Thanks to some clever scheduling, we had THREE DAYS to finish our Can-Am Baja Bug AND take it to Windrock for a shakedown test. After an epic thrash, we got the Bug done in time. Now all that’s left is to find out if this is the best thing we’ve ever built, or the WORST idea we’ve ever had!
This video is sponsored by the Cardo Packtalk Edge ORV: Wireless, Hands-Free, No Installation Communication. Helmet and helmetless solutions for in car or car to car connectivity. Use code 'octane' for 10% off! https://cardosystems.rfrl.co/z8qy5
Check out the story at https://www.utvdriver.com/utv-videos/can-am-maverick-x3-vw-beetle-side-by-side-build/
For more stories, reviews, and first-looks check out https://www.utvdriver.com/
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This video is sponsored by the Cardo Packtalk Edge ORV: Wireless, Hands-Free, No Installation Communication. Helmet and helmetless solutions for in car or car to car connectivity. Use code 'octane' for 10% off! https://cardosystems.rfrl.co/z8qy5
Check out the story at https://www.utvdriver.com/utv-videos/can-am-maverick-x3-vw-beetle-side-by-side-build/
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Want to see even more shenanigans from the UTV Driver team? Give us a like and follow:
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SportsTranscript
00:00 Is this the worst idea we've ever had?
00:02 Are we about to find out why nobody puts a bug body on a side-by-side?
00:06 Did we completely ruin a 2019 Can-Am Maverick X3, two VW Beetles, innumerable Sawzall blades,
00:13 an entire week, and our health for no reason?
00:16 Or is this the most glorious thing either of us have ever built?
00:19 We finished this thing last night and wheeled it out here to Winrock Park in Oliver Springs,
00:22 Tennessee, this morning.
00:23 And as you can tell, it is far from finished.
00:26 We realized we need more body mounts.
00:28 There's no glass, the roof looks like...
00:31 There's not a polite word for what the roof looks like.
00:33 We've got a lot to wrap up, but we could not resist the chance to come out here and play
00:37 around and find out exactly what else this thing needs.
00:41 Underneath the bug is a 2019 Can-Am Maverick X3 XRS Turbo RR, and on top is one and a half
00:50 Volkswagen Beetles.
00:51 The bugs were junk when we got them.
00:54 We paid less than a thousand dollars for both of them, and then we started cutting.
00:59 And welding, and cutting some more, and measuring, and then realizing we were bad at measuring,
01:04 and then cutting some more, and in three days we wound up with, uh, with this.
01:09 It's part side-by-side, part Baja bug, part rust.
01:14 It's bigger and badder, and as I'm finding out, worse in almost every way.
01:18 This week we have a crazy deadline.
01:20 We have got to shoot two videos, both including a promo for Cardo, and they have to include
01:26 the Mav-R.
01:27 The only problem with that is, the Mav-R's in Texas, and we're in Tennessee.
01:30 As you may recall, I rolled the Mav-R in Arizona and crushed the cage, which meant we had to
01:35 get a new cage built by the guys down at Thumper Fab in Marshall, Texas.
01:38 Those two videos have to be done by Friday, and they have to include the Mav-R.
01:42 We've got to drive 742 miles today, get down there, pick up the Mav-R, drive 742 miles
01:48 back so we can meet Aaron, except no substitute, to get those videos shot.
01:51 And we're going to cover all those miles in... this.
01:55 And it's great.
01:56 Usually.
01:57 Just started dumping coolant.
01:59 It's a radiator, Bob!
02:01 Radiator acquired.
02:02 The ratings on this are not great.
02:04 Like two out of five.
02:05 This is a zero out of five.
02:06 We're looking up.
02:07 Let's go to Texas!
02:08 Why is there a moose?
02:09 Texas!
02:10 It is a rainy day here in Marshall, Texas, but we made it, and we are here to pick up
02:14 our Mav-R from Thumper Fab.
02:17 It looks awesome.
02:18 They say.
02:19 Holy crap, man.
02:20 This thing looks awesome.
02:21 Talk to me about what you got up to here, dude.
