My Meyers Tow'd

[Vealmonkey]

After talking to several board members and a couple requests, I'm posting pics of my Meyers Tow'd. Bruce Meyers is considered the Grandfather of fiberglass dune buggies. The Tow'd was his second major design. It was made to tow behind a camper and they were origianlly off'-road only. Customers later prompted Bruce to make parts to make the Tow'd street legal and those cars were technically called "Tow'dsters". My Tow'd was off roac only and never registered. I need to get a Bug rear pan section with a title so I can swap the sections out and try and register my Tow'd. Tow'ds were only made for 2 1/2 years and a rough estimate of between 600 and 800 were made. The early Tow'd tubs were made from ABS plastic that had the color already mixed in. Brake fluid and brittleness prompted Bruce to change to fiberglass bodies. My body is ABS, but in pretty sad shape, as in unsavable. Production started in Oct of 68 and my body is made in Dec of
68. My body is "217" and nobody is sure if it is the 217th body made or the 17th body made in the second month of production? My body was originally orange which you can see below the Metal flake blue paint. I'll be posting pics as I make the car roadworth, or that's the intention anyway. I bought the car about 3 or 4 years ago and only mess with it in spurts. Lots of projects as everyone knows. LOL Here are the pics as I bought it.

[Vealmonkey]

When I bought the car, it barley ran, was abused and I was told there was no reverse in the swingaxle transmission. Mission number one was getting it running. I bought alot of new engine bits and new carb and intake and exhaust and of course tune up parts and oil change and new fuel pump and all that. It pretty much put the engine to this point. Now I could get the engine running, but it wouldn't stay running. I found out the rust from the fuel tank was clogging up the fuel lines. I bought several disposable fuel filters and found that they clogged up even faster! LOL So now a dilemma. I just so happened on a Dune Buggy forum I post on, several people were running into this same problem. The original fuel tanks were made from well pipe casing and they were beginning to have problems. So a membe with a hot rod shop or at least a friend that worked in a hot rod shopt commissioned him to build an aluminum tank to the original specs. Well, the gentleman made a "jig" and had the ability to make more copies so 10 or 12 tanks we built from aluminum and you could even get a fuel lever indicator in it, so that was what I bought. I will get a pic of the aluminum tank and get that posted.up here shortly. If you notice in the pictues, the engine seems a little weather beaten and the distributor is missing. The car sits outside under a tarp and my buddy "borrowed" the dist to try and get his buggy running and he hasn't returned it yet. LOL

[Vealmonkey]

Here are pics of my custom made fuel tank. These tanks were made only to fit the Tow'd. Notice the fuel sender.

[Vealmonkey]

Another one of the problems I had to deal with is the car is required to have an emergency brake handle. These kits originally came with a emergency brake cable actuated turning brake instead of an emergency brake proper. So I bought, and modified to work, a mount for an emergency brake handle. I also had to shorten the emergency brake handle itself,
2 1/2 inches so it would clear the shifter as it's pretty tight inside the buggy. 2 emergency brake handles later...success. A Tig welder and a person that knows how to use one beats an inexperienced but enthusiastic person on a stick welder. LOL So another major hurdle down. Now it just needs bead blasted and powdercoated. Now the next big push is to finish getting my 68 rear section switched out with what is in the Buggy now.

[edog]

Cool buggy!!!!!

What kind of engine is that?

[SYKO]

Cool buggy!!!!!

What kind of engine is that?


its a 327.... :lol:

[Thorpe]

its a 327.... :lol:

Oh yeah... The opposed SBC... Those are rare! :rolleyes:

[wheelie king]

Oh yeah... The opposed SBC... Those are rare! :rolleyes:

1600 cc dual port VW engine.

Bad little sucker with endless mod possibilities and makes good power with very little weight.

[Vealmonkey]

The engine has a larger displacement than stock and a bigger cam. I think I was told 1776, but I really don't know as I don't know the stroke and bore. I've never really had the engine running for long because of the rusty fuel tank. And you have to remove the body to get to where the tank is, so that is why I'm doing that and replacing the rear pan section with the titled IRS section. Also the IRS gives a much better quality of ride on the road and the wheels stay in better contact with varying road condition than the swingaxle trans does, even though people prefer the swingaxle trans for racing and such. A board member will be coming over Saturday to give me a hand with the buggy and maybe a couple other projects so there should be some more progress tomorrow. Also we will reassemble his 110 top end.

[Zach]

that thing is awesome!

[MonroeMike]

Very cool machine, nice project.

[dcreel]

My dad has an original manx sitting in his barn. His has a 1500 motor in it, and gets along quite nicely. Or did when it was running. You definitely have a lot of amazing stuff vealmonkey. I can't wait for more pictures.

[Bryan Raffa]

you and MIK6 would be like brothers .... hahah who makes them rear tires..

[phreakboy]

Very cool, I have always wanted to find a tow'd but they are pretty hard to come across. I will be tuned in for any updates for sure.

[Vealmonkey]

They are some kind of tractor rear tires I believe. The rear wheels are modded original vw rims. Those rear tires had managed to rub 2 nasty areas on the original body also adding to the not being able to repair it factor.

[Vealmonkey]

There are a couple tow'ds around for sale. I know of one in NY that is really cherry and has all the fenders and engine cover and even convertible top with side windows, but it is priced at $14,000. It's been for sale for a while now and the owner might take a lower cash offer. It's totally turnkey.

[Bryan Raffa]

:drool: :drool: :drool:

[jason85atc250r]

They are some kind of tractor rear tires I believe. The rear wheels are modded original vw rims. Those rear tires had managed to rub 2 nasty areas on the original body also adding to the not being able to repair it factor.

Vealmonkey those rear tires are actually old street legal ones for a 4x4 truck/ jeep. They have not been made since the 70's or maybe real early 80's

[Vealmonkey]

Raffa, that first pic reminds me of my old Tuff Tub. Built on a full size pan. Started off with a 1200 and later changed out with a 1641. That thing shook, rattled and rolled, but was a blast. And it was fun to put 4 or 5 or even 6 people in it and cruise around. It always attracted attention everywhere and occasionally with the police!!! LOL It was my daily driver when I lived in Florida for 1 1/2 years or so. Faded metal flake brown. A friend of mine called it the "Turd"! LOL He even put a decal on it proclaiming it as such, and I didn't notice it the day he put it on and I drove around all day with people honking thier horns and waving. LOL
Jason, so you mean someone may actually want the tires? Wow. I guess people say that when we pick up those crappy trike projects! LOL

[jason85atc250r]

vealmonkey. they were real popular tires back in the day pre Super Swampers. they worked really good off roading. for you a set of 31" tires like BFG all terrrians would be cool

the front tires were used alot also for mild offroading. they sold them in alot of bigger sizes

[Vealmonkey]

I remember the fronts being sold at places like western auto. They were popular tires out west for baja and such. I didn't know about the rears. This Tow'd will be street only and I have a set of vw slot mags, no more off road tires or off roading.

[bandito90]

Pat you should drop it down with and adjustable front beam or spindles and adjust I forget what it's called the"swing arm"? In the rear.Also some nice disk brakes and a type 4 motor with an upright fan shroud would make a nice street buggy!:)

[Vealmonkey]

I sure do want to go disc brakes all around. Not sure about dropping the front yet. Until I get it sitting on more stock sized tires all around, I'm not sure how it sits. I do have 4 bolt vw pattern aluminum slots for it in 15" though that I want on there. I was thinking a tweaked 1776 being as it doesn't weigh a whole lot and a super street freeway flyer transmission with all the heavy duty internals and side cover and such.

[Vealmonkey]

Major progress today. 86trizinger, Chris, came over today and we finished trimming down the rear pan section to fit in the Tow'd. We removed the engine and then the old rear pan section and swingaxle trans and tires as one assembly, it is only held on 8 bolts and 2 large U-bolts. We then placed the new pan section in place and bolted it back together. We then put stock wheels back on. The tow'd looks totally different now. Thank you Chris.

[bandito90]

Pat what about a Gene Berg 5 speed?I always thought the 1835cc was a torque motor .But 1775 is a good set up if I remember correctly.Also if anything get rid of the points set up in the ignition.My bug burned the points out while listening to the radio while not driving.LoL

[Vealmonkey]

The points should be fine, no radio! LOL Heck, the seats don't even move back and forth! No real seats per say, just seat cushions over the designated areas. If I remember the Gene Berg 5 speeds right, they are not overdrive transmissions, but close ratio transmissions. But I could be wrong. If you see how much this buggy doesn't have and how small and tight and compact it is, you would be amazed. When 2 people sit in the car at the same time, you pretty much rub shoulders. They were originally designed to provide the bare minimums you needed to go off roading and to be towed
(Tow'd) behind a camper. It has a built in tow bar and is very light. Shorter than an 80" pan standard dunebuggy. It is quite primitive even by dunebuggy standards! LOL

[bandito90]

Well that is small.Quite the death machine.I'm not sure on the Berg 5spd's any more either.I've not used my VW knowledge in quit awhile.

[RoscoW]

Fun projects to work on, I did an old bugpack chassis that floated around the city as an offroad buggy for years. stripped , painted , made street legal up here and drove it for a couple months till insurance got the appraisal and said no way. Really sucked as it was a lot of fun in the summer.

[RoscoW]

I'll add a few more pics, I kept a rear torsion that I ran across just in case I decide to do another buggy,

Ross..

[HondaHarry]

berg 5 speeds are close ratio. 5th is the same as 4th in a stock trans.
Nothing wrong with a 1776. If you wanna make that towd scream, I can point you in the right direction. hehe (My 1776 has about 170hp) good for 14 flat at 96 mph in a 2200 lb Beetle on radials and stock ratio trans. (pump gas, street driven, 8800 rpm shifts)
A set of 44mm Webers/Portwork and a 4 into 1 header and it would wake it up so much it would probably scare you. (can you say wheelie monster!?!) HM

[Vealmonkey]

I've been looking into solid engine mounts and a wheelie bar. I know it's light in the front already. That does sound like a healthy 1776 though. Everyone on here knows I'm not too much for stock. Harry, you need to post some pics of that engine please. Right now is sort of a push just to get it running under it's own power again and maybe even to move on it own! I would like to make it to Bug Out next year even if it's ugly. That would be a really big deal for me. I know it will be alot to get it together and then tear it apart again, but there were so many problems with this poor thing that it wasn't funny. But I've always wanted one and had to take what I can get and try and make the most of it. The buggys are different from regular bugs and you wouldn't think that they were so different, but like the older atc90, everything has to be modified to be made to work. It has been a challenge but I've made more progress in the last 2 weeks than I have in the last year. I want to try and keep the momentum going while I can.

[plastikosmd]

rears look like the typical powermax tractor tires on allis/simplicity machines.
like this one
http://www.tractorshed.com/contents/tpic32670.htm

or here..pullin a jet out..
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j5/plastikosmd/towing_hitch_small.jpg

[Vealmonkey]

Went down to the bug shop today and picked up some bits and pieces. Hope to have some more work done to the Tow'd and more pics by the weekend. Rain in the forecast for the next 4 out of 5 days.

[Chris1984]

Just found this thread and wanted to know how it's going with the tow'd? I have a towdster in my shop with a corvair engine and transaxle!! Now I just have to get back to it and wire the engine in....

[Vealmonkey]

I can't believe you posted this and you don't have pics!!! Things have slowed on the Tow'd. If my buddy gets his jeep moved, we'll get the tow'd up to his house to get some work done on it. I hope to be getting a new fiberglass tub soon. I've been concentrating on 3 wheelers lately. Get those pics up on here and help give me some motivation.

[Chris1984]

This is going to sound like a dumb question I'm sure, but how do I post pics on here? I have a couple I can post when I get home from work in a couple hours. The kicker is the motor that the guy before me had on it is a corvair motor with a b&m blower on it, but I'm missing some fab parts to put it back together, so I bought a whole corvair just to get a motor put on it!

[Vealmonkey]

There are 2 ways to post pics. One is to have a photo album on a place like photbucket and then you can just transfer pics and the second like I have, is I have the pics stored on my computer. Then you can drag what pics you want into a photo storage area on the website here and and then drag them into your thread when you "go advanced". Your pics have a size limit though. You have to play around with it some. The new site is slightly different than the old site though, putting pics on what easier. I just take my pics and download them on my computer and then go to a picture downsizing website to get my pictures to a size I want. Then they are basically ready to be dragged over onto here and then they will be ready when you want to post them. Works for me anyway.

