I need some dates

Gene-C · Post by **Gene-C** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 4:14 pm

Can anyone give me some dates to roughly outline the history found on the MeyersManx site? That would be greatly appreciated as I am in high school building a dune buggy from scratch as a senior project and I have to write a paper regarding the history. Please make these dates as accurate as possible.

Gene-C · Post by **Gene-C** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 4:21 pm

Also, can someone explain to me what a floorpan is? Is it the same thing as a chassis or something COMPLETELY different that I'm not yet aware of? Any help would be appreciated.

shaihulud · Post by **shaihulud** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 5:00 pm

hancoOk. Get yourself a copy of Dune Buggies by James Hale, MBI Publishing Company, USA, 2004 for a good history of Bruce Meyers and dune buggies. A floor pan and a chassis do the a same thing but they are completely different. A chassis is a welded assembly of steel rails that looks a bit like a piece of a bridge or an incomplete ladder. All of the vehicle is attached to it. The floor is a separate part of the vehicle. A floor pan looks like a flat piece of steel with a central tube and side railings to which the suspension and body are attached. The floor of the vehicle is incorporated in a floor pan as part of the assembly.

Gene-C · Post by **Gene-C** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 7:42 pm

If I had the time to get the book then I surely would but because I am the procrastinator I am I have about a day between this evening and tomorrow to get the information I need for my presentation of it all on Thursday! Good info about the floor pan though, that helped me distinguish it out a bit.

Gene-C · Post by **Gene-C** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 7:50 pm

I'll be a little more specific on the dates I need. I need the year that Bruce Meyers established his trading post in the cook islands, the year he was first introduced to dune buggies and when he produced the first fiberglass dune buggy. The year he started producing several thousand kits, the year he traveled Baja beating the motorcycle record, and the years when all the different models were produced.

gregr · Post by **gregr** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 8:15 pm

TEL. (760) 749-6321 as listed on MeyersManx.com ask if they'll let you talk to Bruce. Or, start googling the heck out of Bruce Meyers

Gene-C · Post by **Gene-C** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 8:25 pm

Just watch out for the magician Bruce Myers!

allen pierce · Post by **allen pierce** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 9:05 pm

for...

the year he traveled Baja beating the motorcycle record

I believe it was 1967.

The above pics were taken at the Bug-In 32, 2005, when this original buggy was on display near the ManxClub/Meyers booth. You can right click on them and save them to your hard drive. And then use them in your report. Good Luck.

allen pierce · Post by **allen pierce** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 11:07 pm

OK, I've got a few more minutes free while the other computer is compiling... So...

when he produced the first fiberglass dune buggy

According to James Hale's book,The Dune Buggy Phenomenon (page 24), "Inspired by other dune buggies, Bruce Meyers worked on the first design for a lightweight, monocoque glassfibre buggy in his garage durring 1963. The first buggy pulled from the moulds in 1964 was christened "Old Red", and was to become the catalyst for the buggy boom of the 1960's." James Hale is English, thus, the use of the word glassfibre, instead of the word fiberglass. The first 12 buggies Bruce built were... monocoque. From James Hale's book Dune Buggies (page 23), "The essence of the design was to be a stressed monocoque bodyshell that served both as body and chassis in one, with fenders around the top lip to keep spray from being thrown up. To replace the torsional stiffness of a metal car body, strong 2 inch mild steel tubes were built in to spread stress and load over a major portion of the panelling... " As it turned out the monocoque was way too time consuming and expensive to do it this way, thus after the first 12 of them, they went to using the VW pan, after shortening it. Hope that helps you.

allen pierce · Post by **allen pierce** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 11:31 pm

Oh, if you want a picture of a shortened VW pan, with transaxle and engine, before mounting the fiberglass dune buggy body, you can have this one for your report.

A picture is worth a zillion words. Maybe your teacher will let the report be a little smaller? Don't count on it!

bobmanx · Post by **bobmanx** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 1:41 am

hanoOk, You also might try this History area on the Manx Club Website. http://www.manxclub.com/history.htm Although not real specific on dates, it provides alot of fill-in info on the History of Bruce and Manxes. Good luck! Bob

Gene-C · Post by **Gene-C** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 2:49 pm

All of that information will help a great deal as I can use just about anything I get. Also, the basis of my report is to show how dune buggies started and how they progressed over the years. I already have pictures of the older models and the original Manxs and such from the history section on the site, and the pictures posted from Allen Pierce helped a ton for the more current models. Keep the info coming because I've got a lot to learn before May in which I have to present this to a supposed "expert" in the field for my final phase of my senior project. Thanks so much for your help guys!

Gene-C · Post by **Gene-C** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 2:54 pm

Oh by the way Allen, the last picture you posted of the shortened vw floorpan would help me out a lot if you could take the time to go over with me what part is what on it. I know very basic stuff as far as any kind of automotives go which was why I chose this project. I chose it for the challenge of it and also for the knowledge of how a vehicle works and the fun of riding in a buggy :] As I said before, I have very basic knowledge so when you say "transaxel", I have no clue what your talking about

MickeyUSA · Post by **MickeyUSA** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 3:21 pm

If you need help with Volkwagen terms the quickest and simplest place would be The SambaTechnical/Dictionary reference (It is a good overview of terms).

Gene-C · Post by **Gene-C** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 4:14 pm

Also, if you haven't seen it, check out the article on how to shorten a VW pan. It is a vital part of making a "conventional" fiberglass buggy. Hot to shorten a pan.