S.O.B. build - on The Salt is off road ;)

[BAJA-IT]

That engine is looking nice Kyle.

[fusername]

if you can get away w/ the CR, I would suggest .040 to .045 max, squish is your friend. although bug heads don't have much to begin with, so the gains are smaller than say a real mo... I mean TIV motor. But we all know what opinions are like.

[baja1776]

Sorry...

31x10.5x15 Goodyear Wranglers on 15x7 on the rear
7.00x15 Hercules HDT on 15x5 on the front

BAJA-IT, thanks for the offer. I never imagined I would have any difficulty finding anyone to do it!

Kyle

Hello, could you please tell me what backspace you got with those 15x5 wheels? I have 7.00x15r yoko742s on the way but not 100% on what wheel to use.. 15x5 or 15x6 fronts. i have some 30x9.5 for the back.. thinking 15x8. 3.75 backspace to allow upsizing tires in future as the car grows. 1970 stock bug right now. what would you pros recomend? awesome build!

[kyle_pc_75]

You confused me for a second, I forgot that this car was once a Baja!

Anyway, 4" in the rear, 3" in the front. The front rubs on the pan lip if you turn it too sharp but otherwise works well. The 15x5 seems perfect for that size tire. I think 15x6 would be too wide as I like to have a little bow in the sidewall to protect the rims from rocks.

[kyle_pc_75]

Long block is done! I'll be mounting the tin and carb tomorrow. There's no wiring in the car, so I'll have to wait a bit to start it, or jerry rig some wiring. However, tomorrow I'll be lowering the rear suspension and installing the 2-1/2" drop spindles and disc front brakes.

Sorry, am I allowed to talk about lowered suspension in the ORF? Remember, ON THE SALT IS STILL OFF THE ROAD!

[Big Dave]

Are you going to lay the beam back any with shims or something to help with stability?
Carry (the old mechanic and old school salt racer from BC in Ogden) once told me they would lay the beam back like 20 or 30 degrees to give it enough caster so the car only wanted to go straight. He said they could get away with it in stock classes because all the parts were stock, it was just moved around.

[kyle_pc_75]

I don't know, Dave, this will be a mostly street car with a once a year go at the Salt Flats. I think I'll give Burly a call, or talk to Blackline and see what the majority of the slow folks are doing. If anything, I'll use some of AC.net's shims. 20-30 degrees sounds extreme. This year especially will be a shakedown, first go at it.

Since it rained all day, snowing now, I didn't make it out to garage except to finish cleaning and organizing. The front of the car is too close to the door, I would've gotten soaked doing the front end. I did finish the engine, though!

[Big Dave]

Yep, sounded extreme to me too, but that was for a dedicated car that was going trying to get into the 130 club IIRC. At that speed, a VW front end really starts showing its weaknesses. I've done about 110 in a stock (lowered) bug one time and it felt like I was doing 200 MPH, and that was with zero crosswind. I can't imagine what 130 would feel like on the salt.

[TimS]

I was going 75 a few days ago with zero wind. I could see my head lights go side to side while i kept the wheel absolutely still. Time to readjust my steering box again.

Glad to see you working, Kyle. Sounds like a busy year.

[kyle_pc_75]

Good to BE working on the cars again. Spring always motivates, and I stopped skiing a few weeks ago. I even skipped last day at Park City Mountain Resort today, haven't done that in years.

Dave, I'm shooting for 80 mph this first year. I totally get what you're saying, I know Justin and Colton's front end is laid way back, I'll have to take a closer look next time I'm down at Blackline.

Today I got the front discs, shocks, and drop spindles on. It really doesn't look that low, but then again there's no weight on the car, no running boards, and the tires are shorter than stock. I also changed the clutch spring, throwout bearing, installed the Baja's old urethane mounts, straps, and mounted up the transaxle. I probably would've gone rubber, but I had these lying around.

I think this week I'll start tackling the project I've been dreading the most...replacing the rear luggage tray. I need to do it before installing the engine, even though the body isn't bolted down. The old tray is already cut out, quite neatly, by the previous owner, and he gave me a replacement piece from another old car. I just don't have the patience for body work. Oh well, the rest of the car is ugly, so it won't matter too much.

[kyle_pc_75]

I have to admit, I exaggerated a bit in my last post, but that's ok, 'cause no one's reading my "on road" build thread.

What I mean is that I didn't actually get the transaxle installed, but I had mocked it all up. Well, this morning, come to find out the bolts on the stock mount aren't long enough to get through the urethane mounts. No prob, I just cut the studs off and drilled through the heads.




Installed (for real this time!):




I also started prepping for the package shelf replacement. The guy who I got the free body from did a stellar job removing the rotted shelf:




And gave me this for free with it. I started prepping it to cut out the spot welds. I guess there's another tool I should buy, wish I had had one when I did the floor pans, they might've turned out nicer!




I got a few other odds and ends done, clutch cable, front brake cables, master cylinder and reservoir. The biggest thing that came out of today was a shopping list, however.

I also cleaned the garage. I was kinda forced to, because somehow I lost the grub screw on the shift coupler. That's the type of item I'd just leave screwed into the coupler, so I was at a total loss, prompting me to move the entire garage out onto the driveway and then back into the garage, sweeping the floor in between. I didn't find the grub screw, but I was able to then cross a few things OFF the shopping list.

I love being in the mode again!!!

[Hedrock]

I also cleaned the garage. I was kinda forced to, because somehow I lost the grub screw on the shift coupler. That's the type of item I'd just leave screwed into the coupler, so I was at a total loss, prompting me to move the entire garage out onto the driveway and then back into the garage, sweeping the floor in between. I didn't find the grub screw, but I was able to then cross a few things OFF the shopping list.

I love being in the mode again!!!

Love it!

[CentralWAbaja]

I love being in the mode again!!!

Love it!

I have got to get myself in the mode again.

Good to see you making progress.

[Leatherneck]

I love being in the mode again!!!

Love it!

I have got to get myself in the mode again.
Good to see you making progress.

More people are paying attention to this build then you think, sometimes just hard to get a comment out of the peanut gallery.

[kyle_pc_75]

Sometimes you have to make a choice. Today I made the choice to put Bajamungus on hold for a few months while I get this car ready for the Salt in September, since letting my dad drive at World of Speed is his surprise 70th birthday present. I didn't think there'd be so much to getting this car done and road worthy, but I need to make sure it's safe first and foremost.

Anyway, got a bunch more odds and ends done, pedals in, modded the '75 steering column to fit and got it in, cleaned the grime out of the trunk, trunk hardware in. I also dropped some coin on that shopping list I was talking about, so there'll be no shortage of work to be done in the coming weeks.

I even splurged on one of these, I wish I had done the same on Bajamungus, but can always upgrade later:

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/prf-30001/overview/



There's a fair amount of wiring still in the car, so I don't have to start from scratch completely.

Onwards!!!