BajaZ Build Video #1

So I think I’ve dubbed the project the “BajaZ”. If the original was the SafariZ built by Bill Petrow at Broken Motorsports, this one will take it a step farther and be Baja in its flavor vs. Safari…Day 1 video of the build can be found below. I’ll post the others here in the days to come. This was the “get it up on the lift and take off some of the easy parts” stage from back in December.

Interesting...

Oooo…now here is a set of parts that may not be easily recognizable…

These are bushings and supports for the vehicle’s drivetrain. A known weakpoint for this vehicle we are upgrading it to start to hopefully eliminate some early teething problems. There will undoubtedly be issues but at least we are trying to get ahead of some of them. In truth I have a feeling I’m going to drive this vehicle pretty gingerly compared to my prior rally truck which was just a point and go setup without care for rocks, dips, ruts or pretty much anything else. This won’t be that…hopefully we can hold it together by upgrading certain key areas…This being one of them.

Interesting...

Here we have a “cool” item I’ve always wanted and didn’t have on my old rally vehicle…a quick disconnect steering wheel attachment! In the old truck it wasn’t really necessary and my steering wheel was hard connected but didn’t interfere with getting in and out of the vehicle given there was so much room in the truck. I always wanted to be one of the cool kids in taking my steering wheel off and placing it on the dash and now I get to do that! Also needed an adapter which is pictured here as well. Can’t remember if there are more items in the mail but we’ll see!

Interesting...

So another part in today…and honestly…there are a ton more that are coming in during the next week but most of them are going direct to the builder’s location so I don’t have to bring them with me when I drop the vehicle off for its cage and build.

This here is just a high flow fuel pump (who would have guessed) that is standard for this build so that we know that there is a brand new one in there since there will be an anti-starvation device going in as well. Might as well make sure its all new on such a key and cheap item…Never had a starvation problem in my prior vehicle whether it was with the stock fuel system or the fuel cell…but if this is what it needs, then this is what it needs…

Interesting...

Since this little project seems to be moving forward I figure I’ll document it here over time. At this point I’m not going to detail what it is, where it is being worked on, or what it will intended to be. Why? Well, when I built my first rally car some 10 years ago and I mentioned what I was doing, all I got was grief from every corner.

“you can’t build a truck for rally, its stupid!” “don’t do it, it will suck and you’ll hate it” “just buy a used one that is already built, you’ll be better off” “you can’t build it to both rally and desert racing specs” “that cage is all wrong, you need to cut the whole thing out and redo it” and on and on and on and on…Turns out though? I saw it through, it came out great, performed fantastic and provided over 10 years of adventure and enjoyment from the tip of Nova Scotia to the end of the road in Baja. Can’t beat that with a stick.

So this time we’ll just keep it fairly quiet and only get to revealing it when done. Along the way though…because I am excited about it, I’ll reveal a bit at a time and let those who actually visit here put it together (should be few enough of those). So for now…I’ll just provide non-specific updates on it from time to time.

For now we are in parts gathering mode for the project. Which is what you see so far below…