02:23 This looks a little bit stouter than factory.
02:25 Right off the bat, you can tell it's just a much more aggressive look overall.
02:29 Typical low brow look.
02:30 We got rid of that factory Can-Am hump that's kind of in the middle of the stock cage.
02:33 Went back all with DOM tubing.
02:35 Add a little bit more bracing front and rear.
02:38 Why?
02:39 Well, I mean, just history.
02:40 That's fair.
02:41 So front intrusion bars on the windshield, intrusion bars on the roof, intrusion bars
02:46 on the rear, some extra shock tower bracing bars in the back.
02:49 We're very well braced.
02:51 Slick new bumper too.
02:52 Yeah.
02:53 With the tie down still integrated.
02:54 That's slick.
02:55 We like that.
02:56 You guys did an awesome job matching that factory yellow too.
02:58 That thing looks awesome.
02:59 We also got a roof up here with a sunroof.
03:02 That's super slick.
03:03 It's a nice touch.
03:04 Yeah.
03:05 Do a little stargazing at night.
03:06 You know, same with the billet grab handles.
03:07 I mean, this is the bling factor, but it looks good, dude.
03:11 Something to tie it in and like just really make it unique.
03:13 It makes it easier to get in and out too.
03:15 Plus, we really needed this really large brace right here to make sure the cage was properly
03:19 braced.
03:20 So I was like, well, we're going to make that look a little better.
03:23 I see you got provisions for light bars here up front.
03:25 We've got different mounts.
03:27 Super easy to put the light bar you want on it.
03:29 And this is not a custom job, right?
03:30 Somebody can come to you and order this sucker up.
03:32 We have options.
03:33 Yeah.
03:34 We just throw it into the laser, hit print, and start building the cage.
03:37 About how long can somebody expect to wait if they place an order today for one of these?
03:41 Typically our cages are about two to three weeks to get them built.
03:44 Some colors take a little bit longer.
03:46 We've got to ask what the cost.
03:47 It can go from mild to wild.
03:49 On this cage, we're right at about $2,500.
03:51 Dude, that is a screaming deal.
03:54 Pick up the phone, jump on our website, thumperfab.com.
03:57 We also have a great dealer network.
03:58 We have over 500 dealers across the country.
04:00 So all of those are installing dealers.
04:02 They'll be happy to talk to you.
04:03 Give us a ring and we'll help build one.
04:04 Well, dude, I can't say thanks enough.
04:06 I am so glad to have this machine back.
04:08 I've been itching to not roll it again.
04:10 We fully anticipate some good videos.
04:12 I've got to get back to Knoxville to meet Aaron so we can get these two sponsor videos
04:17 shot.
04:18 Let's get this thing on the trailer and get out of here.
04:19 Oh, wet butt.
04:20 We got another one.
04:21 Zach, what the hell?
04:22 Look, I think it's going to be fine.
04:23 I think...
04:24 Wait, no, before you go to that, this morning I came down here to help you film two videos.
04:39 What was the issue with that?
04:41 One of them required the use of our X3, which I took apart.
04:44 I remember that.
04:45 Yeah, now I do.
04:47 And also there seem to be multiplying bugs here.
04:50 What are we...
04:51 Yeah.
04:52 So I'm going to put the bug buddy...
04:53 Did you not watch our videos?
04:54 I just want you to explain it to me.
04:56 Okay.
04:57 So I'm going to put these on that.
04:59 Okay.
05:00 The X3 is 10 inches wider than the bug is.
05:03 So we've got to cut some metal out of this one.
05:05 We got to cut this one in half, hot dog style, widen it.
05:07 We're going to put this metal in that metal.
05:09 Six months worth of work?
05:10 Yeah.
05:11 If you're going to do it right.
05:12 When do we need it done?
05:13 Like by Friday.
05:14 It's now Wednesday.
05:15 Yeah.
05:16 I wish that was manufactured.
05:17 I wish that like, we were like, "Oh my God, if we don't get it done, you know."
05:20 But yeah, I screwed up.
05:22 All that being said, what do we need to do now?
05:24 I think we start by you figuring out how to get the body off the skateboard.
