Houdini the Baja Bus

Smiley · 2014-11-12T09:55:30+00:00

I thought I had better start a thread for my Bus. I've had him almost a month and a half now. This is my first foray into Kombi ownership (well, running and registered bus it is 🙂 )and I have to say that they are a hoot to own and drive. Named Houdini for his ability to magically make engine oil disappear 😀 The bus is a 1978 panel van that has had windows added to it. Has a auto box and was originally a 2L injected engine. But it presently has a carby 2L fitted, though the computer is still in the engine bay. Has a rear seat which folds into a bed and rear seat belts fitted. Is currently blue plated as a five seater. Has factory air con in the overhead console style, though there is no compressor fitted to this engine. All the other components and hoses are still fitted to the bus. Has 15" Merc wheels. And I picked up the awning a few weeks ago when I was down Brisbane way for Buggyfest, massive thanks to Paul at Steelart for hooking me up with this. It's 4m long and 2.5m out, so a huuuuge area to sit and have smoko under. I know you all love pictures, any questions feel free to ask away! Plans for the bus is a little bit of lift, some big tyres, manual box with a locker, twin batteries, second fuel tank, fix the aircon, maybe a bigger Type 4. You guys all know the drill, it can't stay standard!!! Smiley 🙂

Smiley Veteran Volks Folk

2,125 posts · joined Oct 2008 · 18 Aug 2016, 10:40 pm

#1029127

Scottkombi wrote:I love this bus and how it keeps evolving.

Keep going - its awesome!

Thanks mate.

We are just getting started!

Smiley 🙂

If you said I was a Volkswagen man, you'd be right.

Smiley Veteran Volks Folk

2,125 posts · joined Oct 2008 · 19 Aug 2016, 5:59 pm

#1029152

A few other little things that have happened on the bus. Some today, some in the last month or two.

Added oil temp and pressure gauges to the bus. They are just temporarily through the speaker grill on the top of the dash for the time being. I intend to put them down in the dash at some point. Whoever cut the hole out for the stereo put it right in the middle of the dash and let no room top or bottom for gauges.
Also, my little elephant road tripping buddy has a better seat now 🙂

I have added a sandwich plate on top of the filter so I can run some hoses off to an additional cooler. I added a bit of heat shielding where the hoses pass under the tinware. And trimmed the tin back a bit to allow the air to flow out nicely still. Adding the hoses and fittings blocks the outlet up somewhat.
Then the hoses run down the side of the transaxle and switch over to the RHS of the bus.

The cooler is mounted between the chassis rails on a piece of angle that I trimmed one side off that would have blocked the leading edge of the cooler. It sits on the RHS of the bus between the heater hose and the chassis rail. It is mounted so the front edge of the cooler lines up with the back edge of one of the floor tophats. Then the hoses come out of the top of the cooler just behind the tophat and run to the back. I might mess around with shrouding in the future to see if I can encourage some more airflow through the cooler, but I think it will see plenty of wind where it is for the time being.

The view from the front. Don't mind the table under there. I was just using it to block the sun so I could take a picture that wasn't dark.

There may be room on the other side to mount a second cooler. But most of the lines and cable tubes are on this side and I think they will all get in the way.

Have picked up some steel to make a rear bar. Just need to get some more think wall angle. I thought I had a length at home, but alas I was mistaken.

Have a small(ish) To Do list that I am working my way through. I also adjusted the steering stops today, as well as tightened the handbrake cables and adjust the gearstick a little more rearward.

More soon.
Thanks for looking.

Smiley 🙂

If you said I was a Volkswagen man, you'd be right.

Smiley Veteran Volks Folk

2,125 posts · joined Oct 2008 · 23 Aug 2016, 8:09 pm

#1029301

Made a start on the rear bar this afternoon.

I want to to look basically the same as a stock one. But it will be 100x100mm box with the stock bar wrapped around it. It will also have a hole in the middle for the tow hitch. And eventually I will add the swingout tyre carrier for the spare too.

