Cobalt the 65 Baja!!! The official tread man...

[Jem5649]

Hey guys,

Bonus points if you read the title in a Jamaican accent...

While my friend and I were on a road trip to Utah we saw this lonely beetle with a sweet blue/purple/greenish paint job on the side of the highway for sale. on our way back we brought some cash and took her home!


Originally the plan was to drive from Utah back to Denver, but the bug had other plans so we ended up renting a dolly and towing her home. (Broken Red wire from battery at the starter Razz : is fixed now)


Now that we are back in Denver we are going to have a bit of fun building her out with the idea of remaining street legal, but if we were to do some light duty off road driving it would handle it like a champ. This is a Baja after all!

Now for the Tech specs:
This is a 1965, 1200cc, nowhere near stock beetle. The drive train is mostly original, but has been rebuilt and with a new carb and exhaust.

Also the previous owner really liked lights. A lot... lights everywhere... There are currently 14 in the front and 12 in the rear...

And now for the plans:

1st: Cobalt needs new wheel bearings and break work all around, but we are trying to decide on whether to upgrade to discs or keep the drums. The left Rear drum needs to be replaced, but I am not sure about the brake behind the drum. (Thoughts please Smile )

First(a): Also new tires. Lots of new tires. (and maybe wheels) Probably the same style for the moment, but depending on what Ginny wants on there we might go with ridge runners on the front too! (Thoughts again please Smile )

2nd. Have some fun putting in seats and seat belts. The interior is fine for now, but there are no seat belts, and we were thinking of putting in buckets or something else slightly more modern to help with the off road driving.

3rd. Suspension overhaul. Coil-overs on all four corners. Period. Also some of the bushings and whatnot could use to be replaced soon.

Other random bits:

Remove most of the lights. HIDs plus LED bar, turn signals etc in the front, brakes and turns in the back. All LED or HID if possible.

New stereo and speakers. The original is broken as is, and the speakers aren't wired so we will swap them out.

Anyways... I know this isn't going to be a back to stock restoration or anything, but we are going to have some fun and see where this takes us Twisted Evil !! The next monster bug me thinks????

I appreciate any thoughts people have on the build. I am kinda newish at this, but will be doing most if not all of the work on the car (It is a beetle after all, how hard can it be! Wink Wink ) so any ideas or part suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Especially on the brake/ bearing debate since that is what will be happening first!
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I am a rock climber, not very mechanical...

1980 air cooled Westy named Beer... Yes you read that right!

[dustymojave]

Way cool mon! We be jammin' now!



The brakes - Stick to freshly rebuilt stock for now. I see no need for wasting money on disc brakes which are often weaker than original. The stock brakes work pretty well until you get to a lot more horse power and and lot more suspension and a lot bigger tires.

The tires - They look fine in the pictures. And for the front, highway tread tires work well on a Baja offroad too.

The wheels - They're OK. Some steel wool for rust maybe. If it's bad, sandblast and spray paint.

The suspension - "Coilovers all around????
Are you talking EMPI chrome coilovers that are just ride stiffeners wrapped around some of the crappiest shock absorbers on the planet?
If yes...DON'T DO IT
Install some KYB Gas-A-Just non-coilover shocks. #5529 all around.

Or are you talking about REAL coilovers, like King or Fox or Sway-Away?
If yes...Then you need to start with a full roll cage, possibly based on a kit, but then needing a great deal of custom fabrication work.
Then you need the suspension to to go with the shocks. Conversion to IRS, long rear trailing arms, new axles, CVs, brakes, stub axles, bearings, trans mounts, trans, bigger engine, exhaust, new beam, new front trailing arms, through rods, spindles, front bearings, ... Is this scaring you off?
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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.

[Jem5649]

Ey Dusty!

That was my current thought with the brakes as well. Would you go with the "take it to the shop and have them re-machine the brakes" route or the "buy a kit with new parts" route? I think we need a drum on the left rear (pic below), but the rest just have a bit of rust from age.

