A Different Kind of Stance: Baja

[Btraq]

1972 Volkswagen Bug Baja

So, I know this isn't exactly what you are used to but i would argue that that it still fits. I just went for a different kind of stance.
I'm just aiming for bigger wheels, a wider wheelbase and a little higher off the ground.

This is the car when I brought it home. Bought for $800 from a man missing teeth living out in the middle of the desert. I was able to drive it home but only barely. It was one of the few bugs in town that had an engine but only barely. Being an Arizona car rust was luckily not really an issue.


Original



Current:



Brakes barely worked, one of the trailing arms was severely bent and caused the right hand wheel to sit a weird angle. and it leaked gas, oil and trans fluid, like a siv. or a bucket without a bottom.






There was a lot of backtracking to before any real progress could be made. the electrical was a mess and barely anything worked. Wires were melted together< or rotted away or simply hanging free.



Anyways, as long as no one objects, I hope to chronicle the ongoing restoration and modification of this car.

[milano_red]

I want to see! Looks like a cool project

[sally pu]

keep it going!

[FunfGang]

Awesome! This should be good.

[Daviticus]

There's nothing on StanceWorks that says you have to bring the chassis CLOSER to the pavement ... I honestly think "stance" is how well the final production of modifications to get something to "sit properly".

A hot bitch still looks good on a barstool if she's wearing the right shoes.

In for this build. Might even provoke me to get some wheels and flares for my truck and post up.

[FunfGang]

^ Exactly. Stance is, and has always been about how something sits. Not necessarily how low or "fitted".

[Btraq]

So once i got it home I started tear down.
I pulled off the rear cage that was way too big and dropped the engine out. The CV bolts were shredded and the axles had to be cut to get the engine out. Then the bolts could eb removed with vice grips and a lot of swearing.



I stripped out ALL of the electrical because it was a shit-show. I purchased a new loom and i thought it was gonna be pretty straight forward to get it all hooked up again. yeah that was like the worst thing ive ever done. I had to replace it< there is no question about it but god it sucked so much.



I only was removing thins that were broken and desperately needed fixing or replacing. and i ended up taking out everything.


The Interior




The dash



The old front Beam



Some of the paint

[Flashpoint_RX7]

It looks like your going to make me miss my old Baja, DAMN YOU!.

look forward to the build.

[AMGwheelwhore]

I agree with everything said who says stance has to be low I believe it's about pushing the limits of what the vehicle was designed to do...

[markshulikov]

keep it up. i wanna see more!

[milano_red]

I gonna go ahead and subscribe...

[Btraq]

To resurrect a thread that was barely started,

I have been pretty busy.

First the interior:

Replaced the dashboard with alumium. New Gauges sometimes they all work at the same time. New steering wheel. and the vent you see is part of the new heater more on that later. I also installed a radio and two speakers so far. New seats. harness's. and shifter.







I installed a Diesel powered heater and put it up front where the fuel tank used to be. I used a lot of the old vents and made some new ones.





Another shot of the speakers and since i don't trust this car any farther than i have push it (literally sometimes) i installed a mount for a fire extinguisher.



Where is the old fuel tank you might ask? Well i decided to go ahead and bite the bullet and install a fuel cell.







It was always my intention to replace the back seat with a storage box. so i did and im really happy with the results:






Oh yeah and i made a skid plate:

[Btraq]

after a lot of sanding i got to painting it:



but summer in Tucson means monsoons:




Best update really, months ago my engine died siezed up dead. Took it to a guy in the middle of now where who builds vw engines. He builds them for commercial vacuum systems. but he also does a lot of racecars. like ten second quarter mile bugs. I got my 1600cc dual port bored out to 1914cc and more aggressive cams. everything was replaced. great guy a little goofy but he know his VW's

[loekaaz]

A hot bitch still looks good on a barstool if she's wearing the right shoes.

^^ This guy just made your thread legendary

The only way I can appreciate a Bug, is in Baja-form. So, good on you mate.

and:

Oh yeah and i made a skid plate:

[Nick475]

love the build. but if you're gonna do a skid plate, shouldnt i be in the back under the engine and trans?