You can see in the next picture that I don't want to drop the bar at all from its currently position. It will foul the exhaust tip. I might even raise it slightly so I can redo the exhaust at some point to get a little more clearance under it.

It's official, buses look completely weird with the rear bar removed. Gives a bit better view of the new heat shield though 🙂

Here is the box sitting in place. It is currently too long. I am going to trim it back to the same width as the chassis rails in the back, 1115mm for those playing at home. Was actually a lot easier than I thought to cut through it with the 100mm grinder.

Bar sitting back in the stock location...

...but now it has the box insert sitting inside it 😀

That's all I got done today. Hoping to get the mounting plates fabbed up tomorrow so I can mount the box up to the chassis.

Thanks for looking.

Smiley 🙂

If you said I was a Volkswagen man, you'd be right.

Smiley Veteran Volks Folk

2,125 posts · joined Oct 2008 · 24 Aug 2016, 9:46 pm

#1029344

Got a little more done this arvo on the rear bar.

I noticed when I removed the factory bar, that the brackets bolt to the underside of the chassis with two M10 bolts. But there is a third threaded hole in the chassis a little further forward. I ran a tap through all of them and will be using all three for the mounting plates. Does anyone know what the factory used the third hole for?
I am using some 40x40mm angle that will bolt up to the underside of the chassis and weld to the bar.

In addition to the angle I am making some side plates out of 6mm plate that will weld to the ends of the box and cap them off. I am basically copying Andrew's bar he made for his bus but changing a few things. His build here http://www.manxclub.org/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1582&start=60
The plates will bolt through the chassis with some M12 bolts and crush tubes. Just have to make sure that it clears the rear engine mount bar.

While I was lying under the car looking at how I was going to mount the bar I noticed that the flange for where the exhaust tip bolts to the muffler was cracked on the underside. I removed the muffler and gave the crack a cleanup, and then laid a bit of weld in there to fix it up. I was lucky enough to have some new exhaust gaskets left over from my dad's bug (we ended up with two sets for some reason). So I refitted it back up with the new gaskets.

Then I spent a while taking a lot of measurements and working out where I want the box and rear bar to sit. I have decided to lift it up 15mm higher than factory. And the gap between the rear or the body and the box will be 30mm. Then I drew this all out on a cardboard template to see if it would fit. I like to write the measurements straight on the template for a quick reference. Then I tried it on the car, I had to adjust a few dimensions to get it to fit perfectly. Also sat the box in place on jackstands to offer the template up to it.

Last thing I got done this afternoon was to let the hole through the centre of the main box for the tow hitch box to go into. First I marked out the centre point on the main box and marked out where the hole needs to be for the smaller box to go through.

You can see in the previous picture that the corners of the small box are very rounded. I didn't want to be filling up large gaps with weld. I wanted to make the join as snug as possible so the welds can be airtight and strong. In the future I would like to used the large box section of the barwork as an air compressor tank.
With that in mind I measured the radius of the corners and used a 20mm drill bit to put the curves in that I needed. Then I just cut the straight edges with a thin cutting disc and tapped the waste out with a hammer. Ended up with a nice pair of home made Iron Crosses at the same time 🙂

With the holes cut I just had to tidy the perimeter up a little with the die grinder until the small box was a nice fit. I can tap it through with a hammer and block of timber. The final length still needs to be worked out. It will need to protrude through the stock bar enough that I can get the hitch pin in it. I will be sticking it about 5mm through the front side so I can get a nice weld on it.

As always, thanks for looking.

Smiley 🙂

If you said I was a Volkswagen man, you'd be right.

nbturbo Veteran Volks Folk

2,171 posts · joined Dec 2002 · 20 Sep 2016, 4:18 pm

#1030125

Smiley,you have gone pretty quiet.The big trip across the Nulla bor slow you you down a bit???

Smiley Veteran Volks Folk

2,125 posts · joined Oct 2008 · 25 Sep 2016, 11:16 pm

#1030284

nbturbo wrote:Smiley,you have gone pretty quiet.The big trip across the Nulla bor slow you you down a bit???

