72BajaBen Baja Rebuild Thread

[Class 11 streeter]

Ok, I think I see what you have done now. Tubing frame with a flanged hole body lift. It also looks like you have hanging pedals. It also looks like you might have a K&L front beam.

I didn't build it, I got in a hurry to get a buggy and bought it as is. Despite what I thought I knew when buying, I got as much bad as good. Not long after this buggy purchase I had to buy a house and the 'disposable income' in my wallet flew away. [/excuses]

Am I correct in assuming the tires are larger in dia. than stock tires which could be why the tires are hitting the tube frame. Does the tube frame slightly bend towards the center rather than going straight out to the beam? If not that could be another reason for the tires to hit it.

Yes tires are taller than stock. Yes the tube frame follows the body lines and curves in going forward towards the, yes, linkpin beam. The cage added at the rub point does not help the tire clearance but it looks cool. And that leads us to the most important consideration:

It is a nice-looking rig to say the least.

I agree which is why I am wanting to smooth out the rough issues on the buggy starting with this one. Despite how tall it looks its a stock suspension and no better than stock in ride quality or ability. It feels the same as my first VW, a 64 baja.

Apologies to 72BajaBen for the hijack!

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Maybe it's time to start a build thread of your own (it's free too ).

I have one for my blue buggy and one for my black buggy.

To be redundant, the good thing about your own build threads is that you can add pic (and have them for future use if you need to rather than having to do a search for them ) and a place for questions, answers, opinions and other's pix for potential all for future use.

Lee

[72bajaben]

72bb I am loving the build! A friend of mine wants to do a subaru in his manx style buggy and I will be sure to direct him to this thread.

For myself I am interested in the benefits of A-arm. How happy are you with Nichols Fab for their product? And are there other companies out there making an A arm setup that you know of?

The reason I ask is my buggy has a stock width beam and with the cage setup the turning radius really sucks. Fiberglass buggys have sucky turn anyway and mine does also. The obvious answer is wider front end. So, I am trying to decide if the coin is worth wider beam, or for "a few dollars more" maybe an A arm setup.

Pic of my front wheels at full lock. Ugh!

Nice looking buggy. I want to get a fiberglass car really bad. But I picked up a 1993 Jeep XJ instead. haha.

I'm really happy with the Nichols Fab kit. In the end I think its going to be better than a bean setup. I really think it depends on what you are doing. My front is 68" to the outside of the tires. Which is really nice. My 3x3 rear is 72" to the outside. Obviously skinny tires on the front make up the difference. If you want me to measure something let me know. Or more specific pics of the kit.

I 100% would recommend the kit for A-arms. I think theres like 1 other company making kits. And its more expensive.

For the EJ stuff...Outfront motor sports has it going on. Tell your buddy to look there for subi parts.

[72bajaben]

Apologies to 72BajaBen for the hijack!

Its all good.

[72bajaben]

I just wanted to let everyone know....I'm still working on the baja. Theres only so much body work I can do before I want to melt all of the sheet metal down. And its really slow going.

I did build my own 3" body lift. That's been welded to the heater channels. Next the body is going to get taken off so the pan can be prepped to be welded to the 3" lift.

Plus its been in the high 80s and 90's...which makes me want to stay inside and 3D Print RC cars. =]

[72bajaben]

Ok...Back to work.

Body has come back off for final welding of the body lift. I want to cap the tubes to keep junk from getting in there. Wire wheel it all....wrap up some body work while its up in the air and easier to get to.


Some prep work has to happen to the pan as well.


I've also adjusted the front and rear arms so everything is square. She's looking pretty good. Pretty sure this is where I want to ride height to be. I have 14" under than pan.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Ben, since you are working in some of the same area of the pan I am playing with would you do me a favor and put a bubble level on the floor of the pan on both sides to see if they are the same angle, e.g.,90°. For right now I am not concerned with the actual angle but more does the bubble go all the way over to the end of the level area which mine does.

I got the body off the pan this weekend and have it up on mounts and wheels so I can move it around due to space limitations. The front is down by one notch on the front stands which is about a 5-minute job to fix but that is not part of what I am curious about.

DSC00647 (2) copy.jpg

black buggy pan build 002 (2).jpg

7-28-2010 007 (2).JPG

When laying a bubble level on the floors and body lift what I did find was that the floors are not 100% level (the formed metal is properly flat) frome side from the tunnel to side (the same on both the driver's and the passenger's sides). I know there is plus or minus tolerance when making things and both pan pieces seem to be close to the same angle based on the tunnel of the pan and the Napoleon's hat and the rear torsion housing mount. The raised body mount flange off the floors of the pan is pretty close to 100% the same angle as the floors so the body lift (I was very careful with when building it) does angle out some which is probably why I am having so much problem with the cage tubing and getting it past the upper flange which, unlike both your and my standard buggy body the side flanged face in not face out.

This could be a design thing from VW to keep liquids and such from going/sitting towards the center of the pan and it is something I am curious over.

