"Barn Find" - Stroppe Baja Racer sees the light of day

[BajaBronco]

We hope to get some pics shot here pretty soon! On the beautification end: Got the color code info submitted and the decals are in the works!

 

[toddz69]

some new photos

Here are a few photos from this weekend. The holes in the spring mounts were badly oval'd from years of racing so Glen welded them up and re-bored them.

Todd Z.

 

[Viperwolf1]

I see there is no governor on the trans. Does it have a full manual valve body?

 

[toddz69]

I see there is no governor on the trans. Does it have a full manual valve body?

Yes. When they tore it apart, they discovered that the reverse pattern manual valve body that was in it didn't have any compression braking in it (I guess this was common in older versions of the manual valve bodies) so they put a proper one in there. The deep pan didn't have a corresponding deep pick up to go with it so they installed one of those too. Apparently the converter was totally trashed but the inside of the trans itself was in relatively good shape.

The C4 adapter is one of the earliest versions - predates the "STROPPE" cast ones according to Andrew, which historically confirms that this was one of the first trucks that Stroppe likely converted to an automatic back in the day.

One of the steering box bolts won't come out without cutting out the lower radiator mount either. The box and pump were removed and sent to Tom Lee for a rebuild. And the tulip joint at the box/shaft interface is getting replaced too.

Todd Z.

 

[sprdv1]

Here are a few photos from this weekend. The holes in the spring mounts were badly oval'd from years of racing so Glen welded them up and re-bored them.

Todd Z.

Gotta love new parts.. yay...

 

[toddz69]

The Red Racer is slowly coming back together. The fuel cells are re-furb'd and back in the truck. The drivetrain in nearly complete.

The plan is to do some testing in Plaster City, CA this weekend. Hopefully I'll get some pics to share after that adventure.

Todd Z.

 

[NicksTrix]

very exciting!

 

[BajaBronco]

I'm packing the camera and plenty of extra batteries just in case. Will try to take some movies too....

 

[BajaBronco]

Just got back from what I'd call a very successful test. A couple of things need some attention and Todd and I will share those details once the list is complete - but overall it's doing great. Handles really well at speed which is what these trucks were all about. After airing down to 25lbs in the tires it was a ton better too. KuttySark was there helping out and shooting some fantastic photos. Here are some highlights. More coming soon! I was able to take a few movies and Kutty has a good one but they all need a little more work.

 

[MattW]

Awesome.

 

[broncojack]

Cool, can't wait for the movies!

 

[gjrock]

Very cool. Great job!

 

[broncomitch]

im guessing there is no mufflers?

i love how the pipes shoot out the side of the rockers.

 

[needabronco]

Mitch there's no mufflers and I can personally say it's LOUD I still haven't gotten to drive it though...%)(maybe someday)

 

[toddz69]

As Chris Wilson has said numerous times, it sounds like a bad-ass old Trans Am racer. Chris and Glen had it up to about 4500 rpm last weekend and they said it made their ears hurt. I can't imagine riding in something like this for 1000 miles back in the olden days.

There physically isn't enough room for mufflers between the end of the headers and the exit through the rockers.

Todd Z.

 

[StnePny]

Looking Good Todd, I beat it sound even better ...

 

[BajaBronco]

Here's a quick vid from a year ago. I'm still working on the other videos, but I promise they'll be up one way or the other soon!

http://www.youtube.com/user/BajaBronco408#p/a/u/0/EZVytgIhL7U

 

[sprdv1]

Sounds bad azz.. Love it

 

[Gud Racing]

Great progress guys! It's sure it neat to see it out in the desert again!

 

[toddz69]

Some more in-process pictures

Here are some more shots of our trip to San Diego and the CA desert two weekends ago for Bronco building and testing. In these photos:

details of the fuel cell install. An interesting surprise when the driver's side was removed. It appears this section of the rocker was cut out to access the inside of the rocker panel for repairs. That makes sense because we've seen a lot of pictures with bashed rockers on the truck. Shot of the front end shows a much straighter front axle. Vehicle restoration always involves a lot of standing around and BS'ing .

Todd Z.