Baja Designs "Racer" Class One

[Bajades]

It's been awhile coming, but Dale Dondel, Johnnie, Aaron, Lewis and the rest of the guys at Racer have delivered our new Nye Frank/Dondel designed Class 1 chassis. They have done a beautiful job and have been a pleasure to work with. Johnnie's fab skills and TIG welding are top notch and Aaron did a killer job on the aluminum. It's up to Tex and I now to finish the car in our "spare" time, but it will be a great platform to test and develop new products and help us get our fix for racing in Baja. The car will feature a Danzio built LS2, Fortin transaxle with torque converter, ProAm hubs, brakes, and rack, Fox shocks, Sparco Seats, and of course, Soltek lighting (some cool new stuff including LED forward lighting and an "active" lighting system. More photos coming as the car progresses.

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa251/bajades/obliquesmall2.jpg

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa251/bajades/carside.jpg

Notice the cool radiused roof line.

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa251/bajades/frontsmall.jpg

Dale's trademark bumper and hood.

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa251/bajades/Rearsmall.jpg

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa251/bajades/dashsmall.jpg

Dash in Progress

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa251/bajades/fantasy.jpg

My wife caught me fantasizing!

[dezerts10]

damn johnnie crowbar and the rest of the guys at racer are putting out some awesome looking stuff. cant wait to see what they build next heard some good things.

Gregg

[<Cody Agee>]

the body work looks great!

[luckazz]

nice jobs guys... we'll wait for updates!! ;)

[bcampbell04]

car looks amazing. will it be raced by dondel's? anything that nye frank has a part in will be an amazing ride. keep us updated

[Bajades]

car looks amazing. will it be raced by dondel's? anything that nye frank has a part in will be an amazing ride. keep us updated

Dale will be building another Class One for he and Mike to race. This one was built for Baja Designs, and he is building another one for Josh at Danzio Performance. We can't wait to get it in the dirt!

[Josh @ DanZio]

She's turning out great! I really like your choice of engines. ;) Cant wait to check her out in action.

[partybarge_pilot]

It's up to Tex and I now to finish the car in our "spare" time

Just set Tex up a little bunk in the back of the shop, this will save 3hr's a day at least from not commuting :D

[Bajades]

Just set Tex up a little bunk in the back of the shop, this will save 3hr's a day at least from not commuting :D

Good idea, but I'm not sure I can sell Tex on this!:rolleyes:

[bcampbell04]

what is in the middle of the digital gauge and the gps on the passenger side, above the radio? looks like a camera to me

[Bajades]

what is in the middle of the digital gauge and the gps on the passenger side, above the radio? looks like a camera to me

Yep, its a rear view camera screen.

[jesusgatos]

That's dead-sexy.

[E&S Racing]

Looks good

[bcampbell04]

Yep, its a rear view camera screen.

that's a really cool idea. going to use it to see how much dust you throw at people when you pass them right??? just kidding. i really like the idea and am sure other people will as well

[1450-ranger]

We use the same on our truck, for 250 bucks its worth every dime.

[johnnyweb]

the car looks great and the fab top notch!!

[Josh @ DanZio]

We use the same on our truck, for 250 bucks its worth every dime.

Where do you get that at?

[outtacontrazy]

Aaron who did the aluminum is this the same aaron who used to run straitline out of fullerton? looks like his work.

[Bajades]

Aaron who did the aluminum is this the same aaron who used to run straitline out of fullerton? looks like his work.

I don't know if he worked at Staitline or not. He works for Dale full time now and he does amazing work. You should see some of his other projects that he's done with prerunners and sandcars.:)

[outtacontrazy]

I don't know if he worked at Staitline or not. He works for Dale full time now and he does amazing work. You should see some of his other projects that he's done with prerunners and sandcars.:)

is he a skinny white guy all tattoo'd up? if we are talking about the same guy, his work is f'in amazing, takes forever and a hlf to do it but it comes out rad.

[Jkrell]

Arron Kirkendal (sp?), guy does great work, did the tin work on robby's 4 seater prerunner buggy also. Car looks light a jet fighter, very cool arron.

[J_Lothringer]

Hey Alan car looks great! can't wait to see it run.............Yeah aaron does great work, he has worked for victory race cars, alpha (did big Johns alumicraft), and owned and opperated straightline for a while................

[1450-ranger]

eBay where you can buy anything.

[outtacontrazy]

Glad to hear he is still doing aluminum work, i havent seen him since he closed strait line. learned alot from that guy while he was around. Tell him "lunch box" says hi.

[randy s]

hey alan, when do you think you'll have it ready to go testing? where? any nite runs planned?

