Father and Son Baja Bug- Daily Driver

[dustymojave]

Do you plan to support the end of that exhaust? I think you need to.
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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.

[1fastbigguy]

[dustymojave]

Looks good.
_________________
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.

[1fastbigguy]

Made some more progress this weekend.

All the plumbing is fit and routed.

After finishing the plumbing, I disassembled everything and welded in some interlocking tube connectors so the lower radiator support and air cleaner mount can be removed for engine access.

Once I finished welding everything out it was time to touch up the paint.

Now it's time to let the paint cure and move to the frontend...

_________________
Cheers!

59 Ragtop
61 Ragtop Baja
69 Squareback

@Dustydrone
#Ohibaja

Our Build
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=545394

[Dose]

I like how the radiator doesn't block the rear window. Looking good

[1fastbigguy]

Everything is painted and ready for reassembley...

I have been working on some home projects but hope to make progress on the car tomorrow!

_________________
Cheers!

59 Ragtop
61 Ragtop Baja
69 Squareback

@Dustydrone
#Ohibaja

Our Build
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=545394

[1fastbigguy]

Well darn it... I haven't been able to upload new photos in the last few weeks? Not sure why but I will keep trying. The car is back on and off the road . If you would like to see the finish radiator remount you can check out my Instagram @Dustydrone for the latest photos.

Thanks for checking out the thread!
_________________
Cheers!

59 Ragtop
61 Ragtop Baja
69 Squareback

@Dustydrone
#Ohibaja

Our Build
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=545394

[no1clyde]

Good job Alan! I am getting mine ready for next Saturday when we head to Wyoming for a week of exploring with my Chasing Dirt friends . Going to just drive the whole trip in the bug...I hope LOL.

Ed

[1fastbigguy]

[dustymojave]

[1fastbigguy]

[dustymojave]

Poor Rick has lived LONG past his projected time with his stomach cancer. Then to lose Crystal that way is beyond sad.

I'll look for you also.
_________________
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.

[1fastbigguy]

Well it looks like a new chapter will be starting for #Ohibaja...

The weekend out at Rage at Ridgecrest was a blast. We got some good prerunning in and a fair amount of miles running around checking out the event as it was very spread out.

Dave and Rick in the 531 Thing had a great race going despite an off course excursion on lap 1 that resulted in some bent tubing up front and a flat. A cracked power steering line on lap 3 took them out of contention for a podium, but the hard work of the LTC Racing crew and a huge hand from the Motion Tire Guy's got them back on course for a 4th place finish!

Tom and Mike in the 505 Vert flatted around race mile 20 on lap one and lost a power steering belt. They got her put back together and fought hard all day to bring the only air cooled (Type 1 motor) car in class across the finish line in 5th.

I had the honor to ride Codawg for Bailey Cole in his 4800 Ultra4 rig. We started on pole in class behind the Class 1's, TT's, 4400's and 6100's. Despite heavy dust we managed to pass at least 4 vehicles before getting a flat at RM 30. Once underway we started having motor issues and were way down on HP, still not sure if it was fuel delivery or electrical but we didn't have all 900 horses for sure! After an extended pit to find the motor issues, We started our final lap in physical last place 16 minutes off the leader... Bailey went into full Beast Mode and we started picking cars off one after another, by RM 40 we were in second... then Bam... another flat! Thankfully we were near a remote pit and the Gomez Brothers Crew lended a hand. We lost 4 places during the stop and came out of the pits like a bat out of hell. We quickly caught Doc in the dust and after a friendly tap we entered some whoops and chaos ensued... at one point we were on top of Doc's car, the impact flatted Doc and dislocated Bailey's shoulder! Once we confirmed that Doc was safe, the Kid dropped the hammer and we started catching and passing dust clouds. We came through main pit physically 1st, made two turns and the motor quit... we quickly switched fuel pumps and the car fired but we were barely moving... we threw both pumps on and got enough HP to get to the finish. After almost 4 hours, more than our share of issues and a driver with a dislocated shoulder, we finished 1st physically but missed the corrected time win by 13 seconds... What an Epic adventure!!!

Ok so back to the Baja...

Sunday morning Dave and Connor took our crew guy's out for a rip in the car's! Everything was going great until Dave straddled a rock in the race line (35" tires and raised spindles) Connor unfortunately hit the rock (33" tires). The hit crushed the lower beam and bent the entire frontend up and back... Ouch!

As you can see it's time to turn the page on this frontend...

Given the fact that She is never going to be raced, I am going to start researching A-arms and hopefully get her back on the road in a few months.
_________________
Cheers!

59 Ragtop
61 Ragtop Baja
69 Squareback

@Dustydrone
#Ohibaja

Our Build
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=545394

[Dose]

as i was reading this and looking at the pictures I was hoping you were not going to say A Arms...and then you did

[1fastbigguy]

[BajaRag]

A Special Thanks to 1fastbigguy for giving me a high-five instead of a scolding. It looks like we're going to get to spend some more time in the garage together. It's a win-win; right guys?

The car was running great and the new Radiator was keeping the car nice and cool when running at a decent pace.

The car got to do about 120 miles of pre-running before I viciously destroyed the beam. A lesson learned and I'm looking forward to what we think up next!

I understand the want of keeping it a beam car - especially in a community full of VW enthusiasts; but I feel A-arming the car is going to be the more cost effective route in the long run. We had already bent this beam and gone through two sets of chicken legs before I demolished the front end.

Thank you guys for keeping up with my thread.

P.S. We got some nice GoPro footage of the race and the pre-run. I'll see if we can dedicate some time to editing it so you guys get to enjoy the fun as well.
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Our Build:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=545394

[no1clyde]

I have followed your build from the beginning and it helped inspire me to work on my car so thanks for keeping this thread going. As for A arm over beam what are you hoping to gain? I am not a purist as the only VW parts still on my car is the body so I am watching to see what you guys do.

Alan I had a less than good trip this year by killing my car half way into the trip. It rained real hard the 3rd night and we broke camp in the rain and I loaded my tent in the car and water ran out and into my igniter, computer and relays so I ended my trip right there. I have the harness out and everything is getting moved and better protected.

Back to your car, I am interested to see how the front end changes work out.

Ed

[1fastbigguy]

[no1clyde]

[JWHracing]

Here's my thoughts on a-arm vs beam:

Most any a-arm set up is going to be custom made. Should you ever have an issue with a failure or another large rock, its not like you can call up Kartek and order the new parts off the shelf. At least with beam, the arms and spindles are easier to buy, and you might have spares you can borrow from another racer or get hand-me-downs from the thing if it upgrades. It also goes the other way too, where say the thing breaks something and needs a part to continue the race or to make the race, it could be available to be borrowed off your car if you needed to get the job done.

Seems to me your car works well the way it sits, just needs to be built a little beefier now. If you change to a-arms you will have to retune the shocks and reconfigure a lot of the front end to make it work and make it strong enough.

I understand the pull towards a-arms though. If I wasn't racing mine as a 5 car, I would have already made the change to my car.
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65 Baja - Class 5 Unlimited Race Car

2021 STORR Pro Air Cooled Buggy Champion
2019 AZOP Unlimited Buggy Champion
2017 SADR 1300 Class Champion
2016 AZOP Limited Buggy Champion

Currently "retired" from racing