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 Smiley
A.k.a.: Daniel Stephens
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| posted on December 20th, 2011 at 10:56 PM |
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I also picked up my caliper brackets and spacers this afternoon. I'm very pleased with the fit and final finish of them. As soon as I get my gearbox
conversion finished off I'm going to be back onto doing my brake and spindles upgrades.
Caliper bracket sitting roughly in place on the spindle.
And this is where the spacer goes.
Smiley 
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Smiley
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| posted on December 30th, 2011 at 10:10 PM |
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Ok. time for an update.
I got my gearbox conversion done and finished on Christmas eve last Saturday. Then took the car for it's first drive with the new box Christmas
afternoon.
Unfortunately I haven't really had a computer the last week so I haven't been able to update this thread.
So here goes.
Made these plates up for the rear gearbox mounts. They fit closely to the shape of the bellhousing and tie into the lower outer bellhousing bolts.
Then I made these little plates up and drilled some holes in the bellhousing for the blotsto go through.
Smiley
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Smiley
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| posted on December 30th, 2011 at 10:26 PM |
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With everything bolted in plate I tacked the mounts together and fully welded them. I decided to weld the nuts because it was going to be a tight area
to get into with a spanner and it's easy to just undo the bolts from inside the bellhousing now.
With the mounts coming together I mounted the gearbox back into the car and bolted it tight in position with the front mount. I put some 6mm plate
underthe drive flanges to space it up off the framehorns for the correct height and made sure it was centred in the vehicle.
After much shaping and grinding of the mounts to fit the bush mounts. And pulling the box in and out a few more times. We ended up with this.
Everything sitting in place ready to be welded.
After this I tacked the mounts together aswell as tacking the mounting plates to the top of the framehorns and the crossmember.
Smiley
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Smiley
A.k.a.: Daniel Stephens
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| posted on December 30th, 2011 at 10:33 PM |
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At this point I removed the mounts and crossmember so I could weld them out. Then I went to remove the gearbox and ran into a little problem.
The tabs I added to the framehorns were preventing the box from being removed! I couldn't lift the gearbox high enough to clear them because the two
ears on the top of the bellhousing that are your factory Kombi mounts were hitting into the firewall panel.
After much wiggling and jiggling I ended up having to remove the bellhousing into order to get the box out. Obviously I can't do this every time I
want to remove the box so A solution needed to be found.
After the box was out I fully welded the mounting tabs in place then trimmed the tops of them down as much as i could to give me some more
clearance.
Smiley
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Smiley
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| posted on December 30th, 2011 at 10:37 PM |
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I'm off to bed now. Will finish my updates some time this weekend. Thanks for looking.
Smiley
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nils
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| posted on December 31st, 2011 at 07:12 AM |
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Hey smiley, those mounts look kind of familar 
Nice work mate 
Quit calling rust patina
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Smiley
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| posted on January 2nd, 2012 at 08:04 PM |
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| Quote: | Originally
posted by nils
Hey smiley, those mounts look kind of familar
Nice work mate
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No prizes for guessing where my inspiration came from 
I hope you don't mind  , I don't see the point of reinventing
the wheel if someone has already done a better job of it then you could ever do. When I decided to go with the 10° kit your setup was the first thing
that came to mind, gotta be the best and simplest system ever!
Smiley
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Smiley
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| posted on January 2nd, 2012 at 08:12 PM |
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Right. Now where did I leave off? Gearbox can't go in or out with the bellhousing on 
It didn't take me long to identify the factory Kombi mounting ears as the major part of the problem. They were running into the bottom corner of the
firewall and not allowing the gearbox to be lifted up high enough.
So it didn't take long for this.
To look like this.
And then pretty blue again 
Smiley
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Smiley
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| posted on January 2nd, 2012 at 09:07 PM |
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All the bits and the framehorns got a lick of paint.
And here it is all bolted back in the car. Removing the ears off the top of the bellhousing gave me enough room to fit the gearbox in one piece. You
can see where I welded in an additional gusset plate on the mounts between the bushing tube and where it bolts to the bellhousing.
