UPDATE: High School Auto Shop Tow'd

Share with others how to make your Tow'd a prince.
Scott-Drolet
Posts: 400
Joined: Mon Mar 01, 2010 6:00 am

UPDATE: High School Auto Shop Tow'd

Post by Scott-Drolet »

The Thursday before the Mammoth run I got an email from John who lived in San Rafael, California.  He had been advertising his Tow'd for sale up in the San Francisco Bay area and was having no luck selling it. Even worse, the few people that did look at it showed no appreciation for the buggy he had owned since 1973. He was afraid it would get thrashed. John had bought this from a local high school auto shop teacher whose students had built it as a class project in 1969.  A couple years later, the teacher sold it to John, who's had it ever since. Personally, I always liked the Tow'd but everyone I've talked to that had one, from Bob Kornoff to Bruce Meyers himself, warned me I would grow tired of it if I had one.  Well, neither of those guys were around when I was talking to John, so it didn't take long after I had hung up with him (20 minutes to be exact) before I decided I had to have it, even if it meant selling one (or two) of my other buggies.  I called John back and arranged to pick it up the very next Friday.

Yesterday morning I was up and pulling out of the driveway at 5:00am.  I have one of those non-suspension tube frame type trailers that pulls great when it's carrying a buggy, but bangs wrecklessly around empty. In fact, it spends more time in the air teathered to the truck by the tow ball then it does on the ground. I did have to stop a couple of times to retighten the rachet straps holding the ramps up, but overall the 6 hour drive to San Francisco went pretty well.  When I hit Dublin, California,  I called John to let him know I would be there in a half hour or so and he asked if I was bringing a truck.  I told him I was along with a trailer, and he said that was good news because he was giving me some parts, too. Great! 

At 11:30 I pulled up to John' house and there sat the Tow'd parked along the curb in the street.  John quickly told me everything he could remember about the Tow'ds idiosyncracies, from the shift rod construction, to the fact that the transmission is sitting too far forward in the torsion housing, all the way down to the geometry of the windshield wipers.  He also had hidden some toggle switches and battery disconnects in some pretty clever places to deter someone taking it.    All in all, you could tell John loved this Tow'd.  I asked him how he felt about parting with a car after having it for 38 years.  He boiled it down to what we all say when we sell one of ours . . . He didn't drive it enough and he wanted someone to keep it going and take care of it as he would. His biggest concern was finding a home for it. 

About then is when he told me about the spare parts. Wow!  It was pretty much a new engine in a box: a beautiful NOS SPG roller crank, NOS dual port heads in their original VW dealer boxes, a vintage twin pipe exhaust system for a Type III engine, two flywheels, fan shrouds, jugs & pistons, a machined and alignbored case, miscellaneous books and notes about the parts, the orginal Tow'd towbar, and even a spare hood in the same orange gelcoat (although it may not be a Meyers hood, it is an exact replica if not  . . .   I asked him if it was a Sandhopper, but he said he thought it came from a Sandpiper, which was a Kellison buggy). Anyways, five large boxes of heavy metal parts, plus all of this loose stuff and this beautiful hood were loaded into my truck. I pulled the Tow'd onto the trailer (the  type III engine sounds strong and is an almost identical bookend to the engine in my Empi Sportster) and off I went. 

At 7:30pm I pulled into my driveway and started unloading everything.   Here's some pics from yesterday, I'll take more as I start organizing everything:

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Last edited by Scott-Drolet on Thu Sep 22, 2011 3:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
Scott Drolet
MC Vice President

MC 47, DSB, RBC, Long Haul League, '64 Monocoque, '67 Manx, '73 Manxter, '64 Stainless Burro, '64 Corvair Burro, '65 Corvair Burro
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louisb
Posts: 300
Joined: Wed May 05, 2010 5:00 am

UPDATE: High School Auto Shop Tow'd

Post by louisb »

Nice score!



--louis
louisb
Posts: 300
Joined: Wed May 05, 2010 5:00 am

UPDATE: High School Auto Shop Tow'd

Post by louisb »

You should do like Bob H. and enter the NORRA 2013 with it.



--louis
Ed-Chenal
Posts: 382
Joined: Thu Apr 08, 2010 5:00 am
Location: SoCal

UPDATE: High School Auto Shop Tow'd

Post by Ed-Chenal »

Nice story Scott.

Best of luck.
Ed
User avatar
1MINT86
Posts: 59
Joined: Tue Nov 30, 2010 6:00 am
Location: Simi Valley, CA

UPDATE: High School Auto Shop Tow'd

Post by 1MINT86 »

Scott,
Welcome to the family, and congratulations on your latest acquisition. What a great story. I look forward to seeing at a run soon.
Greg & Jeanne Lewin
Member 2805
Tow'd 1679
Dual Sport DS-025
towd-dude
Posts: 279
Joined: Fri Feb 26, 2010 6:00 am
Location: Gardnerville, Nevada

UPDATE: High School Auto Shop Tow'd

Post by towd-dude »

Scott,
Great find complete with it's history and a pile of spare parts. Just doesn't get any better than that....! It seems you just can't get away from those T-3 motors. Actually I think that bobbed nose looks kind of nice. If you have that toe board panel in there you won't notice the wind (and dust).
Now, What's that motor for sitting on that COSTCO work bench..?