05:29 I'm going to see about rigging up some sort of structure for the inside of this thing
05:33 so when we cut it apart, it doesn't fall apart.
05:34 Okay.
05:35 Let's do it.
05:36 All right, let's get going.
05:37 How do you get a VW bug body off the skateboard?
05:39 Are you serious?
05:41 I've made a discovery.
05:43 Somebody bugger welded the seats in.
05:44 Did they come off the rails?
05:46 I'm bugger welded.
05:48 Yikes.
05:49 Hey.
05:50 I mean, yeah.
05:51 Worth every penny.
05:52 Yeah.
05:53 Is there a Volkswagen people yelling at us right now?
05:54 It's very rusty.
05:55 Let's get out the implements of destruction.
05:58 That might have poo on it.
06:00 Oh, I found a quota.
06:03 Zach finds pennies, I find a coin a snake.
06:06 That tracks actually.
06:07 All right.
06:08 Let's go ahead and just catalog that.
06:11 You know, you leave something outside for this much time, it doesn't move anymore.
06:16 There we go.
06:18 Yee.
06:19 Shapes.
06:20 You know how I got a D in geometry?
06:21 I'm not even being facetious.
06:23 I got a D in geometry.
06:24 They're just welded to it.
06:25 They went at them, didn't they?
06:27 I hate to say it might be factory.
06:28 I think that's just a repair.
06:29 That is not factory.
06:30 I don't know if you've met a German man.
06:33 He would rather kill himself than make that happen.
06:37 Make progress.
06:39 I mean, all of this is going to have to come out anyway.
06:42 I want to keep these because they're what tie most of this together.
06:45 No, let's try to actually take it apart, I think.
06:48 Yeah, why?
06:49 Okay.
06:50 No, I'm.
06:51 You put up a real fight there.
06:52 Smelling what you step into.
06:53 I found a YouTube video about this.
06:58 I just haven't watched it.
06:59 Oh God, the horrors.
07:00 It is grim down here.
07:01 There we go.
07:06 It'll shock you to learn that somebody bottomed that thing the heck out in like a lot of Georgia
07:11 clay.
07:12 What you're going to want to do before you start taking the tub off of your Baja bug
07:15 is clean it good so you can see the body bolts.
07:17 There are like a half a dozen body bolts running down this channel here.
07:21 Back in the day, some of the guys realized you could delete those for speed.
07:24 This is a high performance machine and then a high performance application you don't want
07:29 but one or two of these guys weighing you down.
07:32 Glass is heavy and I am weak.
07:34 This was somebody's pride and joy once.
07:36 Maybe not.
07:37 Maybe they were like, oh God, I had to buy the bug.
07:39 Crawl in there and give me a little pressure on this here.
07:41 Glyce.
07:42 Nevermind.
07:43 I did it with my mind.
07:47 Doors can probably come off.
07:48 The hinges are these big Phillips head guys.
07:50 I've got an impact driver in there.
07:52 Impact driver.
07:53 Is it turning?
07:54 No.
07:55 Do you have it turned to loosen?
07:57 Yeah, I do.
07:58 Have you thought about checking yourself before you wreck yourself?
08:02 Fix it.
08:03 So it's a spiral.
08:04 So when you hit it, it needs to go the way you want it to go.
08:07 So you turn it to loosen.
08:09 There she goes.
08:11 Turn to loosen and smack like you mean it.
08:13 See, this is educational.
08:14 This is educational.
08:16 It should go without saying, don't try this at home.
08:18 We're idiots trained in nothing.
08:20 We are essentially monkeys with hammers.
08:24 One of these no longer has a head.
08:26 All right, Aaron, go ahead and put those top two screws back in and we'll leave the doors
08:30 on.
08:31 Okay.
08:32 How's that sound?
08:33 How's that grab you, bud?
08:34 I don't know.
08:35 I will say on a serious note, you can see why people spent the last three quarters of
08:40 a century hammering these things apart and putting them back together and doing all kinds
08:43 of, this is the perfect thing to do this with.
08:45 Yes.
