Making progress...

[Skidmark]

Seven or so blocks east of this place is ~1000 sq miles of BLM land waiting for me to explore it! I can't wait!!

[dustymojave]

So have you started moving your stuff? I presume that's what the trailer is there for.

[Skidmark]

Yes, the trailer and the first load went up a few weeks ago. Going again this weekend. I will be hiring a moving company to do the bulk of the furniture and large stuff. Three more weeks of employment!

[Ol'fogasaurus]

It will either take forever or "bam" and the three weeks are gone. I have been retired for over 17 years now but I still can remember, very clearly, that last day of signing papers and the lady saying "you don't have to do it if you don't want to". It was several years before I found out what they had in store for me to do but what the Dr. told me rung in my ears even to this day.

Lee

[Skidmark]

I have been trying to figure out what my first project will be (once the new shop is finished). The baja may just get a new start somewhere down the road. I have decided that any upgrades will require a new chassis and transferring parts. Plans are to drive it the way it is until it breaks. No clue how long that will be, but it is pretty sorted and reliable for the time being.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

I have been trying to figure out what my first project will be (once the new shop is finished). The baja may just get a new start somewhere down the road. I have decided that any upgrades will require a new chassis and transferring parts. Plans are to drive it the way it is until it breaks. No clue how long that will be, but it is pretty sorted and reliable for the time being.

Your first project is to find everything then locate it in the proper area so you can't find it again!

Did you add vertical florent lights around the doors and in other places on the walls. It make such a difference especially when you are working under the car(s).

The last to your last question is: if you plan on replacing it when it breaks... it will not! If you think it will last forever then go out and look at it the evening after you put it in the garage. It will probably be "V" shaped and sitting on a sag with the suspension all blown apart. Isn't that the way things are supposed to happen?

Being realistic is the only way to operate!

Lee

[dustymojave]

My friends Pahl and Kamber McAlister raced their Baja in Class 13. They started out with a virtually stock Bug with ball joint front and IRS rear and a stock 1600. It had short KYB Gas-A-Just shocks on stock mounts.They put in a 6-point cage with no support to the front or to the bumpers. Then added a fuel cell in the back seat that was required for the race rules and race belts.

Their plan was to upgrade as the car broke. Didn't break a damned thing. Even finished a race a Ridgecrest. About a year later they went ahead and put in a +6 link pin beam. Then 1 race later they took it to a fabricator to get the rear upgraded. That turned into a fiasco as they chose the wrong fabricator. But the car car had not broken anything before they upgraded the rear suspension. Then they bent the beam because the beam supports were too close together and there was too much beam sticking out. The rear suspension caused huge amounts of grief and eventually got re-done by another fabricator.

[Skidmark]

Okay, I may be in trouble... I just found out to register my Baja in Nevada it will require an inspection. A VIN inspection. My issue is the Vin is under the fuel cell, and the seats and fuel cell must be removed to verify it. My other issue is I do not have any emergency brake on the car. The seats touch in the middle, so it had to be removed. Since the car had a valid title when I bought it, the title was transferred without any inspection. The Nevada DMV is also stating smog inspections are required for all vehicles 1968 and newer?! When did it change from 1974? This may get ugly...

[Ol'fogasaurus]

The manual e-brake thing is a DOT requirement. The in-line hydraulic e-brake is not only DOT illegal but very, very dangerous. My blue buggy came with one and you never knew if it was going to hold or lock up. I still have broken FG when the PO said it let loose and went down the alley backwards with no one in it.

Emissions Control Areas
If your registration renewal notice reads "No Emissions Test Required," it is based on your address on file and your vehicle year. However, an emissions test may still be required if your vehicle is used to commute into an Air Quality Control area (including greater metro Phoenix and Tucson).

https://www.azdot.gov/motor-vehicles/Ve ... /emissions

If I remember correctly the years the DOT has can be moved farther back, year wise, by the state.

"Smog Check Exemptions in Arizona

Emissions inspections in Arizona are typically not required for vehicles that were manufactured in the last five years, though this does not include specially constructed or reconstructed cars. Furthermore, AZ emissions testing center visits are not compulsory for cars that have not been registered in the emissions control area. In any case, if a vehicle is driven within an emission control area on a regular basis (i.e. for work or school), even if it is not registered in the control area, it will need to be tested for emissions per Arizona law. Certain ZIP codes are considered "partial" in that a portion of the area is required to undergo emissions testing for vehicles, and the registration renewal forms for the vehicles that require testing will reflect this need with the following inclusion, "Emissions Test Required." https://www.dmv.com/az/arizona/emissions-testing

It is the same here, part of the state does not require a car to be smogged while other parts do. To Smog is usually around big cities.