Tire wise I like what is on there, but they are pretty weather rotted. I think we will be sticking to the same size and shape tread (as close as we can) for now since we have no plans to upgrade the engine yet.

I think I want to eventually go with fox suspension on this guy. It might be a few years, but I think that is the final goal. We are throwing around ideas at the moment so it could change, but tinking long term I think this will probably have a cage, engine swap, and full suspension fab before we are done. For now the suspension is probably the last thing on the list so that is a long ways off.
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I am a rock climber, not very mechanical...

1980 air cooled Westy named Beer... Yes you read that right!

[Oncedown]

You should "Cobalt the 65 Baja"

Chevy Cobalt that is. They have a nice 2.2 liter engine that's only 35lbs heavier than your current motor. There's plenty of info for doing an engine conversion. I'm doing one now on my Baja. It's about a $2,000 job (according to my books). I spent $283 for an ecotec motor I pulled out of a Saturn Ion (same motor as the Cobalt). It's an easy way to upgrade to 140HP.

[Jem5649]

Ha-ha, I like that idea! We'll see what direction that might take us. The current goal is just safe, titled, running, and driving, but after that everything is fair game!
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I am a rock climber, not very mechanical...

1980 air cooled Westy named Beer... Yes you read that right!

[dustymojave]

[weasel_ugs]

I have similar wheel adapters on my car, there is a sticker on them saying "not for off road use". I had a set a long time ago on a different baja and when the adapter broke it broke the wheel too. You might want to look into getting rid of those adapters if your going off road.

[dustymojave]

I agree that I don't recommend that sort of adapters. The 3/8" thick steel plate adapters for VW 4-lug to VW 5-lug are OK. Vastly stronger.

So maybe selling those wheels and getting a set of VW 5-lug pattern wheels would be a good idea. You can probably run around on the street and do some mild graded road type stuff for a little while before you have to change them out.
_________________
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.

[Jem5649]

Thanks guys, you are lifesavers!!!

I am ordering or buying all the new brake components today. Should have them rebuilt by the weekend. I will also look into wheels/adapters before I go buying tires. It would be easier to do them all at once, but we'll see what happens!

For today the list is:

4 sets of brake shoes (2? not sure how they are sold yet...)
4 brake hardware kits (2 if I buy R+F kits)
4 wheel cylinders
Rear wheel bearings 4 (2 inner, 2 outer)
2 rear brake drums. I don't like the look of the L rear, it looks almost shredded in a way right around the axle.
2 rear grease seal kits
and 1 bottle of brake fluid.

I think I got it all (From looking above and at videos) but, did I miss anything I need to rebuild the brakes?

Also, would you recommend replacing the double nut? I have seen alternatives in videos that are waaayyy easier to deal with, but I am not sure they are ok for a Baja since I have only seen them on street bugs?

The other question for the day is: What license plates do I get?!?!?!?!
I live in CO in an emissions test county so I can ether get: Collector Item plates, Regular CO plates, or Regular CO plates and original 1965 plates and never renew the regular CO ones... HMM... What to do...???...

Also got the title in the works, just have to see whether my girlfriend or I or both are going to be on the title (She wants the bug haha )
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I am a rock climber, not very mechanical...

1980 air cooled Westy named Beer... Yes you read that right!

[Jem5649]

OK, slight revision to that last post:

I won't be replacing the rear drums. they are fine... I pulled the left rear wheel and this is what it looked like:

Since that one was the one that lookled bad and after a wipe with a cloth it is fine, I will be leaving them alone for now and just replacing them when we do the entire system. (Pardon the angle on the shots, I didn't take them)
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I am a rock climber, not very mechanical...

1980 air cooled Westy named Beer... Yes you read that right!

[dustymojave]

To take the big axle nut off, the wheel and tire really need to be on the car and the tire on the ground with the parking brake set.

