Project kermit

heres the latest addition to the ever growing vw family my other family have to put up with!!

[/img]


some of you already know this car as petes from custom offroad. IT has the irs conversion,subaru 1.8 t engine,disc brakes all round.

The reason i brought this car was it was a cheaper option as to doing the same to my other baja and the time saved i earnd a heap of brownie points with the wife..

Now the basic car is where i want it but a whole lot of changing to minor things and a total colour change are on the cards. first things first was a day at the dyno to give me an idea of what i have before i start to do any changes and hopfully improvements .

i was quite happy with the figures and i dont think i will have to do a major amount to get the targets i would like.


[/img]

i will take a heap of pics of the car before i start(some small things already changed) so that the changes i make can be seen...

let the fun begin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

steff........................................

Someone say Kermit????? WHAT??? No Type 3???

Erm.. nice baja....

Awesome name


Tazz

PANIC!!!!!! there was big plans for the weekend, but after driving to work, i noticed a puddle under the car. so i crawled under and sure enough it was coolent and it looks like its driping from the left side head!!

Got it into the shop where they presure tested the cooling system and they found a hose mounted under the airbox that was leaking .Water could be runnign down and making it look like the head is leaking so fingers crossed it is or it heads of time!!! oh did find three pin prick hole in the rad while it was being pressure tested which is a bummer but better to find out now rather than a melt down...

If it is this pipe weekend plans are back on which entails changing the header tank and cooling pipes to a neater more user friendly system and cuting the rear quarters and frenching some metal scoops in to push more air into the engine bay. The plan is to still have all this finished(repaint and engine upgrades) intime for dubs by the pub but if it need rebuilding it mite throw a major spanner in the works


fingers crossed

steff....................................

turns out head was fine it was a small pipe located under the air intake had split and was pouring onto the head making it look bad!!

started giving the old girl its make over starting with fitting air ducting to the rear quarters to put more air over engine.

I made one from scratch in metal rather than buy the plastic/fiberglass bolt on ones as i dont like they way they sit/look.

first things was to mesure re mesure one more time for luck then mark, and cut out the desired section.



once it was removed then i fitted the air scope and made sure it had the returns i wanted.




all happy so weilded her into place,cleaned up with grinder and a very small scim off bog to get rid of any imperfections and prime. one side done onto the next



this last pic is for u pete to show u how i have run the cooling system, it made no difference to the temps but its a heap neater and having a metal header tank insted of plastic is always a good thing if u ask me 😎




steff........................

Looks great - keep up the updates.

Love this Baja...!

The air ducts you are putting in, are they just general air flow to the motor or will have piping ducted to specific areas?

the drivers side one will feed the air filter as i am moving it from the central position to up behind the header tank and right at the opening of the duct. The passenger side one i am in two minds on what to do, use it as general flow to the motor or pipe it to the intercooler thats going to be mounted where the air filter is(central) but the cooler already has a feed from the rear cover i am building so not sure yet.

steff...................

enjoy, i'll be there to hand your hand when you decide to move the rad a litter further forward. 😁

BTW, how good is a subie!

well i've finaly got of my arse and done some more, over the last few weeks i have fitted the other side vent, and repaired as much as i can while not taking th car off the road. Got bored on wensday and ripped it down and finished all repairs and yesterday i painted in insides of the cab,doors and bonnet. i.ve rubbed the outside this moronign and its getting its new paint this arvo 🙂

next week all the bar work gets painted/powdercoatd(not sure which yet) and at the end of the week its off to the magic man whos doing the engine. Pulling the heads off to have a look around make sure alls fine, the bigger valves,varable cam gear,bigger fuel reg,injectors and a T4 garret turbo.

i will post pics tonight when i get home ....

steff,..........

as the black board says:

hurry uppp hurrryyyy uuuppp!!

so I'm a voyeur from way back...and i wanna see the damn pics.

