1969 Winter Baja build thread

[VW Man 53]

Hello everyone, i picked up a 1969 baja to use this winter, my logic is that its already a hacked up half fiberglass shell of its former self, so there is no shame in trying to turn it into the ultimate winter vehicle that will still keep a shit eating grin on my face the whole time im driving like my 74 super daily driver which i sadly had to subject to last winter due to lack of another vehicle. The 74 is already badly rotted underneath and has some bad spots on the body so it wouldnt survive another winter if it had to, i know the 74 is not worth much from a financial standpoint but it has a large amount of sentimental value to me and someday i would like to completely restore it. I rebuilt the 74 with the little knowledge i had back 3 years ago (i had never worked on cars before) when my grandfather gave it to me for my 16th birthday and ive been driving it daily and to shows in other states ever since.

ANYWAYS, i picked up the 69 this week, the frame looks awesome, has brand new pans, but the body needs some love and has had plenty of hack job work done to it, it would appear, the heater channels are pretty solid but appear to have been replaced not in the best manner, the wiring has been completely replaced it would appear with a non-vw hack set-up. ill have plenty of pictures up within a week of the problem areas, i want to do decent repairs over the next month before the snow flies but im not going for an amazing end product seeing as ill probably REALLY strip it down in the spring.

On the top of my list for this month are
-rewire the windshield wipers/washer
-replace exhaust with heater box compatible stinger (and most importantly GET SOME HEAT)
-replace passenger side door, its not worth fixing the rust
-undercoating
-get proper engine tin in place (the tin under the cylinders is missing!)
-rewire turn signal switch
-possibly a quick decent paint job
-fix rot at bottom of quarter panels and where fenders mount
(none of this necessarily in that order)

im young and i dont have alot of help or resources right now, ill try to do my best with repairs but please dont judge if i do something you feel is not up to par on the body, these are quick temporary repairs. IM OPEN TO PLENTY OF ADVICE AND CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM THOUGH

i've always loved air-cooled vw's and i want to restore them for a living someday.

here is the 74' when i got it

and here it is about a week ago

and here is the 69'

I have always wanted to be a more active samba member but ive never given myself a good excuse to, so heres my chance haha

ill be more heavy on the info as soon as i get my plates and registration this week and drive it to the shop.
_________________
You CAN save them all.

[Multi69s]

Number one tip I can give you for a winter Baja. Seal the hood and the dash area that best that you can. These things act like giant air scoops and it all gets channeled through the dash, fuse box and any opening it can find. Get some weather stripping and seal the hood. Seal up any holes where the fiberglass nose meets the stock sheet metal. I know some people that stuff blankets on the backside of the dash and hold them in place with a plastic dash protector. Baja are a blast in the winter, but you want to reduce that cold air passing through the dash onto your hands and in your eyes. It can definitely be an eye watering experience .
_________________
69 road Bug 2110
73 Squareback - 2L, T4, Automatic W/ AC
Gone, but many fond memories 69 Baja Bug 2010 - 5 Rib Bus Transaxle
Gone but not forgotten 72 Baja Bug 2010
My builds
T4 into Squareback http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=458944&highlight=
Auto Trans Rebuild http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=516066&highlight=
AC in Squareback https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...highlight=

[VW Man 53]

[Brian]

duct tape is your friend. I have a constant cold blast shooting down on my hand when I'm on the shifter. shut everything air tight. also remember to try to drift every corner and be safe doing it.
_________________
Wash your hands

'69 Bug
'68 Baja Truck
'71 Bug
'68 Camper

Only losers litter

[VW Man 53]

hello everyone! I went ahead and fixed a bunch of issues on the baja over the last week, the wiper motor is wired up and functioning again, along with a new speedometer and speedometer cable. I wired up tons of lights in the speedo and got myself some sweeeeet heater boxes, i also got a second saphire am/fm radio, the car needs new wiper arms if anyone has any leads on where to get those?

ANYWAYS, today i drove the baja to school for the first time, it was a ton of fun, i thought my super got tons of attention but my god the baja attracts people in hordes! we did some serious off-roading and had a blast. After the off-roading i drove back to school and went to class and came back to the car to drive home and found my transmission was permanently stuck in first gear, the shifter moved and moved the linkage under the backseat and the clutch was working so i can only assume i have a broken shift fork or something? anyways i had a great day and the transmission was always grinding going into 2nd accelerating and decelerating as well as slipping out of gear under more vigorous acceleration in 2nd gear, so a transmission failure in the future was expected and im just glad it happened now.

Im completely confident in my mechanical abilities, especially with air-cooled vw's. I have built two really strong running bug motors and i would like to give a transmission rebuild a shot. I have considered this sourcehttp://www.longenterprises.com/ for a kit and would like any advice anyone has to offer on my baja, thanks for reading.
_________________
You CAN save them all.

[luvtheeluvbug]

We're practically the same! My '70 is white with a single driving light and a roof rack! And I have a '69 Baja; you want to buy it?
_________________
Fahrvergnugen/ far-fair-gnu-ghen/ Description of a pleasurable sensation experienced when a car and it's driver are in mutual harmony; A unique driving experience; Pleasure; Satisfaction; A feeling experienced by Volkswagen drivers.