No more than my usual snail pace! Trying to get a few things sorted for the run down to Warwick.

This is the rear bar bolted up in the factory location. I was messing around trying to work out where to fit the trailer plug on the rear bar. I am aware that there is currently one in the engine hatch but there is no wiring to it and I don't want it there, I also think that the tyre carrier might get in the way of plugging the cable in.

I though maybe I could fit in in between the box and the rear of the body. But with it in place that gap to the back of the vehicle looks horrible. The bar is stood off a mile. It doesn't look so bad in the pictures, but in the flesh it looks like the bumper is falling of the back of the bus. Way too much gap.

Even with the box pushed in to where I plan to run it has more gap than I thought it would. The next picture the box is gapped to the back of the bus and the bumper is pushed as far over it as possible. But hoping that the tyre carrier will mask some of this gap.

I cut out the mounting plates that will be welded to the ends of the box section. I have also cut some 40mm angle that will be bolted to the underside of the chassis too. Will get some more pictures of this tomorrow.
When I cut the plates out I drilled some 10 or 12mm holes at the inside of the radius of any corners. I didn't want to cut squarely into the corners with the thin cutting disc and create a stress area that cracks could start at. Has to be strong enough to snatch 4WDs out when they get stuck, so don't want it snapping of the back of the bus!

I dropped the 100mm box off to get sandblasted inside and out. I am planning to use the box as an air tank so I wanted it clean inside. Prior to welding it up I will spray some oil in it for the time being to stop it rusting up. Then later I can add fittings and pressure relief etc.

Next up I started work on the cold air intake for the engine. I bought some tube and bends off eBay. And was trying to work out the best way to mount them to the side of the engine bay.

I was around helping someone with a few things on their bus and noticed that it had factory mounts for an intake pipe. Because my bus is injected it had the airbox mount but not these two intake brackets. So I went and had a look in the back of one of the Bay wrecks that I have and sure enough, it has the mounts. Cut them out with a cordless grinder and they happen to be the perfect size for the 2.5 inch tubing. And the hose clamps I have fit nicely into the back of them.

Started mocking up where I wan the intake to run. I wanted it a bit higher in the bay than this to get it up clean of the battery and out of the way.
I ended up cutting one side of the 45° bend as short as possible. This brings the bend closer to the intake where it clamps on and further away from the side wall of the engine bay. So it angles up for longer and tucks up higher out of the way.

I cut one leg off the alloy tubing to shorten it up to hug around the corner of the firewall above the battery. The piece I cut off happened to be the perfect length to put between the 45° and 90° blue bends. This is the intake pipe all assembled how it goes in the car.

I fitted the intake mounts using nutserts. I figured bolting them it was easier than trying to weld in the engine bay. And they are super easy to take in and out now too. The first one is basically where the factory had it. And the one above the battery I moved further out to the right of the car to support the end of the tube as much as possible.

I clamped the intake in place before getting a picture of the second mount. It is under that hose clamp there.

Intake all fitted in place.

Looking down the hatch in the back.

Heaps of clearance above the battery.

And that's how you fit a cold air intake to you bus 🙂

Thanks for looking, more soon.

Smiley 🙂

If you said I was a Volkswagen man, you'd be right.

Smiley Veteran Volks Folk

2,125 posts · joined Oct 2008 · 6 Oct 2016, 8:51 pm

#1030589

Got some more work done on the rear bar before the Warwick VW Drag weekend.
I cut the hole in the rear bumper for the tow hitch to come through. I drilled the corners first with a 10mm drill to get the corners of the hole a nice radius.

I decided to fit the trailer plug through the box section. But because I want to use the bar as an air tank this means keeping it all airtight. So I picked up a length of heavy wall tubing, sliced a bit off and will weld it in place to create a void for the plug to go in so I don't have to space the rear bar a km off the back of the car.
The tubing I got is seamed. So when I cut the slot in it I made sure that I cut the seam out of the tube. One less weak point to worry about.
I worked out where I wanted it on the box and marked and cut it out so the tube was a nice hammer fit.

