Alyce the Baja

[TDCTDI]

Awww, thanks Richard.

[dustymojave]

[Hnoroian]

Looks killer! I don't know if I missed it but do You plan on a roll cage? Or are they not AU DOT legal?
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Stupid people do stupid things.

[smileyman3000]

[smileyman3000]

While I had the body sitting on the pan I decided to cut the rear shelf out for my rear tank. I'm going to recess it down this time. So it will be much the same as the front tank. With a large hole that the tank fills and seals.

For those of you that don't know I was running a Bay Kombi tank in the rear as my main tank and using the stock front tank as a secondary. It sat in this frame here and there was a little hole cut in the rear floor for the outlet on the tank.

First thing was drill out the spot welds and remore the front lip. And just when you think you have gotten all the rust

And then cut a big hole for the tank!

Tried the tank in the whole but it wasn't quite sitting down all the way on one side.

One big concern that I had was clearance to the airbag frame and to the starter motor. But I'm happy to report that there is heaps of room to both of them.

Turns out the tank was hitting on one of the shock lumpy bits on the LHS. So I enlarged the hole in it a little and the tank fits down perfectly now!

Then I went back inside and took the edges of the hole all the way to the wheel wells so I can start on a frame for the tank.

Now that that was all sorted the body came back off and out of the way. I can do the tank mount with the body off, now that I know it will clear everything.

I welded some extra strengthening plates onto my bag mount.
First was this little tab. Which picks up one of the holes cast into the shock tower. Perfect size for an M12 bolt

Next up I added this angle which ties in to the upper shock mount. These were all welded out once I got them fitting nicely. But it seems I didn't get a picture. Perhaps tomorrow.

Last thing for today was strip the box, rear arms and everything off the pan. Gave it a good sweep down and flipped it. Ready for tomorrow which involves all these pretty pieces

Thanks for reading.


Smiley

[HERC]

That looks great. You better patent that bag system, that'll pay for everything.
I suppose that fuel tank gives me the creeps at its proximity to those power cables and field coils.
_________________
Herc

[smileyman3000]

I decided that I would need to sort my shift linkage out before running any of the stuff in the tunnel. It is one thing that will need to be in there so I don't run hoses through where it is going to be. I will also need to fit the pedals too and make sure everything clears them in the tunnel as well.

So flip the pan back over and refit the box. Then cut a hole in the lift for the shift linkage.

Ran into a bit of clearance issue on the top of the framehorn. Had to do a small amount of 'reshaping'.

After that it all hooked up as planned and I fitted a gearstick and 'seat' so I could try it out. For those that haven't read the older posts on here, the shift linkage is part VW and part Holden Commodore steering linkage. The shift rod is slightly shorted than stock and has the spline off the top of the Holden steering rack welded into it. The Holden steering shaft clamps tightly onto the Weddle linkage and then slides over the splined end on the shift rod. Happy to report that I can get all the gears pretty easily. Reverse takes a tiny bit of extra wiggling but I haven't adjusted anything yet. Also there is no shift rod bushing fitted in the front mount behind the gearstick. Plus nothing is lubricated either.

Still a little bit of clearancing to do around the hole. I also have to enlarge it enough for the uni joints on the shaft to fit through.

Thanks for looking.


Smiley

[smileyman3000]

Made up a spacer for the Kombi shifter out of 8mm plate. Fits nicely now and shifts quite good for having no front shifter bushing in. I was thinking of trimming the bus shifter down, but now it has grown on me. I put both the seats in with a passenger and tested how the gearstick cleared everything with both seats forward and backward in different spots and two people sitting on them. Happy to say it clears everything very nicely. And I like the height. So I might stick with it yet.

I purchased a heap of stauff clamps for everything that is going in the tunnel. You can remove the think upper plate and bolt and replace them with an allen socket bolt which is countersunk into the plastic. Saves space inside the tunnel (which is at a premium these days!!) and saves some weight too. Because I am not using the clamps for high pressure hydraulic lines the single bolt will be quite adequate.

T3 pedal assembly was robbed of its clutch master cylinder to use in the car. I figured this would be the simplest and easiest way to go as it matches the slave cylinder on the box and the bits are all from the same car. Bored a hole in the lift kit where the brake M/C was originally mounted. Then made up a mount out of some angle and tacked it in place so I could work the pedal side of things out.

