TheSamba.com :: View topic - Kellison Sandpiper XP1 build, "Randall Ermey"

Wed Aug 05, 2009 5:56 am

So nice to have the use of such machines Lath, Mill.
Looking good.
Curious, why lower shock extensions? going to run longer shocks?

Wed Aug 05, 2009 7:43 am

Glasser wrote: So nice to have the use of such machines Lath, Mill.
Looking good.
Curious, why lower shock extensions? going to run longer shocks?

Not immediately, just leaving my options open.

Wed Aug 05, 2009 11:49 pm

Shock extensions are welded... I kept my stock stud locations as well to allow for a wider range of options.

Clamped the tubes to the frame head to index my adjusters.

End caps and towers...

Caps in place...

Caps and towers fully welded...

I unfortunately do not have time to powdercoat the finished product by this weekend so I'll be tearing it apart again at a later date. :? Probably over the winter it'll get done.

Thu Aug 06, 2009 6:37 am

Quote: Probably over the winter it'll get done.
That's what I said about my cage :cry: LOL

Man if you bust that set up...... well your doing something wrong. Nicely done!

Thu Aug 06, 2009 3:46 pm

Glasser wrote: Quote: Probably over the winter it'll get done.
That's what I said about my cage :cry:

Well my powdercoater really came through for me... Called him at 10 this morning on the off chance he could get it done and at 11:15 parts were back at the shop! Cost me all of $20... :D Granted he's a friend and loyal customer of my shop, but that goes above and beyond in my book. Beam now matches my cage, and for contrast my tie rods are gloss black.

I had 5 dyno tunes scheduled yesterday and completed all 5 plus a walk in as well as a set of tires so today was wide open... took the day to reassemble my beam and steering...

By 4 this afternoon Randall was back on his wheels with a proud new stance... Just an alignment left before the tank and hood go back on and we roll out to Silver Lake for some more abuse!

It feels like the thrash before the maiden voyage back in June, lots of 18 hour days and late nights but Randall is ready again... I however am on autopilot and looking for a spot to crash. :? 8) :D I suppose the question could[ and has been] asked, "why not just buy a beam?", the answer being [ Because I didn't build that beam, I built this one.] 8)

Sun Aug 16, 2009 7:16 pm

Just a quick update after last week's trip to the dunes... Beam was excellent in every way, great suspension action and tough as nails. This trip I trailered up there, so I had no concerns of keeping it intact as my return transportation and I flogged it accordingly. All went well until my last morning there, fired it up first thing in the a.m. to go into town for coffee and charcoal and Randall puked out about a quart immediately. Relief piston had stuck and ruptured the doghouse cooler, so we finished out the day in the Blazer...That has since been replaced and then the bearings for my BDM idler start squawking, so a trip to Motion in the morning for some replacements...

Muffler is off and going to the coater in the a.m. for ceramic. As per lostinbaja's suggestion I fabbed up a little turnout for the exhaust... The last 5 hour expressway trip was a little taxing on my eardrum... Made a world of difference, good call Jerry! 8)

Added a few more bungee hooks for possesion retention...

Came up with a little clip for the dune flag... it's a pain to get out and hold the flag down while you pull into camp to clear the pop up shelter or the garage door so... A few cotter pins and some welding rod...

Randall's first "battle scar" as my son calls it... :lol: Bumped it off a tree while a sandrail yanked me out of a stuck...Got to use the winch and everything this trip, Sam really got a kick out of that... 8)

Tue Aug 18, 2009 4:43 pm

Exhaust is back in a nice ceramic...

I replaced the shielded bearings in my idler roller with some sealed bearings in hopes of keeping the sand out.

Tue Aug 18, 2009 7:04 pm

The muffler looks killer! Good call.

Wed Aug 26, 2009 6:22 pm

Had a local upholstery shop make up a bimini top for a little shade and rain protection. Used a leftover chunk of all weather tan canvas to give it that military look.

Mon Sep 14, 2009 11:52 pm

Just returned from another trip to Silver Lake, decided last minute to go up for the hillclimb and BBQ cookoff. Tried a new setup with the tires as the Swampers were too heavy for the sand and required lots of clutch abuse to keep the engine in the powerband. Went with the Centerline bubbles and 135's off my street car and picked up a set of 13.00 X 15 paddles on some widened smoothies, it's a whole new car in the sand now. The rear 33 Swampers with wheels weigh 85 pounds each and the front 28's w/ wheels weigh 65 each. The bubble fronts with the 135's are around 12 or so I'd guess and the rear paddles I guess are around 25, so I reduced a ton of unsprung weight and the performance was excellent. Car went wherever I pointed it and didn't get stuck all weekend... until the passenger side rear axle snapped. :cry: I was sidehilling one of the larger hills and crossed some deep ruts that someone had dug and I got 3 bad wheel hops and the axle let loose.
My son chillin' on Test Hill...

No problem with the broken axle though... flagged down a gent in a Funco to shuttle me back to the beach and I picked up my ZR2 Blazer to pull the buggy out, Sam got to steer and brake the buggy on the way out and he thought that was pretty cool...

