Meyers Manx Buggy Build

[b_erwin]

I am building a model for a friend of mine that has a Meyers Manx dune buggy.  Unfortunately, his car is in almost the same state as the unbuilt kit he gave me to build. LOL.

here are some of the photos he gave me:

[b_erwin]

I have started with the engine.  I had to scratch make the intake manifold because the kit came with dual carbs and his is a single carb.  Because the exhaust in the kit was just a stinger, I also had to scratch build the exhaust pipe from the collector to the tail pipe, including reshaping a muffler from another kit.  The intake manifold and the mid pipe are..080" styrene rod, and the tail pipe is 3/32" tube.  The air cleaner is a piece cut from a flat piece of scrap from another model, and shaped to be round.  

I haven't installed the distributor or coil because I am waiting on delivery of spark plug wires and a Bondic UV glue kit.

[VanSpence]

Love it. Eager to see the finished product. 

[David G.]

You're off to a great start!

Do you have a source in mind for the Mustang taillights?

David G.

[b_erwin]

7 hours ago, David G. said:

You're off to a great start!

Do you have a source in mind for the Mustang taillights?

David G.

Thanks.

I bought a lot of four Mustang kits.   Two of the kits were incomplete junk yard parts.  Unfortunately, the chrome was missing from the parts kits, but the tail light lenses were in one of them.  I was able to paint the surrounds withe a Molotow chrome pen

[b_erwin]

I got the plug wires installed. I used Bondic liquid plastic to attach the wires.  I have some touch up to do.  The semi gloss black paint isn’t setting well, so I’ll have to re do all that.  

I LOVE the Bondic plastic pen!  I cannot thank the folks here enough for what I have learned so far!!!!   Bondic liquid plastic,! Molotow chrome pens!

[Dann Tier]

I agree!...this is looking GOOD!!!

[b_erwin]

Time for a 2 week update.  I finished the chassis and wheels during this work trip.

 

I had to cut up the Cragar mags that were in the kit to make the hubs.  Fortunately the chrome center caps Steve has for his buggy look like the centers of the Cragars. 

The tires that came with the kit are a bit small to my eye, and the Jackman style rims I bought are dragster skinny/Fat rims.  I had a tire that I liked for the rears, but the rims were still too wide for the rear, so I cut and narrowed them.  I also modified a set of rims from my scrap bin to widen the front wheel backs so they fit wider front tires than were provided in the kit.

 

 

[b_erwin]

Continued....

 

[b_erwin]

I also played around a bit with some seats to replicate the Miata seats in Steve's buggy:

 

I sanded the bolsters and head rest areas, then used some hockeystick tape for seat insert material.  It will need some detail work to get the seams and contours right.
 

[David G.]

Good progress, nice work on the seats!

David G. 

[PatW]

Looking good! I wish I'd got a Meyers Manx in my garage as well!

[b_erwin]

Time for another update:

Steve's hood has a different shape than the one in the kit.  His buggy has a more rounded front and has a raised center detail.This is not Steve's buggy, but has the same hood:

Here's the one in the kit:

I reshaped the nose by sanding it down:

Then taped off the raised area.  I debated using putty, Miliput and a piece of styrene to make the shape, but in the end I decided to build the area up with multiple coats of primer, and it raised the area just enough to get the detail I wanted. (There's another thread in the Questions and Answers section with the debate of the pros and cons of the different method and my decision process)

[b_erwin]

Next was to get the fiberglass chop texture on the under side of the body.  Again, there is another thread in the Q&A section about that decision.  But bottom line, I thought I'd settled on gluing a drier sheet to the body and painting it.  But the dryer sheet texture was a bit over scale, and gluing it to the irregular shape of the body proved difficult.  So I found some Rustoleum textured paint and sprayed over it with gloss black.  I think it came out great!

[b_erwin]

Next Step was painting the top side:

Primed:

Then Blue with Wet Look Clear:

Body mocked up on the chassis:

 

Next I Made up seat belts and attached them to the seats:

[b_erwin]

Final Assembly: Front Turn Signals are Classification lights left over from a truck model, and the Mustang tail lights were from a junk yard parts bin purchase.  The chrome bezels weren't included, so I had to improvise with a Molotow pen.  Not exact, but close enough.  

 

The headlights in this kit, don't have locating tabs and holes.  Also, once glued in place, you cannot remove the hood (which would be a shame since I went to the trouble of relocating the fill hole from off center where the original gas fill was on the kit to the center of the hood where it is on Steve's buggy).  At any rate, I drilled holes in the head light buckets and in the body stanchions, and sacrificed one of my drill bits to pin the headlights to the body.  That way they can be removed, if he wants to look under the hood.

And onto the "Under Glass" Section...... I'll post a thread there in a day or two.

 

 

[David G.]

Looks like a great replica! 

I love your idea about modeling the fiberglass texture on the body shell, it really adds to the realism.

I wish I'd thought of that when I built mine.

David G.