water pumper

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Topic Public / Introduce Yourself and Your Buggy / water pumper (7426 hits)

By Doug B 4331 Date 2015-02-23 06:44

Hello,

Doug here. I was raise in the Imperial Valley of California, a place that has several sand dunes and it was a popular place to go play, there was little else to do down there.

My father was a mechanic at the local Chevrolet/Cadillac dealer and in the early 60's built what we called a family bug. These were similar to a rail bug withe a V8 power plant but instead of just a couple bucket seats, had space for 4 -5 people to sit and did not have as long a frame.

Long story to say that my father , now knocking on 90 yrs old retired and moved away taking what was left of the old bug with him. All that is left of it is now in my shop waiting to be put back together, not much more than the body is there. I was surfing the web to find some info on some of the details on these old school sand bugs. Would anybody here know much about these, or is this pretty exclusively Manx type bug fans here.

By Chuck Geon_Bugman Young Date 2015-02-23 20:15

Not a lot to go on as most of them where spare parts laying around. Looks like a Pontiac rear end, get more photos posted of what you have. The body might be cut out of a glass buggy but again hard to say.

By Doug B 4331 Date 2015-02-24 05:38

No the body was built by a company in Holtville Calif, it is all metal. I knew of at least three of these that ran around out there and they all looked pretty much the same, different colors. Motors were small block Chevys in all of them, this one had a three speed tranny out of a old Ford and a Buick re-end as I recall, from a 1930's car. All that is gone and I have the front suspension, windshield, the body, the steering gear/column/wheel. Seats, power train, rear end, frame are all gone. I am planning on using a Silverado rolling chassis to put things back together on. Plan on a 350 chevy motor backed up to a truck 4 speed with the granny low and hope to find a rear end with positraction. I might toss in a few creature comforts as well.

A few little things like the struts that come off of the front axle and bolt onto the frame I am a little confused about. Those struts at one time were a wishbone that mounted in the middle. This feature was borrowed from hot rods of the time, they would split the wishbone and mount them onto the frame like that to improve the stability, I have no idea what the swivel joint is made from.

I don't have many photos of it when it was all together, here is what I have.

At the sand dunes near Yuma Ariz.

By Chuck Geon_Bugman Young Date 2015-02-24 12:35

If the ends of the wish bone are threaded, most people today use truck tie rod ends. I would go with Heim Joints with sand covers. If you can get a common rear like an 10 bolt GM drop in a lock right to get the axels working together. Sounds like you have enough of the original to make it work. Slow day at work, I'll see if I can find more info.

By Chuck Geon_Bugman Young Date 2015-02-24 12:40

I do remember seeing something like this in a hotrod magazine back in the 80's. Might be worth running it past Friberger to see he can find more info.

By Doug B 4331 Date 2015-02-25 04:14 Edited 2015-02-25 04:35

Thanks

Last night I was looking around the internet and found a hot rod supply place that had those Heim Joints and figured that might do the job, didn't see any sand covers though. Yeah I think there is a thread on the wishbone parts, I'll have to have a look at it.

I just found another supplier hat has dust covers for them, looks like a way to go.

Did a membership search and could not find a "Friberger"

Topic Public / Introduce Yourself and Your Buggy / water pumper (7426 hits)


Login Home Account Buggy ID Forum Registry DBA Shop Clubs History How To Members Maps Calendar Email Us	DBA Forum - Not logged in Forum DBA Home Help Search Chat Topic Public / Introduce Yourself and Your Buggy / water pumper (7426 hits) By Doug B 4331 Date 2015-02-23 06:44 Hello, Doug here. I was raise in the Imperial Valley of California, a place that has several sand dunes and it was a popular place to go play, there was little else to do down there. My father was a mechanic at the local Chevrolet/Cadillac dealer and in the early 60's built what we called a family bug. These were similar to a rail bug withe a V8 power plant but instead of just a couple bucket seats, had space for 4 -5 people to sit and did not have as long a frame. Long story to say that my father , now knocking on 90 yrs old retired and moved away taking what was left of the old bug with him. All that is left of it is now in my shop waiting to be put back together, not much more than the body is there. I was surfing the web to find some info on some of the details on these old school sand bugs. Would anybody here know much about these, or is this pretty exclusively Manx type bug fans here. By Chuck Geon_Bugman Young Date 2015-02-23 20:15 Not a lot to go on as most of them where spare parts laying around. Looks like a Pontiac rear end, get more photos posted of what you have. The body might be cut out of a glass buggy but again hard to say. By Doug B 4331 Date 2015-02-24 05:38 No the body was built by a company in Holtville Calif, it is all metal. I knew of at least three of these that ran around out there and they all looked pretty much the same, different colors. Motors were small block Chevys in all of them, this one had a three speed tranny out of a old Ford and a Buick re-end as I recall, from a 1930's car. All that is gone and I have the front suspension, windshield, the body, the steering gear/column/wheel. Seats, power train, rear end, frame are all gone. I am planning on using a Silverado rolling chassis to put things back together on. Plan on a 350 chevy motor backed up to a truck 4 speed with the granny low and hope to find a rear end with positraction. I might toss in a few creature comforts as well. A few little things like the struts that come off of the front axle and bolt onto the frame I am a little confused about. Those struts at one time were a wishbone that mounted in the middle. This feature was borrowed from hot rods of the time, they would split the wishbone and mount them onto the frame like that to improve the stability, I have no idea what the swivel joint is made from. I don't have many photos of it when it was all together, here is what I have. At the sand dunes near Yuma Ariz. By Chuck Geon_Bugman Young Date 2015-02-24 12:35 If the ends of the wish bone are threaded, most people today use truck tie rod ends. I would go with Heim Joints with sand covers. If you can get a common rear like an 10 bolt GM drop in a lock right to get the axels working together. Sounds like you have enough of the original to make it work. Slow day at work, I'll see if I can find more info. By Chuck Geon_Bugman Young Date 2015-02-24 12:40 I do remember seeing something like this in a hotrod magazine back in the 80's. Might be worth running it past Friberger to see he can find more info. By Doug B 4331 Date 2015-02-25 04:14 Edited 2015-02-25 04:35 Thanks Last night I was looking around the internet and found a hot rod supply place that had those Heim Joints and figured that might do the job, didn't see any sand covers though. Yeah I think there is a thread on the wishbone parts, I'll have to have a look at it. I just found another supplier hat has dust covers for them, looks like a way to go. Did a membership search and could not find a "Friberger" Topic Public / Introduce Yourself and Your Buggy / water pumper (7426 hits) Powered by mwForum 2.10.2 © 1999-2007 Markus Wichitill Help \| About DBA \| Terms of Use \| Kwiki Home \| Logout Content Copyright (C) 2006 Dune Buggy Archives.