Hello! Log in or Register   |  Help  |  Donate  |  Buy Shirts See all banner ads | Advertise on TheSamba.com  
TheSamba.com
 
'69 Baja - Dark Earth Version
Page: Previous  1, 2, 3 ... 12, 13, 14
Jump to:
Forum Index -> HBB Off-Road Share: Facebook Twitter
Reply to topic
Print View
Quick sort: Show newest posts on top | Show oldest posts on top View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Dark Earth
Samba Member


Joined: December 22, 2015
Posts: 1054

Dark Earth is offline 

PostPosted: Wed Apr 28, 2021 5:07 pm    Post subject: Re: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version Reply with quote

Brian wrote:
what are you using for making your wiring schems?


I'm just using Microsoft Paint mostly. I always save changes as a bitmap image though. The bitmap is so much cleaner than a jpeg or png. I also use another free paint program called paint.net. I like it because it has more functions like a "magic wand" to highlight certain areas I want to clean up by deleting fragments from the old jpeg. You can see the fragments in this blown up left headlight from an original schematic.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


Those are all wiped away in my saved bitmap by highlighting an area with the magic wand and hitting delete.

Here's a jpeg snip of the same headlight from my bitmap. It's won't show as clean as the bitmap I have on my laptop because TheSamba won't allow uploading bitmaps because they are such large files. It has a few fragments from converting from bitmap to jpeg, but I just wanted to show the difference.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

_________________
My Build: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version

~I'm almost done. I just lack finishing up.~ Anxious
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
Dark Earth
Samba Member


Joined: December 22, 2015
Posts: 1054

Dark Earth is offline 

PostPosted: Wed Apr 28, 2021 8:15 pm    Post subject: Re: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version Reply with quote

I finally installed the front carpet. I bought this empi kit such a long time ago. I went with black carpet to match my seats. The rear carpet is a TMI oatmeal kit and the TMI door panels will be beige. It'll be a true Frankenterior. I had to cut few spots to get around the seat mounts I made. It's not perfect by any means, but it looks alright. The part I worried about the most was the hole for the emergency brake.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

I made a template through trial and error.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

I ended up centering the template on the carpet and measuring back about 7 3/4" and cut the pattern out.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

The door panels and quarter panels still haven't shipped, so I'm kind of at a stand still with the interior. Anxious
_________________
My Build: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version

~I'm almost done. I just lack finishing up.~ Anxious
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
Dark Earth
Samba Member


Joined: December 22, 2015
Posts: 1054

Dark Earth is offline 

PostPosted: Fri Apr 30, 2021 1:06 pm    Post subject: Re: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version Reply with quote

Not much of an update, but ...

I didn't like the "dog ears" on the front kick panel carpet, so I cut them off. I also re-installed the shifter.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


The dog ears are useless to me anyway. I'm not running the remote cable operated heater levers, I'm using these manually operated ducts.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

_________________
My Build: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version

~I'm almost done. I just lack finishing up.~ Anxious
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
Dark Earth
Samba Member


Joined: December 22, 2015
Posts: 1054

Dark Earth is offline 

PostPosted: Sun May 09, 2021 4:31 pm    Post subject: Re: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version Reply with quote

Rust. Why does it always have to be rust ?

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


I bought a '72 wiper assembly and wiper motor. I took the windshield wiper mechanism apart, sanded the pieces down to bare metal, then primed and painted them.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


I bought these little pivot bushings.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


They pressed into place easily with my thumb.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


I bought a wiper kit. The two spring washers and two brass nuts are extra. The wiper shafts came with their own spring washers and nuts.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


I installed the wiper shafts.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


Here's the wiper assembly ready to install.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


And here's the wiper assembly installed. While testing the wiper motor with my 12 volt power source, without the wiper arms installed, the motor would start off sweeping left from the parked position. I rotated the drive bracket on the motor 180° to get it to sweep right initially. Through trial and error I got it dialed in where I want it to be.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


I decided to just go ahead and install a 12 volt washer system.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