[Chris1984]

Here's a couple of pics of my towdster, i'll get some better ones when i get it cleared back out of the garage. let me know what you think of it!! You can see the corvair engine with the blower on it in the background of the 2nd pic.

[Vealmonkey]

Wow, that's pretty nice. Way nicer than what I started with. I know tow'ds are light, but you must have high winds around there to have all those bricks and blocks on that tow'd! LOL I see you got a booming sound system in the back there too,just look at the size of that woofer! LOL Is that an original front bumper? Do you have anyone around you that could copy that for me, I need a front bumper. I also need a set of the headlight mounts on the the front beam also, do you think you could get those copied? I guess you don't have a stock rear bumper then since the corvair engine. I would have like to seen the pics with the blower on the corvair engine mounted in the tow'd. Do you have your original towbar? I have a copy with mine. I would like to see some pics with the hood off and what your dash looks like. I have to make one. I wish mine would have started out that nice. I still have a windshield I have to buy yet. I have lots of parts for mine, I just have to get time and a place to bolt them all on at. Hopefully soon. Man get way more pics. Get that puppy running. I hope your fuel tank is in good shape. On the RBC dunebuggy website, a guy had a fuel tank copied in aluminum and I think they made 10 or 12 so I picked up one of those and it even has a fuel sender in it, so I got a 68 speedo restored that has the fuel sender built into it. Also my IRS unit is a 68. I wanted the title to match the build date of 68, I know, pretty silly. I could spend an entire day checking your car out and take a digital camera full of pics and my digi movie camera as well. Too bad your not closer. We would have you up and running. Get busy with the camera and the wrenches.

[Chris1984]

Sorry I wound up sick yesterday or I would have gotten some more pics for you, I don't know of anyone that can copy them, but I'll check around. The dash in it is need of some help, I'll get some pictures of it tonight when I get home, and I'll also get you some up close pictures of the mounts and bumper. I don't have the tow bar for it, it seemed to vanish at a truck stop when I was on my way home with it from Colorado. But as far as I know the bumper is original, I tried to take a picture of the ID tag, but couldn't get a clear one, my cameras busted so all pics are from the iPhone lol. As soon as I get my 59 GMC out of the garage again I'll be pulling the motor off once more to put in the racing clutch that completely slipped my mind when I put the motor on! If you're wondering, the ID tag reads tf455f913s!

[Vealmonkey]

Tangerine Red, no metalflake. I bet that was an interesting color. My tow'd was originally ABS plastic molded in orange. I would like to make my body Hugger Orange or maybe Mopar Hemi Orange. I sure would like to see alot more pictures of your Tow'd. Sorry about your towbar. They are easy to replicate, but I would like to find an original tongue to make my towbar more original. I bet that tow'd was fun with the blown corvair engine in it when it was running. I really need to get busy on my poor tow'd.

[Chris1984]

I will jump in the garage tonight and snap you some pics, there are a couple places where you can see the original color on it, and it actually looks pretty cool, I'll try and get some close ups of it for you! I've thought about going back to it, but I really like the color scheme that's on it now. The po used it as a street car and weekend drag racer, and he said that there was nothing that would touch it on the street or sand, I'll be trying to redo the corvair engine with the blower on it as soon as I find someone willing to give me a hand, but prices in Clarks corvair parts scare the $h!7 out of me!!!! Are there any specific photos you would like for me to take for you? Would it be possible for you to get me some dimensions and pictures of the seat cushions in yours? I would really like to get some made up for mine, I had a sandrail wiu a 4 carb corvair on it for a couple of years, and I know how uncomfortable it is to slam back to the ground on unpadded seats!

[Vealmonkey]

I can get you pics and dimensions of the seats, no problem. My pads are down in the garage right now. The tow'd is sitting outside. I don't know if my tow'd seats are original or not. Most people bought the lowest cost kit they could and then got stuff done on thier own. This was an off road car and never titled on the street. It's going to be a street car, and that is why I went with IRS. Have you ever seen the tow'd model by MPC I think, it's corvair powered. I'm getting ready to get off work, so I'll get you pics and dimensions after I get home.

[Chris1984]

Here are a few more pictures of the towdster, I'll try and get it pulled out and cleaned up Saturday morning, and get a ton op pictures for you. I took pics of the light mounts and the bumper, it all looks like it would be easy to fab up, and I'll check with a few guys I know and see if they would have time to tackle it for you.

[Vealmonkey]

Man, just got back from running down to where my buddies daughter goes to college and getting her car running again. She called her dad and said she broke down. Ended up being she ran out of gas! I loaded 2 small tool boxes of tools in the car and was all ready for somethng crazy and it took about 10 minutes to figure out she ran out of gas. Took almost 2 hours to get where she was. What a pain. But that's what you do for friends. We had to go buy 2 gas cans and fill them up and it took a bit to get the engine started again. I was worried that we would have to remove a part to bleed air out of the system, or reset something, but we got it running again. It was a quiet ride back and about 20 minutes into the ride home, my buddy started to say something. I said don't. LOL Let me try to get a quick pic or 2 of the seat cover. Mine aren't very fancy. There are snaps on top of where the seatback is on the ABS plastic that the top of the seat slides over to hold the covers in place. I've seen some pretty fancy looking seatcovers on some different tow'ds before Then I've seen one or 2 goofs bolt in some fiberglass buckets that have looked really stupid too.

[Vealmonkey]

Here are the pics of the seats. They are 2 piece, a back and a bottom. I don't really like the design and expect to change it. The backs have a flap that go over 3 tabs on the top of the "seat area" that hold the back in place. They are sort of thin. The bottoms just sit in place. I would at the very least make these a single seat cushion so the bottoms wouldn't slide around. I've seen some pretty fancy covers. I've also collected some magazines for their tow'd articles and also collected some copies of articles from different tow'd owners too and some tow'd brochures. I'll see what I have left for copies and try to get them together to send out to you. It's pretty amazing how many magazines the tow'd was in when they first came out. The seat back are 19" tall x 16" wide x 2" thick and have a 1 3/4 inch flap on top with the snap holes in them. The seat bottoms are 17" tall 15 1/2" inches wide at the back and taper down to 14" in the front x 3" thick. Like I said, not too fancy. I"m sure you could come up with something way nicer.

[Chris1984]

That sounds like a pretty interesting trip! I'll admit I've made my share of early morning phone calls to people because I've ran out of gas on my way home frm work! I also am one of the people who debated on bolting in some fiberglass buckets, but they looked really good in my sand rail, they just didn't look the part in the tow'd. Also they wouldn't fit in the tow'd lol. I'm not sure if my body has snaps on the back for the covers or not, but I'm thinking of making some that are blue vinyl with a grey cloth insert, or silver if I can find it, to kind of go with the paint scheme. Also my windshield has snaps on it I believe for a bikini top, have you seen any pictures with these tops? Also does yours have any spots to bolt in a seat belt or harness. I want to bolt in a harness or lap belt at least, but I'm hesitant to start cutting holes in the body! Sorry to have so many questions, it's just nice to find somebody else that knows about them! Usually when somebody sees it, they will tell me that they see them all the time, and usually offer me $400 for it lol.

[Vealmonkey]

Mine had lap belts installed. There was a steel angle iron the ran across the bottom of the ABS body that had the eyebolts for the lap belts. I've seen people install lap belts with shoulder harness belts, which seemed like a good idea. The shoulder harness belts were connected to the rollbar. Also alot of people seem to add more bracing to the original factory frame. One of the places they brace is between the rear trans cross member and the back of the factory frame which keeps the rear frame horns from flexing. Also people put reinforcements between the front of the frame just behind where the front end bolts on all the way back to the support for the torsion houing where the large u bolts are. Then they put braces between that and the factory frame. Then they run bracing from one side to the other and this is usually where they bolt the lap seat belts to. It's a much sturdier alternative and it helps to give the factory frame alot more stiffness and it helps it more from side impacts. I have a couple links of frames that this is done to to show you what I'm talking about. I'll try and get a link later for you. There is a really nice tow'd section on the RBC dunebuggy site where I get alot of info and help from. The manx club website has kind of died out and not much help on there anymore. Do you have a copy of the tow'd build instructions? If not, I'll try and make a copy of that for you too. When I'm on midnights next week, I should be able to have access to the copier for awhile without being bothered or holding up work.

[Vealmonkey]

http://rbcdunebuggy.yuku.com/
Here's a link to the RBC website. Go into there Tow'd thread section. Alot of good stuff in here. Also you'll notice alot of anti Tow'd items from a guy named Pedro. He is a real Tow'd-a-phobe! LOL

[Chris1984]

I've been planning on doing some more reinforcing on the frame, the corvair frame is welded in already, I just want to add more bracing. Any and all literature on the towdster would be helpful, I don't have any info on them, I have found a few for sale for outrageous prices on craigslist and eBay a few times. I fell in love with this buggy when I first seen it about 15 years ago, then my uncle purchased it and hauled it to Colorado, and I wound up giving up a 396 BBC for it about 4 years ago. I really need to find some good plans on building a better brace and a cage around the motor, as I plan on getting a little light under the front tires once it's up and going under it's own power again!

[86trizinger]

So what's parts are sitting in your house that we need to get on the tow'd ? You have to make a list so we can make sure you have everything.

[Vealmonkey]

All the disc brake stuff. The new rear trans mount. The reinforced trailing arms. All the new bearings and seals and 181 stub axle and axles. The engine out on the front porch. All the thing shroud and parts. Hood. The other 4 bolt wheels and tires for when we get the disc brakes changed out. The new master cylinder with the volvo reservoir. The console piece with the new shortened emergency brake handle. All the parts down in the basement, brake lines and all that stuff and the bits that you may be able to use for your bug. The guy from Peeks said to just reuse the mount parts for the new trailing arms. The shocks. The quick disconnect for the steering wheel and the other steering wheel bits. The new aluminum fuel tank. The restored speedo and the template for the dash. My living room will be half empty! LOL I need to cut out that clutch cable guide out of the superbeetle pan leftovers so I can finally get rid of that also. And I still need to cut the emergency brake cable guide off of that old swingaxle housing we switched out. You can have that other older style restored speedo if you need it for your bug too. It's about time you got in here. LOL I need to get the muffler clamps for the hood and we need to find the centerpoint of my new tow'd hood so we can mark it and mount it up too. Chris, I don't remember what year your bug is. You are welcome to the old swingaxle trans for a core if you want it and I have all those bits and pieces for the drum brakes and will have all the drum brake stuff left over after the switch. I have all new shoes and flex lines and wheel cylinders and springs and parts and seals and bearings and such that you can have if they will work for you. I have chrome swingaxle covers also. And there may be some other stuff around as well. I've been accumulating parts for awhile now. I usually pick up stuff when I get a chance and especially if I come across a deal. I have to contact the guy making the body and see what's going on with him. He is a good buddy of Honda Harry on here.

[Chris1984]

So are you getting fenders and everything like mine?

[Vealmonkey]

I was leaning towards fender free, but either way, I have alot of work to do before then. I was looking at your first pic, and I noticed you don't have your tail lights on your rollbar. What kind of taillights are you running? I still have the original "stanley" taillights on mine, believe it or not. I had also seen some headlight buckets that had built in turn signals that looked interesting. I was thinking of running LED tailights in the rear in the original stanley housings. I will need to make a new harness for the tow'd as well. The assembly manual shows you how to make your own harness. I'm not sure if I want to make one or fab one up. I have seen a real nice little wiring set up for bugs, not that empi universal buggy harness with the ceramic fuses. I really would like to have a manx sr as well as the tow'd.

[Chris1984]

My tail lights are run in the back fenders, I have no idea if it was originally like that or not, but it looks pretty good. I will get you a pic of it I'll be off work in half an hour so it shouldn't be too long. I noticed on the rbc buggy site that the orange towdster has a soft top and engine cover! Do you know if these are still reproduced, or if there is a blueprint for the top?

[Vealmonkey]

The top would be pretty easy to do. All you would need is a piece of aluminum thin enough to bend to fit the channel of your windshield. Then whatever you were using for you top material, have that sewn around the piece of bent aluminum. Then you would just need to figure out if you wanted to just tie off the rear of your top or have snaps on it. It's pretty much just a bikini top. Unless you mean the really fancy top. I know of no one reproducing it, but there is a guy on the east coast that makes dune buggy upholstery and he has a meyers tow'd. He could probably do a really sweet top up for you. His company name is Tijuana Customs if I remember right. He posts on the RBC sight and on the samba under the dunebuggy and kit car thread as well.

