Jonvo's All Purpose '67 Baja Thread

[jonvo4591]

Hey everyone!

I just picked up my first Volkswagen, and it just so happens it's a Baja.
'67 Baja, rebuilt 1600 DP, new clutch, and rebuilt/gone through tranny.

Here are some pics:

More to come, I just had to use my cell phone camera for those.

After taking it for a ride yesterday with my good buddy, I found a few things the car needs at a minimum:

Shift rod bushing/coupler
Speedo cable
E-brake cable
Locate fuel filter out of engine bay
Carb is a little funny (Solex PICT 34)
Oil change/adjust valves

Not to mention all the wiring and lights needed for street legality.

My first goal is to get it ready to head up to the Silver Lake dunes this spring, then get it street legal.

I'll post progress/questions as it comes.
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[rubsterob]

Looks cool you should have fun
and great color
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First car orange '72 class 11 lookalike

[jonvo4591]

Can't beat that tangerine! If I sanded like a mad fool I could get it back down to the Lime green it was before!
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[vdub411]

I feel your pain with the lime green. If you ever need any parts PM me and I'll see what I have. Good luck and maybe I'll see you at silver lake.

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1975 Baja Bug
1972 Type III Fastback
B&N Rattler Buggy
SandRails Coming Soon!!!

[jonvo4591]

Alright man, I'll let you know if I need anything. I'm heading up to silver this spring, probably the beginning of may, just FYI. I've spent nearly my whole sunday looking at VW parts and going to church
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[jonvo4591]

Yesterday and today I ordered some parts.

Shift rod bushing/clip
E-brake cables
Some oil change gasket sets
Shift coupler

Is there any issues with doing the shift rod bushing on a baja? I read that if you want to completely remove the rod, the front bumper has to come off on a stock car, and there's an access hole in the apron. Being a baja, there's the fiberglass nose piece to deal with. Are there issues here?

If it doesn't come by saturday, I'll still have stuff to do like adjust the brakes, change the oil, adjust carb and timing, and little odds and ends.
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[jonvo4591]

Today I got half of the brakes cleaned and adjusted (fronts).

I'll need some new front bearings, but I'll wait till after the dunes to do that job. I do have to get some dust caps before then though.

I couldn't get the huge nut off the back axles to save my life, so I didn't get to that part yet. I also got rid of the fuel filter in the engine bay, and some of my parts came today. I'll have to wait a couple weeks before I can get on it again, because I'm going to florida the first week of march.

I was lookin at the baja kit also yesterday, and I saw that the front piece is just held on by some screws so there shouldn't be an issue with removal for the shift rod to come out. Speaking of the shift rod (bushing), I'm pretty sure its MIA. I took the shifter off today and I could wiggle and clank the whole shift rod all over the place. That's next on the to-do list.

One final thing; I noticed that when I drive this thing, it has absolutely no balls right off the line, and then BANG! The power comes on. Is this the "dreaded 009 flat spot" I've been reading about?
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[jonvo4591]

Ok everyone who's following this thread, I got some work done on the bug today. I did the shift rod bushing/coupler job today, and WOW! What a difference. I can actually tell which gear I'm in based on the position of the shifter. Although, I didn't get a chance to take it out for a test run because there's about a foot of snow on my driveway. (Oh yeah, do you think I could make it through a foot no problem? I don't wanna get stuck)

Anyway, all went smoothly, I found that the bushing was non-existent in the support, but the clip was still on the rod when I pulled it out. I did it in about 2 hours by myself working in about 29 degree weather (everything moves slower ) Cleaned and lubed the rod, and the spot where the shifter ball goes in. The most difficult part of the whole thing I thought was pushing the rod into the new bushing, but even that wasn't too bad. Many thanks to Glenn for making his write up, nice to have around.

I also quick slapped on my Baja visor, because the holes were there, I had the visor, and the color matched, So why not?

I got a set of Kads on the way from Jeff (57baja), and I'm super stoked to get those on there, and by that time I'll be back from florida, and maybe some of the snow here will have melted :O

I'll probably snap some pics tomorrow If I get out to it to fool around with it. I would say the visor makes it look slightly more bad ass
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[jonvo4591]

I changed the oil today, and Adjusted the valves. I also discovered that the 009 that's in the car has some sort of electronic ignition instead of points and a condenser. I don't think the 009 will be staying in there, we'll see how it acts with the kads once they're on there.

