This project started with a telephone call to Simon ‘ Chad’ Chadwick, who along with Richard Crees, are the two names behind ‘Doon’, one of the newest Buggy companies in the UK. 

The voice on the other end of the phone belonged to Volksworld Marketing Director Richard Marcroft  and the conversation went something along the lines of “we like the look of your buggy and we wonder if you’re interested in getting involved in building a project car which we can give away at the Volksworld Show 2005.

Chad’s answer was a very positive yes and the only rider was that the car had to be present (in some form) at the 2004 show, a deadline which was met, but only by the skin of the teeth!

Before we look at this particular buggy, lets just step back and see where the Doon story began. 'Chad' and his office colleague Richard have been driving Buggies for years and having become fed up with their many shortcomings, began to think how they could improve the situation.

“After much thought, which even included the possibility of buying the old GP moulds as a basis” said Chad, “we decided why not build one ourselves and so we began to sketch a few ideas!”

“If anyone else should ever contemplate such a project” said Chad, “they should make an estimate of the time they think it will take, add the age of all your family members to it and then double it. This will be close to the number of hours you will actually spend in the workshop.”

“The name Doon comes from the Black County pronunciation of the word

Dune (!), as well as allowing for the design of the distinctive company logo. “

After many hours of handy work , a buggy was created in MDF, foam and body filler and from this the initial splash mould was produced.

“I wanted our Buggy to be modern”, said Chad. “It should have an opening bonnet – where the battery could be situated – the rear wide enough to legally cover 10” wide wheels and able to fit over an IRS rear end without any unnecessary cutting. Most importantly it had to be as waterproof as possible, with panels to keep the rain from running onto the back of the radio, instruments / wiper motor and a rain channel around the main shell.”

The first shell produced was Rich’s olive green example, which was prized free from the mould on Sunday 5th August 2001, allowing less than one week before the kits debut at Beach Buggy Bonanza 3 / West of England Kit Car show.

As befits any self-respecting buggy enthusiast ‘Rich’ just happened to have an old chassis, complete with logbook, tucked away in a lock-up and it was this, which would become the basis for our ‘Project Buggy’.

Originally to be found keeping his cousins 1971 orange 1200cc Beetle from scraping its belly on the floor, it had seen better days but was deemed ideal for this project.  Whilst the floors were very poor, the backbone was in good condition and if you looked hard enough you could see, it was going to be possible to make a silk purse from the proverbial sows ear!

The chassis was moved to the Oldbury premises of Lee Southerton’s company ‘Volksmagic’ where, one wet and cold night in January 2004 ‘Chad’ and Rich – using a selection of air-tools as well as good old Black Country brawn - removed all the rusty bits of floor and consigned them to the skip. 

With the chassis now reduced to just its backbone, the proper restoration work could commence, but first Lee had to carry out the dreaded chop, shortening the chassis by 390mm.

Once repaired with new floors and frame head, all the dimensions were checked and re-checked, before finally being confirmed as correct. Any remaining rough edges were removed with a grinding wheel and the pan was then shot blasted back to bare metal and given a coat of zinc. All the seams were treated with modern spray sealer and the chassis given two coats of primer, followed by a couple of coats of two-pack satin black.

Whilst Lee was carrying out the hard work, many of the components that would be required later in the build were stripped apart and sent away for shot blasting. Some, including the gearbox, were painted in two-pack satin black, whilst others were anodised silver.

A new satin black Puma beam (pre-fitted with its ratchet style height adjusters) was fitted, along with a set of castor shims to correct the suspension geometry as well as aiding straight-line stability.

The stub-axles were sent to a local machine shop where the steering arm eyes were machined out to allow for the fitment of a pair of bump steer bushes. On a lowered type 1 chassis the track rods can sometimes work at extreme angles, this may lead them on occasions to even make contact with the underside of the fuel tank! Therefore, the fitment of these bushes, allows the outer track rod ends to be repositioned upside down and out of harms way. Lee also took the liberty of re-fitting the eccentric camber bushes which had also taken a trip to the anodisers!

The steering box was relocated and bolted up on the right hand side of the beam, after being converted from LHD to RHD by welding into place an old stop from an original beam. A new steering damper was mounted up using a trick aluminium billet damper mount, once again supplied by our friends at SSP. 

Being so light on the front-end, the stock drum braking system was kept as this would be more than sufficient for the job in hand. The blasted and repainted front back-plates were refitted and the braking system rebuilt using all new stock components. Rear slave cylinders are used as they provide less braking than traditional front cylinders to further reduce the risk of the front brakes locking-up.

Due to our chosen wheels being Porsche fitment, a pair of new drums were welded-up and re-drilled to the correct five stud pattern (5/130mm PCD), by a local machine shop.

The 1600 gearbox was cleaned and reconditioned before being sent away for blasting. Upon its return it was bolted up using new Urethane mounts. An aftermarket T-Button shifter kit was fitted, reducing travel by up to 40%, whilst a urethane/metal gear coupler also helps with the changes.

Lee took the opportunity to replace the rear bearings with new parts, new rubber gaiters were fitted, with the supplied nuts and bolts being replaced by stainless steel items.

The good thing about building a project car in a VW yard is the opportunity to try different parts and fitments and a while ago, Lee began to use readily available parts to put together Volksmagic’s own rear-disc brake kit.

The most troublesome component to source was the actual calliper mount, but eventually a pattern was constructed and the mounts are now easily produced to order.

The existing brakes were stripped down, with the bearings being replaced as necessary.  The new disc brake calliper mount was then fitted in place of the old back plate and the gaskets and seals renewed, before the bearing cover is replaced. The brake parts were then treated to either two pack satin black, or silver anodising, as appropriate.

