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Tue Apr 29, 2014 6:04 am

I'd like to introduce my new baja. I'm naming her Lazy Mary.

I managed to con my wife into agreeing that I need ANOTHER project. Actually, it's not supposed to be a project but a daily driver.

Despite having the goal of not making the same mistake I made with my last baja I have quite a bit of work to do. It has a lot of little extras that got my attention. Adjusters on the front beam, 1835cc engine, built transmission, cutter brake, dual kadrons, and centerline style aluminum wheels with a set of new tires on the front and a couple good desert tracks on the back.

However, just about everything you could imagine needs to be brought back up to working order. Brakes are almost nonexistant (despite PO saying they had just replaced them), CVs are a mess with torn boots and missing bolts. The air filters had no fabric in them and might as well been screen doors.

I have the engine and trans out and I'm replacing all the obvious; plugs, wires, filters, fuel line, throw out bearing, new reverse light switch, CV boots and grease. There are no front turn signals and the back don't work so some rewiring is definite. Speaking of wiring I found a wire nut twisted on a wire going to the generator, lol, why do people do that!?

The interior is pretty decent besides needing to be cleaned REALLY good.

The Speed Beagle loves the 'old car scent'

I have the rear end torn apart and waiting on parts to arrive. I've cleaned up the engine and trans so far.

The trans has a stamp on top of the bell that says Petrucci Racing and lists the ratios for each gear. If anyone knows anything about this company I'm curious. It was evidently made in November of 2003. It's a 4.86 and tops out at 50mph with the desert tracks. I travel 70 miles a day, half country roads and half highway and with this trans I won't be keeping up with the locals. As a matter a fact the other day when I went into town to get gas I had a big ole line behind me on the way home. So I'm looking for alternative trannys even though this Petrucci is prolly the best trans I will ever own.lol I'm thinking a stocker might be fine? I also removed the Desert Tracks and installed plain GY Wranglers at $75 a shot which are about an inch shorter so that won't help things.

Depending on my patience and when my parts arrive from Appletree I plan to solder fresh wires into the harnesses and treat the underside with a cleaning and a coat of rubber undercoating. I spent $250 on parts last Saturday in a visit to Appletree and another $175 worth is being shipped right now. I'm hoping I won't have to put a whole lot more into just getting it running and safe.

Tue Apr 29, 2014 6:51 am

Primo-Petrucci Racing is located in Farmington,mi very reputable engine and trans builder.

Tue Apr 29, 2014 7:20 am

Hold on to that trans, you may need it for the water pumper you just tossed in the rail :lol:

Tue Apr 29, 2014 7:35 am

I'm thinking the motor may be redone by the same. So far I've found a "2nd" date at the base of the generator tower and it's painted with a similar purplish-black paint...

Tue Apr 29, 2014 9:21 am

My neighbor is old friends with the folks at Petrucci. His trans and I believe engine have their stamping. Pretty sweet BAJA!! Why does it say west coast for your location? Are you ashamed of us?

Tue Apr 29, 2014 10:01 am

BUGGUTZ wrote: My neighbor is old friends with the folks at Petrucci. His trans and I believe engine have their stamping. Pretty sweet BAJA!! Why does it say west coast for your location? Are you ashamed of us?

Everybody knows West Coast(of Michigan) is the place to be! (if you like tulips and dutch a$$h6les) lol

No but seriously, I am a little ashamed of you angry East Siders. :wink:

So it sounds like I got a good deal for my 3K. That makes me feel a little better about not driving around in it right now.

Tue Apr 29, 2014 10:46 am

Looks like a great start for you. Have fun with it :D

Ed

Tue Apr 29, 2014 1:36 pm

nice baja man!

Tue Apr 29, 2014 2:14 pm

When you "get er done"... Rechristen her "Proud Mary"....

Dale

Wed Apr 30, 2014 6:33 am

Look under the oil cooler... You may possibly find more stamped info like line bore and thrust if it's a pp engine.
Nice baja bug.

Wed Apr 30, 2014 9:11 am

After I thought about it I figured you are West Michigan. Im about a half hour NE of Houghton Lake. Smack dab in the woods.

That looks like a very good ride for 3K!!

Wed Apr 30, 2014 10:50 am

Its amazing how barely held together this baja was and I drove it down the street!
Half the CV bolts weren't even tight, the ones that were still there. I removed the axles last night so I can clean them sometime when I want to get stinky and nasty. Hoping I tear them down to find everything OK.
After I removed the engine the other day I found this riveted to the firewall.

Last night I removed it and started scraping off old undercoating on the firewall. It's not really my style and it looks rough. I could see maybe a similar plate of the diamond plate, but I really just want to keep the details understated for now.
After some scraping and scrubbing I managed to get the firewall looking OK but I quickly realized cleaning under the trunk and the suspension pieces would require more then just a quick scrub. Grease from the poorly maintained boots had flung all over everything and mixed with sand becomes a sort of cement that drives me crazy. Best to do them when I decide to restore the pan later down the road.
All I know is it's a good thing it's in the hands of my OCD butt, now.

