TheSamba.com :: View topic - DesertBob's "Last" Baja (Trail Ready at last!)

Sun Nov 09, 2008 10:41 am

neanders wrote: How do you like the Race Trims? Can you give us a close up of the mount? And you're running reservoir shocks all the way around? Where did you mount the reservoirs?

I am using the standard slide/tilt mounts for the seats. Maybe later when I get a cage in the car I will build some better mounts. These 7100 shocks don't have reservoirs only schrader valves. They are rebuild-able and rechargeable just like the ones with the reservoirs but are about $50 bucks cheaper per shock. At the speeds I will be going I thought this was a better way to go. Will save the money for other parts. The shock part numbers are B46-1085S for the front and B46-930S for the rear.

Sun Nov 09, 2008 10:44 am

Lotrat wrote: Looks great! What model shocks did you end up with? Also, what's the diameter on that steering wheel? I put one of those little 13" ones on mine. I'm fine with it off road, but it does block my speedo.

The steering wheel is 15". I like it so far and it clears my turn signal/wiper arms with about 1/4" to spare. Even the horn works now!

Tue Dec 02, 2008 8:55 pm

Over the holiday week I did a bunch of work on my Baja to get ready for the new year and some quality off-roading with the SoCalBajas clan.

Finished up all the wiring and put in my guages and K4 20a Sealed switches. I got a very nice 2 1/16" hole saw on eBay that was designed for cutting fiberglass and it worked very well as you can see.

Heres the Saw

Here are the holes. Nice and clean with no chipping.

Guages went in perfect

Dash looks nice and clean with plenty of room for a Radio/GPS. The CB will get mounted under the dash.

Finally drove the car out of the garage for the 1st time. I even drove it down the street only to determine that the alignment was way off. After a couple of adjustments it seems to work fine. A tad stiff but then everything is new on the front so I figure it will break in and loosen up.

Here she is out of the garage. Nice ground clearance and not lifted too high.

Finished mounting the bumper, welded up the light mounts and the other tabs and gave it a nice coat of ratttle can paint. Now on to the frontend and the desert.

Not in the pictures are the windows. I finally put in the new seals and my nice VW Classic $1 wind wings. Windows roll up and down nice and easy and the seals are tight. Gotta get ready for those cold high desert mornings.

Now I need to put in a 6pt roll cage. Does anyone know of a good reasonably priced fabrication company in Orange County that does recreational cages? The people I have spoken with want to do full race cages for big $$$ and I just want something simple that fits nicely,

Tue Dec 02, 2008 9:06 pm

Why not get the 6pt cage from Chirco or any of the other outlets? I have one of those, and I've added several mods to it to do what I want. It's a nice starting point, and cheap to boot.

Tue Dec 02, 2008 9:10 pm

I looked at those but want the bottom of the cage to tuck under the dash more than those do. I also need a rear cross bar bent for 5pt seat belts and I don't have a bender and can't weld good enough to risk my life on. I also want the rear of the cage tied into the firewall mounted rear bumper.

Tue Dec 02, 2008 10:55 pm

DesertBob wrote: I looked at those but want the bottom of the cage to tuck under the dash more than those do. I also need a rear cross bar bent for 5pt seat belts and I don't have a bender and can't weld good enough to risk my life on. I also want the rear of the cage tied into the firewall mounted rear bumper.

i think between all of us in the socalbajas clan we can manage to bend some tube and add to the cage you buy! im willing to bend up a couple pieces of tube for ya!

Wed Dec 03, 2008 8:37 am

90xjlimited4x4 wrote: DesertBob wrote: I looked at those but want the bottom of the cage to tuck under the dash more than those do. I also need a rear cross bar bent for 5pt seat belts and I don't have a bender and can't weld good enough to risk my life on. I also want the rear of the cage tied into the firewall mounted rear bumper.

i think between all of us in the socalbajas clan we can manage to bend some tube and add to the cage you buy! im willing to bend up a couple pieces of tube for ya!

That would be fantastic. It should make the job easier. Is the cage at Moore and Chirco the same? I would hate to pay for shipping from Chirco if I can just pick it up at Moore.

Wed Dec 03, 2008 8:43 am

they're likely the same. Check prices at both, and remember, if you have it shipped from Chirco, you don't hafta pay CA tax. Might be cheaper to have it shipped.

Wed Dec 03, 2008 10:19 am

If I am not mistaken the 6-point cages sold by various shops are all EMPI cages. Mine had the EMPI tag on it. I'm pretty sure they are all the same. It should be a piece of cake to add to this cage, specifically the rear bumper mounts you are talking about, as well as the harness cross tube. I would take up on the offer from the local Samba folks in your area... what a deal!