It's probably time I give up the "Tow'd Dude" handle and become
Burro Bob (before Hunter does)....

Bob  
P.S.  Nice to see a garage full of the Right Stuff...
Last edited by towd-dude on Sun Sep 18, 2011 6:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Scott-Drolet
Posts: 400
Joined: Mon Mar 01, 2010 6:00 am

UPDATE: High School Auto Shop Tow'd

Post by Scott-Drolet »

Thanks everybody, It is in really good shape but has a few things I'll need to correct:
 
1. - It sits too low, but has an adjustable front end, so I may be able to rectify that.
2. - The rear tires tow out at the leading edge an inch wider overall than the trailing edge, hence the scrubbed and bald tires.  The owner warned me about this in our discussion about the transmission needing to move back a little bit.  Doran was here yesterday and he pointed out it was really the spring plates as these are the longer torsion bars, so the plates don't have the oval shaped holes for adjustment.   Bob Anderson stopped by  a couple hours later and offered to help me open them up on his mill once I get them off.  Wow! Buggy friends sure work fast!
3. The aluminum dash needs to be laid out differently to accomodate everything and still fit in the new hood bump.
4. I'll probably move the battery from underneath the car to it's correct position behind the driver. I'm afaid it'll get damaged from a rock or something down there.
5. New tires . . . Mickey Thompson Mini-Mags in front and Baja ATZ Plus tires in the rear (30x9.5x15" - same as on the Sportster) to get some ground clearance. 
6. New rims, I've got a set of powdercoated/painted two-tone silver and black Empi Sprintstar 4-lug rims in boxes on a shelf. 6" fronts and 10" rears. I think the silver and black will go great with the competition orange gelcoat.
7. Redrilled front drums - Unfortunately, the link pin front is five lug and the rear hubs are four lugs. So, I'll change out the front so I can use the Sprintstars. Either that (close your ears, purists), or run some front adapters for the time being.
8. New Bugshields windshield. I hear their windshield is a couple inches taller.  When I drive now, the top of the windshield is right in my line of view, so I either hunch down a litte to see under it, or up a little to see over it.
9. While I like the rollbar configuration. It's a little rough where the welds are, and the front bar will need to be a little taller to match the new windshield.  So, David Barret here we come.
10. Drive the hell out of it!  Which, I've actually started to do. It's like driving a little slot car on the street. Unbeliveable! My left leg can extend straight out and around the clutch pedal, but, yeah, my right leg is bent to the right over the hump onto the passenger side a little.  I'll get used to it . . .:)

Bob, the toeboard panel is missing, but the owner had a piece of rubber matting covering the opening,.  It's better than nothing, but I'll see if I can find a toe board to make a pattern from somewhere.  The engine on the bench is out of the Manx . . .I had the Delortos rebuilt and are in the process of installing them.

See you soon!
Last edited by Scott-Drolet on Mon Sep 19, 2011 5:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
Scott Drolet
MC Vice President

MC 47, DSB, RBC, Long Haul League, '64 Monocoque, '67 Manx, '73 Manxter, '64 Stainless Burro, '64 Corvair Burro, '65 Corvair Burro
http://www.ManxClub.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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louisb
Posts: 300
Joined: Wed May 05, 2010 5:00 am

UPDATE: High School Auto Shop Tow'd

Post by louisb »

Just switch out to 4 lug disks in the front.



--louis
Scott-Drolet
Posts: 400
Joined: Mon Mar 01, 2010 6:00 am

UPDATE: High School Auto Shop Tow'd

Post by Scott-Drolet »

On Saturday I wanted to figure out the year the body was built so I figured I would decode the number on the serial number tag. Things got interesting when I found the tag didn't have the typical Tow'd serial number . . . instead it had the Special Construction "DRF" series VIN number. I emailed Winnie, who said neither she or Bruce had ever heard of something like that before.  But, that Bruce remembers Roger Smith from Peppertree Automotive somehow came up with a DRF series title for Old Red when Bruce was trying to get it registered. Not that either of us really knew what that meant.

A couple hours later I got a call from John, the seller, saying he was going through his files and came across an envelope that had four BF Meyers tags in it, two with serial numbers and two without. And, he would get them in the mail to me right away.  Well, this just really had me puzzled and I couldn't wait for them to arrive.  They came today.

What John sent me were two tags that had been cutoff right above the silver box where the serial number would have been stamped, one tag with the VIN number stamped onto it, and one tag that had a true Tow'd serial number.  Upon closer inspection, it became obvious that three of the tags, plus the tag attached to the Tow'd, were all counterfeits. I believe the original owner, the auto shop teacher, must have felt it was more important to have his VIN number on the tag then the Tow'd serial number.  He, or someone he knew, silkscreened BF Meyers art onto some thin sheetmetal, and after a few VIN stamping attempts, finally came up with one presentable enough to mount in the car.  Mystery solved!

