Whats up guys? I apologize if this is in the wrong section.. first time at the site..

I've been having an itch'n to build one of these buggies for quite some time now, however, I know nothing about them! haha

I have a good friend of mine who builds large V8 4x4 buggies.. but I want to start off with a Woodsbuggy!

Some of my questions:
About how much are you looking to spend on making an intermediate level buggy?
-I want to take it to Wellsville (not too far from me) and I want it to last.. but I don't want it to be a woosy buggy.
-It will also be street legal being I will take it to school on the nice day.

I have a 4.3l Vortec sitting in my garage, it needs a mild rebuild.. should I use that or should I just use the common VW engine?
-If you where to use a car engine, how does that work? The engine is in the rear, so is the tranny.. doesn't make any scene to me..

Thank You Guys!!
Colton W.

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"Dang.. I want one!"

4.3 is a very heavy engine for a buggy. it will make big hills difficult. 3 engines being installed the most are VW, suburu, and GM ecotec engines. If you want reliability and power for less money look at a used suby or ecotec. VW will cost the most money as well as being unreliable if not built properly. But built right it is hard to beat.

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Welcome... Buggies are a BLAST.. You will drive circles around your friends V8 4x4 trucks... A 4x4 can go through the mud but a buggy can go around the mud and a bunch of other places.

As for a reliable buggy.. you can build one.. but I would recommend buying one.. You will spend half the money if you buy one. You can still tear it down and make any mods you want but you will save a ton of money.

A decent somewhat reliable buggy with some power will run $5000 - $7000..

Good Luck and Welcome..

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I would recommend cheap and simple for someone new to the sport. Vw aircooled, an old beater buggy and go from there. Always a good start IMO

Welcome!!
I agree with these guys. Start off with a well built "starter" buggy. Concentrate on well built more than how powerful it is to start with. Just because someone throws a "nice" motor on a buggy and tries to get good money for it doesnt mean its a good buggy. Seen too many times people get into this sport and buy the hottest buggy they can afford just to find out the hard way that the more powerful they are, the more often they break stuff unless the rest of the buggy has been upgraded to match the engine. And then they get discouraged when it takes another few grand to fix it all. It can be overwhelming to spend what you got saved on a woodsbuggy, just to realize you bought junk and need to re-do it all. Spend half of what you got saved, cuz you'll need the rest to make it closer to what you want.
You CAN buy a good reliable mild buggy, but you usually have to BUILD a reliable badass buggy, or at least rebuild it.

Here's my 2cents. Here we go. If URA newbie , just bag up your money in the bank and some day you will catch someone in bad finances (we've all been there), and STEEL their buggy and trailer and all. OR! Watch a bunch of buggies climb and walk up to your favorite buggy and wave cash in his face. Chances are he want's to build something newer or different himself.When people build a buggy they never even factor going to the parts store and buying a spark plug.Gas, tax, time, costs, etc. It will dime you to death!That is exactly what ol' Jeff Busby has always done and is always a top contender!Dave out.

No one has any other information?
Plus I should be able to build it pretty cheap.. I have connections!
We have a Mig, Tig, and Stick Welder
My father use to weld for a living
My buddy has a Pro-Grade Pipe bender plus all the pipe I need for about $2 a foot
My dad is very good friends with all the owners of the local Auto/Junk Yards (all the motors, parts, etc = cheap!)
There is a local VW buggy shop and I can get a Berrien Warrior chassis for around $200.
My other buggy has a 1600cc mild built VW motor he may sell to me cheap

I mean I should be able to build this thing for pretty cheap ($2000-2500) right?
Or is there still much more I am not considering?

Thanks!
Colton W.

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"Dang.. I want one!"

You probly can build for that, but once you factor your time in it will be so much more. I am building from the ground up right now. There just is not enough hours in the week for family, church, maintaining the house, yard, cars, and building a buggy. I have been at this for a pretty good while. This is my third ground up build. Time is always the big factor in building for me.

Suburu and Ecotec?
What sizes are these?
What tranny do you use?
Where can you find these two?
How much will these engines cost?

Sorry for all the questions guys... just very couious and very unknoledgable! (sp?)

Thanks!
Colton W.

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"Dang.. I want one!"

If I could build mine again, I would buy something like this..

http://bham.craigslist.org/for/1794094358.html

Tear it down, make some mods and rebuild it..

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Find a used buggy you can ride and start upgrading. Go to all the rides and events you can and study the dependable buggys and start looking for parts. Find some buddys to help every chance you get and hope you get some help in return. good luck

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If your clutch ain't slippin,, you probably got it adjusted right!!!!!

Suburu and Ecotec?
What sizes are these?
What tranny do you use?
Where can you find these two?
How much will these engines cost?

Sorry for all the questions guys... just very couious and very unknoledgable! (sp?)

Thanks!
Colton W.[/quote]

It can really vary, it depends on where and how you get it. Alot of guys have bought old cars, pulled the engine, harness and ecu, then sold the rest for what they paid for the car. Then $600 or so for a complete adapter plate and mount it to a VW bus tranny. Personally I dont want to hook mine to a bus, but have not found a better option yet. The suby's are 2.2 and 2.5 mostly and the Eco's are 2.0 and 2.2 I believe. For $1000 to $1500 you should be able to find a stand alone engine, harness and Ecu. Like I said, depends how you get it.
Cost wise, it is hard to beat a used buggy vs a built one, not to mention time. Just get a list of what parts you want and try to buy as close to that as you can. Took me 9 months to find what I wanted locally. But I didn't have to change anything on the drive-train. Then just mod the rest as time and money allows. My rule has been if it breaks, replace it with the strongest parts I can afford.

