69 Baja Bug Daily Driver/Rallycross Subaru Build

[Newbold747]

My suspension is stock ball joint front end with adjusters to preload the springs and add ride height. I welded in stock IRS in the rear and indexed the rear springs for more preload and higher ride height. Stock old junk yard shocks are leaking after a year of abuse so I plan on buying some new shocks soon. I also installed EMPI sway bars front and rear. I think bracing the cage to the beam and shock towers helped a bunch also a steering quickener was probably my favorite mod.

[Wheely Applegate]

A few decisions and some progress:

Decisions:

Transmission: Although a modern Subaru 5 speed would be nice, we decided to stick with the 091 that came in the car and use an RJES Bellhousing. Our 091 needed a new bellhousing anyway and this approach was significantly less expensive than adapting the Subaru trans.

Weight and Balance:
My son and I were not fans of how much the bug’s handling changed as the fuel level transitioned from full to low. To minimize this, we decided to relocate the tank as close to the center of the car as is practical. We’re planning to put the tank in the rear seat location and load up the front with heavy stuff: Battery, spare tire, and a UTV Winch

Progress:
Our friend sold us a used Warn VRX 45-S (rated at 4500lbs). For now, we mounted it in the ceiling to hoist the body from the pan.

The lower section of the A pillar had some holes in it, so we bought a repair panel from Wolfsburg West, made by Autocraft in the UK. I’m pleased with the quality of the product. I cut and fitted it, but with little body experience, we weren’t comfortable massaging it into place, so our friend Ryan came over and finished the installation. The door fits great!

To figure out our engine & transmission mounting strategy, we created a lightweight mock-up of empty cases. We gutted a shot EJ engine, mated it to the new RJES Bellhousing and our 091 shell.

Our friend sold us his Thing beam:

We removed the drums and had it sandblasted. We bought a spindle reinforcement kit and spent some time re-bending and grinding to fit.

My friend Ben with the EV Baja came up on a Sunday and we fitted a set of Sway-Away Adjusters and a hook and bar kit.

The hook and bar kit can be installed several different ways. It was great to have Ben help us as he had done it before and we probably would have overthought it.

We are in the process of installing a Sway Away King Kong rear torsion adjuster. Out of the box, it’s wide so that if you’re building a sandrail or tube frame car from scratch, you can insert tubes on each end.

To fit the King Kong adjuster between the frame horns of the bug, we cut it down to 5.5” wide.

We drilled out the spot welds for the sheet metal panel that provides access to the shifter connection.

And removed it

We removed the center section:

Interesting how VW welded the torsion housing. Stick welding?

We clearanced the top gusset so that our transmission’s shifter housing will fit.
Before:

After:

Does anyone have tips on installing the King Kong adjuster?
We've positioned it, but I'd like to further reinforce it.

Also, Does anyone have photos of battery placement on or near the framehead?
We’ve installed the steering assembly to figure out clearance, but I’m wondering if anyone can recommend Group Sizes that fit.
Or has anyone installed a battery inside at the passenger footwell?

[tobiism]

Really nice work so far, can't wait to see more!
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"There has never been a genius without a hint of madness."
-Albert Einstein

[Wheely Applegate]

Thanks, Toby! We've perused your baja build in the past and we like the way you built a tubular support under the rear torsion housing. We've bent some tubes to emulate a similar idea, though ours is not nearly as stout as yours. I'll post pics when we weld all that together.

We've been goofing off and enjoying the summer. We haven't made much progress on the bug. We've worked on the engine a little.

Long ago, when we test fit our engine and transmission mounted at 10 degrees, we saw that the Subaru throttle body was jammed up against the bug firewall, with no room for an intake hose. We didn't want to cut a hole in the firewall, so we decided to reverse the Subaru intake manifold.

We purchased a short aluminum oil filler neck and an alternator bracket from Outfront Motorsports. This alt bracket relocates the alternator from directly above the crank to the side so that it won't interfere with the throttle body when you reverse the manifold.

We powder-coated many bolt-on components as this engine will be exposed to wet weather.

Reversing the intake manifold also required us to extend three branches of the engine wiring harness. We removed all the crusty tape from the harness and re-taped the entire engine harness so it's nice and flexible and more resistant to Washington rain.

To keep the coil pack not-reversed, we raised it 3/4" using some aluminum spacers so that it would clear the reversed components.

Lots of little details like this need to be addressed to do this, but it's cool that all this spaghetti can be reversed.

[poeticlydead]

Engine is looking really clean.
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Not all who wander are lost.