So back in 2017 i took a buggy i modified on the Mongol Rally. Unfortunately due to me being novice to modifying a beach buggy for offroad the said modifications where the death of my buggy  .
However with a combination of guilt of killing off a UK buggy and the experience of travelling through loads of countries in one has given me the desire to build one from the ground up. So hence forth you will see the birth of the new African buggy that I will build with the express purpose of driving to Cape town in 2020.



So few things to address on the chassis before i can start to reinforce it

Frame Head
All the research I had done in respect to off roading in a buggy lead me to the conclusion that the Front suspension i wanted to run was king and link pin. After further research it was clear this involved a slightly different frame head. The frame head i had on the chassis was for a ball joint front end





IRS
IRS rear suspension is also a desirable attribute for off roading (well just better all round really). My chassis was a Swing axle variety.




Brake and Fuel Lines
On the Mongol rally we were constantly throwing thing into the buggy in a hurry. I was always a little worried that we might inadvertently sever a fuel or a brake line.  So  for this buggy I was also keen to run the brake and fuel lines through the Tunnel.




Although i am quite good with putting parts together and some simple fabrication. I not that good with creating jigs to get brackets welded in the correct configuration. So the chassis was sent off to Flatlands Engineering to sort out  these items

Next Step on the chassis will be to reinforce it and add the floor pans

Learning from previous mistakes is a good way, the book by HP baja bugs and buggies is a good read but dated now however it is still relevant as the basic car is still the same,it is not upto date on available parts..

If I were building it I'd choose a Volksrod body, the folded over and boxed sides make it extremely strong and rigid and can be used for storage also. Plus they have headlights in the wings so less likely to shake loose.

Great work!

for a buggy capable to last off road,first throw the standard beetle chassis away and go full tube frame,lighter stronger miles better in all repects.and definatly dont use a new mexican/brazilian front beam,track a german 1 down.and also dont use vw irs trailing arms they fold up under any pressure and bow kits just add too much weight for not that much beneffit

Quote from: Manxdavid on July 30, 2018, 12:06:21 PM
If I were building it I'd choose a Volksrod body, the folded over and boxed sides make it extremely strong and rigid and can be used for storage also. Plus they have headlights in the wings so less likely to shake loose.

Great work!

strong and rigid 

IRS I would look at a bus box and a 1" lift !!,,, 924/944! stubs and c/v, The good thing is if a c/v pops they are the same as Ford, Porsche, Vw etc Bus box and Peloquin? limited slip diff

Quote from: snoopy on July 30, 2018, 11:08:45 AM
Learning from previous mistakes is a good way, the book by HP baja bugs and buggies is a good read but dated now however it is still relevant as the basic car is still the same,it is not upto date on available parts..

Hey there Snoopy.
I have been reading through that book a lot. Got some good ideas some of which i will be incorporating.

I don't know if you've got a body but this would be perfect, strong as Hell!

http://www.beachbuggy.info/index.php/topic,11811.0.html

Continuing the journey of the African buggy build
Prior to finalising the chassis frame work i purchased a Doon shell. This enable the frame work to be created to best suit the individual shell


Reinforcing the Chassis
At the the front some sheet metal was added to support the foot pedals. The buggy I had for the Mongol Rally split at this point so reinforcing this area was essential


At the rear of the floor plan the chassis was further reinforced with a triangulated section. This was further reinforced with the addition of some plate steel at the rear.



The final result minus the floor plan came out like this


The Floor Plan
The floor plan for the buggy was made from a single sheet of aluminium. It was cut to fit the chassis and then bolted on. Currently it has been left unpainted until the roll cage has been fabricated and fitted. The plan will be to use Raptor paint on it prior to the final fit out.




Fitting the Front Beam
The warrior front beam that I purchased didn't come with the beetle front mounts so a donor beam was sourced. The brackets were then removed and welded in place on the new beam.




Fitting the beam with the Doon Shell
Another problem to solve was that the new front beam has 8 inch shock towers. This meant that they would be too tall for the Doon Shell. So holes had to be cut in the shell to accommodate the the taller towers.





Now that the Chassis work and floor plan are in I'll be doing an initial fitting the Front and rear suspension. This will allow me to move it around easier and get it up to Lee at Volksmagic for the roll cage and bodywork.

The chassis work has been carried out by Arthur at the M.A.D Workshop in Bristol.