1968 Allison Daytona Dune Buggy

ASBug wrote:I'll check the battery.
I do not own a top, but have access to one to measure.
Find out what your mom would charge me to make one for Big Al.
Are you doing the sides, the whole nine yards?
I am thinking white, but I know it will be nasty after one year...
The other choice is a tan color for me.
What color are you going to do?
KC

I plan on going back with the original white top and seats. I'm not going to have her put the windows back on it. I plan on it being a spring and summer time vehicle. I decided not to put the heater boxes on it because I don't see myself driving it when it's cold out. I asked her if she was willing to make two tops and she said no. She told me she won't enjoy making one but she is doing it because she loves me and really wants to ride in it. Haha She is also really busy with the grandkids so I know the top will be a slow process for her. I was going through your buggy build thread and I saw that you had yours painted. Did you do it or have someone do it? Did you have the gel coat put back on or is it auto paint? Who did the pin striping? The paint job looks really good on yours.

The PO did the build. He is a Retired VW tech from the Dealer(s) in Chattanooga.
My Dune was originally red like yours.
It is painted Base/clear automotive.
The pinstriping was done byt the PO and is paint.
He did a great job.
I cannot wait to see it next to a gelcoat car to see how accurate the stripes are.
The PO always wanted a green allison back in the day and he built it like he wanted it.
Mine came from the Allison Factory as an assembled car and has the Allison VIN plate on the dash.
I looked your buggy over when the PO pasted it on the dunebuggy archives site.
I am going to get the www.allisondaytona.com website running this spring and hope to have a forum just dedicated to the Daytonas.
This brand was a power house back in the day, but the untimely death of the owner and the idiot son getting rid of all the documentation has caused a vacuum of information that must be built backwards from the customers and original surviving documents.
Looking like it is going to be a nice buggy.
Shame on the top, but I understand.
I am contemplating getting an industrial sewing machine and doing it up myself. (I have a thing as well that will need a top on it...)
KC

macollins105 wrote:
I also have the original top and side windows all intact to go by. My mom is really good when it comes to a sewing machine. She did all the seats for my bus and also did the camper top canvas with windows. My parents have a ski boat from the 70's that she mad the top for. The boat top is almost identical to an Allison top. She told me she felt confident she could make me one. I want to get it on the road before I have her start on a top and back seat.

Will you sell me your OEM top and Seat covers when you are done?
I cannot dissect the other top, it isn't mine.
KC

ASBug wrote:Will you sell me your OEM top and Seat covers when you are done?
I cannot dissect the other top, it isn't mine.
KC

The top is all there but it is not in the best of shape. All the stuff sat in the buggy under an overhang for years. The sun has made it brittle and I think it even shrunk some. I'm not sure what my mom will need off of the old top. She might take it apart to get different patterns from it. I also don't know if she will use the snaps off of it. I will try to take some photos of it tonight and post. I don't have a problem giving you what is left. I hope she will make the top before YUBuggin. If you're attending that show, I could give you what I have left over.

I am now to the fun part of the build! I have been working really hard on the buggy the past four days. Thanks to all the rain last week and valentine's day I wasn't able to start painting until Friday. I finished up all the sand blasting on the body when I got home from work on Friday and was able to put on the first coat that night. I installed all the new ball joints with a cool little tool I welded up. I will post that in the tips and trick section later today. I worked on getting all the small parts blasted and cleaned for paint. I was really pleased on how well the transmission turned out. I sandblasted it clean and hit it with a can of metallic paint. It really made it shine! All the paint was dry and ready to work with late Monday. I got started with bolting on the frontend and getting the arms and spindles installed. I got the new tie rods and steering dampener hooked up. Late last night, I installed all the brake hardware and got all the hubs installed. I looking forward to have it rolling again tonight. I can finally park my other VW back inside. Here are a few pictures I had on the computer at the time. I hope to update the post with more photos later today

(Photos not working see below photo post)

Here are some more pictures from the last few days.

(Photos not working see below photo post)

Last 2 batches of photos not working for me...
Just an FYI.
KC

how do we see the pic's

I guess you can’t use photobucket to host photos on this site. I could see them on a few different computers. Not sure what is going on with that. I went back and loaded them using Servimg below. I added the photos I took tonight. I put the wheels on and set the camber and alignment. I also installed all the brake lines and cleaned up my shop. It is nice to have room again and have all the cars back in the garage.

Looking good. You can use photobucket you just need to use the [img] code link

Here is the recent progress on the buggy from the past few days. I got the body bolted onto the chassis and put some used 13” tires on the front. I removed almost all of the old wiring and I am preparing to start rewiring it this weekend. That car had a lot of splices and electrical tape so I felt it would be better if I completely rewired it. I rebuilt the bottom end of a stock engine about a week before I bought the buggy. I originally planned on putting it in a baja project. I decided I would use this engine for my Allison. In the past few days, I slipped in some 87mm pistons and installed some new valves and valve springs in the heads. I also got the motor tins blasted and painted. I put the engine all together and installed it into my rail buggy to test it tonight. I got the motor to crank a few times and ran it for about a minute and it sounded like it was going to run good. Nothing like the smell of a new exhaust smoking!!! The engine was a little louder than I thought so I will break it in tomorrow to keep the neighbors from getting mad. I might take it for a spin in the rail buggy tomorrow.