It installs with a longer fender bolt and nut. Forgive the ghastly unpainted inner fender wells.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


I installed the Cole Hersee 75228-03 wiper switch. To eliminate any interference with the wiper mechanism, I used flag terminals. I soldered them to the wires coming out of the wiper motor and they were plenty long enough to reach the switch.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


The wiper switch knob doesn't match but I'm okay with it.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


I mean, It's not perfect, but it's just a baja bug. Anxious
_________________
My Build: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version

~I'm almost done. I just lack finishing up.~ Anxious
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
Dark Earth
Samba Member


Joined: December 22, 2015
Posts: 1054

Dark Earth is offline 

PostPosted: Wed May 26, 2021 6:37 pm    Post subject: Re: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version Reply with quote

Since I'm not installing a dash pad, I bought a '67 ash tray from TheSamba classifieds.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


I bought a '67 ash tray because it doesn't have a knob like '66 and earlier bugs do. (picture borrowed from TheSamba gallery) The knob just doesn't match my later style switches.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


The only problem, it's a bit rusty ... of course. Rolling Eyes

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


The seller told me she sells parts for an elderly gentleman and he suggested that I soak the ashtray in vinegar then neutralize the vinegar with water and baking soda afterwards.
I thought I'd give it a try. I immersed the ash tray in vinegar. There's a tiny piece sticking out of the bath but it's not rusted.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


After soaking over night, most of the rust was gone except these two corners.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


I removed the nut holding the front face on and found a little bit of rust hiding underneath.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


I made a new vinegar bath and put both pieces back in for a final soaking.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


After scraping and sanding away the remaining rust leftover after the second bath, I primed the inside of the ash tray and the front face with rusty metal primer. I then painted the inside of the ash tray and the front face with white enamel. I left the rest of the ash tray bare metal.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


I bought some 9/16" and 5/8" rubber grommet plugs.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


I'm using them to plug some holes for the time being.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


The ash tray is just a minor detail, but I like the way it looks.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


The original ash tray just sticks out like a sore thumb.
_________________
My Build: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version

~I'm almost done. I just lack finishing up.~ Anxious
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
Dark Earth
Samba Member


Joined: December 22, 2015
Posts: 1054

Dark Earth is offline 

PostPosted: Fri Jun 25, 2021 9:48 am    Post subject: Re: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version Reply with quote

I gave up waiting for the door panels to ship and just decided to install the seats anyway. Now they're not taking up space inside the house anymore.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


The back seat has issues. I never really noticed (or didn't know what I was looking at), but one of the previous owners installed seat covers over the original back seats.

Here's a picture of the interior in the Craig's List ad when I bought it.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


I've looked at that picture many times, and passed by the seat many times as well, and didn't think anything of it. Looking closer at the upper part of the back seat, it still has the original fold down bar mechanism and the metal piece for holding the carpet down to the seat back carefully tucked under the seat cover. That was a pleasant surprise. I'll probably run with the back seat down after discovering those little nuggets. I'll remove the seat covers and re-do the original back seats later. I even have the carpet for the back of the upper cushion that came with the rear carpet kit I bought. Dancing
_________________
My Build: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version

~I'm almost done. I just lack finishing up.~ Anxious
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
Dark Earth
Samba Member


Joined: December 22, 2015
Posts: 1054

Dark Earth is offline 

PostPosted: Fri Jul 30, 2021 5:15 pm    Post subject: Re: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version Reply with quote

Here's another small update ...

I sanded the dash grills down to bare metal then primed and painted them. I decided to go with khaki to break up the solid white.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


I bought some .060 styrene plastic and made some pieces to go behind the grills. I traced out some paper templates and cut them to fit the grills. I then transferred that shape onto the styrene. You can cut styrene with scissors too.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


Here they are installed

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


This is what it looked like before I fell down the rabbit hole. Anxious

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

_________________
My Build: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version

~I'm almost done. I just lack finishing up.~ Anxious
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
Dark Earth
Samba Member


Joined: December 22, 2015
Posts: 1054

Dark Earth is offline 

PostPosted: Mon Nov 22, 2021 10:53 am    Post subject: Re: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version Reply with quote

Another small update ...