Then the brake m/c was moved over to give sufficient room. More holes drilled.

I added a new pivot to the brake pedal that I stole off another set. You can see the stock one is still on the left side of the pedal. This one will be cut off and moved over to the clutch pedal for the clutch M/C. Fitted the pin and pedal travel is exactly as it should be.

Dropped the body on to check a few things. Fitted the seat in the car for the first time. Happy to say that the height is absolutely perfect for me. It is exactly where I want it. Pedals feel good underfoot too.

The seat has plenty of room to the door too which is good.

Need to work out where I am going to fit the fill reservoir. Probably somewhere under the bonnet that will go down to both the M/Cs.

Last thing I started thinking about/playing around with is fitting a hanging accelerator pedal. Here is one I had lying about from a Commodore. Jury is still out at the moment. I think it won't take much to fit up and connect. I just like the idea of less stuff on the floor and not having the pedal hinge seize up/fill up with sand and crap etc.

Thanks for looking


Smiley

[dustymojave]

Good work on this pedal stuff. It's going to wind up looking like the factory built it that way.
_________________
Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet.

[Indy45]

read this thread tonight from start to here, LOVE it, cant wait to see more!!!

[smileyman3000]

[smileyman3000]

I haven't worked on the car for a few weeks. Spent a week at Fraser and then down south for Warwick VW drags etc.

But prior to that I got a bunch of stuff done.

Firstly I got a care package from USA. Porsche CVs!! Thanks Rich!

Then I got to work mounting up the stainless hardlines I had made. And fitting up the bulkheads where they come out the front and back of the pan. Unfortunately I measured a tiny bit short and the clutch line didn't quite reach. I had to have to remade about 50mm longer. I had the same issues with the brake line to the cutting brake. But was able to fix this with a banjo that has a longer end.

Next up I fitted the new accelerator cable tube into the tunnel. And welded in the last hose mount plates.

Then I started making and fitting up the new fuel hardlines for in the tunnel.

Once that was done I did another trial fit of everything to see that it all clears and fits around the shift rod etc.

Smiley

[smileyman3000]

I soon discovered a new issue that I had created.

It was impossible to get the shift rod out through all the hoses to change the bushing.

So I went and got a new gearstick tunnel piece off a spare scrap pan I have.

And cut the original shift hole out of the tunnel.

I welded flat bar around the perimeter of this new hole and made the tunnel piece into a cover/removable shifter bushing. Very much like what a Type 3 has.

Then I had another issue. I could now remove the shift rod out the top of the tunnel. But it would hit the firewall inside the car before it came all the way out of the tunnel. Easily fixed, just cut it in half!!

I welded a nut into one side and a bolt into the other. A locknut holds it all in place. This allows me to break it in half, but also gives me a little length adjustability and I am able to rotate the splined end to wherever I want it too.

So the new shift bush replacement instructions are to disconnect the linkage. And remove the gearstick and then the shifter plate.

Pull the shift rod out and crack the locknut.

And then unscrew the front half and change the bushing. Simple!

Got my new clutch line back. Right length this time!!

Made the line up to the master cylinder.

[

This line was fixed with the longer banjo.

And started making up some of the rear lines.

Smiley

[smileyman3000]

I was trying to get all of the welding on the pan finished off that needed doing. Next up was the battery, solenoid and compressor mounts.

I picked up some good rubber matting to put under the batteries. And I cut some bit of angle to weld to the pan to stop them moving around. I put 2 on each battery on diagonally opposite corners.

Next I fitted a cut down piece of angle to the tunnel for the dual battery solenoid.

Then I welded on a couple of tabs that I drilled and tapped for my battery hold downs. Cut some more angle to use as the strap. Just need to get some bolts and it's ready to go. I will probably also add some rubber between the strap and battery too.

Then I made up a little frame for my ARB compressor that will be going next to the battery. Took me a little while to get the height and fit right but it all looks sweet now and fits perfectly next to the battery.

Next stop was the front beam. I added plates front and back to both beam tubes. This is where the beam support will bolt on. And where the front barwork will bolt to in the future.

