I have been putting off writing this for a while. The last month has been a strange one for me and the buggy. It started off well by finding someone to do the roll cage on the buggy BUT it took longer than expected and I’m still not finished tidying up the car since it came back. Don’t get me wrong i like the job done on the cage but I had a lot of tidying up to do afterwards.

When the car came back with the cage it was sitting way too low. It looked more like a go-kart on steroids than a off-road buggy. The thoughts of stripping the suspension AGAIN was not appealing. Dad and myself have spent the last 3 days working in the garage and I got a few jobs done on the car and while I’m still not 100% positive on the project, I’m getting back there. It has been a long few days but looking at the buggy now, you can see progress being made.

First job was the front suspension. The wheels were sitting against the arches and generally it was way too low. I ordered a new set of torsion leaves for the front of her then spent about 3 hours debating with myself if i should remove the small leaves and just leave the 4 big ones like i had with the old ones. In the end I did, its what most buggy guys seem to recommend. It took a long time to get the 2 new stacks in, about 4 hours in total but we got there in the end. Its one of those jobs that while its not difficult, its very tricky, specially with the small leaves removed.

Next up was the rear suspension. It had way too much negative camber, so after taking it all apart I set the spring plates to 16 degrees and that seems to have done the trick. It hasn’t fully settled down yet but I have the slightest bit of positive camber but there is still more weight to be put onto the buggy and it should settle down a little more.

Next few jobs where on the roll cage. Both the front cage and rear support needed to taken off and grinded clean. I also had to weld on seat belt mounts. I found a nice solution for the front seat belts. I drilled holes in the cage and inserted a tube with 3mm thick wall. Once it was welded in I tapped it for the bolt. I didn’t take any pictures but I’m very happy with the way it looks. I also fabricated the tabs for the rest of the seat belts, the two receivers for the front belts and 4 tabs for the mounts and receivers for the rear lap belts. The back seat belts are really only for child seats, there will be no room for anyone else but kids in the back. The tabs at the back poke through the body so the belts will not go through the fibreglass. Both cages where primered and the rear cage was painted black. The main cage will be going red the same as the main body so that can wait until I do the bodywork on the rest of the tub.

We had a bitch of a time putting the rear cage back in. The gearbox mount on the drivers side did not want to go in. After about 2 hours and with the help of a 6′ crow bar she finally went in.

So thats where things lie at the moment. Next few jobs will be the bodywork and the wiring. I’m hoping to get some help with the bodywork but if i don’t I’ll start it next week.