Which brings me to another question: I have a DVDA distributor, and on the vacuum pot, one of the nipples is broken off. Its the one that's on the tapered part of the pot, not the one on the flat inside part closest to the body of the distributor. Is this the advance or the retard port? If I just hook up the advance half, can I just leave the retard port unplugged, or will I have to cap it off?

Oh yeah, and here's a pic of the bug with the visor on for all you people who like to look at pictures (everyone ):

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[Russ Wolfe]

The one that is broken is the one you need. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
Get me the number off the body of the dist. and I might have a good used vac. unit you can have for the shipping.
I have wash tubs full of used distributors.

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Society is like stew. If you don't keep it stirred up, you end up with a lot of scum on the top!--Edward Abbey

Gary: OK. Ima poop.

[jonvo4591]

Haha, I'll go have a look for the numbers quick a minute. I like your boxes of distributors. Just about as useful as the boxes of tail lights and headlights I acquired with the purchase of this car

Edit:

The numbers on the Dizzy are:
(Bosch) 0 231 167 053
(VW) 113 905 205

Would it be fine to use a pot from a SVDA? or can kads be rigged up to run the dual vacuum?
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[Russ Wolfe]

[jonvo4591]

Thanks!

The distributor was just an item in a bucket of "assorted" parts I got along with the car, so I have no Idea where It came from. I think the guy said the engine was a '72, so it could possibly be the original for the engine; just thinking out loud here.
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[jonvo4591]

I just took the car out for a short drive while I had time to.

A couple things I've noticed:

While I was getting myself unstuck in my snow covered driveway, The car didn't like to stay in reverse. When It popped out it made a horrible grinding noise, and even though the shifter was locked in the reverse position, that didn't seem to make a difference to the old tranny out back.

A second thing I noticed was a smell as I got out of the car. It was a wierd smell, kinda hard to describe. It was a brake type smell, but it wasn't the brakes. Could it be from slipping the clutch to get unstuck? I've noticed the smell just about every time I've driven it so far. I'm limited to driving it up and down the road in a development down the street because of its current street Illegality.

Cool thing is, It powered through the snow pretty sweet!
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[ThorAlex]

The smell is probably the clutch. How does the engine behave when there is no power off the line? If there is oil getting to the clutch the engine will rev but the clutch will slip until the oil is burned off. A worn clutch might also make the same symptom, and the smell. I have never had a bug thought, so they might be different
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1990 syncro 1.6TD "Smily"

Ex-vans:
1990 Caravelle coach 1.6TD
1986 Transporter Double cab syncro 2.1 112hp

"I'm wrong so often... It's great!" - Adam Savage

[jonvo4591]

I know the clutch is brand new, so I don't think worn clutch would be the issue. When it's bogging, Its just in the engine, It doesn't slip all over the place, The clutch is functioning properly. I think it was just from me slipping it a little too much.

On another note, I'm probably gonna have to pull the engine/tranny out to replace the reverse gear, so I can have a look at things when its apart.
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[jonvo4591]

Hey all! I got back from Florida today from a vacation with my family, and I had a box waiting for me. It was my carbs from Jeff (57baja).

I got to work to getting them put on there, and I left the car today with dual carbs installed. I just have to work out the fuel lines, clean up some wiring, and get the linkage adjusted so I can fire it up.

Here are some pics of the project.
The contents of the box:

Before:

Old carb off:

Adding it to the pile of parts:

Kads on:

Linkage and filters on:

The way I left it:

As things change, so does the to-do list.

Fuel lines
Adjust linkage
Sync carbs
Pull motor/tranny
Replace reverse
Trans straps
Clean

and much more. Progress pics to come.
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[jonvo4591]

Gonna pull the motor and tranny friday if I can. Any tips/tricks? I'm assuming I can just pull everything straight back out of the car.

Can I leave the axles attached to the tranny and just pull it straight back? or should I disconnect the axles if I can?
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[vindeta]

awesome! the carbs look sick.

have you had a chance to drive it with them yet?? i am VERY interested to hear what the difference feels like.

maybe even a video....
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75 baja in progress!
http://www.azbaja.com/ForumsPro/viewtopic/t=5767.html
build thread^^

[Russ Wolfe]