Evlwevl Posted February 22, 2019 Posted February 22, 2019 My mother in law found this kit for me 20 years or so ago. I’ve always wanted to build a narrow eye Baja bug model and already have several street bugs so here we go. I dremeled the nose and rear clip off and sculpted a new nose from plaster before casting it in resin (first time). I just completed a styrene rod role cage and have a few more ideas to go with it.
Lordmodelbuilder Posted February 22, 2019 Posted February 22, 2019 Very nice! What are you planning on using for rims & tires?
89AKurt Posted February 22, 2019 Posted February 22, 2019 Cool subject! Look forward to watching this build.
Evlwevl Posted February 22, 2019 Author Posted February 22, 2019 2 minutes ago, Lordmodelbuilder said: Very nice! What are you planning on using for rims & tires? I might either go wi I might either go with a sand type set up with paddles on back and smoothies up front or an off-road bfg looking tire. My inspiration is the Tamiya sand scorcher
Snake45 Posted February 22, 2019 Posted February 22, 2019 That looks really good! Your nosepiece has a certain skull-like look to it, which is pretty cool. Drive on!
Evlwevl Posted February 23, 2019 Author Posted February 23, 2019 Thanks everyone. I’m looking forward to finishing it. Hopefully it ends up looking like I picture it in my head.
Dann Tier Posted February 23, 2019 Posted February 23, 2019 I'm sure it will!...its already looking KILLER!!!!
espo Posted February 23, 2019 Posted February 23, 2019 My compliments on the nose for your Baja. I had a Baja with this same front end years ago. I lived at Grover City next to Pismo Beach at the time. You got the front deck lid dead on also. There were several different Fiber Glass kits for this conversion at the time and they had different versions of the fenders and the rear engine cover. I'll try and find any pictures I might have if you think they would be of any help. The rear fender treatment you are showing was the most common, as mine was an earlier kit. The difference being the fender ended a little higher up on the arch and then had a flat rear facing surface with Bus type Tail lights. The engine cover was something like a scoop air intake that directed air off the roof toward the firewall side of the engine. This also had a raised area in the center that housed the License Plate and cleared the Air Filter. The picture of the blue and white Bug shows the later style that was more common and offered better protection of the engine in inclement weather. It sounds like you're going for a true sand/beach type build. If you have not already experienced driving such a vehicle in the very lose sand you need to stay with very skinny front tires as using even a 70 series tire causes the front end to just skip over the sand, at least that was something I had to change. I will enjoy watching your build and if you cast the front end I would like to work something out with you for the front end anyway.
Evlwevl Posted February 23, 2019 Author Posted February 23, 2019 53 minutes ago, espo said: My compliments on the nose for your Baja. I had a Baja with this same front end years ago. I lived at Grover City next to Pismo Beach at the time. You got the front deck lid dead on also. There were several different Fiber Glass kits for this conversion at the time and they had different versions of the fenders and the rear engine cover. I'll try and find any pictures I might have if you think they would be of any help. The rear fender treatment you are showing was the most common, as mine was an earlier kit. The difference being the fender ended a little higher up on the arch and then had a flat rear facing surface with Bus type Tail lights. The engine cover was something like a scoop air intake that directed air off the roof toward the firewall side of the engine. This also had a raised area in the center that housed the License Plate and cleared the Air Filter. The picture of the blue and white Bug shows the later style that was more common and offered better protection of the engine in inclement weather. It sounds like you're going for a true sand/beach type build. If you have not already experienced driving such a vehicle in the very lose sand you need to stay with very skinny front tires as using even a 70 series tire causes the front end to just skip over the sand, at least that was something I had to change. I will enjoy watching your build and if you cast the front end I would like to work something out with you for the front end anyway. I used to spend several weeks in Grover Beach with the family every year. I bought a ‘63 Bug with a wide eye kit years to build as a bug I could take the family onto the Pismo dunes but after I got into it, I realized the body was too far gone and it served as a parts donor for my ‘59 streetcar. I kept the pan to hopefully build a 4 seater buggy someday and the Baja kit may end up on my on my ‘55 that I purchased from a guy who had already cut it for a Baja. The direction I take with this build will depend on the tires I eventually find. We can work something out on another pour. .
