I've been thinking about Baja Bugs lately and would like to know more about them. Who here has one and wants to teach me about them and/or has links to some good info for me. I'm curious mostly about the suspension. Like how its modded for offroad use, where to get parts, how much travel, etc. Thanks in advance.
The suspension is pretty much longer rear arms and taller rear shock. Thats what I understan about them. O' and bigger tires
www.thesamba.com
There are forums there, they know all about them. It makea a good reference as well for anything Air cooled VW
for very little money you will a very capable offroad vehicle. People will cry when their tricked out trucks get passed by a rwd 1960s turd. I love watching the reactions of 4wders when you drive past their camp site in some vehicle that they percieve to be far less capable then theirs.
My step-brother started a 100acre brush fire by driving his through the weeds on our old property. He was a moron. Fortunately no one was hurt and there was not property damage.
Massive amounts of fun with very little work. I had longer shocks and merely adjusted the height on mine. Cleared a lot of air when jumping, went everywhere in the woods, mud and snow (though it was farking COLD in the snow. No heater boxes and air rushing through the front right through the radio like an A/C vent.. I was considering blocking off all holes to the front and installing a small oil cooler in a heter duct system, kind of like the heater core on a water cooled car)
Fun stuff:
baja bug has got to be the miata of the offroad world.
Does a bug motor have enough gumption to move that car with tires that much taller than stock? Do you need a bus trans as I would imagine the stocker would be too weak...
Xceler8x wrote: Does a bug motor have enough gumption to move that car with tires that much taller than stock? Do you need a bus trans as I would imagine the stocker would be too weak...
Mine had an essentially stock 1600 in those pictures, above. But I've had one with a 1776cc big bore bug motor, and you can put 2180s and larger in them. It's dirt cheap to make a pretty powerful AC Bug engine. I mean, it's fairly cheap to build a drag bug with a bug engine that runs 12s in the quarter...
And yes, as you get more hp, it's good to build up the trans. Though a bus trans is often installed, it's not necessary, as there are stronger parts available for the stock trans.
Gotta rent "Dust to Glory" sometime. Check out all the bugs that run Baja. Looks like a blast, until they point out that it can take all of the 55hrs to finish.... (depending on prep-class)
Still. Seems like a cheap way to go off road racing.
E-
I've seen that movie and its awesome. Is it the class 11 bugs that are bone stock except for safety equipment?
I would think that a bug with the front and rear fenders pulled and the tall suspension would be the must have post apocalipse vehicle. simple, ruged, go most anywhere and fuel efficient.
neon4891 wrote: ...the must have post apocalipse vehicle...
And with that, I have now filled in the "What articles would you like to see in the future" line on my Reader's Survey.
Baja bugs are very simple to build, but if you punish them, expect them to break unless you've upgraded a lot of components. When I was young and into VWs a friend had land with off-road trails and a small junkyard of bugs. We'd turn them into Baja-Bugs and tear around the trails. Seems like every session had a small repair session where we'd weld new frame horns on the car, change out front beams, spindles, rear trailing arms or axles.
Lots of upgrades are available for Bajas - most are to improve longevity.
These aren't Baja-Bug specific, but you can find lots if info on how to prepare these cars from these sites:
http://www.class11coalition.com/ http://desertrides.com/
Love my Baja...
About the best farm car you can ask for...
A few things I've learned:
1) King/Link-pin front suspension > Ball-joint front suspension
The ball-joint front suspension (late model) will hold up for a while with light use, but the King/Link pin suspension (early model) is damned near indestructible. With adjusters of with the "cut and rotate" method you can get up to 6-7 inches of suspension travel. With a decent set of shocks, that's more than enough to get in trouble.
2) IRS/Swing axle = User preference
I prefer the Independent rear suspension, but others may prefer the swing axle. Both are stout enough for light abuse in stock form.
3) Get a body lift and a roll cage
The body of the bug can be separated from the pan quite easily. Many companies make body-lift kits in sizes up to 3 inches. The kit bolts in between the body and pan, and provide you with a little more travel before your gigantic tires hit the fenders. Rollcages are cheap, and many simply bolt in, although it's recommended to tie the cage into the frame horns. The big-boys buy long shocks and bolt the upper mounts on the cage inside the car.
4) Get a bus tranny
A 3-rib bus tranny will bolt in more or less, with the caveat of running the shift linkage above the tunnel rather than below it. They're geared better for big tires and take the abuse better than a bug tranny.
5) Steering Boxes are $60, buy two.
You'll wear them out quick...
6) If you catch air, push the clutch in and hold it 'til you land.
You'll break the transmission if you land with the power-on/in-gear. PUSH IN THE CLUTCH!
/Mines for sale, but it's just a bit over the $2008 maximum 
Forgot to mention this one. Mark Huebbe's Rallybug. I saw it at it's DNF debut at the Paris Rally and it sparked one of my friends to start building a '63 Saab 96 as a historic class rally car.
http://www.321govideo.com/rallybug/
A google search on "huebbe beetle" turns up other links on SCCAforums and VWvortex
modernbeat wrote: Forgot to mention this one. Mark Huebbe's Rallybug. I saw it at it's DNF debut at the Paris Rally and it sparked one of my friends to start building a '63 Saab 96 as a historic class rally car. http://www.321govideo.com/rallybug/ A google search on "huebbe beetle" turns up other links on SCCAforums and VWvortex
He let a shredded belt keep him from finishing a race? I keep two spare belts zip-tied to the back of the car.
ducktape wrote: He let a shredded belt keep him from finishing a race? I keep two spare belts zip-tied to the back of the car.
It was much more than that. Much, much more. The engine had overheated and threatened to destroy itself even more even if a fan belt was installed, also the exhaust and rear apron was smashed by the poorly designed rear skid plate. It was a shakedown and I think Mark has done some more work to strengthen the rear of the car.
I know it's over the price limit, but I just saw this on the local CL.
http://gainesville.craigslist.org/car/747773294.html
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