G'day everyone, I am new to this site I recently joined after getting a renewed interest in vw's mainly Bajas. I have been looking to by one but I have a few questions before I do.

I am curious as to what a Baja is like to drive at highway speed with say 31" tyres and a 1600 twin port engine is there enough power to maintain 100 kph on most hills or is it advisable to look for a car with a larger engine ? Sorry if this sounds like a rediculous question but I have had very little to do with these cars.

I have seen some cars advertised with 1770 cc engines which I assume is a 1600 with a big bore kit fitted ,is the difference between the 1600 and the 1770 engine dramatic, do they have different charastics to drive or does the 1770 simply have more power ? Are they reliable , I'm not looking for a rocket just something with strong power and reliable if thats possible.

I'd appreciate any advice, thanks.

Gidday and welcome.

My baja currently has a 1600tp and 31" rear. Really doesn't like hills, but when I had the 1776 in it performed much better. However, I have lost 4th gear due I think, to the forces involved in driving the 31s. Currently looking for a kombi box to fix this problem, lower ratios and stronger box.

As far as I know big bore kits won't affect reliability too much but strocking can.

I also have a Baja with 31's and currently a 1600tp.
I drive it every single day, it does slow down a bit on hills but isn't too bad.
There are three things you can do to remedy this. More power, different gearbox, or smaller tyres.

I used to have 30"s on it and I noticed the small drop in performance when I went to the 31's.


Smiley

will the kombi 3 rib shudder at the sight of hills still?

Thanks for the welcome and the replies, Baghall is there any reason you have gone back to the 1600 ?

So all I need now is a Baja with a 1770cc plus engine with a combie gearbox and 30' tyres and that should make for a decent highway runner ?

I have seen a Baja advertised in SA with a 2 ltr combie motor fitted is there any problems with such a setup ?

I have seen some crazy setups on here with Subaru power amongst other things but I can imagine that sort of thing would present a whole heap of problems especially with so much hp on tap, I kind of like the simplicity of the old air cooled vw so if I can find something clean and straight with a slightly larger engine I think I would be happy.

Thanks again guys.

Thanks Smiley, so 3-rib will be good offroad and still allow you to maintain highway speeds or will it be really screaming at 100 where as a 5-rib may be a good comprimise. Where does a standard beetle box fit in with it's gearing I imagine they are geared pretty tall. Anyway what does the rib stand for on the end of these gearbox models.... it's not half obvious that I know very little, so thanks for the helping hand.

Geez Smiley your a wealth of imformation, I never expected quite so much detail but it is a big help. I am starting to think that getting a baja with all I am looking for may be near impossible so a gearbox change may be in order after I find something but there is no great rush. I am making out a list of all the important things to make a baja that I think I will be happy with, I had'nt really considered the gearbox to be quite as important as some other things but it seems more critical than engine size.

What about brakes do you find the standard drums up to the job or are discs something I should put on the list ?

Smiley and others have got you definately on the right track, All good advice above.

Thanks matberry, so type 3 brakes on the rear and disc on the front ,or are drums ok up front ? So with a 1600 engine and a rib-3 gearbox with type 3 rear brakes this should make for a fun reliable baja that stops and goes and does everything right ? It's sounding good and now I have a bit of direction to follow, I had never really considered the fan speed to be so critical but I guess it's not unlike a water coolled engine with the water pump running to slow. Does the combie gearbox suffer from camber problems like the Beetles ?
What exactly are type 3 brakes anyway ?

Good stuff guys thanks heaps.

I think I got that last bit wrong about combie gearbox , it would be the suspension that causes the issues with the camber so a comie box will fit with beetle suspension I guess.

The kombi gearbox is assuming the rear suspension is IRS or CV 'double joint'. The earlier type of rear suspension, swing axle has the radical camber change and limited travel available.
The front end types have pro's and con's depending on what year car you get.
And yes to the disc brakes being a good start, type 3's are the beetle big brother in a wagon, fastback and nothback form, bigger, heavier, roomier VW.

OK thanks everyone for your input, is there anything else that you would consider to be vital information for someone just getting started ? How bigger budget does someone need to get into a Baja with a few mods..... and where are the best places to pick up parts to do some of the mentioned modifications ?

Just one other thing, what is the reliability of these 1600 engines like ?