[Chris1984]

Here is a picture of how the taillights are on the towdster, I doubt they were stock like that, and I will probably replace them with something cooler farther down the road, but this will work for now.

[Vealmonkey]

Here is a pic of original tow'd taillights. And a pic of my meyers id tag.

[Bruce Evans]

Man I am glad I found you guys...been showing my Tow'd restoration build over at dunebuggy archives,lots of help but i need more help in real time...Are you guys willing to help out another Tow'd owner ?
On my phone at the moment,can get you pics later when i get to my computer,have been working on the towd all day.
Thanks for any help,
Bruce

[Vealmonkey]

I'll help if I can. RBC has a neat little Tow'd section. I've learned alot there. Do you have your Tow'd build sheet? If not, I'll have to run off a copy for you too. LOL I'll print the articles I have for you too. I'm not sure how I'll be able to help you, but just ask. Get those pictures on here too. I'm on the midnight shift this week and I need some entertainment to help get me through the night. I have to come in early on sunday night to get the boiler and the air compressors and the water demineralizer on to get ready for the lines to start up. Gotta get the goods in the bottle. LOL

[Chris1984]

Got the garage cleaned out, and the towdster seen daylight for the first time in nearly 3 years, so I washed it up and got you some nice shiny pictures! I don't know a ton about them either, but any questions I can answer I'm more than willing to try!!

[Vealmonkey]

Okay, now I'm curious. What is that long curved bar for in the back? Also, do you have the meyers cutting brake for your tow'd or an emergency brake or what? I just found a stock style cable operated cutting brake. but I would have to shorten it to add it to the tow'd with the shortened emergency brake handle I made. I've been debating to try to duplicate the cutting brake but in a shorter version. That's pretty nice looking though. You need to fix up that dash and get that up to par. That's alot of engine hanging out back. Tow'ds are naturally light in the front end. Can't imagine dropping the hammer on a corvair engine let alone a blown corvair engine???!!! Get that puppy running. That just says fun right there. Maybe think about front disc brakes. I so would love to copy that front bumper. Maybe add another tube to help beef it up some. A sharp looking machine. Be glad I'm not your neighbor, I'd be dogging you about it all the time. LOL Don't be pulling that by the front bumper! Wrap that strap around the front beam. Where is bruce? Bruce, get in here! LOL I'm loving this thread. And you do know that's a kilometer (metric) speedometer don't you. But the topper is the chain steering wheel. Man, that is so 70's.

[Bruce Evans]

Hello again,sorry I didnt get back on here earlier but my wife was doing her homework on line and I couldnt kick her off my computer....She is trying real hard to become a nurse and after not being in school for 27 years starting college was scarry for her,but she is doing really great and I am being as supportive as I can...

Ok here is a pick of my tow'd the day I bought it.
http://www.dunebuggyarchives.com/static/attach/45/16445/2010-04-2113.44.48.jpg

http://www.dunebuggyarchives.com/static/attach/45/16445/2010-04-2113.45.53.jpg

And one of the wife and our grandson after riding around after I brought it home.

http://www.dunebuggyarchives.com/static/attach/45/16445/donnabamintowd.jpg

Will post some shots of were I am at now in a minute...or you can just go to this link and see all my pictures..

http://www.dunebuggyarchives.com/forum/topic_show.pl?tid=2658;pg=1

Yes I have the plans for the original build of the Tow'd,thanks for asking though,one of the members on the other site has a link to the set he has posted on line in my other thread...

Bruce

[Bruce Evans]

I am also in need of both front and rear bumpers...How does the front one atach ? would heavey gauge muffler pipe work for the bumpers ?

I really didnt plan on doing as much clean up as I have at first but I also had the rusty tank issue and had to pull the body to get to the tank and since I had it apart that far decided I would really clean it up,was hoping to be riding again by fathers day but it looks like I better plan more for the 4th of July...

I found you here by reading at rbc today and was going to try and contact that guy about a aluminum tank for mine,is someone still making them?I have cleaned mine really well but would just rather have a new one to save any clogging problems when I get her back up and running.

Here are a couple of pics of where I am now.

http://www.dunebuggyarchives.com/static/attach/51/17051/2009_11040038.JPG

http://www.dunebuggyarchives.com/static/attach/51/17051/2009_11040039.JPG

http://www.dunebuggyarchives.com/static/attach/51/17051/2009_11040042.JPG

http://www.dunebuggyarchives.com/static/attach/53/17053/2009_11040047.JPG

http://www.dunebuggyarchives.com/static/attach/53/17053/2009_11040049.JPG

http://www.dunebuggyarchives.com/static/attach/53/17053/2009_11040043.JPG

I have installed the new steering rod and steering wheel along with the front coil over shocks,I have also painted the intake to match the block and trans axle color and installed the exaust,but that will have to be taken back off so I can tweek the cooling tins some as the exaust hits the tins and wont seal up all the way...The green is the original color and it took allot of oven cleaner and pressure washing to get all that blue paint off,but by doing that I found allot of stress cracks in the gel and small nicks and chips that will have to be filled along with both front fenders are busted and so I believe I will just do the glass work and re paint her in a dark metallic green,working on the glass work now and then I will get back to the engine,gotta get the tub in before I can hook up all the electrical and cables.
Bruce

PS>>>Will get some more pics of it now tomorrow or should I say today after the sun come up sometime.

[Bruce Evans]

Do I need to order a special v belt,I picked up a new one at oreillys this weekend and it is allot thicker than the one I have and thus the pully on the generater doesnt want to tighten down properly? Chris,I always wanted one of those chain steering wheels when I was a kid but thought it would tear the crap outta your hands if the front end jerked around any,do you see any problems with yours hurting the hands...I still think they look cool...I showed my wife the blown corvair on yours and asked her if I could do ours like that,she said no,she wanted to be able to keep the front wheels on the ground when she drives it,lol,just couldnt convince her....

She is being so patient with me building this baby,her camaro has to set out in the rain and weather at the moment till I get the Tow'd off the car port,good thing is she said I could build a new metal garage for my new toy out by my blacksmith shop so it doesnt have to set out in the weather either.I think she wants me to get that going so I can give her the carport back sooner since we decided to just get one of those metal 2 car carports and close it in ourselves so it wont take long to get one put up.

Guess I will try and catch you guys this afternoon sometime,got allot more work to do and it is really hot but at least we arent getting any floods and rain like we have been getting.

Bruce

[Vealmonkey]

Bruce, first all welcome to the most popular tow'd thread in all of the 3 wheeling world. LOL Your pictures didn't turn out for some reason, maybe it's just my work computer. I would not try and make a bumper out of heavy muffler tubing. I want to run a stock front bumper but was thinking more along the lines of a baja cage for the rear bumper since it will give a little more crash protection to the engine. I don't know if there are any more aluminum tanks left or not. There was one tank left last year, but I don't know what ever happened. The aluminum tank was made to exact tow'd specs and they are pretty cool, especially with the fuel sender. My original tank was a rust bucket on the inside and the car would not run more than a minute or 2 before it would clog up a disposable inline fuel filter, so when the offer for and aluminum tank came along, I jumped on it. I don't know what happened to the jigs for the fuel tank either. The tanks were made by a hot rod guy and the tanks were hand rolled. They are quite a work of art actually if you ever get a chance to see one, the guy has amazing tig welding skills. There was talk at RBC at getting bumpers made, but it never materialized. I have tried buying a couple used bumpers, but didn't have any luck with that either. Looks like I'm going to have to get someone to make something. Maybe Chris will loan me his bumper to get it copied, but I would add a second pipe for extra strength. I would try and get the bumper made in stainless just for looks. Let us know how we can help. I'll check the link for pictures to your tow'd. Don't be a stranger on here. There hasn't been too much tow'd activity on RBC lately. Us tow'd owners have to stick together. A tow'd support group if you will. LOL

[Chris1984]

Good morning fellas! I'm starting to get paranoid here, what if Pedro finds us? The long curved tube is how the po held the rear (or front.....hmmm i dunno) of the motor up as that is where the motor mount is at. If you look at the pics of the rear and look to the right of the oil filter on the motor you will see the messed up motor mount, but rest assured, that tube will be gone! I plan on doing a cage all the way around the engine, as well as going under it as I did on my corvair powered rail. Theres just something about scraping engine during a wheelie that just doesn't set right with me. I am waiting for a couple of rail guys to get a project out of the way, and then I think I will be able to get the bumper copied for you, I'm just not sure if I can get it in stainless.....the chain steering wheel hasn't given me any problems, except for sitting in the sun and searing my hands after it's nice and sunny. I don't have an emergency brake or a turning brake for now, but I am looking into getting one once my finances allow me, I think I'm going to part with my Honda 110 to be able to do more work on the tow'd. So if anyone is looking for a trike with a bandito frame, bandito chrome forks, and the pccc turbo rims, make a good offer and come get it LOL. Once I get a cage around my engine (after I put my nice pretty clutch in) I'm going to build a slider bumper into the cage, with some rollers on the bottom for added excitement!

[Chris1984]

Bruce, I think you can see the mounting for the bumper in my pics on page 3, where I got the headlight and mounting bracket, but if not let me know and I can get a better pic for you this afternoon. The wheelies should be plentiful, because in my longer wheelbase rail, which also outweighed the tow'd, I busted the linkage for the shifter, and was still pulling the wheels off the ground taking off in 2nd gear! Seeing the nice shiny motor in Bruce's buggy almost makes me wish it still had vw running gear, but there's just something about a corvair motor that I love, and you can't miss the sound of them either. I had considered disc brakes on the front, but I'm not sure they would make much of a difference, I don't think there's enough weight in the front of it to make them bite!

[Vealmonkey]

Oklahoma is just a tad bit more than the average road trip. LOL There is a guy on the RBC that built this beautiful green tow'd. Nicest guy. His car was even featured in hot vw's mag. He too stock bumper and added an extra tube below it and the bumper is really sweet. That is how I would like to have my front bumper. His tow'd isn't real fancy, just really clean. Powdercoated frame and the whole bit. I know someone who has a big enough oven to powdercoat my frame. I just need to get my new tub so I can build my reinforcing frame before I would even think of doing the powdercoating. And a guy on the RBC is doing a tow'd with the reinforced frame, that has welded in threaded pieces so he can have pretty much his whole underside of the tow'd covered with an aluminum skid plate, which I really liked the thought of. I'll pull out the hot vw's mag so I can give you guys the month, it's a great article and I really sweet tow'd. There is also a radio disc jockey in town that has a tow'd. He contacted me when he saw a thread I had started. Nice guy, but a little crazy. LOL I have some pics of him on my computer somewhere. And Bruce, your pictures show up on my home computer. Don't know why they wouldn't on the work computer. Also the work computer wouldn't let me go to the DBA? I think I've seen your pics on the samba or another site though. And the guy doing the tow'd tubs is out in Utah. The tow'd article is in the feb 2009 hot vw's. Check it out and dig that front bumper.

[Chris1984]

You wouldn't happen to have a link to the article online for the vw mag, I would really like to check that out! Would dimensions and lots of pictures help you for the front bumper? I think I could pull it off sometime this week and get you a diagram drawn up with lots of measurements if you would like. If you duplicate the turning brake, what would be a cost on one of them, if I could get it to hook up to the corvair? I'll have to check that out now I'm curious about it! Also if anyone stumbles across a cheap corvair turbo engine let me know, that would be my dream engine on this little beast, because just looking at the blower scares my right foot!

[Chris1984]

Also Bruce, have your rear fenders been trimmed? It might just be the angle of the pictures, but they look a few inches shorter on the front and rear of the back fenders. Also did yours have leather fender welting in between the front fenders and the hood? I don't know if it was original for the kit or not, but mine has it on both front fenders, and I don't know if I need to get some leather and mock up new ones or not?

[Bruce Evans]

Hello everybody,spent all morning busten rusty lug bolts loose so I could get the mismatched rims and tires off and so I could get to the brakes,then decided I was tired of stepping over all the old parts and packing boxes so i did a quick clean up and put some stuff out in the shop just in case I ever need it again or something,then coiled up the air hose and extension cords and swept up. Boy is the wife gonna be suprised when she gets home from school in a little bit....She had asked me if I wanted to run to town with her when she got home but I kinda didnt want to but a buddy gave me a heads up un a set of rims at the goodwill store so I guess a trip to town is in order after all...lol

Chris,I do believe somebody did trim the fenders,was thinking of reglassing them back to original.Kind of depends on the tires I end up with,thought about just making some mud flaps for it..

