I wanted to take a moment to thank ToolUp for providing us with a Ridgid Model 42-A Heavy-Duty 4-Wheel Pipe Cutter. We needed this to cut the front ends to install the torsion bar adjusters. It made the work go much quicker. Thanks very much for your support.
Scott is a freelance mechanical engineer, prototype machinist and fabricator. Primarily employed in the design of medical devices, motorcycles have been a lifelong hobby. He’s built two bikes of his own design and maintains a stable of about 10 others. He cannot be left unsupervised with anything mechanical, lest he take it apart and put it back together. Forty years of wrenching, 30 years racing dirt bikes and 20 years racing GP road race machines have addled his mind sufficiently for the Baja event to look appealing.
Scott is a mechanic and driver for the team.
Still life, with VWsThe Baja 500 was this weekend. Looking forward to hearing the Class 11 results.
Finally got a chance to upload Charlie’s video of our trip to Tijuana to meet with Eric Solorzano.
And we had a work day today. Waiting for the photos from sCary. I’ll post those post haste.
We met at sCary’s place today to continue work on the body and front suspension. Skid was off in some desert paradise sipping mojitos, leaving sCary, Shawn (who still owes me a team bio) and me to do the heavy lifting.
sCary focused on gussets for the front suspension spindles – a tip passed along by Eric Solorzano, who we’re still talking about, starting sentences with “Well, Eric says…”
Before we headed out to sCary’s workspace, we watched Charlie’s 14-minute uncut video of our trip to Mexico. I’ll post a brief, expurgated clip next time.
Anyway, sCary worked on gussets. He’d already reinforced welds on other parts of the front suspension and is preparing to make some precision cuts that will allow him to adjust the front springs and buy us some front end ground clearance.
Shawn, who is already practicing for the Baja 1000 by taking his high-performance Corvette into Santa Clara County hill country, focused on sanding down the hood. His technique is amazing. He was pointing out variations in paint height that I couldn’t sense with my fingertips.
I got the coolest job – hammering out the curved lips on three of the four fenders. The issue with standard VW fenders is that, at the factory, they bend the metal under the fender. That’s all well and good for highway driving, but in a desert environment, the additional up and down tire travel means the tire can get gouged if it scrapes against the rough inside lip of the curved metal.
The inside curve of a VW fender is a perfect resonator and I spent 20-30 minutes apiece hammering down the rough edge on each fender. My ears are still ringing.
Here are a few shots from today’s efforts.