New project

[jakekrupa]

I got this thing today. Dude built it for his wife and she lost interest so i got it for a steal (hence all the sexy pink accents n shit). It has a built 1641, i'll get all the specs and whats done to it sometime next week. Has IRS. 3rib. Dual shock setup. Heavy duty steering with 1" tie rods. Feels like im driving a tank its super stiff. But i have alot of questions regarding this thing. I want to make it street legal but still have the ability to go light off-road when i'd like. With that being said, allow me to flood you with questions

As it sits. the pink just melts your heart doesnt it?

This 1/8" aluminum shit has to be super heavy, should i get rid of it and scrap it and put in cheese grater bottom or just keep it? Deff trying to keep this thing on a diet.

Should i keep this bumpstops or throw them away if i go lower?

Aftermarket exhaust? Dude said it was stock but it says EMPI...

Its so cute isnt it? So there are no bolts or studs for the front wheels. If i wanted to put street wheels on it how would i go about this? also, a front disc conversion would be cool. how would i go about that? corvair setup?

Can i keep these like this or should i weld the tubes together for better chassis integrity/less flex?

These are 5 bolt. I thought they all came with 4x130. So what would it be? 5x205? i need some links for some street wheels. like 15" and above. cant find any info on the "custom wheels" sub-forum. worth it to go disc on the rear? i have dual cutters.

Ditch the dual shock set-up and go single adjustable coilover? benefits of each? super stiff ride. i need some poly bushings.

really dumb question but these look like axles...are they? i see the grease fittings. why are they here when they dont spin?

shifter feels like im throwing a hotdog down a hallway when i shift. they make any good shift kits for this with good solid bushings and rods?

heavy doo-doo steering rack. this thing is uber tough to steer. ive driven a geo metro with slicks and thought that was hard. holy hell. i might snap my radius if i drive this on a rough trail. any good steering set-ups for both the road and light trails?

this is the shifter rod. any aftermarket ones with benefits?

booty

do i really need this thick of tie rods?

easiest way to wire the tails for brakes, 4 ways, turn signals and reverse?

they make any poly bushings for these? any after market a-arms?

what seats do you prefer? any links to some good pricing?

[HERC]

Sorry, I was lost after this statement....

"This 1/8" aluminum shit has to be super heavy
_________________
Herc

[I Ride Sand]

[jakekrupa]

Obviously i know aluminum is light, but compared to cheese-grater it would be much more heavy correct?

I live in western PA. No dunes up here just trails and fields. Basically, the ability to make it somewhat street-able but more offroad oriented. As in, switch to street wheels and drive on the road and switch to the mudders and go on trails. Which i need new offroad tires anyways....

[flashho]

I would be happy to answer some of your questions, if you could make it easier. Suggest numbering and make a list of your questions.
_________________
rant _ classified ads with out pics are almost worthless

[tsj5677]

[flashho]

Good job tsa, guess I was being lazy
_________________
rant _ classified ads with out pics are almost worthless

[tsj5677]

[KrAzY-BaJa]

[Axitech]

You're in Pa and you want to be street-legal. You have no choice on the floor, it MUST be solid with "no holes where carbon monoxide may enter passenger compartment". Yes, that is what the law says. Yes, it was written with front engine cars that had exhausts run under the floors and closed passenger compartments in mind. No, they do not care that this is rear engine and no exhaust under the car.

When you submit your paperwork, tell 'em , "Bob says HOWDY a-holes !!!"

Here's a link to the laws:

http://www.dmv.state.pa.us/pdotforms/pub_45/SubchapterK.pdf

A tip for you, go and read the US Constitution, the PA Constitution, learn to spell words and phrases like tyranny, out-of-control, minions, slackers, and learn to wage a vicious email war and all-out assault on the state government. Remind them all that it is an election year. Speaking of elections, get it done before the election in November, after that date, they won't give you the time of day for another two years. AT LEAST two years!

Learn what "official oppression" is and be prepared to have them charged with it. Be willing to follow through, don't make threats to do something like press charges and then not do it. Find out who your elected Representative and State Senator are, and get to know them before starting. Tell them about the difficulties encountered by Bob (me) and how much damage
I was willing to do to get my rail LEGALLY through the system.

Do not try to take shortcuts or find an inspection garage/mechanic who will 'look the other way'. The minute you do that, they will pounce all over you and your FORMER buddy the garage owner and all the mechanics that work for him.

If you need guidance through that minefield, let me know. I'll be happy to help you write out respectful yet fear-inducing emails. Always email! It gives you a 'proof of communication' that can be used against them.

Get the vehicle 110% ready before even asking PennDOT anything. Do not let them see you coming!!