[cosmo]

looks like they are a ways off before going testing.Baja Designs does everything first rate too. They won't rush it!

[Bajades]

hey alan, when do you think you'll have it ready to go testing? where? any nite runs planned?


looks like they are a ways off before going testing.Baja Designs does everything first rate too. They won't rush it!

Yes, it will be a little while before we are ready to go testing. We're shooting for the middle of September but it seems like everything takes longer than you think it should.:rolleyes: We will be doing plenty of night testing in October, especially with the new LED light coming out. Any team that's interested in improving their lighting or getting help with their setup is welcome to join us. Just call the shop to get a schedule of when we are going out (pending completion of the car).

More update photos soon!

[MALIBLOC]

VERY NICE, stupid question for you, do you clearcoat the alumiun or just paint it? like in the new dirt sports what kinda finish do you do on the body? fabrication is top notch

[Nick Sexton]

One word for this project.................... "Clean"........................ Very nice.

[Bajades]

VERY NICE, stupid question for you, do you clearcoat the alumiun or just paint it? like in the new dirt sports what kinda finish do you do on the body? fabrication is top notch

We will be powder coat the aluminum and apply paint and graphics over that. Provides a much more durable finish than just painting the aluminum.

[cosmo]

So, what's new on the project?

[Bajades]

Between work, family,getting the car ready, pre-running for the 1000, and the SEMA show I've not been on RDC lately to update progress on the car. See details below:

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa251/bajades/engineandtranny.jpg

Engine and Tranny in, but without torque converter. Need to test fit for headers, engine mount and frame diagonal.

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa251/bajades/stapleton.jpg

Tried Mike Stapleton's off the shelf headers but they would not quite fit. This car is pretty narrow at the rear and they hit the side panels and would not allow room for a frame diagonal or engine mount diagonal.

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa251/bajades/Enginewithcoils.jpg

Chris at Danzio relocated the coils to make room for the headers. Ended up having Bob Butler build a custom stainless set and incorporated a Gibson Cross flow muffler to take the edge off the exhaust noise. Bob was great to work with and cranked them out in 2 days!

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa251/bajades/headers.jpg

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa251/bajades/fuelcell.jpg

James Harmon did a nice job on the fuel cell. It was built to my spec with a standard filler on one side and a dry break on the other. Has a built in fuel level sender as I hate guessing on fuel consumption. His pricing is good compared to others, but be prepared to wait awhile!

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa251/bajades/fuelcellfoam.jpg

Took the fuel cell apart so I could run the foam through the washing machine several times (Do this while your wife is out of the house and before you put gas in it!!) Often times little bits of the foam will clog fuel filters repeatedly if you don't get it all out.

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa251/bajades/seatadjuster.jpg

I built seat adjusters to accommodate a wide range of drivers. The seat mount rides on Delrin bushings and rises as it slides forward. I did this for both the driver and passenger side. Might as well be comfortable if you are going to be in the car for 8 hours at a stretch! I Line-Xed the floor while I was at it.

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa251/bajades/passengerrest.jpg

Passenger foot rest and throttle cable mount.

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa251/bajades/roofstrut.jpg

Built a roof opener with a gas strut and added a stainless latch that can be operated from either inside or outside the car.

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa251/bajades/sumptank.jpg

Sump tank for torque converter.

Jamie Campbell helped me with the converter installation. Man what a pain. Without him I would have never figured it out. There are about 7 things that have to be concentric within .005" and no good way to measure them. It took Jamie, me, Tex, and my machinest several hours to do it right and document the run out and torque converter pull out. Then, you have to bore a 7/8 hole through the engine block casting to provide access to the flex plate bolts! Next time it will be much easier but the initial setup is critical and time consuming.

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa251/bajades/airintake.jpg

The torque converter cooler and diff cooler mount behind the fuel cell. I built a fresh air intake seen here to bring fresh air in from the passenger compartment that will have short ducts to the UMP filters.

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa251/bajades/AirFiltery.jpg

Cliff at UMP built me a custom Y from the throttle body to the air filters (The standard Y is 90 degrees, this one matches the angle of the cross bracing in the chassis for a cleaner install)

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa251/bajades/converterbulkhead.jpg

I built some small bulkheads to pass some of the hydraulic lines to the coolers and sump tanks. You can see the torque converter pressure regulator in the foreground. If you are doing a torque converter install, back this thing way out before starting your engine. Mine was set to about 100 psi at idle (should be about 25 psi)!

