alright so im 16 and im lookin to buy a car and ive wanted a baja since i was like 13, even though my friends say they look stupid but hey its my car.
it would be my daily driver, it would mainly be a road car but i would offroad with it as much as i could.
i dont hav enough money to build one so i was going to try to find one that was partially done but drivable and then finish it. i hav a friend that fixes wrecked cars so he could help me with any body work and painting.

something like this would be perfect.
www.azbaja.com/ForumsP...=5596.html
exept he lives in arizona and i live in ohio.

i hav a bunch of questions and it would be awsome if yall could give me some answers.

1- are bajas good cars for onroad driving? or will it feel like im trying to use a 4-wheeler for a car?

2- what years should i look for?

3- how fast are baja bugs? like can they barely touch 70 mph or could one hit 100 easy? i realize it prolly depends on the bug but what about with say a home moded/slightly upgraded stock engine. (im not trying to buy a race car i just dont want to be stuck with a car that will never see anything above 85 mph.)

4- what would it feel like at 80 mph? does it feel like yur going to die and the car is going to fly to peices or does it feel solid like a normal car? btw im not sayin i would go that fast as a habit but just wondering.

5- how powerfull/powerless is a stock bug engine? i know they hav 36hp but there like majorly constricted, after you put new pipes, bore (?) the carb, and anything else i could do for cheap how much power do they hav?

6-how would it feel if you floored it? compared to like a silverado 1500 or a jeep grand cherokee. im not trying to beat like mustangs or anything but it would be awsome to kick honda civics with their little resonated mufflers. 0-60 time ??

7-is it hard to put in a radio and speakers?

8- how are bajas on snow and ice?

9-are bugs fairly simple cars? i love working on cars but im not even close to an expert but i would love to learn.

10- is it impossible to find a baja in ohio? i live near columbus


im sure ill come up with a ton more questions but that all i can think of right now.

if someone that knows everything about bajas felt like it they could send me a pm and answer all my other questions.....that would be amazing.

I'll pipe up with my opinion here, for what it's worth...

1- Sort of depends on what you're used to, and what you expect the car to do. If most of your driving is around town, short 55 mph jaunts, etc., they're fine. If you have a 50-mile each way commute on the interstate, where doing less than 70 will get you run over- not so good.

2- I think 69-newer were IRS rear, with ball joint front. For moderate off-roading or less, that should do you fine. If you're planning on going big someday with mid or long-travel and/or lots of lift, you'll end up converting the front suspension to link pin (69-newer have ball joint front suspension), but the stock ball joint should do fine for you.

3- bear in mind that bugs were not DESIGNED for high speed driving. The engineering in these cars dates back to about the 1940's. Now, there are plenty of race cars that will run well over 100mph, but in my opinion it would take a lot of $$$ to build something safely streetable with that kind of performance.

4- I wouldn't recommend trying it, not for very long anyway. Keep in mind VW engines (stock) make like 50-60hp, sometimes less. Nothing about these cars was designed for speed.

5- Depends on your budget. They can be built to make well over 100hp-close to 200 actually. To give you a reference point, I'd say 100hp would probably cost in the $2,000-$3,000 range. Then you have to make sure your transaxle and clutch will handle it. MO MONEY, MO MONEY, MO MONEY!

6- $peed co$t$ $$$$. How fa$t do you wanna go?

7- Not at all

8- Not bad, from a traction perspective. Braking can be dicey on ice, but that's true in anything. They do surprisingly well in snow due to the weight of the motor being right over/between the drive wheels.

9- VERY simple. They're a GREAT vehicle to start learning about cars with. Most modern ATV's are more complex.

10- Possible, although most guys from the midwest/northeast/east coast complain that it IS hard to find ones that aren't rusted badly. How many non-rusted 40 year-old cars do you see driving around now? Probably not many.

Check Samba and Craig's list for bugs. Just be willing to wait, one will eventually show up.

[quote="az350x"]

1- Sort of depends on what you're used to, and what you expect the car to do. If most of your driving is around town, short 55 mph jaunts, etc., they're fine. If you have a 50-mile each way commute on the interstate, where doing less than 70 will get you run over- not so good.

2- I think 69-newer were IRS rear, with ball joint front. For moderate off-roading or less, that should do you fine. If you're planning on going big someday with mid or long-travel and/or lots of lift, you'll end up converting the front suspension to link pin (69-newer have ball joint front suspension), but the stock ball joint should do fine for you.

5- Depends on your budget. They can be built to make well over 100hp-close to 200 actually. To give you a reference point, I'd say 100hp would probably cost in the $2,000-$3,000 range. Then you have to make sure your transaxle and clutch will handle it. MO MONEY, MO MONEY, MO MONEY!

6- $peed co$t$ $$$$. How fa$t do you wanna go?

