Cleetus “American Flag” Edition
posted by: andy burger, fathers day, 2022
an all-American modification
I was fortunate to have acquired a dune buggy that the builder took much care and thought into every build detail – originally built in 2012.
The steering column, for example, is a one-off custom-made piece of functional artwork. Originating from a mid-60’s VW Beetle column, only the column core remains from that donor part. A cannibalized VW turn indicator was added to a custom machined 3.5” aluminum hub – adapted for both 5 and 6-bolt steering wheel types. The original column was painted to match the buggy body color Nassau Blue: PPG 14779. A custom vented aluminum sleeve was installed over the column and just shows a trace of that blue through the vents.
When I originally acquired the buggy in early 2015, one of the first things I added was a quick release steering wheel adapter and changed to a wooden 5-bolt Grant steering wheel. The adapter pulled back the wheel an additional 2.5” into the cockpit. Over the years, I’ve played with a few different steering wheel combinations, but they all have utilized the quick release setup and extra space, until now…
My body swap, done during COVID in 2020, to the current Lime colored Berrien Nostalgia was completed without changing much of anything of the core build of the original buggy. ACME Car Company started numbering Nostalgia bodies, and this one is proud to be number 00001 – the very first tagged nostalgia to come out of the shop.
A few other things were modified to account for the new body, but one of the things I didn’t change was the trace Nassau Blue paint that you can still see on the column and can be seen through the column sleeve vents – as an ode to the original build.
This recent steering wheel modification/addition to my buggy is building on the continuation of the history of this vehicle. When I purchased the MPI – Cleetus “American Flag” edition steering wheel during the Memorial Day holiday this year, I did some research on various stories about thefts of components. For example, knowing that in VW circles, things easily removed are high theft items, e.g., original wheel trim rings, tail light housings (67’s and earlier), trim rings around head lights, etc., etc. AND steering wheels with quick releases that take a second to remove. Quick release steering wheels deters the theft of your buggy/car, but make it easy to steal your steering wheel. A number of discussion forums talk specifically about thefts of steering wheels that simply have a quick release.
So here is “iBuggy” introducing mods & additions that check off the following:
- Having to install the MPI Cleetus “American Flag” edition steering wheel without a quick release;
- Having the convenience of a removable steering wheel without having to remove it but still retaining the extra couple of inches into the cockpit area;
- Still having the ability to be a circus contortionist to work under the dash on the driver’s side without having to remove the steering wheel;
- “deter”, with an additional adapter lock, the ability to manually remove the steering wheel; and
- “deter” theft of the buggy generically by raising the wheel and locking it in that mode while parked if needed.
The changes from before to after are straight-forward. Since the original machined hub was built to accommodate both 5 or 6 bolt steering wheels or adapters (most today are 6-bolt), the NRG tilt adapter (with lock) was the answer for all 5 points above. Removing the original 5-bolt quick release adapter I purchased in 2015 and installing this new 6-bolt NRG tilt adapter is all that it took to safely mount the Cleetus “American Flag” Edition MPI Steering wheel on my buggy with a custom iBuggy “iB” chrome logo on the horn button.
There a many different tilt up adapters for steering wheels on the market, some cheap, some very expensive. But, this NRG model has the factory lock included and priced midrange for quality craftsmanship and a very solid feel. I was able to get this for under $200 (list price $269). Cheaper tilt adapters can be found on Amazon without the locks for $50 to $75 dollars. You can spend upward of $500 for higher-end tilt adapters from Bell, etc.
about this dune buggy
What you are seeing is a dune buggy known as a Zarkov. “What is a Zarkov”? Well, that’s easy. Dr. Hans Zarkov (aka Joseph Wheeler) from West Virginia, is arguably one of the best fabricators, fiberglass-men, paint, and mechanics to ever build a dune buggy. This one-of-a-kind buggy was Number 5 (commissioned in 2012) in Joe’s buggy build history. And to this day, 20 other Zarkov’s are in existence.