[VW Man 53]

[VW Man 53]

hey guys, i pulled my motor out in about 15 minutes last night on the baja, next is the transaxle, i need assistance though, i have pulled the one on the 74 super before but that is pretty cut and dry since it has CV axles, the 69 baja has a swing axle trans, is it possible to remove a swing axle rear end and somehow leave the drums on the springplates so i still have a rolling chassis? what is my best approach to pulling this thing out of here if im only going to be working on the gearbox portion of the transaxle? will i save myself a bunch of headaches by just pulling the rear out as a whole unit brakes drums and everything still attached? i only have the bentley manual for 1970 and up at the moment, i apologize, thanks for reading.
_________________
You CAN save them all.

[VW Man 53]

Anybody have any tips for me? otherwise ill just dive in head first and hope for the best, im not worried, it would just be better to gain some knowledge from the swing axle experienced.
_________________
You CAN save them all.

[Bashr52]

If your pan is really a 69 you should have an IRS rear and dual spring plates. I was going to say that I have the old trans out of my 69 I'd work you a sweet deal on if you're interested, but since your car was either converted to a swing or not on a 69 pan, it wouldnt do you much good

You're going to have to pull the whole trans/axle assembly out of the car to work on it with a swing axle.

[VW Man 53]

[VW Man 53]

i have the motor out and am pulling the rear end assembly out this weekend most likely, i came to find that even though the motor ran extremely well its seems to have an unacceptably excessive amount of crankshaft endplay. I assume someone put a new top end on the motor and the bottom end is in serious need of attention and neglected. While i have the engine out of the car i think im going to refresh the bottom end and put new piston rings in the top end, i have a tight budget at the moment so i cant do a full rebuild and it ran great anyways. Ill post the status of my crank and rods/ camshaft along with the status of the gearbox when i get it all apart. Its a good thing i enjoy working with these air-cooled heaps so much hahaha
_________________
You CAN save them all.

[VW Man 53]

I took that ugly hump off its back when i pulled the motor, i have a sweet baja fiberglass decklid coming from a friend thats half the normal length and will be going on it.

_________________
You CAN save them all.

[VW Man 53]

hey everybody, i pulled my engine apart while its out of the car, its an F case 1500sp, it has been rebuilt before and poorly at that, it ran like a top but i found it had .008 of end play, assembled with three .0118 shims. I dont have my bentley manual for this car yet, i have the orange one though, its probably safe to assume 1500's have different wear ranges from a 1600? can someone post the wear limits for the crank mains, rod bearings, and what not? i know the top end is good on this thing but i want to freshen up the bottom end.
_________________
You CAN save them all.

[VW Man 53]

now looking around i can see that 1500's should have the same size crank and bearing saddles as a 1600, i have a set of brand new crank bearing but it appears my case has been line bored seeing as there is a visible gap when i set the bearing in and its loose as a bastard, as for the crank im not sure if its been turned or just worn the hell out im getting a pretty consistent 2.142 and 1.559 on the main journals, im aware i should be measuring into the ten thousandths but i dont have a micrometer that accurate with me at the moment, i dont know much about engine modification but i know how to build stock ones very well so any help is appreciated.
_________________
You CAN save them all.

[VW Man 53]

alrighty, nobody is really saying anything so im just kinda learning myself as i go, it appears my crank has been turned .020" or .50 mm and i still havent figured out my case bore, ill probably get the crank turned to .030" aka .75 mm and figure out the case bore and leave it that way with the correct over sized bearings, im planning to stay stock but does anybody have any bottom end ideas for mild performance while im at it?
_________________
You CAN save them all.

[VW Man 53]

Alrighty here is an update: im getting my crank back from getting the connecting rod journals turned on monday, i made a dollie for the car and pulled the transaxle with the axles still attached. When i pulled the transaxle i immediately found that the shift rod was broken and slid right out of the front of the transaxle, i plan to have the motor back together soon and to disassemble and repair the transaxle myself along with changing parts like seals and syncros and such. On top of working on this car, i was in an accident in the white super, so i have to repair the cosmetic damage to that. My life has been hitting me hard lately but i hope to at least get the baja back on the road by the end of january.

_________________
You CAN save them all.

[VW Man 53]

I have been considering my transaxle situation, im thinking about having mine rebuilt locally or getting a benco transaxle and sending in my core, seeing as they have free shipping. Does anyone have advice for me about benco transaxles and can anyone tell me if they pay shipping for your core back to them as well as the new one to you? Honestly im just intimidated by the gearbox and am worried ill get it apart and not be able to get it done by the middle of next month. I'm completely mechanically confident in myself, im currently building my third bug engine, i just dont want too much on my plate at once due to time constraints.
_________________
You CAN save them all.

[VW Man 53]

Hey everyone, i've been busy with college and work and to be honest it didnt seem like my thread was generating much interest so i hadn't found time to post. I built my motor myself, its the third one i've built. I bought a rebuilt transaxle from the benco racing company in California, i dealt with dave and i have to say they run an extremely excellent business, from the customer service to the product they produce. I drove the car all week breaking it in and i came to find quickly that the mechanical advance distributor that came with the car when i bought it was an absolute piece of garbage, I replaced it with an old DVDA distributor i had lying around and now it runs like a dream. My only disappointment is my gas mileage which isnt the greatest, we are experiencing extremely cold weather conditions in my area which may have something to do with it but i can tell the baja wont be able to get anywhere near the mpg my super does. I have a sweet set of nerf bars for the sides of the baja on the way and ill be addressing the paint job at a later point, here are some photos, i hope you like it.

_________________
You CAN save them all.

[Chochobeef]

Looks pretty good. Interesting that your back camber is so far off from 0. Looks like positive camber which will wear the hell out of the outer side of the tire.

Other than that, nice work on getting your vehicle the way you want it. It looks like a blast to drive.