No mine didnt have spacers but of course both mine are busted on the seam were the flat of the fender meets the top curve...mine did have a edging around all the edges of the whole buggy,it was rotten so I had to pull it off,it isnt cheap to replace it either,havent seen many with it still on anyway.

Glad you was able to get the pics.

.chris, i am just wondering if the bumper slides over another pipe that is attached to the front beam.

Well guys the wife is home and ready to go,will get back in later tonight.
Bruce

[Chris1984]

The bumper just bolts on with tabs welded on the bottom of the bumper to
mounting points under the headlight mounting brackets. I will double check when I get home in a few hours to make sure, but I'm almost positive that it doesn't slide over or in any other pipe!

[86trizinger]

Hey Pat.. I have a cheap tubing bender we can mess around with as well. We can see what we can come up with for that.

[Chris1984]

Why is everyone so far away?!?! I need some locals with tubing benders and welders..... Also a few extra mechanics lol. Let me know how you wanna do it, I can try to get a copy bent down here, or I can pull it off and load you up with measurements, looking in the hotvw archives I'm positive my front bumper is the stock one!

[Vealmonkey]

Bruce, I forgot to answer on your rear belt. There should be spacers between the 2 halves of your upper gernerator pulley, you have to add more spacers for a thicker belt and less spacers for a thinner belt, but that's also how you adjust for the belt tension. Less spacers for more tensione, more spacers for less tension. If your old pulley doesn't have those spacers, you either need to hit up your local vw parts place and get some or go down to your local junkyard and split 2 stock pulleys and get some of those spacers off a junker.
The thing about the old style turning brake is they use the existing emergency brake cables, not the hydraulics for the brake. There are 2 handles that fit outboard of you emergency brake handle and they use a longer pivot shaft than the stock emergency brake. The front of the handles actually rest down on the emergency brake handle and are pulled up when you pull up the stock emergency brake handle. But the emergency brake cables go to each hanle and when you pull up on just the turning brake handle, it only operates the single emergency brake cable, locking it up and pivoting the car that way. If that makes sense. I'll have to get a couple pictures, but the whole think is all so simple once you see it. And they were an accessory that was available through the meyers catalog I'm pretty sure. Chris, I may have to ask to borrow your front bumper so I can get it copied. I hate to do it, but I don't think I could just duplicate it from dimensions tthat you sent me. So think that one over for awhile and I know it will be heavy and cost to ship, but I don't know any other way. I'll try and get some pics of that tow'd from the hot vw's mag too.

[Chris1984]

I think I could probably manage that, I think the corvair has cable operated emergency brakes also, so that style of turning brake would probably work on there too. I'll check that out tonight also. I'll see about getting one bent, a friends dad is supposed to come over and look at bending me a cage for the motor with the motor mount on it, so he could knock that out also.

[Bruce Evans]

.yeaaaaa I got my computer tonight finally...well the rims were a bust,some old stock steel rims off a suv or something,can find those at the scrap yard all the time....we dont have any VW parts stores around and you rarely see any in the junk yards people like my daughters to be father in law buys up every scrap of a bug they can find and then wont let anybody have any parts.I know about the spacers but this belt was so wide I couldnt get the nut on the end of the generator to start and tighten up.gonna check with napa tomorrow and see if they have any narrower ones like the original and if not I think I saw some on ebay or somewhere else I was looking for parts.Nothing wrong with mine now except when I put the new crankshaft pulley on and teh chrome alternater pully on mine was way to long and wouldnt tighten up even without the spacers in...it also didnt fit down in the crank pully very well either.....

Have you guys seen these pictures of this guys Tow'd
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d1/manx535/miscdunebuggy005.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d1/manx535/miscdunebuggy004-1.jpg

here is a link to more of them,

http://www.texasmanxclub.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?p=8264&sid=0de444838929e7dd2ea0d18117f762da

It has the original bumpers it looks like.I have found all kinds of cool pics of Tow'ds on the net,just not allot of info on restoring one.Hey Chris,if you could take a piece of poster board or heavey paper and trace the full shape out of that front bumper and send it to me With all the forges and equipment I have in my shop maybe I can make something real close for my baby,even have some stainless pipe available if it is the correct size...I like the looks of the one on Samba that is red and has the oval tube bumpers front and rear,but havent had any luck trying to find some of them..

like these
http://www.dunebuggyarchives.com/static/attach/98/16798/3177474.jpg

http://www.dunebuggyarchives.com/static/attach/98/16798/3177478.jpg

guess I could go custome and make a bumper with toads jumping across it with flames or something,good practice for the plasma cutter,lolol...NOT....bad idea bad bad bad:lol::crazy::lol:

gonna make another reply post and see if I can get the pics from my computer to work on here now...vealamonkey,would pics of the headlight bracket I have setting on a tape measure and on the front beam help you out,they should be easy to replacate ? ....

Bruce

[Bruce Evans]

I am really liking the smothed in rollbar,I could do that and then have my rear turn signals on the rear fender section like mine already had...that would be a couple less holes to fill :lol:..Ok here goes trying to add up some more pics...
Bruce

[Bruce Evans]

Awesome it worked....man to look at the before and after pics of the motor just looks cool to me,cant believe I did that,not much of a mechanic here,but I try sometimes....guess if you want something bad enough,youll do what ever it takes....

someone before me butchered my metal plate that went down the center and had the shifter attached to it.trying to figure out how to fix it along with add a emergency brake for the law here...

Got a e brake handle off my doner bug,can I use the mounting bracket from it or do I ned to order one and if so where do I order from?

Is the box that the pedal cluster goes in supposed to be attached to the console thing or just held in by bolts and is it supposed to be behind the console or in front of it,guess if I read the instructions that might tell me:D but figured I would be lazy and ask:lol:..they had some wood paneling as a spacer behind the box in front of the master cylinder and beside the box were the clutch pedal goes through,is this also needed? if so would some 1/4 inch diamond plate aluminum work instead? was thinking of covering the console with thinner diamond plate aluminum just to clean up their mess,would this work?
here are some pics of it.. And pics of the difference in belt thickness I was talking about,and pics of the tins being in the way of the exaust that is gonna make me take the tins back off and do a little modifying to them along with the intake not setting properly because of the tins. Dang look at the dust on the chrome already,gonna have to clean that soon...

Oh yea her quick trip to town ended up costing me a steak dinner before we got home and grocery shopping.But I did get to check out the steel buildings they have for carports that she is telling me to get,now she says just get the closed in 2 car garage one instead of the cheap one,cool,now to get one ordered and have it put up for me,:D:D convinced her that if I stopped on teh build to put up the garage it would be a lot longer before her camaro see carport cover again :lol:
Thanks again,
Bruce

[Bruce Evans]

Dang they dont wanna come up in order as I posted them,hope you can figure out what goes with what...

Here is a couple more pics of a Tow'd I like,the front bumper looks original also but I like the skid plate attached to it also,I also like those little turnsignal lights he has on the front..and the interior looks awesome,really like how he used the dimmer switch for the head lights,I do have to have high and low beams here in Mississippi so I will have to add one to my buggy...(oh yea if ya dont want me to post these other pics just tell me and I will quit)

Bruce

[Vealmonkey]

The box that holds the pedals is supposed to be attached to the console piece, yours is buggered up. As for the emergency brake handle, you can either cut the one of your existing old bug pan or you can do like I did and get the piece from Berrien Buggies. I picked mine up a couple years ago when I first got the tow'd and finally had the chance to fix the emergency brake handle. I also shortened my handle almost 3 inches so it wouldn't hit the gear shifter. That green tow'd is the one I'm talking about with the double tube front bumper. I think that is really sweet looking. I also like the paint job on that orange tow'd, but I really don't like those wheels. But that's me. Your engine is looking nice, but I've had bad dealings with those chrome aftermarket engine tins. I'll stick with powdercoated. I have the 73 vw thing tins for mine. Not sure what color I want yet. Looks like you have some really nice progress on your tow'd. I noticed you have coilover front shocks. They may be a bit much. They look nice though. I need to get going on mine. I have vacation coming up soon and hope to get some work done then. Maybe even get it wired and started.

[Bruce Evans]

I know mine is badly messed up,any chance you could get me a close up of how yours is put together..Didnt think about the front shocks being over kill,but I do have new stock shocks if i decide to go back to them...time to head to work,talk later.
Bruce

[Chris1984]

Wow, tow'ds really are nocturnal creatures!! I'll try and get my bumper removed tonight and trace it out and get you dimensions of everything. Vealmonkey, could you get a picture of your pedal setup, I would like to compare it to mine. Also does anyone elses have a hole in the front of the fiberglass seats? It's on the up and down part. The more and more I see your padded seats I get green with envy lol! I think everyone is getting angry, the boat I was working on got left in the barn so that I could concentrate on my tow'd! Keep up the good work and the pictures guys, and if you come across another with a corvair motor on it post up the pics! I would really like to see the engine cradle and mounts and how it's welded up.

[Vealmonkey]

Here are pics of the cutting brake I was talking about. There are pics posted of my console in the thread here I'm pretty sure. The pedals are just standard vw pedals with a roller pedal gas pedal, nothing fancy. You can see with the cutting brake handles where the brake cable attach to each seperate handle. And there is a bar across the bottom of the emergency brake handle, so when you pull up on the emergency brake it pulls the 2 cutting brake handles with it locking both rear drums at the same time. I know this setup isn't really very pretty looking, but I've been looking for one of these for quite a while now and finally found one for sale. If I could find a nos set up like this I would gladly buy it, but I wasn't letting this deal pass by. Also, this set up is different from what the stock tow'd set up was. The stock tow'd cutting brake had no emergency brake. It was just a handle that had the 2 emergency brake cable attached to it and you pushed down to lock one rear wheel and pulled up to lock the other. My tow'd didn't have the stock cutting brake, it was broken and long gone but I need the emergency brake to pass state inspection anyway. That hole you are referring to is where the stock cutting brake handle went. My tub has it but a po had poorly installed one of those old neal cutting brake set ups. It's amazing the car even stopped as only the front brakes would work with the brake pedal and even that was really iffy. LOL

[Chris1984]

I probably wasn't really clear on the location of the hole, but there is one on each side, and they are in the middle of each seat section. I really like that brake setup, I think I will have to try to find one or get one made.

[Vealmonkey]

I think someone might have put those holes in there for draining purposes. If you get caught in the rain, it tends to puddle up there in the middle some, or if you drive through a big mudhole. LOL

[Bruce Evans]

Chris,Is the pedal box on yours on the inside of the console bar or the outside ? Dont have the powder coat option available locally so I went for the chrome tins (plus the wife wanted chrome all over the motor)Mine also has the holes in the bottom of were the seat sits..I like that brake set up also,but if you had a hard time finding one I bet they are really rare now...

What do you guys think about making the bumpers out of a thick walled aluminum tubing,since they make allot of bumpers outta aluminum now days anyway,just thought that would look good and not rust over time...

Was going to put the plug wires on last night and realized these aftermarket ones are about double the length they need to be,guess I will have to take the ends off and shorten them to make them look better,nothing worse than a wad of wires to make a motor look bad.

Bruce

[Chris1984]

I'm not sure exactly. I hope I don't sound stupid, but what would be the console bar, I can get you pictures of how mine are mounted this afternoon. The thing about aluminum bumpers is that most vehicles have frame supports and reinforcements behind them, where the tow'd doesn't. Aluminum would be nice, but I think the impact protection would be next to nothing, but then again I don't think there is much that would protect the tow'ds in a frontal collision, but I could be wrong. I've seen many fiberglass buggies crash out here at the little sahara, and they almost never come out good.

[Bruce Evans]

That is what I am calling the metal plate down the center of the body that the shifter bolts to ,like the center hump in a bug.I call it a console since I dont know what else to call it,I am the dumb one,lol....

[Chris1984]

I think mine is on the inside, I will double check tonight to make sure. I thought that was what you were talking about but I wanted to be sure so I don't tell you wrong. Also I read somewhere that the numbering started at 101 on the tow'd bodies, does that sound right? There is a picture of a corvair engine with a supercharger online that I found last night, I will try to find the link and post it, it says it was making 230 hp, which I don't think is too shabby for an air cooled 6cylinder!

[cox]

Man, that thing is cool! I love the look of it. It would look cool driving down the street. Thats a killer project....

[Chris1984]

Vealmonkey, I'm starting to think you have the hottest tow'd forum going now!!