08:46 And also if it wasn't insanely rusty, it would be Legos.
08:49 Takes up no space.
08:50 You can throw like a million of them in and garage.
08:53 Beatles is a gateway drug.
08:56 Pick your fighter.
08:59 I'll try Sawzall.
09:00 We'll go to the death wheel if we have to.
09:01 Oh yeah.
09:02 I don't know how we got this back pain.
09:05 We'll be good to go.
09:06 That's cool.
09:07 I might actually use this.
09:15 Aaron spends 80 minutes trying to get two seats out and Zach's got the tub pretty much
09:20 off.
09:21 Is this thing full of gas?
09:23 Yes.
09:24 Got it.
09:26 Magical.
09:27 Oh yes.
09:28 The old gas delete mod.
09:29 Oh boy.
09:30 You can seal a deck with that.
09:35 I'm working on taking apart the steering linkage.
09:39 Aaron is getting the seats out.
09:42 What the fuck is that for?
09:45 Am I cutting between the rail?
09:48 I wonder why it was taking so long.
09:51 Okay.
09:52 Okay.
09:53 Hey.
09:54 I did it.
09:55 Got it.
09:56 Got a hole in your floor?
10:00 Piece of angle iron.
10:05 The ape is angry.
10:08 What does it want?
10:09 Well, I'm going to have to cut through here.
10:12 Sawzall will take that right off.
10:14 It'll stink, but it'll do it.
10:16 It'll stink?
10:17 That's broken now.
10:20 There's like welding wire and tobacco juice.
10:23 A redneck was here.
10:24 All right.
10:25 So we're filthy.
10:26 Yeah.
10:27 Okay.
10:28 Good talk.
10:29 All right.
10:30 So we got the driver's seat removed from that, bailed on the other one because we got all
10:33 the body bolts out and it seems like- I think we can just hook the shell to the gantry crane
10:38 and then just lift it up like we did with the other one.
10:41 We're not done cutting back a lot.
10:42 Oh yeah.
10:43 I should probably sweep up.
10:44 600 pounds of Georgia to clean up.
10:45 Sweep Georgia out of here.
10:47 You know, I thought cars from the South didn't really rust.
10:49 That one did and I breathed a lot of it.
10:51 Just means you're not anemic anymore.
10:52 Make you push that thing by yourself like I had to.
10:54 Looking at this one, which we maybe should have done, it appears the seats come off the
10:58 rails and the rails are just affixed to the pan.
11:00 Look at that.
11:01 So I probably didn't need to saws all out a large portion of the floor.
11:05 You son of a- That's good.
11:11 That's good.
11:13 That's good.
11:15 I need help.
11:17 She ain't heavy.
11:18 She's just awkward, you know.
11:19 One, two.
11:20 Oh yeah.
11:22 Who disconnected the steering?
11:25 Up over the fence.
11:29 We're the bond.
11:30 That tells me this is not this bug's first off-road experience.
11:32 Doing the Lord's work steering wheel.
11:35 Don't hit the bug.
11:37 We're lined up now.
11:38 Hell yeah.
11:39 Straighten her out.
11:40 Well, first I'm going to start by snapping my other ACL.
11:42 You got to for, you know, a reason.
11:46 We've got the lung.
11:47 Beautiful.
11:48 What I love about this is like you get into like, you caught it mood and then you realize
11:54 like some of this we actually want.
11:59 Boys I'm starting to think we got sold a bill of goods.
12:02 How the hell does this work?
12:09 One goes up and one goes down.
12:10 All right, slowly up.
12:11 Ain't got no other speed.
12:12 Oh, this crane does move.
12:13 Lord's work.
12:15 Bang.
12:16 All right, keep going.
12:29 Johnny dangle bug.
12:30 Okay.
12:31 Well, like an eighth of the way there.
12:32 I don't know what that was, but it's not there now.
12:38 It is day two and here is the sit rep.
12:41 We have the bug.
12:42 Uh, well it's not really a bug anymore.
12:45 Is it got the floor pans cut out?
12:47 We got the body off the skateboard.
12:50 Basically we're going to need just the shell to sit on the can.