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa251/bajades/powersteering.jpg

I used a big straight through power steering cooler mounted directly in the blast from the radiator fans (I'm hoping this will help with power steering cooling issues which I believe is the most common reason for failures in a one car) At the recomendation of Mezieres I installed an expansion tank for the cooling system (red tank) and added another air bleed to the LS2. Mike Kerr (who works both for Baja Designs and KORE) did a lot of the plumbing and did a great job.

OK, thats all the detail shots for now. I did get the car completed enough to get it up and running for the SEMA show (I've driven it about 3 miles now!) Still need to complete all the wiring, rear skid plates and engine cover, plumbing tweaks, and sort out an issue with interference at the upper A-Arm.

Here are some photos from SEMA where the car was in the Weld Wheels/American Racing Wheels booth where thousands got to check it out. Thanks to Tex Mitchell, Mike Kerr, Mike Lombardi and Les O'Dor, and Jamie Campbell, for helping get the car to the SEMA show. Now I just need to get it ready to race!

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa251/bajades/semaside.jpg

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa251/bajades/semainterior.jpg

New Baja Designs High Intensity LED lights and billet modular light bar.

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa251/bajades/semafront.jpg

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa251/bajades/semashow3.jpg

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa251/bajades/semashow2.jpg

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa251/bajades/semashow4.jpg

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa251/bajades/semaplacard.jpg

[swiftracing5]

Looks awesome. Where did you get the line x stuff. Ive been looking for it for a while now. Thanks.

[cosmo]

Alan, check your PM.....

[Jerry Zaiden]

Very nice car! It looked great at SEMA!!

[Bajades]

Very nice car! It looked great at SEMA!!

Thanks Jerry! And thank you for getting me the great seats. Saw your Tundra looking ready to race at SEMA too. The stock full class is heating up! I'm interested to see you guys go up against Kroeker, Henn and the rest.

[Bajades]

Looks awesome. Where did you get the line x stuff. Ive been looking for it for a while now. Thanks.

I had it applied by a Line-X dealer when I was having my truck bed sprayed.

[zjohnson]

Car is looking awesome alan. How wide did it turn out with the wheel and tire combination?

[Bajades]

Car is looking awesome alan. How wide did it turn out with the wheel and tire combination?

Right now it is at 93 inches at the rear. I hope to have it at 92 or slightly less with race wheels on it (.5 inch more backspace).

[FABRICATOR]

Nice!

[bcampbell04]

car looks great man, very impressed. will be looking for it at a race next season.

[matt_helton]

looks like a prep guys nightmare!! lol

[AlaskaBaja]

This car is sick. I love the dash. Maybe a dumb question, but do many 1 cars have a GPS unit infront of the driver and the co-dawg? Pretty unique idea. Also, I think I see a camera in there, is that in lieu of mirrors?

We have 2 cams on our car, one forward and one backwards, but for video recording purposes only. You have me thinking that we need to figure out how to run the feed through a screen for the co-driver so he can see behind him better. Hmmmmmm, ideas, ideas.

[swiftracing5]

I believe Robby Gordons H3 has cameras in the back that appear on a screen on the dash. I think I saw it at show or something.

[Bajades]

Not too many people are running a redundant GPS for the driver, although I see it becoming more popular. I did it because often times the driver needs to make quick decisions on directions when it comes to forks in the course. Instead of yelling "which way, which way?" to the co-driver and waiting for a response, the driver (if GPS fluent) can make a quick glance to see which way to go. Often times the co-driver is busy or assumes you know where to go and by the time he responds and you figure it out, you've already overshot the corner. The driver GPS is also nice for giving the driver speed info on the highways, and course mileage.

This car also has a third GPS that can be programmed to call out critical danger points, turns, pit locations, etc. It plays through the intercom and you can set a given proximity circle (say 500 ft.) to speak back your race notes through the intercom automatically. This way the driver can get more detail than just danger (skull and crossed bones), the distance is consistent, and if the co-driver is busy, the info still gets passed on to the driver.

This car, like many off-road race cars has no visibility through the back window. The side mirrors on these cars are virtually worthless during a race. The rear view camera is an attempt to improve rear visibility for the driver/co-driver. The macho racers say they don't need mirrors, but I think they are a good idea. There is always someone with more horsepower, or is willing to thrash his car more than you that might be coming up from behind. I'd rather know before getting nerfed. At the recent 1000, we were going full throttle at 117 mph up the Mike's road just after San Matias and still got nerfed hard by Weyhrich. Obviously he had more horsepower than us! Never had a clue he was even there until we got tagged. At last year's 500 at the bottle neck at the mile 42 hill, we were trying to back up to take the alternate route up the hill. Another Class One behind us was trying to back up as well and backed right off the edge of the road into a big gully. I'm sure that cost them hours to get the car out and probably would not have happened had he been able to see.