The stock length clutch cable is the perfect length as is the stock beetle bowden tube. Accelerator cable runs up and over the front of the gearbox
into the fanhousing.
Smiley
If you said I was a Volkswagen man, you'd be right.
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Smiley
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| posted on January 2nd, 2012 at 09:11 PM |
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I have an early start tomorrow so I'm off. I'll post the last few pictures tomorrow night with any luck. Then we can start on the next upgrades
Smiley
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SebastienPeek
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| posted on January 3rd, 2012 at 01:28 AM |
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Damn Smiley, I come on and you've done so much to your baja!
Congratulations, can't wait to see Alyce back climbing hills.
You need to post some videos of her in action 
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Smiley
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| posted on January 3rd, 2012 at 08:05 PM |
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| Quote: | Originally
posted by SebastienPeek
Damn Smiley, I come on and you've done so much to your baja!
Congratulations, can't wait to see Alyce back climbing hills.
You need to post some videos of her in action
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Thanks for the positive comments dude. There's no point sitting around, got to get in and do! The gearbox swap took me about a week. I'm back onto
the brake upgrades now
I actually went out offroading on Saturday and Sunday just gone. As far as actions movies, I'm been meaning to get some for a while now. I do have
these 'action' pictures from when I went offraoing in Gladstone with Dubcrazy in Nov 2010.
Smiley
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Smiley
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| posted on January 3rd, 2012 at 08:11 PM |
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Fortunately my Cranky kit bolts straight up to this Kombi box
Still can't fault this setup, they are fantastic.
I was fortunate that the starter cleared my gearbox mounts. As I forgot to check this before welding it all together Lucky for me there's plenty of space
The shifter coupling is all standard. And the shifter rod didn't have to be shortened. I didn't even have to adjust the gearstick on the tunnel!! It
all just bolted up and shifts perfectly 
Smiley
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Smiley
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| posted on January 3rd, 2012 at 08:27 PM |
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Then it was time to sort out some CVs and axles. I'm running Kombi inner to match the box and Beetle outer to match the stub axles. I ended up have
to machine the axles because my friends lathe wasn't tough enough to cut the inner CV part.
I pulled a set of Kombi axles of a spare box that I had lying around for the CVs. For those that are interested here is a side by side picture of the
Beetle and Kombi axle sitting next to each other. You can see that the Kombi axle is a few inchs longer, and also has a longer splined section for the
wider CV joint.
Out of the 4 CVs on those axles there was only one in good enough condition to use. Most of the had galling or bad wear. With the worst one looking
like this 
Fortunately I had another bus at home that I could pull the axles out of. Of the 4 in it I only managed to get one good CV too!! Talk about a run or
worn parts.
Smiley
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Smiley
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| posted on January 3rd, 2012 at 08:38 PM |
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It wasn't long before the axles were assembled greased and fitted to the car. The good thing is that I have 2 spare Type 1 CVs now in case I break
another one
I also fitted the earth strap here. As there was no where on the floorpan near the front of the gearbox to bolt it to, because of my front mount
design. This is just a stock Kombi earth strap.
Smiley
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Smiley
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| posted on January 3rd, 2012 at 08:48 PM |
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Next issue that I ran into was that I couldn't get my big allen key onto the fill bung in the side of the box. Because of the angle the framehorn is
in the way.
So I dug out a little M12 bolt that has a 17mm head and put a few nuts onto it. After this picture I tacked the nuts on so they won't come off. And
we have a NASA spec tool for removing the drain and fill bungs on the gearbox
Then it was only a few minutes work and the engine was back in. Gotta love Baja's for being the easiest car in the world to pull the donk in and out
of
Smiley
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Smiley
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| posted on January 3rd, 2012 at 08:55 PM |
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This pictures shows the angle that the engine is on now. I'm not the biggest fan of this but it's what I've had to do for the time being until I
fit a body lift to the car.
