Baja bug, very long term project

[dobbo]

I got this a few months ago as a paddock basher for the kids, it's not as bad as it looks with no rot in the floorpan. Thinking of getting some sort of recreational or historical rego for it when my son and his grandad restore it. Question, how to get more flex out of the front axle considering that it will have to one day be road legal?

47085

47086

47087

[dobbo]

weeding in the buggy - YouTube


heres a small video of us weeding the back paddock, taken on a phone so it's a tad out of focus

[Pedro_The_Swift]

longer arms is the usual way,,
should be heaps of inch and a half, and 3inch oversize arms about.
to just get the front to flex better you can remove a couple of blades, this may require better shocks though.

We still use whats known as a "beam" front end,, 4" over-length, chrome molley arms

and a few coilovers;)

[justinc]

What he said:D

vw are a great choice for kids driving fun, pretty forgiving in the handling department and can be driven within an inch of their lives for years:)
I don't know if you have had much to do with them Matt, but a 'tuned' stocker beetle will surprise you with it's offroad prowess:cool: I realise you don't necessarily want to spend a lot of coin, but a 1.8 litre barrel and piston set, some webers or delortos and you are OFF:twisted:

JC

[LowRanger]

What he said:D

vw are a great choice for kids driving fun, pretty forgiving in the handling department and can be driven within an inch of their lives for years:)
I don't know if you have had much to do with them Matt, but a 'tuned' stocker beetle will surprise you with it's offroad prowess:cool: I realise you don't necessarily want to spend a lot of coin, but a 1.8 litre barrel and piston set, some webers or delortos and you are OFF:twisted:

JC

Rather than messing around tuning Del orto's or Webers,I would just fit twin Kadrons,made for the job and easy to tune on a bug.

[justinc]

Matt,

I'd forgotten about the Kadron stuff, as Wayne says been around for years and very simple/ useable.
Kadron Solex H40/44 EIS Carburetor Specialists, Repair, Rebuild, and Rebushing... Parts and Service (http://kaddieshack.com/)
These guys have everything you need, pretty cheap too!!!:o

That 1641cc kit is excellent value, so are the Kadron carb kits, and the electronic dizzys...:cool:

JC

[LowRanger]

Yep ,I used to have twin Kadrons on my Stan Pobjoy engined beetle show car.:cool:

Baja Bugs were very popular in the 70's.In fact they had them on the cover of the 2nd edition of OFF ROAD Australia magazine in the early 70's.This was the first 4wd magazine in Australia,and they had bugs on the cover:eek:

[justinc]

Yep ,I used to have twin Kadrons on my Stan Pobjoy engined beetle show car.:cool:

Baja Bugs were very popular in the 70's.In fact they had them on the cover of the 2nd edition of OFF ROAD Australia magazine in the early 70's.This was the first 4wd magazine in Australia,and they had bugs on the cover:eek:

Hmmm, got any pics:angel: ?
We saw Boris Orazem in his Bug during the Australian Safari, that thing fairly hauled :)

JC

[dobbo]

thanks guys, I'd like to keep the original 1200cc engine if possible, considering the car has managed 47 years with matching numbers it'd be a bit of a shame to change. The info you've produced so far is excellent, what can be done with the 1.2l?

[justinc]

thanks guys, I'd like to keep the original 1200cc engine if possible, considering the car has managed 47 years with matching numbers it'd be a bit of a shame to change. The info you've produced so far is excellent, what can be done with the 1.2l?

They are a fantastic little gem of an engine, valve clearances are VERY important, so is a decent leak free set of engine pipes, the performance suffers terribly with exhaust leaks up near the heads.
The distributor can be turfed for a 034 type Bosch or Empi full mechanical advance unit, a 12V upgrade if not already done, is a good start too.

Carb can be upped to a 32mm single or twin 28mm, (Although without some head work and compression/ capacity increase twins wouldn't be all that good an upgrade IMO)

Above all, attention to valve clearances and intake and exhaust system functionally will yield a great little reliable engine:) (Bit like a 4BD1 really, without the mountain of torque)


JC

[dobbo]

I had 30 minutes spare today so the rear bar work came off. Underneath the car was easy U bolts around the transaxle, the triangulation bar work up to the body was a tad harder. Two 4mm plates with the body work sandwiched in between. The fact that a 4mm plate has covered the oil drain for umpteen years is a tad worrying. Might have to convince someone with a few 914 engines to donate one, hint hint.;) Tomorrow, I'll undo all 4 bolts and perform an engine drop.