Dune Buggy Fun

Many years ago David and the two older boys built a small, kid dune buggy. They bought a quad and took it apart, and came up with this...

This is Troy & Jason back in 2004. It gave us the funnest trips to the desert we've ever had. When they were building it, Troy & Jason would weld it while David was at work. I was super stressed, but they were taught well. They had the instructions right there on a clip board and they did a super job - until one of the sparks landed on the plans and caught them on fire. Keep in mind this was several years ago!! We should've known that was the start of hilarious times.

I am not sure, but there may have been one time to the desert that this baby didn't give us trouble. We lost the master link on a dune, the brake line broke and caught the engine on fire (I will never lose the image in my mind of Troy getting out and running faster than I've ever seen him run) and the final nail in the coffin...
The axel snapped and the wheel rolled across the desert. The buggy skidded about 50 feet before stopping. We couldn't figure out why the heck Jason was running across the desert until we looked before him. He was chasing the tire a very long way before it stopped. Hilarious!!

Now the varsity scouts (of which David is one of the master planners) are building a new dune buggy for a project. They will use some of the parts from the previous dune buggy, and Don's crashed 600 motorcycle engine. So far, this is what they have...

Here they are testing the size and seat placement. They are so excited to get this buggy done.
Of course, they are using new steel. Troy even asked me if they could get this one painted and not have it be rust. HA! Hopefully it won't take as long as the first one did.

1998