1969 Baja Bug - TX Build

[sailtexas186548]

Mounting this hood has proved to be more of a challenge than I expected since there isn’t anything to hold it in place while I fit up some mounts.

I threw this together for now, not sure I’m going to keep it permanently but it will get it positioned.

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it's more fun loud and dirty

[sailtexas186548]

Making some progress on the fun bits now, getting the dash together and scrounging my parts bin for gauges and what not. I need to pick a color for the glove box cover and dash grills.

I have a set of 2” fuel, voltage, and oil pressure gauges that fit nicely in the radio slot, I’m considering a tachometer and cylinder head temps but not sure where I would mount them

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it's more fun loud and dirty

[sailtexas186548]

Been out of town a few times this month, but managed to get some things done

Painted the dash parts, stock horn assembly is almost fixed but one screw hole has stripped threads so I need to come up with a fix for that

Put the wheels and tires back on, looks a lot better. I had been using these on my Manx so now I need to but it some new shoes

Chopped up an old Baja bug bumper and mounted it higher and changed some tube angles up. When/if I cage this thing I will bend up an integrated bumper and chromo beam but for now this will work

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it's more fun loud and dirty

[sailtexas186548]

A little change in the bumper and light size, these are 9” lights which are kinda big but the price was right! Ditching the light bar up front, I may put it facing the rear for a reverse light I’m not real sure yet

Still tweaking the bumper and light mount to get everything even and level. The hood is not symmetric so it involves a good bit of eyeballing

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it's more fun loud and dirty

[sailtexas186548]

Lights and bumper are in their final positions now. Nothing is perfectly Symetric so this will have to do

I sanded the gel coat off the hood on the cowl/bump before I painted it so light goes through it real well. I need to figure out how to light it up from the bottom without lighting up the area under the hood. Maybe some led setup

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it's more fun loud and dirty

[Wulfthang]

Your lighted hood is pretty neat! You could do a lot of trick stuff with that if you were so inclined. You could even make moving lights in some kind of pattern or play movies on the underside of it!

A light box attached to the underside of the hood wouldn't be to difficult to come up with, to keep the light inside. It would only have to be a inch thick, enough room for a bunch of LED's. Use a light diffuser plate on top of the LED's to eliminate bright and dark patches. ($8 Home Depot) AN LED dimmer switch would give you control. ($5 Fleabay)

[sailtexas186548]

[sailtexas186548]

Got the bumper back on, swapped out the second leaking brake switch (new from jbugs, most of their stuff is ok but not the brake switches), and filled the steering box with grease

Used a heat gun and a tiny screwdriver to work this marine tachometer open so I could put the needle back on, it went pretty well

Fit the gauges in the dash, really happy with the spacing and how it looks.

I abandoned trying to fix the stock horn assembly, there are so many little damages done by previous owners... just not worth it Vs buying a better wheel. I shimmed the “button” thing so it’s nice and square and won’t wiggle around, and put the wheel on

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it's more fun loud and dirty

[Dark Earth]

Did the grab handle above the glove box just bolt on or did you have to modify it ?? The car's looking good btw !!

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My Build: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version

~I'm almost done. I just lack finishing up.~

[sailtexas186548]

It just bolted right up, it’s the stock handle. Having the proper hardware on the backside (stock stuff with special spacers) really make it fit well and feel secure compared to hardware store washers.

Im not sure what the extra hole to the right of the handle is for, maybe the dash pad?

Thanks!
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it's more fun loud and dirty

[Dark Earth]

[sailtexas186548]

This is my first attempt at a mount for the tach, need to make a few changes and try again but it’s close

Bumper and headlights on

Finally time to put the engine together, everything else is waiting on small parts to come in

I am chasing a tight #2 main bearing, I need to pick up a second set of bearings to double check but my micrometer says I have a junk bearing

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it's more fun loud and dirty

[sailtexas186548]

Confirmed I have a junk Mahle #2 (split) main bearing. The calculated clearance based On saddle ID and shell thickness matched the measured installed ID which is .0025” interference to the crank. I also put the #3 bearing in The #2 saddle and the #2 bearing in the #1 saddle… identical issue followed the bearing and the #3 bearing still mic’d out good, confirming the #2 was made incorrectly.

I verified the cam bearing IDs with the dial bore gage Vs the cam, dressed and installed the cam gear, and set cam thrust

The big ends of the rods are perfect and installed bearings show perfect clearance to the crank. Things were going well and then I measured the wrist pin bushings… yikes. Gonna have to get them rebushed they are anywhere from .0005 tight to .0035 loose in the same bushing, you can see the high spots where I pushed the wrist pin in trying to make sense of what was going on. The guy who bushed these Musta had a broken tool or something…

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it's more fun loud and dirty

[sailtexas186548]

After a second machine shop rebushing my rods and did less than a great job, I went ahead and ordered a new set of forged I beam rods, so the engine is on hold until they come in.

The stock seats I picked up still had the coconut fiber in them which was falling apart, so I got some burlap and foam pads and rebuilt them. They cleaned up real well

Finally got the tach mount drawn up and printed out, just need some stainless bolts to match the gauge bezel

I have a bunch of other little things mostly done, waiting on some small parts and/or tools to come in so I can wrap them up.
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it's more fun loud and dirty

[sailtexas186548]

I’ve been stuck in Machine shop jail and re ordering parts that came in way out of spec, but I’m almost there. Measured deck height now that the rods are fit, just need to get the case decked to bring the compression up to 8:1

Drilled and tapped the tank for a sending unit. Not sure why someone welded up the old sender hole, would have been easier if they had just put a blank plate on!

Found some aluminum American racing Baja wheels with BFG AT tires, looks a little better than the junkers I had on there

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it's more fun loud and dirty

[sailtexas186548]

Small update, dash warning lights came in. Still looking for a headlight and wiper switch with the escutcheon peices, they are like $50 each new which is outrageous

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it's more fun loud and dirty

[sailtexas186548]

After much delay with machine work, I have the engine mostly together (no sealant yet, still waiting on yet another a new split main bearing)

Oil pump engagement is .210”

Test fit the 14mm-2 case savers and 8mm studs. Turns out I need to recess the top flywheel side #3 case saver about 1.25-1.5” like the factory. Right now it’s installed like the others

This engine will not have any shims, I had the case cut to set the deck height right where it needs to be:

Heads on (cc’d at 55)

Just have to set up the pushrods and rockers and I can tear it down for the final time (hoping I can use stock pushrods but I’m not sure if they will be the right length considering this engine is narrower than stock

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it's more fun loud and dirty

[ORANGECRUSHer]

Looking good.
Do you mind if I ask what the oil pump engagement measurement is all about?
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Brian H.
I may not know everything,but I will try to help if I can
OrangeCrushER Berrien Warrior 2.4L Quad4
LAZY MARY 1970 Baja 1835cc

[sailtexas186548]

You want the pump tang to be in the cam slot the correct amount so it doesn’t shear off or flex/wear, also you don’t want it too far in and put axial load on the cam when everything is hot.

I’m at .210”, closer to .205” with a gasket. Most people recommend a bit more like .230-.280, i will prob increase it a bit by adjusting the mandrel in the gear, though it would likely be fine as is

Here is a thread describing this some more:

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=604014
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it's more fun loud and dirty

[QRP]

I just stumbled across your build buddy.
Thing is awesome! I really like the simple uncluttered dash setup, and the lights are pretty sick too!! . . .

Oh hell the cars rad just keep plowing along bro I will be lurking here for now on.