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Page 1: Brush Buggy, Build an Exciting

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Build an exciting brush buggyB y DAVE B E N N E T T a n d GLEN H O S T E T T L E R

The trailblazing little brother of the well-known dune buggy will take hills, streams and culvertsin stride-yet it's easy to make from standard VW components

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No need to worry about becoming stranded in thebush when you've got a gung-ho brush buggy be-neath you. As these photos show, the spunky littlevehicle proves to be at home in the water, on rockyground, and even in the air. Needless to say, strongseat belts and the sturdy roll bar are basicnecessities for wild maneuvers that, while thrilling,are not for novice drivers. You can have the brushbuggy for about $400

• HEARD ABOUT the new recipe for fun? It goeslike this: Take one sedate German sedan (Volks-wagen) ; add an eager hobbyist with cutting torchand arc welder; blend in Yankee ingenuity, andbefore too long, you have a brush buggy—82inches of four-wheel excitement.

Although related to the much-modified andoften exotic dune buggy, the brush buggy is pow-ered by a stock Volkswagen engine—and is con-structed almost entirely from standard VW com-ponents. Much to the surprise of conventionalfour-wheel-drive vehicle owners, a brush buggywill, in many cases, outperform conventionalmachines designed for rough-country use.

The secret of the starting performance of abrush buggy is its light weight—most of whichis located over the rear axle. Coupled with thelack of a normal transmission and drive train thathangs down to snag rocks, and their short butwide stature, brush buggies become capable ofclimbing hills, creeping over rocks and fordingstreams which would leave four-wheel-drive jock-eys stranded—or at least winching themselvesout.

Pricewise, brush buggies are well within thereach of most outdoorsmen. With an arc welderand acetylene torch at your disposal, you canbuild a buggy for less than $400. This estimate

depends, of course, on the initial price paid for aVolkswagen. If the work is to be done at a ma-chine shop, add another $250 to your originalinvestment for the VW.

building preparationsAll electrical wiring between the body and

engine must be tagged and disconnected. Thenundo the gas lines and remove the body-to-framebolts. Gearshift, clutch, brake pedal and accelera-tor assemblies are disconnected next, followedby the steering column (unbolt it at the steeringbox knuckle). The body can now be lifted offwith a chain hoist.

With the body clear of the frame (a full-lengthbelly pan serves as the frame for a VW), theengine should be removed—this will make thelater operations of cutting and aligning the framemuch easier.

sectioningBefore removing the 10-in. section from the

belly pan or frame, mark the rear cut where thetransmission tube first begins to narrow at theforward side of the torsion tubes. Then mark offthe next 10 in. Before beginning the cuts, how-ever, the shift control rod (running from the gearshift lever through the tunnel to the transmission)

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Section to be removed is 10 in. long, measured from front of torsion tubes to forward end of vehicle

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Page 4: Brush Buggy, Build an Exciting

When making cuts to remove 10-in. section, be care-ful that control cables in tunnel aren't damaged

Installing roll bar is a two-man job. When level, thebar must be securely welded to the torsion tubes

Cowling braces are lengths of electrical conduitbent as detailed in drawings. Then template is fitted

No longer a sedate sedan, brush buggy with shortwheelbase is ready to take to the hills and trails

Fuel tank from VW truck or bus fits snugly betweenlegs of roll bar. Filler spout is moved to center

must be unbolted at the transmission and workedthrough the front of the tunnel. With both sec-tions of the belly pan securely blocked or jackedup, make the cuts, taking care not to damage theclutch, throttle and emergency brake control rodswithin the tunnel. With the section removed,undo the emergency brake bracket in the tunnel(just inside the section above the cut).

The tunnel behind the rear cut is then splitback about 3 in. on all four sides to allow the

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brush buggy, continued

front section to slide into the rear when joined.Using a chain "come-along," the sections arematched up and overlapped 2 in. The rear sec-tions should also be split at the forward cornersand peened to the contour of the front panel.

Before beginning the main welds, carefullycheck alignment between sections. Horizontalalignment is checked by measuring both sidesfrom the rear torsion tubes to the end of theforward section. Vertical alignment is measuredfrom the floor upward to the joint of the sections.

Make the top welds, turn the vehicle on itsside and run a bottom weld across the seam forstrength. Finally, the section of tunnel which wasearlier removed must be trimmed, spread andwelded in place over the new tunnel joint.

roll bar and strongbackThe roll bar is made of 1-3/4in., thick-wall air-

craft tubing, leveled and welded in place atopthe rear torsion tubes. (The roll bar should bepre-bent to the required size at a muffler or ex-haust specialty shop.) The strongback, one ofthe most important items in a buggy if it is towithstand rough usage, is a 1/4-in.-thick, 6-in.-high steel plate cut to fit between the two uprightarms of the roll bar. The center section of thestrongback must be notched to clear the trans-mission housing. The strongback is welded to thetorsion bars and roll bar.

gearshiftWork the gearshift control rod back into the

tunnel and slip it into the transmission coupling.Then mark it for the proper length (use the holeatop the tunnel where the gearshift assembly boltson). Again remove the rod, cut it where markedand then weld, taking care that the two sectionsare correctly aligned. Precision here is necessary,for both the twisting and the back and forth mo-tions of the rod govern gear selection. Finally,the control rod is installed and bolted to thetransmission, and the shift lever is screwed inplace.

cowling and steeringAngle-iron braces are cut to fit along the front

of the belly pan and are bolted in place to serveas a tie-in for the tubular cowling braces.

For steering, the original Volkswagen columnand wheel are retained in the buggy. After in-stalling a seat (the stock seat guides should stillbe in place) the steering column can be lined

up with the seat and steering knuckle and weldedto the cowling brace. A hole is later cut in thefront of the cowling for the column.

The simplest and surest method of making thecowling is to first cut a cardboard template ac-cording to the provided measurements. Check thefit of the template and then cut the metal fromthe trimmed template. Working from the centeroutward, the cowling is spotted with small weldsto the bracing. If the metal begins to warp, coverthe main area of the cowling with wet cloths todissipate the heat. After grinding the welds usefiberglass or auto-body lead to fill in the joint.With the cowling installed, a small metal instru-ment panel can be suspended from the cowlingbraces over the gearshift—this panel need onlycontain the essentials such as starter switch, lightswitch (if lights are fitted) and oil-pressuregauge.

control rodsThe disconnected control rods (clutch, throttle

and emergency brake) should protrude throughthe rear of the tunnel. They must be cut to theproper lengths and hooked up to the appropriateconnections. The rear hydraulic brake line, whichmust also be shortened, can be re-installed at thistime.

battery box and carrierThe battery supporting frame is welded in

place behind the right rear torsion tube. The topof the battery should extend no higher than theengine itself when re-installed.

The framework for a carryall box or basket isbuilt from l-1/2-in. angle iron and is welded tothe roll bar and roll-bar braces. Then, plywoodsides and bottom are bolted in place.

fuel tanksFor maximum range, a 10-gallon fuel tank

from a VW truck or bus is utilized. The fill spoutshould be moved to the center of the tank, so itwill fit between the driver and passenger seats.

optional equipmentA Volkswagen truck reduction box on the end

of the standard VW rear axle housing will givethe buggy an additional 3-3/4in. of ground clear-ance, and will lower overall gearing to 1.4 to 1.Because the reduction boxes are often difficult tocome by, many builders install them afterwards,since it involves no major redesign of the partsbut merely a slight modification to fit the con-ventional axle housing.

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