12:53 And we've been trying reasonably carefully to cut everything else out that we don't need.
12:57 The plan is to saw the bug in half so that we can section it and make it wide enough
13:01 to sit down on top of the can.
13:03 Am we've made a bunch of measurements of where to cut.
13:06 We are reasonably sure that this will split the bug directly in half.
13:11 Now in order to cut the bug in half and expect any amount of precision, we're going to need
13:16 something holding the body together while we make the cut.
13:19 And that's where this box section steel tube comes in.
13:21 I am going to cut five lengths of this to 60 inches and then we're going to weld it
13:25 into the bug body so that when we cut it, it doesn't just flop open.
13:30 Then we'll remove these, widen the bug and tack in the extra roof skin that we're going
13:34 to need.
13:35 All right.
13:36 So while Aaron's a chopping up a bunch of tube steel, I'm going to come over here and
13:39 weld these supports to the tub, brace these things.
13:43 I'm going to get started at that.
13:44 Aaron's going to try not to cut off his thumb.
13:46 Not very hard.
13:48 When you got to make 60 inch cuts and you've got 120 inch pieces of steel, boy, you get
13:57 two in one.
13:58 Road thoughts.
13:59 With errr.
14:00 Again, D in geometry.
14:01 Try not to set my ground on fire again like I did yesterday.
14:05 What are you McFly chicken?
14:07 Check out my butt.
14:09 Mooey skookum baby.
14:11 Mooey skookum.
14:12 We majored in what we majored in so we wouldn't have to be ditch diggers.
14:16 Hotch tongue baby.
14:17 I said hotch tongue.
14:18 Getting wiggly in here, huh?
14:19 13 inches.
14:20 That's what we got to add here.
14:21 Yeah man.
14:22 I've been saying that my whole life.
14:23 This week on UTV Driver, we find out how bad our mistakes are.
14:37 If you enjoyed paying for college, it was cheap for me.
14:40 Loser cuts.
14:41 One, two, three, shoot.
14:42 Slide it.
14:43 Gently.
14:44 This is the worst idea I have ever had.
14:45 We got to put metal back in.
14:52 Right.
14:53 So that's what the other 69 was for.
14:55 Mama!
14:56 Just killed a bug.
14:59 We'll start tacking on this side and then I'll figure out how to make up the gap over
15:05 there.
15:06 We did it.
15:09 Number one, it's hilarious.
15:10 It's cut so much material out of this and I mean it's not super skookum metal.
15:14 I mean it's probably 50 pounds heavier than the ROPS.
15:16 Yeah, hell week is over.
15:18 Hell week is over.
15:19 For two dudes who never did this before, starting on a Wednesday and it's Friday of the same
15:24 week?
15:25 Yeah, I mean you're not going to see this thing at Barrett Jackson anytime soon, but
15:27 I think for the likes of us, good enough for the girls we date as they say.
15:31 Point is we have this victory.
15:33 We built the bah-highest of bugs.
15:35 Yes.
15:36 Bah-high bug.
15:37 Zach, you're going to be driving the bug and we have brought along the generous support
15:41 of Cardo Systems who agreed to sponsor this madness.
15:44 Fools.
15:45 Yes.
15:46 They were kind enough to send us their Pactalk Edge ORV communicators and their Edge phones.
15:51 That should let us stay in contact throughout the ride.
15:53 The Pactalk Edge ORV goes in your helmet and installs without any tools.
15:57 We've also got Cardo's Edge phones ORV which you wear just like any headphones when you
16:00 aren't wearing a helmet.
16:01 Both the Pactalk and the Edge phones are wireless, which means you're not tethered to your rig.
16:05 The intercoms feature dynamic mesh communication which lets you connect up to 15 comms.
16:10 The communicators can reach up to a mile between two rigs, but they can go up to five miles
16:15 if you've got a big enough ride group.
16:16 Now the Cardo's are line of sight, which means you have to keep your buddies in view, but
16:20 if you get dropped, they will automatically reconnect you when you're back in range.
16:24 Another cool thing is Cardo's natural voice technology.
