Jbuggy’s Madmax buggy

[Jbuggy21]

Hey guys, trying to get this things back together to try and drive it around the block and make sure it shifts. I was thinking I was going to have to rebuild the master cylinders but nothing is leaking so I’m going to bleed them out and see what happens. What brake fluid do you guys run in cnc masters?
And does anyone have any LED light recommendations?
The old Hellas look cool but suck a ton of juice and I think ima going to ditch them for pods. I don’t know that I can bring myself to buy bajadesigns pods they are crazy expensive.
Lastly I’m planning on buy bfg km3 utv 32’s to replace the old super diggers. Anyone have any better suggestions?
Thanks guys.
Jesse

[CentralWAbaja]

Buy once, cry once, Baja Designs are the best.

Look at G and G lighting for some inexpensive alternatives

Dot3 or4 but no synthetics at all is what I think the recommendations was from them. Call Kartek or McKenzies and ask any of those guys they will tell you

I like the KM3 idea and I would try it if I was in the market. Not DOT though if that matters to you?

[chuckput]

As far as LED lights are concerned, there are many choices and some are better than others. I wanted to keep an old school look on my bug which to me meant KC Hilighters. I wanted to go new school output with LEDs. I was able to pick up Hilighters for cheap ($20 per unit) and KC sells an LED conversion unit for around $200 a pair.

[Jbuggy21]

Hey guys. Been a little while.
So car is running and driving now. Still dailing stuff in before season but it’s getting there. I got new tires and wheels coming in this week. I’m at a cross roads with my shocks. Going to run the existing to see how terrible it is. Then make the call on coilover conversion or rebuild.
I have 7 classic ultra buggy wheels I’m gunna sell. Any idea what they are worth?
3 - 15” x 3.5”
2 - 15” x 7”
2 - 15” x 7” beadlocks
Planned on having them blasted and running them but I decided to buy methods.

[Jbuggy21]

Wheels sold quickly. Hard to find I guess.

So I need to rebuild the rear drums. Is it worth buying the jamar rear disc kit? $900 for the disc kit. Not too bad but if it’s unnecessary then I won’t waste the money.

[chuckput]

I am running Jamar discs on all four wheels and I really like them. Were they necessary? That's a tough one. I do believe that disc brakes are far and away better than drums especially when running in the wet (but I live in the desert, so what do I know about running in the wet?). I was changing from VW 4 lug to Wide 5 so I was changing mine no matter what. I actually purchased a disc brake kit from AC Industries (socalautoparts.com) which is about half the price of Jamar. The issue with these is that there is no weight savings over drum brakes. They weigh a ton! I was given a set of Combo spindles that the AC Industries discs wouldn't fit. I went ahead and purchased the Jamar front discs. A little while later I came across a pair of used rear Jamars. Score! The Jamar brakes are quite a bit lighter than the drums (and the AC Industries brand) so you do have a savings in sprung weight.

PS: I still have the AC Industries (front and rear) brakes and need to sell them.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

E-brakes there or needed?

Lee

[Jbuggy21]

Ok guys how do you get the old beam bushings out? I can only figure to pound them from the opposite side with a pipe or wood poll.

[Jbuggy21]

So since it’s summer I have had too much time to look at my car and found the front beam bushings were loose on one side and there’s a small crack in the steering box where the heims are mounted. So I have the whole front end blown apart now. Changed the beam bushings and got the rack disassemble to weld the crack and add weld washers. I am having an issue drilling out my combo’s. I want to open them up to 5/8 but I’ve smoked two bits. Is there a trick to drilling them out?

[CentralWAbaja]

So since it’s summer I have had too much time to look at my car and found the front beam bushings were loose on one side and there’s a small crack in the steering box where the heims are mounted. So I have the whole front end blown apart now. Changed the beam bushings and got the rack disassemble to weld the crack and add weld washers. I am having an issue drilling out my combo’s. I want to open them up to 5/8 but I’ve smoked two bits. Is there a trick to drilling them out?

quality bit, oil, and the right speed and pressure are all key.

[Jbuggy21]

Hey guys, got side tracked on finishing house project.
Was able to take the car out for a shakedown run a few weeks ago and was pretty surprised how well it worked.
I had a few minor oil issues, seeping from distributor oring and oil sender was randomly working. Replaced the sender and seems to be good now.
Trying to finish up some storage area panels and spare tire location now. Putting some aluminum plate behind seats where they used to have some painted plywood
Was going to add a cross tube and mount the space at and angle in the back but it looks like that may prevent the tank from being removable. So for now I’m going to mount it flat behind the seats. They used to have a large spinner style mount on the rear engine cage and the spare hanging off the back but that spinner was lose long ago. Don’t know if it’s better there or in the center of the chassis. I’m not a fan of putting lots of stuff on the roof.
I’ll try to post pictures again… probably going to come out sideways again…

[dustymojave]

I agree with not putting much stuff on the roof of an offroad car. Roof racks are all the rage for the wannabe's and car show offroaders, or for some excursions like the SoCal Bajas annual Mojave road trip and going down the Baja 1000 course with a group of buggies. Then it makes some sense to carry some stuff up top.

It might makes some sense to make 2 different spare tire mounts, one inside for most of the time in general use offroading, and one in the back for when you have other stuff to carry inside.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

874D8E2C-852B-435F-B1B1-59F70A94CA52 copy.jpg

ABEB9AAC-57F0-46BE-96D9-873F30C8D971 copy.jpg

I agree with Dusty, racks off-roading are OK for sleeping in but you are putting a lot of weight/loading up high which can cause things to happen you may not want to happen.

For what it's worth; take a baseball bat by the area just above the grip area (extreme "chocking" of the bat ), where it starts to get thicker and swing the bat vertically back and forth. Then move you hand down to the bottom of the grip and do the same thing. You should notice a big change in the loading of the end of the bat.

Lee

[Jbuggy21]

So while summer has rolled in the car has been torn down for much needed love. Lots of minor chassis repairs. Cut off the roof rack and a bunch of old tabs that did nothing. Changed the output seals on the trans and serviced it. Pulled and regreased the cv’s and new boots. Got rear disc brakes going on next. Also got added a 7” gps, pci intercoms and a pumper just in case I wanna wear a helmet. All the shocks are off and in line to get rebuilt. Pulled the front tires and changed to Yokohama shaved 30” buggy tires. Made a huge difference in drivability. Going to swap the rears to super diggers. The generals are way too heavy. Adding a electric fan to the oil cooler because while tuning it the car or pretty hot. Also added a oil gauge on the motor because the electric gauge seemed inconsistent even after changing the sender. Just piece of mind I still have pressure. I did run the car pretty hard the last trip out In Ocotillo. Foot down it will eat up whoops like a Champ. Much different experience then a side by side or prerunner truck.
While doing motor stuff I’ve notice it used to have a purple block which I found odd. I have no info on the motor so I was wondering if any vw shop were ever known for using purple for their blocks. It has a few parts that make me question it’s size, and the fact the transmission is a pretty pricy weight built 091.