Our 72 Baja project

Here are some pictures of our 1972 Baja project in the disassembly stage. And start's off with pictures as I purchased the car.

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I will upload more pics as we go

Starting to get some parts, Man cave has become a parts storage area. Hopefully get the body off this weekend and start repairs to the pans.

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get your neighbor over to help he is not messing with his rail so he should have plenty of time on his hands unless the hunting excuse comes up lol

Now you know my neighbor is always busy helping someone! I think he is as excited as I am about getting to work on it!

wow you are working hard and fast on this baja bug. I hope I get to see it when its done.

You will Chris, this ones going to be a keeper, I'll have to keep it a minimum of 20 years to get my money back out of it! LOL

I'm liking it

Haven't got the body off yet, decided to replace the two door pillars first before the body is removed. Parts are still rolling in UPS and Fed Ex drivers know my kids by name!

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Started to replace the door pillars,then we can get the body off to do the pans. I have a question about the rear torsion work, is it possible to swap the rear torsion bars with the body off the car or is the added weight of the body and engine needed to help raise the spring plates back into position?

Tires are here!!!
31"x10.50" Rear TSL swampers
29"x7.0 front TSL swampers

Not welded in yet just sitting in place
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Modified the flat rear portion of the fenders to a more rounded look. "Probably will be weaker but I'm not going to sit on them"
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it doesn't matter if the body is on or off the spring plates are preloaded. be careful just remember jack,ratchet straps, maybe a chain start with 10 fingers and finish with 10. good luck and have fun

Made a little progress this weekend,our once a year trip to Daytona for the TRR was canceled due to a sweet little old lady who decided to pull directly out in front of us while we were doing about 30mph,it was either cream her or jump the Magnum over a concrete median, "Which Magnums aren't made for by the way" If anyone is planning on jumping their Magnum I would suggest raising it 12" or so and upgrade your tires and rims first too! "Felt like we did get some decent air time though!"

Airborne baby!
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No one was hurt and that's all that matters, "But the car didn't fair so well"
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But anyway back to the progress on the baja
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Also found a bad passenger side rear quarter panel with some real crap bodywork "3/4" Bondo" , So needles to say ordered a quarter panel to replace it I plan on keeping this car awhile.

Tires are here!!
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Looking good

Hey Muddobber I think today is the day,if the planets are all in proper alignment "I think the body may come off this weekend!" "The worlds best neighbor gave up the hunting weekend in Georgia to get some welding done on the Baja!!" I think we may start a little late though we celebrated working on it pretty late last night!" I will keep you posted.

Door pillars are in and body is off. Time to install some parts
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and now the fun begins... Looking good!

I want to say thanks to the motley crew that helped with the baja this weekend, "I know everyone had allot to do and they all sacrificed to move this project forward!"
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Looks like I'm going to have some wheels and tires for sale pretty soon!

Got a little more done to the Baja this weekend, I hope everyone had a safe and Happy New year!

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It's nice to finally install some parts.

Looking good!

Finally had a chance to get a little more done to the Baja, the quarter panel replacement has been the biggest challenge. I cant wait to get this thing ready to be able to make it to some of the shows and meets!! We have decided to go with a Lime green color,and it will have a Moon Eyes theme,should be different!
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We are doing about twice the body work I planned,but I really plan on keeping this car for quite a while, "A 2.2 chevy conversion will be in the works for 2013.

Keep up the good work! I love those tires and the color choice!

Bad Ass!!!

Feb and March have been really bad months for me, project has been at a standstill while we handle family stuff. I'm looking for a baja hood for a wide eye kit,the one I have just doesn't fit the car well at all, if anyone has one please let me know. I will post some more pics as progress is made.

Finally got a little more bodywork done, I'm terrible at it so I have been putting it off, Cant wait to get this body painted and back on the chassis!
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I ended up buying a Mark V hood it fits perfectly!

Keep it up!

looks great.

this baja is really coming along. keep up the good work

your not going to believe this but the baja is finally in primer, Now the body can go on temporarily to build the rear shock mounts and roll cage.
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hopefully things will pick up a bit now

Ok finally making some progress again, here are some pictures of the body back on the pan temporarily.
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I'm really happy with the stance!

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We couldn't find nerf bars we liked so we made these
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Now we need to bend up the cage, then body can come back off for paint! Starting to get a little excited

wow it is looking very good! keep it moving we will be riding in no time

Looking GOOD!!

Going to be out of commission for a week, "Having a heart cath done". I will update you when we start working again, talk to you soon.

hope all goes well.

Heart cath !? Doesn't that doctor of yours know you have more important things to do . . . like finishing this BAD A$$ baja? Kidding aside, hope it goes smoothly for ya . . . so you can get back to work on your project!

Ok that was loads of fun and I don't plan on ever doing that again! Back to work for me, going to start off slow this weekend "I'm sore as hell all over" and work some more on the cage and rear shock mounts. Thanks for the well wishes guy's. The guy who is painting the Baja is really getting anxious he already has the booth cleaned and ready. I will post some pics after this weekend.

I'm getting anxious too! I wanna see some color on it!

Welcome Back! Nice to see you are working on it again. Once it's sprayed, it will come together quickly......trust me I know.

It's looking AWESOME!!!! I want a ride

Got a little more done before we head to Sylva NC for a little vacation,body is at the painters now should be lime green when I get back in 2 weeks. We built our own roll bar I love it turned out just like I wanted.

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I will post more pics when the body is back on the chassis.
Stay safe!

I forgot the bad news, the type 1 CV's are not even close to being able to work, the shafts are at 22 degrees. So looks like an upgrade to 930 CV's is a must, "Anyone have any T1 conversion stuff to 930's for sale?

allisontech wrote:

Got a little more done before we head to Sylva NC for a little vacation

We love that area, and are looking for property around there. BTW your car is looking great! Enjoy your vacation!

That baja is going to be NIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICE!

Thanks guys i cant wait till this thing is done!

Your baja look like it will be lots of fun to drive.

Well the engine is apart and I still don't know what I really have here, the crank looks like it has been counter weighted,and the previous owner said it was a stroker crank, Can a factory Vw crank be offset ground as a stroker. The block has had oil jets installed to spray oil on the back sides of the pistons, the cam is way to big it's a Engle 130. If anyone has any thoughts I would like to know what you think. Here are some pictures.

Pictures of the crank and rods
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Pictures of the block

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I also need to know who everyone thinks would know something about these parts as far as machine work goes. I would like to have the crank and engine case checked out, who would you recommend for non stock VW stuff?

the crank might be a small stroker, by the pics i don't see anything showing clearance work for a larger stroker and the rods look stock. you may want to take your parts to terry at sundance bug and buggy he should be able help you out and identify what you have.

I did a very crude measurement of the crank stroke and the throw is right around 69mm so I think what I have is a welded counter weighted crank. I was hoping for at least a 74mm because the PO said it was a 2074 engine, "Oh well it is what it is, so looks like a 1915 is what I have". I'm going to bring the parts to Terry and see what he thinks, he really hooked me up when I built the 1835.

Great news Terry at Sundance say's the crank and case can be cleaned up and re used withought machine work, this is an honest guy, I thought for sure the case needed to be done, so the case is standard and the crank will stay 25mm. That frees up a little more for a straight cut crank and cam gear drive.