[Bruce Evans]

Thanks Chris....That would be way more motor than our poor tow'ds need..unless you was going to enter it in a mud bog race then it would be going fast enough that you would never touch the mud,lol

I thought I read somewhere that someone was trying to mount the front fenders so they turned with the tires,anybody else heard of this,I think that would be cool and since mine are already busted it might be something I could do to mine.

Chris I was thinking the same thing about these bumpers arent going to be much if the tow'd was hit anyway and that was why I was thinking aluminum instead of stainless or steel.That green tow'd looks like the front bumper is mounted over one of the tubes of the front end,you can see it in the inside shot...The rear bumper looks like one you can just order with a skid pan now.
Bruce

[Chris1984]

I read that somewhere also, but I don't remember where at. I don't think it would be very hard to do, just trim the current fenders where they mount, and build some mounting brackets coming up from your front spindle. I'm just not sure if there would be clearance issues while turning or not, it's hard to say without mocking something up. I would play it safe and lay some plastic over your fenders and make a few out of fiberglass to mock up first, it would be a shame to cut up the originals unless you know for sure it will work!

[Bruce Evans]

The mounting surface of my front fenders is almost completely busted off anyway.The roads here can be really rough and I can see this as a major stress point and am afraid no matter how I glass them it will happen again.I was thinking of laying a couple of layers of new glass over the entire fenders on the outside then glass in some kind of reinforcing on the inside of the seam to try and keep them from vibrating real bad and busting again.Dont really want to cut these up that is why I wanted to see what someone else had done already.Guess I could make a mold off these fenders and just make my own new ones,probably be easier than trying to repair these.

Bruce

[Chris1984]

You could also change some things on the mold, such as put turn signals into the front fenders. And with rough roads, being able to have a mold to make new fenders would save a lot of time and money.

[Bruce Evans]

Now I just gotta learn how to make a mold..lol...Oh yea I contacted Gene and he said they still had one tank in the jig so I ordered it,he said that this would be his last one,Boy is that cutting it close or what?

Bruce

[Chris1984]

Dang, and I was thinking about that this morning! But I've got more room in my tank area since my motor is shorter (until I get the blower one going)! I've been thinking about having a larger tank built, so that once I get the blower setup going I can drive farther than the gas stations in town! The mold shouldn't be too hard, you can do a basic mold out of chicken wire and form it around your fender, and just lay the fiberglass inside the chickenwire.

[Bruce Evans]

Sorry about that Chris...I didnt think about using the chicken wire,I was thinking of making a box of some kind that I could put some of that expanding foam in and let it form around the fender then seal that and then use that to make the fender in.The chicken wire sounds easier.

Bruce

[Bruce Evans]

vealmonkey how about this front bumper.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/billybobbuggista/green-towd.jpg

Just found this old article about Meyers with a nice pic of the Tow'd

http://books.google.com/books?id=rikDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA208&lpg=PA208&dq=corvair+powered+meyers+tow'd&source=bl&ots=ooxCTiftAG&sig=j47ynfUVi1pZWMLfrCyc2JhKxf4&hl=en&ei=08cXTN7ELYOBlAe049DDCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBYQ6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q&f=false

Bruce

[Vealmonkey]

Man, don't even talk about using any kind of chicken wire to make parts or molds. There are a couple great vids on youtube about making fiberglass molds. First thing is, you need to have whatever you are making the mold made of repaired to the way you want it to look. The piece has to be as smooth as possible and just as you would want it to appear in final finish. Then you have to buy special materials beside the fiberglass to make the molds for. You have to spray a special finish first of all on the parts you want to mold. Then you mix your fiberglass resin and start layering that over what you are making your mold of. You would spray your mold material and put your fiberglass over the outside of the fender since that is the part that you would want to turn out smooth. Then it is the matter of building up several layers. Then you can always use pieces of foam to reinforce your mold so it won't warp, then you have to put fiberglass over the foam so it will be a part of the mold. Once that is all done and cured, then you have to remove the mold, and this is often where most molds mess up. But the videos on you tube explain it way better. There is a guy here in Baltimore that has posted a ton of fiberglass videos on youtube. Also, the guys that made the fiberglass molds for the Tiger fenders explained alot of what they had to do for the process of mold making. There really is an art to it.
And that green tow'd you have the picture of above, that's the guy that sent me all the pictures. I lost them when I was dealing with the computer bug I had. That tow'd is so clean you could eat off it. That guy is super cool to talk to, extremely helpful. He sent me the pattern for the dash I have. That is the car featured in the hot vw's magazine last year. In that pic the car was close to being finished, but you notice no seat covers in it yet. There is a guy who posts on the samba from NY who has an upholstery shop. He has a tow'd and has made patterns for the tow'd seats. His company name is Tijuana Kustoms. His name on the samba is Kustoms. Contact him for all your tow'd upholstery needs. He can even make you a bikini and possibly an entire tow'd convertible top if you wanted. Another great guy. He went to the carlilsle kit car show this year and was hanging with Bruce Meyers. Yep, the same Bruce Meyers that made the manx buggy and the tow'd and the sr. So he is pretty active in the scene to say the least. All these people that have tow'ds are really nice to talk to and are happy to answer all the questions they can. They are the ones that started the aluminum tanks. They are just scattered all over the place. As far as the numbering system goes, there are several schools of thought. One is, they started with 101 and went up from there. Another school is 101 stands for the first body in the first month. My body is 216, and some think that means the 16th body in the second month of production. But they know the first 4 or 5 months of production, the bodies were abs plastic and later switched to fiberglass due to brake fluid breaking down the abs. The abs bodies are labeled TO and the fiberglass bodies are labeled TF. There are fiberglass bodies that have TO tags as these were the replacement bodies for the abs. Bruce Meyers would give you a replacement fiberglass body for you abs body, but you would either have to pick it up or pay for shipping. Not many abs bodies are around. I have one but it's in pretty sad shape. It could be fixed with tons of time and effort, but I wouldn't want it on the car since the body is now brittle as all get out and wouldn't survive well on the car.

[Bruce Evans]

Guess it would be easier to order replacement fenders from Meyers if my repair job doesnt work out.
Been checking out about the Ford v-4 motor that Bruce had originaly wanted in the Tow'd,that might be something fun to pick up and have on stand by if a new motor is ever neededfor my tow'd...

Bruce

[Chris1984]

Sorry, I'm just used to making speaker pods and stuff, and I've always used chicken wire and just done a lot of sanding for the final finish. Here is the link to the corvair engine with the blower on it, mine will be set up like that, but it's a b&m with a top mount carb. http://performanceresearch.us/levair/blower.htm I would really like to drive one of the new manxters that they are running the subaru sti engine in, 300hp would be fun in a little fiberglass buggy!

[Vealmonkey]

Ralph Nader would be very upset seeing that link! LOL And the thread isn't mine, it belongs to everyone that adds a little something to it. The chicken wire may be okay for speaker enclosures and stuff, but I wouldn't recommend it on the outside of you vehicle. Okay, who's tow'd actually runs? LOL mine ran before I pulled the body off to fix the tank and repair all kinds of po problems, it just didn't run very long. And once I got it running, my buddy who cuts my grass swiped the distributor to get his running. His electronic distributor didn't work. But then I had problems with my 009 dist. The cap and the rotor weren't making contact for some reason, and it was brand new! Luckily I had new cap and rotor and a couple sets of points and condenser on the shelf. You don't normally find the cap and rotors not touching, but there it was. That was a head shaker for a 1/2 hour or so. I since picked up old german 009 at bugout, so that should work fine also. Once I ever get the engine reinstalled and a quick wiring to see what works and what doesn't again. And now that I have the IRS trans, I have to see if that shifts ok. My poor tow'd. My poorer wallet. LOL

[Chris1984]

Mine started once......but now I'm searching for my other cap and rotor and wires. I robbed these for my sand rail after it had a small fire when the engine loaded up on fuel.....but that's another story. I know I had them in a box before I cleaned out the garage. But my engine should be coming off this weekend to get my clutch put in, and hopefully I'll get it back up and going by Sunday night! As soon as it's back to moving under it's own power, work will resume on the blown corvair engine. I know what you mean about your poor wallet, everyone around here are starting to think that their corvairs have gold stashed inside of them, I had a guy come into my store and offer me a corvair for $1,000. When he came back with pictures it was a rusted out shell with no title, and no engine or transaxle. I'm planning on having 3 engines built for the car when I'm done, and hopefully at least keep my other transaxle around for a spare. If you get bored and you're in the area, feel free to stop by and give me a hand vealmonkey, all help is greatly appreciated!!

[Bruce Evans]

Mine was also running a little due to a rusty tank also,the new tank will take care of that when I get it.cant wait to get it back running...Hurting the pocket book ?how about murdering it this last month,still got wheels and tires to go plus this newgarage...

Chris,we still have a old corvair out in the back of the yard with a motor also I think,we just sold a old corvair van with a spare motor with it,I think my step dad sold it for around 3 or 4 hundred...I almost fell over when he priced it..

Chris,I do need a measurement if you can,what is the measurment from front to rear of the rear fender,and is it evenly centered or longer in back than front ?

[Chris1984]

Tip to tip over the top of the fender is 57", while straight across is 36". It also looks like the front will be about 3" longer than the rear of the fender.

[Bruce Evans]

Great,thanks chris.
Bruce

[Chris1984]

No problem, anything I can do to help a fellow tow'd owner! I want to try and have mine going by the ark city car show in September. I wish you weren't so far away, I'd love to come get that corvair from you!

[Chris1984]

Vealmonkey, I can only imagine the look on Ralph Nader's face if he seen that motor! I still wonder what he thought when they started the v8 conversion kits that turned them into mid engine supercars! They claim that a corvair with the 327 swapped in with the conversion would run in the mid to low 12's in the 1/4! Talk about scary, imagine a v8 strapped to the back of the tow'd, you wouldn't even need a steering wheel, just your turning brakes!

[Vealmonkey]

Most of the kits I had seen for the corvairs, were for the later model corvairs, none in the early body style. Also a
v8 in a tow'd would be quite easy. Landrover v8, which is really the old oldsmobile engine. Aluminum block 215 cubic inch v8. I believe that engine was the first american production engine available with a turbo as well.

[86trizinger]

Man this post moves quick. I can't even keep up with it all.. SO did you get off work that week Pat?

[Chris1984]

There was a tow'dster on craigslist here a while back that had a 4.3 in it, it was a really clean swap and would be awesome power, but his starting price was 17,500 obo, and then dropped down to 15,000. I don't know if it ever sold or not, but it was really clean! I've got an ls1 sitting in my garage, but my wife says it's not going into anything but my camaro....

[Bruce Evans]

Any of you seen a VW motor set up like these in this article,cant find a pic to post (that site wont let me link)
http://books.google.com/books?id=oy3KJllZlT0C&pg=PA109&lpg=PA109&dq=aircooled+volkswagen+motor+with+a+blower+mounte d+on+it&source=bl&ots=TGwmaVJxN7&sig=L-4hinplA1NJuVflSCStA-rDVkM&hl=en&ei=v9kYTJ7TAsK88gae-oHzDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CBoQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false

I think the blown vw motor would look really cool behind the tow'd...

Got a question .... how are you guys able to check your brake fluid without pulling the hood ?

vealmonkey,did you look at that other link at Bruce's tow'd his lights look like they are mounted straight up on the shock towers and not in the middle like mine,bet that would give more clearance for removing the hood.

Bruce

[Bruce Evans]

vealmonkey,how do I make a post on RBC,am logged in but cant seem to find a way to post a topic,Gene asked me to post some picks there of my build,but cant find no way tostart heck it wont even let me reply,but I am logged in..
Bruce

[Chris1984]

That is the first time I've seen that supercharger setup on a vw. That looks to me to be the same style of blower that was made by Judson, Paxton, and a few other supercharger companies. I know there were many of these kits used on corvairs, so they wouldn't be too hard to adapt over I wouldn't think. Here is a link to the same style of blower on a corvair engine, vealmonkey could probably tell you for sure, but I would think the principals would be the same. http://www.corvaircorsa.com/miller01.html

[Bruce Evans]

I had never seen it before either except in a book I have...That is cool with the corvair motor...

Bruce

[Chris1984]

Did you figure out how to post on the rbc? I've been wondering the same thing, I just figured it was because I use my phone to get online during the day. If you figure it out let me know please!