Good to here your doing more work steff. How's everything ur end of the woods baby? kids going well I hope

now..bring on the pics!!!

cheers
beb

Com'n Steff its 7pm and NO photos yet , pull ya finger out son

awww pffft andrew, my good wife made me shower and took me out for my birthday so i didnt get it done... but here we go!!!!

pulled down ready for the insides to be painted

insides done!!!3

in the booth with the doors back on and the guards just held in place so that i can 1 get it all in 2 the pearl witll been even across the car as u can get differnt shading if panels are all done seperatly.

as this is not a show car and it will see plenty off ofroading i didnt strip right back to bare metal as it had al been done before and in the areas i checked its in tip top condition and there was no need. on the whole car there was only one rust spot that need doing, the rest were fiberglass cracks and dents oh and of cause my vents



the whole car was primed with a wet on wet primer(no need for sanding) as the colour needs a even base oter wise it will have different shades, The colour is a three layer pearl which menas a base colour is used then a transparent pearl is put over then the clear coats.

the first colour

the peral over lay, u can see the difference its much deeper in colour now

done!!!!!



this parts all finished now, the clear i used is a new one from PPG, i dont like PPG as a rule (sikkins man) but there cerami clear is out of this world, it goes on great, and the end result is amazing. Plus it is higly scratch resistant (30X tougher on the surface than a standard ms clear) i have only used it a coup[le of times before but everything i use it on look amazing so allthough its a little more expensive the finish is well worth it and if it does scratch as easy thats got to be a plus. No colour snading needed so now its time to put the car back together and do the bar work. Here is a hardtop i used the cerami clear on to, once again no colour sanding that as it is off the gun,, LOVE IT!!!!




steff.................................

bugeyedbabe wrote:as the black board says:

hurry uppp hurrryyyy uuuppp!!

so I'm a voyeur from way back...and i wanna see the damn pics.

Good to here your doing more work steff. How's everything ur end of the woods baby? kids going well I hope

now..bring on the pics!!!

cheers
beb

hey sweetheart, alls good here, kids are great .. little one who gave us the scare is going great guns, no more docs visits now and as heathy as . i'll find some pics for ya

we will have to catch up next time i am down my dear ...

steff.........................

thats gunna look sweet as a green tree frog ,all u need is red head lights with black dot stickers to complete the froggy

Looking very nice steff,Wished i still lived in Rockhampton i would get you to paint my beetle,The only question i have wich is problem a dumb one is what about water down your vents will it cause any problems cheers shane.

vwmad wrote:Looking very nice steff,Wished i still lived in Rockhampton i would get you to paint my beetle,The only question i have wich is problem a dumb one is what about water down your vents will it cause any problems cheers shane.

There is something you dont read everyday- someone wishing they lived in Rocky..😂

(but secretly- I actually lived there and loved the place)

Lucky you dont always get what you wish for😂😂

waters not a problem as it will just flow down and out with out harming anything. its done so the water runs out as a standard beetle so no harm done. More water will run off the back than the vents but the engines been done in such a way its not a problem, we had massive rains here a few weeks back and everyday i drove it with not one single miss or cough 🙂

as for loving rocky i will pass as friends up there will kick my arse 😂

well the rebuilds started but its my b-day so i am off to get very drunk and eat what ever i can get my hands on, tomorrow the real work begins.....

steff.............................

thas an awesome colour steff..
looks bloody awesome..😀

cheers jess

Man that is a very gren car .. great job.

WIll be interested to see what the engine looks like inside and how the cooling works with some less restrictive pipes.

since that picture i have totaly changed the cooling system as it was not doing the job as well as i wanted, i removed the rad that was in it( early golf) and replaced it with a XD (the slightly smaller one found on the 3.9 not 4.2), then changed the inlet/outlets and fitted the temp sender into the tanks. it has worked a treat as i was always around the 95 mark on standard cruzing (thermo fans running all the time) and if i got into it the temp went up way to fast. Now its around the 85/90 mark on standard cruzing (no thermo's running)and if i switch the thermo's on it drops to under 80 , when i am getting into it with thermos running its just under 100 . So its now doing its job very well.

