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Thu Dec 31, 2009 12:16 pm

I just wanted to post up where a friend and I are at on our 5/1600 bug build. We are building this with a friend of ours and hope to race the baja 250 or 500 by next year. Possibly this one if we get our act together. Doubtful, though.

Racing the Baja was a bucket list item we were talking about over a few beers. My wife bought me "from dust to glory", that fueled the build, and here we are.

Specs are a 1976 VW Bug, IRS rear and ball joint front. Originally an autostick with a blown motor.
when we got it.

Chassis is at a friend's house getting some welding done to it. It was blasted at the local toyota dealer, thanks to Dave at Heritage Toyota in Burlington, VT for letting us do it there cheap. Like really cheap. I can't speak highly enough of them.

The rot was a bit worse than we had thought, so we cut it all out. A bit sad right now, but we have all the parts to get her back to rights.

We cut off the ball joint clip and welded up a link pin front, and got it out to blast.

When we bought it, I thought the 7 piece front end would work fine. After talking to some of you race guys, you said it might last the first half mile, then I would be picking up pieces of it all over the desert.

Cutting the nose off after pulling the fiberglass.

Most recent pics mocking up the race hood.

We are looking for some sponsors, and have been lucky so far to have a local tech shop offer to do the paint and some body work for us when chassis fab is done.

A friend with a local junkyard is getting us super cheap prices on parts for a sponsor tag on the finished car. Thanks to Jeffs Auto Salvage in Milton. We got our bus transmission and roller wheels from jeff, as well as a Link Pin front clip. IF you need vintage (50's-current) parts, he has a great selection.

Poor Wally's Landcruiser Emporium in Bennington, VT and another VT fab shop friend of his are doing up all the cage work for us. That is going to be extensive. I traded out a nice rebuilt small block chevy and much beer and help for it.

Thu Dec 31, 2009 12:18 pm

Just so you all know, we are by no means trying to be competitive. We are HOPING To finish, and will most likely not.

It is more about the adventure and the build.

We really do not have the money to do a full 30K build and then get it from VT to CA and race it.

We are hoping to be into the car for 7-10K. I know....good luck.

Thu Dec 31, 2009 12:21 pm

sandblasting action shot.

On a more serious note, I owe a huge debt to all of you at the samba, including those who have taken the time to reply to my newbie questions, PM's and even phone calls.

I have no idea what I am doing, first VW build, and I am a fair mechanic at best. I am fortunate to have a lot of friends who are much better at it than I am, and some are fab guys for a living.

Thu Dec 31, 2009 1:57 pm

Good luck on the new endeavor. I'm sure if you drive smart you will finish.

Thu Dec 31, 2009 3:24 pm

way cool.

love that movie, its what got me into the offroad VW world..

looks like a good start, hope to see you guys take the baja 500 soon.

Thu Dec 31, 2009 3:24 pm

sounds like you know some people in the right places, that's always nice. good luck, keep up the posts and pics.

Mon Jan 04, 2010 9:03 am

glass out. Busted the pass. rear. Boo.

rear fenders well secured with about 20 screws per side.

Nice fender blending with 1/2" of Bondo. More held on the fenders.

Mon Jan 04, 2010 9:03 am

sandblasted chassis

firewall support badly rotted

cutting off the collar.

new collar mocked up.
It will all be reinforced with gussets when we get the collar in.

Mon Jan 04, 2010 9:28 am

looks like a cool build to keep my eye on. i have always thought about doing a budget 5/1600 car. keep up the good work!

Mon Jan 04, 2010 1:24 pm

wow!!!!!!!!!!! its hard to imagine buiding a car to race the 500 on kind of budget goodluck!!!!

Wed Jan 06, 2010 12:25 am

Follow the build on (gonzoracing.net) good pictures for budget build!!

Thu Jan 07, 2010 5:27 am

I will definitely follow this thread. Good luck on your project!

Thu Jan 07, 2010 9:26 am

thanks for the encouragement. I know to build a competitive car is out of the question on this budget. We are basically racing it like they did in the 70's. Gusseted and reinforced as much as possible, tools and spares.

That is the plan. I would guess we are in for less than 2K at this point, but so much of this is trade I do not know where to start.

I had been amassing parts for my other truck, a 1967 landcruiser, and my focus shifted to this one. So the suspension seats, 14" stroke shocks, new in box harnesses, etc are all going into this. I won second in a video contest for a 4x4 site, and was able to buy some of these parts with the winnings.

A friend has a parts porsche 912 he does not want, so I sold the trans on craigslist, and took the cash to buy the race hood. Hard to say where we are at.

anyone need some 912 parts? :)

Sun Jan 10, 2010 6:23 pm

fun day welding up the box kits on the rear arms. Took the day to help teach my friends son how to weld.

he did a great job.

the welds came out very well for a first time weld. Hell, they were way better than mine. Welding table is a toyota fj55 tailgate insert. :) Cruisers are the other vehicles we build.

Grinding make me all tingly.

Sun Jan 10, 2010 6:26 pm

when I pulled up the bondo, I found some quality workmanship in the rear quarter panel patch.

wonder what year this is from.

Sun Jan 10, 2010 6:27 pm

It looks like you are off to a great start, rabidfj40. I'll will follow this thread with great interest. Keep up the great work!

Sun Jan 10, 2010 7:25 pm

Good luck on the build... Do yourself a favor and get a rule book if you don't already have one. I would hate to see you do all the work and not pass tech insp.

Mon Jan 11, 2010 4:31 am

thanks, and I agree. O have the snore book as a base, and will get the score one before the cage work.