Future plans and would like some advice

[dustymojave]

I ran my Baja Bug for decades with a 40hp 1200 engine. Mine had big bore cylinders (83mm, same size as 1500 cylinder) which made for 1385cc. With a Norris 330S cam (same as Engle 100), a stock intake and an 031 (Porsche 356) distributor and a set of 4-into-1 headers with a quiet pack muffler.
That's the setup in this photo from about 1979.

As you can see. the car worked well.

The rear wheels were 15 x 7 rims on stock centers. The tires were L78-15 Armstrong Norseman. Same tread as Dick Cepek still uses. The old L78-15 size is equivalent to 235-75x15. About 29" tall mounted.

This is now. Same Baja Bug updated.

31 x 9.50-15 Nexen Roadian AT2 on 7" wide rims.
_________________
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.

[Wheeljack]

[dustymojave]

Which book were you looking for?

This is the book I recommend:

https://www.amazon.com/Baja-Bugs-Buggies-VW-based-...amp;sr=8-1

That pic is my own copy provided to me back in, IIRC, 1988 to proofread before publishing. The author Jeff and I were racing a 1600 buggy together at the time. The book may be rather old. But so is the concept of VW-based dune buggies. And most everything in the book is still applicable.

The link to the book on Amazon shows it currently listed at $30.

Oh, and 4.37:1 ring and pinion in my Bug in that pic above.
_________________
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.

[Wheeljack]

This is the book I was looking at https://www.amazon.com/Build-Dune-Buggy-Earl-Duty/dp/1880524260

Would a 4.37:1 do well for on road use? I do have the how to rebuild an air cooled VW engine book, great read and I will use it as a reference. https://www.amazon.com/Rebuild-Volkswagen-air-Cool...amp;sr=8-2

I'll take a look into that book for sure. Mostly I'm looking for dimensions and what not.

Edit: Just ordered the book you had recommended. Unfortunately I'll be up in Minnesota so my wife will have to bring it inside when it shows up Friday. I'll be sure to take more pictures of the existing buggy.

I am curious, is it that the buggy looks like it was hastily built is why it looks unsafe? Is it the short wheel base of it? Or a the above?

[dustymojave]

I have a copy of that book. That book is decent for building a car JUST LIKE what Earl built. Very little general info in it.

The frame is nearly exact to what cbeck started out with. And that would be a good choice for you to put the parts from your buggy on.

The buggy frame you have has a number of design flaws in it.

One of which is a terribly short wheelbase. Back in the early to mid 1960s, there was a trend to short wheelbase to improve maneuverability. It doesn't work very well and it makes the car extremely uncomfortable to ride in with the fore and aft rocking. Not directly dangerous though.

Another is the extremely long distance between front roll cage support and rear support. All the way from the beam to the rear torsion, even though the car is so VERY short, that is a VERY LONG distance between supports. It should at least have a vertical support at the dash area.

The whole frame being made of square tube is OK for a frame. But makes for a weak roll cage. Square tube is strong in only 2 planes. Round tube is the same strength all around. That's why all race car roll cages are made of round tube. Miter joints are another weak factor. They CAN be reinforced, but these are not.

The overall design is flawed big time. I recognize that you're not after something to win 1st overall in the Baja 1000. But I recommend that you seek out a frame that was built by a reputable frame builder such as the one on Earl Duty's book or cbeck's buggy or what is sold by Acme/Berrien. I see used ones all the time used on Samba Classifieds for a few hundred and guys are often posting in this forum about cars they've run across in Craig's List and other such sources.
_________________
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.

[Wheeljack]

Looking at frames from Acme Car, they seemed the be reasonably priced. Not exactly sure if this will work with the parts I'll have. But one I am looking at. https://acmecarco.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=72&products_id=3430

[rayjay]

Spend $600 or $700 on a decent used mig welder and a bottle of co2/argon and lengthen the one you have. Cut up the square tube main hoop and use it as the windshield frame. Then get a round tube main hoop and tie it in.

[Wheeljack]

[rayjay]

A decent 120v mig welder is all you need for the thickness of steel you use on a buggy or Baja bug. On a lot of the welding you would have to turn the power down or be blowing through.

[Dale M.]

[Wheeljack]

Well mine is a Northern Industrial 140i, it was Northern Tools version of the Hobart 140 Handler, before Northern discontinued it in favor for the Klutch brand 140i welder. It looks like most tube thickness is around 11ga or 10ga or 1/8th inch thick and appears to be 1 1/4- 1 1/2" diameter, this correct?

