With the content of your favourite VW magazine being nothing, if not varied, we decided that with the renewed interest in that 1960's icon the Beach Buggy, it was about time we got the spanners out and built one.

Therefore over the next few issues we will bring you a step-by-step account of how to build a Beach Buggy, this month is the introduction and the restoration of the chassis.

As with all these type of projects it seemed like such a good idea at the time and one which, within a few short months, would result in us cruising along to a new season of shows ("ah yes, but which season?" I hear you ask).

I'm not sure what brought it on; it may have been mixing with too many members of the Midland Buggy Club or perhaps shooting the Buggy for the February 2000 issue of your favourite magazine, which sent me over the edge.

But with the seed firmly planted in my mind, I began to think if we should build a new buggy or just rebuild and restore one of the many buggies, which can be found in the 'For Sale' pages, each requiring a varying amounts of tlc. In the end we finished up doing a bit of both 

After putting the word around, it was not long before Simon 'Chad' Chadwick Chairman of the Midland Buggy Club (and one of the two men behind new West Midland base company Doon Buggies) was e-mailing me with details of an original short wheelbase GP Mk1 which was for sale in Warwickshire. After a quick conversation with the vendor – Gary Mullet, another member of the MBC - I was e-mailed some pics and a decision was taken to go and have a look.

Just two nights later Chad and I ventured to Dunsmore and located the said vehicle, which was looking a bit sorry for itself on the owner’s front drive. Apparently it had been bought as a project for the owner’s son, but had not progressed very far and was now being offered for sale. After a quick look around the car, we decided that whilst the pan was in poor condition the shell was OK and after deciding that it was worth close to the asking price the deal was done.

"When do you want to come back and collect it?" said Gary, only to turn around to see Chad clipping on the 'A' frame and hitching the buggy up to the back of the tow-car. The cash changed hands and we drove away. After wanting a buggy ever since I had passed my driving test, all of a sudden I had one. Who said anything about a mid-life crisis?

The following day I rang the VWm office to report my latest acquisition, "why?" was the swift retort from the editor. "It will make a great camera car" I replied "and anyway, it seemed like a good idea at the time!"

It wasn't long before the buggy was transferred to the Oldbury premises of VWm's old friends Volksmagic where it lay untouched for a while until the direction of the project was decided upon.

The first consideration was the body shell, should we keep the existing one or replace it with something more modern? A quick calculation concluded that to properly restore the original Mk1 shell would cost nearly as much as a new shell and once we saw the first Doon (see "We're all Dooned!" - VWm December 2001) the die was cast. This choice was confirmed when I received a firm offer for the GP shell and sold it on to a new owner. Suddenly I had the money for my deposit, Doon No. 3 was all mine!

The next choice was to be the style in which to build the new car. After a bit of research it was decided to move away from the traditional big wheel look of 'bum in the air - nose in the weeds' and head towards the American Super Street style, with a nod towards the styling of Jeff Shucks Fibretech Manx, as pictured in Keith Seume's 'VW Beetle - The new custom Handbook'

In the clear light of day, once the old shell was removed from the pan, the extent of the deterioration to the chassis was all too evident to see. Quite how this vehicle had ever managed to get an MOT just a few months before I purchased it will remain one of the great mysteries of modern times.

Both of the pans had got great holes in them, which had been plated - or perhaps just covered - over, whilst the bottom of the frame head was also in a poor condition. But, as we have seen previously, the main spine or backbone of the Beetle chassis is made of stern stuff and will take a great deal of abuse!

With the direction of the project now decided upon, it was now a case of assembling parts. A Puma beam was acquired from Bugfreeze, whilst pair of pans were bought very cheaply at a show from the now defunct Halifax Beetles. "Make us an offer mate, it'll save us loading them back on the van!” Other parts came from various shows both VW and Kit Car, whilst I kept the mail order department at Big Boys Toys busy for a while.

It took no time at all for Volksmagic owner Lee Southerton and ‘Brad’, his bodywork wizard, to remove all the rusty bits of floor and consign them to the skip.  Then, with the already shortened spine now naked on the workshop floor, it was time to check where the original cut and shut work had been carried out. A close examination showed that despite over thirty years of abuse, these welds were still in good condition having weathered the test of time.

The new floor pans were then cut and welded to the spine and once again the chassis reverted to that familiar VW look. It was at this time we decided that, in the interests of better handling, we would convert the rear of the car from swing axle to IRS suspension. Therefore the requisite parts to carry the diagonal A-arms were grafted on to our restored chassis to produce our ball-joint front / IRS rear hybrid. To go into great detail of these modifications is outside the remit of this feature and for further information I strongly recommend you take a look at James Hale's excellent book "How to modify Volkswagen Beetle suspension, brakes and chassis for high performance".  

The bottom of the existing frame head had suffered badly from the onset of the dreaded tin worm and so a new panel was sourced, alas the damage was worse than was originally thought and so it was decided to replace the whole of the frame head with a new section. The rusted metal was cut away just in front of the bulkhead and the new frame head slipped over the existing tunnel and after carefully checking the alignment welded into place.

Once the chassis had been repaired it was refitted with both front and rear suspension and wheels. With all the dimensions confirmed as correct, the chassis was again stripped back to a naked floor pan. Any remaining rough edges were removed with a grinding wheel and the pan then sent off for shot blasting back to bare metal and then given a coating of zinc.

Once returned to the workshop the chassis was mounted upon a specially constructed gig, which was made out of an old frame head and gearbox cradle. This allows the chassis to be worked upon at waist level and also enables it to be rotated through 360 degrees.

After all the seams were treated with spray sealer, the chassis was given two coats of primer, with any poor areas being rubbed down between layers! The chassis was then completed by the application of a couple of coats of a photo-friendly shade of two-pack light grey, which was specially mixed for us in double quick time by Oldbury based paint specialists Colourwise.

The restoration of the chassis was now complete and ready for the fitting of the running gear.

Next month - Front suspension and brakes