68 baja build

[Ol'fogasaurus]

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[bikesndbugs]

so i broke my leg and that story will appear on topic of the day. anyways my friends are appearing to be willing to make my rollcage for me. I will of course be supervising but this is sweet. So im thinking 5 sticks of 1.5 inch .095 wall and a stick of 1 inch .065 wall for supports and bracing? do i do mild steel or dom.

[bikesndbugs]

ended up with 5 sticks of 1.5 inch .095 wall mild steel and a stick of 1 inch .095 tubing for bracing and such

[bikesndbugs]

Looking for seats and all the suspension bucket types are stupid expensive right now. But I did happen to fine these https://sandiego.craigslist.org/esd/pts/6087569406.html

[chuckput]

I have some suspension seats (unknown brand) that you can have. The frames are good but you would need to have them reupholstered. PM me if interested.

[chuckput]

I have some suspension seats (unknown brand) that you can have. The frames are good but you would need to have them reupholstered. PM me if interested.

[bikesndbugs]

thanks to

I have some suspension seats (unknown brand) that you can have. The frames are good but you would need to have them reupholstered. PM me if interested.

ive got suspension seats now

Started working on the bug well i was more of supervising. Got the tank out pulled the old seats out. got the fiberglass off and started cutting a hole for torsion access. The guy im building it wants to do a straight tube from torsion to beam without bending to match the heater chanel but i think thats gonna be in the way of the petals and make the a hoop awkwardly sized.

IMAG0015-337x600.jpg

Gonna do the bottom tubes, "A" hoop as a straight hoop connected the the "b" hoop with 2 tubes. The "b" hoop being started on the torsion. The rear of the cage will tie into the torsion and the backing plate i have for the motor cage mounts. As far as the front im gonna try to do it like dustys where the upper beam tube goes under the dash and tank then starts the front bumped with a down tube to the beam.

That was probably very unclear but is basically what we had discussed earlier.


Not sure how im gonna do seat mounts. I want them adjustable or to flip or slide forward for rear access. the adjustable is from my dad who is about 6 inches shorter than i am and he wants to drive it.


so i have 2 of those beam clamps you buy out of the vw parts stores and such. are these good to hold the beam on. is there a better option or cheaper as those stupid little things are expensive.

also found my steering column to be slightly bent not sure if thats a big deal as it still turns and i haven't noticed it before

[Leatherneck]

Just make sure any parts bent or damaged aren't something that will come back and bite you in the butt cause you didn't want to replace them cause they looked ok. Be careful.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Remember: bends, especially in a tube, does weaken it. The bigger the bend the more susceptible the tube becomes. Be careful and judge accordingly.

[bikesndbugs]

Yeah I'm aware of bends weakening it but I'm basically trying to follow the heater Chanel's with the bottom tube so it stays of the the way.

The guy thats helping me build the cage has built a couple of bajas and a couple of racetrucks.
He wants to keep my panhead on with just tubes going to the beam but i dont trust my panhead at all and just want that thing off my car as its sideways.
We shimmed the beam a bit and im 1/4 inch off at the grease zerks. I think that will be alright. I want to go fully tube up front with an x between the bottom tubes and a diagonal from the lower tube at the beam up. then make a square right outside of the front firewall. with maybe a diagonal from each upper beam support where it exits the firewall to the tunnel.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Travis, I was talking about the steering shaft not the base for the cage ; I assumed you understood but again, I guess I wasn't that clear... my bad! Like the cage the steering shaft is more of an everyday a safety item which is why I mentioned it.

The bottom tubes for the cage have been done like that for what seems to be forever and it works. I deviated from the basic design by putting my hoops onto the thick walled body lift giving me a tad more room and taking some bends out of the hoops.

[bikesndbugs]

Travis, I was talking about the steering shaft not the base for the cage ; I assumed you understood but again, I guess I wasn't that clear... my bad! Like the cage the steering shaft is more of an everyday a safety item which is why I mentioned it.

The bottom tubes for the cage have been done like that for what seems to be forever and it works. I deviated from the basic design by putting my hoops onto the thick walled body lift giving me a tad more room and taking some bends out of the hoops.

oh oops

the steering shaft isnt super majorly bent but ill look into swapping it. If i do ill go more of a custom style.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Have the guys you are working with look at and see what they say. W/o pictures (and then they don't always tell the whole story) I was just advising caution there.

[dustymojave]

The tube from the A pillar to the B pillar may be straight, the tube from the B pillar to the torsion housing may be straight. But the tube from the beam to the A pillar NEEDS a bend in it. If he doesn't want to bend tubes for you, you can always bend it over his noggin!

If this guy wants to take short cuts like that, make DAMNED CERTAIN that the welds in all tube junctions are welded ALL THE WAY AROUND!!!

A straight tube from beam to torsion is not a good idea. If that's the way he insists in building it, look for someone else. It doesn't sound like he ever knew what he's doing, whether or not he SAYS he has built Bajas and trucks before.

[bikesndbugs]

hes built them before with bends in them im pretty sure ive seen a baja hes made in person very nice one. and the welding will be very carefully watched ive got a friend thats pretty handy with a mig that wants to help and i might be doing some myself. I just kinda gotta stay on him as he tends to be lazy.