one giant VW buggy
 

hello all.
has anyone ever had one of those moment where by the time you have come to your senses its too late!!

mine started like this. One call of nature, a car magazine and a short while later the classified adds, a childs quad advert and a hairbrained idea about taking it and making a big VW beetle out of it!!

well about 1.5 years later (sorry im slow) i finally have a large VW beetle sitting im celler!! it nice when an idea comes together and works!!

the task was simple take standard of the shelf parts and make the childs quad become a R/C buggy.

as any one who tries these big scale jobs knows the steering of these can be a bit of pain making a large servo etc...

now this is just an idea thrown together its not really what some of you hard core self builders would do but i have tried to do something that any one could build for fun.

here are a few pictures for you look at.

ohh.. making your own body shell is great fun!!

enjoy..

RE: one giant VW buggy
 

Wow!! Nice project, this one is really huge… do you have a video of it running?

RE: one giant VW buggy
 

too cool love the v-dub

RE: one giant VW buggy
 

Very cool indeed!Post more pics of it please;)

RE: one giant VW buggy
 

That looks very cool....... please make a video with it.....

RE: one giant VW buggy
 

rite then, trying to find a test video my old man made when i finally got the steering correct, its a bit top heavy and can flip over if you hit a bump on one side but it dosent half shift all i have to do is find that video.

if anyone is interested i am running to big 1/6 scale servos as found in the carson comanche, linked together by 1/6th scale ball joint linkages works fine but i would not like to hammer it over really rough ground as i think the servos wouldnt last to long.

i would like to build a larger servo from a rear wiper motor but i dont realy know how to start!! well im sure i can figure it out.

more photos then .......

i had to adapt the brake arm to allow the super torque standard size servo to lock the wheels which it does quite well.

brake and accell servo setup basic stuff it works but will try to make it a bit nicer when the summer comes round.

one of the pictures you can see the brakets holding up 2 m10 threaded bar with some rubber blocks to support the fiberglass shell.

the other is of the positive mould, in its early form, man that was a messy job!!

RE: one giant VW buggy
 

ha found it the video just have upload it to youtube and you can have a nosey.. spot the drift steering as comes towards the camera from behind the tree. the plonker on the left is me and the yellow thing is mine too.
stay tuned for the link

just after good old dad finshed recording i let him have ago..... well that green post in the background... yep donk!!! head on and the battery packs went for a fly that was the end of that then!!

RE: one giant VW buggy
 

here is the link to the video only half of it as the free encoder was crap at converting my avi file and limited the conversion to just half. will upload the full vid in the morning.

it has no shell on it.. its just a test run!.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HOeQsMhBhY

RE: one giant VW buggy
 

sounds sweet... that thing is looking good! cant wait for more videos
robert

RE: one giant VW buggy
 

That is awesome. I have lots of questions!!!!!!!!!
What size cc quad was that? How big and what size is that overall? How big are the tires? How much does the body weigh? How much more can I ask?

Drewcrew6

RE: one giant VW buggy
 

That is a down-right great project! Very nice work on the fab and mods.

I only have one question right now: When you finish it, can I ride on top of it?

RE: one giant VW buggy
 

Nice project!

RE: one giant VW buggy
 

thanks all.

questions? here are the answers

yes you could ride on it but would have to make a seat or support under the bug shell to take the weight.

suspension works very well also, have to swap the front spring to the rear and buy a boat rope tension thingy (you put it in line rope from your boat and then another rope ties to it and to the morrings) anyway that ges on the front and hay presto alls ist gut ya!

size of this buggy is 1000mm long by 565mm wide by 580mm tall (note the height is bigger than the wheel track hence the rollover issue but with the buggy shell on it it should land on it wheels again)


its 50cc or there-abouts 2 stroke 1.8kw about 2.4ps

the cover is made from fiberglass mat with a bit of help from the father-inlaw (use to build boats in the old GDR time in east germany, i think he had more fun than i did!!) weight at a guess, about 1.5kg

the weight of the quad in the beguining was 29kg its now well under that at about 16to18 (may be less as its just a guess)

need any tips to make a cover let me know. its good fun and well recomended.
anymore just questions just ask as i would like to see more of these things flying arround.

next project a 110cc electric start quat with the 6 or 12volt electric pack so i can use a 12 volt wiper motor servo, make it wider and put a baja cover on it!!!

when you build your own it gets addictive!!:D

RE: one giant VW buggy
 

That must be impressive to actually run that thing around. The rollover shouldn't be coming from that extra 15mm of height over width. Probably just the height of the heavy stuff, engine, gas tank, etc. Have you thought about moving the tank lower in the frame that would probably help some depending on how much fuel it can hold. But I don't now if the carb can suck up fuel or if it is a gravity feed. Maybe letting the chassis sit a little lower but then the body mounts would need changed. I couldn't tell in the vid if the suspension was actually flexing but it sounds like you have made some changes since the vid. That body looks awesome wish I had that kind of patience.

Drewcrew6

RE: one giant VW buggy
 

ay the tank is from the quad as i didnt want to fabricate a new one, it would be better if i move it back abit and feed the carb from a metal sports flask type arrangment.

i can make some changes now that it works and slowly make things better. i only get chance to play on it when wifey is working the late flights.

one thing i could do with help on and thats the building or set up a the wiper motor servo, spotted a video on youtube of an kiwi with a giant baja home made buggy using such a thing. would be nice if someone could share the info on how to build one, you know in normal talk for everyday people to have a bash.

whats your homebuild like?

