962 1600) looks good, and kris plans on rebuilding the low end (Cam, Crank, rods, lifters, bearings) indoors in the winter of 2003. The low end will entail new bearings, a counterweighted crank, more aggressive cam and new bolts. The new jugs will be larger 94MM Bore (requiring machine work) and bring the displacement to over 1900 CC. The single port heads will be traded in or sold to pay for part of a set of mofoco dual port high-flow heads with oversize valves, and equipped with race springs, new engine studs, roller lifters and other various parts.
While talking with one of Kents friends, Chuck, Kris found a source of (FREE!) parts. Chuck took Kris back into the field for a tour of the back 40. Chucks brother had carelessly left the carcass of a 1963 VW Bug chassis sitting in his field, and had long ago stopped caring about converting it to a dune buggy. With the help of chuck and his trusty bobcat, the donor car (as it came to be called) was loaded into the back of the old chevy and transported home, where it was placed near the other parts of the dunebuggy. Many parts were removed during this time, including the entire front end and various nuts/bolts.
After a great length of time, the stockpile of parts that had been replaced or repainted and were to be used again grew to the point where there was little left to repaint. It was at this time that Dave P., The body shop man, came to estimate. He said that he could sandblast the chassis, and repaint the body. Dave P. boasted that he could also repair the damaged portions of the fiberglass. Dave was also interested in the donor car, and so a trade was decided. What remained of the donor car would be traded for credit on the body and chassis work. So the old chevy was again loaded up with two VW chassis, and they were driven over to the body shop, where work ensued. A week later Dave P. calls to say that the chassis is done, and we drive over and load it into the old chevy (again) and pay the body shop for the work that had been done.
Once home, the chassis was touched up with a wirebrush head on a grinder, and the new pan sections were shortened and welded in. After the welds were cleaned up the chassis came out of the garage, and was painted over the next week.
After all the paint had dried parts began to be mounted to the dunebuggy. A brake here, a cable there, a few bolts everywhere. The dunebuggy, although still up on blocks, began to resemble the beginning of a car...sorta.
When work was progressing on the pan, the old chevy was loaded up with the body, which was still in a state of great ugliness. The body was transported to the body shop, where, two weeks later, it emerged with a nice new coat of Dupont Green Spectrum #228 gloss green paint. This was put on top of the chassis, with blocks in between (to keep the body from being scratched), and was put up on stands in the fall of 2000. Here it rested, until spring 2001, where it was taken out of the garage again, work continued.
Kris has been working on the dunebuggy in his spare time, and has been annoyed by the great wonderings of others wanting to know when it will be done. The answer: When it is done. Currently Dave P. (Foremost Body Shop, Delano) or Bill (Dune buggy Supply, Hopkins MN) is getting parts for the dunebuggy, whenever kris feels the urge to work on it. The body is sitting (unattached) in the barn until the chassis is rolling, and the pan is up on blocks (actually woodworking horses) for easier access. Both front brakes are done, rears are partially done, hydraulics are mostly done and the front tie rods/pitman arm need to be installed so the front suspension will be complete. Before winter 2002, Kris hopes to have the chassis done except for rims and tires, which will be purchased the following spring, and plans continue to rebuild the engine when it gets too cold to work on the rest of the car. What Kris wouldn't give for a heated garage.....