My first buggy build all came about by being bored in work one day, I was given a task of monitoring a fire alarm panel. Before I started I bought myself plenty of reading material and one mag I purchased just happened to be a copy of Kit Car. I always had a fondness of unusual cars, but didn't think i ever had the knowledge of building one myself. I then stumbled upon an advert for a Beach Buggy kit which ticked all the boxes for me. It said cheap and easy to build even an idiot could build one. I then took up the challenge and looked into buying a donor car. All i knew at the time was that it had to be a Beetle. I looked through the Loot news paper and see one was local and that it was a runner but body rotten. I viewed the car and splashed the cash. It wasn't until I stripped the car and looked into the build stage more that i realised i bought a 1303s complete with MacPherson strut suspension. This was no good for a Beach Buggy. I kept the bits i thought i would use and sold the chassis and running gear on. I then kept ploughing through the small ads and found that someone had a pre-shortened chassis, body tub, seats, wheels and nearly everything to build a Beach Buggy. So a quick trip to Southampton and more splashing of cash I had the kit of bits required for the job.
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To get the body mounted to the floorpan was relatively simple, remeber to use a good body gasket that is waterproof and also mildew proof or it will start to rot when the water gets to it.
We grafted the rear light units in to the body using 1200 Beetle pods mounted side ways, we etched the fibreglass to get a surface we could adhere to and gradually glassed the units into place using loads of GRP strips, to get the final finish we used normal car body filler.
The wiring proved to be a bit of a headache, it was my first experience wiring up a car. I bought a EMPI Buggy loom kit, this is a big misatke, its far easier to make a loom from scratch using a wiring diagram. I have found Peter's Wiring Diagram to be very useful.
The whole car then got expertely painted by Ross Keeling, the colour chosen was a custom mix based on a Dahatsui colour with an added flip toner and a courser metallic than usual. The finish is excellent and really stands out in the sunlight.
The interior was originally finished with Highback bucket seats and a simple Mountenay Wheel, these have now been changed for a pair of lowback fibreglass seats and a smaller Mountenay wheel to maximise cockpit space
Originally fitted with Chrome Modular wheels.
But soon changed for a more desirable set of Wolfrace Slotmag Alloys, I also added a storage box and a spun alloy tank behind the seating area.
Shortly after its TV Fame, I added a Manx style Hardtop which simply uses Bolts and wingnuts through the rear arches and windscreen surround to hold in securly. The stickers were added by the production company and I have retained them as I think they suit the car.
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