A little tidy up and you can see where the plug will sit. I have some 6mm plate that will also get welded on top of the bar. This is so I have something to bolt the plug down to without drilling holes in the box section. Still needs to be trimmed to shape and welded on.

Back to the bar mounts. It was suggested from a friend that I drill the mount bolts through the chassis and clamp through the whole thing. He said the thread in the chassis isn't the strongest. He has done the same thing on his bus and tows a car trailer with it so no arguments from me.
You can only do it with the front two bolts. The rear one is inside the pillar at the back of the engine bay so you can't get to the top of it.

Then I bolted up the mounting plates. They are only tacked together at the moment. The large side plate will be bolted through the chassis in three places. Only one for the time being. There was one 10mm holes in the chassis already that I am using. But the engine needs to come out to drill the other two, these will be 12mm. I will also enlarge the other one to 12mm too. And the 40mm angle is bolted up through the chassis in the 3 factory holes. I made some plates out of 6mm that sit on the top in the engine bay.

You can see in the next picture how the box will be welded to the mounts. The side plate caps the end of the box and the angled piece will be welded to the side of the box. I tacked it, then removed the angled piece so I could fully weld around the end of the box and make an airtight seal with the end plate. Then the angle was welded on second.

I took the box section and had it blasted. So it would be a bit cleaner inside and nicer to weld up.

Smiley 🙂

If you said I was a Volkswagen man, you'd be right.

Smiley Veteran Volks Folk

2,125 posts · joined Oct 2008 · 6 Oct 2016, 9:15 pm

#1030590

I fitted the tow hitch box section into the main bar. Then level this up behind the bus. I used the blue screw jackstand to tune in the angle of the tow hitch. I measured the roof gutters of the bus with an angle finder and made it the same angle on the tow hitch. So should be level if the bus is.

Then I tacked it up so I could see how it looked before I welded it out. I Trimmed the hitch back too, left it a little oversized so I can set the right length later.

I welded the hitch in first. Then both ends. Then fitted it back to the bus so I could tack the angled pieces in place and then weld them on too. I think it pulled a little when the angle was fitted. It was a little tighter on the chassis and needed some hammering to get on. This doesn't really bother me. Once it is finished and on for the final time I don't intend on removing it again.

I welded a couple of nuts on the ends so I could bolt the bumper in place to head down to Warwick (900km each way). Will make some better mounts now that I am back. The towball is just in there for show. I hadn't drilled the pin hole at this point.
I am happy with how it looks. It has spaced the bumper out a bit. But I think the tyre carrier will cover this up. It is super strong and that is what is most important.

Drove the car down 900 odd km to Warwick for the VW drags. I am fortunate that my grandma lives 30km away the next town over. So I always have somewhere nice to stay every year when I go down for the drags. I gave the bus a good wash the Friday before the show.

Bus setup next to the drag strip watching the racing. Was going to put it in the show and shine, but we liked having the shade a lot more. Plus he doesn't exactly shine 😀

This afternoon I finished off the trailer hitch on the bar. I marked then drilled the holes through for the pin.

Then I trimmed off the excess length I didn't need.

I slid the towball as far in as it would go and used the hitch as a guide to add a new set of holes in it. So now I have two different spots it can be at. But I think I will just use it on the holes that have it furthermost in.

So now we have towbar! Just need a plug and it should be good to go. That's all for now folks.

Thanks for looking.

Smiley 🙂

If you said I was a Volkswagen man, you'd be right.

modnrod Fahrvergnugen

978 posts · joined Mar 2011 · 7 Oct 2016, 7:05 am

#1030591

How many times have you lost your knee on the towbar so far? 😂

Every time I read this thread I get the Kombi itch BAD!

I noticed the green door and yellow sides, then remembered the John Deere sign over my back fence.
Just an observation......... 😁

rocknrob Insano Dub Head

844 posts · joined Dec 2003 · 7 Oct 2016, 6:18 pm

#1030610

and what are you towing?

