Yet another buggy build, here goes...........

[jakerot]

[dustymojave]

I'm having trouble in my Baja Bug with an oil pressure sender that I replaced last year. After the gauge working fine for over 40 years, the sender had failed. Jumper from the connection to the case, the gauge pegs. Jumper to the base of the sender, and the gauge pegs. So NOT the ground through the plumbing. Like your idiot light issue. My setup has a single wire sender for gauge only with a separate OEM type sender for the idiot light. The idiot light is working. But not the gauge. I have an oil filter and the oil is changed regularly. I don't think it's debris inside the sender. The replacement sender is the same brand as the old one and as the gauge. Stewart Warner. I would have put in VDO, myself, but my dad owned the car when I installed the gauges and he, being an old hot rodder, bought SW.

For the price I paid for the replacement pressure sender and considering the history of the old one working for over 40 years, I'm pissed that the new one has quit in a year. These things aren't toilet paper. They should be a "durable item". But then, considering that in my area, toilet paper has doubled in price since the change of President (???)...Maybe the 3 things are more closely related than I thought.

I have the oil TEMP sender in a 'T' in the outgoing line in my full flow setup right next to the pump outlet and it has ALWAYS worked in a consistent, reliable, and quick responding manner that I've always been happy with.
_________________
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.

[jakerot]

Thanks Richard, great insight for sure.

would like to eventually get to a full flow setup. i have a used Derale external cooler i’d like to incorporate at some point. sooner rather than later, it looks like.........

good flow from pump outlet for sure. can un share a pix?

yah those prices for TP are goofy and somehow pandemic related? i also can’t find good complete chicken wings for like a year. i get the no toilet paper thing due to covid........but chicken wings?

by me i would suppose toilet paper is now cheap due to the change in P. .....nobody is using it........we r all crapping in our pants......

where in Mojave desert r u ?

[dustymojave]

I'll take a pic or 2 and post it/them.

Apparently, since my account was hacked 2x in 1 day last week, I moved to New York. Still says so even though I've reset my location 2x. Guess I need to reset it again.

I live in Lake LA. I can see the Shadow Mountains over El Mirage from my house.

Northwest corner of town. To Camera right is the movie set "Club Ed" that I've done a bunch of work for. And further right is the town.

Across the road from my house.

Club Ed:

Oddly, that sign lived right up the road from my house when I was growing up in the San Fernando Valley. The gas station below is also Club Ed.

4 Aces. The movie/film set where NCIS Director Jenny Shephard was killed.

Kill Bill Church. My 58 Baja lost a rear wheel bearing 1/4 mile down the road from this place last year.

More scenes from my hood.

I could show you pictures of space shuttles landing just north of my home at Edwards AFB, or dry lakes racers at El Mirage, or some of the exotic aircraft (including the shuttles) built just west at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale. Or the drones used by the military built and tested just to the east.
_________________
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.

[hillmotorsports]

Richard
I laughed at your new address, couldn't imagine you moving east to snow country and the New York accent.... then I read the post and hacking story.

The pictures made me smile as Rosemarie and I must have almost driven by your house when we were out that way a few yrs back. We had chased down a bunch of movie sets from ncis and saw those. We also hit the old Paramount set where MASH was filmed, as well as the old road course there. The magic of the movies and TV... they make it look so real.

Covid has interfered with a bunch of our plans, 2nd winter we've missed our California swing. Hopefully things clear up enough for a trip that way next winter. Our 22 yr old civil engineer daughter is in southern Utah, haven't seen her since Christmas 2019, so momma is getting restless.

Am finally getting some time to spend on our Tow'd so will be chasing you for some frame improvements.

Stay well!

Paul
_________________
Rosemarie and Paul Hill
Morrisburg, Ontario

(With way more projects than spare time!)

[dustymojave]

Wow! When I wrote that previous post earlier today, my location was listed as New York, although I had fixed that a couple of times last week. Now checking in tonight with intent to fix my location, I find it shows "Lake LA". Maybe somebody like Everett fixed it. IIRC, I used to have it saying "Lake LA, Mojave Desert, SoCal. But I can fix it to say just that.