I hope the internals are all in good shape and thats the main reason for pulling the heads off, to make sure its all good to take the extra power/pressure i am planing.

If we find problems then its rebuild time so we will have to wait and see. ITs running fine right now, no probs that we have noticed just making sure..

steff.......................

i love the color of ur car steff..

yeah next time yoru down darl let go out for a cruise... i can take the golf and show u some real style...😂

although she is becoming very pink...so u'll just have to man up and take it like a chook...shotgun in a girls car...very very unmanly! only to be outdone by driving it when it has heaps of pink

cheers
beb

DubCrazy wrote:since that picture i have totaly changed the cooling system as it was not doing the job as well as i wanted, i removed the rad that was in it( early golf) and replaced it with a XD (the slightly smaller one found on the 3.9 not 4.2), then changed the inlet/outlets and fitted the temp sender into the tanks. it has worked a treat as i was always around the 95 mark on standard cruzing (thermo fans running all the time) and if i got into it the temp went up way to fast. Now its around the 85/90 mark on standard cruzing (no thermo's running)and if i switch the thermo's on it drops to under 80 , when i am getting into it with thermos running its just under 100 . So its now doing its job very well.

I hope the internals are all in good shape and thats the main reason for pulling the heads off, to make sure its all good to take the extra power/pressure i am planing.

If we find problems then its rebuild time so we will have to wait and see. ITs running fine right now, no probs that we have noticed just making sure..

steff.......................

Sweet, are you sure on the early Golf Radiator ? When I saw it last it had an L Series Subaru in it from the EA82T half Cut Ben Durie used when he originally did the conversion.

Buggy Brad wrote:

DubCrazy wrote:since that picture i have totaly changed the cooling system as it was not doing the job as well as i wanted, i removed the rad that was in it( early golf) and replaced it with a XD (the slightly smaller one found on the 3.9 not 4.2), then changed the inlet/outlets and fitted the temp sender into the tanks. it has worked a treat as i was always around the 95 mark on standard cruzing (thermo fans running all the time) and if i got into it the temp went up way to fast. Now its around the 85/90 mark on standard cruzing (no thermo's running)and if i switch the thermo's on it drops to under 80 , when i am getting into it with thermos running its just under 100 . So its now doing its job very well.

I hope the internals are all in good shape and thats the main reason for pulling the heads off, to make sure its all good to take the extra power/pressure i am planing.

If we find problems then its rebuild time so we will have to wait and see. ITs running fine right now, no probs that we have noticed just making sure..

steff.......................

Sweet, are you sure on the early Golf Radiator ? When I saw it last it had an L Series Subaru in it from the EA82T half Cut Ben Durie used when he originally did the conversion.

I wondered this to. I was at bens when this was going back together. few years back now though 😀

jace

thats what i am let to belive it was, and the local rad shop suggested it could be but i cant say for sure, i'll have a look and see if it has any markings and take a pic as i still have it down stairs.

Nothing happened today as those pesky kids wanted to do something so family had a day out grrrrr@!@!@! Going to paint the bar work in the morning so i will get some down while thats drying.

steff....................

Is this a new episode of "Pimp my ride".....😂😂😂

not got round to taking pics of the rad yet but the only markings i can find are * F.H.E* on one side, no other numbers or markings.

cars coming back together quite well now but its all stoped so the engine work can be done. droped the engine out today and its been taken by the mechanic so with anyluck i will know tommorow how it all looks and pending any problems i will have it back by wensday to refit. While its out i will paint the bar work and tidy up in the engine area.

Have had a bit of a tado with the new dials, they are white faced with a saturn finish ali frame. I had one while it was dark green and loved them but now its the light green they look cheap and nasty so i ordered all new(boost,water temp,oil temp,fuel,tacho and oil pressure) in the new crystal range, black with solid black face that lights from behind when turned on. Another big hole in the pocket.. oh well i woul only spend it on beer if i didnt have my vw's 🤪


steff............................

well its good news, heads are off and there is no signs of cracks and valve seats look grand, off to the machinist in the morning to get it polished and the new valves seated

there is a slight mark on munber four barrel where the head gasket has been leaking water into it, not bad but i will clean it up.