Tue May 06, 2014 4:24 am

It's been a crazy week and a half! I've been eating, sleeping and breathing this new baja and have had to fix quite a bit. Finally got to drive 'er to work today and she did good despite a little shaking and wandering on the highway.
Things I've fixed.
window cranks (quickest job lol)
new 4.12 trans
all new CV axles and replaced missing hardware
cleaned up and painted firewall
new Blue coil
new fuel filters
adjusted rear brakes
regreased rear wheel bearings and replaced a cracked outer passenger bearing
new Taylor plug wires
renewed the rear lights
tore out about a hundred feet of crap wire from PO (house wire to boot)
started rewiring everything back to the stock circuits
tried wiring up the backup lights but couldn't find where to connect into the harness going back to the lights
had a near wire fire ( What VW project of mine wouldn't be complete with out one?)
new wrangler tires

still need to replace the fuel filler hose. Picked one up from appletree but for some reason it's way too short.

even been too busy to take pics so hopefully I can do that soon

Tue May 06, 2014 5:05 am

I lie.
found some silly pics on my phone:
I wanted to get some REALLY good wires and went with these Taylor "race wires". ($55) They are truely beefy and thick, but don't put silcone grease on em or they'll never stay ON the plug. I had to brake Kleen out the connectors before they'd stay.
comparing the old crap I had before to the new

I learned this trick when I redid my 1980 Motor home that had similar reflectors on the brake lights. Either the reflective coating flaked off or they never had any. Wanting to keep the original looks I improve the light output by adding aluminonium tape to the reflector where it needs it then trimming it with a razor blade

A rainy night when I was installing the new trans and axles. Firewall paint still wet. The axles I bought were both from advance auto parts and nothing special. One of them came in a box labeled Car Quest though. They ran $70 with a lifetime warrantee. The one labeled different was real tight and dirty when I took it out of the box. I decided to take it apart and found a C-clip was not pushed on the whole way (bent) so I put it back together with one from my old axles. Putting the balls back in was a real test of patience since the joint was so tight. I'm thinking they could have went down a tad in ball size when they rebuilt it. Compared to the other, the joint had a lot of dents from a previous life as well. We'll see how long it lasts. I tried running the trans in gear with the wheels off the ground to break them in but stopped shortly after since it made me nervous. So I'm not driving very hard on them hoping they wear in OK. My old axles were pitted pretty bad and the cages were chipped and flakes of gold were all in the grease. They may be rebuildable with new cages though so I'm holding onto them even though they didn't charge me the 5$ CORE and expect them back.

Tue May 06, 2014 6:26 am

Lookin goot. 8)

Tue May 06, 2014 9:21 am

WOW! 1.65 3rd and 1.43 4th!?!?!?!?!?!?

Yeah, I BET that wasn't too good down the highway.

My old swingaxle race buggy had 1.48 and 1.14 for 33" tall tires. And it could have used a little taller 4th, more like 1.0

Tue May 06, 2014 8:56 pm

Welcome Back to the wonderful world of Bajas.. =D>

Good Lookn' … 8)

I think it would be a lot of fun to get a BAJA RUN together this summer…

More and more bajas are turning up in Michigan..

I can think of at least a half dozen without trying.. :-k

Wed May 07, 2014 4:24 am

Yes Rich, It was nutz, I still can't believe the difference. I made it up to around 72mph this morning and I think that's good enough for now. I cruise at 55 on the highway. But I never feel like I'm ringing it's neck out all the time like I did with my 1600DP before. I'm barely on the throttle most of the time and in fourth. I think I'm safe believing the PO claim of a 1835.

I tried adjusting my dual Kadrons last night after reading on Mr. Kadron's site. The fuel economy hasn't been what I expected.
The mixture on one side was a little heavy and the other side is turned all the way in.

Should I expect bad mileage with duals?

Wed May 07, 2014 4:29 am

dowha wrote: Welcome Back to the wonderful world of Bajas.. =D>

Good Lookn' … 8)

I think it would be a lot of fun to get a BAJA RUN together this summer…

More and more bajas are turning up in Michigan..

I can think of at least a half dozen without trying.. :-k

I'm definitely up for a ride. Make sure I hear about it if you do.

I just need to figure out why the steering is pulling me all over and then I will feel it's up to the task. I havent had the front off the ground and checked anything yet so it could be anything. I do know the ball joint boots look bad and I have a full set waiting to be put on.

But ATM I plan to drive it everyday! Time to park the winter beater.

Wed May 07, 2014 4:35 am

I haven't had an older car like this in quite awhile.
This morning I had a nostalgic feeling as I'm driving into work. There was a thunderstorm ahead and it was just getting light out. My radio quit working and all I could hear is the drone of the engine plugging away behind me as I drove into the light rain. It was a feeling of being connected to the road again and also being free from that feeling like I need to keep up with everyone.
I'm a pretty aggressive personality, but I'm mellow in my baja.
As long as it's running.