Getting ready for the long haul

[clonebug]

After 3588 miles on the odometer and a little over 3400 actual miles traveled We made it home safe and with a buggy that gave no problems all the way.
The only thing we had was we found the rear lug nuts were pretty loose when arriving at Big Bear and coming up the grade heading to Barstow the temps were brutal and the buggy started pinging with my high altitude tune.
I lowered the timing and richened it up and all was good.

We saw elevations of over 8100 ft and temperatures between 50-106 degrees with furnace like winds blowing in the Barstow flats.

Travel speed was mostly between 65-70 mph with a little at 75-80 mph.

From Mammoth Lakes to Winthrop Wa. it was on the cooler side at 70 degrees and less with the cool winds blowing up on the high plateaus.

Our usual stop at Diablo Lake overlook on highway 20.

We actually won a prize at the Big Bear Meet..........but only because Vincent never showed......

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[joescoolcustoms]

Actually, Vincent did not win last year either. Jon and Charlie clipped him by about 2000 miles. (From So-Cal to Buffalo, to Glacier Nat Park, to Yuma to Big Bear without going home).

Good deal! Thanks for the pictures. Nice trip and fun times.
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Bad News Racing 2018 NORRA 1000 3rd in Class
Best Day Ever Racing 2022 NORRA 1000 2nd in Class and first All Female team to complete the race

Everyone is gifted. Some just do not open the package.

Looks like it was painted with a live chicken,polished with a brick and buffed with a pine cone

[vincent9993]

Congrats on your trip and awards! Thanks for taking the time to write about your journey, we know it's not an easy task...

Congratulations on making the Long-Haul LEAGUE group. Please PM me your MC number and I'll mail you a sticker for your buggy to go along with the award.

Thanks again and hope we can one day meet and talk about your trip.

Vincent.

[jsturtlebuggy]

Yes congratulations on your Long Haul award and longest drive to a event in a buggy award.
After reading and seeing the pictures of your buggy, It was good to see it in person and meeting you and your wife.
I was very impress with your buggy. I really like your fuel injection, turbo setup, and distributorless ignition on your engine that you built.
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Joseph
Fair Oaks/Orangevale, CA
Elrod Motorsports
Motion Tire Motorsports
Having fun with Dune Buggies since 1970
Into Volkswagens since 1960

[andygere]

Cool trip and good story. I'm hoping that by next year, my buggy is long-haul ready, and my baseball coaching duties leave me a window to roll from Santa Cruz down to Big Bear. I won't win any distance awards, but I think it would be a terrific adventure, with the meet at the mid-point of the trip a real highlight.

[clonebug]

Well.....It's official.

We are heading to the Big Bear Meet again this July in the buggy.
I'm hoping for another trouble free trip and since I went through the buggy this winter checking it over and also adding a couple upgrades I feel pretty confident we will have a good time.
The tentative plan is to take sort of the same route down using Hwy 395 again, but on the way back we want to leave Big Bear and go straight west and connect with the PCH and on to Hwy 101 for a return along the coast.

We haven't seen anything south of Bandon, Oregon so most of our return time would be spent checking out the California coast.
Any advice and/or tips would be appreciated.
We don't plan our trips or get reservations and that way we can go as short or long each day as we see fit without having to be somewhere.
Winging it is fun and it worked fine the last trip. We did have reservations in Big Bear and will this year too but except for the night of July 4th we don't feel it will be too difficult to get a room in our travels.

I am having a luggage rack built as I type for my trailer hitch and will carry a few things on it. I bought one from Harbor Freight and it was cheap enough to modify to make it fit the way I want it to.
I want it closer to the bumper and up high enough so the license plate is visible under it. I added taillights to it that I can plug into my trailer light connector so I don't have to worry about seeing my buggy's rear lights.

I'll post a couple pics of it once I get it back.

I'm also getting a rollbar windscreen made to hopefully block some of the back draft which should help with fatigue on long days.

We are getting pretty excited and my Wife is going into it with a whole new outlook due to being on the back of a Harley last summer when we went to Sturgis. We did 4000 miles on a bike and she now realizes that a buggy seat is pretty comfortable compared to a bike......

We will travel pretty light with maybe a few tools and we are adding a small gas can just in case. I usually go about 200 miles on a tank but have gone as far as 260 miles. We had one close call last time and although we now fill up after almost every bigger city we will have a small gas can for a reserve.

It should be a blast!!!!....
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[oprn]

Sounds great! Post lots of pictures and stories of the trip please! Due to work and complications with the transaxle swap it looks like we won't be getting a long trip in ours this summer. We will have to enjoy yours.

[clonebug]

Here's my Carrier rack from HF. $49.95 and cheap enough to modify for my buggy.

I added the tow lights from my buggy just to make sure the lights will be legal and I am moving it within 2.0 inches of the bumper and raising it up to just above bumper height for license plate visibility.