Lee

[Skidmark]

Lee - Arizona requirements don't mean anything to me. I am moving to NEVADA.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Sorry Skid, I guess I still have AZ on my mind. This is the first year, in quite a few, that we didn't snowbird down there for the first few months of the new year. We should be about 2/3ds the way through the trip down there now.

https://www.dmv.org/nv-nevada/smog-check.php

"Those vehicles must be inspected if they meet the following criteria:
Either:
Gasoline-powered vehicles (all weights and sizes).
OR
Diesel-powered vehicles weighing up to 14,000 lbs.
Vehicles model year 1968 and newer UNLESS the vehicle meets the requirements for a Classic Vehicle Exemption.
New vehicles on their 3rd registration or later.
Hybrid vehicles are exempt for their first 5 model years.

Inspection Exemptions
Nevada exempts several vehicles from smog checks and emissions tests, including:
Alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) for the first 5 model years.
New vehicles on their first 2 registrations.
Vehicles model year 1967 and older.
Motorcycles and mopeds.
Diesel-powered vehicles weighing 14,001 lbs. or more.
Registered Replica Vehicles.
Registered Classic Rods, Classic Vehicles, or Old Timer Vehicles driven no more than 5,000 miles per year.
Certain ownership/registration-transferred vehicles. These include:
Transfers between:
Husbands and wives.
Leasing vehicle companies IF the lessee or operator stays the same.
Transfers when the last emissions test took place no more than 90 days before the transfer."

https://www.dmv.com/nv/nevada/emissions-testing

"Passenger vehicles need emissions testing if they are based in the Las Vegas Valley and surrounding areas of Clark County. Smog testing is also required for vehicles based in the urban areas of Washoe County, including Reno, Sparks, and Washoe Valley. Vehicles requiring smog checks include gasoline-powered vehicles of any size, diesel-powered vehicles with a manufacturer's gross vehicle weight rating up to 14,000 pounds, and those with a model year of 1968 or newer."

The DOT brake thing is still in play. SMOG is another matter: each state is a bit different as I said.

Lee

[Piledriver]

For slight simplification---...So hes emission exempt if he doesn't live in:
" Las Vegas Valley and surrounding areas of Clark County."...." or urban areas of Washoe County, including Reno, Sparks, and Washoe Valley" and then only 68 MY or newer."

Sounds like a parking brake is required regardless unless off-road only, and even then its a great idea.
Perhaps adapt the under dash pedal/release setup off an American car?

Also note not everywhere follows the draconian California version of emissions legality, where if it doesn't look absolutely stock with all original parts it insta-fails.

Many places actually do a sniff test with sane limits, no visual.
The stock emissions of an ACVW back in the day were no great thing, and easily bettered.

[Skidmark]

I guess I will find out when I arrive for the inspection. They require you to have proof of Nevada auto insurance PRIOR to the inspection. So I will need to have it insured first even if they tell me they won't register it (worse case scenario). Maybe I should tow it up on the valid CA registration tags, park it in the new garage, and find a '67 or earlier bug that has Nevada registration and start over transferring all my parts over to it. The move is a month away, so I will jump off that bridge when I get to it!

[cbeck]

When I built my rail, one of the books I read a lot was The Missouri State Inspectors Handbook. Said silly things like a mechanical e brake must be present, but can't fail the vehicle if it does not work. Got to know the rules of the game if you expect to win. Guess it can't hurt that my son is a inspector.
Is missouri the only state that only tests gas motors if obd 2 is present? No obd 2, emissions exempt and no sniffers or treadmills.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

"Sounds like a parking brake is required regardless unless off-road only, and even then its a great idea.
Perhaps adapt the under dash pedal/release setup off an American car?"

I played with this myself a long time ago on my blue buggy. Where I ran into problems was with the shift rod as I was thinking about modifying the tunnel to move the brake cables a bit. Another idea (maybe silly but it might drive another idea) is what I am dealing with on my turning brakes is making the cylinders remote from the handles. Does making a long handle for the e-brakes so you could move the pivots and tube back farther? It would require new cables tubes and a pivot with opening but it might be a seed of a new idea. The under dash idea isn't that far off as I seem to remember there being some mid-dash handles years ago too.

https://www.carid.com/american-shifter/ ... =467817964

Might there be a grit of an idea here?

The one I seem to remember was an "over the center" design where you pulled on the handle to where the brake was tight then the handle would go a bit past and pass over the center of the arc to act as a full lock. Does that make sense?

Lee