Lee

[72bajaben]

Lee

I can take some level measurements and see what's what this evening. But I have to point out that I tripped and fell on the drivers side pan after it was on and bent the shizz out of it. So my experience wont be perfect. And I bought the pans over 10 years ago and they have been banging around a few garages waiting for this project.

All of those are partly why I welded the lift to the body first. I planned on using some threaded weld plugs to bolt the pan to the lift. But Im just going to weld it. There is zero chance its coming this far apart again. And it it has to, cutting the pan off the lift isnt going to be the hardest part of getting to where I am now. LOL

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Lee

I can take some level measurements and see what's what this evening. But I have to point out that I tripped and fell on the drivers side pan after it was on and bent the shizz out of it. So my experience wont be perfect. And I bought the pans over 10 years ago and they have been banging around a few garages waiting for this project.

All of those are partly why I welded the lift to the body first. I planned on using some threaded weld plugs to bolt the pan to the lift. But Im just going to weld it. There is zero chance its coming this far apart again. And it it has to, cutting the pan off the lift isnt going to be the hardest part of getting to where I am now. LOL

I went out to the garage this AM and found out that the front lift was one notch out on one side so I jacked it up and fixed that. Put a new battery in the flashlight and now the pan floor is roughly 1° down towards the outside of the pan which is probably within tolerance. I then measured the body lift which was welded attached to the pan during the kerfing bending then welding so it is 1 1/2° out of tolerance (an addition of the pan floor and the bending of the body mount) which is better than I thought yesterday.

I did the pan replacement (2 different sets of pans with the first set being too thin of material back in the 90s if I remember correctly) and I am feeling a lot better about it than I did. Thanks for the thinking of doing it for me.

leebuggy-12%20copy[1].jpg

After the body lift.

DSC02270.jpg

If I remember correctly, this was taken before the body lift was added.

This is the second body lift I have built and the stiffening of the outer mounting surface of the pan does make a lot of difference on glass buggy bodies.

Lee

[72bajaben]

Lee

Just a FYI...my level was all over the place. Drivers side was level in the center of the pan and sloped up to the tunnel and down to the edges. Passenger side was all jacked up..I guess that's the side I fell on.

My plan was to suck the pan up tight to the body lift and it will flatten out.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Lee

Just a FYI...my level was all over the place. Drivers side was level in the center of the pan and sloped up to the tunnel and down to the edges. Passenger side was all jacked up..I guess that's the side I fell on.

My plan was to suck the pan up tight to the body lift and it will flatten out.

My answer is... it depends on whether the pan is straight or bent itself.

DSC00646 (2).JPG

This is the main part of the pan, VW used a unibody design where the tunnel is the bases of the design. Assuming that this isn't torqued or the flanges or mounting areas of the pan halves are still in proportion/properly mounted then the pan halves could be bent or twisted.

buggy 014 (2).jpg

Having made the rotisserie made it easier to mount stuff flat and easier to check it out. I could easily check everything to ensure it was straight and level easier than on jack stands. They also allowed me to roll the pan over (to upside down for checking what I was doing) or locked at ~ 45° angles for easier welding especially in tight areas.

I did have some welding problems on the driver's side but later found out that it was the glue that the PO had used to glue the carpet he was using (2 layers of it) to the Baja's pan. Weld through primer was sprayed over the area which caused the glue to rise and show itself. Once removed things went from frustrating to a whoopie type of good.

I did change the pedal ASSY from stock to a rail type of setup which made things a bit more difficult to build around. Also, the commercial body lift units are more for lifting the body for looks than being for strength purposes plus they can rust out quickly if care for them is not taken.

My black buggy build shows a lot of it, but I can post pix if you want.

Lee

[72bajaben]

So a smoking deal fell into my lap. I got a 75% buggy project for a screaming deal.

002 # Rib
Frame
2 Bins full of parts
Fiberglass Body kit
Spun Tank
Seats and belt
The list goes one.

Here are some Pics.







And my plan is to run the good ole trusty T4 2.0L Bus motor. Which has been spruced up.


The project needs a few things. But its one hell of a jump start.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Looks like a good start. Even the K&L front beam looks to be widened as it has 2 adjusters on each of the beam tubes.

What are you going to be using it for?

Lee

[72bajaben]

Its going to be for cruisin and general mucking about.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Its going to be for cruisin and general mucking about.

"Be-jam-min" your pix on the right hand side of your post helps me I understand the "mucking about" part of that term! I'd put in some safety gear, a windshield with wipers and glass cleaning gear (in a waterproof bag) and portable oxygen tank in for "just-in-case"!

One of the groups of dune riders I knew were out late one night when one of them topped a dune and ended up in a fair sized "ground water pool" (they were aware of it but some "suds" and other things made the one forget about it). The seat belt and harness almost trapped his head just below the water and he said he went into a panic situation before he got the harness unbuckled.

He made it but had to go back home to get another trans as the one in the buggy got filled with water. I haven't seen him and most of the rest of that group for many years now.

Lee