[Bruce Evans]

Chris I have tried it with both my phone and home computer..That is why I asked,was afraid I would sound really dumb,but I had told Gene I would post some pics up and cant figure that site out,was having trouble with instant messages from them also,but it did let me do that at least.

Was just out looking at this bug,I can rob the e brack and bracket,along with a good throttle cable and clutch cable,and a different arm for the clutch cable to attach to so maybe I can use my hydraulics after all...

Do any of you guys know about mounting the new hydraulic pedal setups ? got questions, and since I have them it would be a shame not to use them.

Bruce

[Bruce Evans]

and here is another persons Tow'd with the original front bumper with skid plate...

http://images.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/pix/2991632.jpg

Sorry just had to post another one,wish it had some other views of it.

Bruce

[Chris1984]

Wow, that looks amazing! Sorry I don't know much about the hydraulic pedal setups, I have seen them but never paid much attention to them. Does your tow'd have pipes running through the holes in the seats? Mine has one on one side but not the other. I figure this was to correct stressing the tubs. Would one of you be able to post pics of where your seatbelts mount at, I would like to drill mine out as close to a stock location as possible. Thanks for all the help and pictures so far!

[Bruce Evans]

here is a pic of mine with the seat belts still in.

http://www.dunebuggyarchives.com/static/attach/79/16479/DSCF03001.jpg

http://www.dunebuggyarchives.com/static/attach/79/16479/DSCF03021.jpg
Here is a better pic
http://www.dunebuggyarchives.com/static/attach/71/16671/1a7.jpg

Bruce

[Vealmonkey]

Chris, you really need to post some pics of these "holes" in your seating area that you keep talking about. And as far as seatbelts go, when the tow'ds were first sold, seatbelts weren't even mandatory in production cars, so they weren't really thought of in the tow'ds. I 've seen all kinds of seat belt mounting points, but there wasn't really a stock position. But if you mounts seat belts, you need to have some kind of metal reinforcement on the underside of the seat so it won't pull through the fiberglass very easy. My seat belts were down in both corners of where the seat bottoms and the seat back met. And my ugly cushions had no problems fitting in with the seat belts in place.

[Chris1984]

I'll get some pics of the holes in a couple hours when I get home from work. As for seat belts I wasn't sure if they were an option on the tow'ds or not, and I wanted to make sure that if they were I got them in a relatively stock area. I'll be mounting mine in the same area as you guys, I am going to add some reinforcement to the frame and bring tabs off of it for the belts, and run a bar across the roll bar for the top of the harness. Would you be able to post a picture of your speedo with the fuel gauge in it, or have I just overlooked it in an earlier post.

[Vealmonkey]

I never posted a pic of it. I'll get some of both speedos I have. The guy I got the speedos from pulls them all apart. He polishes up the needle and he puts in all new color gets in the proper spots for turn signal and high beam and all that. He tests the fuel gauge and he resets the odometers to zero. They are both pretty nice. The speedo with the fuel gauge is a 68 and the other gauge is like a 62 or 63-67. Both are the grey gauges. The guy is from baltimore, but has his, or had his speedos on ebay. His name is rommel or desertfox or something like that. I've had them ever since I first got the tow'd and then got the aluminum tank. They are pretty nice. He even puts new glass on the speedo .

[Vealmonkey]

Too much reflection off of the speedos to take a pic. I can't get them to turn out right.

[Chris1984]

Here are a couple pictures of the holes in the bottom of the seats I was talking about, I could only get a good picture of one of them, it was too dark for the other side. The passenger side has a pipe running from it to behind the seat back, I know it's something stupid to worry about but I never could figure out what it was for. I'm going to run a pipe under the drivers side, and then connect them in the back and tie them into the frame. I also took a couple pictures of the leather strips along the front fenders, I was just curious if you guys have ever run into these before or not.

[Vealmonkey]

I don't think mine has holes in there at all. That wasn't what I was picturing when you kept talking about holes in the seats. That's different. The one thing my buggy had in it that you guys don't seem to have though, is a fire extinguisher. You may want to think about mounting one. Just food for though.

[Vealmonkey]

Chris, a question. How long are your headlight mounts from outside end to end? And please allow for the jammed in area. I'm trying to fabricate up a set at work. I've got the flat bar bent and I made a spacer for the bend that was the same width as the front end shock tower and I'm drilling a hole through the spacer for the threaed part of the headlight bucket to fit through. The spacer is welded into the bend. I just need to figure out how to mount the turn signal, but I may have that figured out as well.

[Bruce Evans]

Mine doesnt have those holes either,maybe they were for something to do with the corvair motor ? got me...

Head light bracket picks that I have.Mine just has a washer welded on the top or bottom guess it wouldnt matter much and a nut tightens the headlight on.

Bruce

[Bruce Evans]

Chris,That leather looks like some kind of shock absorber for the week spot of those fenders..

Sorry to be so late,was doing the glass work on the hood,
Bruce

[Vealmonkey]

Those brackets look to be about 6" long. Wow, I really went overboard on making my brackets then. I haven't cut my brackets to length yet or drilled my brackets or the shock tower for holes. My flat bar is thicker and I ended up making 2 spacers the same width as the shock tower. Then I heated and bent my flat bar around the spacers I made. The guys at work welded my spacers to the flat bar and then I drilled my holes for the headlight bucket studs. I think my brackets are a little too heavy duty. LOL I have to figure out what I'm using for turn signals and I have to test fit my brackets to see where everything ends up at. I'll have pics in the next day or so.

[Chris1984]

Mine measured out to 12 inches from tip to tip. On the bright side the overkill headlight mounts should help keep the front end down, and help get some more bite in the pavement for the front brakes!

[Bruce Evans]

At that length pulling the hood should clear the headlights.The way mine is now you gotta be careful or you will hit the lights and mess up paint if ya gotta get in and check brake fluid or just wanna run around hoodless...

Original Toadster pic,
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z271/Siggymanx33/towd12-29-2006firsttday025.jpg

I like the original pinch trim around all the ruff fiberglass edges.And that screen around the motor gave it a nice place to mount tail lights...Mine had that top at one time wish I still had it,but the guy said it was rotted so he got rid of it...
Bruce

[Chris1984]

Mine is the same length as yours, I measured all the way around to get the length of the piece of strap, sorry for the confusion. Mine has the snaps in place along the bottom for a top, but not for the seat backs.

[Bruce Evans]

mine had snaps for all of the top,including the doors,but I removed them since I didnt have a top,and most were either painted over or rusty or both..maybe I can get a bikini top made for it then I can just add snaps back were needed.

Bruce

[Chris1984]

That's my plan too is to get a bikini top made for it. I'm also going to get some padding like you would use for boat seats and try to make some seats with side bolsters in them. I'm going to try and get after it this weekend and get my clutch in and try and get the motor wired for a test fire.

[Bruce Evans]

I was hoping to have mine running again this weekend,but now I am on hold for the new tank.So I am going to work on the body and hopefully have new paint by next weekend.and get the metal center ready for the shifter and pedals..

Bruce

[Bruce Evans]

Dang,we all got quiet...lol...Anybody get anything done this weekend? I didnt except to find out I need case savers installed in my case,what a set back,oh well just something else to deal with. I am thinking of ordering one of those turnkey rebuilt motors off ebay and then this winter tearing this one apart and fixing it (I have never tore one down before),any comments on this any suggestions,I had thought about ordering the rebuid set from chirco but I dont know if this case has been modified or anything since I found one of the studs was a self tapper,but I could order a new case also,but then I would need all the tins and everything else to have 2 motors,what to do what to do....lol...I dont really have any shops around that I know of,have heard of a few guys with a bunch of vws but not machine shops for these motors,so I will have to do everything myself and if I do that it will be next year before I get to ride,lol,
ok I am just rambling,
Hope someone has some advice,
Bruce

[86trizinger]

Most things that need to be machined can be bought new for just as cheap. Only thing you want to figure is what bore and stroke you want incase you have to bore the block for the new cylinders or clearance for the crank. That may require machining the case. One thing you want is full flow oil system. You used to have to drill but I think they offer kits for it now. External oil filter you want as well.

[Bruce Evans]

See thats my dilema,I can take off parts and put new ones back to dress up the motor,but am dumb when it comes to all the teqnical stuff,All I really need is case savers put in,can those be done in a home shop or best done by a shop...see as a kid my buddies did the motors and I did the body and dress up,so I never really got into the middle of the motors much and never have tore into a vw motor,this is the most I have ever done with one,dont get me wrong,I want to do it,just want to get to go riding my buggy sometime soon...

Thanks for the advice,keep it coming,
Bruce

NEW UPDATE::::
Dang it sure is nice to have the scrap yard around..lol....

Was telling one of the customers that runs rails about my motor,he said he had a couple spare running motors but didnt want to sell them.Guess what ,he came back in today with me a running motor,for a bargain as it had been setting for awhile since he has been laid off he didnt have the money to go riding and now needed the money...I just need to take it home and clean it up,covered in barn dust,and then switch out my chrome and dress up parts...looks like I am back on track...

Bruce

[Vealmonkey]

I didn't work on the Tow'd this weekend, but I did get the headlight mounts finished. I need to figure what I want to do for front turn signals. I'm getting fired up as I will be on vacation in 2 weeks and that is when I hope to get some work done. 86trizinger is letting me take the Tow'd up to his house for a bit so I can get a hand getting some of this stuff done. He has a garage with a little extra space and my Tow'd is just sitting out right now. We've been talking over what all we should do. He does some home powdercoating so hopefully we'll get some small parts done. I wouldn't mind unbolting the new IRS rear frame section and strip that down and powder coat it, but have never torn apart IRS spring plates or torsion bars before and not sure about getting it all back together again! LOL

[Vealmonkey]

I got some good news this morning. I Emailed the guy with the mold of the Tow'd body and he said my body is in the mold! It may be out by now. He has to inspect it, and if it passes, I should have a new tow'd tub soon! So I'm keyed up about this news. One more big hurdle about to be down. Now a member on here will build me a crate and put it on the shipping truck for me. So I may have my new Tow'd body very soon. Keep your fingers crossed for me. Vacation starting very soon. I really hope to get some work done on the Tow'd.

[Bruce Evans]

Awesome news.....

[86trizinger]

What are you using for headlights ? What about modifying them to have the turn signal in them.It would keep a nice simple clean look. I did it before on an old Rabbit I had and it looked great. Just a thought. But I am sure you can come up with some vintage chrome motorcycle turn signals to work as well.

[Vealmonkey]

I have some empi buggy headlights. I've seen some headlight guts with led lights built into them. I didn't know how they would look with the headlight on. Also I was wondering if I should use 2 filament bulb lights in the front and some kind of lens that stands off from the housing so maybe people on my left or on my right might see my running lights or see my turn signals? I was wondering about using harley dual element lights since they have a stalk or if they are too big and bulky, even though big and bulky may be good for signals. LOL

[Vealmonkey]

Ok, Good news for today on the Tow'd front. I'm now officially on vacation and there is Tow'd progress being made. I went up to 86trizingers' (Chris) house today and took a bunch of parts up as well I got to meet his wife and sons and his sister in law. All very nice people. I also got to help some in the design and execution of the customizing of his youngest sons bike for a bicycle competition on the 4th at the frog jumping and turtle racing event as well. I had some delicious food as well, extra - mega bonus. We hooked up his trailer and came back to my house and we loaded up the Tow'd and took it up to his house for work. YAY! We made some room and cleaned some in the garage as well to make some room for the Tow'd. I will be heading up monday morning to commence some Tow'd wrenching. I'm pretty excited. Moving forward is a good thing. Thanks Chris.

[Vealmonkey]

We worked on the tow'd today. We took out the IRS trans and removed the trailing arms. We removed the front brakes in prep for the 4 bolt disc brakes. I also bought a little bead blasting cabinet and started blasting some parts. Blasted the disc brake mounts front and rear and the solid trans mounts. Chris had some high gloss black, we preheated the oven and away we went. I think everything turned out real nice for being home powdercoated. Of course I forgot my camera and Chris doesn't have a cable for his camera to download pics. Should have some pics in the next day or 2. Ran into a problem not being able to remove the rear castle nuts off of the stub axles. May have to find a local truck shop to see if they can get the castle nuts off with a big impact. Have all new bearings for my trailing arms and vw thing stub axles and axles and type 2 cv joints as well for my reinforced trailing arms. Need to pick up the remaining cv joints as the bug shop was out last time I went and also need to pick up a set of rear shocks. So we made progress and a mess. LOL Still no word on the tow'd body from out west. Keep your fingers crossed for us. LOL

[Vealmonkey]

Progress today. We worked on the tow'd. We removed the The front drum brake assemblies. We started breaking down the old trailing arms to get the parts we need for the thing axles and all the new bearings and seals on the new trailing arms. We couldn't remove the collars and bushings from the small end of the trailing arms, so they are going to the shop tomorrow to see about getting pressed out the old trailing arms and into the new. Then we should be able to put in the new seals and bearings and such. Also we cleaned up the IRS rear section today and started treating it with the Eastwood rust conversion and prevention system. So I'm hoping for the best here. We also started sanding down the frame and applying the Eastwood products to it as well. Things are looking good so far. I took some pics of what all we have done. The frame is up on jackstands. The front beam is still on the frame. Hope you like the pics.