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I have been looking and the cheapest for a crappy buggy around here is about $3,000! The reason being is because it is so huge here with Wellsville just south of me and Hillsville about 20 minutes East! The only real option for me is to build one!

Also, what makes a woodsbuggy better than the buggies my buddies build? Here is one of the ones he started out building (much more approved now) and now he has a large V8 on 40's. If you pay attention, you'll notice he used a Barien Warrior buggy frame on his buggy! Very cool!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0Z51YUv ... re=related

Here is the type of land I ride.. could a woodsbuggy handle this?!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRfxirAbSAA&feature=fvw

Thank You!!
Colton W.

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"Dang.. I want one!"

$200 for a new Warrior?
How many does he have at that price?

Berrien sells them for $368
http://www.berrienbuggy.com/id35.htm

By the time I get them in my shop I gotta have $400 for them.

I don't think you can build one for $3000 unless you put the most basic power in them and no frills on anything else.
A lot of used parts might get you there.

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Gary

Turbo VW Sand Racer
Polaris Ranger



"If you don't run into the Devil every once in awhile, you must be going in the same direction!"

Davis Motorsports FaceBook Page

You're right.. I think it is about $250.. I do not know how.. but they are cheap!!

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"Dang.. I want one!"

It is always difficult to get the full perspective from a Video but that hill would be cake in a buggy. All of the stuff in the video would be perfect for a buggy.

Your buddies rig is really nice. On rock gardens and mud, he will win every day. On hills, gully's and trails, there is no comparison.

Just my opinion..

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x2 if want to play on rocks and watch it flex, stay with the sami. if you want a rush get a buggy and dont be cheap!!!!!

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Air cooled forever,i hate rusty tools!!!!!!!

I dont think even a mild trail riding buggy with a superdiffed tranny would have trouble with any of that stuff, may even be a bit boring in a powerful woodsbuggy. BUT if you are gonna ride with 4x4s all the time, you are gonna have a wore out left leg riding the clutch all day.

Wow! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4tC1RLcLQc

The only problem is my buddies ride in 4x4 terrain.. I wouldn't.. is there any Wellsville guys on here? If I go down.. do you think I'd be able to hook up with a group or what?

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"Dang.. I want one!"

No such thing... I go with 4x4 clubs every once in a while and I have never had any issue that I could not overcome. Even mud.. I can usually go high on one side and stay somewhat clear of the mud. When they get stuck on a hill. I like to drive up next to them. Stop and say hi.. then go up the hill.

It sometimes does get boring waiting and waiting and waiting for 4x4s to go through something that a buggy would not even slow down for..

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Also.. I know this is pretty extreme but..

My father and I had been given a mildly built 327 Smallblock V8. I have been watching some videos and it seems to be pure bad ass! That would nock alot of money off of the buggy price being we got the engine free!

Here is what I am talking about
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVAGQsEF ... re=related

Is it just non-economical for the terrain or would it work? Either way it'd be bad ass! ha

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"Dang.. I want one!"

that is not even close to a mildly built 327!!! and to build a chaindrive even close to the capabuilty of that is not cheap so you better look at another direction . and something like that would handle any terrain you can give it.

Yea.. thats kinda what I thought.. OVERKILL!

I am kinda thinking that the Ecotec may be the cheapest engine to use.. our buddy's car yard probally has one or two.. not too sure about a Suburu.. too high class.. and I can't really find a VW motor and from what I have heard the VW aint so good...

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"Dang.. I want one!"

That IS pure badass in its own right, but far from economical to build and far from a mild ANYTHING. Thats a built 400 on propane, chain driven. That is about the best way to put that 327 to use, but be prepared to spend $30k to get close to as much CDbuggy as the one in that vid.

You say it costs $3k to get even a p o s buggy in your area, then maybe driving a few hundred miles would be worth it to you. It is not unusual to find buggies that would cost 5 or 6 grand to build but are for sale for $2500 or $3000, like the link MickeyMouse posted for you.

You may be able to build a buggy to follow those 4x4s around for $3k, but you aint gonna build one that will keep up with decent buggies for that, I dont care how much free help you got or what motor you get for free. Anything more than 130 hp or so and you'll need to put 1500 or so in a tranny alone.

And you OBVIOUSLY been listening to the wrong people about VW motors. You get out of them what you put in. If you scrimp on parts or dont let an experienced builder put it together, you will have junk. But built right with the right parts and its VERY hard to beat their performance on a hillclimber woodsbuggy. But you aint gonna do that for no $3k either.

Do yerself a huge favor, listen to what these guys on here are telling you, and BUY A TURNKEY BUGGY to start with. We have all been there , done that. They aint nothin like buildin a 4x4. You will tired of it before you ever ride if you build your first one from scratch.

Go to the hill climb this weekend.. You will see what a buggy can do..

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