Ever wonder how to start your own off road club? On this episode of Dirt Every Day
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00:00 Hi, I'm Dirt Head Fred, and this is Dirt Head Dave.
00:09 And this week on Dirt Every Day, we're going to show you how to start an off-road club.
00:18 When my friend Dave called me and told me that he got a Baja bug, I realized I had to
00:31 go check it out.
00:32 And the next thing you know, I was at his shop in El Cajon, California, and we were
00:36 drinking beers, surfing Craigslist, and looking for a Baja bug for me.
00:48 So after a night of surfing the classifieds, we got up the next morning and headed out
00:51 to the desert to find me a car.
00:54 We came across this '69.
00:55 Now this is a Baja bug with a 1776 engine, so it's a little bit bigger than stock.
01:01 The seats are out of a Karmann Ghia, and it has an aftermarket steering wheel.
01:05 It's a four-speed manual transmission, and the bumpers in the front and rear are tubular
01:10 to help protect it.
01:11 It has fiberglass fenders front and rear, and it also has rust.
01:14 In fact, the previous owner had patched the holes in the floor with street signs that
01:18 they had found.
01:20 Now Dave's Baja is a '68, and it is really clean.
01:23 In fact, it was a one-owner car before Dave bought it.
01:27 What makes his different than mine is it is a bug-eye bug, so the headlights are close
01:31 together.
01:32 But it also has the stock engine, so I doubt it's going to be as fast as my car.
01:36 However, it has really nice suspension seats and similar wheels to what mine has.
01:41 So after a bit of debate, I decided the blue car was going to be perfect, so I bought it.
02:05 So one of the things about starting an off-road club, or any type of car club for that matter,
02:09 is you want to be legit, you want people to recognize you.
02:12 So what do you do?
02:13 You go get car club jackets made.
02:15 We had to come up with a name, and when the bug guys didn't really sound right, we decided
02:20 we'd be the dirt heads.
02:23 All right, so step one, we got matching jackets.
02:35 Step one done.
02:41 Step one done.
02:50 Well, step two, after we got Baja boots.
02:51 We got Baja boots.
02:52 Now there's lots of reasons to start an off-road club or a car club, but probably the biggest
02:54 reason is you get to help each other work on your cars.
02:59 Dave had swapped some bigger tires onto his bug, and the tires were rubbing the fenders.
03:03 So first job, trim the fenders.
03:16 Now my car was having some electrical issues.
03:19 The turn signals weren't working.
03:20 So we got underneath the dash and wiggled all the fuses.
03:23 Next thing you know, they worked.
03:25 The cool thing about all of this is that by having the same cars, we could share tools,
03:29 we could share parts, we could share knowledge about these cars.
03:33 Hopefully Dave was sharing the knowledge because I don't really know anything about Baja boats.
03:37 But by the end of the night, the cars were ready to rip and we were going to head to
03:39 the desert the next day.
03:40 I'm going to go get my car.
04:08 As an off-road guy, I'm used to big trucks, big lifted tires, big V8 engines.
04:16 So it was a real shock to me to drive this little Volkswagen.
04:19 But in no time at all, I was having a blast.
04:22 These cars are so much fun to drive.
04:24 And the four cylinder power that mine was making was amazing.
04:28 And it also didn't hurt that my car was way faster than Dave's.
04:39 Now every car club needs a place to hang out.
04:42 Maybe this is a Denny's or maybe it's a coffee shop.
04:45 Maybe it's a bar.
04:46 For us, we headed to Julian, California where we sampled their world renowned desserts.
04:52 Step two.
04:54 Step two.
04:56 Eat pie.
04:58 After stuffing our guts with pie and fueling up our bugs, it was finally time to hit the
05:02 dirt.
05:10 Now Dave's car and my car are very similar, but they're also very different.
05:23 So Dave's getting in with me to go for a ride and see why my car is so much cooler than
05:27 his.
