A different flavor of a what car thread

Howdy collective group of car nerds. I am a bit stuck on which direction to go for a project and would love some feedback. I have a fairly decent VW baja body that I would like to build but have come to the conclusion that the original equipment would be a bit lacking. I see this project being capable of daily driving duty and disk brakes, climate control, and a bump in horsepower being good things.

I think the quickest route to my goals would be a body swap. As long as I am doing a body swap it might as well be to a 4x4 chassis.  The Bronco II has a nearly identical wheelbase but i hear the engine is a bit lacking...  the later models have upgraded axles but still slooooow.  

So what do y'all think? Do a motor swap while I'm at it? Choose something like a two door Cherokee and shorten the frame? Go with a big Bronco or Tahoe and slap some massive flares on it?

Two door XJ Cherokee? Those are unibody, not a frame per se. Maybe you’re referring to the FSJ’s which did have full frames.

If you’re ok shortening frames, maybe S-10? Suzuki Samurai? Bronco II?

maybe an old 4Runner. The bodies always rust to the earth but the rest of the vehicles usually run forever...

Go buy whatever Polaris, Can Am, Yamaha, etc. SxS you want, then do this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_MaC45JJFE

You want A/C you say?  Then do this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_MaC45JJFE

Someone here is doing a Karmangia on to a Miata chassis. You could go the Paco Motorsports lift kit path and do the same to the bug

.

Old Beetles have wheelbases around 95 inches.

Jeep Wranglers have wheelbases around 93.5 inches. And full frames that would make for easy body swaps. And infinite off road suspension/wheel options.

I have no idea how the firewall placement might compare between the two, or if wrangler engines will fit under the hood of your body. But it seems like a capable, well supported chassis that could potentially fit without any changes.

ebonyandivory said:

Two door XJ Cherokee? Those are unibody, not a frame per se. Maybe you’re referring to the FSJ’s which did have full frames.

If you’re ok shortening frames, maybe S-10? Suzuki Samurai? Bronco II?

This is why I came here, I dum.

bigdaddylee82 said:

Go buy whatever Polaris, Can Am, Yamaha, etc. SxS you want, then do this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_MaC45JJFE

You want A/C you say?  Then do this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_MaC45JJFE

 

That is ridiculously awesome but I am unfortunately impoverished and would have to stop eating for about three years and move into a local park to afford one of those.

NOHOME said:

Someone here is doing a Karmangia on to a Miata chassis. You could go the Paco Motorsports lift kit path and do the same to the bug

 

.

If I did this I think I would just stick with the Miata body. I really dig the way they look all jacked up.

I guess what I'm doing a poor job of asking is: is there a short wheel base 4x4 that is leaps and bounds better than another? I'm coming to realize that I'm  a greedy bastard and want to build something that is as capable one the road as it is off. My local CL has v8 Dakotas which would be pretty cool but I don't know how they stack up to a 4.0 explorer or a 4.3 vortec push button S10.

The jeep seems like the easy button but they are generally either straight 6 or 4 banger for no less than $2500. There are several crashed rigs in the $600-$1500 range. I don't mind spending the money but I would be annoyed if I later found out that I could have more power or stronger axles if I didn't just go with closest/cheapest/shortest/newest.

Jeep yj and tj would be about the right wheelbase. If you find one with a rusty body take a good hard look at the frame for rust holes also. Yj's had leaf springs that go all the way to the front and rear of the frame so pay attention to overall length compared to the bug, you wont be able to take any length off the ends, and im guessing that 8" of frame hanging out of both ends of the body isnt what youre hoping for. The tj's had coil springs, but now that i think about it both of these had the steering box very close to the front of the frame also. The 6 cyl engines were very good but i think it would be tough to get it to fit in the bug body. 4 cyl would be easier but they definitelywerent powerhouses. I think maybe early yj with a amc v8 swapped in might be direction to look. That would make the engine shorter, lower, and a 360 with a cam sounds awesome.

Pattyo said:

NOHOME said:

Someone here is doing a Karmangia on to a Miata chassis. You could go the Paco Motorsports lift kit path and do the same to the bug

 

.

If I did this I think I would just stick with the Miata body. I really dig the way they look all jacked up.

 

I guess what I'm doing a poor job of asking is: is there a short wheel base 4x4 that is leaps and bounds better than another? I'm coming to realize that I'm  a greedy bastard and want to build something that is as capable one the road as it is off. My local CL has v8 Dakotas which would be pretty cool but I don't know how they stack up to a 4.0 explorer or a 4.3 vortec push button S10.