Wed Dec 03, 2008 11:14 am

Hey Bob, I too would be glad to help you out with any tube twisting and welding you need.

Wed Dec 03, 2008 4:10 pm

UncleDirty wrote: Hey Bob, I too would be glad to help you out with any tube twisting and welding you need.

Thank you for your kind offer. My first step will get the 6pt cage installed and tacked in and then we can discuss what tubing I will need for the seat belts and bumper re-enforcement.

Tue Dec 23, 2008 9:40 pm

My Baja is finally street legal and has been driven all around our neighborhood. The "Bugs" still need to be worked out of the fuel system and I need to get a skid plate installed but it could be ready for some mild trail driving in January.

The main issue now is a very nasty stumble when I give it gas. If I accelerate slowly it runs pretty good. I got the carb from Keifernet and he is working with me to trouble shoot my issues and is even sending me another carb to make sure mine is the trouble. You can't ask for better service than that in my book.

Well here she is:

Tue Dec 23, 2008 10:09 pm

Sweet Bob!

Wed Dec 24, 2008 12:12 am

Came out very nice Bob. Stumble, i heard something about blocking hole in butterfly of solex to help with that stumble???
found it.....
So how do you get more fuel at the progression ports?? Well you need to create more vacuum under the throttle plate thus causing slightly more fuel to flow through the idle circuit. To do this you will need to plug the big hole in the throttle plate. This throttle by-pass hole acts like a big vacuum leak and it's position on the plate (right between the progression port banks) prevents enough fuel from being pulled through the idle circuit. Plug this hole, and your carb will have more vacuum at the progression ports allowing more fuel to be drawn through them. In short; your 34 PICT-3 will be nearly as tunable as the beloved Solex 30 PICT-1 when coupled with the 009.

Wed Dec 24, 2008 9:24 am

I am running a SVDA Distributor so I should not have the "009" flat spot. Timing is set spot on @ 7.5* BTC, Dwell is set to exactly 47* and it has new points, condensor, cap, rotor, plugs and wires. The Carb is a German 34 PICT 3 and was fully rebuilt and rebushed by Keifernet. The engine idles smooth as silk but when underload it stumbles so bad I would think it is going to stall. The vacuum on the distributor is working as expected. Compression is very good. Valves have been adjusted to .006". Motor is a stock 1600DP and it has all new intake seals and would not seem to have any vacuum leaks. I checked this using starter fluid around all the seals and the manifold. I am running a stock manifold with just cleaned heat risers.

I don't have a spare carb to try out but we are thinking that maybe the carb is just bad so he is sending me another carb to try out.

Wed Dec 24, 2008 10:13 am

I have a few carbs laying around...don't recall sizes but if next one they send doesn't work...I'm in Huntington Beach.

Wed Dec 24, 2008 11:09 am

DSTMULE wrote: I have a few carbs laying around...don't recall sizes but if next one they send doesn't work...I'm in Huntington Beach.

Thanks! I may try an 009 distributor that I have in the garage just to rule out that but it sure seems like the carb is going lean and soon as I try to accelerate. It bogs, pops and then slowly accelerates. I adjusted the accelerator pump to the max and it squirts very strong so that would appear to not be the problem.

Wed Dec 24, 2008 11:31 am

Bob,,,,,nice work on the Baja, looks great.

A few things to check......What is your total advance at or above 3000 rpm? I always prefer to set total advance and let idle timing fall where it will. What size main jet is in the carb? Is the vacuum can on the SVDA working? What port on the 34 PICT do you have the distributor hooked up to?

Wed Dec 24, 2008 11:49 am

Thanks Mattt!

The vacuum advance when set at 7.5* BTDC is 30* when the vacuum line is pulled from the carb and the carb port is plugged. The total advance with the vacuum line is connected is 40-42* BTDC with no load on the engine. This would appear to be right on spec with an 034 distributor. The main is a 127.5 and my idle jet is a 60g. I have tried a 55g and 65 with the same stumble. This thing should just purr. I think I will pull the carb over the holidays and give all the ports a blast with my compressor. Maybe something has gotten stuck in one of the small bleed ports. I have not gone in this direction because the carb was delivered to me spotless. I am connected to the vacuum port on the side of the carb. The one on the front is plugged.

Wed Dec 24, 2008 9:45 pm

I'm gonna be really interested to see what you come up with on the carb issue. I'm in the exact same boat, same carb from Keith, new Bosch SVDA, the local VW guru has checked it all out, and I have the same @#$% stumble partway thru the powerband. The 'dub mechanic here says he thinks the accelerator pump "circuit" is bad. I need to email Keith and talk to him about it. It's definitely enough to make you crazy, tho! :evil: