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Building a baja
mattie182 - October 12th, 2002 at 06:01 PM

Can you use the superbug body and pan for a baja??????


matt


Baja Wes - October 12th, 2002 at 07:13 PM

not really.

two problems,

1 - hardly anyone will make a baja kit to fit a superbug.

2 - the strut front end is very weak and as such aren't really suited to offroading. So no-one uses them offroad.


vwrallycar - October 12th, 2002 at 08:09 PM

how about a strut beetle for a rally car?
what do u think?


Buggy Boyz - October 12th, 2002 at 08:30 PM

The strut front end in the Beetle was very weak when used off road. It only has one small ball joint at the bottom of the strut which, breaks easily and causes you to loose control.
The strut towers are alos weak and using them in the rough stuff you will get stress cracks and eventually tower failure.
I know people have used them and will disagree with me, but in my opinion you would be better of cutting the mac strut front end off and using ball joint .


Secoh - October 12th, 2002 at 08:38 PM

thats the first answer to the strut "weakness" issue I have ever come across. finally we get somewhere!

strut towers are always a bit weak inb stock form, which is why they make strut braces. RX7's literally have tghe towers collapse in rallies without serious reinforing.

the ball joint issue shouldnt be too difficult to sort out simply by fitting a larger item, with some minor machining.

Someone mentioned that the steering boxes fail with wide wheels, is this true too?


70AutoStik - October 13th, 2002 at 12:49 AM

But. If you were to build a properly triangulated front end... Let us know how you go!

As for the Kit; the Super pan is wider than the standard from memory, and the mounting for the fenders doesn't line up - but it shouldn't be too hard to make the kit fit.


Jamox - October 14th, 2002 at 05:26 AM

As far as cutting off the mac struts goes, was it you Wes who said there is a lot of modification for putting in a standard front end? Something to do with moving the fuel tank and steering?

Cheers
P.S. Still trying to get hold of "Baja bugs and Buggies"


Baja Wes - October 14th, 2002 at 08:16 AM

yeah I've never tried the conversion but I think it would be safe to say the super fuel tank would be in the way, and the steering box and column are different and possibly in different spots.

Plus the front end is a different shape so a normal baja kit wouldn't fit.


Jamox - October 14th, 2002 at 12:43 PM

Thats a point. I was wondering; has anyone cut a super pan in half widthways like what is done to buggies to shorten their wheel base? Could a standard front end be joined to a super rear? Or is the super chassis a bit wider or something? If it could be done, it would save having to move the fuel tank and change steering and stuff. Mind you its probably more work. :P

Its probably a stupid question but I was just pondering.::(


mattie182 - October 14th, 2002 at 01:15 PM

It is possible to put the ball joint front end onto the superbug pan!!!!!! I believe it is alot of stuffing around though, and you have to wonder is it worth it????

I do believe that you cannot put a buggy body onto a superbug pan (correct me if Im wrong)


Matt


Baja Wes - October 14th, 2002 at 01:35 PM

you can put a buggy body on a super pan, they are the same width pans. you can swap frame heads, brad has made a few buggies by doing this.


mattie182 - October 14th, 2002 at 10:23 PM

Sorry,
I meant with the mac strut front, i dont think you can???


Baja Wes - October 15th, 2002 at 08:10 AM

I've personally put a 64 baja body on a mac strut pan which had the mac strut frame head cut off and a link pin one welded on. The only other difference is the rear shock towers are higher so you have to raise the mounts on the early body. Very easy to do.

So you can use the late pan, but you still need the early body.