Dirtbox Venom mini-buggy upgrade/rebuild!

[machinist@large]

HA!!!!

i thought for sure it would go so much faster, because the buggy was basically already built. lol. so much had to be cut and reshaped, and ground down, and stuff. so yeah, no more "rebuilds". lol.

And how much time could you have saved with just a little (tini-tiny infinitesimal upgrade of tools? I've been reading the reviews; HF has much better stuff for less than you've paid for gas and time to replace the really *%@#@# stuff you swear by......)

 

[turkeyfellow91]

That kart is awesome I see it everywhere and every time it gives me a warm and fuzzy

 

[souperman000]

Those fenders are have so much more badass-ness than the other ones. Sweet.

 

[mysteryboy28]

Greaser is picking up his buggy next week. Then I'm starting 2 new builds. Another 2-seater Venom for smack911 in texas, and a simpler single-seater for my landlord with the old 56hp yamaha 485cc motor.

 

[mysteryboy28]

whipped up the frame for a skid plate to protect the sprockets and rotor from evil things like tree stumps, curbs, and big rocks. already have the plate cut, just need to screw it on.

and the latest addition to my tool collection, a 3 ton rapid-pump floor jack that cranks up to 18 1/2 inches.

just need to finish the clutch cover mounting brackets, make a few final adjustments, and it'll be ready for pickup on tuesday!

 

[mysteryboy28]

Greaser picked up his buggy today! I'm sad to see it go, but excited to start my next 2 projects.

man, the camera on my phone sucks. lol.

bye-bye buggy!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQI_NAMMsLM

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsUO9jZuUEE

 

[exenos]

That's got a nice stance on the trailer.

 

[n1kogr]

i cant wait to see the single seater!!

 

[mysteryboy28]

With a couple of upgrades it would be even sweeter. Better CVs, and better shocks for longer wheel travel - would raise it up and improve the ride. Only so much I could do with the limited budget. I seriously only made about a grand for all that work. Lol. But it made for a nice honeymoon, and paid some bills.

Stay tuned for some final pics... I added the clutch cover, painted the muffler, and even made a little plastic plate to go over the air filters to help protect them from water.

Now it's time to clean the garage and get ready for the new projects! I'll be picking up a fancy new tool cart in the next couple of days. Its crazy how fast my work tables get cluttered and things get lost. Lol.

 

[mysteryboy28]

Some final pics.

 

[exenos]

What sort of improvements are you looking at for your next buggy? Jigs? No sled frame? More travel?

 

[machinist@large]

What sort of improvements are you looking at for your next buggy? Jigs? No sled frame? More travel?

Hear, hear!!

If you are starting to plan to make a go of this, making repeatable parts, will, in the long term make your life much easier. You wouldn't need to jig everything all at once; pick something that will most likely be a constant from one buggy to the next. Say, front top and bottom A arms, followed by say, your rear trailing arms. Picking a standard for such items as upper and lower ball joints for the front end is another thing that will let you start to standardize your builds. From such small steps, done one at a time, you can start to build real consistency/ repeatability, thus making your life just that much easier.

Another way to look at it, is if you have one part/several pieces in an assembly, jigging then will make it easier for you to start figuring out where you might want to make changes. You need a solid base line to reference so you can follow what works vs. what doesn't.

Just my $.02

 

[mysteryboy28]

What sort of improvements are you looking at for your next buggy? Jigs? No sled frame? More travel?

I'd like to avoid independent rear suspension all together. lol.

the next 2 buggies are going to be swingarm, just like my demo buggy, but with more ground clearance than it had. there was concern (from fellow karters) about oil not feeding properly to the motor mounted on the swingarm when hitting bumps and such, but that shouldn't be a problem as long as there's always a fair amount of oil in the reservoir. the demo buggy performed great, and these new buggies will have improved suspension for a better ride. my goal is 12 inches of ground clearance.

biggest reason for going swingarm: cost and time involved in doing IRS just isn't worth what people are willing to pay me. and that's not cuz i'm worth my weight in gold (lol), but because i know i'm worth more than $7/hr by the time you break down the expenses. flipping burgers pays more than that.

 

[mysteryboy28]

Hear, hear!!

If you are starting to plan to make a go of this, making repeatable parts, will, in the long term make your life much easier. You wouldn't need to jig everything all at once; pick something that will most likely be a constant from one buggy to the next. Say, front top and bottom A arms, followed by say, your rear trailing arms. Picking a standard for such items as upper and lower ball joints for the front end is another thing that will let you start to standardize your builds. From such small steps, done one at a time, you can start to build real consistency/ repeatability, thus making your life just that much easier.

Another way to look at it, is if you have one part/several pieces in an assembly, jigging then will make it easier for you to start figuring out where you might want to make changes. You need a solid base line to reference so you can follow what works vs. what doesn't.

Just my $.02

jigs would be cool, BUT they too would take some time to whip up. if i knew that the orders were going to keep coming in, i think i'd be smart to make em'. but as it is, i'm living a month behind on everything, and everyone wants their buggy NOW. lol.

how about you make a visit out to lansing one of these days, have a beer or two, and show me how quick and easy it would be to make some jigs?

 

[machinist@large]

The joys of trying to use the internet....

jigs would be cool, BUT they too would take some time to whip up. if i knew that the orders were going to keep coming in, i think i'd be smart to make em'. but as it is, i'm living a month behind on everything, and everyone wants their buggy NOW. lol.

how about you make a visit out to lansing one of these days, have a beer or two, and show me how quick and easy it would be to make some jigs?

I'm not against it, but you have to remember; quick & easy are relative terms. Also, it depends on how much effort you are willing/and/or need to put into them.....

I just tried to link to a series of episodes of a gentleman in Australia that details his trials and tribulations in building his latest/last offroad buggy; I think it would fit your efforts like a "glove".....

Let me try to put this together .... I'll stay in touch. Pat

 

[exenos]

If you want to make it easier to build a jig, just make the part then build the jig around it. Take the extra bit of time and make sure you get it perfect the first time then it will be perfect the rest of the times. Jigs would probably be the biggest time saver out of everything you do, along with working on making your welds look prettier (less time spent grinding). If you want to save time you have to spend time first.

 

[machinist@large]

Yeay!! I found it!!!

Down and dirty ways to jig/fixture a buggy build.

http://youtu.be/jCzZmfM_aAQ

This is the personal youtube channel for a very well spoken man from eastern Australia, by the name of Bill Pearson; the address above is for his latest/last offroad buggy build. He also has video's covering the down&dirty basics of working with fiberglass, kevlar and carbon fiber.

Related to this thread, and the reason I wanted to post it for Mysteryboy is that he presents some really cool, cost effective, save lots of grief ways to fixture a buggy with almost ZERO cash out of pocket......

If I ever get a little ahead of things in the cash flow dept., I'm planning to steal a whole bunch of idea's for a cool build (not today, though )

Enjoy!!!

 

[greaser]

I stopped by the Dept. of natural resources today they told me it's good to go to permit for trail use so next week the videos will start to show up.

 

[exenos]

I stopped by the Dept. of natural resources today they told me it's good to go to permit for trail use so next week the videos will start to show up.

Good to hear that your sticking around a bit.

 

[greaser]

oh yeah I'll be here Exenos. I got it registered today (I got to make up my own vin lol) and took her for a quick spin with a buddy and everything seemed good to go. the circle I did had mud rocks and high speed small bumps it soaked them all up no sweat. sorry no video this time next time for sure.