====================================
i live about 16 miles from findlay where i mainly work and most of everything else i do is there, i drive on country roads and on the highway. its 65 mph here so 70-75 is a good criuzing speed. and when i pass someone in a hurry i usually hit 80-85 haha i would miss that lol
it would really stink if my car would top out at 70 cuz then i would be like redlining it all the time.

if it could hit 85 it would make my life a lot less painless.

i found a few on samba

my computer is being dumb so ill post the links on another post

hey i sold my dirtbike so now i hav a little money but not enough yet...

theres this one but it has the convertable roof thing......like herby lol
everything about it is perfect 1600 cc (thats the biggest stock engine right?) short throw shifter, 2 barrel carb, new pipes and clutch.....and the price is awsome.......but theres the roof thing.
www.thesamba.com/vw/cl...?id=766964
what do yall think?


and this but its rusted/trashed looking, and its a 63
www.thesamba.com/vw/cl...?id=772840

and theres this awsome one but its $2100
....i want it
www.thesamba.com/vw/cl...?id=768068


i thought of some more questions
1- whats the difference between a single barrel carb and a double barrel carb? higher flow=more power

2- what kind of gas mileage do bajas get?

thanks alot guys i appreciate all the help.

70 is pushing it, i'm happy around 65 or less, your driving a giant wiffle ball and the faster you go the more it will start to blow around. semi trucks are somthing else at 70 mph when your only do 65...

around town, to and from school, great little cars and if you have a harness, girls always need help putting the thing on...

AzBaja wrote:

...and if you have a harness, girls always need help putting the thing on...

Dingdingdingdingding!

(.)(.)

Dingdingdingdingding!

(.)(.) :lol:[/quote]



^mmmm lol
#1 on list : 5 point harness lol

so whats the deal on the carbs?
what do yall think of the baja in the first link?

here is my .02
i think that the 1st one is a no, there is no motor but could get one and nothing done to it really
2nd one is a piece of work and a good project
3rd is a yes i think it would be a good car
but the raditator dont think it is neccasary and just more problems you could have.
i can get my bug to like 78 or 80 and thats without a hole lot of trouble.
also i have a 1641cc motor and my car is really light
but like someone said it is like a wiffle ball being thrown around the road lol
honestly if you get a bug you will love your bug and it will be a great investment and if you spend like 2500 on a bug that has almost everything done to it and could be used for a daily driver and could be offroad car also like mine you cant beat that.
keep looking bro i will keep my eye out and let you know what i find and what i think are good deals and something that you would be confortable driving and having fun in also.

I would actually go with the 1st one you listed the price is good,its all there and as far as the roof,its not a big deal....altho not the prettyist fix you could get a peace of metal about 4 inches wider/longer than the whole,silacone the parimeter and rivit that sheet in....at least untill you can weld or pay someone to weld in a patch,or better yet buy the stuff to put the sliding rag back in. all in all i would go for the $1000 one that has everything but the rag

danjones333 wrote:

here is my .02 i think that the 1st one is a no, there is no motor but could get one and nothing done to it really 2nd one is a piece of work and a good project 3rd is a yes i think it would be a good car but the raditator dont think it is neccasary and just more problems you could have. i can get my bug to like 78 or 80 and thats without a hole lot of trouble. also i have a 1641cc motor and my car is really light but like someone said it is like a wiffle ball being thrown around the road lol honestly if you get a bug you will love your bug and it will be a great investment and if you spend like 2500 on a bug that has almost everything done to it and could be used for a daily driver and could be offroad car also like mine you cant beat that. keep looking bro i will keep my eye out and let you know what i find and what i think are good deals and something that you would be confortable driving and having fun in also.

the first one comes with a 1600cc engine i think, at least thats what he said in the ad.
in the pics tho theres no engine on it. so it must be separate.
lol a 1600cc engine would be amazing.

hey the guy with the first bug for $1000 got back to me with some more pics.

[img]http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=85e13190c0&view=att&th=121892b87087b673&attid=0.1&disp=thd&zw[/img]

[img]http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=85e13190c0&view=att&th=121892b87087b673&attid=0.3&disp=thd&zw[/img]

[img]http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=85e13190c0&view=att&th=121892b87087b673&attid=0.5&disp=inline&zw[/img]

[img]http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=85e13190c0&view=att&th=121892b87087b673&attid=0.6&disp=thd&zw[/img]

[img]http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=85e13190c0&view=att&th=121892b87087b673&attid=0.8&disp=thd&zw[/img]

what do yall think??

hey the guy with the first bug for $1000 got back to me with some more pics.

[img][/img]

[img][/img]

[img][/img]

[img][/img]

[img][/img]

[img][/img]

what do yall think??

no workyy

that would be a negative gost-rider,it appears to be a super beetle not a good starter project if you need to get er' goin fast.Keep a'lookin