I know, it sounds discouraging, right? Well, here's proof that IT CAN BE DONE!!

_________________
He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. Luke 22:36


The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.-Thomas Jefferson

[dustymojave]

I started this a while ago and then got diverted. I come back to find all of my prior work has been discarded and now I'm peeved.

But I felt tsj was going good there.

[jakekrupa]

Damn how do you multi-qoute on this forum? Life would be so much easier but instead im gunna type this on a Notepad doc and then copy and paste so bare with me!

TSJ: Thank you for the effort to reply back to all my pics man! Saw your thread as an inspiration and was gunna PM you. I need to know how you managed to fit those street wheels on your rail, the bolt pattern youre running, the type of wheels, tires, and size of both. just for curiosity.

Any links to builds you recommend?

Krazy-Baja: I will troll the builds tmrw when i get off work

Axiitech (Bob): I literally LOL'd when i read youre post. If i could give you a massive virtual high five and a berr mug clash right now i totally would. Ted Nugent for President and Fuck this state. I cant wait to go back to Nevada. Thank you for all the info. I do have a question though and i guess this will greatly determine if i want to build this for offroad use and no street use or both - Can i title the buggy as a farm vehicle to LEGALLY drive it on the street in order to get to trails?

Dustymojave: WOW man...TONS of info youre a fucking sir!! Thank you for the welcome, glad to be here and waste more money that i dont have on something that i dont (but do) need always wanted one since i lived out Vegas and since i've been racing NASA i took a season off and started this VW buggy thing. brother has always been into VW's so i sorta got hooked at a young age and grew up with them. although, i race a mustang so im sort of contradicting myself with that statement. either way, much appreicated with the comments and info. im gunna shoot you back some questions to your opinions/info starting from first pic to last.

1. I will paint this thing gloss black. epoxy paint and everything
2. If i decide to go offroad-only i may scrape this plate and go 1/16 steel mesh. not sure yet, i just dont like weight (damn you, NASA)
3. Prob gunna pick up some urethane stops. I love urethane
4. It does have a u-bend but no muffler. best muffler set-up for high compression N/A air cooled?
5. These wheels leak air, im scraping them. so should i go drum setup in front or JUST disc in the rear? trying to keep it on a decently tight budget. and, how would i go about converting the spindle mount to a 5 bolt set up?
6. i will keep the bolted frame, will make it alot easier to take the engine out and put in a 5.0 3v
7. so i should stick with the drums on the rear over disc on the rear? i really hate these cutter brakes and just want to be able to brake with the brake pedal with my foot and not my hands...i got a steering wheel to handle and gears to row through!
8. So coilovers are a no-go. i dont have deep pockets. should i ditch the black shocks entirely and replace the pink ones with some really good ones?
9. should i grease these front beams?
10. ill get that shiftkit, the shifter feels EXTREMELY sloppy. why is reverse such a bitch? also, should i let the trans warm up before using? and i think this is the 5.xx R&P...68-71 3rib
11. im gunna wd-40 the whole rack after i strip the paint off of it. i think theres paint in between the connecting rods and u-joints.
12. deff grabbing some poly bushings for the trans
13. link to some skid plates? or do i need custom?
14. so are there any aftermarket tie rods/ends i should run or are these okay?
15. yeah deff need to mount these somewhere else. i think im gunna run toggle switches for everything in this thing honestly. give it that racecar feel eh?
16. ill grease these suckers. so thats a big NO on A-arms.do they make aftermarket trailing arms? recommended front shocks?
17. im trolling craigslist for some used WRX/STi/Evo seats like recaros or corbeaus. deff want a comfortable ride. any reccomended suspension seats?

[dustymojave]

[jakekrupa]

I just hit the quote button and in the message writing window, copy the "(quote="jakekrupa")" (in this case, I'm quoting you) from the start of the message, and paste it in front of each question. Then go to the end of the quote and you find "[slashquote]" but with a "/" where I put the word. Copy that and put it at the end of each question. Works for most forums that use BBCode like this. If you want to quote someone else from the thread in the same message, paste the original quote and replace the name with the name of the person you want to add another quote from. Like:
(quote="jakekrupa")
im gunna type this on a Notepad(/quote)
(quote="axitech")
tell 'em , "Bob says HOWDY a-holes !!!" (/quote)
Note that I have replaced the square brackets with parentheses so you can read what I typed and the code doesn't actually work.

Awesome, thanks!


You're welcome. You don't have the money either, welcome to that group too!!!! As I was saying earlier on tsj's thread on lowering his buggy...I grew up around road racing (SCCA Cal Club). I took my 1st offroad buggy ride in the desert around Willow Springs Raceway during a lunch break in 1966. Mustang pic?
Here's one I recently worked on restoring

Cool! SCCA always comes to my work and i work the timing on the auto-x sessions alot if im not working the racetrack or karting. that pony looks pretty dope, whats all done to it?