Since I'm going without a dash pad, the glove box door is too small for the opening in the dash.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

The hinges pivot inside these little pockets behind the dash. To remove the glove box door, you just remove the screws and slide the door out of the hinges.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

But first ...
I made a rough template out of poster board and stuck it to the glove box door with magnets.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

I then transferred the shape onto a piece of thin gauge sheet metal.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

I bought a 24 mm hole hawg.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

I used the template to trace the opening from the original glove box, transferred that center onto the sheet metal, and drilled the hole with a drill press.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

The hole is actually bigger than the latch, so the latch fastens to the original door.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

I drilled holes in the sheet metal and countersunk them.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

With the original door installed on the car, I set the sheet metal on top of the original door, made index marks with a sharpie, and plug welded all the holes closed.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

I sanded everything down fairly smooth.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

I gave it a coat of primer using a rattle can.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

I then painted it with a can of Khaki Brown enamel.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

I bought some rubber bumpers.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

I have some adjustments to make, but overall it fits pretty good.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

_________________
My Build: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version

~I'm almost done. I just lack finishing up.~ Anxious
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
Dark Earth
Samba Member


Joined: December 22, 2015
Posts: 1054

Dark Earth is offline 

PostPosted: Fri Jan 14, 2022 5:19 pm    Post subject: Re: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version Reply with quote

I don't have much of an update, but I did buy this hot wheels baja bug.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


I also bought a Husky work bench, a Wen 8 inch drill press, and an Evolution chop saw. The drill press I was using before didn't drill true enough holes. The chop saw I had wouldn't even cut square. The abrasive blade would wander. With the Evolution chop saw and Diablo blade, it cuts nice and square, doesn't throw a bunch of sparks everywhere, leaves almost a mirror finish, and the metal is cool to the touch after cutting. I also bought three 26 inch harbor freight single bank roller cabinets. That gives me 78 inches of tool box space with 24 drawers of different sizes. I've been spending money on making the experience of working on the baja more enjoyable. Looking for tools piled into an under sized tool box setup was driving me crazy.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


I also want to start building bumpers and don't want to work on the floor anymore. Anxious
_________________
My Build: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version

~I'm almost done. I just lack finishing up.~ Anxious
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
Dark Earth
Samba Member


Joined: December 22, 2015
Posts: 1054

Dark Earth is offline 

PostPosted: Wed Apr 13, 2022 4:02 pm    Post subject: Re: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version Reply with quote

I decided to purchase another work bench, a gladiator this time, to corral the three roller cabinets. And, in usual fashion, I had to install some omniwall metal pegboard panels "while I was working on it" Rolling Eyes
I cut a little off the bench top and moved the legs in to pinch the boxes together. I'm not sure what I'll do with the VW sticker. It may end up on one of my rear windows.


Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


I need to weld together a rogue tubing bender before I build bumpers, and the more space the better. Anxious
_________________
My Build: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version

~I'm almost done. I just lack finishing up.~ Anxious
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
Dark Earth
Samba Member


Joined: December 22, 2015
Posts: 1054

Dark Earth is offline 

PostPosted: Wed May 18, 2022 9:26 am    Post subject: Re: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version Reply with quote

Years ago, I bought a Rogue Fabrication weld together tubing bender to build bumpers for my baja. I'm finally getting around to putting it together. Anxious



Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.




Here's what it looks like after painting and assembling. I opted for a 1.5" x 4.5" CLR die and will be using .120" wall DOM for the front and rear bumpers.


Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.



I may get a one inch die to build a roof rack. I also might buy a 6" CLR die to be able to bend .095" wall 1.5" tubing if I want to add a cage.
_________________
My Build: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version

~I'm almost done. I just lack finishing up.~ Anxious
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
dustymojave
Samba Member


Joined: January 07, 2007
Posts: 5802
Location: Lake LA, Mojave Desert, SoCal
dustymojave is offline 

PostPosted: Sat May 21, 2022 9:26 pm    Post subject: Re: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version Reply with quote

Dark Earth wrote:
Years ago, I bought a Rogue Fabrication weld together tubing bender to build bumpers for my baja. I'm finally getting around to putting it together. Anxious



Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.