The jeep seems like the easy button but they are generally either straight 6 or 4 banger for no less than $2500. There are several crashed rigs in the $600-$1500 range. I don't mind spending the money but I would be annoyed if I later found out that I could have more power or stronger axles if I didn't just go with closest/cheapest/shortest/newest.

As far best hardware/bang for the buck, im thinking a 2nd gen explorer with 5.0 would be the ticket. Fuel injected v8 and 8.8 rear with disc brakes. The 8.8 is way better than anything you will find in a wrangler. Unless you are planning on moderate to hard rockcrawling the independent front should be fine. According to Wikipedia the two doors had 101" wheelbase.

gearheadmb said:

As far best hardware/bang for the buck, im thinking a 2nd gen explorer with 5.0 would be the ticket. Fuel injected v8 and 8.8 rear with disc brakes. The 8.8 is way better than anything you will find in a wrangler. Unless you are planning on moderate to hard rockcrawling the independent front should be fine. According to Wikipedia the two doors had 101" wheelbase.

I think the 3 door, shorter wheelbase Explorer Sport was only offered with an OHV 4.0 V6 or the SOHC 4.0 V6.

A first gen s10 blazer/s15 jimmy 2 doors have 100.5 wheelbase. They allow different engine options and can accept a small block.

bigdaddylee82 said:

Go buy whatever Polaris, Can Am, Yamaha, etc. SxS you want, then do this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_MaC45JJFE

You want A/C you say?  Then do this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_MaC45JJFE

 

If you do a google image search on baja bug body swaps these are the most common that come up.

In reply to STM317 :

That very well may be.

gearheadmb said:

Pattyo said:

NOHOME said:

Someone here is doing a Karmangia on to a Miata chassis. You could go the Paco Motorsports lift kit path and do the same to the bug

 

.

If I did this I think I would just stick with the Miata body. I really dig the way they look all jacked up.

 

I guess what I'm doing a poor job of asking is: is there a short wheel base 4x4 that is leaps and bounds better than another? I'm coming to realize that I'm  a greedy bastard and want to build something that is as capable one the road as it is off. My local CL has v8 Dakotas which would be pretty cool but I don't know how they stack up to a 4.0 explorer or a 4.3 vortec push button S10.

The jeep seems like the easy button but they are generally either straight 6 or 4 banger for no less than $2500. There are several crashed rigs in the $600-$1500 range. I don't mind spending the money but I would be annoyed if I later found out that I could have more power or stronger axles if I didn't just go with closest/cheapest/shortest/newest.

As far best hardware/bang for the buck, im thinking a 2nd gen explorer with 5.0 would be the ticket. Fuel injected v8 and 8.8 rear with disc brakes. The 8.8 is way better than anything you will find in a wrangler. Unless you are planning on moderate to hard rockcrawling the independent front should be fine. According to Wikipedia the two doors had 101" wheelbase.

A little pedantic I know, but the TJ and later model Wranglers could be had with a rear Dana 44, it's rumored that a rare few YJs got D44s too, though I've never seen one, or known anyone who has.  While the D44 isn't quite as strong as the 8.8, it does offer more ground clearance, and is semi-float vs. the 8.8's C-clips. 

I would say the best candidate is the one that's most likely to ever get done, which probably means the order is Easiest > Cheapest > Strongest in all reality. Pretty much any 4wd drivetrain is strong as long as you don't hook huge spinning weights to the end of it and then jam them into things while they're spinning. What i mean by that is don't go crazy with tire size/weight and the drivetrain will live. 

In reply to Vigo :

This is probably the correct answer and I guess I was hoping to hear " the perfect car for this is a crashed ......." I don't know much about the specifics of RAV4, Vitara, Bronco II,  etc.

Though at the moment I am thinking  a F150 with a manual and a V8 and would be pretty bitchin and I'll  just have to pony up to get the chassis and driveshaft (hopefully just one) shortened. 

Well, all the Rav4s are transverse FWD unibody platforms which would be harder to tuck under a beetle body. Vitara/sidekick et al are 'real' longitudinal 4wds with transfer cases and ladder frames, so those would be more in the running. 

2door Chevy/Geo tracker and suzuki samurai are the smallest frame 4wd I can think of