Rod's Chenowth 4LWD Build

[racecougar]

Wrapped up the remainder of the brake lines Saturday, bled it all, and was happy to find zero leaks. Bleeding the cutting brake was not as difficult as I was expecting. I followed the method of pressing the pedal, holding it, then pulling the cutting brake handle, releasing the pedal while holding the handle, and using a subsequent press of the pedal to bring the handle back to the neutral position. That all sounds more difficult than it actually is. In practice, doing this while watching the bubbles in the clear hose running to the bleeding bottle was a cake walk.

Once the plumbing was all wrapped up, I took another look at the oil cooler, decided not to beat around the bush, and zipped the "mounts" off of the frame. While I was at it, I cut more of the "bad" off the frame. I ended up with this little pile of junk when all was said and done. I also cut, cleaned, and welded up the passenger side seat frame to place it inline with the driver seat. It had been set up 4" forward to provide room for a battery behind the seat, which made it a real bear for an adult to climb in/out of the passenger seat. It also looked goofy, and with the battery up front now, there was no reason for it.

Lastly, I picked up a trailer for it. Of course, it needs work, too. I'll get to that soon enough. The 18' car hauler is beyond overkill for towing the buggy around (and heavier than it needs to be if I want to use the Grand Cherokee), and the 8' tilt utility trailer is too small. I picked up this 11' trailer for cheap. It'll receive some modifications to tailor it to the dune buggy, but it should be perfect for hauling two ATV's around, too.

[racecougar]

Relocated the oil cooler and whipped up a harness bar. No more concerns of spinal compression in an accident due to incorrect shoulder harness mounting.

[ORANGECRUSHer]

If I ever buy another rail type buggy, it will be a chenowth. Don't see them much around here. Classic look. Love it. Have fun!
_________________
Brian H.
I may not know everything,but I will try to help if I can
OrangeCrushER Berrien Warrior 2.4L Quad4
LAZY MARY 1970 Baja 1835cc

[racecougar]

Thanks! I have to say that I do dig the look of this chassis; this one just needs a lot of work to make it right.

I wish I would have been able to take it out today, but I had to make do with one of the ATV's. Spent the afternoon plowing a little snow and pulling the kid around on a sled. An excellent Friday, in my book.

[racecougar]

Clockwise from top left: Lopped off the rear bump stops. Didn't really want to break my spine when the suspension bottoms out on those steel pads. Sliced new pads from a big chunk of round stock. Drilled, tapped, and turned the pads in the lathe. Welded them in place, spending way too much time with the angle finder to get them perfectly positioned.

[racecougar]

Made new mounts for the fuel cell, pump, and filter, then whipped up new lines for everything and wired it up yesterday.

At about 2PM, it was time to either go eat lunch, or skip lunch and work straight through til it was time to go to a car club dinner in an attempt to get the thing running. I skipped lunch. I put it back on its wheels, rolled it outside, put some fuel in the tank, and started doing systems checks. It was immediately apparent that the fuel pump wasn't building pressure at the regulator, but the question was "why". I started cracking fittings to find out where I had fuel and where I didn't. I finally narrowed it down to the elbow between the filter and the pump; turns out it wasn't drilled from the factory. A minute at the drill press remedied that.

After that, it fired right up. I've knocked out quite a bit of work over the past 4-1/2 months: total re-wire, total re-plumb of all systems, 4-piston rear calipers, steering brake, parking brake, lights, roof rack, harness bar, correction of the rear shock mounting, correction of the rear bump stops, and more. I'm ready to take it for a spin and try it all out!

Walk-around video:
Link

[Dan_Lockwood]

Rod, very nice job!

The roof rack/carrier, is it purchased and if so, where did you purchase it? I was planning on having "extra" room behind the rear seats, but that ship sailed many moons ago. I'm now looking at a roof rack to carry chairs, coolers, etc down to Lake Michigan at Silver Lake for a day's leisure...

Great job on resurrecting your buggy!

Dan

[racecougar]

Thanks, Dan. I bought the roof rack from Harbor Freight, then chopped it up and welded it back together in the size/format that best fit my buggy.

https://www.harborfreight.com/150-lb-capacity-roof...cross+bars

[racecougar]

Nothing new to report on the dune buggy, as I've turned my attention to the trailer. I'm extending the deck, extending the tongue, replacing the axle, adding brakes, building ramps, and fixing odds/ends. Once it's all set, I'll use it to take the buggy to Troop I for inspection/VIN tag.

[liquidrush]

I bought that same flaring tool, I absolutely love it.

[racecougar]

[racecougar]

Progress has been made on the trailer. I extended the tongue, extended the front deck, installed a new 3500# axle of a more appropriate width, new hydraulic drum brakes and a hydraulic brake actuator. Built these ramps on Saturday and loaded the buggy onto the trailer for the first time. Next up is tie-down points, paint, wiring, and plumbing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4moDGvb4s4c