Bock's 1966 Baja

[tobiism]

[Bock]

Is this the same group as azbaja.com? The website is kind of dead. I guess its because they are all on FB.. Any meetups our cruises?

[tobiism]

[Bock]

I got the engine back together awhile back. It's been sitting here waiting....because I made the call to rebuild the transmission as it was dripping gear oil on the floor without very much effort. I initially thought I would take on the challenge myself and ordered a jig from a seller here on Samba. I was deep in the teardown and realized that I didn't have a solid way to measure a new R&P or set the bearing preload among other things unknown. I'm not one of those that HAS to DIY all the time, so I caved and went to a local shop. Glad, I did because it was pointed out to me that my case had a cracked oil deflector (where the input shaft goes through, there is a seal there. The casting was broken off on the differential side) I was also shown that my axles were cracked in various locations. No big deal, I was offered quality replacements at a reasonable cost. We talked for some time about the pros and cons of a super diff, I decided to stick with the stock diff. I wanted to ditch the 4.12 R&P so they swapped me out for a 4.37 K unit which originally was made for the bus. They went through the whole thing and I will hopefully confirm my belief very soon that they did an excellent job. I got a nosecone sized box of gears and sliders and bearings that had all seen better days so I know they did something
I'm busy with family stuff and work right now, but I'll get back to work on this thing soon. Fishing season is about to bust wide open though, so the baja has to fight with my saltwater addiction for attention until October.. just sayin'

On a final note, I got the parts for my 2176 out of the shop and there is still quite a bit of work to be done on the case before we are talking about assembly. I'm just glad to have it back that way I can work on it when I'm bored.

[Bock]

The trans is in, but I last minute decided to re-do the hard brake lines. Should have done that first - DOH! Will see if I can get that crossover line done with the tranny in there or maybe just slide it out a few inches.

What is everyone using for shocks with a stock baja? I ran kyb gas-adjust on my old cars but they always seemed a little too stiff for just trail riding. I'm taking off GR2's that collapse on demand.. Any suggestions on the shocks?

[cbeck]

I went with bilstein 7100 w/schrader valve. Rebuildable, tunable.
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My cut in half and rebuild thread
www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=647779

[Bock]

As planned I spent most of the summer doing things other than sweating like a hog in the garage working on the bug. I still have some stuff going on, but at least I can spend a little time on this thing when I get the chance. I went out there this weekend and tried to figure out where I left off. After tripping over the same step ladder 3 times, I moved it... then put the engine in and finished installing the rockers (whoops) and tested the spark plug wires. They are the old Bosch ones, and all 4 tested 1k ohms like they are supposed to, but 1 wire had a break in the silicone and the coil wire was toast. I saved the 3 good wires for spares and put my new set on. I forget the brand, but got them from CB and like them. I realized that I forgot to put the accelerator tube back in the shroud, so stripped it back down and rigged that up. One of the axle boots was leaking oil because yours truly didn't tighten the clamp up - DOH. I also think I may have overfilled the trans with oil because both brake plates are seeping oil. I swear I put those bearing plates back on correctly. I'll be putting that on the to-do list. I will also be double checking the alignment since after having the transmission out it's obviously off. It's hard to do it where the car is right now, so I'll just move it to the 2 car side of the garage and double check the front while I am at it. The fuel vent nipple on the tank is gone as well so I need to figure out a good solve for that. I was thinking a threaded end barb and lock it down real tight. I didn't really want to braze a new tube in, but might end up doing that anyway. Ideas anyone?

[heywebonya]

Regarding the fuel vent, you could thread a brass or polyproylene threaded barb connector into existing hole. Attached tubing with a loop and you are done.
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If I knew what I was doing; I wouldn't be building a buggy!

[Coyotemutt]

I've checked out this post a few times, enjoying the build. I just never had anything to post until now.

You're going to want to install some kind of solid travel limiter in the front end or those ball joints you worked so hard to replace will be garbage in no time. I wrecked a set in just a few outings.

The hook and rod setup works well and is very easy to weld in. You can even buy pre-fabbed hooks and rods for the job if you don't have any tools for cutting steel.

[Bock]

[Bock]

[Bock]

In addition to the fuel tank repair, I also fired up the 1600 for the first time post rebuild and took care of the cam break in. I didn't hear any expensive noises so I am thinking I didn't screw up the rebuild. Time will tell on that though haha.

[Bock]

I can't believe that the last time I did anything with this car was in October, but then again I've been very busy and finished painting the house, planting cactus (ouch), and doing holiday stuff among other things.

Picking up where I left off, the ignition tumbler failed after the cam break in and I just got around to installing it yesterday. I DROVE the bug around the neighborhood for the FIRST time! It was only 1st/2nd gear but what a nice feeling to actually push the pedals on this thing I've been storing in my garage for almost forever it seems. By the way, the brakes need to be bled better and adjusted. Sponge city, sheesh.

So far, I'm not super stoked on the weber 40, but maybe in another 6 months I'll get it tuned up properly Along with the new ignition tumbler, I bought a new door handle as mine didn't come with a key. I realized after much head scratching that my 66' replacement handle with key did not fit my door locking mechanism Took to the Samba and figured out that I have a pre 65 mechanism on a 65/66 door. Oh the joy. So yesterday I figured out that I can find a key code on the original door handle and have a key made by a Samba seller. 1 day later it's in the mail. Anyone want to buy a WW driver door handle w/ key? Hopefully they return it. The thing wasn't cheap.

[Bock]

I've been working on converting to blade fuses while still using the standard VW switches and lights. It's coming along, but not super pretty just yet. My standard vw fuse block is something I'm not going to miss although I still am using it for the tail lights until I get a secondary blade fuse block. I did put the headlights/brights/offroad lights on their own relays.

That being said, I am shopping for a new battery. What are you guys using? I found a few threads from 10 years ago saying Optima is no longer the ticket. Just curious what the masses are using now.

[Bock]

I got the bug out for its first run in the desert. It was only 5 miles off-road in mainly 1st and 2nd, but it did fantastic! I also fixed my license plate light and horn so I am officially 100% street legal now. I took my son and even though he is too cool to say it...I think he had a BLAST.

[Cody Loren]

Very cool! I like the paint scheme too!

[Bock]

[Bock]

Something I wanted to do before driving the rebuilt engine was to reset the odometer. That didn't happen so I'm doing it now.

Here we are with some rotted out gel inserts. Almost rolled over, but not close enough.

I had a spare speedometer from my old 67' so I practiced on it. First thing I did on the practice unit was break the indicator needle when prying it off. Note that you do not have to take the needle off just to reset the miles. Here I have successfully taken the unit out of the housing.

A pair of channelocks works great to gently pop the arbor out so the mileage can be adjusted.

I got it close and used a piece of zip tie in my drill to get the numbers where I wanted them. Note the cruise control on the power drill. I also took this opportunity to put a little bit of grease on the gears.

Next I need to replace the damaged green turn indicator and generator plastic gel.

I'm going to scavenge this used one off of the 67's speedo.

It isn't very pretty but it will work.

I love this stuff.

And there you have it. All done. Set to 300 miles which is what I have on the rebuilt 1600 so far.

This is the quick and dirty way to do this job. There are much more detail oriented and correct methods on different threads here on Samba.

[Cody Loren]

[Bock]