hey guys im sure some of you have heard what im doing to my superbug but for the rest of you I AM BAJA'ING IT!!!
every has told me not to so i decided i would. haha
the positives are i have factory IRS and a 1600tp motor to haul it along, negative is i have mac strut up front....
the motor is mainly a stocker 1600 with 40idfs and baja 4-1 extractors. i reconditoned the motor myself a couple of months ago with new rings, all bearings and all seals. it is running shit at the moment because of the HUGE jets in the carbs.....
most of my time has gone into the front end and getting a normal firbeglass kit to fit... i bought the kit off ebay for nicks but had alot of work to do because of the completely different front on it.... i had to cut and split the nosecone about 6 inches and for the bonnet i had to but two slices down the sides just inside the hump and spread it to fit. i then filled everything with fibreglass and painted and fit it.. looks great now!!
im waiting on someone to put pics up for me so you should see it soon!!
cheers
Luke
1916baja ·
here ya go...
1916baja ·
another
1916baja ·
another
1916baja ·
cheers mate, gave me something to do for 10 mins! i'm bored stupid and cant work on my baja or buy parts for it as all the vw shops are closed! Looking good bud.
1916baja ·
The photo quality is a bit average, I'll try to rectify that with the next lot of photos you send...
Smiley ·
Looks like a good unit.
Are you going to swap the struts to bigger ones for more height?
Early Golf ones fit don't they?
Smiley
baja burley ·
the plan for the front is to move the cup that the spring sits in further up to give an inch or two and then fit later (L bug) perches to the top.. these give another 1.5inch..... also going to so some reinforcing of pivot points and stress loaded areas to tighten and strengthen things up a bit...
for the back im just gonna fiddle with the splines a bit to send things about 3in upwards.
i have 30in A/T tires for the back but also have a brand new 31in BF Goodrich M/T sitting without a partner which i'd love to put on
also chasing either decent 14in tures for the front OR some 15in rims....
glad my pride and joy didnt get poo pooed straight away😁😁
baja burley ·
ps. the golf struts are used to lower the front smiley (definitely NOT on the cards)
Cam ·
What are you planning on using for strut Inserts & Steering Damper?
baja burley ·
was hoping to use stock parts? i know the reason for different strut insert but why different damper??
Cam ·
I was just thinking of bump steer, not sure if it will be such an issue with raised suspension tho? Either way, just wondering if you'd lucked upon an aftermarket alternative 😎
I've got a 1302 that I do some rally-crossing with, I've fiddled with the ride height, flipped tie-rods, fitted a brand new std damper, you name it (just about everything short of going to R&P steering), and it still bump steers the wheels out of alignment over the occasional series of large ruts & potholes.
I've taken the std damper into a few places, the general consensus is that it's too short to simply fit up a 'off the shelf' 4x4 damper.
I've heard rumours that there is some dude in the U.S. who adapts a std damper to work on the opposite side - giving two dampers (apparently aimed at reducing the sbug shimmies but it could work for bump steer) I've just been too lazy to find out exactly who it is and follow it up any further.
baja burley ·
oh ok didn't really think about that side of things.... what is bump steer?? i sorta know what it is but not exactly what happens to cause it and i figure the more i know the more i can fix or prevent!!
1303Steve ·
Hi
Good on you for going outside the square with a super Baja. You also need to try to keep the front springs soft to have a bit of compliance
Sorry to go of topic here but it concerns strut front ends.
Cam, are you running the flip kit with raised or lowered suspension?
The stock super steering box gets slack in it when its not in the straight ahead position, irregularities in the road surface will show this up.
If you need to fit a longer steering damper, it would be easy to fabricate a new location point for a longer damper.
My sons 1303 has had both a worn ball joint and virtually non existent steering damper bush in the idler arm, it didn't have any shimmies with either problem.
Steve
baja burley ·
thanks for the motivation boost steve.... what do you mean by compliance??
what is this flip kit you speak of?
1303Steve ·
Hi
By compliance I meat keep the front springs soft to allow the wheels to rise over bumps.