I find it helps me help others if I can see where they are. If a guy posting a question about building his buggy and he lives in Louisville, Kentucky, I don't expect him to be using it in the desert. But if he lives in Anaheim, California, I don't expect him to be using his buggy in swamps. So I like my location to actually show where I am. Some may want to keep a secret, if that's what blows up their skirt...
_________________
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.

[jakerot]

well still chugging along. lots of side projects going on but have made progress.


organized wire a little more

transferred gauges to dash

had to do some clearancing, but the wiper armature moves without interference

[jakerot]

been test driving it around the neighborhood a bit. trying to tune engine. still has a little hesitation under load but i’m done messing with it.

removed the body and addressed any wiring that needed rerouting, then had to do some heating on the cross member to get it to fit right

now the rear bumper ..had to negotiate with the hoops a little to get them to line up better

now i’m trying to decide how far the hoops should be. i like the exhaust coming up like it is, but thinking i might want the same headers and a turned down muffler. so the distance i am trying to decide on depends on the required room for a muffler, which i don’t currently have. thinking on buying the exhaust now, including new headers, but haven’t decided on engine size yet and best exhaust diameter. thinking 2110 with 1-1/2” pipes. not looking to go crazy with the engine however. decisions decisions

could anyone with a muffler on their buggy with these headers take the measurement below for me? i’m at 7-1/2” or so now. thank you much

steve

[jakerot]

this is the exhaust i am hoping for but the rear of my body might be too close for the muffler to fit.

[jakerot]

Allright. Yes I am trying for the record for the longest buggy build, in case anyone was wondering. Life gets in the way most times.

and whenever i did get a chance to work on it it seems i got nothing accomplished or went backwards.

as was the case with the rear bumper. fought with it to look right for quite some time. cut and rewelded the couplers probably 6-8 times. ended up bending new rear hoops once i realized the original hoops were never going to look right.

acetylene torch was invited to the party a few times.

because of the shape of the couplers, any slight deformation from welding caused them to misalign. had to “tack” each one, check alignment by removing the bumper, repeat like 20 times until the coupler welds were complete

but now i got them final welded and the rear bumper comes out nice and smooth.

finished the mid strap for tranny

modified the bowden tube bracket to account for the longer clutch release arm. articulated the clutch pedal with a rod to see how the cable alignment moves around in the end of the bowden tube. looks ok as far as i can tell. doesn’t look like the cable is going to saw the tube. or maybe it will. time will tell.

beat on the tranny bell housing strap. started with a CRAPI strap (EMPI) which was a POS and didn’t come close to fitting right. undid all the bends and re-bent it to fit. would have been better just making my own from flat bar.

used my tube belt sander to make the coupler welds disappear.

got a license plate bracket added

[1646gofast]

Very nice. The rear bumper looks great. Just read through this build thread, this buggy is turning out very nice.

[jakerot]

thanks gofast.

decided i didn’t like the bell housing strap fit.

hacked the strap a bit to account for the starter

came out ok

[jakerot]

i got a NOS windshield that needs mounting holes drilled.

still have windshield mounting tabs welded in. setup for 3/8” mounting hardware.

decided i wanted to use the 5/16” hardware that came with the windshield.

came up with a contraption to hold the windshield frame where I want it, without the hood being there.

also came up with a contraption to spread the tabs with the hood on.

then with the windshield frame hanging from my contraption and the tabs spread apart, as they will be when finished installed, mark the windshield and drill.

ended up cutting off the 3/8” nuts that were welded to the tabs.

replaced with these. meant for wood, cut the little spikes off and tacked them while the frame is bolted to the tabs, using them as the nuts, with a small gap between to account for the fiberglass hood thickness..

took everything out, put hood back on, clearances the holes in hood for mounting bolts.

came out good. will countersink the holes and change the bolt eventually but i’m happy with it.