16:27 That means once the unit is on, you just give voice commands and you don't have to worry
16:31 about pushing any buttons.
16:32 You can say, "Hey Cardo, music on."
16:34 And you can also connect with "Hey Siri" and "OK Google" so you can use it just like you
16:38 would with your phone.
16:39 They're also IP67 mud, dust, and waterproof, which out here is super important.
16:44 Both have JBL speakers and one-way directional mics, which really cut out engine and wind
16:48 noise.
16:49 They're also really clever.
16:50 They have audio mixing, which means you can have your GPS running, your music, and the
16:53 intercom all going at the same time, and the Cardo switches seamlessly between all of them.
16:58 The music volume will automatically drop when someone speaks, so you never miss a direction.
17:02 They're also powered by the Cardo Connect app, which has over-the-air updates.
17:05 It can adjust mic sensitivity.
17:07 It stores JBL audio profiles, and it does audio recording for content creation, which
17:12 is great for guys like us.
17:14 And the best for last, they're giving you a 10% discount just for watching this video.
17:18 Hit the link in the description below.
17:20 Aaron, these things are going to be incredibly handy because this thing is loud, and also
17:24 I can't see out of it, so I fully expect you to be out of the rig spotting me over some
17:28 obstacles.
17:29 Let's do it.
17:30 Hold on before you...
17:32 Okay, or not.
17:33 Prepare for violence!
17:34 I don't know how many more she has in her.
17:43 I mean, that feels skooky.
17:49 This does not feel spooky.
17:50 Oh, God.
17:51 It got worse.
17:52 Old fast baby.
17:53 I like it dirty.
17:54 Gotta let them know.
17:55 If there is a God, they are very much not part of this.
18:05 Sitting up there thinking, "Why did I give these morons free will?"
18:06 I want to cool her off a little bit.
18:07 We made it back to the trailer.
18:08 We did.
18:09 Arguably the most important part of any ride is getting home again, and the bug made it,
18:21 despite all odds.
18:22 Yeah.
18:23 We've done a lot more welds, which is not surprising since my welding is basically hot
18:27 gluing, but we learned things.
18:29 Yeah, proof of concept, and the concept is it's rad.
18:32 People have been absolutely losing their minds about this thing.
18:35 We had one guy walk up, and when Aaron told him that three days ago it was a bug, he should
18:39 have seen the look on his face.
18:40 It looked like Aaron had just punched him.
18:42 It was excellent.
18:43 All right, so let's go over some of the things we discovered that we think we need.
18:46 A driver's side A-pillar that's attached to the frame rail.
18:49 Yeah, okay.
18:50 So some light restoration work.
18:51 Yeah.
18:52 Some of the interior in there.
18:53 Mm-hmm.
18:54 Inner fenders were pretty high on my list.
18:55 Yeah, lots of stuff in the face.
18:57 You still get that in a regular can-am, but it sort of channels it out.
19:00 The bug tends to channel it in.
19:02 To your teeth.
19:03 And then after that?
19:04 Tail lights.
19:05 Tail lights.
19:06 Nearly got rear-ended once.
19:07 That was cool.
19:08 License plates?
19:09 Yeah, license plates.
19:10 Maybe a windshield.
19:11 I don't know.
19:12 I'm not even sold on the windshield, honestly.
19:13 No, I don't think so.
19:14 What about one of those dirt track expanded metal meshes?
19:15 Oh, yeah.
19:16 Okay.
19:17 I'm here for that.
19:18 Yeah, okay.
19:19 All right.
19:20 It needs a few little things, but nothing major.
19:21 I think we're gonna leave it alone.
19:22 Yeah, yeah.
19:23 We're not gonna paint it.
19:24 We're not gonna...
19:25 No, we're not gonna paint it.
19:26 We're not gonna...
19:27 We might do some off-road lights or, you know, some cool period-looking stuff, but otherwise,
19:30 I think we're dialed.
19:31 Stay tuned.
19:32 We're gonna keep working on this thing as the weeks move forward.
19:35 In the meantime, you can check us out over at UTVDriver.com or on this channel.
19:38 We'll see you there.