Our New Meyers Manx2

Just installed a new Tijuana Kustoms carpet kit, take a look at the install.

Ok, so you car guys our there can sympathize. Your loving and tolerant spouse is, well, just that, tolerant...of your car habit but not much more. My dear wife is not a car person but she will occasionally accompany me to a show to take photos as she loves photography and sometimes needs different subject matter. She also loves the beach, and seeing as how we live in NJ and not to far from the beach thats a good thing. So her interest in cars is limited to "something fun to take to the beach". Generally her little GMC Jimmy fits that bill fine for her, it gets her to the beach. But she knows getting me to go along sometimes takes a little more so while at a VW show with me (hunting Thing parts) she fell in love with dune buggies. In my scheming ways I see a way to get a new addition to the toybox. In her scheming ways she sees a way to get me to enjoy the beach trips. In the end we schemed each other into getting a dune buggy :)

Some longtime followers may remember the VW Thing projects. Now these were to initally be our beach toys. Having seen how life can sometimes take over a project and summer fast approaching it was determined to, for once, forego the project route and find a good car. This idea was supported by the rather restrictive and difficult process in NJ to title and register a "kit car" So a prebuilt buggy, properly titled would ease this pain.

The search was on....now generally I wanted a Manx, because I like the historical value that goes along with it. Also because I wanted to insure it as a collector vehicle and well, my collector insurance company doesnt like buggies (in fact it seems none of them do) but they did relent when I was able to document the historic relevance of a true Manx. Soooo, off to the internet I go...after all we live in a modern age where all is available to us at our fingertips thanks to this technology. However buggies on the east coast tend to be nonexistent or rare at least, and usually cost prohibitive (we do still have a budget here). On one particularly frustrating weekend I stepped away from the computer and my wife asked if I had looked in the paper. Silly woman....I explained that these are not the things of local papers and old fashioned methods, if it was to be found the internet would have it. However during an....ummm...."reading break" I grabbed the classifieds and went off to the quiet white reading room. Lo and behold the ad sat there in front of my face and said "Dune Buggy 4 passenger manx"

Now for those of you searching let me say a few things, one, I guess the old classifieds still work. Second, it seems they all say manx, probably one in 50 ads that say Manx really are so I didnt have my hopes up. The price was within our budget which is to say, too low to be a real manx or a real manx in need of alot of work...still we must follow those leads. So I call and arrange to go see it. It was only about 30 minutes away in PA. And it was love, I pulled up and could not believe this could possibly be the buggy for sale. Some quick checks and sure enough a real Manx 2 (now verified by and registered with the Manx Club). Being a tightwad by nature I resisted the urge to throw cash at them and run away with my prize but instead made an offer which was reasonable based on the asking price and sure enough it was accepted and she is ours now.

So far we have changed out the headlights for some nice round ones and just generally fixed some small things. Over the winter I will go through it more but the goal for now is to drive and enjoy it and maintain what is necessary for the time being.

Now anyone who has seen "The List" has probably determined I change cars the way some people change shoes. I have, according to my friends, AADD (Automotive Attention Deficit Disorder). However, I also have a short list of cars which I have longed for most of my life and which I do not intend to part with. I have drawings from grade school of buggies I would do because I liked them so much. Combined with the fact that dear wifey is in love with this car and has forbidden its sale (she has hidden the title from me), and with the fact I now have my 75 Olds which is another one I promised myself not to loose again the toybox is filling up fast. Im going to need a bigger place :)

FUTURE PLANS

Redo the wiring harness. The current wiring is a mess with absolutely no fuses. I have a new harness and fuse box waiting to be installed

Install side pods. Bruce Meyers is still making the correct side pods for these and it really finishes off the look.

Repaint will be required after the side pods and there are some small body issues I would like to patch up correctly anyway. Color will remain the same or close, I would like to go to a much heavier metal flake to recall the original heavy flake gel coats. And the wifey wants me to add a "racing stripe" of darker purple paw prints (probably representative of all our babies so dog prints, cat prints, bird tracks etc)

Fabricate a soft top or at least a bikini top. I'm bald I need sun protection.

Lower it. Right now it is sitting at stock VW height or maybe even higher. I like the looks of a lowered street buggy better.

If I can find/trade a set of wider front wheels for the current narrow ones I would like to go wider up front and get rid of that "duner" look. but I like the centerlines and want to keep them so I will have to hunt for the correct set.