Here's what it looks like after painting and assembling. I opted for a 1.5" x 4.5" CLR die and will be using .120" wall DOM for the front and rear bumpers.


Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.



I may get a one inch die to build a roof rack. I also might buy a 6" CLR die to be able to bend .095" wall 1.5" tubing if I want to add a cage.


4.5" radius is rather sharp bends. 5.5 would be better. ESPECIALLY for .120 wall.

Any particular reason for .120 wall DOM for bumpers? Sounds more like battering ram material for a Baja Bug. And awful expensive tubing for a bumper.

My Baja, my Hi Jumper and my Chenowth all have bumpers made of 1.5" x .095 wall CREW tube. Once its' painted nobody will know it's DOM unless you tell them, and then only 1/2 will believe you. Because you really CANNOT tell most of the time. I could tell people all the time that my bumpers are 4130, several people have asked if they are.

But I see using expensive material for bumpers as foolish. I don't want my bumpers to be particularly strong. I want them to give some before the frame is damaged. It's a BUMPER! Not bling. The flexural strength of CREW is nearly the same as for same wall DOM. They are similar material worked differently. DOM typically has a somewhat higher carbon content, but lots less than 4130. And it's still mild steel with no chromium, vanadium, molybdenum or other alloys added.
_________________
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.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Gallery Classifieds Feedback
Dark Earth
Samba Member


Joined: December 22, 2015
Posts: 1054

Dark Earth is offline 

PostPosted: Sun May 22, 2022 3:29 pm    Post subject: Re: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version Reply with quote

dustymojave wrote:

4.5" radius is rather sharp bends. 5.5 would be better. ESPECIALLY for .120 wall.

Any particular reason for .120 wall DOM for bumpers? Sounds more like battering ram material for a Baja Bug. And awful expensive tubing for a bumper.

My Baja, my Hi Jumper and my Chenowth all have bumpers made of 1.5" x .095 wall CREW tube. Once its' painted nobody will know it's DOM unless you tell them, and then only 1/2 will believe you. Because you really CANNOT tell most of the time. I could tell people all the time that my bumpers are 4130, several people have asked if they are.

But I see using expensive material for bumpers as foolish. I don't want my bumpers to be particularly strong. I want them to give some before the frame is damaged. It's a BUMPER! Not bling. The flexural strength of CREW is nearly the same as for same wall DOM. They are similar material worked differently. DOM typically has a somewhat higher carbon content, but lots less than 4130. And it's still mild steel with no chromium, vanadium, molybdenum or other alloys added.


I mainly chose the .120 wall because that was the recommendation from roguefab for a 4.5 CLR die. They show on their website that .095 is too thin to bend at 4.5 CLR.

https://www.roguefab.com/tube-capacity-chart/

I originally should have bought a 6 inch CLR die, but I saw a recommendation somewhere that you should shoot for a minimum of 3 x the tubing diameter, which is 4.5.

Now, In the real world ...

Since you make this suggestion to use .095 CREW tube, and I don't even know what that is, I will have to do some more research.
As usual you are spot on and I trust your expertise, so I'll be heading in that direction.

Thanks Dusty !!! Applause

I think I'll work some overtime at work and just get myself a 6" CLR die. Live and learn. Anxious
_________________
My Build: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version

~I'm almost done. I just lack finishing up.~ Anxious
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
dustymojave
Samba Member


Joined: January 07, 2007
Posts: 5802
Location: Lake LA, Mojave Desert, SoCal
dustymojave is offline 

PostPosted: Tue May 24, 2022 2:27 pm    Post subject: Re: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version Reply with quote

OK: Today's Seminar is Basic Steel Tube for Fabricating -101

CREW tubing:

- C = Cold
- R = Rolled
- E = Electro
- W = Weld

It's steel tubing made by 1st forming a strip of cold rolled (formed when the metal is room temp, not heated) flat bar stock of the desired wall thickness for the tubing and of the correct width to form the tube. Then the strip of flat bar stock is pulled through a forming die/rollers (many decades ago I saw some videos of the tube being formed and one video showed it being formed by rollers, another showed it being formed by rollers) As the 2 edges come close to each other, there is a welder that welds the 2 edges together. The outside comes out smooth and rounded to the surface of the tube, and the weld area is a dark bluish color line, but it leaves a thin raised bead inside the tube.The raw tube ready to make something with is identifiable by that dark line along it.

Some people think the tube is weak at the weld line. but I've NEVER seen CREW tube fail along the weld seam.

I just repaired a home built buggy made of 1.5" x .095 CREW tube. The basic frame is a fine design, but it lacked proper diagonal bracing between the upper and lower frame tubes. So where the vertical frame tube under the roll cage met the forged VW rear shock tower, the frame had flexed until the end of the tube was crumbling from fatigue (like bending a can back and forth until it breaks) and both sides of the car had broken completely off in that area. I could not weld it because the tubing inside was like a spider web of tiny cracks. The car is decades old and has finally failed, not because the tube was bad or not right, but because the design was incomplete. If it had been made of 4130 chrome moly tube, it would have failed quite quickly because 4130 is much more brittle and fatigues much quicker than mild steel.

Some people selling Cold Roll Electro Weld steel tube these days call it "HREW" which is Hot Rolled. If the outside of the tube is shiny and silver color with a dark stripe it IS CREW. If it were HREW, the outside of the tube would be dark bluish color and rough surfaced, like new angle iron. That's because Hot roll steel is rolled when it is between orange hot and white hot. The rough blue surface is scale that has come to the surface and has been oxidized by the air around the nearly molten steel. Cold roll steel is smooth. No scale and is harder and stronger than hot roll from the process of rolling it when it's cool. That rolling of cool metal compresses the metal and forms the grain structure of the metal along the direction it is rolled.

DOM and 4130 chrome moly steel tube is formed into tubing from strip and welded like CREW, but it's formed in a spiral. It's then drawn over internal and through external dies to make a smooth surface inside and out. Sometimes, with new pickled DOM or 4130 tubing, you can still see that spiral. Pickling is putting the tube in a chemical solution that protects the surface from corrosion. Some DOM and some 4130 come pickled. Some does not. The pickled surface is dark brownish/charcoal gray, almost black. Non-pickled DOM or 4130 will be silver color like CREW tubing.

Many fabricators these days are taught to grind that dark surface before welding because they have been taught by someone who was taught to work with hot rolled steel for buildings and such and they think the dark surface is scale like on hot roll. Grinding the surface to remove that dark surface makes tiny scratches in the surface which actually weaken the completed structure by making a place for cracks to start forming when the metal is subjected to stress loads. Yet the pickled surface is not a problem to the strength of the weld AT ALL! If you're welding rusty crap steel that's been laying around outdoors for years, by all means, remove the junk from the surface. If the tube is pickled, leave it.

As for the 3Xs the tube diameter for minimum bend radius... In various sources, I've run across different numbers for that. Some say 3X, some say 3.5X, some say 4X. As a kid learning Technical & Safety Inspection, I was taught to look for roll bars and cages with a bend radius tighter than 3.5 X tube diameter. That info came from Aerospace people like my dad (who worked for Lockheed Aircraft's SkunkWorks and later for NASA and the Department of Defense) and others around race cars who worked in aerospace, and from world leading race car fabricators. I've used 6" CLR (Center Line Bend Radius) dies working with other people's machines, and since the mid 1990s, I've owned a JD2 bender with a 5.5"CLR die set. In all my years of professional fabricating, I've never encountered a failed tubing bend in anything I've built.

I've many times used tighter radius bent tubing of thinner wall and CREW tube, like exhaust bends, but those were made with fancier equipment than I have.