After taking the big nut off (probably best if you loosen the nuts on both sides), jack up the car again and take off the wheels, then take off the adapters to clean and inspect under them. You could throw a quick coat of paint on them (don't lay the paint on thick or pile on a lot of layers. it will crush and let the lugs work loose). I use like Krylon Semi-Flat black paint.

Brake shoes are sold by the axle. So enough for both sides of the car in one box. Front axle is one set, rear axle is another set. Return springs are sold the same way. You won't know if you need wheel cylinders until you take teh brakes apart and inspect.

When you put it all back together, use a little smear of anti-sieze paste on each lug (for the adapters and for the wheels) and for the axle nut as well.

For the fronts...
The double nut on the spindle has a lock plate that fits between the nuts. This needs to be replaced any time it is apart. Or buy the clamp nuts for link pin spindles.

This is the lock plate

This is the lock nut

http://www.amazon.com/Billet-Aluminum-Spindle-Thrust-Washer/dp/B003LIV22S
_________________
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.

[Jem5649]

Sweet! I had just pulled the wheel to get a better look at that drum before I bought parts. I watched a video series on youtube (Can't find the link) of a gentleman explaining the process. (He has an orange 63 coupe if I remember right)

Ether way, Ill just be copying his technique so it should go as planned. Ill make sure to pick up those washers and definitely the lock nuts!
_________________
I am a rock climber, not very mechanical...

1980 air cooled Westy named Beer... Yes you read that right!

[dustymojave]

[Jem5649]

So we are still waiting on parts to do the breaks so I moved on to try to diagnose the HUGE shimmy in the rear end of the car. When we are driving (Disclaimer: We have driven the Baja twice since it has gotten to Denver and it has been tow miles to the DMV and back working out the title) the back end will drift to the right then jump back to the left in a really scary way... (6:00pm)

I would like to believe that we are dealing with a series of issues in the back of the car starting with this shock bushing and possibly ending at the left rear hub...

(7:00pm)
After further inspection I found this mystery Shrader valve on the back of the car :

Lo and behold, it is attached to the rear shocks! After further investigation involving a mountain bike shock pump, we found the shocks were at 0 psi... Hmm... So we put them at 30 and took the car around the block... Less shimmy !!!

After an hour of running around the block just for fun, we discovered that 63psi felt best. The back end does not shimmy and it takes bumps waaayyy better!

So now for the next question: How common is a suspension like this and what in the world do I have???!!!??? I know I still need to replace the left shock (so both) because the lower bushing (Am I using the correct vocab here?) is bad, but will that completely get rid of the adjust-ability of the suspension? (It is kinda fun(ny) and I kinda like it)

Also, the front shocks are not included in the adjustable system (There are no air hoses running to them) and I still don't know what is under the boot that is covering them.

Also, we discovered an oil leak on the right side of the engine. It is dripping onto the lower right engine cage bar. Will find and fix after a car wash and some beer at a later date!
_________________
I am a rock climber, not very mechanical...

1980 air cooled Westy named Beer... Yes you read that right!

[Jem5649]

Here is the next question I am pondering as we wait for the new brake parts:

Now that there is no shimmy from the back, I can tell that the steering wheel does not immediately engage the wheels when you turn it. I would say there is 1/8 turn ether way before the wheels actually start to move.

Is this normal or can I tighten that up? It isn't too big a deal now, but I feel like I am playing a video game to steer which will eventually drive me a little crazy and if I ever go off road I would go a bit crazy...
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I am a rock climber, not very mechanical...

1980 air cooled Westy named Beer... Yes you read that right!

[Jem5649]

I still have not gotten to the brakes or steering issues, but I did get a chance to do some work today!

I pulled the gas gauge and fuel sender, added Tri-flow to the cable and spring on the gauge and readjusted the sender. It all went back together well and works fine now! It took. Couple tries to get the calibration right, but it seems to be there now.