Main seal is leaking which was why we pulled it in the first place so no suprises there but the BIG suprice was the D-shakle i found behind the fly wheel!!! not totaly sure why or how but there are no signs of damage ...

theres no signs of problems anywhere else so more than happy. The injectors are bigger than standard already(rated to 250bhp) so i won't change them for now so its just a new ajustable fuel reg and the bigger turbo. The mechanic was explaining the difference today , made no sence to me but the jist is its not huge but will make a noticble difference.

I am looking for a max off 200bhp at the wheels (112 at the mo) so when its all back togeather i will get it re-dyno'd and we will see how its all gone.

the next big thing on the engine side is a decent computer as the standard one i have is crap but funds are low right now so its going to have to wait, oh and i cant decide on what brand which isnt helping..

i will take some pics in the morning and put them up....


steff,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Hey Steff...clear looked it layed down really nicely - what gun do you use for the clear? I am tossing up a new Sata Jet 3000 vs Devilbiss GTi Pro at the moment....heard good things about both.

Nice work - colour will certainly stand out!
Al

It really depends on what u like the feel of better, both are good guns and will do all brands of paint well.

Certain guns will perform better with certain brands as they work togeather, sata-ppg, devillbiss-sikkins, iwata-sikkins,spies hecker,dupoint...

I personaly love the iwata w-400 LV2 adn have used them for years, I use Sikkins and i still use the iwata for all solid colours and most mettalics.

For pearls and the xirrilcs and any candys,three lays etc etc i use the Devillbiss GTI, it atomize's so much better its unreal. I have found it works better with the premium paints rather than the slightly lesser, not that i am knocking other brands but i have found it doesnt like the ms clears as much but it still does a good job.

Both the hardtop and my baja were with the devlibiss for both the base coats and clear.

Be carefull if buying the devillbiss as there are three different model gti's, and its only the bar rating thats different on two of them. The third is a two gun set that they say use one for base one for clear.I have not used the two gun set but i cant see the need as the cost is quite high and the good GTI will do the same job for less than half the cost. let me know which model it is ur looking at with bar and psi ratings

What are you useing now? and what paint do u normaly use? I can also get very good price's on devillbiss guns if u go that route.

if u want give me a call on 0413 135518 if its easier


steff,

well its been an intresting few days, the heads went off top the machinist and all good news, no crack and all in all very good condition. The inlet valves all showed signs of water damage and he says at some point it was out of a car sitting around while wet(i guess before it was fitted to thois one it spent some time sitting around).

I was replaceing all the valves so no matter. he just gave me them back and he has doen everything!!!! new guides,polished,seated in fact they are as good as new if not better 😎

Had a bit of a drama with head bolts, when the engine was pulled down two snaped and a couple more were quite rusty. I planed to replace them no matter what as i preffer to know its all new. The supplier i used said no worries but when i went to collect he told me 4-8 weeks out of japan!!! much hunting and headaches i have got all 12 of the long and 4 shorts(need 6 in total) so panic over..

We have decided for now not to fit the new turbo as it was going to need a modified fitting and time is running away with all the dramas with the head bolts so for now its going to have to sit on the side but in a couple of months i will fit it.

To top it all off i was booked for speeding and lost the last of my points so now i am awaiting the letter saying now long i have lost my licence for( between 1 to 6 months) oh yaya me!!!!!


all the new dials were ordered today so i should have them in the next 2 weeks and while i was in the shop i spoted a set of very nice seats so i am how toyign with the idea of fitting them!! oh yes the money tree is very bare now😂


i still havn't put the pictures on the computer but i will over the weekend..


steff...............

DubCrazy wrote:What are you useing now? and what paint do u normaly use? I can also get very good price's on devillbiss guns if u go that route.

if u want give me a call on 0413 135518 if its easier


steff,

Hey Steff,
I am using an old Sharpe gun (not even sure of model as it has been a long time since I bought it)....I'm still tossing up the SataJet 3000 vs Devilbiss gti Pro but not sure if the Sata is worth the extra money.

