Full nose Baja build

[Schepp]

I’ve been lurking around here for a while. Never post anything, just soaking up the vast majority of information you all have.
My name is Scott though people call me Schepp. I live in Petaluma, Ca
and I’m in my mid 30’s trying to make a dream project come together on a budget while raising a family.
I decided to take a break for riding motorcycles when my daughter was born so I sold my adventure bike and bought a bug. A very neglected one.
I was originally going to build a class 11 inspired car. The more I dug the more I realized the back of the car was too far gone with rust.
The engine was tired and barely ran. The whole car had to be throughly gone through. I know I over paid for the car but bugs aren’t as cheap as they used to be. And so it begins...
No desert up here but a lot of dirt forest roads and really shitty pothole infested country roads.
I’ve already done a lot to the car. Full cage nearly complete minus engine cage. Frontend is done. 3” lift spindles gusseted new ball joints, disc conversion, tie rods sleeved. Pitman arm gusseted. Hook & Rod, welded beam, gusseted shock towers. Front bumper done (still need to a skid plate). New SS flex lines and SS hard lines. New master cylinder. Shift bushing done. Bilstein remote resi front shocks. Rock rails. Side mirrors. Trimmed steel fenders. Corbeau seats. Deist harnesses. Nrg Quick hub (momo prototipo on order). Custom laser cut dash panel. Previous owner hacked the dash. New factory wiring harness installed. Anything electrical added will be ran from its own harness and fuse block to keep troubleshooting simplier. In the process of converting to thing axles and bus cv’s. 002 trans in the works. Not sure what to do with the engine yet.
Plan on keeping the stock irs trailing arms plating them, cutting the lower stops running limit straps, Bilstein’s in the rear tied into the cage. Just had 100 more feet of 1-1/2x.095w tubing delivered today. Still need to trim the front fenders. Black sharpie lines are the cut lines. I have tons of photos too many to post. If you want to see something specific I can post.
I won’t post often cuz I don’t have a lot of free time. But I’ll post milestone updates with pictures. Feel free to ask questions though. This is my first VW.
Everyone has there idea of a Baja. This is mine.
-Schepp

[Daddy o's 67]

Looks great! Keep up the good work.

[oprn]

Cutting the fenders the way you did leaves them very weak and wobbly. They are also a safety hazard for not only your family but passers by too. Buy yourself a body hammer and a couple dollies. Learn to roll a bead on those fender edges, it's not that hard and will improve functionality and appearance big time.
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Our cars get old, we get old but driving an old VW never gets old!

[dirtkeeper]

Looks great. I did a similar box for the back seat and it works out well. Make sure to get a tie wire on the nut that holds the shifter shaft together at the rear coupling . I second the idea of rolling those fender edges.

[Schepp]

That’s funny you guys mentioned the fender edge. I was just watching a video of how to form the edge over a wire. Definitely something I’ll do. This project has been a lot of fun and I’ve learned a lot already. It’s nice that the VW platform is easy to work on. One of the reasons I chose this vehicle to build on.
If I had to do it all over again, there’s definitely things I would have don’t differently. Like build the cage first then the box in the back. I didn’t have my JD2 bender yet when I built the box. But I was eager to get started. I’m 6’5” it’s a little cramped for me in the driver’s seat. But basically every car I drive I’m cramped in. I wanted the B-pillar of the cage to be inline with the pillar of the car. Which it is. The A-pillar tubes were fun. Glad I spent time to get them right because the glovebox and window cranks are fully functional with the doors closed. I’ll probably run a tube across the top of the dash. Using pvc pipe cut to various lengths is helpful in figuring out where tubes should be placed. By making my own side mirror mounts I was able to design them so that I can still open the wing windows all the way.
The previous owner attempted to cut out and weld in new pans. He failed miserably he never stripped off the black paint before welding. And it looked like he didn’t have any shielding gas. Very porous welds. I had to cut and grind out the pans and re-weld them the best I could before I could even start the inside.
I’m a machinist by trade. And have passed all the welding courses our junior college has to offer. If I’m not happy with something no matter how much time is invested I’ll scrap it and do it over. There’s been many late week nights in the garage just staring at the car trying to figure out different things. I’m sure they’ll be many more to come.

[Schepp]

Its been some time since I've posted any updated pictures on my Baja project. Its nearly completed. My 6yr old daughter named the car "Bandit" the dad from her favorite kid show.
for the engine break-in and first start we decided it would be easier to mess with without the rear engine cage installed.

We ran into some issues after getting it started right-side valve cover gasket was leaking bad. Needed to add a secondary return spring for the carb as it wasn't returning to idle all the way. I think there was a vacuum leak also. We had the 009 on it at first but realized the coil was for the Pertronix. It didn't want to start and the coil was getting hot. Once we switched to the SVDA unit it fired right up. Built 50psi oil pressure at the start but never got it warmed up enough to tell what it would settle to.
Lastly it started leaking fuel at the pump about 7 minutes in. I had too big of hose on it. It was already 8pm at that point so my friend and I decided to call it a day. I've since fixed most of that stuff and ready to give it another try. Just need to make the time.

