Taking it's name from the Baja
California peninsula , where it has roamed freely for years ,
the Baja is a VW Beetle modified with fiberglass body panels
, tube steel bumpers and larger wheels and tires ( among other
things ) . They all go into making it a more capable off-road
vehicle . While purists cringe at the sight of
these anything but stock Bugs , Baja owners are far from purists .
We build our VW's to take on terrain that would , and often does send
some 4x4's running for cover ! From the rock gardens of the high
desert to the varying terrain of the east coast and everything
in-between , Bajas have conquered it all !
Owners
of the Baja Bug know that these little monsters can
take just about anything you can throw at them , and still get you
home for dinner . Thier high level of traction comes in part
, from having the engine / transaxle combo , located directly
over the rear wheels . Suspension is another area where VW
did things right . The front and rear suspension give with
the terrain , retracting up and back to smoothly follow the
grounds surface . It has been said that Dr. Porsche designed the
perfect suspension for racing Baja ! While that point can be
argued , one has to admit that it does incredibly well for
a suspension system , designed over 50 years ago .
The
Air-Cooled flat four cylinder engine keeps the car's
center of gravity low , and has fewer parts than its
liquid cooled brethren . It is light weight and has fewer things
to go wrong , which is especially important when you're 200
miles from the nearest garage . The Baja is not a luxury car by any means , but then it was never designed to be . What it is
, is rugged , reliable , inexpensive and a hell of a lot of fun
to drive !
In
the begining....., there was a
1969 VW Baja , and God said "Give it to Lenhart , he's a
glutton for punishment" ! Pretty it ain't . Well , not
yet anyway , but it is typical of the breed . While serving dual
duty as a daily driver and off-road Desert Beast ,
this little car has brought my daughter and I , hours of quality
time and fun !
Deep sand ? - Been
there . Rocky terrain ? - Done that . Old
mining , fire and other roads ? - Got the T-shirt ! It
has gone through some of the most god-awful areas you can
imagine ( We don' need no steenkin 4 wheel drive ! ) and survived
intact . OK OK , Scratched paint , a couple rock hits and a
much used skid plate , but otherwise unharmed .
Stats
- Engine - 1600cc
- Chrome Doghouse Fan shroud / cooler
- Bosch 009 distributor / Blue Coil
- Bobcat 1 1/2 in Extractor w / spark arrestor
- Transmission - Stock Type-1
- Suspension , Front - Ball Joint
- Wheels - Steel White Spokes
- Tires - Rear P235 Generals- Front P 185 Michlens
- Roll bar - 2 in , 4 point
- Double Tube bumpers - 1 1/2 in
- Stereo
- Realistic CD ( don't laugh it works !)
- Urban Audio Works 600 Watt Amp
- Jensen / Lanzar Speaker System
- 15" Hollywood Sound Labs Sub-Woofer ( and it
has not killed the battery yet ! )
As
you can see , It's not going to be on the cover of the magazines
anytime in the immediate future , but I've had my fill of
trying to build "Show Cars / Trucks" . I'd
rather have fun off-roading without going totally broke just trying
to have the best looking rig on the trail . It also takes all
the fun out of off-roading when you have to worry about every branch
and rock you come across . With this Baja , all the mods I will
make will be for increased functionality and reliability . In
short , a hard core Desert Beast . The one area that
Im going to splurge on is a new paint job with the ORC
logo / scheme . Hey , it never hurts to brown nose the boss !I gotta paint the thing , why not ?
I'll
hold off on a long wish list of future plans , and tell you the
definite's . I have a rear arm beef kit waiting to get welded in , and an Anti Environmentalist ehem
, er , ah push bar / front skid
plate combo to build which I should have done within the
next month . I already have a King / Link pin Long travel front
end to install , and a full cage won't be far behind that
. The biggest mod to be made and what will be the hardest by far is installing
an A/C unit . I got my paws on a fully functional system from an
86 Plymouth Voyager that I'm going to fight with over the winter .
It's too hot in AZ not to have one . Sure , it would be a lot less
hassle to buy the kit , but I'm a motivated ( read that as "
not rich " ) kind of guy ! Look for a "How-To"
article to accompany the installation .
It's mine , it's ugly it's paid for and I
hope you like it !
Oh
yea , one more thing . Do any of you know who builds an adapter to
mate a Type -2 (Bus) Tranny to a 460 Ford motor ? (Kidding
! Just kidding !)
Posted Dec 28 2007 06:05PM