The rear discs themselves were sourced from the Bug Pack catalogue and are non-ventilated items, which slip onto to the existing splines. The callipers, in this case new Beetle (with floating brake pads), were then mounted onto to the bracket and connected up using Audi A4 flexible hoses.   

It was decided that the wheel of choice for our Doon was to be the Porsche Teledial, as they came in a variety of widths and diameters.

Ian Heward, the owner of The Porsche Shop in Halesowen donated a set of wheels, size 6”x15” front and 8”x16” rear. These were then coated in a stunning ‘Black Chrome’ finish, (this is an interesting sort of Graphite colour which looks great with the Volksworld s own choice of body colour) before being clothed in BFG rubber of size 225x16 and 195x15 respectively.

The engine came from SSP and is a ready built unit from the German RemTec Company (check out www.remtec.com for further details), it’s a 1600cc twin-port unit which came complete and was just a simply bolt in job – real plug and play. The unit is neatly finished with all satin black tinware and a pair of traditional dual cannon’s, for that buggy roar!

As you may have seen at the Sandown show, the colour chosen by the boys on your favourite VW magazine was grey and therefore the Volksworld Doon shell was ordered in Dawn Grey (BS No. 00 A 05). 

Why such as strange colour choice you may ask, especially as most Buggies are seen in bright colours. "That was the whole idea" said  Richard Marcroft at the time, "we decided to go for an 'anti-colour', hence the choice of a grey shell and black wheels. I think it's going to look good and really buck the trend!"

Many contemporary cars are now offered in alternative colours, such as the Audi TT which looks good in flat grey, a modern colour which seems to suit the sharp modern lines of the Doon.

All those involved with the building of this particular Doon thought it was a strange choice of colour, but as you can see, once the bars, seats and belts were bolted into place, the whole car really came alive.

The front end has been treated to a set of ‘twinky-winkers’ which are ideal indicators being both e-marked and of the specification and rating, to flash at the correct speed without the need for the fitting of any resistors.

The front wings house the traditionally styled Buggy light units. The lights themselves, originally supplied in chrome, were stripped before being powder coated satin black. Whilst the ‘white’ rear lights are mounted through apertures cut into the bodywork, they are simple 70mm diameter units but look very effective.

Rather than use a full ‘cage’ to support the hood Lee custom built the bars (not an easy task as the main hoop requires no less than six bends) in ERW (Electro Resistance Welded) tube, a base level specification material normally used for the construction of non-competition roll cages.

Effectively it is a four-point ‘cage’ with a middle hoop and a rear hoop at 90 degrees, which is braced and connected to the middle hoop with two stays. The rear hoop neatly fits inside the body shell and also picks up the seat belt anchorages for the Willans belts. The whole ‘cage’ is a freestanding unit and was powder coated satin black before fitting.

One of the main features of the 'Doon' is the opening front bonnet, which allows easy access to the fuel tank. This means no more cutting holes in the bonnet moulding for the filler neck to protrude. Although you can use a standard 12V Beetle tank, it is best if the filler position is modified slightly, moving it to the top of the tank. This allows the tank to be filled to the brim, giving you a good cruising range, rather than having a tank half full of air!

The battery is mounted in the centre of the under-bonnet area, held in place using the normal system of clamps. The connections (covered by plastic shields) exit to the rear, straight through holes neatly drilled in the shell. Everything is covered and hopefully as watertight as possible to avoid any problems with the electrics over the years to come.

The braking system was completed by the fitting of two brake fluid reservoirs (sourced from a Bay Window Type 2) in the under-bonnet area, on the opposite side to the neatly laid out fuse box and relays - which will hopefully keep the buggy’s electrics well behaved! The ease of access, via the opening bonnet, will allow for the easy monitoring of the fluid levels, something not easily achieved with Buggy’s of old!

After Lee had recently successfully completed the fitment of a fully adjustable Golf Mark 4 steering assembly to a 1972 Beetle it was decided to fit Volksworld's Doon with a similar assembly using readily available water-cooled (!) parts liberated from Volksmagic’s vast second-hand stock.

On this occasion parts from a Polo Mark 2 (lower column) and a Polo Mark 4 (upper assembly and steering wheel) were combined and when linked to the existing Beetle steering box provide our Doon with a modern wheel, complete with switchgear. A massive bonus over stock type 1 fitments.

The Polo Mk4 features dash mounted switchgear for the lights and so we chose to mount both the hazard and light switches low down to the right of the steering wheel, with the standard Beetle speedo fitted in the centre. 

The seats for Project Doon were kindly supplied by our good friends at Midland Wheel Supplies, who donated us a pair of Corbeau satin black 'low-back' vinyl Classic Buckets. Vinyl is good in that if you are caught in the rain, they dry quicker than traditional cloth seats! The functional interior was completed by carpeting the center tunnel and covering the floor with black rubber matting.

You’ve only got to take a quick look around the buggy to see what a superb job the boys from Doon and Volksmagic have done in putting this project together, the build quality is really excellent. But take a little more time to look deeper into this particular Doon and check out some of the detail work, the way the shell is designed, the wiring, how the way parts are bolted together with spreader plates and rubber grommets / washer to prevent rattling and vibration etc. 

All in all, Project Doon has turned into a really cool looking ride and if you are / were the lucky winner and drove it away from the recent Volksworld Show at Sandown, you were no doubt recognisable by your massive grin.

The summer is coming and I can think of no better way to spend it than behind the wheel of Volksworld’s Project Doon!

Once again a big thank you to all our trade sponsors, without you all this project would never have been possible

www.doon.co.uk     01384 859872

www.volksmagic.com        0121 541 2278

www.porscheshop.co.uk   0870 00 55 911

www.streetstyleandpower.com     08702 245105

www.midlandwheels.com   01926 817444 

 

John Clewer – February 2005