It's so close. It's been 5yrs and tons of late week nights blood and sweat. I cant wait to get it out in the mountains and do some camping trips.
I'll post another round of pics when its got the rear cage on and the roof rack is done and the rear glass is in.
I scored a 6-rib trans from a friend for $200 about 2 months ago. I'm already thinking about phase 2 for this car.

[indianpeaksjoe]

Great work! Looks like a really burly Baja.
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Adventures in owning a 66 beetle

[Lite ning Bug]

Your pics gave me a ton of ideas. Thanks for posting them. Your hard work has paid off. Wish I had your welding skills. Love the Bandit name.
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VW Life, Got the bug for it.

[Schepp]

Now that I finally got Bandit insured and registered. Tomorrow is the maiden voyage around town!
Roof rack still not done.
I’m going to add a full list of everything done to the car in the coming days. For documentation purposes and for myself or anyone else.

[Schepp]

I’ve been driving Bandit around the county and have commuted to work a dozen times or so. I’d say most of the kinks have been worked out.

I added a 1.25* caster shim to the lower beam tube which helped the highway drivability tremendously.
I just finished adding a 10psi residual valve to the rear brakes.
I installed a complete thermostat system with homemade industrial tins.
I’m going to be installing a 2kw diesel heater soon.

One thing the car seriously lacks is good interior storage.
I did some research and found that a lot of people in the overland community make paracord nets for the ceiling of their vehicles.
Genius!
So last night I went for it and I think it turned out pretty good.
The dimensions are 12x30 inches.
1/2” climbers rope for the perimeter and 550 cord for the net.
You need twice the length of cord per the longest distance.
The 1/2” rope is finished with a square knot and the tails are secured with heat shrink tubing.
I suck at knotting so instead of fancy snake knots I used overhand knots.
Attached the net to the cage with zipties. I made the net smaller than the area by 2 inches so the I could stretch it tight.
The rope gives it rigidity and structure for securing it to the cage, while the cord stretches to accommodate whatever is stored.
If you have molle pouches they can be attached to the net or you can hang things with carabiners.
The project took about two hours.

[Schepp]

I just finished the installation of a 2kw parking heater on my Baja.

I wouldn't want a more powerful unit.
On medium this thing cooks you out of the car.
The most common failure of these heaters is in the cheap wiring connectors.
I remade the entire wiring harness with good quality components, GXL wires with proper gauges and protection.
Deutsch DT connectors, ATC/ATO waterproof 15a fuse holder.
The tank is a 4x12" .56gal spun aluminum from eBay.
60mm ducting.
I run it off kerosene. On low the tank should last about 8hrs of use based on fuel consumption calculations.
Custom 3D printed control mount.
There is an aircraft CO monitor in the cab.
I do plan on routing a duct up to the driver side defrost vent in the near future.
Its a very tight package with the full size spare but the hood somehow still closes.
The actual heater body is barely warm to the touch even on high. The ducting is a tad bit warmer. With the exhaust routed immediately outside into the wheel well I'm not at all concerned with the fuel tank being right there next to the unit.
The white hard plastic fuel line for the heater fits perfectly inside factory cloth braided fuel line. So I sleeved the fuel lines with that for extra protection.

It was a challenging install for me because of the space constraints. The space behind the drivers seat wasn't an option because there is an on board air compressor and tank there.

For anyone considering one of these style heaters. The total cost for my install was $200 US dollars.
$80 for the 2kw heater
$75 for the tank
$45 for wiring components.

[Bad Frog]

I really like the direction in which you have taken this build. The full nose Baja works for me.

You have really maximized the trunk space. Do you happen to have a picture of your spare tire mount without the tire in place? I think I can see how you tied it all together with front bumper and cage but would like to see any detail you can provide. Many thanks.

[Schepp]

Bad Frog,

Thanks for the compliments.
The rack bolts to the body so that the tank can be removed easily.
The material for the spare tire rack is 1x.120 tube. Custom laser cut strap rings.
M8 hardware.
Gas tank clearance is less than a penny loaded.
The tire is a commercial truck tire of the same diameter as the ATX's just narrower. My thought process was that if I needed the spare tire, the dirty damaged tire will go on the roof.
While it does look cool. I'm not a fan of having the excess weight of a spare on the roof all the time.
The weight of the spare up front works well with the aggressive valving of the front shocks.
I still need to finish the roof rack.
I'm soon going to do a writeup of the on board air compressor along with some other little neat things. Its already wired up front for a removable winch.
I have an 091 trans in the garage I'd like to install at some point.
I'll gladly send you any detailed pics you'd like of the build.
I have a small one car garage and the trails in my area are tight and narrow.
The track width of a 3x3 setup was not an option. This car is purpose built for the forests of Northern California not for the high speed deserts of SoCal.
Here is a link for the Y-Strap:
https://www.macscustomtiedowns.com/straps/specialty/spare-tire-y-strap/1-in-flat-snap-hook/p/112933/

[Bad Frog]

Thanks for the info and photos, Schepp. Again, not that it matters, but I like it. It is an inspiration for those who want to enhance the off road capabilities and utility of the VW without building a race car.

