Rocco : 1975 Baja Build Thread

poomwah · Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 10:50 pm Post subject: Rocco : 1975 Baja Build Thread

I could have sworn that I started a build thread that I wound up BRUTALLY neglecting. So much so that I can't even find the bastard anymore :\
So, this will be the offical one.
In february of this year, I found a 75 std baja in columbus, oh, listed on craigslist as a 74. Was supposed to be incredible shape other than soft brakes, front end camber incorrectly set, and interior needed "TLC".
Went to look at it in almost zero degree weather. Made a deal to have the guy haul it here.
Here are the craigslist pics and one I took when I went to look at it.

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poomwah · Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 10:54 pm Post subject:

luckily there was a tarp over it to keep water out of the stinger.
it ran very well, albeit VERY rich. There were no front signals, the horn didn't work, the camber was indeed off, but not nearly as bad as the toe in/out. The gas gauge didn't work, and the wiring was a TOTAL mess, I wish I had taken pics before I started on the wiring. This was AFTER I started cleaning up the wiring.

poomwah · Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 10:59 pm Post subject:

it came with the "tikki" shifter, but not the surfboard. My wife and I were going to stick with the hawaiin theme, were actually going to take it a bit further.
The diamond plate on the dash didnt fit well, in places it was digging into the dash pad, in other places there were gaps. It was pretty awful.

sticking with the hawaiin theme I got some koa veneer to replace the diamond plate

and I came up with this drawing (treated myself to a graphics tablet with the money I saved from haggling on the bugs price) to add to the hawaiin deal, I was going to paint these guys "running " along the chrome side strip

we were going to replace the headliner with bamboo (did I mention the TLC needed for the interior as usual mean the interior was ragged out?

poomwah · Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 11:02 pm Post subject:

didnt want rain and snow in the exhaust, and didnt want a flapper on top of the stinger, and didnt want to have to remember to cover it all the time, so until I decide what else to do , I grabbed a piece of straight pipe, and a kadron bend I got from ebay.

poomwah · Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 11:06 pm Post subject:

then The Samba kicked in. You guys have such AWESOME bajas on here that I realized the whole hawaiin beach cruiser thing just wasn't me. So, the stickers had to go, the flying eyeballs, the lettering on the rear windows, the hurst stickers (even though it doesn't have a hurst shifter), the peace frogs on the vent windows blocking the view of the rear view mirror, all of them had to come off.
I cut the custom running boards off, pulled the hub caps off, and got a front bumper from appletree

poomwah · Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 11:09 pm Post subject:

I pulled that piece of diamond plate off

and found this

so, some aluminum sheet metal that I had lying around, some stainless allen screws, and some black wrinkle paint gave me this

eventually after some switches I wound up with this

poomwah · Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 11:13 pm Post subject:

installed my dual carbs, and couldn't see them with the cover back on, this bothered me, LOL
that and I'd been drooling over pics of bajas with the ass end bobbed
so I did what was my single most favorite modification

took me a while to get the fenders where I wanted them, cut them a bit, drive a few days, cut some more, etc.
had to cut those little "squished" areas on the back of the front fender

poomwah · Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 11:14 pm Post subject:

then there was the day my daughter discovered armor all

the next day I spent about an hour in NE indiana tearing up some of their nice dirt backroads
she wasn't happy

The Phil · Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 11:15 pm Post subject:

I love your dash. Thats a really fix. did you end up fixing the hack job that you covered, or did you just cover it? Have you finished your rewiring job? I remember you saying something on my build that you wanted it to come out like mine.

It's too bad that you have 4 lug wheels, otherwise i'd buy your rears. those are sick!
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poomwah · Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 11:18 pm Post subject:

a special day

broke the speedo cable 300 miles later
did some more shaping on the fenders, degreased, repainted and rewired the engine, repainted the rear bumper.

somewhere along the line I installed my ghetto roller pedal, I had an rc buggy wheel that looked cool, so I made some bushings for it to fit the original axle on the gas pedal bracket, cut the bracket and welded in a piece of metal to put it at the height I wanted

poomwah · Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 11:21 pm Post subject:

put the hubcaps on yesterday

and thats how she is right now

cmiller95 · Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 12:06 pm Post subject:

I think it looks awesome expecially the dash. Are you going to keep it a Baja? I hope so.
Armor works wonders! Laughing

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wbrown45 · Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 12:12 pm Post subject:

You've got an awesome car going there. Wow, that dash looks like they used a rhino to punch that hole where the radio used to be! Your fix looks great. It is hard to beat a Baja for daily driving. They go anywhere, and are cheap to maintain. If you love to tinker then you will be happy keeping your little yellow beast going.
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dixon_cass · Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 12:26 pm Post subject:

the more i look at your car the more i think what I would do to it. i would cut and turn the front beam, put lift spindles on it, and jack the rear end up to the max. then put some AT's on it. that would make it a nice looking agressive machine. i know your looking for ideas for mods, so thats my idea Laughing

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poomwah · Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 12:30 pm Post subject:

Thanks guys, and yes, I decided for sure to keep it a baja, just not to go crazy off road like I was originally hoping to. Now I would be happier just going a LITTLE bit further with it. I love the way the dash came out. I often think I need to re-do it, like smooth in the whole dash and start over, but then I get in the car and look at and think, Damn , this is cool, LOL
I will however probably make a new center panel and lay the switches out differently (mostly because I want to put some more in that werent planned and don't want them to look like they were after thoughts"
A lot of it really will depend on what I do with the interior and if the dash still looks good then. I was going to pull the door panels out and replace them with wrinkle coated aluminum panels, rhino line the floor. rhino line the inside of the roof. But that's when I was going to go as offroad as possible. Now, I'm going to go more street on the inside, nice custom door panels, nice padded carpet, etc. Sound system (kick panel enclosures), haven't decided where to put the head unit yet, obviously not in the stock location, LOL. Don't want to hack up my glove box panel, I like the clean look, So either underdash or above the windshield. Hopefully the dash will not clash with all of that.
Phil,
I actually cut the hole out bigger, but it now has a smooth straight edge and all the bent, twisted and torn metal is gone. The wiring is NOWHERE near where I want it to be, but when I cut the front off for the one piece front end, I'm going to COMPLETELY re-do all the wiring from the windshield forward, haven't decided on what kind of fuse box yet, or where its going.

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Rocco- my build thread
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=479675

poomwah · Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 12:32 pm Post subject:

The Phil · Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 1:58 pm Post subject:

oh sweet, you saw my post buried in there lol. I gotta tell you, i love my fuse system. its awesome, relatively cheap at 130 bucks, and is just stupid easy to use Smile

You did great work fixing your dash, like i said.
I had to do the same. mine was so bad that it looked like monkeys with a harbor freight sawzall could have done a better job Laughing

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My '66 Baja Build Page http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=456365

Free from the evils of facebook Dec 2012. No other Social Media.

poomwah · Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 2:16 pm Post subject:

guns don't kill people, monkeys with sawzalls kill people
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Rocco- my build thread
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=479675

poomwah · Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 2:47 pm Post subject:

The Phil · Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2011 12:20 am Post subject:

Poomwah, where ya been buddy? Havent seen anything from you in quite sometime.
_________________
"In case I don't see you, good afternoon , good evening, and goodnight."

My '66 Baja Build Page http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=456365

Free from the evils of facebook Dec 2012. No other Social Media.


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