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[clonebug]

Got the carrier back and it fits pretty nice. It's now above the license plate and about 2 inches from the bumper.

Pics suck but I'll get some better ones today in the daylight.

I'm finishing the wiring for the lights now and then I'll mount the toolbox I picked up from Lowe's Hardware for a reasonable price.

It has room for my 1.25 gallon gas can and a small tool bag along with some other stuff if needed.
We might take some chairs along and possibly a tent if per chance we change our minds and take the coast route both ways..... and can't get a room on short notice.
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[oprn]

Looks good! Better option in the city traffic than a trailer for just a bit more luggage space.

[clonebug]

The carrier rack is finished.

While it was cheap it did need some tweaking to make it right. The bed was sloped down from the middle and needed to be spaced apart to make it flat. That took a while.
The wiring is done and the ToolBox is bolted in place so it can't just be lifted off. They will have to work at it for a bit.

I've got the propane firepit on it so I can test it going to work tomorrow.

We picked up some material for the roll bar wind break and that is the next project to finish.
25 days till we leave.
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[crickifur]

Man i love seeing this stuff. Im currently putting mine together for the initial build (built a 1641) with high end bolt ons. Mine wont be ready til next year with the anticipation of going 1776 turbo at a later date after all the cosmetic stuff is finished. I have built a baja in the past and made a few mistakes along the way. Seeing these projects and how well the travels workout, make it a lot easier to push the $$ spending with my wife haha. I cant wait for a long summer drive in mine. Im from Northern NY myself so my driving season will be drastically shortened in ccomparison haha

[andygere]

How is the receiver and cage tied to the pan to support the weight of the carrier? Nice solution, and one I've used on my Wrangler to add luggage/cooler/fishing gear capacity that's easily removed, albeit on the front of the rig as is traditional with surf fishing beach rigs. A simple front bumper replacement with integrated receiver made that easy, looks tricky on a VW pan based buggy.

[clonebug]

I cut a cross tube in the bumper and welded in a hitch receiver.

I have towed a Leesure Lite trailer over 200 miles with it. The trailer weighs about 300 lbs and it towed like a dream.

I will keep the carrier load to about 50-75 lbs since it is really only to carry some tools and a gallon of gas along with maybe two camping chairs.

That will free up the area behind the seats for essential travel stuff accessible while on the road.

I will be taking the bumper off and strengthening the mounts that go to the transaxle mount bolts so it can handle the carrier and the trailer. That is the ultimate goal to be able to go camping with the buggy and carry what we need.
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[clonebug]

Added one more box for storage and still have room for a couple chairs when we travel back up the coast. That way we can sit on the beach in the evening and watch the sunset or the waves.

My Wife loves the ocean beaches so it will be Her favorite part of the trip.

I like the second box so I can sneak a six pack or two of my favorite local micro brew along to share with the buggy crowd.

I've been driving to work and back for a week to test it and it has so far passed with flying colors. It does make the suspension drop a hair more but it doesn't seem to bother anything even when I give it the 25 lb. boost test.
No front tires coming off the ground or rear tires rubbing so it is good to go.

Count down is 12 days till launch.......

I'll change the oil and check the valves just before I go and have an extra quart of oil along in case it uses a little. Last trip It used about a pint of oil if I remember correctly.
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[oprn]

[clonebug]

Countdown to launch continues.......

4 days to takeoff......need to change oil, check valve adjustment and add a few things to the storage boxes.

I hacked together a windscreen for the rollbar and ended up using zipties to hold it on. the uphostery shop didn't seem too interested in taking my money so I made one myself. It just has to last long enough for the trip.
Initial impressions during the few tests is that it doesn't make that much difference but on a long drive it could help with wind fatigue.
It was cheap enough to make and we will give it a try. If it becomes a PITA I'll cut the zipties and stuff it behind the seat.

Mileage on the odometer at this time is 95,089 miles and I'll drive it to work a couple more days at 20 miles a round trip so I might add 100 miles before we leave.
Should be fun.........
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[oprn]

We just did a 3.5 hour run to meet up and run with some Bus and Beetle guys. Yes wind is an issue, we came back red like boiled lobsters in spite of using sun screen!

Is it going to stop us from running topless? Not in this life! We're just going to take a page out of the biker's book and cover up better.

Spent far too many miles couped up in a box squinting out through widows. I'm not greedy, when we go on a trip now I want SCENERY! ALL OF IT!

Twice now I wished I had a top, first time was driving through a hail storm. Man that stuff stings at 60 mph! And the second was at about the 3 hour mark in pouring rain and 5* above freezing!

[manxvair]

Please keep me posted on your progress, we'll be watching for you at Big Bear, what is your estimated miles to travel? Have a safe journey my friend!

[clonebug]