Low Budget rear engine, 37"s

BNBOFFROAD · Feb 21, 2015

Sweet little buggy good tech booyang

RustyC · May 4, 2015

Hitting the trails in this thing always results in getting mud in your lap from the front tires. I dropped off the buggy at Gilberts Designs in Birmingham to let them put on some skins as I do not have the tooling required to work sheet metal. They did an outstanding job. I am very happy with the results.
The skins keep a ton of the debris from the front tires off of the driver and passenger. They totally change the look of the buggy as well for the better in my opinion.

RustyC · May 4, 2015

We took it out racing again this year for the Dirt Riot race at Grayrock with much better results than last year. My goal was to finish the race and I ended up with a win. I had a buttload of fun racing as well.
I am very happy with the performance of this little machine.

85toyo · May 4, 2015

Congrats on the win. Looks great with the new skins :dblthumb:

Moto85 · May 5, 2015

Whoohoo! Winner winner chicken dinner! Those skins make that look like a different ride.

jwilson645 · May 5, 2015

WOW, that's awesome Rusty. Congratulations. :dblthumb:

Those skins DO make it look totally different. :woot:

Jacobmc · May 5, 2015

How are u likeing your tires?..I wasnt happy with mine at first being they were the 10 ply but after some more riding they seem to be doing better..they are same size as yours

RustyC · May 5, 2015

I am happy with them. I chose them due to needing a tough trail tire. They are stiff at first. Running a double beadlock lets me air down to compensate for the stiffer sidewall. They are not as stiff as I figured they would be. Still run about 6psi on the trail and 12 or so for the race.
I really would love this exact tire in a sticky. I would gladly pay the weight penalty for the toughness.

drycreekjeep · Aug 3, 2015

great little buggy. post some more pics of it please.

RustyC · Aug 3, 2015

drycreekjeep said:
great little buggy. post some more pics of it please.

I can take more pics. Anything in particular that you are interested in?

drycreekjeep · Aug 3, 2015

some of the 4 link front and rear. how is the 4.3 doing in it? its a great lookin buggy.!

RustyC · Aug 4, 2015

I am ok with the 4.3 for the most part, but honestly I wish it had a 5.3 or 6.0 in it. A 4.3 weights as much as a v8 with less power. The high gearing in the 205 does not help either. Considering a gear change form 5.13 to 5.83 in the axles. Who knows I may end up changing the rear of the chassis up and putting in a V8. The engine will fit now I would just need more radiator.
An LS engine, stickies and some more shock tuning and I would be VERY happy with it.

I did build some stronger driveshafts from 2.5" .250 wall dom and all 1350 joints. I have no worries of a driveshaft failure anymore.
I also built a new fuel cell for more capacity when racing with sight gauge tube too.
Here is a few more pics.

RustyC · Aug 4, 2015

drycreekjeep · Aug 5, 2015

thanks for the pics!!!

B.DRAKE · Aug 5, 2015

I like this buggy A LOT! Great job with the build! :dblthumb:

Neal3000 · Aug 5, 2015

One of those supercharged 3.8 V6's would be sweet for this rig

the_white_shadow · Aug 6, 2015

You should be fine with the radiator youre running now if you swap in an LS. I ran the stock GM 4.3L radiator from '92 when I switched to an LS and it cooled it just fine. Taurus fan helped.

drycreekjeep · Aug 6, 2015

how much tubing did it take to build the buggy?

RustyC · Aug 6, 2015

I think it was about 6 sticks of tubing. I'm getting old and can't remember things light I used too...

The radiator is only 21" x 19" with a Volvo fan and would just barely cool a mostly stock 5.7 tbi motor. I would not chance it on anything bigger.