I'm back to slowly building my semi tube chassis baja bug. I'm using a midshift vanagon transmission and a 2.5 subi engine. The front end will be an A arm setup. I'm seriously thinking about running airbags both front and back due to costs vs coilovers. I made a front transmission mount yesterday for the midshift and got it welded on the pan. I have an MR2 shifter that I'm going to try to build a cable shift out of. I built the side of my pan out of 2x4 box for a 3 inch body lift. This also helps with cage height as I'm 6'2". I also cut the roof off of the body so I could run a flat roof with a roof rack made into the top of it. I'm undecided on the rear suspension. I'm thinking about running 4x5s but I already have some bus axles so I may run 2x3's to start with then upgrade later. I'm using modified 914 uprights for spindles. I started on a skidplate and mounts for in front of the front trans mount. I'm trying to keep the bottom as flat as possible so I don't hang on stuff. I still need to buy a steering rack and some other suspension parts. Anyway heres some pictures.



This was a lot of welding to run a bead around the whole floorpans.


Heres my modified 914 upright. This lets me have disc brakes up front easy.














I used these weld nuts on the underside of the piece of angle iron that is the front mount for the skid plate in front of the trans. I'm going to use pan head allens to mount it so they won't get caught on stuff as easy as regular bolts.

Sweet looking fab work!! Thanks for posting the pics. Please post more as you go.

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Bryan

Thanks. I've got a bunch of pics of making the sides and pan if you guys want to see anything specific, just ask. I wish I had more time to work on it. Everything else keeps getting in the way.

John

Shoot, let's see them all. Don't hold out on us. we all love pics

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When in doubt, hit it in second gear!

Post 'em man!

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It's amazing what you can accomplish when you don't care who gets the credit.-
Harry S. Truman

you must work at auto factory to get those m6 weld nuts looks good

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drive it like you know how too fix it

Looks killer so far! Lets see more.
Nice baja's are too cool !!

Larry

I'll put up some of the older pictures when I get time to. Here's some from tonight. I got the final positioning of the front mount and welded it in. I got one of the rear mounts on and welded. A good thing to do when doing this is stick a bolt in the weldnut to keep spatter out of the threads. Coat the bolt with antispatter compound so it wont get stuck in if it gets some on it. There's a closeup of the setup to make sure the mount is at the correct height and level. I took a piece of 1x1 .125 angle and milled the inside corner squared off so it would sit tightly up against a corner. I'll try to remember to take a picture so you guys understand what I'm talking about. You can kinda see what I did in the closeup. I don't work in the auto manufacturing industry. I got the weld nuts from a friend who works in manufacturing. They are m8x1.25. You can buy them from these guys http://www.hudsonfasteners.com/weld.htm

I finished my trans mount skid plate tonight. The up close is of a bolt I ground a point onto. This way I can get the hole center in the right place. I used button head allen bolts so they wouldn't hang on stuff.

I finally got to work on my baja again. I made the cross member/skid plate support that goes under the back of the trans. I wanted to be able to bolt the engine skidplate to it. I didn't want to weld tabs to the back of it because I'm going to put an access to be able to drain the trans without removing the skid plate. The tabs would have been in the way of this. I drilled some holes about .020" undersized of the OD of some M8 nuts. I used my press to put them in the tubing. This keeps them lined up and in place while welding them in. I always throw some bolts in them when welding to keep the threads from getting spatter in them. Anyway here's some pictures.

Have any ideas drawn up for the cable shift? I have an 091 and really want to figure out a cable setup too.

Awesome work, so far!
The welds look flawless!!

-Dakotah/koko

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-Dakotah/koko
keep on keepin' on!!

Thanks for the good comments. I just wish I'd get it done quicker but I refuse to slap it together.

I'm mainly in the parts gathering stage for the shifter. I have a couple of ideas. I'm going to have to do some lathe work for some of the parts before I start building it. I got the skid plate cut out and welded on so now it's time to flip the pan back over. I'll be doing the cable shifter next so I can finish my rear body lift section. I don't want to do it until I know where the shifter stuff is going.

John

Here's the skid plate. I'm trying to decide if I should put a small piece of 1/8x1 or something like that across where my finger is to keep something from being able to come in at an angle. I'm probably just paranoid but I don't want a rock taking out my transmission case.

John

Mines fully welded in.

I ended up deciding to put the pieces I was pondering in. I got them welded up and flipped my pan back over so I could start on the shifter.

I built my cableshifter for the baja. There's the thread.
http://woodsbuggy.com/forum/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=7154

I finally got back to making some more progress on my baja. I got the shifter finished completely. I also finished the rear section of the body lift. It took quite a bit of time because I had to cut a section out of the tubing and weld it back together to make it not as tall so it lined up with the rest of the body lift.

That is clean looking work,,the shifter linkage looks factory.

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If your clutch ain't slippin,, you probably got it adjusted right!!!!!

what kind of welder are ya useing?

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Brandon

I have a miller 175 that I used for most of it. The bent center section is 22 guage. I ran .023 wire for it. I also have a Miller Dialarc 250 tig that I used for the shifter bracket just to get some practice tig welding.

John

Finally, a good use for mr2 parts!

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"Do or Do Not, THERE IS NO TRY!" Yoda.

Oh, and damn fine job!!

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"Do or Do Not, THERE IS NO TRY!" Yoda.

Thanks. I didn't end up using an MR2 shifter as it throws the side to side cable the wrong way for how I set mine up. I have one that I'd like to get rid of if anyone wants one. I'd take $20 plus shipping for it. I thought this shifter was off an accord but I got it off the shelf in a friend's shop. After looking around at some we now think its a mitsubishi shifter. I got a shift knob for it last night so I can actually shift it and get a feel for it. I'm pleased with how its turned out.

John

Here's a bit of progress. I still have to square up the chassis and level the frame jig but at least its sitting on it. I got my steering rack friday. I have to finish turning out two weld in inserts for the lower joint on my spindles. I'm hoping it will start coming together faster now. I'm getting excited about it so I'll want to work on it more.