[jakerot]

decided i wanted to drive her, now that the windshield is installed.

engine started right up. still has big hesitation, sputtering issues while on the road.

pretty sure i did some damage to the tranny while driving around.

started getting nasty grinding when going from first to second. or at least i thought i was going from first to second. ended up i was going from first to reverse.

drove around a little more, carefully aiming my shift from first to second. had some more grinds here and there.

eventually got her home and took the shifter off and inspected

reverse block out metal angle apparently sheared a mounting stud holding it to the sifter frame.

drilled a hole in the frame where the angle connects, plug welded it back on.

decided i wanted to try to install compufire points replacement module. a friend gave me 2 and said one works and one doesn’t, didn’t know which.

tried both in an 009 distu. well, neither worked. they seem simple enough to install, after reading instructions online. checked both wires of both modules for continuity. both were OL, so guessing this means they are fried?

drove around with repaired shifter and new distu. shifter worked, 009 did to, it still had nasty sputtering under load.

it appears the carb has a throttle shaft vacuum leak. sprayed both sides of the shaft with starter fluid, engine rpm would dip for a little bit. i believe this confirms it. when i open the throttle, big inrush of air, lean sputterings? think i rambled about this issue in a prior post

timed the 009 just o make sure it wasn’t a timing issue. was timed to 30 deg btdc so no issue there.

decided i don’t want to deal with the engine any more at this point. going to go through punch list while starting the deconstruction process for painting.

thinking about what i am going to do regarding external oil filter and perhaps an external oil cooler, and what kind of mounting fab work would be required.

been thinking about audio. already has hole in dashboard where a PO already installed a radio. got miata seats with room for (4) 3.5” speakers. perhaps 2-way. got room under passenger seat for perhaps one of those “under the seat” powered subwoofers.

got room under driver seat for amp for the 3.5’s. just wondering at this point if it would sound ok while driving. i mean, it has no roof so will always have wind noise. haven’t made up my mind, but going to consider any chassis work i can do now for eventual wiring and mounting.

been staring at the front bumper a lot. might need to cut one side and reposition a little to align it better. not sure if i like the alignment.

no pics this time, just babble…

[oprn]

Unless you are running in deep sand a lot the stock doghouse oil cooler is all you need on a light Buggy.
_________________
We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age)

[jakerot]

thanks oprn

not going to be in sand really, just roads for the most part. am leaning towards 2110cc engine size, wondering if this size would need external cooler since it would be generating more heat than stock.

[oprn]

Engine size has far less to do with cooling requirements than engine load does. It takes about 40 HP to push a Beetle down the highway at 64 mph according to VW. It matters little if that 40 PH comes from a 1200cc engine or a 2300cc engine. Both engines will only be expending 40 HP at that speed. If both engines are in proper tune the the heat output will be nearly identical. If anything your glass Buggy will take even less power.

The difference in heat will happen under hard acceleration and high RPMs. The 2300cc engine could well put out 3 to 4 times the power and heat at full song but, consider this. To accelerate from say 30 mph to 70 mph the 1200 will be putting out full heat for quite a while, maybe 90 seconds or more where the 2300 will be putting out 3 to 4 times the heat but for only 4 or 5 seconds!

This is why the stock VW cooling fan still works on engines that put so much more power! That power is for a very short duration.

So the short answer is it will only put out more heat if and when you use the power. In a light, tail heavy Buggy you are going to need a extra underwear long before you run it hard enough on the street to need extra cooling!
_________________
We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age)

[jakerot]

excellent oprn. i follow your logic. no ex oil cooler needed based on anticipated driving habits / buggy use.

so spent yesterday taking it back apart. got windshield removed and took out all gauges and wiring in the dash. going to address the hood. and fuel tank mounting.

i am REALLY considering cutting the hood and making it a 2-piece. would be so much easier to work on. i am really dreading assembling it all back together with windshield on then finding out i got a speedo bulb burnt out or something else electrical not working right, and having to take it back apart again to address.

hood wouldn’t be meant for constant open close, just occasional removal.

i know it’s a lot of work for a “just in case” scenario or to make final assembly easier. i can think of a bunch of things it will help out with now as i work on the fuel tank. mounting, etc. got idea how i am going to make a lipom the dash part for the hood part to rest on. thinking on what to use to use as fasteners

[oprn]

Keep us posted on the hood mods. I seriously need to do the same to mine for access to the dash and wiring. I am far too old, fat and sore to stand on my head for hours!
_________________
We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age)

[Luftwagen 2180]

I hear you on "too old, fat and lazy" part. This is my third (and final) wiring scheme. So far so good,22 years and route 66 last year. Hinged on the bottom.