RE: one giant VW buggy
 

As far as the servo there is lots of info building one on the web, a typical driver curcuit is called an h-bridge. But depending on what your electronic capability they can be pretty in depth to get the best performance and minimize power consumption as they can be designed for a specific motor.

There is a co that has a large scale servo that has enough torque for you [link]http://www.vantec.com/products.htm[/link] they have 600 oz/in and a monster 27ft/lb a little pricey but less messing around with a homebuilt. They also have an eletronics package for using your own motor but they don't show the pricing on that.

This is another high power h bridge but i'm not sure it will accept the signal from the reciever [link]http://www.robotcombat.com/products/RP-SMPH.html[/link]

Here is a link to another high power servo that a guy is using on his monster buggy [link]http://www.fieroaddiction.com/buggy.html[/link] [link]http://www.fieroaddiction.com/servo.html[/link] He has a good technical area about the servo driver.

The info on my car is here [link]http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_7951559/mpage_1/key_/tm.htm[/link] but that car is being redone for 10" tires, but i don't think the little ryobi will be strong enough for those tires and added weight. Working on figuring that out now. Once I get things worked out and reliable I will be more specific.

Drewcrew6

RE: one giant VW buggy
 

That is a very very nice project you got there!Also amazing job on the body!For the rollover problem...I don't know how much travel the shocks have,but if it is enough,you could shorten the springs to lower it.So that you can have a lower cg.I dont know just an idea...

Also,you would be better of if you could find some softer springs for the suspension.Those springs that mini atvs have stock,are set for a much bigger load than the quad itself.I mean they are set for a rider on them,a load approximately 100-110 lbs.

Very nice work,keep it up with the upgrading!And i know what you mean about getting addictive the homemade building!I just finished mine and i already want to start the next!The plans are allready in my head:D

Oh,almost forgot!Take a look at these pages.They might help you out on the wiper servo;)
http://www.halloweenforum.com/hallow...tor-servo.html
http://www.lynxmotion.net/viewtopic....08e6b40d158238

RE: one giant VW buggy
 

WOW nice project man!!!
im building one ATM using a pocket quad, but ended up just using the motor, breaks, and few other bits and peices. made the frame and suspension from scratch ... i didnt think the pocket bike sus was decent enough however from your vid ,its looks ok

here's my build
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_7975120/tm.htm

there are a few ways of doing it

this page has alot of helpful info

http://130.94.182.150/mowers.htm

i used this method... although i found the boards to be very bulky

http://www.fieroaddiction.com/servo.html

i recently found these boards
they seem alot easier to work with as you dont need to hack a normal servo.. the servo driver and voltage regs are built in (3 wires going to the receiver, 3 wires to the feedback pot, 2 power wire from a batt, 2 power wires to the motor)
Very simple however i havent tried these boards yet but im gunna order some and see how they go

http://secure.oatleyelectronics.com/...84e07e9f3e9428


let me know if ya need any help building one... i can walk ya though it :) they're surprisingly very simple

Yes this IS VERY ADDICTIVE LOL

RE: one giant VW buggy
 

ay the springs were a bit to hard but as i bought a actual childs quad with just a basic front and rear swing arm for suspension i.e the front was not independent. i found moving the front spring to the rear just perfect for the weight acting on the pivot. but lets wait and see what happend with the shell on it etc. might have to find a new spring as it could be to bouncy!!

just of out to give the bug a blast around one of the fields and might take it in the open pit sand quarry thats not used anymore, nice place big drops etc..

thanks for the info chaps i will look at it when i get back.

many thanks and happy new year.

oh keep a lookout for the video later to day.

:D

RE: one giant VW buggy
 

Nice job.Well done [8D]

RE: one giant VW buggy
 

this is great ive always been a v dub guy you have created an awsome car keep it coming!

RE: one giant VW buggy
 

ok chaps uploaded on you tube is todays run with the shell on it and i must say that thing moves quite well, although the brake was binding a bit (had no tools with me to set it up) and i became apparent that the steering servos where reciving interfearence from the motor (will have look at that but more like a dodgy reciver connection)

yep it needs the better steering but i will wait till i kill the servos first only 25euros a peice not much (strange things use a y type cable and take power direct from the bat)

oh its going on a diat too, lots of things i left on that can be removed. also goin to simplifie the front "suspenders" and move the brackt down so the spring receives more commpression from the swing arm, this should absorb more shock!!

this might be good ... the video file!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnBLJDJlid4

RE: one giant VW buggy
 

awsome work!

RE: one giant VW buggy
 

glad you like it wasnt sure on the colour scheme its was going to be Rover night fire red, great colour but the shop only had one tin so went for VW cream on the bottom half, might be in for a spray job later in the year, light met blue!!

buts after the basic are working 100%

thanks to drewcrew6 and the mad maori for servo info and thanks to Giorgos_cupra for tips etc.

also thanks to those who enjoyed the videos posted replys.

big better nextime i think

RE: one giant VW buggy
 

Great!I love it!

It is a bit bouncy though....Idk if the susp mod you are going to do is going to fix that.Otherwise find some softer springs....You definately need it!Also,i think it needs to be lowered.You can do that easily by cutting the springs you already have...The body looks killer!I love the paintjob!Still waiting on my merc to arrive so i can paint her....I'm gonna use possibly the same white.Mine is ivory white though...

Ps:I can't judge from the pics,but if you could relocate the fuel tank in front of the engine you would achieve a lower cg and reduce the roll over factor