One good thing about the 10° kit is that it lifts the back of the engine up and gives it more clearance. This is great for when you're driving on
rocks or deeps ruts. You can also see that my crossmember is the lowest hanging point on the car, this is exactly what I built it for. If I do drop
the car into a rock or down a rut the idea is that this hits first and protects the soft engine and transaxle cases. Also a great place to mount a
skidplate!
Another issue I was faced with due to the tilted engine was the exhaust was higher, which put it hard up against the underside of the engine cage when
it was fitted.
So out came the hacksaw and chop chop chop. I'll have to make a new tip that exits a little lower under the barwork again.
All done  This was Christmas eve.
Smiley
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Smiley
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| posted on January 3rd, 2012 at 09:40 PM |
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Ok. So I took the car out offroading on Saturday and Sunday.
Saturday I went to Stoney creek with 2 other cars and did some dirt/rock tracks. With some hills and deep ruts. And a tiny bit of mud too. I think one
of the girls in the other cars was taking pictures so I'll try and get a hold of them.
I have to say that the lower gear ratios are a blessing offroad. And the addition of a working reverse gear is the greatest thing ever!! Way better
than the last gearbox.
And on Sunday myself and a mate in his Patrol headed to the local beach/dune spot, 5 Rocks.
Here is where the car really impressed. It drove straight up the hard sand hill on the way in at steady throttle with no hesitation or bogging down.
She just chugged straight to the top! The Patrol was in 4WD and low range to get up the same track.
We cruised around for a few hours down on the beach and inland track, had a gear time. I have found that 2nd gear is far more usable. Because of the
lower ratios. With the old box I would have been reving a little high in 1st, or really lugging in second, the car seems to pull 2nd gear a lot better
now making the car a lot more drivable.
All in all I'm very pleased with the gearbox and car. On the weekend it did exactly what it was built to do, TORMENT 4WDs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm started back onto my brake and spindle upgrades. I've marked the calipers out and am going to drill them tomorrow at work. I also have to try
and get some brass rod to machine up into bushes for the country buggy spindles so I can get them rebuilt ASAP.
That's all for now. Thanks for reading.
Smiley
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 matberry
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| posted on January 4th, 2012 at 11:50 AM |
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Good job Smiley, and a good read.
Matt Berry Motorsports...air cooled advice, repairs and mods Ph 0408 704 662
OFF-ROAD,CIRCUIT,DRAG,STREET,ENDURANCE
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Smiley
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| posted on January 6th, 2012 at 06:30 PM |
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Thanks for you kind words Matt. I hope you enjoy the beach trip this weekend. I wish I could go but have something else on!
I took my caliper brackets and spacers to work and used the drill press to put all the holes in the right places. I got home yesterday and it wasn't
long before I had this.
The brackets bolted up to the spindles perfectly. The clearance to the rotor is exactly as I hoped for.
With the caliper fitted. All the clearances are spot on. I'm very proud that everything fits perfectly on my first attempt. The caliper is centered
on the rotor. I also tried it with pads fitted and they go straight in as they should.
I'll be taking this to the guy that's doing my blue plate approval so he can inspect everything before it's fitted to the car. Hoping to see him
next week.
I picked up some brass rod yesterday afternoon so now I just need to make the bushes and rebuild the spindles!
I'm getting excited now 
Smiley
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Smiley
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| posted on January 11th, 2012 at 09:15 PM |
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Great news!
Went and saw the bloke doing my Blue Plate this afternoon and showed him everything I've done for the brakes
He was very pleased with the caliper brackets and I've been given the go ahead to put everything together and fit it to the car. Then we just have to
do braking tests etc.
I'm super excited! All the hard work is starting to pay off.
Smiley
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SebastienPeek
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| posted on January 11th, 2012 at 09:29 PM |
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Smiley,
Damn they look awesome! Good job and congratulations on getting it passed.
Now just need to make sure they do their job!
Can't wait to see her back on the road.
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nils
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| posted on January 12th, 2012 at 10:28 AM |
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This is great work smiley!
I forgot to mention That you need to take the ears of that kombi box to make it fit with that style mount, still abit of a pain really (but how many
times do you plan on doing it, think i changed mine for an earlier bell housing)
Will hopefully be doing a trip up north next year about this time, will look you up, go for a cruise and compare toys
When is the roll cage and coil overs coming?
