Whew, what a month!

So it is July 2 and we set a tentative deadline for ourselves of July 3 (baby's due date) to have the buggy running.  I am proud to announce that we might just make that deadline.  Steve has the day off work tomorrow and a few last minute things to put together but we could actually get this thing running tomorrow!! Woo hoo!!  

Steve has been working very hard the past month and unfortunately for this part of the project I'm not so useful.  As it turns out, a nine-month pregnant woman can't get herself into small spaces to run tiny wires through the tubing of a buggy!  Not to mention, it's just so HOT!

Anyway, Steve has run all the wires in the buggy so everything now has power.  He tells me that once we put the gas tank back on, hook up the fuel lines and bleed the brake and clutch lines, we should be ready to rock and roll.  Crazy how everything is coming together! Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to post about our first ride in the buggy, or maybe I'm just being too ambitious.  As long as this baby decides to wait (which he seems content to do) we are making progress to get it done.  

Wiring photos aren't the greatest to look at but here it goes anyway.

The horn mounted underneath.  Elwood is not a fan!

A whole mess of wires up front.  Blogger keeps rotating these photos, sorry.

A whole mess of wires in the back.   They all look much more put together now.

The battery box behind the passenger seat.

Steve's new toy, a soldering gun for connecting all the wires.

And the headlights work and everything!

We are really excited to move on to the next steps.  Tomorrow should be a busy day and hopefully a landmark one as well.

The buggy is getting it's plumbing

We have been running the brake lines on the buggy for a couple weeks now.  We have been going to several different stores around town and ordering online to get all the right sizes.  They are steel lines that we are bending and shaping to fit the buggy.  The next step will be all the electrical wiring which Steve tells me he feels confident we can do now.  This should be the most difficult and tedious part of the job so far.  Can't wait!

Here are the photos of the brake lines and CV joints we finally got installed.

Our "supervisor" is getting more and more lazy by the day!

The brake and clutch lines...

Sometimes Elwood can be such a micro-manager!

The shocks...

(These are the rear ones.  We learned that the front ones are not so good and will need to get replaced at some point.)

 The CV Joint before the rebuild... 

 Put back together...

 Getting gooped with grease...

...and installed.

The new tie rods.  Shiny chrome.  Very Pretty.

Someone found the box the crib came in  Apparently the boxes are more fun than what's inside!

The under bars are installed again to protect the motor from the trees we will be driving over.  LOL. We also installed new exhaust pipes that look much better than the old ones.

The view from the rear.  We added a chrome guard over the fan/generator belt to keep fingers out.  (Very important.)

We also finished putting together the "dashboard".  This will be one of the big wiring hurtles that is next on the agenda.  We have turn signal indicators and a high beam indicator light across the top.  Under that is the tachometer and volts and oil pressure gauges.  Next in line is oil temperature. The switches are for four-way flashers, high beams, and the lights under the buggy. There is a horn button. The ignition is at the bottom.  No, there is no speedometer, we are gonna wing it! (plus we have the gps as a backup, if we really need it!)

Everything is STARTING to come together!

Since paint and wheels, we have started to re-assemble the buggy.  The seats are back in, pedals, gas tank, floor, lights, steering rod, "dash", etc.  We also have the transmission and motor installed for the first time ever!  This is an exciting day for the buggy.  It is not hooked up to anything yet but it is there.  We have also started running the brake and clutch lines.  After we get those hooked up to where they need to be, we will get a battery and start wiring everything else.  We are currently waiting for a few parts to get here from California.  We are replacing one of the CV joints because we lost a piece of it during the fabrication process.  That is one of the things we are waiting for. Steve did successfully rebuild the other ones though. Here are some photos of the progress...

So, the motor needs some cosmetic attention, but it seems mechanically sound (at least it did a year or so ago when we last started it). We've made some progress putting things back together. Slowly but surely...

The Buggy has a new pair of shoes

We finally found a great deal on tires for the dune buggy and had to jump on them.  Luckily, we found a place here in town that sells decent used tires and they had just the right sizes to fit our wheels.  I got a lesson in mounting and balancing.  The place we went let me watch.   We also painted the floor this week so the whole thing is painted and ready to roll.  Ha Ha.  I guess our next steps will be putting it all back together again.  Here goes nothin!  

 We had to use a converter because the wheels on the VW had four studs and the new wheels

 have five.  Didn't think I had taken a picture of that yet so here it is.  

The back tires are a little bigger than the front ones.

The floor, primed.

Painted.

A close up of the paint.

And the Buggy has a new home...

Last night we touched up all the red paint.  This morning, it was moving day for the buggy. We need to clear it out of the garage so we can prepare for our Yard Sale this weekend. Ultimately, the buggy will live outside anyway.  We just wanted to make sure that it was painted and rustproof before subjecting it to Florida weather.  Steve put the front end back on so that we once again had a rolling chassis.  

After Steve attached the front end, I put the wheels and tires back on all by myself!

Steve put the steering back together.  Elwood napped...

Next, I got in and got to "drive" it, Flintstone Style!  We put it in the back yard and there it will sit for a while until we get rid of our stuff in the Yard Sale.  

From a Project to a Product...

This week was painting week!  We had a couple great weather days and decided the time is now.  We picked up the paint from a shop in Orlando and got right to work.  Here is a photo of the primed frame.

 

          The Paint "Kit"

We had to roll the bedliner paint on which was quite a chore with the texture and all.  Amazingly, we got one really good coat on before the sun went down that day.  We should be all finished with the painting except for a few touch ups here and there.  

      This is tough stuff!

 Steve just showing off 

 

Turning it upside down to get the bottom

 

       A closer look

 PS I kinda outgrew my painting clothes!  :)