Twowheeletex Baja Build 2.0

[twowheeletex]

I have Been lurking around on here for years. contributing where I can but mostly leaching off the wealth of knowledge available on this site. I have built bajas before and a couple rails but haven't been very good at the whole forum posting thing. I'll be honest and admit that it's because I see these beautiful Bajas that come from a few select builders on various websites that make me want to hide my build from the light. you know, so it doesn't get made fun of. I decided this time though, I will put it up for the world to see so maybe someone else like me might learn something about what not to do. or hey, maybe I'll do something others say is interesting or innovative.

So I moved out to Vegas with cash to burn on a new project after selling everything else in Florida. I was so excited when I saw it on craigslist I dragged the wife and family out to San Diego to get it. It had all the things a boy dreams of; front coil overs, a cage, big off road lights, disc brakes, sweet tires and a 2276.

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The reality is; the front end is a mess, the brake lines are routed through the coilovers, it has tons of rust and bondo also over rust, the roll cage is more dangerous than not having one, and it didn't come with the lights. everything was hidden pretty well by grime and didn't jump out at first glance. a terrible buy. but I'm stuck with it. So here goes a rebuild.

My vision for this thing is to have a comfortable family prerunner with A/C, heat, and a decent ride.

Before I really got started I had the chance to swap the 2276 for a modern motor. A guy had a GM 3.6 V6 out of a Cadillac CTS he wanted to swap for my 2276 straight up. The motor came with a complete adapter kit, clutch, wiring harness and computer. It was a sweet deal so I made the swap.

Bear in mind I only had a Craftsman 110v flux core mig for most of this stuff.

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I started by replacing the rusty package tray and moving the firewall foreward to allow the motor enough room.

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Here is a look at the floor holes.

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The wrecked frame horn the po hid with a patch.

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I cut the frame horn off in front of the damage and welded on a spare I had. I used the po's patch (1/8th plate curved to the frame horn) to sinish off my own repair. also below is the beginning of the frame horn strengthening

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[twowheeletex]

Here is the start of the tubing for the engine mounts/support and the engine cage.

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Now that it's all tacked in, this weekend I'll have a welding party and finish putting in all the small bracing tubes.

[Iguana]

interesting build I look forward to seeing it progress. I like what you did with the rear luggage area I don't think I have seen it moved forward before, most cut it out and add a cover of some sort..

[no1clyde]

Twowheeletex good of you to put your build on here, I too feel like you do about putting my build on here with all the people here that actually know what they are doing. I will be watching.

Ed

[CentralWAbaja]

Thanks for sharing, I think everybody here loves to follow along with these projects. I don't think anybody here will ever make fun of your project, however they will make fun of you if you stop making steady progress! Trust me I know that. Keep the updates coming, nice work.

[madmitch]

nice piece of work twtex

[madmitch]

Thanks for sharing, I think everybody here loves to follow along with these projects. I don't think anybody here will ever make fun of your project, however they will make fun of you if you stop making steady progress! Trust me I know that. Keep the updates coming, nice work.

I love the enthusiasm in the beginning of a thread and all the pics posted as most do. Then there are a few that start out well and get parked or retired to the back yard. That makes me feel normal.

[tikotiko]

Welcome and thanks for sharing. Keep the post coming.

[twowheeletex]

thanks for the encouraging words.

yeah, I did the trail off from the forums on my last build. I finished it and drove it a ton. I made little effort to document it. It was a little frustrating because every time I brought it back home it was on a wrecker or the sad end of a tow rope. it was a beater and I drove it like a rental from the time I left the house until something inevitably broke. will this one be different? hopefully I can use some of what I learned to make a better baja and handle the abuse of my right foot a little better. so it has a better chance, but I think that "one more trail" will still get me.

currently I'm having issues with my new welder. the sears 110v flux core is running strong. that's what I did most everything so far with. the new to me 220v hobart 175 is being a pos at the moment. having wire feeding issues.

I did get the motor mounts welded up. I'll have to grind out all the welds and do it again because the hobart is acting up making garbage welds. some more of the tube frame pieces are welded with the flux core. now to flapper wheel off all the beebees of weld it leaves. nothing to take pictures of at the moment. I'll probably roll it out this weekend and clean up my pig stye of a garage before moving on. one less thing to feel embarrased about as my photos get scrutinized. hopefully I can get the motor back in and fired this weekend. that would be something to open a beer over.

[madmitch]

thanks for the encouraging words.

I'll probably roll it out this weekend and clean up my pig stye of a garage before moving on.

I came to the realization this week of the smaller the pile when sweeping the floor, the closer to a running project you are.

[twowheeletex]

I spent all day today in the garage finish welding all the tube I tacked in. I had a little problem with the software for the stand alone system. apparently its supposed to run off of 32bit windows xp. I don't know anyone who has windows XP much less 32 bit. even the us government upgraded to windows 98 recently (it's a joke but not far from the truth). so here the motor is all installed and hooked up and I cant start it because of software issues. anyone know an emulator that will let me run windows xp 32 bit on a 64 bit windows 8 computer? if not I have to go tech dumpster diving. anyways . . . . pictures.

I ran the tubes up through the roof to eventually tie in to the roof rack which will also be the halo for the roll cage.

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I had to plate them to help support the roof material where the tube goes through.

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here is where the engine support ties in to the inside. also there is the temporary place for the ECU

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here is the motor all dressed up with nowhere to go. stupid software problems.

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[twowheeletex]

and before anyone asks, the steering wheel and the bucket are where I sat and made engine noises.

[bajaherbie]

I have the same welder but haven't had any trouble with it (bought it new). problems with wire feeding might be: kinked inner liner(replace it), increase the tension on the drive rollers(used welder?-replace rollers), tension on roll of wire too tight(loosen a bit).

hope this helps.

[Getrdone]

Or tension on the roll too loose if it is bird nesting on you. Keep it up, you'll like the welder once it's dialed in.

[Steve Arndt]

Your best bet is to find an old laptop. Thinkpad T23 and T30 work well and are bomb proof, with real serial ports. Old Haltech's like that are pretty picky. Even with XP32bit I still had to run my Haltech F9 dos program in dosbox emulator. I ran Haltech for many years.