Hello All

[Toufs]

Hello to everyone I am Toufik from a small island in the Caribbean called Antigua. I recently bought a Barracuda out of the US that was built by Lance-W a member of this site. I was very happy to have found this site knowing that the builder of my buggy is a member here, for the wealth of knowledge here and just being able to share thoughts with people that I have the same interest with. The buggy just arrived on island today and clearing port tomorrow so its not in hand yet. But be sure I will be calling on you guys when I need help with ideas when the time comes for maintaining it and when it calls for parts lol. Thanks for the read.

Toufs

[fastcorvairs]

Hello to everyone I am Toufik from a small island in the Caribbean called Antigua. I recently bought a Barracuda out of the US that was built by Lance-W a member of this site. I was very happy to have found this site knowing that the builder of my buggy is a member here, for the wealth of knowledge here and just being able to share thoughts with people that I have the same interest with. The buggy just arrived on island today and clearing port tomorrow so its not in hand yet. But be sure I will be calling on you guys when I need help with ideas when the time comes for maintaining it and when it calls for parts lol. Thanks for the read.

Toufs

Welcom . You bought your new car from a great guy and a even greater fabricator.  Good luck and we need pictures.   

[fabr]

Congratulations! Welcome and hope to hear more from you. Yes,Lance does some fine work and you should have many,many hours and miles of fun with the Lance buggy.

[Carlriddle]

Wow how cool.  All the buggy offroading in So Cal and it finds its way to the Carribean! 
Welcome to the madness!

[dsrace]

you will enjoy the info on this site. you will enjoy that rail and probably have plenty of sand to run it on over there!

[Lance-W]

Glad to see you made it

[Lance-W]

How's Hurricane Irma treating you?  Hope you're OK !

[fabr]

Irma appears to be a real bitch. Hope you fared well.

[Yummi]

Welcome, 

Reports of 90% damage there   hope you fared well


https://www.yahoo.com/news/antigua-barbuda-prime-minister-unprecedented-004718529.html

[Toufs]

Hey guys, I must say thank God that the hurricane shifted slightly north before hitting us. If she did not shift we would have got the full force of 185mph winds gusting to 220mph. Our sister island Barbuda 27 miles away got the full force of it tho and they are well messed up with 95% of homes either damaged or totally gone. We have some trees down few roofs off some lines down and a carpet of leaves island wide with the 90mph winds gusting to 120mph. We are now on hurricane watch again for another 1 expected to hit us on Saturday (Jose). Pray for us. Thanks for your concerns guys will keep you guys updated. I would get into the few lill problems that the Cuda came with as it looks like the last owner after Lance neglected it but no time for that now, sorry. Gotta get back to another prep for another hurricane.

[Toufs]

Oh I forgot to mention that 1 life was lost in Barbuda and it was an infant. That is very sad. RIP to that baby. Sorry but I don't mean to get anyone sad today, just bringing the news to my DTS family.

[fabr]

Glad a dts brother is OK.

[Carlriddle]

Pics I saw of Barbuda, 1 loss of life was a miracle.  Stay safe!

[Toufs]

Hey guys I am happy to report that we dodged 2 bullets in a row. All is well and back to normal on my island. Very sad to say not all the islands were as lucky as us. Many dead, out of control violence and looting, people being robbed at gun point in their homes, shortage of gas, food and no electricity or running water. roads have washed away preventing travel. I tell you man, Barbuda, St Marten, Anguilla, US Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, are totally messed up. When I see how those other islands look I consider myself and Antigua to be very lucky and blessed. Anyway, time to get back to work on my new toy, I have not touched it in 2 weeks. As I mentioned before the Cuda came with some problems that needs attention due to the person who bought it from Lance neglected and did not maintain it too well or at all.

Lets see...There was water and rust in the fuel system, everything from the tank to the injectors. Took the tank, fuel lines, injectors and filter out and cleaned them out.

All the chrome on the shocks were brown with rust. Took A wire brush and wd40 to it and they look new again.

The throttle cable was sloppy and would not get any action on the throttle until the pedal is half way down. That was an easy adjustment.

The steering rack and some of the heim joints seem to be bad as there is about half inch of play on the steering wheel left to right. Also the heim joints on the steering column have play up and down, side to side (not a turning action)

My biggest problem is its over heating. We have checked the radiator, water pump, took out the thermostat, did a leak down test to check the head gasket, did a compression test, used different coolants and rain water. Now I am waiting for my brother to get back from the US with a water temp sensor but he is stuck in Miami because of all this hurricane crap with my parts (sad).

Did a full service, the oil looked kinda like mud but the spark plugs were ok but changed them anyway.

I think it needs disc pads, the pedal needs a lot of pushing way down to stop and the clutch pedal does not rebound back to the top, I think it needs a new clutch cylinder.

Hmm if I think of anything else later I will stick it in here.

Thanks for the read guys

PS..All my buddies are in love with the work Lance did and very excited to have all the little issues sorted out so we can see her perform in her full glory.

Toufs

[dsrace]

glad to hear you were spared. the rioting and lack of basic utilities is uderstandable given the circumstances. never a good thing. but really much can be done immediately for those situations..                  as far as the rails is concerned.....thats quite a list! if i remember right previous owner  had that engine out to replace the trans gears. so, as far as the heating issue goes....the busa engine can be difficult to bleed. sometimes its first  try... sometimes its 12 try! what i have always found to work best for me is.......on top of the thermostat housing....there is a hose about 1\4" ID. it is basically a bleeder off the thermostat.  so i mount that hose  to a barbed fitting at top of radiator. i have or should say had bungs welded into my custom aluminum 15x32 two core two pass radiators.  i did read you even pulled the thermostat trying to find the issue, sure would`ve thought that would`ve gotten any air but never know. some times air gets trapped in spot like the head and simply running the engine  the rail on steep inclines takes them out with that bypass hose. only ran into this issue once. now you could have a bad water pump. may look ok at idle but may not move enough at rpm. sounds like it was never reasembled properly and left outide? how fast does it overheat? have you check the thermostat housing temp with a temp gun?