[AlaskaBaja]

Instead of yelling "which way, which way?" to the co-driver and waiting for a response, the driver (if GPS fluent) can make a quick glance to see which way to go. Often times the co-driver is busy or assumes you know where to go and by the time he responds and you figure it out, you've already overshot the corner.

Haha, sounds exactly what the driver was saying to me during the thousand. Often my response was....."Look for markers, it doesn't show the 'Y' on the GPS." Or something like, "Uh......go left! Ummmmm, when you see a road on your right take it cuz we're off course now." Hahahaha, I love being a co-dawg. I haven't driven yet, but I am thinking I might actually enjoy being co-driver instead. I once heard a saying, "There's a lot of good drivers but very few good co-drivers." I think that was a Rally Car saying though.

We have a class 10 and as you mentioned, you cannot see out the back at all. We have side mirrors, but they are almost useless. A nice 7" or 8" screen on the rear camera would be nice. Only thing is we're a little short on Dash space, especially a place where rocks wouldn;t beat the thing to death. I wish I could get pics of the inside of the car to get some opinions on where to place a screen.

Great job on the car, I hope to see it out on the track.

~Kash

[kajmcbride]

What an excellent car. The finished pictures look great. I really like those seat mounts/sliders. I am a total novice building up a bare frame and most of my ideas come from this site. I have a couple questions about the seat mounts because I would like to do the same.

What diameter and wall thickness did you use for the fixed tube that the slider rides on ?

What diameter and wall thickness did you use for the assembly that slides?

These may be very basic questions but I know little and I want it to be safe.

Thanks in advance and good luck.

[Bajades]

What an excellent car. The finished pictures look great. I really like those seat mounts/sliders. I am a total novice building up a bare frame and most of my ideas come from this site. I have a couple questions about the seat mounts because I would like to do the same.

What diameter and wall thickness did you use for the fixed tube that the slider rides on ?

What diameter and wall thickness did you use for the assembly that slides?

These may be very basic questions but I know little and I want it to be safe.

Thanks in advance and good luck.

The fixed tubes are 1" .120 wall chrome moly. Delrin bushings ride on the one inch tube and insert into the slider tubes that are made from 1.5" .120 wall.

Linking the slider tubes are 1.25 .095 wall tube. You want to position the front cross tube so that you can use it for an anchor for your submarine belt. This way you don't have to readjust the sub belt every time you move the seat.

The hardest trick is welding the whole assembly so that everything remains concentric and parallel. Otherwise the slider will bind up on the fixed rails.

[kajmcbride]

Thank you so much the infromation will really help. The fact that guys like yourself building the state of the art cars will give information to some unknown novice makes this sport great.

[bcampbell04]

so, is this car going to be at laughlin or parker to debut? and who actually owns the car? it was said earlier that it was built for baja designs. thanks

[Steven_Tolbert]

Thats a really good looking car.

[TallKewl7]

It's been said numerous times...but I'll add one more to it. Great looking car! Congratulations on all your hard work.

Marshall

[Bajades]

so, is this car going to be at laughlin or parker to debut? and who actually owns the car? it was said earlier that it was built for baja designs. thanks

I bought the car from Dale at Racer as a bare chassis and body. Myself, Tex Mitchell and Mike Kerr are building the rest of the car as time allows. Tex and I are in charge of product design and development at Baja Designs and this project will help us satisfy our need for racing in Baja as well as test and develop better products for our customers. Mike is a fabricator/race car mechanic that is helping me finish the car that also works part time for the Greer Bros. and KORE on their race vehicles.

The first race planned for the car is the Baja 500. Between now and then we need to completely finish the car, dial in the suspension, motor, electronics, and lighting. I'd like to get quite a few miles testing before racing the car. I'd like to run a shorter race between now and the 500 but have not decided on anything yet.

[Bajabnd]

and who actually owns the car? it was said earlier that it was built for baja designs. thanks


You dont know who Alan Roach is ??? Damn kids these days....:D

[bcampbell04]

I bought the car from Dale at Racer as a bare chassis and body. Myself, Tex Mitchell and Mike Kerr are building the rest of the car as time allows. Tex and I are in charge of product design and development at Baja Designs and this project will help us satisfy our need for racing in Baja as well as test and develop better products for our customers. Mike is a fabricator/race car mechanic that is helping me finish the car that also works part time for the Greer Bros. and KORE on their race vehicles.