If you lift the spring perch to much you will end up with very compressed front springs which will make them hard, you maybe better off spacing the strut tops.
I cant remember his name but another person on here was doing this to a super, I sent him some spare late model top spring seats, I'm not sure how he got on with them.
steve thanks... i remember the guy. his name was marcel.. you wouldn't happen to have anymore of the same seats would you??
moving the spring perch will, by compressing the spring, extend the strut thus giving a lift will it not?? so in a sense what i am doing is moving the shock downwards whilst keeping the perch and spring in the same position...
that is quite hard to understand but i hope you understand so you can tell me if im trashing my front end. haha
keep comments rolling!!!!
1303Steve ·
Hi
I will have a look around for some spring seats, I wonder how Marcel got on.
When the strut is sitting with no load on it, that length is as long as it can go, making the spring perch higher will not actually make the strut physically longer, it will make the spring harder to compress which will make the car higher, I think keeping the springs as soft as possible will help the front end survive.
I did see a rally Superbug once that had a spacer between the strut and the stub axle.
Steve
baja burley ·
ahhh yes that makes more sense.... this is marcels thread
ended up being pretty successful..... the height he got is pretty close to what i want for mine....
give us a bell if you find the perches....
cheers
Luke
baja burley ·
got the matching rim for the back and some 15 inch rims for the front today so will post up more pics soon.
the rims for the front have a very tight offset and dont allow for much room between the spring and the tire.... im pretty sure spacers are illegal so can anyone suggest a way to get this gap biggggger, other than change offset which i might end up doing???
cheers
Luke
baja burley ·
did some additons to the cage recently... put an extra bar which follows the existing bar but is exactly one number plate higher😁
also ripped the spring plates of the back and turned them down one inner spline to send it skywards and put on 4 new rims an tires. (now have 3 complete sets of rims and tires, haha) its now got 15x5 vw rims up front with 235/75 and 15x8 deeeep rims on the back with 265/70...
looks very coool. pics to come
1916baja ·
shoot me the pics! i'll chuck them up!
baja burley ·
perches are on!!! tool A LOT of fighting with spring compressors but i got it done....
next job - cage thew rear barwork!
ps. mick, pics have been shot
squizy ·
Nice work with the body kit. You may have just opened up a little market for yourself. 🙂
1916baja ·
there ya go.
1916baja ·
another
1916baja ·
last one, Sorry they took so long mate been busy workin on the baja! Love the engine cage! I wanna put another bar on mine but mine is heavy enough as it is. Looks great with the big wheels on!
BajaChris ·
baja burley wrote:did some additons to the cage recently... put an extra bar which follows the existing bar but is exactly one number plate higher😁
also ripped the spring plates of the back and turned them down one inner spline to send it skywards and put on 4 new rims an tires. (now have 3 complete sets of rims and tires, haha) its now got 15x5 vw rims up front with 235/75 and 15x8 deeeep rims on the back with 265/70...
looks very coool. pics to come
I'm in the process of building a superbug baja myself, but am not up to the tyre buying stage just yet. Interested to know if the 235's fit without rubbing on any thing, and are the rims standard offset?
Thanks
baja burley ·
no worries mick, no need to apologise for a favour👍
cage looks even better now... i have bent up 2 vertical bars and brought them from the top bar up to meet the mount for the decklid hinges. looks the shiz
rims are standard offset and the 235's DO rub 😢 i was spewin when i put em on cos they didnt touch, didnt touch, didnt touch... then rolled it along and heard the squeak..🙁 its only a very polite kiss though. so i will offset the rims an inch and it will be fine..
also if you have any questions about yours or my rig, bajachris, fire at will..
BajaChris ·
That's good to know thanks.
I'm planning on running 215's front/ 235's rear but, was toying with the idea of 235's all round. I can't really increase the offset without making the guards wider, they will be at the limit of tyre coverage as it is.
baja burley ·
i bought a head deck for the dub the other day and wired all my speakers up today... WOW.. i have never heard the quior boys sing so LOUD!!
sub was just running of the two bridged front channels coming out of the head deck so i cant wait till my amp comes and i can really give it some noise!!
