i have got my self stuck in a corner.
i have always wanted to build a baja and i have gone and got my self a 70 bug /1500. i have had it for a couple of months now but !!!
the bug is stock as a rock 1 owner all original, paint, plates, trim, keys, spare tyre, jack and tool kit 140000 miles with complete logs from new. it not in great condition but for 39 years it pretty good. no rust afew dents and paint wearing thin.
i have come to cross road were i do not have the heart to cut it.
what i am after is to see what people out there in vw land would and then maybe i can come to a dission
CUT OR NOT TO CUT
Cheers.
1970 bug /1500 stock as a rock.
1976 standard bug ready to be modified 😁😁😁😁😁
I would start with a good one to cut up. I don't see the point in getting a rusty poor condition car to chop, and then find you spend more time restoring the crap rusty parts than the actual chop job.
There's plenty of good beetles out there that have been molestored and are not original.....start with one of them !
find another good one that has had several owners, no service history, non original motor etc etc.............and sell yours to someone that wants to do a restoration of a true original 👍
i`m with H and Craig,and i know what helbus is talking about ,my bajas body has a bit more rust than thought ,so its like chasing your tail fixing it up then there is the engineering etc to get done... sell the one you have to someone to restore and buy yourself a baja already regoed etc as its less hassle than building one👍
What excatly are you going to cut. If your carefull you could probably take most of it appart and buy fiberglass kits for it then if you dont likr it put all the bits you originlly took off back on.
, if u want a baja, cut it . i seen a hot lookin baja with back guards on the front. just turned around and cut off. and the front was just the original front with no fiberglass nose put on. just a cut front bonnet with a section welded on to fit it down to the front where the brake resevoir sits [moved obviously] and an infill the front inspection plates had lights fitted and a chrome section underneath. hard to explain, but it was the best lookin baja i seen, black with flames n big wide rear chromies . a streeter
I agree with Craig,
you can get another decent bug pretty cheap.
Don't cut it up considering it's got all that history.
If you do you'll end up kicking yourself for it later on.....
Cheers
D
so far the "don't cut" have it and i am feeling better, i was starting think i was a bit soft.
looks like i will driving a stocker around untill i save some cash and convince the misses we need a second bug.
keep em coming !
Cheers
Elton
1970 bug /1500 stock as a rock.
1976 standard bug ready to be modified 😁😁😁😁😁
then cutting it into a baja would be the best way to panel beat the damage :P
so much cheaper to, and no guilt trip! 👍
There are millions of the bugs built, and its only a 70's. Still a classic none the less, but not necessarily rare. i wish my baja was clean to start with. Replacing and welding in new a pillars here followed by a full flippin expensive long winded off the chassis resto there, it gets a little tedious. And its still friggen going...
nah, don't find an already baja'ed and cut baja, cut another beetle.
Experience has shown that if you get a baja, its mostly likely guaranteed that its been dune hoppin, scraping and thrashing in the mud, perhaps experienced salt water, been launched in the air, bumped and knocked into rocks or trees, etc. etc.
If you find another street bug, then you know it hasn't been exposed to nuffin much more than the pleasant bitumen, guaranteeing you less repairs and suprises. (exc. paddock bashers).
A good baja is worth a good $, a shabby one is cheap. a cheap unorig. street bug would run ova a shabby baja both quality and $ value wise.
I'm just speaking from the heart aching experience of a shabby 67' baja with broken chassis forks, a gearbox full of sand, hidden rust left right and centre, fouled suspension, the lot! (IE: its had a hard life, like any usual baja)
thinker, it sounds like you have a sentinmental attachment to this bug now
If your planning on keeping the bug long term then why not turn it into your dream bug but if your worried about resale value or dont plan on keeping all that long then dont cut it
ive been in the same boat
my Lbug was also totally original, never pranged, rusted, full history blah blah... and everything ive done to it will easily be reversed
ppl are quick to jump on the its only a 70s bug cut it bandwagon but original 70s bugs in particular Lbugs in 20 years will be just as scarce as ovals cos they were only made for 2 years and most of them are now rusted convertables that haven been or will be crushed
so i never had the heart to cut it up to fit a suby so much so i bought another bug already cut up for it and just realised no point in having tomany toys
but ive come to realise now after 10 years im not gonna part with it now for anything so why not make it what i want
sheet metal can be replaced if i decide for some strange reason to go back to VW power
just same as a baja can be turn back to stock with a confident welder
there is a bit of Merit in what bajachris says bout starting with one that hasnt been thrashed off road but by the same token he should have checked his out alot more thoroughly or had someone else who knew what they were looking for check it
lol i was 16 at the time, and the dude came across as a crazily Christian holy man, the sort who seemed to have morals, ethics and a person i could trust. i was foolish enough to buy sight unseen, a freight truck later and a funds transfer and it led to a disappointment.