The first race planned for the car is the Baja 500. Between now and then we need to completely finish the car, dial in the suspension, motor, electronics, and lighting. I'd like to get quite a few miles testing before racing the car. I'd like to run a shorter race between now and the 500 but have not decided on anything yet.

cool, thanks for the answer. bring it out to the SNORE Mint 400 on March 27-30 for a test race if it's done.

[Mcarlson1]

Are the high intensity LED's available yet? If they are where can i get em and how much are they running? Also do you have any pictures of how bright they are compared to the HID's? Car looks bad ass too!!

[bajaxp]

Alan:
Bring it out to Rancho Relaxo! I would love to see it in person.

MP

[Bajades]

Are the high intensity LED's available yet? If they are where can i get em and how much are they running? Also do you have any pictures of how bright they are compared to the HID's? Car looks bad ass too!!

The production LED driving lamps started shipping this week. Off Road Warehouse and Kartek should have them. I will have a full LED/HID comparison soon but I don't have it documented yet. Retail price is $449.

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa251/bajades/BajaDesignLampLEDsmall.jpg

[Ryan_P]

Looks like someone went with a reputable company to build its LED panels, and not off-shore. Nice work Alan and crew.

[9rocky]

Any progress pics?

[Bajades]

[QUOTE=9rocky;416525]Any progress pics?[/QUOTE

Coming soon, the car's just about ready for testing!

[Jess@HighAngle]

nice looking ride- Jess

[Msquared]

I saw the car at the Offroad Impact show on Friday. It was very good looking. I looked ready to roll. Nice job!!

[Mike @ pit b]

Sure is purtty, but where's the cup holders?

[Bajades]

Sure is purtty, but where's the cup holders?

I'm pretty sure a DCel makes a pretty good cup holder!;)

[Iggle]

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa251/bajades/converterbulkhead.jpg

I built some small bulkheads to pass some of the hydraulic lines to the coolers and sump tanks. You can see the torque converter pressure regulator in the foreground. If you are doing a torque converter install, back this thing way out before starting your engine. Mine was set to about 100 psi at idle (should be about 25 psi)!

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa251/bajades/powersteering.jpg

I used a big straight through power steering cooler mounted directly in the blast from the radiator fans (I'm hoping this will help with power steering cooling issues which I believe is the most common reason for failures in a one car) At the recomendation of Mezieres I installed an expansion tank for the cooling system (red tank) and added another air bleed to the LS2. Mike Kerr (who works both for Baja Designs and KORE) did a lot of the plumbing and did a great job.

Does anybody have a contact number or email for Mike Kerr from Baja Designs?

[JENN]

Car is gorgeous! I saw it at the SNORE KC Hi Lites race but really didn't get a chance to LOOK at it! Congrats Alan, Deanne, Brian, and Shaner on a BEAUTY!~ Can't wait to see that beauty cross the finish line at the 1k!

[Bajades]

Update on the car. It now has one race (Snore Midnight Madness 250) and a total of 800 miles on the car. The car worked great at the Snore race and we got 2nd Class One (We kind of cheated because we had the best lights by far :D). The Snore race was run backwards from the normal stuff at Primm and pointed out some short comings in the suspension setup on the square edged bumps and bottoming control on the big holes. We tested last week with John Hoffman (Former Team Manager at Pflueger Racing) who is a whiz at suspension setup and valving. The car is working even better now and we're working hard on prepping it for the Baja 1000. Jim Mihal and I will be sharing driving duties at the 1000, with my sons Shane and Brian doing a large share of the co-driving. Brandon Johnson from Grove Racing is also helping us and will co-drive for me from the start to La Rumarosa.

Here's a link to the Master Pieces in Metal article done on the car in Dirt Sports.

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dirtsports_200808/index.php?startpage=48

[Brandon Johnson]

I got a chance to check out this car last saturday. The car is well thought out and also a beautiful car throughout. Its very easy to work on also!

I look forward to joining the Baja Designs/Soltek team next month at the 1000. Thank you guys for giving me the opportunity to come aboard for this race and look forward to helping you in the future as well.
-Brandon

[DRIVE Jon]

I also got a chance to inspect the car up close at the SNORE Night Race...Amazing work!

Great job bringing Nye's work to life! Hope to see the car out in Plaster City at a DRIVE race next year! No better place to test than Plaster City!:D

Jon

[Brandon Johnson]

I got a chance to ride in this car with Alan this last weekend as we did a little shakedown and light adjustment. The car rides and handles GREAT! I was very impressed with this car overall. Needless to say driving at night sure seems easier with the light set-up that Alan has on the car. I really look forward to starting with Alan in the Baja 1k this year!

Thanks again Alan, and what a great car!