Dune Buggy & Manx Parts

Built for dirt, sand, and everything off the beaten path. Dune buggy frames, components, and off-road VW parts that take a beating.

Shortening a VW pan changes more than the wheelbase

The classic dune buggy is a shortened Volkswagen Type 1 floor pan with a body dropped on it, and that one cut creates a chain of problems a stock parts catalog does not solve. Shorten the tunnel and the clutch cable, throttle cable, emergency brake cables and shift rod are all suddenly too long. That is why this collection carries shortened stainless clutch and throttle cables, a non-stretch 14.25 inch emergency brake cable set, a shift rod built on a factory German base and custom cut, and a complete cable shortening kit.

Sort these out before you weld

• Tunnel strength. Cutting the tunnel takes structure out of the car. Our internal tunnel gusset plates weld in to put it back.
• Pedal geometry. Aftermarket shortened pan halves do not always come with a brake pedal stop. We make a weld-in stop plate for exactly that.
• Parking brake. A cut-down chassis needs its handle re-mounted. We machine a billet parking brake kit for shortened Type 1 chassis and a slimline mount for heater-delete cars.
• Swing axle or IRS. If you are converting, weld-in trailing arm brackets and TIG-welded IRS control arm pockets are both here.
• Seats and bumpers. Weld-on seat rail mounts for PRP rails, and Manx-type front bumper brackets.

We have done this one in print

Our shortened-pan conversion ran in VW Trends as a two-part build: Get Shorty, Part One and Part Two. Most of the parts above we drew and cut in our own shop in Orange, California, because we needed them and nobody was making them properly.

If you would rather not do the cutting, we build chassis at flat rates from $2,350 to $4,050, finished in 30 days or less once work starts and built in the order received - see chassis work or chassis for sale. Parts questions go to (657) 438-7002, Monday to Friday 8am-5pm Pacific.