I'll PM you the quote I have had on the devilbiss and see what you think.
Cheers
Al

replyed das......


steff................

well after a very intresting couple of months and just about throwing the towell in i finaly got the green beast back. The engine just about fell arapt on me after we did the heads,big end bearing shattered and damaged the crank, one of the pistons and a crack and when we removed a bit fell off(been broken for a while but the blow by scorhing marks) so the enigne had been totaly rebuilt,new conrods,pistons,big&little ends,heads u know about and a second hand crack was found and ground and llightened!!!

so now its runnign like a bloody champ, one thing we did find was a lot of very fine sand stuck in the sump so in its life it was worked quite hard on sand..

heres the piston tha broke, all heal togeather till it was slid out then the bit just fell off




the cars still not finished,left bar work still to do and re do the interior but for now shes up and running and may i say looking bloody good!!!!!

steff.........................

before i post any more pics i just want to say that if it wasnt for a few people that i have only ever met on the forum i more than lightly would have just walked away but for the there dedication to help others in the vw world and the assistance they gave me in getting the beast back on the road.

I am truly gratefull for this forum and the people that it has introduced me to, with out it i would be vwless and even more pissed off than i already was.

so to u i say THANK YOU!!!!

and to Marc (midlifecrisis)... i bloody owe u one hell of a ride my friend!!!!!!!


steff.......................

now the all important bit... pictures!!!!!



when i got the car it never had an engine cover so i picked up a very damaged and crappy one and set about making it fit, the end result was this


on the car


and just random pics








steff..............

this last one was my fav of the day, my wifes very much into photography and its startign to rub off on me...




steff,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Hey looking good Steff, Always happy to help.
Now you have fun with the BAJA make sure you get it nice and dirty😂😂😂

Marc

Got to take it easy for a bit, run the engine in and all that so not to much offroading as i cant behave on dirt😂

i think i'll have to make a video when its run in for u to laugh at 🤪


steff....................

sweet, maybe you should lengthen the accelarater cable so you only have half power so you behave.

marc

Ii'm loving the color steff.

How's every thing ur end.

And yeah, maybe a governer might help curb your 'speed demon' tendancies. maybe not 😂

cheers
beb

bugeyedbabe wrote:Ii'm loving the color steff.

How's every thing ur end.

And yeah, maybe a governer might help curb your 'speed demon' tendancies. maybe not 😂

cheers
beb

the only governer that works is the wife 😊

alls good here my dear, little fella nearly a year old!!! after all the dramas its hard to belive how fast its all gone and looking at him now u would never know he was so tiny.
Hows life ur end?

steff....................

The cars loking great Steff , glad to hear you decided to keep it mate.
How is the temp fairing with the fibreglass tail on , as this is why it was removed a few years ago as the PO to Pete couldn't keep it cool with it fitted , especially on the hyway

before i changed the rad system it would get to hot but since i swoped rads its been fine, even with me flogging it hard its not got to hot.

This was all done before the rebuild so once its all run in i will go play and test it properly. At the mo i am just taking it easy and the temps not gone over about 85(thermo's running) around town. Not been on a highway yet but beforeit ran cooler at about 110kph. When i first got it from pete it was fine around those speeds but u pushed it over 115 it would get hot quick, after i changed it i was running at 130kph for a small distance and it still stayed uner 100 (thermo's running)

fingers crossed i have sorted all the heat issues, if not its rad up the front time which i really dont want to do so we will have to see...

steff................

Congrats on getting it back on the road. It is also good to see it actually going off road, I know the previous owner was only into possing it up :lol

i think he was worried about messing his hair up 😂


steff.................

DubCrazy wrote:i think he was worried about messing his hair up 😂


steff.................

Way to much product in his hair for it to ever get messed up..😂

That looks awesome fun...stupid suburbia

Well someones gotta look good driving it Brad xxx By the way use HARD HEAD gell it holds the poofy hair nice and strong!!