espo Posted February 24, 2019 Posted February 24, 2019 23 hours ago, Evlwevl said: I used to spend several weeks in Grover Beach with the family every year. I bought a ‘63 Bug with a wide eye kit years to build as a bug I could take the family onto the Pismo dunes but after I got into it, I realized the body was too far gone and it served as a parts donor for my ‘59 streetcar. I kept the pan to hopefully build a 4 seater buggy someday and the Baja kit may end up on my on my ‘55 that I purchased from a guy who had already cut it for a Baja. The direction I take with this build will depend on the tires I eventually find. We can work something out on another pour. . Your "wide eye" front end was the most common that I remember. The deep set hood on your 1:1 was not something I recall, but there were a lot of variations of this theme and I remember many different combinations. The main thing was what you could find and use. The flare of the rear fender in the picture pretty much matches what I had. The shorter front fenders had the stock turn signals mounted on the top of the front fenders. Mine was a '67 type one with a metal sun roof. This was in the mid seventies and I had an apartment on 13th street about a block off the main strett running to Hwy 101. The nose and hood would be of great assistance for my plan to build a model of the Baja I had, maybe we can work out a trade for something you may need. The wheels on mine were from Empi and they were a solid painted center. I had 15x8 rears with 10.00x15 ribbed implement tires. The fronts were 14x5 and I finally settled on 6.95x14 tires after much experimentation with different sizes. As I mentioned the front end would not bit into the sand and let you turn when I had the wider tires. I also drove it on the street and with the modified engine it would dust most any other V'db that I would meet. I'll be looking over your shoulder on this build, you have me wanting to jump into my own.
stavanzer Posted February 25, 2019 Posted February 25, 2019 I'm watching this too. Great Work so far.
Evlwevl Posted March 3, 2019 Author Posted March 3, 2019 (edited) I’ve got the body in rough primer and I am added mount tabs and primed the cage. With the scale 3 inch body lift I’ve added, I will have to also lift the seats up. I’m considering cutting the center web in the seat mount and build some risers/seat mounts. Edited March 3, 2019 by Evlwevl
Evlwevl Posted March 3, 2019 Author Posted March 3, 2019 (edited) I purchased this resin cast engine and I am doing some cleanup on the parts. I like the look of the 36 horse style fan shroud and I usually modify the 1600 Revell fan shrouds to look like 36 horse shrouds anyway . Interestingly it does not have cylinder tin which leaves the cylinders exposed which might look good for a drag car but not practical for a Baja bug. It’s going to have to work. Just like in real life, the issue with trying to fit a 200mm flywheel in an early tranny case, this cast resin flywheel doesn’t fit the stock Revell bell housing. Edited March 3, 2019 by Evlwevl
Evlwevl Posted March 3, 2019 Author Posted March 3, 2019 Since this is an off-road car, I’m going to save the 48’s for my upcoming drag convertible bug and I’m going to run these air cleaner covered webers instead.
Oldmopars Posted March 12, 2019 Posted March 12, 2019 I love Baja's. I have owned several and wish I still had one. I look forward to seeing this progress, your doing great so far.
Evlwevl Posted April 3, 2019 Author Posted April 3, 2019 Been in a little bit of a standstill while sourcing the tires that more or less replicate The original Sand Scorcher. Front tires are from a AMT deora kit With two thick styrene sheets sandwiched between the tire halves and shaped with Tamiya putty to get the correct tire width. While waiting for the putty to cure, I just wanted to see a Mock up of the wheels and tires sitting next to the body. Once I modify the suspension, it should be ready for paint
89AKurt Posted April 3, 2019 Posted April 3, 2019 On 3/2/2019 at 10:12 PM, Evlwevl said: [...] Interestingly it does not have cylinder tin which leaves the cylinders exposed which might look good for a drag car but not practical for a Baja bug. [...] Is that because of sand getting thrown around? What about making a vacuum-formed shroud?
Evlwevl Posted April 3, 2019 Author Posted April 3, 2019 2 minutes ago, 89AKurt said: Is that because of sand getting thrown around? What about making a vacuum-formed shroud? The cylinder tin provides a sealed cooling path For the air so they direct air around the cylinders and cools them with air provided from the fan. It turns out that I have a parts kit from Tamiya that uses those same cylinder tins for this engine
89AKurt Posted April 3, 2019 Posted April 3, 2019 9 hours ago, Evlwevl said: You got it covered! Have to ask, that picture taken at Goodwood Festival?
Rider Posted April 15, 2019 Posted April 15, 2019 This is looking real cool. Who doesn't like these Baja bugs.
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