[Vealmonkey]

I ended up getting new urethane bushings for the trailing arms. Got to see some of the back roads of PA and visited a bug/kit car shop that I've never been to before. I also dropped off my lifan 140 at blue27s house for the A+ frame. Did some visiting as well. A busy day. The weather turned bad so I didn't end up going back up. Now back to work, vacation and the fun is over. I made alot of progress with 86trizingers help. I will end up owing him big time. We got all the stuff for a speedo for his 250xs. He ended up busting an exhaust stud and we started pulling his engine out. I think he is going to end up tearing his sx apart and cleaning it up and putting it all back together once he gets his exhaust stud out. He's threatening to do some powdercoating. LOL He does have some rock wall in his backyard on the "Honey-Do list". Sorry I'm not up there to help with that. He told me he has done some more painting on the IRS rear section. I hope the next time I get to go up, which won't be for another 12 days maybe, that we'll get the IRS rear section back in and the trailing arms and all trans and all that in, that would be nice. Still waiting to hear about what's going on with my new body. Hope it's all good news. Chris wasn't feeling well and I had to work a 16 hour shift last night so it's kind of killed this weekend. Man, I sure would like to have this somewhat put together and haul down to Bugout in September. Maybe not road worthy, but I would tow it down and still show it off since I've never seen another at Bugout. We'll see how it goes. I hope everyone else is moving forward with their projects. Get on here and post some progess reports or non-progress reports as well. LOL Hope your feeling better Chirs.

[Chris1984]

Mine is more of a non progress report, the a/c unit in my garage went out and it has been staying a nice and cool 103 for a while, but I have managed to pick up an 86 Honda 250r that needs reassembled, and I made a trip to coffeyville, ks to meet dcreel and trade him my bandito framed Honda 110 with pccc turbo wheels for an 85 Kawasaki tecate. It was an awesome trip, and it's always great to meet someone else who loves trikes.

[Bruce Evans]

Been hot here also..no ac on the carport,lol,heat indexes of 105-107 in the shade makes it kinda ruff doing anything outside the house or office.Waiting for the new tank to come in then I can start mounting the body,been doing some of the body work inbetween getting the space by the shop leveled up and ready for the new garage building and working the yard and garden,by then not much energy left for the Tow'd...will get a update soon.
Bruce

[Vealmonkey]

It's been awhile. But there is progress being made. This one is a biggie, to me anyway. My original ABS plastic body is trashed and I've been looking for a replacement. Well, it's reality now. I found a gentleman out in Utah who has a Tow'd body mold. And after the 3rd try, I have a Tow'd body!!! Yay. Now the really wild part is, the guy or gentleman, as it's 2 brothers who are doing this, are life long friends with a board member on here, HondaHarry. The Tow'd body has been delivered to Harry and he is building me a shipping crate and the body will be shipped to me here sometime in the future!!! Is this too cool or what? This is a big hurdle in the building of my Tow'd so I'm psyched about this. No cracks, no rivet holes, no crappy gel coat, all new and fresh. Hope these pics turn out. Thanks for help making this possible Harry. Don't forget to thank Ron and his brother as well for me.

[Dirtcrasher]

Wow, that body is SWEET!!!!!!!!

[Dustin87R]

Cool project! I have a Barris T Buggy that I've been working on but it's very rough and needs a ton of fiberglass work. Here's a couple of pics from when I picked it up.

[harryredtrike]

sweet deal there vealmonkey.im sure some trucking friends can swing by and pick it up if they are dead heading by

[Vealmonkey]

Dustin, cool Barris buggy, but looks like you have some work there. I was just reading a thread on another website where a guy found a bunch of the barris molds in an old building out west somewhere. You need the "C Cab" for you buggy though.
I've been looking high and low for a fiberglass body for a long time as was afraid I was going to have to buy another basket case car to get a trashed, used fiberglass body. I finally found Harrys buddies and have been trying to be patient as possible. This body matches my white gelcoat hood, which the fiberglasser Ron and his brother were so kind to mold it that way for me so it would be matching until I paint it. It will be so nice to not have to do 30 years worth of repairs and all drilling in the body will be from me! LOL I was so psyched on seeing the pics, that I just had to share. Thanks for the encouraging words everyone. I need to get back on the buggy and get some work done.

[Dustin87R]

The molds were found in a large warehouse here in GA about 30 mins from me then moved to Slidell,LA. I've tried contacting the owner but I didn't get a reply so it looks like I'll just have to do what I can with this turd. This buggy was sold with a soft top so I won't need the c-cab to make it original but it would be cool to have.

[Vealmonkey]

How touigh will it be to find those funky looking headlights! They look like old lanterns. Or are you just going to run normal buggy headlights? Have you picked up one of the plastic models of your buggy yet? They even made one of the Tow'd. I've got a plastic model of mine, but sadly, was just outbid on a sealed model of the Tow'd. I think the platic model of your buggy was re-released.

[cattle-dog]

you guys have some very cool buggys. i am impressed by them both with there old school style.

[Dustin87R]

I found the headlights but they are expensive $864.00 a set I'll most likely try building a set. I don't have a plastic model yet but they're readily available. There's a few hobby shops around here with some old inventory I'll see if they have a sealed Tow'd model next time Im there.

[Vealmonkey]

I was just on ebay and there are some kind of old "period correct" bumpers for the back of your buggy. They are twin band and they are in a semi loop. I'll try and post a link later. I'm not sure what are the correct bumpers for your barris buggy.

[Vealmonkey]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140456480777&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT
Here is the ebay listing for those bumpers.

[Dustin87R]

I think the T-Buggy had the the same bumpers front and rear but Im not sure. Im bidding on a magazine that has an article on the Barris buggies so maybe that will have some much needed info in it.

[Vealmonkey]

I would dig seeing that article. Have you collected much info on your buggy? Seems like there was several magazine articles as well as trading cards. It would be neat if there was trading cards for the Tow'd. I know they made way more plastic Tow'd models than they did Tow'ds. I built one when I was a kid. Heck, I think I built just about every buggy model there was, even the big Lindbergh models. I had a whole shelf of bug and buggy and bus models.

[Dustin87R]

I don't have alot of info just a flyer showing the round and square fendered T-Buggy bodies and last months issue of Hot Rod magazine with a small article about the remaining T-Buggies. Im currently bidding on the Aug 1970 Off Road Vehicle Guide and the Sept 1970 issue of Hot Rod Magazine. Do you ever visit the samba message bboards?

[Vealmonkey]

Visit the samba every day. LOL I've just never figured out how to post pics, so I never started a thread on my Tow'd. I'm Vealmonkey on there as well. I've posted on several Tow'd threads. I also post on RBC and on the Manx site, but haven't had much activity on the manx site to post about. I was a manx club member and my Tow'd is in the manx registry, but manx club is just way too west coast.

[Dustin87R]

I also post on the samba but not to often there's a thread about my T-Buggy in the fiberglass kit car forum. There's a few people over there with holier than thou attitudes that I can't tolerate.

[Chris1984]

Wow that body looks amazing vealmonkey! I love the way it turned out, I can't wait to see it assembled!

[Vealmonkey]

It does look really nice and a million% improvement over my poor ABS body. Now the problem is, I have to get it shipped to me. LOL I'm having problems with it since I want it dellivered to my house and I don't have a truck ramp or a forklift. So I'm trying to contact the shipping service to see if they can help me out. Every time I plug in my info, it kicks me out saying a truck with a regular lift gate won't work for my crate. I'm trying to go through freightquote .com, and I'm waiting to hear back from my rep right now. It's always something, you know? I really would like to get this beastie going.

[Bruce Evans]

Almost got the new shop space finished,here are a couple pics of were I am at now,more pics on my thread over on dunebuggy archives.
Bruce

http://www.dunebuggyarchives.com/static/attach/7/18907/DSCF0219.JPG
http://www.dunebuggyarchives.com/static/attach/7/18907/DSCF0220.JPG

[Vealmonkey]

Wow, look at all that space. Really nice. The sad part is, if I had that much space, I would fill it up with stuff. LOL So you should have that Tow'd wrapped up and going really soon, right? Then you can come over and help me with mine. LOL

[Vealmonkey]

I hate to double post, but I didn't want to walk over Bruces' posting. But I have great news...My Tow'd body has arrived in Baltimore and I picked it up and it's at my house! Yay! The crate is undamaged, which is great, except for missing two of the little feet on the bottom of the crate. Picked it up at the dock and got it home just fine. It's on the porch for now, didn't even open it up yet, didn't have time really. Now I just have to get the Tow'd halfway back together and back up on wheels at least. Virgin fiberglass. So if anyone messes this up, it will be me. LOL Main frame hoop and the VW rear pan section are all painted up with the Eastwood Rust encapsulation and prevention materials. I just need to start reassembling. I have my new reinforced IRS trailing arms with new bushings and need to install the new bearings and thing stub axles and bolt them into place. Need to install the trans and new thing flanges to the trans and install my new solid mounts. Need to install the disc brakes front and rear and the wheels and it will be rolling again. It's been awhile. I need to get a helper to get up to 86 trizingers help so I can get the big assemblies bolted back up again though. Need to get my new custom formed aluminum tank installed as well. I've got alot of work ahead of me, but with the new body it will be way easier and nicer. What's going on with everyone elses' Tow'ds?

[Bruce Evans]

Awesome news.Now you can get yours done also.
Bruce

[HondaHarry]

Glad you got it in one peice!! Sorry about those feet falling off. that was kind of a last minute feature. lol Told ya that crate was overkill! hehe open the "LID" and flip it over and you may have a decent work bench. or at least some firewood. lol oh and charge up your cordless drill. its got a boat load of screws in it. hehe. HH

[Vealmonkey]

I have the neighbors cordless drill batteries on charge. LOL I can't thank you enough Harry. I still owe you big time. I hope to open this treasure chest this weekend. Right now it's safe and secure in it's own little storage case. Now I just have to get assembling. And I just found out my frame is missing 2 tabs that secure the lower part of the windshield frame to the Tow'd frame. But my Tow'd is missing them since it never came with a hood or windshield being it is an early original Tow'd and not a later Tow'dster. And I still have to get a windshield as well. Always something.

[Vealmonkey]

New Tow'd news. Had to find a new place for the Tow'd. I have it in a garage I'm renting part of now. Had a chance to do some work on it, since I can't seem to make it out of town to work on anything else. LOL It's about 15 minutes from my house which is nice. I had 2 1/2" custom U bolts bent. Fitted the new U bolts and drilled my custom aluminum tank and bolted the vw rear section to the Tow'd frame. All went well. I can now start drilling the body to be put on the frame. Once I get the body fit, I can start fabbing frame reinforcements and some other items. I need to also start fitting my tubular reinforced IRS swingarms and suspension back in place. All new bearing and bushings and such. I have vw thing stub axles and plates and new type2 cv joints as well. I have new disc brake kits front and rear that have to be installed and new larger master cylinder and volvo reservoir and all new brake lines and all that good stuff. So I have some new things to keep me wrenching some. LOL Nice to have the Tow'd project going forward again.

[SWIGIN]

Sounds good, but we need pics!

