Body - Front Suspension - Rear Suspension - Brakes - Wheels - Steering - Transmission - Engine - Electrics -
These pages are intended to describe all the components of the buggy and why I have chosen to do them the way I have. I'll write them as I go along, although I may have to modify bits as I change my mind and make 'cock-ups' along the way. I hope to write the stuff on these pages as a means of clarifying my thoughts before I actually go out and spend my hard earned cash on each component, so it will mostly be written in the future tense, although by the time you read it, it may well have already happened.
Use the menu at the top of the page to select the relevant design area.
In order to ensure that I don't disappear up my own arse-hole whilst designing my buggy by spending the next 'n' years (where 'n' tends to infinity!) researching the 'best' choice of suspension, gearbox, engine, etc, and not actually doing any building, I will design and build the buggy in phases, as follows:
Phase 1 - 'JFDI'
The primary objective of this phase will be to get the basic buggy up and running and road legal as quickly as possible. During this phase I will use as many standard VW components as posible, including suspension, steering, gearbox, 1600 engine, etc and will only add the components required to get it through the MOT/SVA test.
Phase 2 - 'Finish it'
This phase will entail adding all of the additional components required to actually finish the buggy off and will include things like the front and rear cages and skid plates, side and overhead lugage carriers, wet weather gear, additional fuel tanks, etc.
Phase 3 - 'Radicalise it'
This phase will mainly entail suspension modifications to increase the track, ground clearance and suspension travel of the buggy along with strengthening it to improve its off-road performance and durability.
Phase 4 - 'Soup it up'
This phase will entail improving the performance and durability of the engine and gearbox by upgrading the engine to about 2 Litres (still an aircooled VW flat four) coupled to a strengthened close ratio gearbox.
Phase 5 - 'Who knows?'
Like it says, I've got no idea what may come next!
In the individual design area pages linked at the top of the page, it can be asumed that, unless explicitly stated otherwise, everything described therein refers to design 'Phase 1', as defined above.
WARNING: I am not an expert on cars, automotive engineering, VW Beetles, beach buggies or anything else discussed in these pages. What I have written is my current understanding of the issues involved in building MY buggy. These opinions are based only on my own research in books and on the web. They, therefore, have no basis in fact, may well be wrong and potentially downright dangerous if taken to be gospel truth. If you intend to use any of this information for any purpose other than pure entertainment, then please get its validity confirmed by someone who knows what they're talking about! You have been warned...