Pete wrote:Well someones gotta look good driving it Brad xxx By the way use HARD HEAD gell it holds the poofy hair nice and strong!!

so ur saying i dont look good driving it?

😂

steff...............

well it never rains but bloody pours!!!!!

after all teh set backs with the engine itss has been running like a dream, just under 1000k's and fantastic till............................

pulled otu fo the driveway and it coughed then cleared so i though no more. Ten minutes downt he road it dies, 45 minutes of pissing around thinking i had elctrical problems(i had a clutch cable snap the day before and if u knwo the car u know all the wires are very close) i got it stared but maybe running on two... Turns out the injector had shit its self. so 4 new injectors at 163 each!!! and i set about changing the lot. Heres where it gets intresting, out of the 8 bolts holdong the injectors on 6 snap even tho they had been socked as best as poss in crc .
so off with the inlet manifold and off to the head shop to get them drilled and re-taped. Get a call the next day sayin that they have had a problem and could i pop down.
When i get there the story unfold that while drilling on side out the clamp holdign the manifold broke and the drill chewed the shit out of the manifold!!!

ok i have a spare at home so i go get it and they say they will clean it all up make sure everythings in tip top shape, re-thread everything and basicly make it as good as new free of charge. Plus they are going to get my other one welded up and done so i still have a spare.

so another few days with out the car , oh well now just about everything has been replaced or totaly checked out. Another phone call the spare manifold i have has a crack between the inlet and the water jacket!!! F*$k


people wonder why i bother, again so do i !! so fingers crossed i get the manifold back this week and i can get the bastard going again!!!!...


cars !!!!!


steff........................

well here we are again,

some of u know some dont but heres the story so far.

after all the dramas and problems with the engine rebuild and such i finaly got it all running like a dream, very happy and going smoothly.

Noticed a slight knocking sound that sounded like detination so i took her to the garage and the mechanic wasn't sure so i left the car with him. Next day i get a call to come down and have a look so i finished work and poped down to see what was going on.

When i walked in i saw my engine totaly striped down again with crank and rods sitting on the side!!! The knocking noise turned out to be one of the brand new big end bearings that had striped its outer coating!!! lots of swearing shouting and general tantrum throwing(by me) we tryed to work out what had happened.

It looked like the bearing had spun but there was no tearing of the case when the lugs locate in the rods so we sent the rods off to a different machine shop to make sure they were all good. We get them back with a report saying the one was good but the other three were all out and by quite a bit. I had all 4 re honed when i had the crank down to make sure they were all good when we rebuilt so off to the shop that did the work to see what was going on.

when i spoke with the machinest he asked if i could leave them with him so he could tripple check mesurements. Now heres where it gets intresting, two days later i still have not heard anything so i go down to the shop where i am met by one of the owners. I asked what was going on quite politly and i was greated with "why dont u just fu*k of u cu*t , dont speak to me u shit stiring wank*r, u are trying to give me a bad name u fu*king cu*t" etc etc ad he stomped off to get the co owner. he came out and said that the rods were perfect and that there was nothing wrong with them. mesurements were good and the other shop did it wrong. my answer..Fine no worries i am not a machinest and i take ur word can i have my rods please. his reply NO. long drawn out arguement i wont bore u with the details but i got them back, when i picked them up all 4 were perfectly honed and clean not one sign that they had just had a bearing break down or even fitted!!. there answer "we cleaned them up with emry paper" perfect cross hatching and not a mark from the gauges they use to measure, sorry but they mite be good but hone marks are not made with emry paper.


They had re done them to hide any mistakes but i had a report from the other shop in town plus when it had been first pulled down the mechanic had gotten another machinest to look at them plus a couple of other mechanics cuz he was trying to work out what happend and they have all put it into writing and are willing to stand up in court .

