Baja Bugs- I need education

[98ciHemi]

I got a text from a friend of mine that he wants to build a Baja Bug as a learner project- I'll be in his neighborhood (Georgia) over the winter, and he wants to tackle it while I'm down there as a first project. I've worked on a few VW engines, and driven bugs and sandrails before, but I'm not that up on standard bugs.

I was thinking of starting with a later IRS bug since they are cheap, plentiful, and I've seen many on CR with baja bodywork already- oh, and IRS.

I've wondering a few things-

What's the minimum power needed to make one fun? I think we're looking at a 4k budget total, so lots of creativity will be applied. I figure with judicious lightening a 60-70 hp motor will provide enough scoot to have fun, and not break the bank if we hunt down parts correctly. More? Less? Where should the "fun" money be going?

What do we need to look for in the pan? Where do they go bad?

What do I need to know before taking this on? We've got months to prepare- collect parts, specialty tools, wait for cheap stuff to pop up on CR- so I'm trying to get a handle early. We'll have about 4-6 months of weekends to pull it together before I leave and he loses his tech support.

(I suppose this will tie into my cheap shop thread since I'll be moving all my tools and stuff down there to facilitate this)

[squirrel]

there was an older one for sale locally for about 2k a few months ago, sat on the lot for a long time...I think its' gone now though. Back in the old days (1979) an 1850 was a hot motor. Not many guys ran IRS, they look so natural with the rear wheels cambered, at least to us old folks. Cut and weld the front end to raise the torsion bar, cut off the ends of the body and put some cheesy fiberglass on it, including bobbed flared fenders, and maybe hang an oil cooler on the roof. Not much to it.

[Deaf Bob]

Swap a pinto or ranger motor into one.. Get more power easier than hassling with the air cooler...
Gonna get crap from Stiney abd Tardis now.

[Monster]

Sounds like a fun project Walt, but VW stuff is usually not cheap. Make sure you check out The Samba, a VW specific online site. Floor pans usually go bad where the battery is located under the rear seat on the passenger side. My '61 Baja had an 1835cc which was plenty fun. I'd smoke Camaro's from light to light and loved watching their mouths hanging open. Mount an oil cooler in front of the fan intake and it'll stay cool as.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/

[squirrel]

1835, yeah, not 1850. been a few decades since I heard folks talking about them

[Barry Donovan]

it did get expensive.

the money is the engine.. all fixed and welded the little egg body can do quite a bit.

I found one grainy video from europe with the ea82 subaru.
at 100hp it made a butt of all the air cooled.

adding measuring sensors, dual bank obd2 type stuff can go a long way even for air cooled.
money.

the weirdness in all the boxers is one bank needing hellacious offset from the other to be equal.
a buzzing bee from a beetle is the most rare of all.

just balancing air fuel is 100+ hp.

[SuperBuickGuy]

Since Stiney and Tardis seem to be MIA, here, let's help. You need to badge engineer for a proper off-road vehicle. You buy a bug, you remove the badge, and you put in on your 4x4. Tell folks that's all that was left when a bug darted in front of you.

Baja bugs
all bugs have independent suspension front and rear
bus transmissions are stronger, I've heard tell that they can handle up to 50 hp without failure! seriously, though, see the next point about hp.
the ENTIRE point of a Baja bug is they are light, have big tires on the back so amazing floating, and amazing traction because the motor is over the driving wheels
If you are concerned about hp - don't buy a baja bug.... that's entirely not the point (plus, too much hp = death from abrupt stops since they do not have have things like structural integrity)
if you want fun with a bug, get paddles
if you really want more hp, rotary motors or 215 buick motors but then you break stuff - and then miss the point of the baja bug.
invest in shocks
for what to buy, more ccs is better, shorter floorpan is best (no super cockroaches).

baja bugs teach you that sometimes brute force doesn't win or that you never needed it to begin with. Let me illustrate.
We were wheeling in college, and my friends had all the 4x4s (all CRAP 4x4s, but all of them) and 2 baja bugs. We were out playing in our very expensive trucks, and trying to assault this fairly easy hill that was greasy slick with mud. It had two ditch features (that were probably ruts, now about 5 feet deep, each) and made a little turn at the bottom then at the top. You couldn't power into the hill because you'd drop into the ditch and you couldn't bury your foot in it past the corner because you'd slide right off the road. It took at least a hour to get the first 4x4 up. Then came the bugs. they might as well have been on a highway, they danced right up. That's the deal with bugs, hp isn't it, it's lightness, floatation, and traction. Rocks will kill them, but you will have amazing fun at your local bogs because they just don't get stuck.... of course, you need to start a day in advance because top speed is 60.

[tardis454]

He's got a $4000 budget? Tell him to buy one that's already done. VW shits expensive, the drivetrain parts kill wallets.

Something like this: http://atlanta.craigslist.org/atl/cto/5595697999.html



I spent an assload of money (enough to build a stout SBC) to build a motor that might make 60hp when it's done.
If you're like STINEY you've had a lifetime to hoard a barnful of parts.. I didn't, and I ended up payin up for parts.
Finding a clean bug pan in Georgia should be fairly easy. If you don't that means you didn't look hard enough.
Swingaxles stopped in 68, IRS started in 69. Look for a 69-up Bug. And no Super Beetles, they're worthless.

Be a friend, try to talk him out of it. I love our dunebuggy, but I hate working on VW's!
I have most of the parts we need, but still don't have the money to finish it properly...