UN-baja-ing a 1960 Type 1: Build Thread

[zwillisgosteli]

Once the sheet metal work is all fixed we will be moving onto paint and painting.
I have a new wiring harness and headlights and taillights waiting.

[TinCanFab]

You can put one of those quick steer kits on the pitman arm to fix the tie rod angles
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Check out my truck brought back from the dead... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=420762&highlight=sprayed+blood

They're never really ever finished 58 rag build...
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=658092

[zwillisgosteli]

they should actually be flipped. I don't think my buddy knew the taper was reversed. We still have to finish up the chassis so I'll make sure I fix that before its driven at all.

[zwillisgosteli]

Here is a few photos of where the previous owner cut the body for the Baja kit.
The other pictures show the body with a proper front and rear clip. Front clip is from a 65 so it has some more work to be done. Rear clip is from a 65 but we have sourced the proper H apron.

Before

After

Here is the rear clip when it arrived.

[bad91teg]

you saved that bug . great job

[zwillisgosteli]

[zwillisgosteli]

The welds need to be cleaned up and a lot of finish work is still in process, but it is looking more like a complete car.

[bk63rag]

Looking good ! That a big transfomation before and after .
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63 rag under construction for 30 years and counting.

[scrivyscriv]

Very impressed.. I've got to say, you're years ahead of every other thread that starts out "got a free baja bug i want to fix up'

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Robert in Memphis
Dünkelgrügen 1967 Java Green bug thread
Engine rebuild thread
If you're ever in the Memphis area, you are welcome to stop by for advice and help.

[zwillisgosteli]

Thanks for the kind words.

I'm still getting the hang of posting all the photos into the gallery then copying the link. I have a lot more photos to post. My buddy Corey is an iron worker so he's doing all the welding. That aside this is our first attempt at body work. It's a fun experience and it will be in better shape than it ever would be otherwise.

[zwillisgosteli]

We are building 2 different engines. I traded a bus engine for a couple bug engines. Here is a 40 horse power that is partially reassembled. We lapped the vales after we cleaned up the heads. We cleaned the pistons and honed the cylinders and installed all new gaskets. Its converted to a 12v alternator as you can see.

There is also a 1600 s/p in the works. I had a clutch kit laying around and bought a top end kit. Soon it will have all new gaskets, new top end, and a rebuild fuel pump and carb.

Some of the 40 hp parts cleaned up pretty nice.
There are a few finishing touches to put on the carb. It was rebuilt.

The fuel pump was rebuilt as well. A spacer was added between the intake and carb to accommodate the 12v alternator conversion.

[zwillisgosteli]

I'm recovering phots out of order. Here is an interior shot of the pans and heater channels in test fitting the body. You can see the replaced rear cross members Corey welded in as well. Stuff still needs to get cleaned up and finished but we are just working on getting rid of all the rust first. This also shows the replaced lower A-Pillar sections.

Has anyone located any interior pieces for lower the B pillars? You can see the rotted metal in the photo on the right side above the heater channel.

You can also see how the drivers seat track came a little crooked and will need to be fixed. I paid more to get pans that weren't the lowest quality, but next time I think I'll go German. All the other body panels I got are "top quality" many are from Denmark and I seem to have a lot better luck

[zwillisgosteli]

Decided to test out some "stained glass yellow" paint on the inside of some lenses that were laying around.

[zwillisgosteli]

[zwillisgosteli]

We dismantled a few engines and kept all the worthy parts.

This photo shows the valves numbered while were were rebuilding the heads.

Here is another shot of a cleaned up head

And some tin just after it was dry.

[zwillisgosteli]

The doors turned out to be in decent shape compared to a lot of the metal on the body. a few small rust holes need to be patched towards the bottom.

The doors have paint stripper on them here to remove the cheap white paint job that was only applied to the outside.

[zwillisgosteli]

The seats that came in the Baja were worn out high backs so we scored some era correct low backs. I also found some nice tweed seat covers on the classifieds here on the samba.

One seat frame will have to be cleaned up. The springs are in pretty goos shape and I'll have a foam kit on order soon.

[Dibaltic]

[TDCTDI]

[zwillisgosteli]