Its in court as we speak but proceedings have been held up as in the last 3 weeks NINE other suits have been logged against them from other people including one for 1.8 million for some cat engine the totaly rebuilt and when started up it hadn't had the piston put on the rod with the pin resulting in destroyed engine.

thats been my last couple of months fun hey! i think they are going to shut there doors and i wont get anything back which sucks.

i was lucky enough to pick up another engine cheap and i have just got the crank and rods back of a machine shop out of town so at least i should have the car back but it just leaves a very sour taste in ur mouth then things like this happen. all i want is my car back and right so i can enjoy it.

oh well fingers crossed the engine will be back in this weekend and i can run it in once more then go have some fun!!!


steff.................

did you stick with the ea82 or upgrade to the ej20t??

stuck with the EA82T, thought about the 20 but at the time only a main seal was leaking and the heads were taken off for inspection as i have a bigger turbo to fit and i wanted to make sure all was good inside.

If i had known the money i have poured into it and the problems i would have looked very hard at a EJ20T.

I like the EA82T, as its super light and revs so well, the power curve is fantastic and for what i use it for it really works well but i also know the EJ is a better engine just cuz its a later donk and things move forward(mostly lol)


engine is back in today and all the rails,injectors,turbo etc are on. Hopfullly i'll get the cooling system in place after work tomorrow for the big start up. oh it better be right this fu**ing time!@!@!@!@!@


steff.......................

steff..............

Geez it'd almost make you want to put a nice VW engine back in it!!😁

tough break mate. You can make sure everything you do is right but specialist stuff you really are the mercy of the gods with some people's "so called " abilities.

unreal

hey Steff, awesome looking baja you have there, I love the colour 😉

well its been a while and lots of funs been had but finaly the beasts outer coats finished.

i was hoping to show her off at fraser but a broken steering box and front shock mount put paid to that but it gave me the time to pull the front beam and fix all the little bits and finish the out side of the car.







i have a shot of the insides but i dont have one from when i got it, all the guages have been replaced and the tacho is a smaller one(was 5 and half this ones 4 inch) new steering wheel, few more bits to do but its nearly there.


as i didnt get to play on fraser i had to go play somewhere, didn't i??




only one leak, me leaving the drivers window down!!!

tis all good 😂😂


steff...................

That thing looks amazing! Really cool idea putting badge on glovebox 👍
Simon

Looking good

steff this has come up a treat
well done..
im in love with the colour scheme looks fantastic
love the black stripes as well
looks like you had fun when you took it out
😁👍
cheers jess

Sweet looking Baja, I like the way you speed stripped the glove box to match.

Bummer about Fraser, at least Matt and Glen kept us smiling with the buggy antics ..

Buggy Brad wrote:Sweet looking Baja, I like the way you speed stripped the glove box to match.

Bummer about Fraser, at least Matt and Glen kept us smiling with the buggy antics ..

i know!! been looking forward to fraser since i bought it! shit happens but there will be plenty more trips for me to play/get stuck/laughed at and generaly have a ball at.

steff................

DubCrazy
Did this car come from Newcastle originally?. I swear i have seen it before down here.
I love what you have done with it's resto. It's a beautiful colour👍

that looks the best it ever has well done that is one of the best bajas if not the bast in my mind in OZ

been a while!!

all in all she's been pretty good, had it pulled into main roads for a full lookie and it had no issues!!! yayaya!!! no broken bits(shockies died but thats bout it) apart from the intermitent wiring issues so i bit the bullet and went out and brought a Microtech lt10 whichhas just been installed along with new wiring in the back!!!!! out has gone all the rubbish to be replaced with nice tidy good new wires!

Monday it goes to the Dyno boys to get it all set up and sorted. So the plan is to have it back by the weeked(next) fit the new rear shocks and go play

If all goes to plan i'll take some more pics for all to enjoy.

Oh and not that i have seen with my own eyes but i have had a report that there is a picture of it in Volksworld this month in the uk, not sure where but i belive in the readers ride section 🙂 I am waiting for my copy to arrive from the uk to confirm.

steff...................

oh and the new project, fitting the rad up front with a false floor on the passenger side to hide/protect the water pipes so that i can finaly fit the a/c i have sitting here for it!...

steff,............