I also started cleaning up the wiring mess. With all the added lights (25 total) the wiring for them is a nightmare. I went through and started figuring out what was done to get them all working on the same switches. A couple didn't want to come on, but with a bit of wiggling and cleaning up the fuse box they all work except for the left headlight on high beams. It should be an easy fix, but I want to upgrade to H4s so I will fix it then.

I also oiled and greased the windshield wiper motor and moving parts. Shure enough, now they work!

The next step will be the be brake or headlights. Ha anyone else put the h4 halogens in their beetle? Can I just use all the same conversion kits I got for my Westy? The bug is 12V, but still on a generator.
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I am a rock climber, not very mechanical...

1980 air cooled Westy named Beer... Yes you read that right!

[dustymojave]

If the conversion kits fit 7" headlamps, then they will work fine in your Baja. It doesn't matter whether the car uses a generator or alternator. The diodes in the alternator allow only DC electricity coming out of the alternator.

A shimmy from the back may indicate some problem other than the shocks. The rubber shock bushing can be replaced, even if it's bonded in. Check the auto parts store. If you fail at that, try buying shock from a wrecking yard (preferably a pick & pull type yard) with the right size bushings.

The rear shocks you have are probably Gabriel HiJackers. If pumping in 63 psi helps, the shocks are probably not all that bad in the air lift bag part. But it may be covering that the shocks are actually bad in the damper part. The rear suspension MAY be out of alignment.
_________________
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.

[Jem5649]

I haven't had anything to post about in a while... Now I do!!!!

We got all the brake hardware put on the car and bled the brakes. Now I can lock it up from 40mph in 20 feet!

Just kidding... But the brakes do stop the car now. Waaayyy faster than they did before. I can actually lock them up and the car feels way better.

I believe something in the left rear hub was causing the shake because with the new seal kit in the hub, it is way smoother. I think I am going to have to rebuild the hub again because there was a clicking that sounded like a CV boot on a normal car, but hey it is an improvement!

oh and I got some grease in the front left so it started smoking a bit. All better now!



On a funnier note, when we went to put fuel back in the car, we noticed a catastrophic fuel leak in the hose below the tank. Got that fixed in a hurry and the car is running and driving last I checked!

Pics to come later!
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I am a rock climber, not very mechanical...

1980 air cooled Westy named Beer... Yes you read that right!

[dustymojave]

One time many decades ago, I had a 67 street Bug for a DD. One evening, I stopped at a gas station a few blocks from home and topped up the gas tank, then drove home and parked it in the garage and locked up. The next morning, I opened the garage door and found the air so thick with gas fumes that I couldn't see through it to the back wall. It was kind of like the heat shimmer from desert heat. The whole floor was covered in a pool of gas. Just the other side of my Hi Jumper was the gas-fired water heater. And just then, the water heater fired up! Scared the snot (and a lot of other materials) out of me. But it didn't blow up. I decided later that the air/fuel ratio in the garage air was too rich to ignite. So I ran over and shut off the water heater. Then I ran through and opened the back door to air it out. A while later, I started checking out the Bug. I found that it had "catastrophically failed", as you put it. The fuel hose from the bottom of the tank to the metal line in the pan had crumbled. It was less than 6 months old. So I grabbed a 5-gallon gas jug and went to the FLAPS (not where I had bought the previous hose) to buy some new gas hose and then to the gas station to get gas. Inside the bottom of the tank was drier by far than the floor of the garage. I started checking that hose every time I got under the car to change oil or lube the chassis or whatever. I tried to get our land lord (leased house) to let me re-locate the water heater outside for safety and I would pay for it. He flat refused. Silly boy!
_________________
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.

[EnjoyNukaCola]

That's terrifying. Since I swapped to a 1962 tank I have had zero leaks and no smell inside the car. Best part is I can look down the top to see how full it is. Before then I smelled gas ALL the time.
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"when i go to drive it i get to like 5-10 mph it is at high rpms and gets higher the faster i go when i shift up to second the rpms drop is this normal or what and this is my first vw please help"