1969 Baja Bug - TX Build

[dustymojave]

regarding type of paint to spray...
The body work and patching Ive seen you doing will produce a solid body. Not likely to wind up with a show Bug, especially if you're prepping for paint now. That's NOT criticism. For offroad use, it's great!

But my point is that the paint type I would use would lean more to Rustoleum or tractor paint than to Imron. You could paint the car for little more than $50 in paint instead of $500-600 and still have a pretty decent looking and durable paint job that you wouldn't need to worry about scratching offroad.
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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.

[sailtexas186548]

Haha YES it certainly is not pretty! Only fixing for strength and to slow down the cancer so I don't have to worry about it again for a long time

I agree a high dollar paint is not really needed, my only reasoning for an inmron type paint is for corrosion protection. At this point I think what will likely happen is I will use a budget single stage automotive paint (white), should be able to do that type if material for under $100.

I also think taking the body to a macco or earl scheib and have them spray it with a decent paint, I'll see if they'll let me bring them the paint. I have painted a couple cars in base/clear in the past and the time and masking/cleanup material costs just as much as having macco lay the paint. And I don't have to get messy and wear a respirator all day
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it's more fun loud and dirty

[sailtexas186548]

Dusty I've been reading up on tractor paint, you may be into something there my friend! Stuff is cheap and supposedly very durable. How does it compare to a typical automotive paint (appearance wise)?
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it's more fun loud and dirty

[dustymojave]

I painted the body of my Baja in 2008 with automotive single stage in my driveway. I don't remember the brand offhand.

All the blue on suspension, bumpers and roll cage is Rustoleum, also sprayed with a gun.
_________________
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.

[dustymojave]

Tractor paint looks fine. Bright and shiny with no buffing and very durable. Holds its shine very well. Easily applied. Simple to thin. No messing with catalysts. No special thinner. Doesn't need clear coat. I like the stuff.

My friend's Ford skiploader I sometimes work with was painted 3 years ago and it still shines bright, with no wax, in spite of having been parked outdoors all the time.

You're not likely to find it in pearlescent colors or candies...but what the heck?
_________________
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.

[red neck]

DIG THE REAR WINDOW DRY ERASE BOARD

[sailtexas186548]

The paint stripping continues!!!

Takes 3 attempts to get the original paint to bubble up and still have to wire wheel to finish it off 😬😬😬 you can see the original paint almost totally unaffected by the stripper and the newer white paint peeling up no problem

Roof stripped, and treated with osphos. There was more rust then I expected

Exterior is 90% done, interior is next!

_________________
it's more fun loud and dirty

[Outatime]

Looking good ! Clean and ready for paint.

[sailtexas186548]

It's not quite ready for paint but it's getting there! I'm going to to build the cage before I paint anything, for now osphos will keep it from rusting back up (and so will the heated garage)

I gave it hell today, 12 hours of paint stripping with an angle grinder - i am TIRED! The the exterior is stripped except for under the rear platform, I'll do that last when I roll the body one last time. The interior is about 2/3 done, I left a lot of OG paint in the doors and roof areas, it is stuck on and it won't hurt anything. Just need to do the door jams, the door and quarter panel recesses, under dash, and a little more in the back away area. I figure one more full day and it'll be stripped, then another day to patch a few holes I found under the paint. Then I have to strip the pan.... Oh boy

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it's more fun loud and dirty

[dustymojave]

Just to be perverse and on the sadistic side, I recommend you strip that footbox area. It looks rusty down near the bottom and even if you put carpet over it, rust in that area is a B. You COULD leave the factory paint as long as you clean off the glue and make sure rust is handled.
_________________
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.

[sailtexas186548]

that is the plan! its going to SUCK
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it's more fun loud and dirty

[sailtexas186548]

started prepping the engine case for building today.

Drilling for case savers:

All drilled and tapped, just have to drill/wash/plug the oil passages and give it a good wash than she's ready to build:

glass bead blasting the tins:

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it's more fun loud and dirty

[Outatime]

You are getting it done. It took me 2 weeks to strip the interior alone. You got that stripped and starting working on your block. When you finish your car next week, can you swing by MI and give me a hand ?

[sailtexas186548]

I am in high gear right now! I think the end of Feb. is realistic to have it done, but next week would be nice I'm ready to drive it! MI is a bit far for me!

The interior isn't quite done, going to need another full day to finish stripping it. I'm stuck at work this weekend so I took advantage of the mill while i was here.

Removed/drilled/tapped/plugged all of the oil galleys, and got the case drilled/tapped/plugged for full-flow oiling mods. I used steel plugs, and will Loctite them in @ assembly. I will also have to dress down the burrs/edges etc. before i put this thing together but the bulk of the work is done.

All of the plugs removed, drilled a bolt, screwed in a sheet metal screw, and popped them out with a slide hammer. It was much easier to pull them than i expected. I wish someone made a plug kit so you could freeze them in liq. nitrogen or dry ice and pop a new set in - that would be much easier and cheaper that drill/tapping all of them.

Full flow tapping and plug:

The rest of the plugs:

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it's more fun loud and dirty

[sailtexas186548]

Still working on cleaning the shop for the build now that the messy tear down is pretty much done. The pan was still pretty dirty so it got another lashing with the pressure washer and is much cleaner now. I blew it dry with a leaf blower to keep it from rusting up too badly.

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it's more fun loud and dirty

[sailtexas186548]

I also picked up a 0.020" under crank and main/rod bearings to match the new crank and 0.020" over mains and 0.040" thrust in the case

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it's more fun loud and dirty

[Outatime]

I might of missed it, but what are you plans for the engine size ?

[sailtexas186548]

It's going to be a 1600. I wanted to build is as cheap as possible, and still be class 5/1600 legal since that is the general theme for this car. Its not a "Race ready" build but I'm building it so it's legal enough to get started with in the TDRA, if I get more serious about racing in the future I can rebuild it again and build a spare with my other case. If it's too whimpy for around town and playing offroad I'll slap a small turbo on it (I have a couple other cars w/ custom turbo kits I built already )

The engine will consist of:

- What i believe to be a universal Brazilian case. I had line bored 0.20 over (first cut) and thrust cut to 0.040 (first cut, using a 0.20). Full flowed, oil galleys tapped/plugged, case savers, etc.
- Stock vw crank 0.020" under on all main and rod journals
- Stock vw flywheel (4 dowel now, I intend on drilling for 8 dowels and re-balancing with the flywheel installed)
- Stock re-sized/bushed vw rods
- Cast 85.5mm pistons and corresponding cylinders
- Engle W100 cam w/ new lifters, stock pushrods/rockers
- New MOFOCO 5/16 legal heads with stainless valves, HD spring, etc. http://www.mofoco.com/item.php?item_id=237
- The carb and compression ratio is still unknown, since the SCORE 8:1 engine option talk and all, although for now it doesn't really matter and I'll probably start with rebuilding the stock PICT-34 and using that
- I have a couple distributers, no idea what they are LOL
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it's more fun loud and dirty

[sailtexas186548]

I've been working crazy hours since the new year started, haven't had much time for the baja. I did however buy a tubing bender and notcher so I should be starting the roll cage soon!
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it's more fun loud and dirty

[Outatime]

I figured you finished and were to busy driving it to update.

Can't wait to see your cage.