Hey guys,
Thought i would post a topic about my baja kombi build.
Ive been a long time fan of baja kombis and have wanted to build my own for quite some time. Ive owned kombis in the past but have always had nice ones which i wasnt game to cut up, but the van i have at the moment is rather rough and will be perfect to baja

Its a 77 model that i bought dirt cheap from a mate. Ive been driving it for the past 3 years slowly fixing rust and other problems. Its done its fair share of trips away camping and has been driven up some 4x4 only tracks that i never thought it would handle!

Ive been wanting to baja it since i first got it, so when Simon, guru here on the forum offered some baja kombi gear for sale i knew it was time.


I dont expect this to be a quick build, but am hoping to have it done for valla.

Plan is to fit the lift kit and wheels, along with a 1600 kombi box i have to get it on the road, then work on other things that arnt needed straight away. Ive done a few custom tube bumpers, rock sliders etc for mates 4wds, so im sure i should be able to make up some for my van.

Being my first baja, im sure ill be asking plenty of questions here, so any answers would be appreciated.

Alex.

Looking foward to watch the progress. How much lift are you looking at giving it??

WOW, very impressive, can't wait to see more.

Hope your not going to fit the inverted tranny and reduction hubs as even John Alder will tell you it will drive like a pig .
As for the front end are you going to extend the chassis down or the beam up .
I would recomend the chassis down method myself as it is much stronger and can be made to look like part of the original chassis if done right .
If you do , do the beam up conversion i would highly advise fitting some brace bars from the bottom of the beam heading up foward to brace the beam from trying to fold back under.
Other things to keep in mind are that you need to either lay back the master cylinder or make a dog leg rod between the brake pedal and the mastercylinder, make a longer U rod for the sliding door or the back of the door will hit the flares , remove the front jacking points , cut the bottom back corner of the front wheel arches back .
If the front crossmember of the cargo floor behind the front wheels is rusty behind the front wheels then do your self a favour and replace it now too as with the removal of the jacking points this member will eventually sag . i replaced mine with a 50 x 50 x 3 mm shs , it is a bugger of a job as you need to unpick the floor and any tubes to remove and refit the shs but well worth it when building a baja .
I have plenty of mods to my bus including a EG33 subie flat six , and climate control ac , all of which are unfinished at present but hopefully that should be done by Valla .
To see the build on our bus log into Manx Club Australia and check it out in buggy and baja builds section under the heading " Our Baja Bus "

To make the extension for the sliding door, an old kombi tierod is the perfect diameter tube. Andrew should be able to measure his, but I think its either 75mm or 100mm you need to extend it.

100mm

This is the post Andrew is talking about.


http://www.manxclub.org/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1582 


And here is some of the earlier work here on AVD


http://forums.aussieveedubbers.com/viewtopic.php?tid=66146 


Enjoy!! Can't wait to see your progress, I've always wanted a Baja Bus. That might be my next project after my Buggy, Bug Bug and 1500 Beetle are finished



Smiley

Wow, didnt expect so many comments so soon!
Nope, dont have the reduction hub/ irs set up.
For lifting the front i have plates that bolt to the beam and lower it away from the body 100mm. I have read here on the forum about boxing the chassis in the front to lower it and how its stronger etc. Ill start with the plates i have, i can always mod the chassis later if i want. Im a ex panel beater, but left the trade and have been a qualified boiler maker for the last 6 years, so the chassis mods shouldnt be to hard to do later if i feel its needed.
Im thinking ill need to cut out the front jacking points and mod the cross member etc. The front wheels have 225/75/15 tyres now, but im thinking ill get some 235s. A friend has some bf goodrich all terrains i can get at a very good price.
The kit i bought came with a dog leg brake rod so that shouldnt be a problem, and i can mod the sliding door rod my self. Makes it easier now knowing it needs to be 100mm
Ive checked out the bus on the Manx Club Australia forum and must say its one of my favorite baja busses!

Here's all the inspiration that you'll need

http://www.manxgallery.org/gallery/BajaKombis 

Whats the best tyre size for the front of a baja like this?
At the moment it has 225/75/15s but i want to change them. They seem like a hard size to get so im thinking ill get a 235/75/15. Cutting the van to fit the bit larger tyre dosnt bother me.
The rears are 32s which are big enough for me

I ran 215/75R15 on the front of mine, and 31x10.5 on the rear

I made a semi baja kombi, i didnt weld on beam extensions but i spent a lot of time making my own beam adjusters and wound them as high as i could go, dropped the bumpstops down more and rewelded them, lifted the back on the torsion bars, tapped the rear wheel arch lip flat and i run 215 and 235 bf goodrich tyres on the merc rims without cutting the arches and tyres never scrape.

Thats a sweet looking bus Steve. I saw your build up thread about it and for a while was thinking about building my van in a similar style.
11CAB, now knowing your fronts are 215s im not so sure that i need to go with 235s. I wish i could get some decent tyres in the 225/75/15 size. I dont really want to go much smaller than what i have.
Im still curious what tyre sizes some other bajas are using?

No much progress on my van. I did clean up a 1600 box i had in the shed and fitted a 091 bell housing with a 1800 input shaft.

Now lifted
Still need to finish a few things off, tidy up the rear arches and fit the flairs, but its getting there!

Man that looks the goods!

Thanks mate!

Man, i love how this thing is coming together.

Dude!! I am loving the look of your bus!!!

It's coming together really nicely! Can't wait to see some pictures of it out offroading.



Smiley

now thats my style of kombi Keep up the good work Alex

Looking good, now go and and get that thing dirty (preferably bogged) with more photos

Looking good

Well i drove it today for the first time! It was only down to the end of my street and back, but i was surprised how good it felt to drive. I was expecting a top heavy feeling, but after driving about 20 meters i forgot it was even lifted!
Only a few little problems, the rear shocks are to short and top out. Is there a certain model shock baja kombi guys use? Otherwise ill just go to the local suspension place and see what they can get for me.
Also, i cant get the torsion bar caps back on. They sit to high. Here is a picture so you guys know what i mean.

Cant wait to get these things sorted out so i can get out and drive it.
Alex.

I cant remember exactly what shocks i had on the rear, but I think they were from a Nissan Patrol

There's a one year only F100 shock that's a ripper, has longer than required long length so if you get 930 cv's you can get a fair biy more down travel, '92 or '93 rings a bell.

I dont know anything about kombis but have you tried swaping the cap with the other side???? maybe just upside down

The torsion cap issue.....you'll need to unbolt the diagonal arm from the spring plate, pop the spring plate off the stop, get some longer M10x1.5 bolts preferebly with thread all the way, get them started into the threads and after loading up the bolts a little to keep everything aligned, jack up the spring plate to get it back onto the stop and tension the torsion cover bolts as you go to push the spring plate home. Swap over to correct bolts one at a time once all together.

That is awesome i dig the Baja Buses. But how do they go with engineering and regos now with the new rules.
I dont think the authorities would buy the explaination. "no thats the standard hieght officer, the suspension has sagged on the other kombis".

That look fantastic!

Do you have any pics of the front end set up??
What did you do to raise the rear? Just raised it a spline?