RexR Baja Build / Update Thread

rexr · Post by **rexr** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 8:30 pm

So I figured I would join the crowd with a post on the update I am doing on my 1970 baja..

So a little history..

I bought it 2 years ago from a neighbor. It was in decent running condition but being me I couldn't just drive the damn thing..

So I proceeded to gut the car.. POR15 the floor and install a Ron Lumis Racing 6 point cage with the anti hop bars that connect to the frame horns..

Here is the original interior after putting POR15 on the floor pans.

rexr · Post by **rexr** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 8:35 pm

Here is the Ron Lumis Cage that I put in.. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of it installed at this point in the build..

and here is the mod that I did to mount the rear fiberglass bench seat for the kid..

rexr · Post by **rexr** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 8:42 pm

This is the frame I fabbed up to cradle the rear seat.

and installed

and finished....

rexr · Post by **rexr** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 8:47 pm

This is a shot of the wiring when I bought the car.. Typical rats nest found in a lot of VWs...

and after I rewired...

rexr · Post by **rexr** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 8:51 pm

Here is what she looked like after the first round...

rexr · Post by **rexr** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 10:17 pm

So let me set the record straight... The car is now in decent working order.. Maybe in need of a bit of jetting and a new set of jugs but other than that she ran pretty good..

BUT

Being me... I CAN'T LEAVE ANYTHING ALONE!!!!!!

One of the issues I was having is that when Austin (my son) and his buddy would sit in the back seat their knees would hit the bar of the cage that went across the car behind the front seats.. So I thought I would pull the interior out and move the cross bar down to floor level..

Well remember what I said above.. I CAN'T LEAVE ANYTHING ALONE!!!!!!

So here is where we are now...

I started by gutting the car AGAIN....

So the idea was to clean up under the hood and spray it with undercoating.

rexr · Post by **rexr** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 11:05 pm

But remember what I said earlier...

I CAN'T LEAVE ANYTHING ALONE!!!

So this is what I have now...

So after I made the first damn cut I realized.. Crap how am I going to mount my gas tank... I knew there was a reason that I hadn't cut the dang thing off before..

Well this is what I came up with..

rexr · Post by **rexr** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 11:08 pm

While I was working on the front end I patched a couple of rusted sections that I had in the wheel wells..

Not pretty but it should hold.. It will also be coated with undercoating so you won't be able to see it anyway..

Post by **Leatherneck** » Sun Sep 16, 2007 6:15 am

Rex like what you have done, thanks for showing the patch, I am going to be doing alot of that soon and need as much reference material as possible. Great idea on the back seat area, what are your long term plans for the build? Keep the pictures and directions coming, they sure help out.

rexr · Post by **rexr** » Sun Sep 16, 2007 7:30 am

Leather....

Stay tuned.. I am considering replacing the rear luggage area as it is full of cancer and already has one major patch..

Long term for this car is clean it up as much as possible and leave it the way it is.. Stock suspension, one piece front end, new long block and maybe a set of discs up front and a paint job depending on the wallet... We do a lot of non desert RV camping so this is the perfect car to pull around behind the motorhome..

I am starting to put hints in the wifes ear about a second car.. I would love to do a build like DesertGuy but keep the body intact.. Kind of like class 5 car with a suby in the back.. The problem is convincing myself and the wife to spend $30k+ on a toy (instead of going to Hawaii or some other type of vacation).. The cool thing would be that I could take as long as I needed to because we would still have the other car to play in until it was done..

rexr · Post by **rexr** » Sun Sep 16, 2007 6:48 pm

So my wonderful wife let me work in the garage today after taking her to breakfast (which was fine since she just got back from a 13 day business trip)

Today I finished preping and taping up the front end so that I could spray it with undercoating.. I hope this stuff holds up like I think it will...

The pictures are after the first coat.. I will take some more once I am completely done..

bajaherbie · Post by **bajaherbie** » Sun Sep 16, 2007 9:12 pm

your baja looks good... however, if my wife had been gone for thirteen days on business, i'd be chasing her around the house instead

rickosuave1987 · Post by **rickosuave1987** » Sun Sep 16, 2007 10:47 pm

What kind of undercoating did you use? I have had good luck with the no name brand from pepboys, but the dupont stuff didnt hold up in my bro-in-laws truck.

rexr · Post by **rexr** » Sun Sep 16, 2007 10:54 pm

bajaherbie wrote:your baja looks good... however, if my wife had been gone for thirteen days on business, i'd be chasing her around the house instead

Her sister just had a baby so she was over there drooling most of the weekend ... but I'm with ya on that one..

rexr · Post by **rexr** » Sun Sep 16, 2007 10:55 pm

rickosuave1987 wrote:What kind of undercoating did you use? I have had good luck with the no name brand from pepboys, but the dupont stuff didnt hold up in my bro-in-laws truck.

I am using the Duplicolor stuff.. Hopefully with all of the damn prep work I did it will hold up..