'56 Oval Baja Build with RGB's

Chad1376 · Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 8:35 am Post subject:

I love those spring plate covers. They should help dissapate heat and prevent grommet meltdown as you cycle the suspension.. Razz

Seriously, this is a great build to follow. Top quality work + great pictures.
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See progress on my "Free Thing" here
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JWHracing · Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 9:18 am Post subject:

i have those same exact valve covers on my baja and they take the same gaskets as every other valve cover. put some silicon on the gaskets and you'll have no leaks.
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65 Baja, Turbocharged 1915 cc, IRS Rear, Link Pin front, 2.0 Fox Shox all around, full cage front to rear, Starburst blue and Briar brown paint, Douglas Aluminum Wheels, Pioneer components

pafree · Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 10:10 am Post subject:

[quote="joescoolcustoms"]

joescoolcustoms · Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 10:41 am Post subject:

[quote="pafree"]

joescoolcustoms · Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 11:07 am Post subject:

Thanks for the props guys! It does help motovate and give ideas.

I am trying to document the things that I have not seen in a typical baja build so others can see something different than just welding pans in a car. I am not building a hardcore offroad baja, but something to run the backroads of West Virginia. But still, some things I am documenting may help others in a small portion of their build. I often use unconvential tools or a backwards approach to get things accompolished by myself or with what I have on hand.

The trans is in for the final install. I have strapped it well in rubber to help reduce the vibrations that solid mounting produces. I may very well use it for work doing sales calls when the time is approiate.

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The White KYB's where purchased at a swap meet about 2 years ago for $ 3.00 and they were new. So I have a combination of grey KYB's on the front and white ones on the rear. But a total of $ 17.00 in four new shocks is hard to pass up using. I also sand blasted and painted the lower strut bars that had been tossed around and had some minor surface rust. I tried the "Fake" cad plate paint and was not impressed, but they are protected.

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Ever had a brake problem even after installing all new braking components? Just could not get the proper feel that the stock had but you knew it should be better? Maybe this might be a problem that gets overlooked a lot in old VW's.

The backing plates hold all the braking hardware and provide a guide for the shoes to expand and contract on as they move out to the drum and back. The shoes rub the backing plate and can rub a ledge on the plate that the shoe will not travel over. I have found this the norm rather than the exception on old used backing plates. Since I am regulated to useing the large nut backing plates, I just cannot just go search for a good set to use in my parts pile.

I weld up the contact area and grind it back down to the stock level to provide a new wear area for the shoes to slide over. It does not look pretty, but I have done it more times than I can count, not only on VW's but Chevy's too.

You may not be able to see the ledge created by the rubbing, my camera is not good at taking closeup detail pics, but you can see the raised bumps that the shoes ride on.

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I welded them up and added a little extra weld to grind back out. On almost every one of them I burned through because the metal was so thin were it had worn off.

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Then grinded them back down to the stock level. It does not look that pleasing to the eye, but is very effective.

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The early bird might get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

Looks like it was painted with a live chicken,polished with a brick and buffed with a pine cone

Member of Wagenfolks
http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/870707.jpg
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=479740

tanner_122 · Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 3:12 pm Post subject:

looks great joe!

those spring plate covers are awsome! Very Happy

do u know how much travel u will get?
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91 jeep Cherokee "TANK"

thefladge · Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 6:46 pm Post subject:

joescoolcustoms · Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 7:15 pm Post subject:

tanner I am expecting about 8.5 to 9 inches of total travel at the wheel. Nothing in comparison to the desert runners, but mine will never leave the ground without a jack under it.

The torsion covers are way cool looking. (I clear coated them in hopes of keeping them looking nicer longer) I could not find any marking on them at all. They came in a box that was clearly not the OG packaging. Looking at the quality of these and quality of other parts I have run across, they are medium-upper quality sand castings. They are not Claudes Buggys because everything I have had from them has their name on it. I have only seen one other set. It would be a tight fit using them without a positive offset rim to pull the tire farther away from the cap as it is about 3/4 inch thicker than stock.

I have completed the rear brakes. Blasted and painted everything. Lubed all pivit/slide points and ready to go.

These are monsters compared to the '69 - '78 rear type one set up. On the bus, they are rated for 1 ton (I say BS, but that is what VW showed) so they should really help stop a 31 inch tall tire nicely. Notice the brass adjuster. Cool addition from VW (I think). Will help from freezing up and rendering useless.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

_________________
The early bird might get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

Looks like it was painted with a live chicken,polished with a brick and buffed with a pine cone

Member of Wagenfolks
http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/870707.jpg
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=479740

joescoolcustoms · Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 10:01 pm Post subject:

Because of useing the Large Nut RGB out of a bus, Type 1 parking brake cables will not work, (type 1 may work on a small nut or type 3 may work on the small nut). The bus E-Brake cable for a large nut has a special end on it that fits into a sleave that is factory welded onto the backing plate and the 1 ton brakes are larger in diameter requiring a longer cable inside the drum.

So I am starting out with a '64 to '67 bus E-Brake cables. They are WAAAYY to long, but fit the brakes and the pan.

Two or three years ago I scored a old set of Poor Mans steering brake handels. If you do not know what these are, they go on over the stock E-Brake handel and use the cables to lock up one wheel at a time and still allow the use of the stock E-Brake system.

I have picked a E-Brake handel that has been abused and the centering stud broken off on the cable distribution bracket. The cables go direct to the steering brake handels, then I will weld a cross brace to the stock handel that when pulled up will hit the bottom of the two handels picking them up also applying the parking brake evenly. More finished pictures will follow.

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_________________
The early bird might get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

Looks like it was painted with a live chicken,polished with a brick and buffed with a pine cone

Member of Wagenfolks
http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/870707.jpg
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=479740

andychrist77 · Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 10:56 pm Post subject:

I like how you braced those transmission horns. Cool stuff
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only the dead have seen the end of war

69 baja,07 dodge ram,99 cbr 1100xx,88 V-max

Lotrat · Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 11:24 pm Post subject:

Sweet build. I like all the old school parts you got on so far. I'm running those valve covers too. Stock cork gaskets and some Gasgacinch to prevent the gasket from slipping off the edges is all you need. Leak-free since May for me. The bales are specific to those covers. Covers are Empi 9138, bales are Empi 9089, gaskets are 9907 (stock gaskets).

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I'm also using the same strap. Love it.
And the same shocks. Hate them. Should have saved for some Bilsteins.

joescoolcustoms · Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 7:43 am Post subject:

Lotrat · Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 8:48 am Post subject:

STOICH · Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 9:21 am Post subject:

joescoolcustoms · Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 9:23 am Post subject:

Lotrat · Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 9:38 am Post subject:

joescoolcustoms · Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 9:42 am Post subject:

LouisB · Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 12:16 pm Post subject:

Great build. Did you make any mods to your front beam other than adjusters?

Thanks,

--louis
_________________
Louis Brooks
'67 Manx II

Old people at weddings always poke me and say "Your next." So, I started doing the same to them at funerals.

joescoolcustoms · Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 12:41 pm Post subject:

LouisB · Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 1:00 pm Post subject:

I don't envy the rust repair you have ahead of you. I had a '67 in about the same shape and ended up making it into a Manx buggy lol. (Though an Oval may be worth it.) Good luck oh, and your going straight to 'ell for cutting up an oval into a baja. Laughing

(Coming from a guy who cut up a '55 RHD ragtop car in about the same shape)

--louis
_________________
Louis Brooks
'67 Manx II

Old people at weddings always poke me and say "Your next." So, I started doing the same to them at funerals.

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'56 Oval Baja Build with RGB's
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