The good news is that the original tag is in excellent shape, and that John carefully stored it away for the past 38 years. I'll be riveting it back in place very soon. 

The "real" tag is the purplish tag on the bottom left of the page:

Image


Last edited by Scott-Drolet on Thu Sep 22, 2011 4:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
Scott Drolet
MC Vice President

MC 47, DSB, RBC, Long Haul League, '64 Monocoque, '67 Manx, '73 Manxter, '64 Stainless Burro, '64 Corvair Burro, '65 Corvair Burro
http://www.ManxClub.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.SeaToSeaSafari.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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manxdavid
Posts: 998
Joined: Fri Mar 26, 2010 5:00 am
Location: Bull Bay, Anglesey, North Wales, UK. Manxclub #678

UPDATE: High School Auto Shop Tow'd

Post by manxdavid »

5 bolt fronts are totally the wrong shape to re-drill for 4 bolt pattern, and I don't think 4 bolt discs will fit easily onto K&L spindles. Adapters would be easiest and would work fine as the Tow'd front's so light. Just be carefull what nuts you choose though; Sprintstars have quite big bolt holes and I've had trouble finding 1/2" unf lug nuts with a big enough o.d. to safely fill the nut holes.

Nice story about the Manx id plates!!!
"Wise men talk because they have something to say, fools because they have to say something." (Plato)
Scott-Drolet
Posts: 400
Joined: Mon Mar 01, 2010 6:00 am

UPDATE: High School Auto Shop Tow'd

Post by Scott-Drolet »

Thank you David,

It's funny you mentioned the big holes in the Sprintstars, because when I looked at the wheels, they looked to me like they had huge holes in them.  Today I learned that Mid-America actually sells Sprintstar-specific over sized lug nuts specifically for Empi and Porsche wheels.  I have a set heading my way!

Scott
Scott Drolet
MC Vice President

MC 47, DSB, RBC, Long Haul League, '64 Monocoque, '67 Manx, '73 Manxter, '64 Stainless Burro, '64 Corvair Burro, '65 Corvair Burro
http://www.ManxClub.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.SeaToSeaSafari.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.BurroBuggies.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Ed-Chenal
Posts: 382
Joined: Thu Apr 08, 2010 5:00 am
Location: SoCal

UPDATE: High School Auto Shop Tow'd

Post by Ed-Chenal »

Scott Drolet wrote:Thank you David,

It's funny you mentioned the big holes in the Sprintstars, because when I looked at the wheels, they looked to me like they had huge holes in them.  Today I learned that Mid-America actually sells Sprintstar-specific over sized lug nuts specifically for Empi and Porsche wheels.  I have a set heading my way!

Scott
Topline Parts in Anahiem also carries them.   http://toplineparts.com/
Ed
manxdavid
Posts: 998
Joined: Fri Mar 26, 2010 5:00 am
Location: Bull Bay, Anglesey, North Wales, UK. Manxclub #678

UPDATE: High School Auto Shop Tow'd

Post by manxdavid »

Ed Chenal wrote:
Scott Drolet wrote:Thank you David,

It's funny you mentioned the big holes in the Sprintstars, because when I looked at the wheels, they looked to me like they had huge holes in them.  Today I learned that Mid-America actually sells Sprintstar-specific over sized lug nuts specifically for Empi and Porsche wheels.  I have a set heading my way!

Scott


Topline Parts in Anahiem also carries them.   http://toplineparts.com/
I couldn't find those nuts listed on either of those websites, are you
sure they're 1/2" fine thread to work with commonly available adapters?
"Wise men talk because they have something to say, fools because they have to say something." (Plato)
Ed-Chenal
Posts: 382
Joined: Thu Apr 08, 2010 5:00 am
Location: SoCal

UPDATE: High School Auto Shop Tow'd

Post by Ed-Chenal »

Send Jon Chabot (Topline) a message.  Many of the parts he has available are not listed on the website.
info@toplineparts.com
Ed
Scott-Drolet
Posts: 400
Joined: Mon Mar 01, 2010 6:00 am

UPDATE: High School Auto Shop Tow'd

Post by Scott-Drolet »

Hey David, That's a good question. I was talking about lugs toattache the wheel directly to the drum, I hadn't thought about lug nuts to mount the wheel to the adapter. Here's a link to the ones I was talking about http://www.mamotorworkstv.com/vw/product/319990/,  However, they also carry washers that fit into the beveled areas where the lugs fit, So I'l see if those will work with conventional nuts to mount the wheels to the adapters.  http://www.mamotorworkstv.com/vw/product/370603/
Scott Drolet
MC Vice President

MC 47, DSB, RBC, Long Haul League, '64 Monocoque, '67 Manx, '73 Manxter, '64 Stainless Burro, '64 Corvair Burro, '65 Corvair Burro
http://www.ManxClub.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.SeaToSeaSafari.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.BurroBuggies.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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