74 Baja Race Bronco - Baja or Bust

[ZOSO]

One last pic. Cant wait to see their pics and hear the stories.

What happens in Baja stays in Baja


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Unless you drink the water- then that comes home with you!

Water/senorita it's all the same.

[casadejohnson]

Getting our NORRA drink on

Check us at on NORRA.com. Live streaming


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[Moab Mike]

That is awesome!

Chris the carnage is only a testament to your actually driving it the way it was built and the way it was meant to be driven! I hope it doesn't hit your pocket book too hard. Great work from your pit crew too!!!

What's that on Phil's tongue?

[landshark]

We pulled back into Denver yesterday evening from Cabo - I will post up a race report soon! Thanks for following along, has been surreal.

[Jesus_man]

Welcome home! Get settled back in, but don't take too long! We are chomping at the bit for the stories!!

[Jesus_man]

Meanwhile....

[Digger]

Meanwhile....

https://www.race-dezert.com/home/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/2019-norra-race-dezert-DAY1-CARS-PIEDRASGORDASJUMP1-0371.jpg?x40992

Whoa.

[landshark]

Clean up and tear down has begun.

[Digger]

Wow. That cage really took a hit.

[Jesus_man]

Wow. That cage really took a hit.

That was my thought too.

Chris - we'd love to hear the story from your perspective. Seems you landed on your front hard, then onto your side??

New radiator, front clip, grill, bumper, and perhaps a cage? Or repair the cage?

[Digger]

Interestingly, you hit it in about the strongest section of the cage. Did the cage move at all? It looks like it just collapsed the tubing.

Nice work either way!

[landshark]

Interestingly, you hit it in about the strongest section of the cage. Did the cage move at all? It looks like it just collapsed the tubing.

Nice work either way!

Nope, cage didn't move at all it just dented it at that point. Jason was over a few days ago and we already have a plan to section and repair the section. We will rebuild the exact same bumper, it did what it was supposed to and absorbed the impact.

No damage to the radiator in the crash, our coolant overflow bottle didn't break either :) I will rebuild the driver side inner side skirt and pull out the front edge of the core support. I welded angle iron in at the top and bottom and it held everything in place nicely.

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[Jesus_man]

Rumor was the radiator is what didn't allow you to get into La Paz. Not true?

[landshark]

Rumor was the radiator is what didn't allow you to get into La Paz. Not true?

We lost the radiator when we hit a baja bush the next day with about 130 miles to go, more of a mesquite style tree than a leafy bush - turns out a branch grabbed the belt or fan and threw the belt into the backside of the radiator. We used some Alumnseal and went another 100 miles or so before the radiator started leaking again, we stopped several times and used all the water we had to try and make it.

Besides the damage and bent steering Bronco was running perfect.

[Dirtheadz]

I TOLD YOU.... "Careful, desert racing is addictive!!!!" Now your hooked, its worse than black tar heroin (being from Las Vegas, ask me how i know!!!! many nights, countless $$$$$$ and awesome memories)

[Viperwolf1]

Here's a short video from the race.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C85wAkHN6To

[Rox Crusher]

overtaking buggies at 100 mph looks fun

[landshark]

Well, we pulled the engine a few weeks ago and it's out to the Engine shop for a tear down and check, ran it real hot and want to make sure it doesn't have any issues.

Have most of the replacement pieces I need to fix the bent stuff. I will be replacing the front driver inner fender sheet metal and pulling out the corner core support and refitting new fenders and grill.

Realized we almost lost the hood at some point and will add more re-enforcement to the hood pin retainers to make sure they dont' peel off like they were doing.

Anyway, a little slow going as I had to work on the 69 as it needed some TLC and I daily drive it and I am prepping the 76 to sell as I just don't have time to give it the love it deserves :)

Anyway here are a few more carnage pics for your entertainment.

[Eck]

Only the last picture of an empty engine bay is showing up Chris-- I NEED to see the carnage!!

[landshark]

more....

[Jesus_man]

Wow! So both front and rear tires nailed the rock breaking two wheels??

It looks as if someone dropped it off in that spot on it's side with a heli.

[landshark]

For those that would like to snooze along - I posted all the 4k video we captured in the 2019 NORRA race from our 360 degree camera (Garmin VIRB 360). You should be able to look around in 360 glory in most browsers and mobile devices, looks best in 1080p or larger. The gauges on the dash were added later when the video was exported. The camera is pretty cool, captures great video and saves a ton of metrics. The software sucks.



Enjoy!

[Strike2]

Cool video !
In true Baja fashion you get a story before the race even happens.
Good thing Mike trained at hi altitude or that ΓÇ£pre-runΓÇ¥ jog in a race suite could have ended badly

Thanks for sharing

[Jesus_man]

What a cool way to document something! Thanks for sharing!

[landshark]

Actually been working on the racer off and on the last few weeks. Made some progress.

Cut off both radius arm mounts and welded some stock HD ones on. Went through the front axle and swapped knuckles, new hub bearings, new rotors and pads. Picked up some DOM and replaced the bent tie rod and drag link mount. Finished fixing the front body damage and welded everything in, started reinstalling stuff and prepping for the engine coming home.











Mike came by last weekend and pushed out the rear quarter and took the fenders/grill for some body work and primer. More to be done on the rear but itΓÇÖs Looking a bit better now.

Before:


After:


I am moving to the rear axle next to look things over, will be replacing those rotors with the EBC cut and dimpled rotors as well.

I picked up a new AFR gauge and will be installing to get our tuning nailed down. Will also be installing a fuel gauge before winter for the fuel cell, be nice to know how much we have left.

Hope to have it running in the next few weeks and over to Jason for some cage repair!

[pgilbeau]

Looks like your making some good progress on being ready for next year!

[landshark]

Making some progress, engine is back and in, will finish up all the small stuff here soon and then off to cage repair and testing in September.

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[Rox Crusher]

did you have to do anything to the engine ?

[landshark]

did you have to do anything to the engine ?

Yes, it was totally torn down and inspected. Needed new pistons, bearings, seals, lifters and the heads where out by .015, slightly higher compression ratio at 10.14 to 1 now.. There were a few other things as well but most of the other main parts where good. I had it run and tuned on the dyno a couple of weeks ago. Has a touch more Torque and horsepower and ran better this time on the dyno than last, not sure why.

[Strike2]

did you have to do anything to the engine ?

. Has a touch more Torque and horsepower and ran better this time on the dyno than last, not sure why.

Sweet!! I bet that's why you couldn't power out of that last "getout" in Baja. More HP power never hurts