Mantaray II Kyote

**crack monkey** · September 12th, 2009, 06:02 PM

this is my Mantaray II Kyote build. Need to have her on the road by spring.

plan is to smooth the body completely. no lights will be mounted on the body... everything will be slightly hidden so they dont overpower the body lines. was thinking some calssic bits mixed with the modern stuff... we will see. here are a few Pics the and some more will be in my photobucket that will show more detail of what i am starting with

http://s218.photobucket.com/albums/c.../dune%20buggy/

here it is in the back yard.

these are the wheels i am planning on running. they are 17 inch GMC Yukon alluminum wheels

I have been wrestling with what tires to run. go monster with some 265/70's or low profile 205/50's. (pics of both set ups are on my photobucket.) decided that it needs to be in between. the big ones seemed too big and the small too small. I am going to run the size that are on my Ranier.... forget what that size is right now though. they look good and should be proportionate.

A huge thank you to everyone that was involved with obtaining the body.. I really appreciate it.

**crack monkey** · September 13th, 2009, 05:02 PM

i did a little work to the body today.

got rid of the 'repairs' someone else did to it. headlights are opened back up. and the fuel filler too. the filler had a 6x6 inch piece of plywood behind it with a 2 inch hole drilled in the middle... then filled with bondo and resin..... awesome

this pic shows what the windshield mount looked like before

and after i scraped it away... yes that is a chunk of resin you see. as part of it.

i also cut out the pooly done reinforcements and the plywood that was under the jump seat... i will need to smooth out and make better reinforcements and plug the hole on the jump seat. you should have seen the dirt and acorns that were under there..

**crack monkey** · September 14th, 2009, 03:14 PM

no pictures today. was out cleaning up my pile of vw shit in the back yard today. stripped the disk brakes of of the t3 beam. and got the trans off of a piece of frame it was attached too. was able to move my pan out of its hiding spot and put the body on it to see how stuff was going to line up. took off shocks and some other bits so i can take them to the basement and clean/ paint them as time allows.

need to order some masterseries soon.

oh... rear part of the pans have some pin holes and crap so if i end up using this pan i may have to replace the rear sections

**crack monkey** · September 16th, 2009, 05:53 PM

got Tires tonight!!!!.... gotta love going behind dealerships at night and grabbing their scraps. 145/65R17 the EXACT size i wanted!!!

**crack monkey** · September 21st, 2009, 05:29 PM

got to do a little work today.

separated the t3 trans from the motor it was attached too.

drug out my spare pan and set it up on top of some tires and then put the body on top to check the clearances.... also took my new tires and tossed them in the arches to see what it will look like. i am totally happy with this size tire. i am pretty sure i am going to need to lift the body though... probably 3 inches.

also decided to use my t4 motor. separated that from the trans and went to town tearing stuff off of it to lighten it up. finally got it in the basement. i am going to make some kadron manifolds for it. (i know you can get them for this motor but that is not in the budget)

also stripped and painted some front shocks and steering shaft

i have pics to post but the battery died in the camera

**crack monkey** · September 24th, 2009, 07:29 PM

went to rodderdan's place and picked up a ghia partial body with a title. whoooo hhoooo left work at 715pm got to his place a little after 830 and got home around 1130.

**crack monkey** · September 26th, 2009, 05:55 PM

here are the pictures from the earlier post.

as you can see here, these tires are big but not too big like the first group was. this is about where i think the buggy will sit with the tires mounted.

here is the motor. t4 1700 from a 412. turns freely... had to take everything off that i could to be able to manuver it into the basement. going to have to build my own manifolds to run the kadrons unless someone has a set they want to sell cheap.

more pics when i get the ghia over to cut up on monday

**crack monkey** · September 27th, 2009, 07:21 PM

ok i lied... more pics today.

it was raining out this morning.... so i worked on my carb manifolds. well one of them anyways.

going to run kadrons on the t4. t4/kadron manifolds cost 100 new... i dont have money for them... so i started making my own.

started with this: t4 fuel injection intake and a steel intake kadron

cut up the parts i needed.

then some more cutting and welding and cutting ... and smashing with a hammer. i got this

it is all just tacked together right now, but it is pretty good i think. also have toplug the FI holes in the bottom. i will do the other side soon.... but tomorrow is cut up the ghia day

**crack monkey** · September 29th, 2009, 04:12 PM

yesterday was 'cut up the ghia day.'

started with this sitting in front of the house.

a bunch of this

some of this

when i broke my sawsall and more of this

when i got back from getting a new one.... and i got this

like all the rust all over the road? it was bad!!! that poor ghia was just toast

then i took all the bits and pieces and did this

a second trip later and i was done. rolled the chassis into the back yard and now it waits until 'the shortening'

**crack monkey** · October 3rd, 2009, 04:40 PM

got my tires mounted to the wheels yesterday

they look great... the exact proportion on the wheels that i wanted.

next item for the wheels will be figuring out how thick of wheel adaptor i need.