Smiley ·
baja burley wrote:WOW.. i have never heard the quior boys sing so LOUD!!
Run To Paradise?
Smiley
baja burley ·
is there any other?
baja burley ·
now that the sound is in im starting to give the interior a bit of a birthday.... i was wondering what is the best replacement wood/card for the doorcard?? i was thinking either 3ply of mdf or a 3mm masonite or something along those lines... they will have speakers mounted to them and be covered in marine carpet to match the parcel shelf..
glad your all liking my work!!!
cheers
waveman1500 ·
I've heard that plywood is no good as it becomes brittle and cracks. Masonite is what the factory used. MDF would work as long as it didn't get wet. I'm planning to make a set soon myself, and I'll be buying masonite.
colonel mustard ·
baja burley wrote:is there any other?
well yes, but...no.
beetleboyjeff ·
I used plywood for my door cards because it is lighter and takes bolts & screws better. I did prime them very well before they were covered though. I have only had them in for about 2 years, but so far so good.
baja burley ·
thats the reason i was leaning towards ply jeff, for a bit of strength and a thicker base for mounting STUFF....
assuming you just used 3ply.. does it stick out much or does it look "natural"... just worried about thickness with the carpet and all
beetleboyjeff ·
The 3 ply I used was only 3mm - about the same thickness as the masonite. Worked very well. Check out the photos.
Joel ·
3mm MDF has worked fine for me, ive made a few sets for bugs ive owned over the years
ply is heavier and doesnt like to bend as much
current ones in my bug are atleast 4 or 5 years old and have had the weight of fibreglass speaker pods with splits, carpet kick panels and metal trim panels hanging off them as well as power window controls for the last 2 years
baja burley ·
nice looking pods joel (wink) haha.. i was hoping to get a couple of 6in speakers into the doors but do i need pods for them or will my door be deep enough??
love the badge jeff! where did you get it??
jacky_moo ·
looks good mate!
I like the door arm rests ... good having that little flip down pocket.. they are off a mazda 626 yeah?
VWCOOL ·
A Super baja makes sense as long as you replace the body/shell strength lost when you cut off the nose, do you know of any nice soft long-travel front springs that will fit? Maybe the stockers will be OK with, as you say, a spring seat relocation - don't forget to add extra bumpstop
Joel ·
baja burley wrote:nice looking pods joel (wink) haha.. i was hoping to get a couple of 6in speakers into the doors but do i need pods for them or will my door be deep enough??
hehe well they been sitting on the shelf gathering dust for a couple of years now since i relocated to the speakers to the front kick panels
6" will fit fine its just location thats the problem
theres a 6" speaker hole just below the window winder handle which is perfect but the speaker grille interferes with the handle so next spot is down in the bottom corner which only works if you dont have map pockets
baja burley ·
yer i saw that hole while the cards were off but didnt really like the idea of having a speaker in the middle of bumf*ck nowhere on the door... i think i will just go with the bottom corner...
got my amp today in the mail!!!!! fitted her up and tuned it the sarvo. and once again it left me in awe!!!! i love my sound system
beetleboyjeff ·
love the badge jeff! where did you get it??
The badge is just a bonnet badge. It is actually mounted on a light box with a neon light in it that operates from the door switch along with the other courtesy light in the front of the pod (yes, it is off a 626).
I used the pod to cover the window winder spidle which now has the electric wiindow drive on it. The interior door handle is now in the top of the pod, as well as the electric window switch.
baja burley ·
thats awesome....is all i have to say
baja burley ·
bought some 6in alpine type S for the front and also some type S 6x9's to replace the kenwood ones in the parcel shelf....
more pics to come hopefully
baja burley ·
Smiley ·
Looking great man!
How long before it's registered?
Smiley 🙂
baja burley ·
haha, registered... hilarious. no its on its way. full re-wire and a few bits hee and there and it should be done😵 cant wait!!!