Smiley Veteran Volks Folk

2,125 posts · joined Oct 2008 · 13 Oct 2016, 8:45 pm

#1030758

modnrod wrote:How many times have you lost your knee on the towbar so far? 😂

None so far, but I know it is coming.

modnrod wrote:I noticed the green door and yellow sides, then remembered the John Deere sign over my back fence.
Just an observation......... 😁

He'll be all one colour some day!

rocknrob wrote:and what are you towing?

Trailers, dragging wrecks out at home to be stripped, 4WDs out when offroading and anything else that I want. You know, the usual things you use a towbar for.

Smiley 🙂

If you said I was a Volkswagen man, you'd be right.

Smiley Veteran Volks Folk

2,125 posts · joined Oct 2008 · 13 Oct 2016, 9:02 pm

#1030759

I put my trailer on the bus the other day to see how it looked. I was expecting it to be a lot more nose up. But I think Houdini's saggy butt has it sitting fairly level.

Took a mate that was visiting for a day for a run out to 5 Rocks. Haven't been out there since the bus has been lifted so was interested on how he would go. Was a bit softer than last time but made it up the big dune to get in no worries. This is us at the top. Had to air down a bit though 🙂

Drove up through the small township and out onto the headland. Got some good pictures. Scott had a far more fancy pants camera than me. So when I get some pictures off him I will post them up too.

Headed down to the beach and cruised around some more. Found some rocks to flex on. Houdini is a little lacking. But when I get back in the car the front right compresses up a lot more.

I was very happy with the way the bus performed in the sand. With the tyres down and the mass balanced a little more to the rear with the new back bar he got the power down nicely. You have to back off with the grunt of the Type 4 otherwise he just wants to spin wheels. Have to just let him chug of through.
Was a great test run before Fraser this weekend to check things and get a feel for the bus.

Smiley 🙂

If you said I was a Volkswagen man, you'd be right.

Smiley Veteran Volks Folk

2,125 posts · joined Oct 2008 · 13 Oct 2016, 9:27 pm

#1030760

After the beach run I got started on fitting up another oil cooler. With the Summer heat already getting up around here and the Fraser trip looming I thought it would a good addition to keeps the temps down. Longer term plan will probably be to swap one or both of these small coolers out for a large one with a thermostatically controlled fan.

The new cooler is mounted to the same frame as the first one.
I also added an extra support bracket to hold the centre of the frame up and stop it sagging in the middle.

All plumbed up. You can also see the extra brace. It bolts through an 8mm holes that was already in the tophat frame.

Last time I had the engine and box out I noticed some play in the front mount. This demonstrated itself on the sand with the engine revving itself up and down slightly at points. So I ordered a new mount when I got some other parts.

Here is the old mount removed.

Unfortunately the new mount was a different shape. Slightly smaller and more rounded on the corners that face towards the front of the car. I thought that perhaps my mount cradle was beginning to wear out. So I grabbed another cradle be came up with the same result, the new mount is just the wrong size.
You can see the gaps in the corners of this picture.

The old mount was actually still in good condition. Just a little loose in the cradle. So I decided to deck the back of the cradle where it sits against the gearbox. This will clamp the rubber up tighter and take the slack out of the mount.
I trimmed about 2-3mm off the cradle with the grinder and then flattened it out with a hand file. You can see the inside is polished up from the rubber moving back and forward in it.
This did the trick and the mount bolted up far more firmly in the bus.

Today I also added a plug under the back seat for the fridge. Still have to run some wire to it. Will be 6mm straight from the battery.

That's all for now. Will get some pictures on the Fraser run.

Thanks for looking.

Smiley 🙂

If you said I was a Volkswagen man, you'd be right.

baghall Ben Hal Outlaw Bushranger

1,021 posts · joined Jan 2010 · 24 Oct 2016, 4:12 pm

#1030977

Nice photos on the beach. Love the idea of using the RHS as an air tank, mind if I pinch it for my bus. Was going to use RHS on the rear bar but never thought of using it for an air tank.

