Baja Bug Chronicles

[MrHappypants]

Thanks, yes, I bought this baja to enjoy riding around in it...I think I am on the right track so far...

I went shopping today, I got:

2.5l gearbox oil 80w90
2 Axle boots
Oil pressure sensor (Wrong one)
17mm hex bit for the gearbox drain plug
Some RTV gasket maker
Spade terminals
Chinese carb from Midas - surely not the best but can only be much better than what was on there and at R1000 is worth the try ???

IMG_20180630_142718 by B R, on Flickr

So I am all excited when I get home with all my goodies today, push the baja into the garage to fit the carb and the thing won't fit. The mounting holes don't line up. They are slightly wider on the the carb than on the intake manifold. is that a 1300 vs 1600 intake thing? this is a single port machine.

Anyway I can't sit still so I decide to make an adapter so I can at least see how this carb runs ... I spend the rest of the day doing that and now it is too late to make too much noise so I can only try start it tomorrow. I have no idea how many cc's this engine is so hopefully the jetting is not way off.

First I traced out some templates then got to cutting and shaping some stainless steel I had lying around... it's not perfect by any means but it looks like it will work.

IMG_20180630_150953 by B R, on Flickr

IMG_20180630_151659 by B R, on Flickr

I also cut some new thicker gaskets to go with my adapter because the stainless warps so much when welded that the mating surfaces aren't perfectly flat. I added some gasket maker to the thick gaskets as well to help a bit more with that.

IMG_20180630_182331 by B R, on Flickr

This is how it all turned out:

IMG_20180630_184150 by B R, on Flickr

IMG_20180630_193314 by B R, on Flickr

IMG_20180630_195429 by B R, on Flickr

Now I just need to find out if that other spade terminal on the carb needs a neg or pos wire to it, my gut says positive like the choke....???

[Cyndi Kritzinger]

YES, THE CARBS ARE NOT ALL THE SAME SIZEAND SO THEY ALSO DIFFER AT THE MANIFOLD.....31, 32, 34PICT.

[retrovan]

..............Now I just need to find out if that other spade terminal on the carb needs a neg or pos wire to it, my gut says positive like the choke....???

All single terminals are always Positive as the Neg to earth gives the other pole.

Hope she runs well.

Herman

[MrHappypants]

..............Now I just need to find out if that other spade terminal on the carb needs a neg or pos wire to it, my gut says positive like the choke....???

All single terminals are always Positive as the Neg to earth gives the other pole.

Hope she runs well.

Herman

Thanks Herman. That makes sense.

I plugged it in and took it for another quick ride before I tackle the gearbox fluid and cover plates. I played with the mixture screw a bit and It runs MUCH better...I am sure nowhere near it's potential but progress is progress.

I also checked and saw that the battery gets around 14 volts when the car is running so at least the battery is charging. I just need to find out why the alternator light isn't going out. At least the battery is charging!

[Tony Z]

word of advise when filling the gearbox.
Remove the fill plug before you remove the drain plug
why you ask?
Simple, if you remove the drain plug first and then find that you cant get the filling plug out, then you have no oil left. If you try the fill plug first and it doesnt come out, you can still drive your car

[MrHappypants]

word of advise when filling the gearbox.
Remove the fill plug before you remove the drain plug
why you ask?
Simple, if you remove the drain plug first and then find that you cant get the filling plug out, then you have no oil left. If you try the fill plug first and it doesnt come out, you can still drive your car

Brilliant advice, thanks. I will do just that.

[John Alves]

I also checked and saw that the battery gets around 14 volts when the car is running so at least the battery is charging. I just need to find out why the alternator light isn't going out. At least the battery is charging!

Are you sure its not the oil pressure light that is staying on, check that the wiring is correct

[73type2]

Most original carbs like Solex 30 Pict-2, 34Pict-3 would have throttle shaft play after 40-odd years. You could have the shaft bore re-bushed, but I'd rather look for a used Solex Brosol H30/31 replacement which is much newer and have minimal to zero throttle shaft wear.

[73type2]

Oops sorry I see you already bought a new carb!

[MrHappypants]

Yeaup, I already got the chinese carb on, not much testing done with it yet as I pulled the engine and gearbox last week to get to those pesky cover plate bolts...

[MrHappypants]

So I took one of the axle boots off to see if I could possibly replace them and the cover plate bolts while the gearbox is in the vehicle. No Go. All the dirt that is there and small space would not work.

IMG_20180703_172446 by B R, on Flickr

So off came the big baja bumper, unbolted and unplugged the engine and off it came

IMG_20180703_181810 by B R, on Flickr

IMG_20180703_184326 by B R, on Flickr

The next morning I popped the wheels, drums, shocks etc off, unbolted the gearbox and out it came.

IMG_20180704_122027 by B R, on Flickr

I then put the bolts on the cover plates just to keep as much muck and sand out as possible and gave it a scrape down and then wash.

Before:

IMG_20180704_124059 by B R, on Flickr

After:

IMG_20180704_153215 by B R, on Flickr

I Then checked that I could get the filler loose and I could, so I opened the drain plug and laid the gearbox down in a way that should remove most oil...this is what came out...about 750ml of dark oil... hey, at least there was some oil to come out. There was a few small shavings on the magnetic drain plug but nothing I think I should worry about at this stage.

IMG_20180704_213310 by B R, on Flickr

I then fabricated a rear wheel bearing puller as per the Haynes manual like such:

IMG_20180704_174206 by B R, on Flickr

which worked a treat to get the bearings off...they seem pretty new, they were probably recently replaced because the last ones didnt last due to lack of oil from the gbox.

IMG_20180704_175111 by B R, on Flickr

The paper gaskets are at least there so I have a size/thickness to go from but where do I get these gaskets from?

IMG_20180704_181112 by B R, on Flickr

I know it looks horrible it that last photo, and it is. It should probably be opened up and rebuilt but I am going to just put fresh oil in and see how long it runs for...
A lot more cleaning happened and now I am going out of town for a week so can only work on it again next week.

[MrHappypants]

This is the gearbox number:

IMG_20180704_153205 by B R, on Flickr

would the AB mean it is a 1300 box?

[MrHappypants]

If someone could help with my questions please:

1. Where do I get the paper cover plate gaskets from?

2. There is an oil leak coming from the engine behind the clutch/flywheel...what normally leaks there and what is the process to solve it? I want to fix this before I put the engine back in.

3. How many litres of oil does the gearbox usually take?

[Tony Z]

your flywheel seal is probably shot.
Remove flywheel, replace seal, put back
Use only good seals, not the cheap ones in the rebuild kits.
Flywheel needs to be torqued to around 350Nm to prevent the gland nut from coming loose.

Check your endplay before doing the job

[Edmond]

If someone could help with my questions please:

1. Where do I get the paper cover plate gaskets from?

2. There is an oil leak coming from the engine behind the clutch/flywheel...what normally leaks there and what is the process to solve it? I want to fix this before I put the engine back in.

3. How many litres of oil does the gearbox usually take?

You can get the loose paper cover plate gaskets from Flat Four Racing in Cape Town, i got mine from there.

My gearbox in my baja took just over 2L of oil, I used Castrol 80W90 GL4 oil.

I replaced an axle shaft while I still had the gearbox in my baja, I loosened the back mountings and jacked up the gearbox slightly taking care to not stress the front mount and then could remove the whole axle tube with cover plate. I noticed when I drained the gearbox oil not very much came out either probably less than a litre.
I think the AB is a 1300 Gearbox, nice for acceleration, my baja has the AS Gearbox with the longer diff ratio