**crack monkey** · October 4th, 2009, 05:09 PM

this is me doing a little dance because it looks like i dont need wheel adaptors.

sat the body on the new chassis today and checked clearances. i need to get the front disk hub centric ring machined thinner but other than than i will just need to have the disks and drums redrilled and studded to use the yukon wheels.

here is a pic mocked up

the front is a little high because the body was resting on the front shock towers. but you get the idea.

speaking of the front... i see a problem coming and that will be the size of the tires. i can not go full turn with them. i moved the body back a few inches and it was better but still was going to hit. samba people said just dont turn too far... not real happy about that but other option would be to notch the wheel well on the body. a body lift and or raised spindles will not help either. so not sure what i am going to do about it yet. other piece is that i will have to take out the stock headlight pods.... in the pics on my photobucket you can see that they are resting on the wheel.... and that is still an inch too high. so out they will come. i am thinking lights under the body.... we will have to see.

other work today was that i got the crap rust pieces away from the tunnel on one side. no pics of that though

**crack monkey** · October 6th, 2009, 04:12 PM

i began to shorten the pan today. didnt take any pics though.

that shit is a pain in the ass. next time i will just buy one from berrein buggy and be done with it.

i dont like how things were lining up but oh well. tunnel shape is a bitch. i wont be putting pans back into it anyways.

it is about 1/2 way welded right now. i am going to take some of the scrap tunnel and make straps to go over the joint just to make sure.

once this is welded back together i will bring it into the basement so i can start on all the other stuff

**crack monkey** · October 13th, 2009, 11:10 AM

here is the latest..
i am now out of.... welding wire, grinding/cutoff wheels, sawsall blades.. and my batteries died in the camera so no pics today

what i have gotten done...and learned
tacked together the other carb manifold. turns out on the t4 motor one side is higher than the other.. go figure. so since the carb manifolds are about the same size, one will sit higher than the other. i am opting not to make the one taller because i think it is better to have the same distance to the head from each carb... if i am wrong here someone please tell me that it wont make a difference and i will even it out when i get more wire.

if you plan on making a buggy from a ghia chassis... you should actually take about 9 inches from behind the e brake and 5 from in front of the shifter. when i cut mine i did it standard buggy style and the rear sections really dont match... today i was making a transition piece for where the pans meet the tunnel.. couldnt finish... ran out of wire.

found the pieces to convert my trans back into an irs.... but they were weathered and i dont know if i want to mess with it again.... concidering just going swing axel now until i would have the cash to pick up a new trans.

i am narrowing down my color for the body.... and think i am giving up on the 914 seats (by the time i get the seats and recover it will be really pricy) so i am starting to think just fiberglass low back buckets.... we will see.

**crack monkey** · November 3rd, 2009, 04:37 PM

not much to report from the last few weeks.

but today i got out there a little. bought some welding wire. didnt weld anything.

pulled the small leaves out of one beam so they could be sent to rob to be put in the beam he is building for dan. the leaves needed to come out anyway for the buggy.

was down in the basement for a little bit trying to pull more of the engine tin off of the t4. i see where other tin is going to be trimmed to clean up the look more.

other than that... i am looking around for a place that will redrill my drums. i am kindof bummed because i wanted to use disks on the front... but it looks like the bolt pattern may prevent that unless i can find the screw in studs for the gmc wheels. one way or another it will get done.

**crack monkey** · November 29th, 2009, 02:57 PM

got a little done here recently. been getting all the junk off the motor. today i was able to take some time and start to sand blast some of it. the metal is really nasty dirty and greasey so it was slow moving day. i hope to do more this week sometime.

**crack monkey** · December 6th, 2009, 12:46 PM

got to do a little today... and i do mean a little.

trimmed the upper engine tin to get rid of the excess. after looking at what i had already sandblasted and seeing lots of pitting in the top of the tin... i am concidering to use hammertone paint on the tin (to try and hide the condition of the metal some)

also was able to fix my power washer today so i sprayed the fan shroud with some oven cleaner i had and took them out back to blast them... seeing as there is snow on the ground i am going to chalk up the results to it being too cold out to do this crap. it did ok but there is still more that needs to come off before i can paint them.

camera is broken so no pics

**crack monkey** · December 29th, 2009, 06:37 PM

since my day went to hell in a handbag again i got a little time to work on some bits for the buggy... but since i dont have a camera again... no pics

stripped and repainted 4 pushrod tubes.. broke one rubber gasket
stipped and painted the same side valve cover.... all flat black

it is some progress even if it is not much.