When you go to a steel supply, order CREW tube and you will save about 1/2 the price of DOM.

And .120 wall is very stout tube for a bumper on a Baja Bug. My Hi Jumper buggy, my Chenowth buggy, all the bumpers I've ever made or bought for a Baja bug or buggy were ALL made of 1.5" x .095 tube. Most all of the VW-based offroad buggies are built with 1.5 x .095 tube. From the originator Funco, to Hi Jumper, to Chenowth, and all the other companies that used to build buggies, these days not much more than Berrien that's big time into tube frame buggies, but they STILL build with 1.5" x .095 wall CREW tube.

Now my old '61 F100 pickup has a rear bumper made of 3" x .250 wall tube. That took a hit from a car going about 45mph when the truck was parked. The truck was moved 12' sideways and over a curb, and about 25' forward and the tube was undamaged, only the 1/4" plate brackets were very SLIGHTLY bent. The car that hit it was completely totaled.

Guys who build stuff for 4,000 to 6,000lb 4x4 trucks and like to bash them into boulders might need stouter tube. But your Baja shouldn't need a battering ram like that.
_________________
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.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Gallery Classifieds Feedback
Dark Earth
Samba Member


Joined: December 22, 2015
Posts: 1054

Dark Earth is offline 

PostPosted: Tue May 24, 2022 7:22 pm    Post subject: Re: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version Reply with quote

Great stuff Dusty !!! Thanks !! I appreciate the thorough explanation.
_________________
My Build: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version

~I'm almost done. I just lack finishing up.~ Anxious
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
jimmyhoffa
Samba Member


Joined: February 16, 2014
Posts: 1046
Location: St. Louis
jimmyhoffa is offline 

PostPosted: Thu May 26, 2022 6:01 am    Post subject: Re: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version Reply with quote

Dark Earth wrote:

I mainly chose the .120 wall because that was the recommendation from roguefab for a 4.5 CLR die. They show on their website that .095 is too thin to bend at 4.5 CLR.


Dusty covered this liberally but I wanted to chime in and offer additional support: My 90" 70's Chenowth as well as my buddy's 100" 80's Chenowth were built entirely with a 4.5" CLR 1.5" tube die and it's all .095 CREW and looks great. I bought a 4.5" CLR die for my bender and did significant amounts of work with .095" tube and it aslo looks great!
_________________
1974 Chenowth 2RL #1244 Street Legal
My other car isn't ridiculous.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
Dark Earth
Samba Member


Joined: December 22, 2015
Posts: 1054

Dark Earth is offline 

PostPosted: Thu May 26, 2022 8:13 am    Post subject: Re: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version Reply with quote

jimmyhoffa wrote:

Dusty covered this liberally but I wanted to chime in and offer additional support: My 90" 70's Chenowth as well as my buddy's 100" 80's Chenowth were built entirely with a 4.5" CLR 1.5" tube die and it's all .095 CREW and looks great. I bought a 4.5" CLR die for my bender and did significant amounts of work with .095" tube and it aslo looks great!


Thanks jimmyhoffa !!! I appreciate your insight.

What I think I'll do is make some 90° test bends with the 4.5" CLR die and the 6.0" CLR die with 1.5" x .095" CREW and compare the results to see if there is any kinking or collapsing with either. I might not even use 90's on the rear bumper. I might just go with a couple of 45's.
_________________
My Build: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version

~I'm almost done. I just lack finishing up.~ Anxious
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Forum Index -> HBB Off-Road All times are Mountain Standard Time/Pacific Daylight Savings Time
Page: Previous  1, 2, 3 ... 12, 13, 14
Jump to:
Page 14 of 14

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum

About | Help! | Advertise | Donate | Premium Membership | Privacy/Terms of Use | Contact Us | Site Map
Copyright © 1996-2023, Everett Barnes. All Rights Reserved.
Not affiliated with or sponsored by Volkswagen of America | Forum powered by phpBB
Links to eBay or other vendor sites may be affiliate links where the site receives compensation.