makin beetles into bajas.......

alright. establish first of all i know jack all about beetles.... but i wanna make a baja for the missus and myself....

i've purchased a baja kit that had apparently been on a 70 model beetle (" the one with the flat dash"??)

i'd probably be using the 2L carburetored engine and gearbox out of a 76 kombi for power and strengh.....

i'd want to use a beetle with IRS

the main use of the baja would be for beach work


a) only the super bug (s-bug??) or L bug have IRS hey?? can someone please post pics detailing how i tell em' apart externally from other beetles??

b) only IRS beetles can take the 2L donk hey?? what "type" is my engine?? type IV ???

c) what years of the sueprbug and L bug will my cheetah baja kit fit??

ummm errr i think that is about if for now!!! thanks all!!!!






🙂🙂🙂😀😀:P

Someone like Wes would know more about it than me.
But I think its any Beetle that DOESN'T have Mc pherson strut Suspension on the Front can be turned into a Baja.

My Baja's are all Pre 67, But you can use a 1500 and I think a S Bug as long as there are no Mc pherson Struts.

all sbugs have front struts and a flat metal dash Lbugs have a padded dash and a curved windscreen some have struts some have ball joint beam front end.

~air fooled~ you are crazy right???
why not throw a v8 in the back of it!!!

[Edited on 18-8-2004 by wacked1]

V8??!! yeah cool!! then i wont need front wheels!!! hell yeah!! let the healing begin!!! hahaha!!😉😉:thumb i'm too much a traditionalist to put anything foreign into the back of my dub though....

i think i'll be shoppin for an s bug for the baja .....anyone got some s bug pics??? even better if theyve been bajamatised......

barls wrote:all sbugs have front struts and a flat metal dash Lbugs have a padded dash and a curved windscreen some have struts some have ball joint beam front end.

I know L bugs are no good for Baja's, I couldn't remember if S bugs have Struts or not. I've never had much to with them.

thanks for the input though man!!! why arent L bugs any good though???

The baja kit won't fit an S Bug or L bug, so you need an earlier bug to Baja, the only Bug with IRS standard that is suitable was the semi auto which is balljoint front and IRS rear. You dont have to have IRS to fit the 2L kombi motor. I'm fitting a 1700 type 4 to a 1200 swingaxle gearbox at the moment.

Yay more bajas personly dont go for the late models like mc f strut flying vw is right they are just not strong enough irs is a good thing but very price to do proply standard beatle irs is not really strong enough the arms bend early swing axle are very cost affective cheap as and the link pin fronts are strong and can get the most hight and travel, 2lt type 4s are a really good idea they should be upright or porche fan so they dont hang out the back they have the most talk in the spot that you need it all of the bottem not at high revs i had a 1600 and never agian they are not worth it, they to be on top form to get any were

no s bug?! ahh sh#t!!!!! ok, back to the drawing board!!! hahaha. how come the kit wont fit an s bug??? cant modify em?? since the baja would only be used for sand work i was hopin the standard irs would be fine....
yeah i thought only IRS bugs would take the 2L kombi engine, thought i read that somewhere around here....anyone want to post pics of their machines and give specs???

~air fooled~ wrote:a) only the super bug (s-bug??) or L bug have IRS hey?? can someone please post pics detailing how i tell em' apart externally from other beetles??

b) only IRS beetles can take the 2L donk hey?? what "type" is my engine?? type IV ???

c) what years of the sueprbug and L bug will my cheetah baja kit fit??

(a) no. The 68 semi auto, 69 and 76 beetles had ball joint IRS.

(b) no. You can stick the 2lt in whatever, but will need an upright kit to make the installation look respectable and maintain some kind of departure angle.

(c) none. cheetah kit will fit a standard beetle, not an S or L bug. As stated, the strut front of the S and L bug is crap offroad, that's why hardly anyone makes Baja kits for them.

ahhhh cool!!! well answered then matey!!! thanks a load!!!! then what do you reccomend for my purpose mate??? having already purchased a chetah kit, having the donk and box and just wanting sand action??? i've been told my kit is the same as yours.....i've no idea if they change over the years ie- what models the kit will fit (apart from s and l bug now!!)

vw liked to make things as confusing as possible.

69 semi autos were IRS, all US 69 beetles were IRS, and some imported 69's appear to have been IRS too. I don't have a definitive answer, but vw liked to keep us guessing. I do know that 76 beetles were BJ and IRS.

If you just want something for the beach than swingaxle would be fine, but then you can't use the kombi gear.

The 2lt gearbox will need a mounting kit. You could buy a swingaxle pan, and have custom offroad convert it to IRS and mount the 2lt gearbox in it for you. It all depends on how much you want to spend really.

nah this isnt gona be too serious a baja, so i'm not gona fork out big bucks on re engineering it.... i got the engine and box sitting around for a manx project one day, might as well use it now thats all...............

ok so how does this sound??

late 60's swing axle bug
2L engine with upright kit
1300 or whatever gearbox...
cheetah kit

my only concern being will this kit ( http://www.aussieveedubbers.com/forum/viewthread.php?tid=26838#pid212216) fit a late 60's beetle?? if so what years WONT it fit???

it looks like you have a copy of a "cheetah" kit. The real cheetah kits say cheetah on the front of the bonnet. You can kinda see it there above my bull bar (a bit blurry)...



that kit should fit pretty much everything except for a macpherson strut beetle I would think. Mine's a 68 beetle (or was).

ahh yeah all good, i see whats happenin here!!!

cool so now its time to start shoppin around for a body......
thanks for all the info guys!!!!