My Baja Clone Project, Pt. 1

[Harold Bascom]

I'm having a ton of fun putting my new Rovan Baja 5b back together after taking it apart to understand how it comes together. In the process, I discovered that as far as Rovan is apparently concerned, the usual complaint of clones coming apart, nut by nut, screw by screw, and bolt by bolt, would not easily apply to their clones. Lol. It seems that red Locktite was used on everything in the buggy I got. In trying to loosen bolts, most gave me a fight. One head stripped so badly, I had to dremel a groove to used a screwdriver.

My plan is to invest in a little butane torch with which to heat up bolts and screws locked too tightly.

All in all, I'm having a good time. Some of the upgrades I've made thus far, is installed a push/pull steering system. I also reconfigured the top of the cage (the roof) and made it so that I can flip a section up to have easy access to the spark plug. (See pictures.)

 

[evssv]

looks sweet dude...

 

[Harold Bascom]

looks sweet dude...

Will post pics when I'm done working on it, of course.

 

[cbaker65]

Will post pics when I'm done working on it, of course.

It looks like all you need to do is throw some shoes on ,an step out the door!....

 

[Harold Bascom]

It looks like all you need to do is throw some shoes on ,an step out the door!....

Lol.

 

[DougStar]

Looks neat

 

[Harold Bascom]

Looks neat

I presume you meant 'neat.' And that neat look is due to me spraying that stretch of nose silver grey. I've also sprayed the beadlocks silver grey. And the end plates of the wing silver grey also.

 

[cbaker65]

I presume you meant 'neat.' And that neat look is due to me spraying that stretch of nose silver grey. I've also sprayed the beadlocks silver grey. And the end plates of the wing silver grey also.View attachment 53013

Those look sweet ,I was thinking about doing my original wheels up to ,as I am more app to make my own
stuff ,an out of what I already have!...

 

[Harold Bascom]

Those look sweet ,I was thinking about doing my original wheels up to ,as I am more app to make my own
stuff ,an out of what I already have!...

Doing your own stuff is another sweet part of this hobby. My first fifth-scale was a Redcat Rampage XR that in time I converted into a vintage racer by making an aluminum body on my own. Picture below:

 

[cbaker65]

Doing your own stuff is another sweet part of this hobby. My first fifth-scale was a Redcat Rampage XR that in time I converted into a vintage racer by making an aluminum body on my own. Picture below:View attachment 53014

That's frekin cool ,I just seen some that was real ,they were hitting speed records in the 20's & 30's with them ,an I mean serious
records in those time periods!....

 

[Harold Bascom]

That's frekin cool ,I just seen some that was real ,they were hitting speed records in the 20's & 30's with them ,an I mean serious
records in those time periods!....

??Some were very fast for their time; yes.

 

[Z.hb71]

Looks good, like the black n silver!

 

[Harold Bascom]

Looks good, like the black n silver!

I like simple yet dramatic color schemes for my cars.

 

[Seandonato73]

It's what I would expect from your work Harold nicely done mate ?

 

[Harold Bascom]

It's what I would expect from your work Harold nicely done mate ?

Thank you, my brother. I know you strive to do good work, too. PEACE

 

[cbaker65]

Thank you, my brother. I know you strive to do good work, too. PEACE

I went back to your pic an looked again ,an everything about that buggy fits with that body an era ,with the way that
the gear cover looks ,the exposed rods an stuff ,makes it give that true nostalgia look ,because that is the way they
did look like with the exposed hardware!.....

Freakin awesome work!.....

 

[1Coopgt]

Harold did you buy the 5b new or used . Looks great.

 

[Harold Bascom]

Harold did you buy the 5b new or used . Looks great.

I bought it brand new for $430.00 from the Rovan website. Because I'm located in the USA, the shipping was free.

 

[Polar_Bus]

That is an awesome looking vintage body fab ! I love it ?