Unfortunately I cooked my inner beam bushings while doing this so they had to come out. Took a bit but I got there with the slide hammer eventually.

I fitted the outer bearings and assembled the suspension so I could cycle it for the stops.

I cut a hole in the plate and welded a cut up rear swinger snubber mount on to the plate. So I will be running rear snubbers on the front too. Added a gusset plate. to the back too. I don't seem to have taken many pictures of this. I'm not sure if I like this setup yet. I might cut it all off and change it yet...

I cut and ground the hole in the front of the framehead as big as I can. Not I can fit my whole arm in there. Not sure if I can with the beam on though.

Fitted up my rear support frame and cut the tubes down to the new length needed and welded them on.

Put a plate in to block the last gap between the torsion housing and lift.

Filled in this stupid idea of a hole under the rear torsion housing. All bugs have this, I'm not sure why but it does a great job of letting crap into your tunnel. I welded a little plate over it.

Rewelded the hooks onto the outer edge of the pan. And plated them up too. I will probably add an extra plate between the torsion housing and the pan too.

Smiley

[smileyman3000]

Time to seal the tunnel up! Started by making up some plates to cover it up. I decided to do it in three pieces. One weird shaded piece at the back, the main longer piece along the tunnel and the large one up the front that is also the base fro the framehead. I staggered the front join in a different spot to where the framehead has been welded to the tunnel for maximum strength. I'm using the same 2.1mm checkerplate that my floorhalves are made from.

Then the inside of the tunnel was buffed, ground, wirewheeled etc until I had it as clean as possible. Then I painted it all with weld-through primer.

Next up I fitted all the hoses and lines. I added a drop of medium strength Loctite to the clamp bolts. Hopefully it all stays there for a very long time.

I added some flatbar across the tunnel where the 3 plates were going to join each other for some extra support.

Then the painstakingly slow process of welding it all in. I first painted the inside edge of the plates with primer too. I also fitted them with the 'checks' facing inside the tunnel to give a completely smooth underside.
I welded very small sections at a time and worked my way round and round the plates. I didn't want to cook any of my hoses.
The end result is super tidy. So smooth under there now, nothing to get caught up on. And I think I picked up about 5mm more ground clearance as it doesn't bulge out quite as much as the stock one with the cross hatches on it.

Smiley

[smileyman3000]

I added these plates to the lower tubes so I can make up the beam supports.

Welded on. I'm planning to add a triangle gusset plate that runs up to the upper edge of the lift kit.

Front end all assembled. It's a roller! I ended up using those stupid red urethane beam bushes for the time being. All I can say is they are the worst, shitest, most annoying wastes of time ever invented. Never use these things. I will be changing back to needle rollers bearings when I have time.

Rack fitted up. Put boots on it but still have to do an alignment yet.

On to the back. Started bolting everything on.

We have a rolling pan people!! Very happy with how it is sitting. But I certainly need to go up to 33s on the back. The front is a touch higher.
I just need to blow the bags up a little and put the upper bolts in.

Fitting up all the clutch and brake lines.

Pedals are all sorted.

Gearbox got new seals, caps, side adjuster locks etc.

I fitted up the handbrake and adjusted the cables. But I am not happy with the late model pivot plate on the tp of it. When you pull up on the cutting brake handles they hit it. I'm not sure if it is going to be an issue once there is pressure in the system, the handles might not come up as far. But I think I will piss it off and make something different.

And then I had to throw the body on the pan and move it out of the way to do some work on my dad's bug. I'm very happy with the way it is looking. Nice and massive!!

Anyone else's bug clear a bucket?

That's all for now everyone, thanks for reading. I'm hoping to get stuck back in after this swing of work.



Smiley

[TDCTDI]

Did you really just invoke the baja bucket challenge?!? I just checked & my beam clears but not the clamps. BTW I still see some original metal on that pan, you've still got some work to do to replace it
_________________
Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[smileyman3000]

[Outatime]

Very cool build, with great detailed pics.

It also burned up two hours of the workday, oops.

[Brian]

Holy shit
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Wash your hands

'69 Bug
'68 Baja Truck
'71 Bug
'68 Camper

Only losers litter