Also if you are snails pace I must be catatonic.

68 Baja - It's a growing pain!
58 Baja ute - and the pain spreads!
85 T3 Kombi - still growing
89 T3 Kombi - parts car

Carl and Emily Officially Full-On Dubber

349 posts · joined Apr 2012 · 29 Oct 2016, 6:46 pm

#1031126

Yeah!, Thanks for posting,.. it's a great read.
Your fabrication skills are something to envy. 👍

rocknrob Insano Dub Head

844 posts · joined Dec 2003 · 5 Nov 2016, 8:02 pm

#1031305

Smiley,,Rob here,,very impressed by your work. Just wondering how your oil coolers are going and why you felt the need? Have you figured out what revs you are doing at 100 klicks with those big tyres? that when a vw engine is working hardest,,,just curious to whether i need an oil cooler...Rob

Smiley Veteran Volks Folk

2,125 posts · joined Oct 2008 · 6 Nov 2016, 10:23 pm

#1031325

rocknrob wrote:Smiley,,Rob here,,very impressed by your work. Just wondering how your oil coolers are going and why you felt the need? Have you figured out what revs you are doing at 100 klicks with those big tyres? that when a vw engine is working hardest,,,just curious to whether i need an oil cooler...Rob

Coolers are going great mate. Normally sits around 80°C while cruising on the highway. We are about to have a hot week up here so I will see how it goes. It tends to slowly creep up a bit if you push it along hard.

I am planning to remove one of them and fit a larger one with a thermostatically switched fan on it. I found at Fraser that chugging around slow on the inland sand tracks that the temp was getting up near 100°C at times. An 80°C switch for the fan would combat this low speed heat soak by getting some airflow through the cooler.
I have a spare RX-8 cooler so I might end up using that if I can find an IP67-68 fan to put on it.

Don't have a tacho yet, but putting much numbers into a calculator gives around 2800RPM at 100km/h with the 33s.

Smiley 🙂

If you said I was a Volkswagen man, you'd be right.

rocknrob Insano Dub Head

844 posts · joined Dec 2003 · 7 Nov 2016, 4:47 pm

#1031338

Thanks for that Smiley. I,ve been reading up on oil temp and its a complicated topic. 80c may even be too low...anyway have fitted and oil temp gauge and will start keeping track...cheers

Smiley Veteran Volks Folk

2,125 posts · joined Oct 2008 · 7 Nov 2016, 8:00 pm

#1031346

rocknrob wrote:Thanks for that Smiley. I,ve been reading up on oil temp and its a complicated topic. 80c may even be too low...anyway have fitted and oil temp gauge and will start keeping track...cheers

Was more like 90°C on the way home today. Came up very quickly too. It was bloody hot today!!

Smiley 🙂

If you said I was a Volkswagen man, you'd be right.

Smiley Veteran Volks Folk

2,125 posts · joined Oct 2008 · 8 Dec 2016, 9:02 pm

#1032141

A few pictures from a Rover Scout camp I went down and helped out at last weekend. Was held and Awoonga Dam near Gladstone and we went out to Boyne Island/Tannum Sands Saturday.
I took a canoe down, towed my trailer down with a tent in it and took 3 people down and all their camping gear. And Friday's temperature was like a firestorm from hell. Probably the worst conditions I could have towed in with all that weight. Oil temp was at about 100°C most of them time but did come down a bit on the flat and coasting down hills. Very happy with how it went, but would still like to add a fan to one of my coolers.

This is Friday Afternoon when we showed up.

Saturday morning down at the beach. I nabbed a good spot right next to the sand and put the awning out for everyone. The shade was most welcome.

I backed into the park. People were guiding me over next to the gutter but no one was looking behind me. I stopped the bus and got out to set up and thought, "That ute is a bit close". Probably could have just put a feeler gauge between them! Lucky I didn't go back any further. In my defense though, I am in my park 🙂

A nice picture from the canoe.

Was a little windy but the awning stayed put all day. Lucky I had some big sand pegs to hold it down.