Well its finaly happened .........



the gearbox shit its self 2 days before xmas in a MAJOR way. Had been out playing in the mud as we've had rain here for the first time in months with no issues at all. no over heating(new rad system) and since i fitted the Microtech and had the rewire its not missed a beat, very happy.

she was washed and parked up as i finished work for the year and was buzy doing a few things around the house.

I get a call from a customer whom i painted a heap of stuff for on the weekend saying no one was at work (panelbeater was ment to be there) so i had to go in. The roads were a little wet so i hopped into the Baja insted of the bike and trundled of to let them in. Coming back from the workshop i was aproching a major roundabout with shoppin centers on all sides. Wasn't going at any speed as it was mental with last minute shoppers, so as i came up the the roundabout i changed down to second and as i let the clutch out there was a massive bang followed by the rear end locking up and attempting to overtake the front!!!! Never hit anything but the whole place stoped and looked!

managed to get the car up onto the grass but it was locked solid so i had to leave the car there all day(about10am when it happened) untill all the shoppers had buggered off so i could get the car trailer and remove it.

Not surewhich was worse the box going or the embarresment of it all and the many many calls i had from people i know asking why the bloody cars on the grass at the shopping centers!

She has been parked up untill today and i've had a quick look and it seems like the diff has fallen apart! i have had another box lined up for a while as this one has had a whine from the day i brought it and it has gotten worse over time. but u know how it is it just been put off and put off .

so party tonight then recover tomorrow so i can spend the weekend pulling everying out and fitting the new box. I think this is the only time i really wish i had the aircooled engine in it insted of the subaru as the wiring and rad is going to take a while longer to remove just to get the engine out


Kinda fitting that the first thing i do in the new year is vw related i think 😂


steff.................

Bummer! I had no idea this was petes old baja.... I loved that car when pete had it and i like it even more now! I bet you don't like it much at the moment?
Mick.

1916baja wrote:Bummer! I had no idea this was petes old baja.... I loved that car when pete had it and i like it even more now! I bet you don't like it much at the moment?
Mick.

to be honest its not bothered me as the box was always the weakest link as i have pretty much replaced/rebuilt everything else and its down to my slackness that i've not already done it. so yea its a pain as we have had a heap more rain and the muds getting deep and fun so i am missing out but thats about the only issue.

steff................

Better get it ready for that Australia Day 5 Rocks trip.

Smiley

well i've been a total slack arse and only just today taken the engine out. The gearbox came out no issues but i did find a small but issue. On the frame horns about 2inchs back from the end is two bloody great cracks!!!! I have taken pictures and will put them on tonight when i finish repairing it and get the box and engine back in.

Quite glad i found this as i am selling her and i would have hated to have sold ti and given someone else a problem...


steff...............

smileyman3000 wrote:Better get it ready for that Australia Day 5 Rocks trip.

Smiley

afraid i am goign to have to give that one a mis dan, pull ur finger out and take alice 😂


steff...........

DubCrazy wrote:

smileyman3000 wrote:Better get it ready for that Australia Day 5 Rocks trip.

Smiley

afraid i am goign to have to give that one a mis dan, pull ur finger out and take alice 😂


steff...........

You had better paint it then!!

Smiley

Great to see my old car is still working.. I've been watching this thread for a while now, but I was the silly bugger who put the subaru motor in it and did the original conversion to a baja. Light green looks a lot better than dark green and it sounds like the cooling issues have been sorted (finally). What a nightmare that was.. My original plan was to run a radiator at the front (I had the heater tubes that run up the sides of the body cleared of all the pipework) but figured it would get too hot inside, so ended up putting in the VW radiator in the back. Shame about the gearbox, but I didn't do anything to it other than paint it red and polish the ribs, so as is the norm with these things.. the weakest link eventually breaks! Good luck with it, I spent a LOT of money on it.

Did you get that steering box in and get everything going good again Steff?


Smiley 🙂