[rayjay]

You will be fine as long as you have enough amps on the 120 outlet and power cord. If you have to use an extension cord get a BIG one. This is one of the secrets to 120v welders.

I did roll cages for SCCA, bracket cars, mini stocks, vintage roadrace, street, etc for about 5 years with a 120v Snap On / Century welder. The vast majority of the material I used was 1.5 and 1.75 X .120 DOM tubing. I also used some .095 and when I used this or thinner I would have to turn the power down.

Use .030 ER70S6 wire for .095 and thicker and .023/.024/025 wire for anything thinner. This is another "secret", change the wire to suit the thickness you are welding. Especially when welding 1/8" floor plates to the floorpan or body structure switch to the thinner wire.

You can use the thinner wire for welding thicker material occasionally but it's wasteful.

[Wheeljack]

My welder calls for it to be on at least a 30amp breaker. I try not to use extension cords while welding, unless absolutely necessary, just because of the power losses.

[Dale M.]

[Wheeljack]

So I've looked at some of the parts that I have gotten so far from this whole thing. I haven't gone through everything but what I've seen so far:

Tail lights
Side mirrors
Rear view mirror
Two Fan shrouds
2 cylinder heads
Two valve covers
Complete set of pushrods and tubes
OEM steering wheel
I think front fenders
OEM gas tank

The wheels are 15" 5x205 steel bolt pattern with a 165SR15 tires from the 49th week 1970, per DOT tag on the tires. Wheels appear to be 4" or so wide. This was stuff my dad had picked up from the guy last week. A lot of the stuff is in old Igloo coolers and totes, so I haven't seen it all, but this is the main bit I've looked at so far. I'll be getting the other part of the engine tomorrow morning with a transaxle and the buggy.

[dustymojave]

If you can weld decent, you might look at this frame:
https://acmecarco.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=72&products_id=3398

Similar frame with a 10" shorter wheelbase. Shipped knocked down ("KD). You weld it.

I've done a fair amount of welding with my friend's Hobart Handler. Works fine for most buggy stuff where the tubing is 1.5" x .095 wall (aka .090 because both numbers are within the spec for the same tube.) The only place you need to weld thicker material is welding to the torsion housing.
_________________
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]

Oh...And that piston and cylinder kit is what my car had for over 300,000 miles, except mine were Kolbenschmidt or Mahle. But AA is a fine brand. I've seen no problems with them.
_________________
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.

[Wheeljack]

So it's pretty much around 13 or 14ga thick. How thick is the stuff around the torsion housing? 3/16 or 1/4? I may run .035 wire at that point and max out the voltage if need be.

[Wheeljack]

Got the damn thing moved from the barn in Wisconsin, to my dad's place in northern Minnesota. Since the tires were rotted and shot to hell, we had to drag it out of the barn with a vehicle and used a Come-along to get it on the trailer. It weighs way too much. They built it using 2"x2"x12ga square tubing. Cannot lift the front without a second person. Rear wheels are of a Chevy bolt pattern. The builder of it had adapters to convert from the 5x205. Looks like it was welded together with a stick welder, lots of porosity, undercut, etc. Doubt the frame is even salvageable. It would take probably at least half a day just to grind all the welds down and re weld it.

One thing that bugs me is the fact that there is next to no ground clearance for the exhaust. Maybe a couple inches between the ground and the muffler. I do have an S&S brand dual exhaust set, that I'll probably use. The dash board has an original Speedometer. Then has a Tachometer, oil pressure gauge and ammeter gauge.

Master cylinder is shot, reservoir is broken. Clutch is janky. Shifter is weird, seems stiff and trying to find gears is a pain.

Do know that I now have 3 carburetors that should work.


Since I'm pretty much going to pull the engine and transaxle im probably going to scrap this frame due to shoddy welds and stupid short wheel base, what can I do to get more ground clearance for the engine and exhaust? I hate that the current buggy has it so low to the ground, I want it up a bit higher so I don't hit something and rip it off.

[rayjay]

12 ga is .104" or so so it's not that bad. Most people would use .095 or .120.

I still would use the roll bar and forward part of the cage as tubing to lengthen the wheelbase. At the very least you could have an engine test stand that could be used for road testing

If nothing else you have lots of square tubing for shop fab projects