One important thing for off road for me, is I prefer later bodies (68 and on) for the far safer burst proof door catch. If you prefer an early car, modify the doors and pillars to the later catch.

Baja Wes , I really like the look of your Baja and I can only imagine how well it goes you must have put a hell of alot of hours into it to get it to that standard. Great to hear all that power hasn't caused any dramas I had no idea they could handle that much horsepower.

I think i will be starting out with something pretty mild, but I guess there is no reason I couldn't have a crack at something a little different further down the track.

As far as budget is concernd. I spent $2500 on purchasing my baja, and am still spending money repairing and setting it up the way I want. It's one of those things where you keep "making improvements" so the budget you had planned on keeps changing. Though I should have been as smart as you in getting the advice first. It might have made it easier in the long run.

I know where you are coming from, I have been looking at VWs from $1500-7500 and trying to work out wether to buy something completely done and registered or to start of cheap and build it up, I know paying for a car already done will work out cheaper in the long run and easier too. I have been here before with other vehicles, problem is after reading all of the great advice from you guys I sorta want to build my own, which leads me to my next question.

What is the difference between a 61 model beetle and a 69, 1500 ? Does the later model have a better setup for a Baja eg suspension and brakes ? The 61 has a 1600 engine which I assume they didn't come out with.

Smiley that is one hell of a build you sure did start from scratch and it looks like you had some challenging moments, great end result, you must love driving it knowing that all of your hard work has given the old girl a second wind.

Can you tell me if the 69 model will make a good Baja, good points and bad. ? How does it differ from the 61 model ? These are just a couple of models I have been eyeing off.

I have been looking through the forums but I still have not found much that answers that question but I will keep looking. I have worked out that the 69 has disc brakes on the front but I am unsure about the suspension front and rear.
Thanks.

The other negative for ball joint is the lack of positive stops, stock this is built into the shock (well meant to, but not all shocks are created equal) but for off road it's best to build in better stops.

Thanks Smiley, that is exactly the info I was looking for now I am sorta starting to get a handle on things. Thanks for the other thread there is alot of reading in there I have only just scratched the surface I must go back later and go through the whole story.

I am really enjoying learning all of the ins and outs of the VWs and everyones help on here is making it a whole lot easier.

Mattberry, are the stops in the picture something that you have added ? Does this then protect the shocks from damage ?

When looking at beetles where is the most important place to check for rust and I suspect most of them will have some ? Is there a point when you should walk away if a vehicle is rusted in a particular area. Smiley that probably doesn't apply to you after seeing what you had to repair !

Yeap, those stops are added. Pic is from the net, not mine.

Rust....yep, walk away if there's any in the roof gutters, sills and heater channels is where you start looking. Any thing can be repaired...but it all takes time, so the cleaner car closest to what you want is by far the best/cheapest/easiest choice. Get a good body to work with and mod the mechanicals to what you want is often the best....for me anyway, as there aren't many cars set up the way I want ......

Yes matt it makes alot of sense to find a good straight relatively rust free car, most of the beetles I have been looking at have had 1500 engines, I was hoping for a 1600 but really upgrading this at a later date is far easier than having to do heaps of body work.

What can you tell me about the 1500 engine, how does it compare to the 1600 ?

Some beetles have been advertised as having lowered suspension, now obviously this is heading in the wrong direction for what I want so does it make it difficult to raise it up for offroad work and will it be exspensive to raise it again or is it no big deal ?
Thanks.

My car went from this



to this


Just swapped the front end from a narrowed lowered beam to a stock beam with 181 (Thing) fron stubs, cranked up the rear and away you go. I actually swapped pans to one I was preparing for the offroader as the car was swing axle and I wanted IRS, for me a must for any serious offroader, and so the pan swap was the easiest route. The basic swap was on the road again in one week (admitedly a big week).

Hey Matt, you know everytime you guys tell me something new about your cars I suddenly get a whole heap of new questions pop into my head, for you its common knowledge but for me I end up with the ''What The'' feeling and then I want to know.

This time its the IRS suspension which I thought would stand for independent rear suspension but I am probably wrong, is this the system that eliminates wheel camber ?
IRS comes from which VW ?
So you are saying that buying a car with lowered suspension isn't a problem judging by what you did to yours in one week and yer that must of been a hell of a week.