Twowheeletex baja build, finally.

twowheeletex · Post by **twowheeletex** » Fri Nov 07, 2008 12:45 am

I picked up this 1969 bug, from the garbage pile in the corner of a co-workers yard. it's pretty rough. copious amounts of rust. I've never done any body work, so this is a sink or swim project. for the price I paid for it I'm thinking I got a stellar deal. I apologize for how dark everything is as I work at night usually. I'll shut up now and get to the pics.

we started the all important process of washing. I found no bondo or foam. just lots of rust. I'll have better shots of the rust spots at a later date. maybe in the over rated sunlight. the bug has a motor in it but I made a deal to swap with some other v-dubbers to help finance this project.

it was in perfect running condition until the guy's daughter took it curb surfing. the front end is pretty well smashed up. the original hood and fenders have long since found the bottom of some dumpster somewhere.

the donor motor and tranny is cumming off my sand rail/death trap. it's haggard to say the least. anyone know if that exhaust is going to fit in the baja?

Post by **david58** » Fri Nov 07, 2008 3:55 am

I always like to see a new project can't wait to see more. I couldn't tell be the pics, but are the rust issues just the pan?

rickosuave1987 · Post by **rickosuave1987** » Fri Nov 07, 2008 6:30 am

That exhaust probably will not fit in the bug. The front (of the engine) headers wont clear...

That exhaust is actually made for a mid engine set up, so you might be able to fetch a decent price with it.

Good luck with the project, we will answer as many questions as possible. And BS the rest

fl_buggy · Post by **fl_buggy** » Fri Nov 07, 2008 7:04 am

Hey Tex, good to see another Florida member here, although you're so far away from me you might as well be in a different state

Where do you guys go riding up there?

twowheeletex · Post by **twowheeletex** » Fri Nov 07, 2008 12:03 pm

david58

I don't know if the pan has rust issues yet. I'd suspect it does, but the car has a full interior including carpet. with the holes in the roof combined with the fact it's been sitting for 6 years, I was surprised the drivers seat didn't fall through the floor when I sat in it.

rickosuave1987

I just bought that exhaust. dang, I guess I might have to get creative. I know that's kinda taboo around here (sarcasm), but it sounds great and after I put it on my motor ran like a raped ape.

fl_buggy

completely surrounding my base is 800sq/mi of bombing range. we are fully allowed to go thrashing though it, as long as we stay out of the red zones and report unexploded ordinance.

more pictures to come tomorrow. the teardown, and some rust removal. anyone have a baja front end they want to get rid of?

fl_buggy · Post by **fl_buggy** » Fri Nov 07, 2008 12:10 pm

twowheeletex wrote: fl_buggy

completely surrounding my base is 800sq/mi of bombing range. we are fully allowed to go thrashing though it, as long as we stay out of the red zones and report unexploded ordinance.

Sounds....interesting.

twowheeletex · Post by **twowheeletex** » Fri Nov 07, 2008 2:12 pm

I've never found any uxo's and the red zones are clearly marked. it's a trip to camp out there when the special forces guys are doing exercises. some times they'll just roll through your campsite. you'll never hear them coming and as soon as you can't see them they're gone.

twowheeletex · Post by **twowheeletex** » Fri Nov 07, 2008 4:45 pm

a picture of me on the range. I was trying to make it look like the buggy was pulling this decrepit howitzer canon.

and a tank trap my friend sunk his truck in. I said go right, he went left. the water on the right was ankle deep. just to put the water on the left in perspective, my friend is 6'7".

fl_buggy · Post by **fl_buggy** » Sat Nov 08, 2008 4:47 am

Maybe we'll bring some buggies up and let you show us around. Do you guys go riding year round?

petew · Post by **petew** » Sat Nov 08, 2008 4:49 am

very cool area to play in. you must have a cool CO that lets you do that on his range.

Post by **Leatherneck** » Sat Nov 08, 2008 7:24 am

It is a blast being able to play around in that area. Should not have to worry to much about unexploded Ordnance, all the Korean and most Viet Nam era stuff has been used up, now just have to blame it on the Ordies.

So what is the long range plan for the Baja, suspension, cage work, etc.?

twowheeletex · Post by **twowheeletex** » Sat Nov 08, 2008 7:25 pm

fl_buggy wrote:Maybe we'll bring some buggies up and let you show us around. Do you guys go riding year round?

we ride year round. I'm the only buggy, everyone else has trucks. it would be way nice to have some guys to go with whose only objective wasn't hitting every mud pit there. it's not so fun to be muddy and wet in the middle of winter when you're doing 55 on the way home. anytime you're ready to come on up, drop me a line and I'll be waiting.

Leatherneck wrote:It is a blast being able to play around in that area. Should not have to worry to much about unexploded Ordnance, all the Korean and most Viet Nam era stuff has been used up, now just have to blame it on the Ordies.

So what is the long range plan for the Baja, suspension, cage work, etc.?

I'm just shooting for a running, driving baja for the time being. I have plans to go long travel independent in the front and 5x5's in the rear. I've been shopping for the parts but it's slow going. vanogan axles and cv's are here, I need 914/924/181 thing stubs and of course the 5x5 trailing arms. cage is in the future, but I mostly have sandy woods trails around here and no tubing bender, so I'm puting that off. I don't have the bank roll some of you guys on here have. I won't even have a welder till after christmas, and all the work I do get done is in the parking lot outside the dorms. there aren't any outlets within a reasonable distance so anything electric or pneumatic is run off my trucks battery via a power inverter. it's all hand tools for the time being.

I did get the interior torn out today. it looked nice for the most part. the seats have to be the nicest part of the car.

the floor pans aren't as nice as I'd hoped, but not as bad as I feared. somebody has already fiber glassed the drivers side, and the rear deck. the passenger side looks good except a few patchable holes.

I took out the gas tank because I have a spun aluminum tank I'm going to run instead and I found the beam is garbage. however I was surprised how intact the front 'fire wall' is.

here's another picture of the damaged front clip

here are the rust pictures I promised. Florida is unkind to sheet metal. hope you're sitting down for this.

more pictures tomorrow. maybe I'll throw some in of the buggy and the cool stuff we find out on the range.

twowheeletex · Post by **twowheeletex** » Sun Nov 09, 2008 10:36 pm

I didn't get much done today. removed the fenders, and that's about it. I instead took the sand rail out to the range for a fun day with some friends which turned out to be a nightmare. I fried the oil pump, I assume. I was doing 55mph on the way home and then the engine started pinging badly. a few seconds later I started loosing power. when I looked behind me my crank case breather was pouring smoke out so i immediately pulled off the road. I checked my oil to see if it had run out, and found I had plenty but it was cool to the touch. my guess is my oil pump gave out and the engine began to overheat. I have a spare oil pump. going to throw that in this week sometime. if any of you have any input on this let me know. much appreciated.

twowheeletex · Post by **twowheeletex** » Tue Nov 11, 2008 7:40 pm

put the new pump in today. it's a lot bigger than the stock pump.

the sweet part is the screw on filter.

I ran it and drove it around for a good while and it seemed to be running just fine. another oil change this weekend and a new belt, because mine has about 2 inches of play, and it should only have 1/2 in I've been told. note to self to add picture of completed work.

just for s@#ts and giggles I'll throw in one of my friend's trucks on the flex ramp from this weekend.

petew · Post by **petew** » Tue Nov 11, 2008 10:40 pm

might want to let him know, tyres are a little down on air.