**crack monkey** · April 20th, 2010, 05:53 PM

well... i have not been able to work on the buggy for a while now. asked my girl to marry me and now we have to work on consolidating our stuff. my kids and i will be moving into her place (bigger and newer) so i have been working on her basement to make it work for all of us. it had an unfinished storage/bathroom. so I have been making it a finished bedroom/bathroom and also taking another section of the basement and making that into a finished storage room. for the past 4 months I have only had 1 day off a week (and work/commuting another 80 hours a week) so progress has been slow. work schedule is changing now so hopefully mor progress will be made and i can finish it up in the next month.

Then i can do work at my house and some on the buggy. but since we are moving into her place there will be no room for projects (HOA would shit themselves... i hate HOAs) Anyways, plan has changed to get the buggy mobile by the end of the year.... this means i am going to have to give in on almost everything i wanted for the buggy (for now)

Instead of what has been described in this thread, it will be transitioning with more stuff that I already have available or are cheap to get.

Paint (was going to be bright and shiny... probably white) is now going to be the same blue as my old bug.... i still have 2 quarts left.

pan... (was going to be raised and full roll cage) is now going to be basicly my 58 pan with some rust repair around the vin.

wheels... well there is a sore spot... i really wanted to use my gmc wheels but i need to do the custom pan for them to fit and drums drilled to mount them. now i could run my 13's but the guy that bought my bug never brought back my rears and i dont have a way to get ahold of him. i still have the fronts and a possibility would be to find a pair of rear widened 14 inch wheels. another option would be to run my 4 lug sprints... need to get tires all the way around for them though. i dont know at this point.

seats (was going to be some nice sport seats like from a acura rsx or something like that) now will be stock lowbacks. easier and cheaper to get recovered

windshield... i have the squared one that shorty gave me but i prefer the rounded ones.... or might just go with something really short and say screw it.

electonics... never wanted to run anything other than my gps and that will stay the same. lights on my body style are a pain in the ass so i need to figure something out there still... i was going to run them under the body before but it will be too low to do that now i think

well. we will see how it goes

**crack monkey** · April 25th, 2010, 05:05 PM

i picked this exhaust up from a dumpster behind a local dealership. i am pretty sure it is a nismo exhaust.... that is how the tailpipes are labled anyway. it is too big to be from a car so i am thinking it is from a titan or frontier.

it is very clean, doesnt look very used at all. it will get cut up and repieced together for my t4 motor

**crack monkey** · May 16th, 2010, 02:02 PM

visited my favorite dumpster and got these.

i have no idea what they are from but they fit great into the chassis. i actually have like an inch on each side (to body and tunnel) Here is a pic of one sitting in the body

and here it is from the front to show the height. this is with it sitting at the lip height of the chassis.

just need to find out what they are from and locate new pads and covers

**crack monkey** · August 29th, 2010, 07:53 PM

been a while since i have been able to update anything on here.... been working on my girls house and moving into it. so i have a little update on the buggy.

have taken a few pieces and (i bleieve the kids call it...) murdered them out. had a brand new fuel pump and took my 009 dizzy and took them apart and painted them all satin black. looks good i guess.

but i have lots of decisions to make:

1. what motor to use? I have the 1600 that was in the volksquad (currently it is a long block), a 1600 T3 (supposedly rebuilt and i have the tin to complete it), and i have my T4 that i have taken mostly apart and will need a few pieces to put it together. each set up has its advantages.. the t1 (i have run it and know how i had it set up), the t3 (could run a cool exhaust right over the middle of the motor) and the t4 (more power and same style exhaust as the t3.)

guess it will come down similar to how the current wheel situation has worked out.... whatever i have left.

2. the wheels. how to paint them? for the next 10 minutes i am using my sprintstars. here they are.

i have a few options in painting them. same as they are in the picture (but with a darker gray on the outter rim instead of the light gray), paint them typical sprintstar style with the black incerts and the darker gray ribs, or do them solid black or gray. the whole buggy except for the body i want to be understated, so i am leaning to the all black or the way they are painted now (just freshened up)

feel free to pm me any opinions... or to tell me to go fuck myself.