riNR's Mid Travel 4 Seater Woods Rail Build

[riNR]

Thought I would finally make my own thread on my own buggy instead of highjacking others.
I want this thread to be different.
For one thing...if you think something looks like crap then say so. I couldn't care less if you do and I'll take it as constructive criticism. I have real thick skin, I'm not afraid of a good tongue lashing or a good debate. If you can back up your comments with pictures of what you've got going then even better because then you're got some cred' behind the punch.

My history:
Canadian born and raised, and proud of it. German heritage ( mother and father landed immigrants)
42 years old, wife, 4 kids ( 14 yr girl, 11 yr girl, 8 yr boy, 8 weeks boy) mortgage, car payments, business: www.justbasements.ca and all the usual distractions that most of us have that keep us from making huge strides in progress on our projects.

I know....." GET ON WITH IT!"

I've owned the following:
1968 beetle ( worst car I ever owned
1974 Baja ( beater, ralativley stock susp, killed it in one year)
Mantis race frame 2 seater buggy, A arm front end ( when no one had A arms) set up for stadium racing but I used it as a woods buggy.
And now: the mid travel 4 seater.

[riNR]

I purchased this buggy from advertiser on the Samba....Thank you Samba!
Barrien frame ( stretched ) with a 2.3L Ford turbo
Previous owner had dismantled the front end and started to build a house and lost interest. He had it listed for $7650 for just the buggy. I picked it up for $6500 with a nice T trailer.

This was it when it was still sitting in his garage in Indiana.

The cockpit:

Transmission:

Power Plant:

Long View:

More to come later with changes I've mad to date.........gotta go be a father.....Happy Father's Day!!!

[Super "B"]

Looks like a great deal you got. Also it is great to see someone else on here that is on the eastside of this Continent. A coworker of mine is moving up to Whitby in 3 more weeks. It is very nice up there, I enjoyed it when I was there for work for a couple of days last fall.
_________________
Jack of all trades and master of non...Thats why I'm here asking questions....

[Skidmark]

Nice looking rail! How much angle are on your rear axles? Both downward and rearward. They seem to have a bunch of rearward angle from the pictures...
_________________
"It's not complicated, it's just expensive!"

WARNING! This person has been consumed by the Dark Side.

www.socalbajas.com

http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q148/bajaskidmark/SCBaja.jpg

[riNR]

Super "B", why is your friend moving to Whitby? Does he off road or windsurf, or play volleyball, or mountain bike? Always looking for more people for company.

Skidmark,
I can't take credit for putting the rail together as that was done by Aaron Stacy the previous owner. I can only take credit for the modifications made from time of purchase.
Axles are 19 degrees on the horizontal, and ? degrees front to back. Took the buggy out yesterday since I got it mostly back together after my modification and the CVs definitely need to TLC. They click when applying the gas. Other than that the thing lights up the tires in first and does some major churps into second to boot.
I'm thinking of taking an inch out of the ground clearance in the rear to see if it calms down the ticking in the CVs. Previous owner said he ran it like that and no problems and he had it street legal. I may take them out in the fall and pollish them up. It's just that right now I don't feel like opening another can of worms to put back together. I want to take it to the trails next weekend.

[Super "B"]

Well he is transfering to the GM Oshawa Car Plant. He really loves to Sail, but now he has two little ones under age 2 and no time. I rode the Durham forest Trail on my mountainbike when I was up there. Great place to ride. I ended up riding with a highschool race team that was there to practice. Very nice group of people that made sure I didn't get lost...
_________________
Jack of all trades and master of non...Thats why I'm here asking questions....

[danhoffm]

Great looking Rail…

I have been building mine for many months and have spent much more that your purchase price.

As for the CV’s, you might want to consider purchasing “Race Prep” CV’s instead of giving up precious ground clearance. If those are Type II CV’s, Dans Performance Parts sells “Race Prep” Type 2 CV’s that will go up to 25 degrees.

[riNR]

Super B,
Good place to ride in Durham Forest....that's one of my favourites when the poison ivy isn't sky high....almost T boned a deer on my MTB last summer in there. Your buddy made a good choice with moving to Whitby. Even though Oshawa is only a short distance away the two towns are like night and day in mentality and crime.

danhoffm,
I here ya on the $s that's why I went for buying instead of fresh build. CVs are 930s. I'll probably race prep them or send them out. I may pull the tranny this winter as previous owner said syncro for third was screwy. I'll see in the trails what's up and make my call from there. I'm hoping to make it steet legal for next summer.

[riNR]

Well here are some more pictures of some of the modifications to date:

I got the front end all together again. I scooped a Wright rack off a buddy who was selling it to get a polished on for his street buggy. I had to get the tie rods custom made because I was impatient and didn't want to go through all the nonsense of ordering them up here. My stupidity, I should have waited and saved a whole lot of $.

Bought some new front tires. Love the look of them and it brought the front end much higher up. Yoko 700 X 15.

