TheSamba.com :: View topic - Two teen brothers, and two (slightly older than teen) bajas

Sat Dec 18, 2010 3:34 pm

Barentine wrote: I cannot for the life of me get the bolt out to replace the shock.

Had that happen before, but always on the front shock where it's much easier to get to. I'm guessing the steel "eyelet" of the shock (for lack of the proper term) has rusted to the shock bolt. The reason you're getting the bolt to turn is because the rubber grommet is turning.

On front shocks, it's a simple matter to cut everything off the shock stud, but not so on the rear. I'd get a sawzall and cut the bolt off INSIDE the shock mount as close to the shock as possible. Then you can lift the shock up and out and replace the bolt with your new shock.

Kyle

Sat Dec 18, 2010 3:52 pm

As for the grinder, those HF ones usually come with a spare set of brushes.
Unscrew the little black plugs on the side and replace the brushes.

Sat Dec 18, 2010 8:04 pm

man those seats are getting popular i have one in mine two super comfy i just mounted mine straight to the heater channel and to the tunnel my heater channels are rusty so i didnt care hope you kept the bolts from when you pulled them out as they work great for remounting them just drill a hole slightly smaller than the bolt then thread them into the hole works for mine

Sun Dec 19, 2010 11:42 am

Nice to see some more Colorado boys out here. I have run into the stuck bolt on the shock thing alot. I used PB Blaster and alot of patience to deal with mine. happens when you race alot in the mud. Looks like some nice bugs. looking foward to seeing them when they are done

Sun Dec 19, 2010 6:00 pm

kyle_pc_75 wrote:
On front shocks, it's a simple matter to cut everything off the shock stud, but not so on the rear. I'd get a sawzall and cut the bolt off INSIDE the shock mount as close to the shock as possible. Then you can lift the shock up and out and replace the bolt with your new shock.
Kyle
Funny you should mention it, that's exactly what I had to do to one of the front shocks :lol: :

Thanks, that makes sense, I couldn't figure out how it could be stuck with no pressure on it like that.

Do you think a sawzall would fit down there? I dont have one, and I dont know if one is in the budget...(The next picture will explain why) Would it structurally be unsafe to cut up from the bottom with a cutting disk on either side and then weld the seams back up after I replace the shocks?

Thanks for the advice on the grinder Russ, I'll look for the brushes, I dont know if we still have them or not

We decided that rather than going with hf again, we use the grinder often enough to pick up a nicer one:

Aught to last forever, it feels plenty sturdy, lots of torque, and a good warranty

I tested it out today cutting the tubing for the seat mounts. It's amazing how fast 12' of steel disappears. Here's a mock up of how I'm going to weld them in. Tim, I'm going to mount the lower two bars like you did, and then add two perpendicular beams that the seats are actually bolted to:

This aught to give me the tilt back like you recommended, and even an extra 1+1/2 inches height. What do you guys think? :D

Sun Dec 19, 2010 6:07 pm

Mad_Scientist wrote: Nice to see some more Colorado boys out here. I have run into the stuck bolt on the shock thing a lot. I used PB Blaster and a lot of patience to deal with mine. happens when you race a lot in the mud. Looks like some nice bugs. looking forward to seeing them when they are done
Thanks! I'm looking forward to seeing them done too! I'd really like to go to a couple shows this summer, just got to get them on the road first

Stauffenberg, I'm in luck! I kept the bolts; do you happen to remember what size hole you drilled?

Sun Dec 19, 2010 11:41 pm

you do some nice work man, glad to see the progress, keep it up

Tyler

Tue Dec 21, 2010 7:47 pm

So... I worked on the bug yesterday for most of the day, got all 4 horizontal bars welded in! I was going to post, but I tried to update to vista service pack 1 and my computer tanked.

Anyway, I was trying to decide whether or not I wanted to add the verticle bars for the extra 1+1/2 inches, and I definitely do:
The drivers seat is mocked up with the extra beams, the passengers is not.

Looking straight ahead without the extra beams:

And with the extra beams:

It makes it quite a bit easier to see out the windshield.
I was skiing today so I didnt get anything done, but tomorrow hopefully I can finish mounting the seats! :D

Tue Dec 21, 2010 9:21 pm

fuck vista. Either go with xp or 7. 7 kicks ass, but if i had to choose between xp, and vista, its xp hands down. vista is just way too buggy for me.

Thu Dec 23, 2010 8:22 pm

Well... everything takes sooo much longer than I expect it to :x

It look a long time to figure out exactly what was going to bolt to what and which things would be welded so I could remove the seats with the most ease. Its really simple, but it still took a very long time to figure things out, partially cause I was trying to figure a way for it to work with shorter bolts. I was absolutely shocked at the price difference between lowes and an ace type hardware store nearby. Lowes is soooo much cheaper for bolts.
Eventually got longer bolts, decided to bolt all the way through the vertical bars, and because of space, welded the nuts to the seat rail. I used a hole saw bit so the bolt can go all the way through the nut without hitting the track. Here's how I decided to mount it, with the bars being welded to the horizantal ones.

Here it is all welded up and painted with self-etching primer:

I was going to weld a tab to the front to mount the submarine strap of my harnesses to, and I totally forgot until after I painted, at which point I would have gone up like a candle if I'd tried to weld. So I decided to delay actually bolting the seats in until tomorrow :cry:
Oh well, I feel like I got a lot done today; even got visited by a fox while I was welding. :D

Bugman: Agreed, I'll probably be upgrading to 7 pretty soon.

Thu Dec 23, 2010 11:25 pm

don't want to be a pain in your ass, but how strong are those welds to the bolts going to be?

Thu Dec 23, 2010 11:36 pm

chubby53 wrote: don't want to be a pain in your ass, but how strong are those welds to the bolts going to be?
For the most part I got some good heat penetration, red hot nut and all. Maybe I should run another bead on some of the weaker looking ones... I couldnt figure out another way to mount them

Fri Dec 24, 2010 12:00 am

it's too late now, but what if you would of bought some flat bar maybe 1/4"x2" and welded that to your tracks instead of the bolts. then your square tubing have them closer together and then you could bolt the flat bar to the square tubing. did i lose you? sounds confusing after i read it.