While I am not a prolific poster, I am a prolific reader of the forum. I will change my M.O. as I document the 1969 Vert build that I mentioned in another post.

Please keep us informed as you continue the work on Bandit.

[Schepp]

Bad Frog,

You're totally right, not every Baja bug needs to be a race car. A lot of the design of my car was inspired by the desert racing community.
The Beetle is an outstanding platform. It just plain works.

I'd say the most challenging aspect is finding good places to take measurements. Being the nearly every feature of the car is curved its difficult to take accurate repeatable measurements. Early on I taped off the center lines of the car front to back, left to right, inside and out and marked them in permanent ink.

I spent a year doing research before I even pulled the trigger on a VW. Most of the build time was sitting in the garage just staring at the car trying to figure out how to package everything I wanted in it.

I'd like to come up with a way of sleeping in the car for my solo off-road camping trips this summer.
The passenger seat can be tilted about 20* for rear access and can be removed in less than 10min. No bolts. Double shear 1/2" pull pins and clips. The drivers side is bolted in. I'm thinking a sleeping platform for the passenger side. I'm 6'5".
For comm's I've installed a 20w Retivis RA86 GMRS radio, with a Midland MXTA26 antenna. Programmed with all the big repeaters for NorCal. That is under the dash with all custom machined acm molle panel and mounting hardware.

You can spend $80k+ on a Jeep or Toyota or build a Bug for 10k that will take you nearly everywhere they'll go. Off-road Bugs are so unique these days its a natural conversation piece that everyone wants to check out.

I too look forward to your build posts!

[BajaInMyBlood]

How are the Bilsteins? My car is still ball joint with KYBs and I'm contemplating if it's worth upgrading for the type of driving I do. I have a set of thing arms and spindles that need some love too so I'm trying to decide if I should dump some $$$ into a balljoint set up or convert.

Is this the car that you are using this weekend at the Santa Rosa rallycross event? what do you have in the rear?

[Schepp]

NorCal Rallycross @ Santa Rosa March 30th.
Bandit and I brought home a 2nd place trophy for the modified rear wheel drive class!
A Mazda Miata on steroids beat me. A worthy competitor for sure.
Sunday was the true test of Bandit’s ability to perform and boy he sure did. For over 10min the engine was at 5k rpm! The mud was 18” deep in some areas of the track. It never stopped raining. We all weren’t going fast but it was a great show! The mud was flying everywhere. People said the rooster tails coming off the back tires of the Bug were over 30ft high!
On my last run of the day I got stuck so deep they had to get the tractor to pull me out! What an awesome weekend and great experience. It was a lot of work prepping the car and doing this solo with no support vehicle. I drove to and from the event. For my first time out racing, it went pretty dang well. They said Sunday’s conditions were the worst they’ve had to race in, in 10 years!

On the agenda now is to check every bolt on the car.
The Bilstein’s worked amazing. No problems with the ball joint beam.
The front shocks feel stiff on the street but when driven off road hard they feel great. I’m leaving the valving alone. Funny it handles better now on the street now that everything is broken in.
I did get it professionally aligned about a month ago which also made a big improvement.

[Schepp]

NorCal Rallycross Action shots from practice day on Saturday before the muddy Sunday race.

[Schepp]

Updates:
While I wait for the new Benco Pro Street transaxle to arrive I’m tackling some other projects. You can’t have your windows down during Rallycross races. I’ll have to ask about window nets.
A problem I have is buffeting when the windows are down. Common amongst the rally crowd are roof vents. The fronts usually have a scoop.
While not very aesthetically appealing, from a pure functional standpoint these are the way to go for keeping air moving through the cab.
I may end up adding another to the front but I’m not sure how I feel about a roof scoop. The vents are an hingeless design and open in both directions. For either intake or exhaust. This one is sold through Primitive Racing.

[Bad Frog]

Have you given any thought to installing a set of aftermarket "crotch coolers"? Since you still have all the sheetmetal upfront, grafting them to the front quarter panels to get the air moving wouldn't be too heavy of a lift...especially with your metal work capability. Also, I think they are just damn cool (pun intended). I just bought a set to go in my car as my car is not built for either race or the sandy desert.