TheSamba.com :: View topic - What did you do to your off-road VW today?

Fri Nov 07, 2008 4:45 pm

Today I pulled the carb and put in a rebuild kit,got rid of a dead spot at around 1800 rpms, tomarow it is going to rain and I am gooing to the desert :lol:

Sun Nov 09, 2008 12:27 am

Eventful day.

Dropped off a hurst shifter to a buddy that I traded for a wood-slatted roof rack.

Stopped by my VW parts place and bought new tie rods, steering stablizer, wheel bearings, new front break shoes, new front wheel cylinders, lightened and 8 doweled flywheel, reconditioned con rods, new case studs, type three cool tins, 2-bolt beam clamps for tube bumper.

Went on to meat a guy that had a machined case cut for 94's and line bored, .010/.010 fresh crank, 94 forged pistons and cylinders, 110 cam and lifters redone heads cut for 94's. Turned out the machine work was done quit some time ago and the crank had started rusting the fresh journals, the case had oxidized the new machine surfaces, the heads were missing some valves and he could not find the Hi Po lifters for the cam. So I turned down purchasing it.

Sun Nov 09, 2008 3:01 am

looked at it, wondered if the rings will fix themselves .. . . . . . . answer, no :( started to plan a rebuild

Sun Nov 09, 2008 4:31 pm

School today... but...
Yesterday:
Went to a junk yard, almost got kid napped, then...
Found ONE beetle which from it I took, the rods that hold the headliner up (I plan to fabricate my own), door hinge, and new door mechanism so my drivers side door wont fly open any more when I hit a bump... YAY!

:D

I almost bought a rear view mirror off a volvo wreck but once I found out it was $5 and not $.25... I cheeped out :P

Sun Nov 09, 2008 4:59 pm

ordered white KYB's for the front $35 ea

Sun Nov 09, 2008 7:05 pm

Managed to take it to a local spot to get a little dust on it. Couldn't really do much by myself but I did climb a small hill that looked like it's given some others alot of trouble. Bubba made it look like a speed bump.

Sun Nov 09, 2008 7:12 pm

It's not so much what I did to the baja, but what I did to the garage FOR the baja. I got it cleaned out so I can park inside, out of the snow, and I have a dry, warm place to wrench. I picked up a motorcycle/atv lift to use when pulling the motor, only to discover it's about 6 inches too short. SO, I'm gonna hit the metal supply tomorrow to modify the lift, (gotta factor in the 10* mount) so's I can use it to pull the motor. THEN, I'm gonna pull the motor and strip it down, I should have the 1904 back this week!! I'll pull the motor and the trans, swap in the new bushing and hockey stick, and hopefully get the new motor built up this week. BUT, I'm gonna hafta send out my exhaust to have it ceramic coated, so it's gonna be a bit before I'm rollin'. I need to have it back on the road before the snow flies, cuz it does WAY better in the snow than my Dodge Ram.

Sun Nov 09, 2008 8:03 pm

Put the stabilizer bar back in. How do people drive without one??

Sun Nov 09, 2008 8:23 pm

Brought the front beam in, stripped it down and went to the car wash with the beam, steering box, swing axle tubes and front trailing arms.

Installed the lower beam adjuster and picked through backing plates to get a good set.

Found a used set of front fenders out west, will send MO out on Tuesday, should have them by about the 20th or so.

Sun Nov 09, 2008 8:40 pm

namelesswonder wrote: Put the stabilizer bar back in. How do people drive without one??

Has the front been lifted? If so, the stiffer suspension takes the place of it.

Mon Nov 10, 2008 7:40 pm

Went to the BugJam in Dade City yesterday and got some more good ideas for the baja. Didn't get any pics I forgot my camera.

Mon Nov 10, 2008 7:49 pm

I didn't do a damn thing on my baja today.. but I got a bunch done on my camper... which makes trips to the desert with my baja much more plesant.

Mon Nov 10, 2008 10:59 pm

Cut the second beam tube and welded the second adjuster on the beam. Welded the seams of the shock towers. Ground the welds to a nice look, wire brushed the beam.

Painted the beam semi gloss black.

Bought a set of 88 X 76 P&C's. Received in the Super Diff and the solid Trans mount kit.

Tomorrow I will purchase a 4340 78 stroke crank to make a 1898 cc engine (78 X 88). My 700 X 15's are due in tomorrow :D , may have to throw the rims and tires into the truck and go get the four mounted and balanced.

Mon Nov 10, 2008 11:34 pm

Pulled front end apart. Put in other set of arms with new ball joints. Welded gussets on spindles and tabs for limiting straps. Put font end back together. Installed new hood gasket.

Tue Nov 11, 2008 12:18 am

oktr6r wrote: namelesswonder wrote: Put the stabilizer bar back in. How do people drive without one??

Has the front been lifted? If so, the stiffer suspension takes the place of it.

The wider rear tires on most Bajas have even more to do with a stabilizer bar. Having it on can make the car push very badly, especially on poor traction surfaces like dirt. Do you have same-size tires all around?
Actual offroad driving will pretty quickly break a stock stabilizer bar anyway. So it isn't much use if the car is actually getting offroad use.
If you were noticing trouble with handling without the bar, it suggests some other issue, like alignment or tire inflation pressure. If putting it back on seems to "fix" the problem, you may be masking some other problem.

Tue Nov 11, 2008 12:10 pm

I received my 3-2- trailer light adapter today and installed it. Now I can legally pull US wired trailers.
That concludes all of my want list for the Baja. Hhmmmmmm-----that doesn't sound right now does it? :wink: :wink:
Marvin

Tue Nov 11, 2008 12:19 pm

Just dropped my 700 15 and 31 10.50 at the tire store to get mounted and balanced.

First real sign of "move'n on up".

Tue Nov 11, 2008 6:47 pm

Got them mounted and balanced. Schawing!

Fri Nov 14, 2008 12:17 pm

added new light mounts to my bumper

Fri Nov 14, 2008 1:06 pm

Cool Brad. They're similar to mine. Same turn indicators too...

So when are you going to add cage structure to support the outer ends of the beam where the bumper mounts? One little bump...and it's all over.. :(

Not saying "You HAVE TO!" ...just suggesting.
8)