Brand New Dune Cat Bodies Now Available

#1
Hi All,

I'd like to introduce my company and product. My name is Shafi and I have started a company for my daughters called 2 Sisters Keisler. The company's mission is to provide niche products and services to the enthusiast market. I own and operate a manufacturing and sales company for muscle & classic car component manufacturing now, and hope to see my young girls take an interest in making parts and managing an enterprise as they get older.

Our first product is a high quality reproduction of the HPE Muskin Dune Cat (circa 1972-74). At this time, we are producing just the bodies. We intend to expand this to included a complete D-I-Y kit with frame and all of the components to fully assemble a Dune Cat go kart, less the engine which can be purchased locally. Our focus with this approach is to first service the folks that have aging, broken or worn out bodies with a high quality brand new body. Then later in the second phase when we have frame/chassis kits, we plan to supply these with detailed video assembly instructions to encourage parents and kids to build these together. The intent is to provide a hands on learning element of what the components in the kit do, how to service them, how to upgrade them, etc.

My girls have been educated in the Montessori system, whereby kids learn by hands on experience lessons physically instead of just reading lessons. I have seen first hand the benefits of this method, and believe that if we get our kids learning and building hands on that they will be more capable and independent people when they reach adult hood.

Onto the new Dune Cats !

We have produced new tooling for the bodies. It is exceptional in quality and is making beautifully finished bodies. Each body is hand laid by American craftsman locally here in East Tennessee - the mecca of fiberglass boat manufacturers. We do these bodies in solid colors and big metal flake color. Big flake bodies get an additional step of black gel coat which hides the underside of the body.

Three (3) layers of fiberglass are hand laid and the body is similar in weight and density to the original HPE Muskin Dune Cat. With today's UV resistant gel, we expect these bodies to last and look great for many years to come.

I am attaching pictures of several bodies for your review.

Regarding price, here is our current pricing as of product launch April 2013:

Body in Solid White or Black - $600
Body in Solid Red or Blue - $650
Body in Big Flake Red, Blue, Silver, Orange - $750

Prices do not include shipping. I am working on how to do this inexpensively and will have more information soon.

If you would like to order, please send me a PM and I will send you payment options (Paypal, Certified Check, Money Order). Or call me at 865-566-0314 9am - 6pm Eastern Mo - Fr.

Note about this post: I had purchased a Vendor Forum subscription, but it was refunded to me today. Apparently "Hent" (an Administrator?) is not taking new vendors right now according to the note on the refund from PayPal.

We hope you like our offerings.

Best Regards,

Shafi, Athena and Natasha
865-566-0314
 
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#4
Pretty darn awesome...!! ....the Shriners are doing cartwheels right now...:freakout:

Do you not cut the pedal slots in....?

Also the nose was prone to breaking off....4 out of 5 that you see have been broken or altered.....I was just curious if you might have strengthened this area.

Good luck with the new venture....:thumbsup:




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#5
Thanks for the props!

On the pedal slots, yes they will be open, as well as the steering column hole and the 6 body mount holes. The witness marks for the early design seat cover fasteners are also intact but I will leave them closed so people can drill them at the time of seat cover installation.

We will have a seat cover made once the frame is available.

We will have some really cool CNC machined billet aluminum pedals to complement the butterfly aluminum steering wheel.

About the nose, it is certainly sturdy, and on the orange body I did metal reinforcement around the mounting holes up thru the fenders. And same for the rear body to frame attachment. But the only way to truly protect the front clip is to have absorbtion shocks and bumper.

This little machine has lots of potential for upgrades. And if these sell well enough we will tool a 10inch stretched version. I actually have one now for evaluation purposes. It would give the 220+lb guys a little more room.

If anyone is a Shriner here please PM me with advice on how to contact all of the units across the country and let them know new bodies are available.

thanks!
 
#7
More Pictures

Hi All,

I realized that non-registered visitors cannot see attachments, so I am linking the pictures in for everyone to see. I will show one color per post.

Skywalker Blue Metallic Flake





Shafi
 
#9
Body in White

Body in White




For those of you Shriners running units of these, this would be a great start so you can color coordinated with your own custom paint job. These bodies are ready for paint. Just scuff them with 800 grit and start painting.

Shafi
2 Sisters Keisler
865-566-0314
 
#10
I'm curious how a 6 foot tall 220 man fits in a dune cat, since I never seen one in person, all the picture I have seen of them have kids in them, are the small.
 
#11
Search on here for Whammo77's thread showing the Shriner unit of 16 Dune Cats in action. A bunch of big guys.

Once I get these things selling, I will invest in making a 10inch stretched version. I have the plug mostly ready.
 
#12
Candy Apple Red Dune Cat

Here is the first Candy Apple Red. It is available for $750.







If anyone is interested, I can ship nationwide to the lower 48 and Canada.
 
#16
valzareh,
The pedals arms are 3/8 steel rod, torch heated and bent over a 1inch steel rod. Then threaded on both ends.
For the pads, I have not run across new original types yet. They are pretty basic and in the style of the VW Beetle - 12ga rectangular shape rolled for arc radius with 3/8 nut welded on back. Then a coating of aggregate (sand) is applied in a durable plastic epoxy like film for a no slip surface. Here are some suggestions for nice affordable alternatives:
- Dorman products sells replacement rubber pedal pads. check out the VW Beetle pads
- check ebay for motorcycle foot brake pedals. Some are really nice and inexpensive. For about 20 bucks you could buy a couple of them and have your local weld shop graft them onto a base rod.
- 1965-73 Mustang clutch and brake are nice looking symmetric opposed. very inexpensive at $5

I am developing a frame for the Dune Cat bodies now. It is slow because I am picky and I like to develop and evaluate variations of approaches. I am onto my 3rd variation for the pedal quadrant now, and I like it. I have relocated the mounts to directly under the body slot openings. The geometry is much better compared to the original where the pivot point was several inches rear of the slot. The original pivot point makes the pedals drop way down into the body when you depress them. That is not ideal. By moving the pedal pivots to directly below the slots, you get uniform pedal action. It is much better.

I also came up with a slick way to run different pedals depending on driver preference, with a quick release/quick change. The base stays in place so you can raise and lower the body from the rear body mount bolt as a pivot without having to remove the entire pedal assembly like stock. Will post pics.

I am putting Wilwood Kart hydraulic disc brake on the rear axle, and internal expanding drum brakes up front. The fronts are 4.5inch and work pretty well so far. I plan on hooking up the rear this weekend.


I will try to get some pics up here this week to show what I am doing.
 
#20
Not a good picture, but you can make out the details on the pedal quadrant relocation.
I love what your doing with the dune cats. Hopefully I start seeing new ones around soon! But I am curious on how you set up suspension on it. I was thinking of adding some to my old dune cat or getting a new body and making a custom frame for it. Just curious on some of the things you have tried. Any pictures or tips? Thanks man
 
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