05:28 You know my first car was a Volkswagen Beetle?
05:36 I think it was like a '73 maybe?
05:39 I think both of our cars might need a little more attention.
05:44 You mean buy them and take them straight to the desert wasn't the best idea?
05:49 Of course.
05:50 Got it.
05:51 But it's in the rocks, it's a little bit noisier.
05:55 My cup holder fell off.
05:57 See that's what's so nice about having a club is we can help each other with our vehicles.
06:02 So while I'm keeping the door closed, you can drive.
06:06 Here why don't you hold the cup holder and I'll drive.
06:11 This little car takes so much abuse, it's ridiculous.
06:15 I'm running it into rocks, I'm bashing it through the sand, it keeps traction, it doesn't
06:20 get hung up.
06:21 Every time you think you're going to take out the engine, you realize the engine's in
06:24 the back and you just batter over boulders.
06:28 Thread the needle!
06:37 Now that I've fully impressed Dave with my car, I'm hopping in with him to see what his
06:41 can do.
06:42 Alright here we go!
06:43 Taking the hamburgers.
06:44 Why isn't your door swinging open?
06:45 I had that option taken off.
06:46 If you open the door, you can hear the exhaust better.
06:55 That's why I open the door on mine so much.
06:58 Dave's car isn't as fast as mine, but it's in way better shape.
07:01 It's quieter, it's got full carpet inside, it's got a headliner, there's not nearly as
07:05 many squeaks, the seats are way more comfortable than mine, and it's still really fast.
07:10 When you're out here bombing through the desert, banging over rocks, it's amazing what this
07:14 little car can take.
07:15 Of course, any vehicle that you beat on senselessly is going to break, and we found out quickly
07:20 that Dave's front suspension wasn't quite as square as it should have been.
07:24 We got underneath there and wrenched on it together, but that's the cool thing about
07:27 being in a car club.
07:28 Even if there's only two of you, at least you have somebody there to help you work on
07:31 your car when you're broken out in the desert in the middle of nowhere.
07:34 The next thing you know, it's time to get back in the dirt and go have some fun.
07:45 I'm not really sure if we can tell you a lot about how to have an off-road club, or a lot
07:49 about Baja Bugs, but I can tell you one thing.
07:51 Both of them are a lot of fun.
07:53 You get to hang out with your buddies, you get to go beat up on this little car that
07:57 should break in half with the type of abuse it's getting, but it doesn't.
08:00 Having an off-road club and having a Baja Bug is so much fun, you've got to try it.
08:08 That's it for this week's Dirt Every Day.
08:09 I want to thank everybody for watching us through 2013.
08:12 We'll be back next year, 2014, with a whole bunch of new episodes.
08:16 If you want to know what we're doing ahead of time, follow us on Facebook.
08:19 We'll be doing updates, project reveals, and all types of stuff.
08:24 I think I've got to go.
08:25 See you next year!
08:26 It's amazing how safe I feel in these speeds with this lap belt on.
08:39 How fast are we going?
08:40 I think I'll take six gears.
08:41 I think we're doing 30.
08:42 No, I said 40, which means we're going like 57.
08:43 That means the tire's turning that fast, so I don't know if that means we're actually
08:44 going that fast.
08:45 It's on the front tire.
08:46 The front tire doesn't give up.
08:47 Oh!
08:48 Right, right, right, right.
08:49 Left, left, left, left, left, left.
08:50 Left, left, left, left, left.
08:51 You got it!
08:52 And follow us on Facebook.
08:53 We're @DirtEveryDay.
08:54 We're @DirtEveryDay.
08:55 We're @DirtEveryDay.
08:56 We're @DirtEveryDay.
08:57 We're @DirtEveryDay.
08:58 We're @DirtEveryDay.
08:59 We're @DirtEveryDay.
09:00 We're @DirtEveryDay.
09:01 We're @DirtEveryDay.
09:02 We're @DirtEveryDay.
09:25 This is a wrap.