I do Club Loose drifting, NASA, and take it to the strip when I feel like getting spanked by Evo's. 310WHP 2V, all N/A, 4.10's, weight reduction, built suspension on a SRA. This pic is before i put a 4-piston kit on it and got some Ventus RS-3 V2's (which are fucking awesome by the way). These modulars can take hell. I beat the shit out of this thing. and I get to drive it on a track everyday for free (my work, Pitt Intl. Raceway)

Good choice. Make sure you finish all modification work BEFORE you paint I HATE grinding off new epoxy to weld.

Absolutley


As I said, that plate will work fine for skidplates. But while expanded steel is good for sand dunes and will let the sand fall out, it lets LOTS of water and mud in. You're in PA, Not Vegas. Check Axitech's videos of stream crossings.

Got it


As I said before, I like a 2" Thrush Turbo. For performance, sound, cost and lightweight. It weighs a fraction of what a dynomax does and costs less than $30. Most mufflers need a support off the header which should be fabricated and nothing is readily available. Most of the ones that VW shops sell for them that look like a motorcycle muffler need support too.

Cool, ill check them out!

Drum in front as I said in my previous post gets the job done well and is inexpensive and more rugged than discs short of mega $$$. That's why I recommend them. I explained what you need above. 65 and earlier brake drums are already 5x205. Put in '68+ 17mm rear wheel cylinders for bias.

Got it


You had better be prepared to spend some cubic $$$$ for a gearbox to handle that 5.0. Like well past $10K for just the trans.

I was being sarcastic...buttttttt tell me how awesome thatd be?

Practice makes perfect my son. Deleting the steering brakes is fine or simply NOT using them. It SHOULD have a brake pedal, doesn't it?

Those Type 2 rear drums are GOOD brakes for the car. Your rear hubs are VW bus. There really aren't aftermarket disc kits for that hub. But you MAY find some for later buses.

It does have a pedal but it doesnt work at all? :/ What fluid does it take just DOT3 and 4? I got some Wilwood 660 RBF laying around


Ummm...You're contradicting yourself there. The pink shocks will work OK for now. Hell, the black ones may be fine too. Are you racing the thing? You could upgrade when you have the cash to buy Fox or King or...at least F-O-A for the better part of $1k. Then you'll need new mounts for them.

Wow...$1k for shocks thats pretty deep. Guess ill run these into the ground. How much softer would suspension travel be with the blacks removed?

Uhh, should you put gas in the tank?

Only if its 93RON! specific grease?


Shifter shaft bushing at the back of the shifter housing 1st!!!!

thats the urethane bushing i reffered to for the trani in a later post

Should have grease inside the rack. You might take off the shaft from the rack and check how EZ it turns.

First thing i have to fix is the steering, you dont understand how tight it is to steer. literally a work out and a half

For what part of the trans?

refer to 3 posts before this


There are 2 types of off the shelf aftermarket skidplates. But they won't fit. Fab yours from aluminum plate to fit the car. The underside of the engine/trans area is not like most buggies which have the VW Bug yokes. Yours does NOT. Mount the skidplate to the lower engine cage/bumper tubes. Don't make it so it can snag on the front edge. 5/16 mounting bolts minimum. Nylocks. Bolt heads down.

Awesome

They will do for a start. When they fail, you can buy ready-made tie rods of 1" 4130 or 6061 T6. You can then use the inboard ends already there. The reamer for Ford tie rod ends costs about $100. You should gusset the steering arms on the spindles at the same time. While you're at that, you may as well gusset the spindle kingpin carriers too. Then the weak link will be the spindle shank itself, which has a hole for the speedo cable. That can be filled to reinforce it. Check back here for instructions.

Sick, throw me some instructions when possible no hurry


Normal for dune buggies to use toggles.

My mustang doesnt have any except one for the oil cooler. love toggle switches

Yes there are aftermarket trailing arms. In stock size or 2-1/2" longer or 4" longer. There are aftermarket spindles called "Combo Links" too. They all cost a bunch. Cool your jets there Roger Ramjet. Learn with what you have. Let's not go straight to the GTP car, how about getting your feet wet in a Formula Ford 1st? You say you're on a minimal budget and I'm trying to work with that idea in mind, but you keep going to jumping in wallet 1st. Speed costs money. How fast can you afford to go?

Ignorantly assumed they would be somewhat cheap, it seems i am wrong. ill look into the price and go from there. any sites that carry trusted brands of them?