It sure helps to get a clear picture when your truck no longer has a back window... :oops: It had one about 10 minutes before this picture was taken... As I ascended the series of hills to retrieve the buggy the rear window latch let loose and the rear glass shattered filling the back of the Blazer with about 40 pounds of glass shards. :?

So that's 2 broken toys but that's the way it goes, I've still got the 1/8th scale nitro truck back at the campsite right?

Well had... I proceeded to endo that toy about 12 times or so rupturing the fuel tank when I finally decided to lay in the hammock and drink beer for fear of destroying something else.

All in all a great [albeit expensive] weekend with perfect weather and great food so I can't bitch too much, just a little maybe. :lol:

A few campsites away was another Kellison Sandpiper XP1...

Here's a short video of the tow back to the trailer, if you turn up the sound you can hear the broken glass when we hit the whoops... :roll:
http://s256.photobucket.com/albums/hh180/Mongo63_photos/?action=view&current=DSCN1391.flv

Here's another video I took from the top of Test Hill of a powered parachute.
http://s256.photobucket.com/albums/hh180/Mongo63_photos/?action=view&current=DSCN1381.flv

Wed Oct 14, 2009 11:11 pm

Buggyis currently apart for some transaxle repair and freshening so I took the down time to do a few minor tweaks. My sand wheels are now powdercoated to match...

Readjusting my springplates, the driver's side rear tire always had a degree or so less camber than the passenger. Barely noticable but it always bugged me.

Replacing stock axles with some Sway A Way race axles.

Mon Nov 02, 2009 1:46 am

Sand wheels with new hubcaps and clips, new tubes and ready to go. I've got some stock smoothies on the way for the front that'll get the same treatment.

Powder coated my axle tubes and stretched some German stock style boots without the seam onto them.

Drained, cleaned and checked my Dells. These are by far the best carbs I have ever run. Mark Harney worked his magic on them and they have run flawlessly ever since.

This is my 2180 I've been running for many years. I built this engine about 10 years ago, and freshened it up 3 or 4 years ago. It's a fairly conservative build, 9 to 1, 044's with a basic fluff n' buff, CB 2236 cam I believe, maybe it's a 2238? 019 distributor and dual 45's. It runs great and makes great torque, but gives up a fair bit up top due to cam choice. I'll be installing it back into the street car and building a fairly hot 2276 for the buggy. It'll be an aluminum case 82X 94 with an FK10 and Superflows in 44X 38 valves.

New bearings and seals with painted caps as well as a midmount and top strap.

Wed Nov 04, 2009 9:08 pm

Mongo63 wrote:

Wiring begins tonight. I'm going to use Bill's idea of motorcycle controls for the lighting and turn signal actuation. Will be using the japanese style control that supplies ground instead of the Harley style where power is fed through the buttons.

With a little time on the clock, How do you like the cycle switches? I'm planning on rewiring my rail (PO wired EVERYTHING in black and red) :roll: Anyway, nice build!

Wed Nov 04, 2009 9:27 pm

olmer2 wrote: Mongo63 wrote:

Wiring begins tonight. I'm going to use Bill's idea of motorcycle controls for the lighting and turn signal actuation. Will be using the japanese style control that supplies ground instead of the Harley style where power is fed through the buttons.

With a little time on the clock, How do you like the cycle switches? I'm planning on rewiring my rail (PO wired EVERYTHING in black and red) :roll: Anyway, nice build!

Cycle switch packsge is great! Right where I want it with all functions in a convenient spot. Thanks for the compliment, it has all worked out better than I would have hoped.

Mon Nov 09, 2009 10:05 pm

Got my trans back late last week. Had some freshening and upgrades performed as well as a gearing change.

I finished reinstallation just in time for our 70 degree weekend and put 400 miles on it over the course of 3 days. Runs and shifts like a dream and the gearing change was perfect, just what I was after.

Tue Nov 10, 2009 6:03 am

You should have taken a ride to Silver Lake to run the 2 tracks with us.

Tue Nov 10, 2009 11:38 am

lostinbaja wrote: You should have taken a ride to Silver Lake to run the 2 tracks with us.

Had I known about it I would have.

Sun Mar 14, 2010 10:13 pm

Just a quick word of warning to anyone running a urethane steering coupler... Ditch it quickly and get yourself an o.e.m. cord reinforced type as soon as possible! When I built this buggy I used a brand new CB performance Rhino coupler and the other evening it completely failed leaving me with no steering whatsoever. I was able to remove the pieces of the coupler without tools as it was broken into 4 separate pieces. I was luckily just doing a slow u turn and not blazing down the expressway at 75 mph, but still a scary feeling when you grab the wheel and it just frewheels in your hand.

Mon Mar 15, 2010 7:48 am

:shock: good thiung you werent ripping you r buggy is one of the sickest ive seen ! yours and dinubadaves or what ever his name is :lol: are insane i could only hope one day i have a buggy like you guys!!

Thu Apr 01, 2010 1:27 pm

That has got to be the coolest nose on any buggy. Front-on shots of that thing are just awesome.