Tell me about air cooled VWs - thinking about getting a baja bug

[unclebilly]

I'm kicking around getting a baja bug. I have owned numerous air cooled 911's but never a beetle.

What years are better / worse? What upgrades should i look for? What should make me run away?

Could I daily drive one in the winter or would the heat (or lack there of) make me crazy?

[BK911]

I drive my 74 bug all year and the heat is more than enough even when OA temps are well below freezing.

[billybek]

If you are cutting it up, 71 was a good year for the Beetle in terms of HP (lol) and durability (not including rust). If not cutting it, there is something about the 67 that appeals to me.

[Arizona_928]

I like the early ones. But as a fun car, I think it is a go. Especially since they're coming back in value recently.

[Craig T]

If you plan to actually have some off-road fun with it, you need a 65 or earlier. 65 down had a king pin front end. After 66 it was a ball joint. The ball joints break pretty easily when you run them hard.

The build is a slippery slope. Be careful. If you get on the forums and start shopping off-road racing sources, you'll have $25K into a wide-track long-travel monster with a Acura motor back there in a hurry.

My college car was a 67 bug. I rolled it sliding around in a wet parking lot, so I cut the top, front and rear end off, stuck in a roll cage, and made a Baja bug. I had a blast with that thing. I welded a surfboard rack to the roll bar. I used to take it down to Baja on surf trips or to watch the Baja 500. I had it for a decade until it was stollen while I was surfing the Humboldt Bay jetties.

What to avoid below!

[Arizona_928]

Ohh look at that subie swap

[widebody911]

Find one that has already been baja'd and improve upon that, instead of cutting up yet another car.

[Craig T]

Originally Posted by widebody911

find one that has already been baja'd and improve upon that, instead of cutting up yet another car.

+1

[Mark Henry]

Baja or offroad?
Personally for year round I'd build a Baja with an GM ecotech engine, dirt cheap millions of engines in the bone yards, fairly cheap crate engines and they can be hopped up over 300hp easy.
Plus you can figure out a heater core and have real heat. Kennedy (KEP) makes a engine adaptor plate.

But this is the biggest reason for an Ecotec, all aluminum block at 250lbs dry it's the same weight as a beetle aircooled engine.

I agree king pin front end, but on a later shell you could use an early pan.

Anything can be done with enough coin, tools and know how.
Go to thesamba offroad forum and look at some of the builds there.

Now if you want real hardcore offroad action, you could always graft a bug body onto a ford bronco 2 frame.

[unclebilly]

Originally Posted by widebody911

Find one that has already been baja'd and improve upon that, instead of cutting up yet another car.

That is my plan... let someone else pay for the slippery slope.

[Mark Henry]

Originally Posted by unclebilly

That is my plan... let someone else pay for the slippery slope.

If it's aircooled even with good heater boxes it will be freakin' cold, you need a gas heater.
Better yet get a espar diesel truck bunk heater (used kijiji) and instal with a small engine gas tank for the diesel fuel.
That puppy will make it T-shirt weather inside, even when it's -40C outside.

[Craig T]

You guys have me Jonesing! If my wife left me tomorrow, I'd build a little beach shack in Playa Los Cerritos, Baja Sur, buy this Baja bug and a Zodiac fishing boat I could launch from the beach. I'd adopt a lab retriever for company and we'd terrorize the local desert in the bug right after I finished surfing and caught our dinner. HEAVEN!