Quit calling rust patina
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Turbo54
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| posted on January 12th, 2012 at 01:46 PM |
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Looks great and nice job on the brakes. Can you please tell me where you got the caliper brackets from?
Thanks
Heath
C'mon kids gather round,
there's a new sensation hitting town,
It's moving straight, low to the ground,
it'll pick you up when your feeling down.
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Smiley
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| posted on January 12th, 2012 at 09:38 PM |
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| Quote: | Originally
posted by SebastienPeek
Smiley,
Damn they look awesome! Good job and congratulations on getting it passed.
Now just need to make sure they do their job!
Can't wait to see her back on the road.
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It's not passed yet! Still have to put it on the vehicle and do the testing yet.
And what do you mean back on the road? She's my daily driver, always on the road!
| Quote: | Originally
posted by nils
This is great work smiley!
I forgot to mention That you need to take the ears of that kombi box to make it fit with that style mount, still abit of a pain really (but how many
times do you plan on doing it, think i changed mine for an earlier bell housing)
Will hopefully be doing a trip up north next year about this time, will look you up, go for a cruise and compare toys
When is the roll cage and coil overs coming?
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Yeah, I worked out the gearbox issue. Only put me back a day so no big drama.
It would be great to see you car in person, as I've said before it's got to be one of, if not the, best Baja's in Australia. Hopefully mines a
little less tame by that point
As for the rollcage and coilovers, maybe when I have something else as my daily driver so I can pull it off the road and do the work to it.
| Quote: | Originally
posted by Turbo54
Looks great and nice job on the brakes. Can you please tell me where you got the caliper brackets from?
Thanks
Heath
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Thanks for you positive comments. I designed the caliper brackets myself and had them CNC Plasma cut at a local fabrication shop. Then I drilled and
tapped all the holes in them at work.
Smiley
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nils
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| posted on January 13th, 2012 at 08:24 AM |
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| Quote: |
It would be great to see you car in person, as I've said before it's got to be one of, if not the, best Baja's in Australia. Hopefully mines a
little less tame by that point
As for the rollcage and coilovers, maybe when I have something else as my daily driver so I can pull it off the road and do the work to it.
Smiley
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You sure know how to make a guy feel proud, truth is it no better than any other really. It has its limitations and problems, and days i wish i had
kept it a bit more stock ( right now i am stuck with that long distances are a major pain and rebuilding things to make that possible) really cool to
look at and jump though.
Depending on what engine you are running and how far i live from all the places you roll you will probably find that the 1600 box 4th gear is just a
little low,
Have fun!
Quit calling rust patina
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Smiley
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| posted on January 14th, 2012 at 04:18 PM |
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Here's a quick picture of the new fridge I bought fitted to the car. It's a nice little unit and managed to keep my drinks and fruit cold all day
long
Seat belted in nice and tight so it won't go anywhere on the rough tracks I did today.
And here's a picture of the 12V socket that I added to run it. It's fitted to the underside of the rear seat cross brace just beside the tunnel.
Nice handy location but tucked in out of the way. Currently it's wired up to constant power off the battery. I didn't have any dramas today with it
running the battery down, I think we stopped for over an hour for lunch. But I wouldn't leave it plugged in overnight, at least not until I install
twin batteries in the car
Smiley
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Smiley
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| posted on January 15th, 2012 at 05:34 PM |
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Here's a few quick pictures from the trip we did yesterday morning out to the Rock Track at Stoney Creek.
The pictures don't really do this drop of justice. The car is on a +45° angle. It was very steep. The Subaru opted to drive around this little
obstacle
Smiley
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Smiley
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| posted on January 15th, 2012 at 05:36 PM |
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This is the little Subaru that came out with me that my mate owns.
Smiley
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nils
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| posted on January 16th, 2012 at 05:45 AM |
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Jealous! . . .. . . . . . . . ..I went out sunday too, drove around for 2hrs and found close enough to nothing.
picture this with CB spindles
Quit calling rust patina
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