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Mon May 11, 2015 9:44 am

My first baja build, my dad had one when i was growing up, will post a picture later, but to make a long story short i got it off my girlfriends dad that did not have the time to finish it.

Now please don't jump down my throat, very clean bug and im not the one who did the chopping! lol

Before I got it it needed new floor pan and im guessing they really wanted a sun roof, not what i want but i guess i could make it work with my baja 8)

Mon May 11, 2015 10:29 am

Im well underway with the build of this baja and use all of your guys information to help with the build of this so far, so i figured its about time i just make my own build thread to make it a little easier for me when i have questions Thanks in advance!
This is how it looked when i got it.

Along with other parts, including a 3 rib transmission bucket seats bilstein shocks and a 1600 engine.

so the fun begins! wheeled it into the garage and dug in

I got really excited and was curious to see how big of a difference it is with the 3x3's i baught.

very satified!

The front beam for some reason i couldnt upload the picture of it on my bug when i got it was extended by 6"...? i think id have to measure it again. Stripped it and painted

Had some rust issues i had to attend to, the lower bolt threads were rotted out among a few other spots.

TADA! beam mounted

Mon May 11, 2015 10:51 am

Since the beam was extended obviously stock springs are not long enough, so 4 sets were cut to length, that length is slipping my mind right now, but they were all cut shorter and slipped in. slipped in yeah right.. what a pain.

New VW thing ball joints, POR-15 the thing spindles and trailing arms and mounted! Hook and pin stops and reinforced shocks mounts were welding on the beam/trailing arms. Not until i was mounting these did i learn the trick to round the edges of the springs so they slip in easier, man did that make a difference.

front shocks mounted.

Mon May 11, 2015 11:20 am

Transmission stripped clean

painted and mounted with 930 drive flanges

Trailing arms mocked up, axles and rear disk brakes put on and caliper brackets welded on.

Its sitten on 4 tires now for the first time, torsion bars are set in but eventually going to coil over, and stock tires on just to roll it around. pretty much caught up to where im at with the build. Have been at it since december hopefully get a lot more progress in the next few weeks. Thoughts and suggestions are appreciated!

Tue May 12, 2015 7:18 am

Hey NwiFarmer, looks like a great start, the only thing that concerns me is the mounting threads of the front beam. It appears that you have only welded the threaded plug/rod from the front & then ground some of that surface away. Ideally it should have been installed from the back of the pan head. But better yet is that a longer bolt was installed & a nut on the back side of the frame head. i would like to suggest that you use the latter method also.

Tue May 12, 2015 7:52 am

The hole was bored all the way through and welded solid on both sides, started deep. I didn't have a picture showing the full thing before I cleaned it up. I define ty had to the same concern as you when I started so I made a real hard weld on it. The bolt all the way through is a good idea, didn't even think about it. Thanks

Tue May 12, 2015 7:56 am

Nice work! Looks like it is going to be a good project. 8)

Tue May 12, 2015 9:29 am

Vanapplebomb wrote: Nice work! Looks like it is going to be a good project. 8)
Thank you

Tue May 12, 2015 11:12 am

damn that looks good.

Wed May 13, 2015 2:42 pm

it's on 4 wheels! Even if they are stock :lol:

Sun May 17, 2015 1:25 pm

waiting to order parts so I figured I'd mess with little stuff. With the 3x3 trailing arms the irs bracket needed to be clearenced a little for downward travel.

I didn't want to leave a big weak spot in the bracket so I took some angle iron and did a little fitting.

plenty of room! Now to do the other side. :roll:

Thu May 21, 2015 4:40 pm

Did some playing today, put some 31s in rear after clearencing the irs brackets.

Thu Jun 11, 2015 4:08 pm

When I baught my bug It came with drilled front rotors and calipers just didn't have the caliper brackets. really didn't want to spend money on brackets and I had a 1/2" piece of 304 stainless flat stock laying around might as well try and make my own.

Chased all the bolt holes on my thing spindles

Cut the hole and beveled it to make it fit flush, drilled the 3 bolt holes

Cut the actual bracket for the caliper drilled and taped it and welded it on

Done!

Sat Jun 13, 2015 6:04 am

Your progress looks awesome!

Sat Jun 13, 2015 9:10 am

Hello everyone. New to this forum. Any forum for that matter. I have done muscle car restore before. I have tried to look around for good sites to buy parts for a baja bettle. My father wanted to build one when he was in germany and he started but its illegal to have open wheel in Germany. So now I am looking to buy a good project for me and him but I cant find any sites to buy the parts( susspension, fiber glass, ext) So i was wondering if someone could help me? I want to build it with him then give it to him as a gift.

Thanks
The Newb

Sun Jun 14, 2015 9:29 am

Aschlerf wrote: Hello everyone. New to this forum. Any forum for that matter. I have done muscle car restore before. I have tried to look around for good sites to buy parts for a baja bettle. My father wanted to build one when he was in germany and he started but its illegal to have open wheel in Germany. So now I am looking to buy a good project for me and him but I cant find any sites to buy the parts( susspension, fiber glass, ext) So i was wondering if someone could help me? I want to build it with him then give it to him as a gift.

Thanks
The Newb

There are plenty of websites out there, appletreeauto.com is one I use a lot because it's closer to me. If you look up baja bug or anything like that on Google you will turn up a lot of websites. Good luck!

Sat Oct 31, 2015 5:41 am

After a long break I'm back at it, baught my body lift, wasn't very happy with the quality so I fully boxed it in with 1/8" flat stock

Hoisted the body

Did a test fit and it seems all good

Now to tack the lift together to make it all one peice. Seeing it down like this is definitely exciting. Almost roll cage time.
I'm going to order the 6 point roll cage you see on every vw websitr, but I'm going to add bars where I need them and make it my own. Tell me what yall think?

Sat Oct 31, 2015 7:10 pm

Cool.

Did you install the spacer tubes that go on the bolts in the body lift before welding in the side panel?

Or did yours come with them?

Sat Oct 31, 2015 9:36 pm

Got pics of the 3-rib installed?

Sun Nov 01, 2015 8:58 am

dustymojave wrote: Cool.

Did you install the spacer tubes that go on the bolts in the body lift before welding in the side panel?

Or did yours come with them?

Unfortunately mine didn't come with them, kind of a cheap lift. Wasn't to concerned about it tho.