Man, that looks really good. Great progress.

I miss my Allison buggy........

I am glad that the PO went with a bugpack quiet pack muffler.
Even with it the thing is loud.
I cannot immagine it with a dual trumpet!
I will probably get a stinger for the header that is on the buggy, but that will be a temporary thing only for the shows, I have a feeling it will drive me batty if I had to listen to it every time I drove it...
KC

I finally got the motor right… I had to split the case again this weekend thanks to the main thrust bearing not lined up correctly on its dowel pin the first time. It sure was good I only ran the motor for about 10-15 seconds last week. I noticed how tight the motor was when I went out the next day to tune the motor. I completely took apart and rebuilt the motor with a new main bearing this weekend. I got the motor bolted up to the buggy again to test it out tonight. I wasn’t getting any oil out of the sending unit on oil pressure test. This was the first motor I have had to pack the oil pump with Vasoline to get a good prime on the sump. Do any of you guys do this? I have built many motors and never had to do that. I guess there is a first for everything. Here is a short video of the motor going tonight. I think it sounds pretty good. I need to get the dwell meter on it and tune the carb a little motor. I’m going to break it in tomorrow.

Between the car show and having to work late at work, the progress on the buggy slowed down a bit. Now that things have slowed down at work, I have picked the pace back up. I ran a new main wiring harness and got the rear end of the buggy all wired up. I made sure all the lights have a solid ground to the frame since they won’t ground to fiberglass. I wasn’t able to wire up the front of the buggy since the hood and dash were not installed. This meant I had to tackle the gorilla in the room. MY RUSTY GAS TANK!!!! I dumped about a coffee can or more of rust out of the tank. I filled the tank with water and it made an awesome watering can. I decided that is was time to move onto plan B. I went out to Bug-eyed and bought a new tank. I was nervous because I knew I had to perform plastic surgery on it. The Allison’s have a center fill cap that slide down into a hole made into the middle of the tank by the sending unit. There is nothing like buying a new gas tank and cutting a 2” hole into it. The biggest thing was making sure the 2” hole was in the perfect spot or all hope would be lost. I luckily measured twice and cut once and got it right the first time. I didn't have the ability to braze the tank so I took my time and used the mig welder. The weld was good and I didn’t think it would have leaked but I decided to go over the weld with some solder to make sure it filled any possible pin holes. Here are some pictures of the tank work I did the past few days after work.

Before








It lined up!!!

Nice!
Did yours have a flip up or did it have the original coin edged screw down cap?
Solder over the weld is a great Idea... I'll steal that one.
KC

ASBug wrote:Nice!
Did yours have a flip up or did it have the original coin edged screw down cap?
Solder over the weld is a great Idea... I'll steal that one.
KC

I believe I have the original screw on cap that screws down to the body.

I'll send you a photo of mine.
KC

I’ve done a lot of work on the buggy the past week. It was a slow process but I got it completely wired up. I also got the marine radio and speakers installed and it sounds awesome. Here are some photos of the progress the past week or so.

I’m getting closer and closer! I can tell this thing is going to be a lot of fun. All the hard work is really starting to pay off. I finished a lot of odds and ends this weekend. I hooked up the gas line and adjusted/bled all the brakes. I filled the front beam with grease. I got to drive the buggy for the first time Saturday night. I took a video of its maiden voyage. I adjusted the carburetor, points, and timing today and it is running a lot better. Unfortunately, it rained all day and I was only able to drive it around the block once. I didn’t like how close I was to the steering wheel so I had to do some modifications to the seat rails. The buggy’s pan is shortened fifteen inches and doesn’t allow the seats to go all the way back like a normal bug. Today I cut off part of the seat rail and welded in a new support. This allows the seats to go all the way back now and I have a lot more leg room. I also got around to drilling new holes in the seat rails for the seats to mount. I hope to go to the tag office this week and get a tag for it. All I have left is the roll bar, seat belts, front bumper, and get the seat covers and top made!

Nice!
Are you going to make it to BAP in the buggy?
KC

ASBug wrote:Nice!
Are you going to make it to BAP in the buggy?
KC

I won't make it to BAP this year because I will be out of town. The next show I should have the buggy at is Y U Buggin.

Nice job getting it running. We have a family allison that i recovered after it was stolen years ago. I'm working on it now and have a bunch to do. Its a total basket case now. I need to find the coin style fuel filler setup if possible. I also have a bunch of body work to do. I also am considering loweing the car a bit for a more agressive stance....its a street only car. Hoping to have another Allison on the road soon.

herkster wrote:Nice job getting it running. We have a family allison that i recovered after it was stolen years ago. I'm working on it now and have a bunch to do. Its a total basket case now. I need to find the coin style fuel filler setup if possible. I also have a bunch of body work to do. I also am considering loweing the car a bit for a more agressive stance....its a street only car. Hoping to have another Allison on the road soon.

I would love to see some photos of it. Good luck finding the coin style fuel cap. You might want to check with Allison Daytona Ken on the dunebuggyarchives.com. I know I saw a post awhile ago where he had an extra one. He might also know what else might work on it.


I haven't posted about my buggy for awhile. That's because I can't stop driving it!!! It's running great and the only thing left is the seat covers and some wax. Can't wait to drive this thing at Atlanta Motor Speedway...