This shot gives you the side view and you can see I started to alter the rear seat configurations. The old rear set up was a spun tank behind a small infant seat with a amo box with the ECU inside of it. I decided to mvoe the tank to the front and slide the back cross bar back and place in tow low back seats closer to the engine, and move the battery in behind and between the front seats.

[riNR]

The Gas Tank:

Made a mock up out of some MDF plywood to start:

Once I was happy with fit I had 1/8" mild steel bent out of three peices and welded it all together.

The finished product:

I took the filler cap assembly and the body door out of an older Lumina van. I put the door into the hood of the buggy. You'll see it once it gets some paint.

Another angle:

Bottom of the tank:

Skid plate for protection:

That's all for now. Next, back seat changes...........

[Nicksan]

Talk about a custom gas tank...... Nice work

[riNR]

The Back Seats Modifications:
When I got the buggy there was a small infant seat with 5 point harness and an amo box for the ECU and the seat was missing behind the passenger. I picked up some used glass low back shells and some new covers for them at the Michigan Buggy Builders Show. Good show, worth the dirve if you're in the area....even better if you head up to Frankenmuth the night before and stay in the Hotel with the indoor water park with you 8 year old son. Love that town....reminds me of being a kid and going to Germany to my grand father's farm.
Anyway, I tore out all the old seat and ECU box, welded in some new seat support pipes with flat plates on top and behind for the seats and the harnesses.

i mocked up the aluminum firewall out of MDF first to make sure it would all fit in place:

I cut some aluminum to templates made for the MDF mock up and then sent the aluminum out to get bent up and then I sprayed it all with truck bed liner. I made a new compartment for the ECU out of fiberglass and aluminum with weather stripping aroudn the mouth and the aluminum cover plate:

Got the seats all bolted back in again last week after working on the car until 2 AM for 8 or 9 nights in a row. I'm taking a breather tonight....I'm fried!

Wider Shot:

Next task is to remount the battery box, and paint the body panels before the weekend when I hope to take it to the trails and shake it down.
I'm thinking Yellow and silver on the body panels.

[Super "B"]

Wow you are making some fast progess on her. It looks great. Sure wish mine was even close to using it. But we have just started the build on my Baja. We pulled the body off tonight. We have alot of work ahead of us. Lots of rust repair, But what to expect from a michigan car. Keep us posted on more updates after you get some rest.
_________________
Jack of all trades and master of non...Thats why I'm here asking questions....

[riNR]

Don't be fooled. My progress has not been that rapid. I purchased the car March 20 2007, so it has taken me 3 months to complete that amount. I'm pretty much confined to working on it from 9:00pm to ? and weekend sometimes due to our new born baby and helping my wife with the children and getting them to bed. I have pretty much stopped watching TV but that's fine considering most shows are rediculous or repulsive in their content.

[justme]

Buggy is looking really good!

that tank looks way cool, wish I would have done that:( where is the return piped in to it?

It looks as though you have the ecu almost at the hottest part of the motor. be sure to have a heat check there to make sure you don't fry anything. especially when driving slow for extended periods while boosting

Keep up the good work!

-Aaron

[riNR]

hey Aaron,

The return tube is the tube going into the top. That fitting goes down into a pipe to the bottom fo the tank to stop the aeration of the fuel.

The ECU is centered on the rear panel. It should be fine but I guess I'll find out soon enough.

What's this I see you were selling your Bronco on dune-buggy.com? Are you giving up on the projects? I thought would take up the dune buggy's space.

[justme]

well I got a new truck and 2 golf carts. no time or moola currently for another project. besides it is a 2 seater and we have 4 plus dog in the family.

BTW post those kid seats for sale. there is only one place i could find that made those, and it wasn't easy to find!! I am sure you will be able to unload them. I paid more for them than I did for the front seats!

[riNR]

Once I'm done I plan on yard sale-ing everything left over.

FYI: You know what killed that fuel pump? It was that annodized filter with the gold screen inside. They are only meant for non EFI applications....or so said the guy at the shop where I bought the new one. He said the pump will actually suck itself to death. I was suprised at that one myself.

[justme]

that sucks, I had no idea about that filter. Well, I guess you have a nice one for the lawn mower!

to save yourself a bit of time and trouble: put the car on the trailer and pin in the front or put it against a solid oblect. Use 2 jacks or stands to raise the trailing arms where you want them. then start it and give it some gas. the sound will still be there:( keep jacking them up while car is running, it MIGHT make a differance. Also notice how the axle jumps a bit while rotating? it is bouncing off the stub axle. they are suppose to be race clearanced 930's, but I think they went a bit too far to make them click. I think i got them from transform as a kit with everything together.

-Aaron

[riNR]

Work on getting the battery mount in the new location.

Spent Thursday night until 1:30 AM getting the pieces cut out and set up for welding in:

Worked on Friday night unitl 2:00 AM to get the mounting box welded in, wired up, bolted down....and put the obdy panels all back in so that I could get into the trails on the weekend.:

Eventually the battery will be enclosed in a cover that will incorporate a fireextinguisher, and holder for water bottles.......With Time