Saturday afternoon we went down to the dam for a swim. We were camped at the Scout grounds about 500m away so I took about 10 people down in the back of the bus. I drove all the way to the water's edge.

A few other people came down as well in 4WDs. None of them could drive back up the bank to camp because the ground was a little loose and rocky. They all had to put it into 4WD. I offered them a tow 🙂 Gee they make easy shit look hard sometimes. Houdini chugged back up there without even a hint of wheelspin, even with the extra bodies on board (the extra mass might have helped!)

If anyone wants to know what the tent looks like. This is why you need a trailer to move it 🙂

All loaded back up and ready to cruise home Sunday.

Thanks for looking everyone

Smiley 🙂

If you said I was a Volkswagen man, you'd be right.

beetleboyjeff Custom Title Time!

1,790 posts · joined Feb 2009 · 9 Dec 2016, 5:20 am

#1032145

Looks like it was a great weekend. :-)

From your ole' mate Jeff

rocknrob Insano Dub Head

844 posts · joined Dec 2003 · 9 Dec 2016, 5:32 am

#1032146

great pics Smiley! I know those places well. Igrew up in Gladstone. The Boyne is a mighty ferocious river in full flood. Is it time to slap some wethertex house paint on houdini with a brush?

modnrod Fahrvergnugen

978 posts · joined Mar 2011 · 9 Dec 2016, 6:52 am

#1032150

Weathertex with a brush?!!?!?! That's a bit rough isn't it?

Killrust or Solagard with a foam roller for a quality finish.
😀

Thks for the write-up Smiley.

BlasterTheRedBajaBug Wolfsburg Wizard

444 posts · joined Nov 2016 · 27 Dec 2016, 10:51 am

#1032558

Bone wrote:
And a locker that is sitting around looking for a home
Hey Smiley I have found a home for that locker diff! Here on the Sunny coast in a 5 rib box under my Baja! You know you want to make some shelf space! Lol.

Where are you on the Sunny Coast?

Nobody can drive you crazy, unless you give them the keys.

Smiley Veteran Volks Folk

2,125 posts · joined Oct 2008 · 27 Dec 2016, 10:16 pm

#1032561

BlasterTheRedBajaBug wrote:
Bone wrote:
And a locker that is sitting around looking for a home
Hey Smiley I have found a home for that locker diff! Here on the Sunny coast in a 5 rib box under my Baja! You know you want to make some shelf space! Lol.

Where are you on the Sunny Coast?

Hey mate. Shane is around Black Mountain area.

Smiley 🙂

If you said I was a Volkswagen man, you'd be right.

BlasterTheRedBajaBug Wolfsburg Wizard

444 posts · joined Nov 2016 · 30 Dec 2016, 10:30 am

#1032625

I'm a little further South than that I'm at Warana.

Nobody can drive you crazy, unless you give them the keys.

rocknrob Insano Dub Head

844 posts · joined Dec 2003 · 7 Jan 2017, 5:55 pm

#1032839

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Hey Smiley i was resetting the rear torsion bars to accomodate the extra weight of a holden V6 and i remembered your milk crate test....yep...nearly an inch to spare!

Smiley Veteran Volks Folk

2,125 posts · joined Oct 2008 · 7 Jan 2017, 9:54 pm

#1032850

Very nice Rob!

I'm liking that tyre carrier too. I have to make one for my bus to go on the rear bar. Do you have any more pictures??

Smiley 🙂

If you said I was a Volkswagen man, you'd be right.

Bone Officially Full-On Dubber

299 posts · joined Aug 2009 · 8 Jan 2017, 7:17 am

#1032863

Cutting and making Kombi"s into Baja Kombi's!!! Is nothing sacred!!!😂

rocknrob Insano Dub Head

844 posts · joined Dec 2003 · 8 Jan 2017, 7:21 am

#1032864

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Hey Smiley, its just 25mm rhs...two posts welded to the bumper supports or towbar...just check the geometry make sure everything opens...the bumper actually supports the weight of my spare