Actually check the poll on seats. AZ-Bug suggests Chevy Cavalier/Pontiac Sunfire seats for use in a Baja Bug. You might check out Corbeau Baja SS. My friend's old 92 Camaro RS had Recaros. Or Miata, RX7/8 etc. But remember that you don't need the reclining feature. And you don't want to blow out the bottom of the seat.[/quote][img][/img]

Had an RX-8 and LOVED the seats. found a pair of Recaros from a SpecMiata so i might grab those and throw waterproof covers on them.

[tsj5677]

[jakekrupa]

How would i go about putting a 5x205 hub on the fronts since they are spindle mount? Remove everything and it is just the spline correct?

Some updates though:

Changed the plugs. 3 were the same, one was different...what the fuck?
Put in some NGK's runs wayyyy more smooth. Look how rich it was running...

New tie downs, and terminal connectors. getting some 4G 7ft wire tmrw. drilling through the floor pan and putting some heavy duty nuts on the tie downs

got a rearview just in case!

got a 4pt harness, still trolling craigslist for some good seats

you dont even want to see the old fuel filter...put a new one on

these bushings are absolutley shot, any links to polys?

deff gunna mount some round 6" lights here, any links to some good ones? pref black on black housings

so this is the bushing for the brake...can i get a new one somewhere?

ghetto ass beer holder, will mount soon lol

this oil cooler is fucked. deff getting a new one from Summit or something, any specific capacity? dont want to lose too much oil pressure

are these aftermarket? EMPI 7MM. look sorta old...

im asssuming this is an aftermarket EMPI carb that is a stock replica for offroad use? best carb to run for light offroad? never had a carb before...noob to the game

waterproof relay box, deff gunna need another one, only have 1 port left

what kind of sandwich plates do they make for this? deff wanna run a big MANN filter, the more oil the better

any DIY links on how to clean the fan and shrouds? worth it or nah?

trans bushing, deff need a poly. any links?

you know what i really dont like the cutters honestly. can i just delete them and run the 2 lines coming from the reservoir to a proportioning valve into the 2 lines going to the back drums? or should i bite the bullet and keep the cutters for offroad use?

if anyone knows what chassis this is, can you link me a u-style crash bar that will fit these 4 holes?

amazon has some mirrors with the tubular mounts, any ones you guys are running?

Also, changing the trans fluid with Lucas 80-90 and the engine oil with Rotella T6 15-40. any lubrication additives you guys run?

got some aircraft remover, say goodbye to the pink (i really didnt want to break your guys' hearts, sorry)

i need a short windsheild, do i need a custom one or can i get one to fit my chassis?

got a leftover vaccum gauge from the ponycar, anywhere i can run a line from the engine?

[Brian]

Doing it right by posting a ton of pictures

Older oil cooler, ditch it. My advise to you is this: get a better beer holder.

Some 7mm wires are EMPI, some aren't but that carb suggest the wires are too.

The carb, EMPI has a 50/50 rep with carbs

Clean the shroud, degreaser then shit ton of water

I'll miss the pink paint.

Listen to dusty though, man knows his sh-stuff.
_________________
Wash your hands

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

Only losers litter

[dustymojave]

[dustymojave]

[Axitech]

Specific answer to your "farm use" question. Lots of people have done it, lots of them got tickets for it. You might GET AWAY with it, but really, wouldn't it be better to not have to keep looking for cops? You are correct, in Pa, legally , you can put an orange triangle on it, call it a farm implement and legally drive from one farm to another. You can't sit next to a station wagon full of nose-miners and make faces and generally look like the 'weirdest guy in the room' and not expect a local cop to hassle you.

If you want to be on the road, get it all the way on the road. My inspection mechanic, when I rolled up to have the Special Construction Inspection done, asked me, "Why do you have an EZ-PASS on the windshield?" I told him it's so I can drive wherever I want to! His response was," Confident we are going to get this done, are you?". Yeah, I was!!

Now, here is the pep-talk: My High School buddy, Bobby, and I were out drinking when I was home on leave one year back in 81 or 82. We were sitting in a bar in Bethel Park. A guy walks in and Bobby says, "That's the bastard who took my wife". Bobby got up, and walked his way. Bobby's ex-wife was sitting there too. I thought this is going to go badly. I had one hand hovering over the .45 I was carrying. Bobby walked up and looked the guy right in the eye and leaned in close and said," You can't be first, but you can be next!"

So, as far as getting one street legal, I'll leave you with this thought: You can't have the first street-legal rail in Pa, but you can be next! But, you better hurry, because DWP is close to getting his on the road! Hurry up, I'm developing terminal laugh lines from having all this fun by myself!
_________________
He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. Luke 22:36


The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.-Thomas Jefferson