Buggy Champ facelift

[markbt73]

This started out as a Gold Edition, which I didn't like at all, so I painted candy purple over the gold and slapped the decal stripes over it and called it good. But I always wanted to do something more interesting with it, so last week I started stripping decals and paint off the body, still not sure what I was going to do.

Yesterday I figured it out: simple is best.

I was going for a sort of a '60s F1 racer look, and I think it turned out pretty well. It reminds me of some old Aurora slot cars I had when I was a kid.

Needs an exhaust or something on the back end... looks too plain.

And BTW, I apologize for the blurriness of the photos; apparently I got a raindrop on the camera lens and didn't notice. Don't worry; camera's waterproof.

[taliesin]

Nice looking Champ. Simple looks good and you're right it does have a nice period feel to it.

[pastimesteve]

That looks great Mark. I love classic, simple paint schemes. This is first rate all the way! Do you run this much?

Steve

[Percymon]

Simple designs are often the best - lovely combination there

[markbt73]

Thanks for the compliments guys. I ran it fairly regularly when it was purple, but now my FAV has sort of taken over running duties, so this one will likely stay shiny for a while.

I was just looking at images of VW engines on Google; I think I'll try to squeeze in an exhaust, and maybe some other minor engine details like fan & belt shrouds. I don't like stinger tails, so it will probably get twin pipes coming out alongside the rear cage.

And I was thinking about the wheels earlier too - paint the rims bright silver and leave the middles gray, maybe? Sort of like old Halibrands or Torq-Thrusts?

[bromvw]

Thanks for the compliments guys. I ran it fairly regularly when it was purple, but now my FAV has sort of taken over running duties, so this one will likely stay shiny for a while.

I was just looking at images of VW engines on Google; I think I'll try to squeeze in an exhaust, and maybe some other minor engine details like fan & belt shrouds. I don't like stinger tails, so it will probably get twin pipes coming out alongside the rear cage.

And I was thinking about the wheels earlier too - paint the rims bright silver and leave the middles gray, maybe? Sort of like old Halibrands or Torq-Thrusts?

mark if you can afford it some alloy engines keep poping up on flea bay , very scale and very sweet looking . Just DONT go out bidding me lol

[Skottoman]

That is awesome. Reminds me of a Pinewood Derby car I used to run in cub scouts back in the 70's!!!!!

NICE!

[markbt73]

mark if you can afford it some alloy engines keep poping up on flea bay , very scale and very sweet looking . Just DONT go out bidding me lol

They're all yours. I seem to have caught styrene fever again:

That is awesome. Reminds me of a Pinewood Derby car I used to run in cub scouts back in the 70's!!!!!

NICE!

Thanks! Come to think of it, I think I had a Pinewood Derby car in similar colors, too. Maybe that's where the idea came from, out of the murky depths of my memory.

[markbt73]

Don't you just hate it when you spend an afternoon making a dummy styrene engine, and then find out the %*^$#!! thing is too big?

Well, there's only one thing for it...

There we go.

Now we're talking.

Just sprayed it silver; tomorrow when it's dry I'll install it & start adding details.

[Skottoman]

What a great idea. I've seen the expensive alloy ones on ebay, but never thought to make one out of Styrene!!! Nice job.

This is gonna be a very sweet, classic pinewood derby buggy champ!

Cheers,

Skottoman

[markbt73]

Well, you know the old carpenter's adage, "measure twice, cut once"? Yeah. Instead of that, I did "measure not at all, make fake engine once, cut almost half of it away." And although I trimmed it so it fits neatly within the cage, the distributor doesn't clear the back edge of the body. And I'm not willing to hack up the body to make the engine fit. So I'm going to set this engine aside and save it for that Sand Scorcher I still want to buy eventually... and try something else for this beast.

Edit: Forget it, I'm too far into this thing to quit on it now...

[markbt73]

Okay. Finished for now, save for a little paint touch-up:

Eagle-eyed VW enthusiasts will notice that it's a single-port engine. I know any high-performance dune buggy worth its salt should have dual-port heads and dual carbs, but it was hard enough to squeeze everything in, and I really wanted to have one big air cleaner in the middle. So, it is what it is.

For the curious, exhaust pipes are 1/8" solid aluminum rod (easier to bend without kinking than tube) with styrene tips. Air cleaner is a styrene tube, with a piece from an old metal speaker grille wrapped around it, and a couple wooden discs from a craft store. Intake pipes are actually 12 gauge electrical wire. I was going to do the exhaust this way too, but the wire wouldn't hold its shape with only one end supported.

Car is staying on the shelf for the time being. I spent 20 hours over the last three days making this engine, and it's fragile.

[ideal2k]

I'm not too fussed about the single port, dual port, however I notice there is no fan housing.

Obviously an aircooled engine would not last very long without the fan

The oil cooler is usually housed inside the fan housing as well.

That's mine, half-completed.

[markbt73]

I'm not too fussed about the single port, dual port, however I notice there is no fan housing.

Obviously an aircooled engine would not last very long without the fan

The oil cooler is usually housed inside the fan housing as well.

That's mine, half-completed.

I cut out a fan housing, but I couldn't work it in. Maybe I'll try again. You're right; it is conspicuously absent.

[nosthevamp]

I wouldn't have thought you'd need the fan housing in a buggy with the cylinders stuck out in the air. But them you would need to remove the shrouds from the heads leaving the finning open to the air like a motorbike engine.

[ideal2k]

I wouldn't have thought you'd need the fan housing in a buggy with the cylinders stuck out in the air. But them you would need to remove the shrouds from the heads leaving the finning open to the air like a motorbike engine.

Hehe, simply - no, that won't work

The fan housing blows air down over the cylinders at quite a strong rate, and the shroud covers help duct the air where it should go. I've got extra ones on the bottom of the cylinders as well, to add that extra bit of air time when it's blowing through.

Without the fan housing you'd be in trouble quite quick.

Those with special needs go for the Porsche style cooler, which blows even more air:

As for you theory of removing the shrouds, that's not really wise as you'd then be reducing the time the airflow goes through the fins.

Without the fan or shrouds, the simple passive cooling of surface/air would not be sufficient for more than a few minutes of running.

[oz-trash-cowboy]

2K, where are you hiding the intercooler??