[Vealmonkey]

I'm thnking of taking a video. I'm so not happy with my new kodak software. It hides my pictures on me! LOL My old camera put the pics in a nice easy to find place and the new software is plotting agains me. That's why I haven't posted pictures of anything lately. And really until I get the new body on, it's not much to look at. I really need to get up there and see you guys. I have 350x parts and money! LOL

[Tow'dmeister]

Hey Guys,

Glad to see the thread hasn't been idle for that long. I live in Colorado and bought a Meyers Tow'd just yesterday. Had no idea what they even were at the beginning of the week...I just wanted a dune buggy that I could make street legal and drive while my friends all rode their motorcycles lol (I can't ride due to disability). I can get pictures up as soon as I actually have the Tow'd in my possesion. It's pretty rough right now...Running engine but needs new brakes and tires and just the frame with the fiberglass spots for seats where the pads went. Tag was chiseled off by some retarded idiot but I have it here in my pocket. Tag #: TF297D9228

[Vealmonkey]

Welcome to 3wheeler world and also welcome to the world of Tow'd ownership. It usually takes someone with a high degree of sado masochism to own a Tow'd! LOL You can always pm me if you want. Can't wait to see your pictures. If you don't know what the code on your ID tag means, I can tell you once I get home. They are a blast to drive and a handful to work on. I hope I hear and see more from you posted in this thread. Best of luck with the new project.

[Chazz of Blades]

I know it's not a Tow'd, but: http://shoals.craigslist.org/cto/2400751061.html

[Vealmonkey]

It's a buggy, so that's cool. Those aren't very good pics, but I don't think it's even a Meyers Manx. Are you getting it? Make sure to look for the Meyers ID tag.

[Vealmonkey]

I haven't posted anything on here in a while. I have been working on building an engine. It's 2021cc or so. It is pretty much all new except for the VW Thing fan shroud and for a really nice used set of Italian Weber 44s' (At least I hope they work without too much hassle!). A buddy of mine was helping me build the engine from the ground up near Pittsburgh. I had been there before and we pretty much had the long block done except for the pushrods. So, I just went back again this past weekend, and missed hurrican Irene, and worked on the engine some more and my buddy hosted a picnic at his house. So now the tins are fitted, the end play is all set, the pushrods were machined late Sunday night, the carbs and throttle linkage and the coil is all fitted. My buddy will install the pushrods and get them and the new rockers all set and buttoned up. Using stock valve covers, but they will be vented. Then it's pretty much fit the exhaust and the stinger and the oil filter and the braided lines and the new distributor and distributor clamp and new wires and she is ready to be fired up. Well, it will have to be pressure pre lubed first and then ready to fire up. I'm excited about finally getting the engine pretty much done. Here is a couple pics of our latest progress. I didn't really post pics before as the long block doesn't really look like much.

[HondaHarry]

Awesome! Looks great! Thing Shroud (no fair!!) Berg Linkage, Full Flow, Italian 44's, all the good stuff!!
What Heads and Cam are you running? Should have plenty of power to push a
Towd around! Have fun with it! HH

[motoman1012002]

this is a super sweet ride good luck with the project and keep up the good work

[Vealmonkey]

The heads are cb 044s with big valves of a size I can't remember, LOL. The cam is a custom grind SLR, Steve Long Racing. New cb chromoly crank, new cb chromoly rods, new aluminum case, new chromoly lightened flywheel, 1:1 rockers, dual springs with titanium retainers, aluminum pushrods (would rather bend a pushrod than do serious engine damage with chromoly pushrods). Jaycee parts for the oil filter and related parts, cb dist and coil and maybe custom pulleys. Scat collapsable pushrod tubes, brad penn oil, cb pistons and cylinders, bosch alternator. Hopefully 150 hp or so. A beefed up trans as well. The trans was set up for drag racing, but changed the 3rd and 4th gears for the street, so the equivalant of a rancho pro street freeway flyer but with the type2 drive flanges, super diff, 1977 trans case, so only a single HD side cover, welded syncros, plate for the trans bearings, pro gears set up, steel shift forks, beefed up hockey stick, HD throwout lever and bearing, grooves cut into the gears for improved oiling.

[zeeker1]

vealmonkey, is that YOU in that Jegs hat?

[Dirtcrasher]

If I could put a face with a voice, it sure seems like Pat........... But, IDK?

[Vealmonkey]

Yes, it's me. Sorry to frag your monitors like that! LOL That's my buddy Geno in the UTZ hat who built my super Heavy Duty IRS trans and is helping me with the engine.

[Vealmonkey]

Well, my buddy Geno got the engine started. Looks like I'll be sending the 44s out to Salt Lake City Utah to Air Cooled Engineering to get them all clean up and jetted correctly. One of the carbs just wouldn't balance out right. Geno had a set of nice dellorto 45s for his race engine sitting around, so he bolted them on with his old Deano Dyno Soars intakes and started my engine up and they synced right up. My engine don't sound too shabby. I hope the weber 44s come back this nice and ready to go. I do hear great things about ACE, so I'm not worried, more anxious than anything. There is something like a 6 or 7 week backlog though! So you know they are good! LOL Here's a link to a youtube vid of my engine running.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqf8QWSXLwY
Hope you enjoy it. Just more money! LOL

[HondaHarry]

132661Nice! I had my 44s done by Art at ACE. He is the best in the business! They will come back perfect.
I have just about every part Art makes/sells in my engine. Even some goodies he does not do anymore.
I got my Fred Simpson Heads back after being freshened up. And now Mahle has discontinued the 90.5
Pistons. :( Guess it will go back together as a 1914. Guess its time to skip the 13s and run in the 12s!
It sounds great! Its going to make you grin like a fool every time you drive it! HH

[Vealmonkey]

I never had the heads messed with and I'm running about 9.5:1 compression, so there is alot left in my engine if I really want to tweak it out. I hear tons of good things about ACE, but so does everyone else and there is something like a 6 or 7 week turnaround. LOL I've got a set of Berg vented stock valve covers and one of those roller throttle tubes going to be installed. I was also going to see about a set of those engraved carb filter tops, Jaycee crank pulley and not sure about the alternator pulley.

[Vealmonkey]

Finally got the carbs back from ACE. Geno said he bolted them on and tweaked the linkage and that they fired right up. No popping or anything ugly. Geno says he will see if they need any syncing, but he says he doubts it. ACE is the ACES. I called and talked to Art and thanked him for what a great job he did with my carbs. Super nice and accessable and busy guy. Here's a youtube link of my engine running. So now it's mainly go and get it and bolt on a couple of gingerbread pieces and get it in the Tow'd. Which that is turning out to be a whole nother story unto itself! lOL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_L5O4Twdfr8&feature=feedu

[Vealmonkey]

The Tow'd story continues. As some as you know, the garage where I had the Tow'd was lost due to one of the renters pissing off the landlady. Also the same guy, got into trouble with the law and had to do a little stretch in the Pokey. The Tow'd parts were stored in a bus and a trailer. That gentleman has finally finished doing his time and I managed to get my parts back. My buddy Geno, volunteered to put the Tow'd together being as he is retired and no longer caring for his father in law, who sadly, recently passed away. Geno also managed to find a little space to put all the Tow'd parts in, so I had to gather everything up (near as I can tell), load it up in the back of the Nissan Titan, and take it all up to Eliazbeth Pa. There were a couple parts (hood and trans) that I didn't have room for, but everything else was stuffed into the truck and up the Pa turnpike I went! LOL So, the Tow'd is green lighted again! Spindles and front end parts are ordered, and hopefully up at PA today, so the correct front end parts should be installed shortly. Used spindles, New king and link pins, tie rod ends and arms and a steering dampener as well. Geno is an OG vw tech, so he has the reamer that we need and he shouldn't have any problems. Then he'll get on my front disc brakes and have the old roller wheels on. Then attention goes to the back. After some discussion, we think Geno may have to remove one of the tubular reinforcement bars for the trailing arms and that should allow the plates for the rear disc brakes to be installed which will allow the car to be sitting on all 4 wheels again, which will be a big deal. Then, the gentleman that is letting us store the tow'd, will grind the area on the new fiberglass tub that should allow the proper mating of the tube frame and the tub. Once this happens, then things will go alot smoother. So keep your fingers crossed for the Tow'd please. Say a little prayer as well, the car needs it! LOL Geno is a great guy and so is Jim, the man with the garage. Should have some good news and pics of the project soon.

[Bruce Evans]

This is awesome news...Hoping to have my wiring done and then finish up a few odds and ends and set the new windshield in place and mine should be on the road again finally...154104154105

[Vealmonkey]

I'm glad to see yours has come so far along. Since mine was originally a Tow'd, it didn't have half the parts your has, which made finding some parts alot harder. I'm looking forward to mine getting back on wheels and tires though. Congrats on yours just about being ready. Take lots more pics and post them on here please. You need some aftermarket wheels.

[Bruce Evans]

I agree with the wheels,just havent got the ones I like found yet.

[Vealmonkey]

The front spindles and steering linkage is installed. The rear bearings and seals and the type181 axle stubs are in. The rear reinforcement pieces have been ground for the rear disc brake mounts and they are installed. The disc brakes will be coming next and back on 4 wheels! A big event really. There are vids on youtube, just look up "GENO BOYD" and look for the different ways to spell Tow'd! LOL Your in the homestretch on your Tow'd now, don't give up.

[JasonB]

that thing is sweet looking!

[Vealmonkey]

157621157614157615157616157617157618157619i just got back from my buddy Genos' in Elizabeth, Pa. I got a chance to work on the Tow'd some. Got 3 of the 4 rotors and calipers installed. Broke a bearing race while installing, but luckily, Geno had a spare, but we didn't have a chance to get back to the shop. I had to come back to town and Geno had to go to a funeral. I will say this, the EMPI bolt on front disc brake kit for the King and Link pin front end was a real disappointment. The rotors wouldn't work and the bearings were wrong, so I had to rebuy both. Luckily Geno deals with alot of vendors since he rebuilds transmissions and builds engines, so he got to spend time with one of his vendors, and between the 2 of them, they managed to get me hooked up with the right parts. So EMPI strikes again. Some of their parts work well and some don't, but it seems to be the same across the entire aftermarket parts segment, which is really sad. Here are some pics. Now I need to get my Sway A Way adjustable spring plates, new torsion bars, poly torsion bar bushings and Jaycee sideplate covers. Also the body is just about all the way on. There is talk of heating the fiberglass, so, I have my fingers covered for that. Once I get the sideplate parts and the body gets set down on the frame, well, things should progress pretty quickly. Mainly just small things (relatively) as compared to what has gone on with the car to get everything suspension wise mounted. Everything had to be modded in one way or another to work. So I owe Geno and Jim big time for doing all they have. Plus we got to work on Genos' 2 drag bugs, which was nice too. Genos' blue car finally got sorted out, the 45 dellorts all rebuilt and a newer, lower pressure fuel pump and now the car seems to be running right, which is a big relief. The black car, is getting the engine rebuilt due to water getting in it and will also get a new lower pressure fuel pump and it's carbs have already been redone and the crank redone and balanced and some other little trick things that were done since the engine was entirely apart. Hope you enjoy the pics.

[Dirtcrasher]

I'd love to work on that; Sorry you lost your old friend Pat........

[Vealmonkey]

Hey Steve. Yes, it's good and bad at the same time. Wish I had a place to work on it down here in Bmore and a friend down here with the skills to help. Geno has been working with vw's forever and is an old vw trained mechanic, so his help has been invaluable. And Jims skills with a welder have been equally invaluable, so it's been a real blessing. The 2 of them in a short time have accomplished more than I did in a couple years time, and that was with the help of a board member or 2 as well.

[Vealmonkey]

158645Here's the latest pic from my friend Jim, who has done all the welding and modding to get get this beastie back together. Jim modded the body, and the steering and the rear trailing arms and cut off the old unwanted metal from previous and welded the reinforcement bars and went over some sketchy welds. My buddy Geno has gotten me the correct parts for the brakes, put the rear axles and bearings and all that, rebushed the king and linkpins and put those and the correct spindles and 3 of the 4 rotors and calipers. These 2 guys and 86trizinger (Chris) who helped me get the IRS rear section trimmed up and put into place after helping me get the old swingaxle bits out and he also gave me a hand stripping the frame and the IRS rear section and some Eastwood rust treatment on there, all helped to get the Tow'd where it's at. Thanks everyone. It's been a long slow road to get here and all the extra hands and expertise has been most welcome and greatfully appreciated, more than I can ever express enough.

[Dirtcrasher]

Nice to see a roller :beer

[Vealmonkey]

It's really exciting to see it a roller again. It's taken so much work to get it back to looking like this. Even though the car was running when I first got it, the engine and trans were in sad shape and the car wasn't in any kind of shape to be safe for the street. It's taken alot to do the right things to make it safe for the street.

[SWIGIN]

Looking good Pat!

[2YELLOWZs4me]

What happend to this thread? I'm in the middle of my Tow'd build and there is a wealth of info here. Vealmonkey did you finish you project?