Am not new to Bajas just been a away from them for 15 years and a lot has changed.
Am starting to get the parts together for a rig that will be used to explore the desert of northern Nevada, This rig will ned to carry two people and camping gear for trips that will last 2 days to a week.
Thinking of using a Ghia as the base like the look of the body lots enough head room for me and there are a number of them in the area cheep.
The only part am not sure about is the engine. Do i go VW or do I go Subaru, the whole thing about the radiator is not an issue for me but the EFI is, like to keep things simple and computers and dust some times don,t mix. I know that there are carb Subaru engines out there how do folks feel about those motors?
thanks
david

I have a friend who runs a JDM Subie engine in his street Ghia, only problem he's ever had was with a conversion harness.. it's his daily too.

Your moving up 80 years in technology. I'm seriously considering an ecotec for my planned 4 seater. I has more clearance than the subie boxer although the boxer looks at home in a V Dub.

new technology some times is a good thing.
know nothing about the ecotec.
Are they EFI or cab?
What the rig looks like is not so much of an issue as how it works.
The country I will be traveling in get darn hot in te summer and cold in the winter, the engine must be able to run in both.
david

EFI. Google it. They are cheap. $500 and up Delphi makes an offroad racing ECM water and shock proof along with a harness for around a grand. You can also use a stock harness and ECM. Kennedy makes an adapter around $300.

Sounds like you're set on the Ghia, but if I were to make a Baja camping rig, I definitely go with a Squareback. That's a LOT of room for gear for a weeklong trip with two people. Not sure how the modern motor would affect the cargo space. Check out 57Baja's "Bajasquared" build.

Kyle

I like the ghia due to the fact I was given a clean 68.
Think there would be enough room behind the front seat for all the gear I will need plus a roof rack.
Know all about EFI run a 89 toyota a a daily driver.
just need more info on the eoctec engine know a bit about the subaru had not heard about the other.
david

In my opinion as far as the power plant goes that you will spend more money and effort if you decide to do an engine swap, vs if you build on the existing air cooled vw motor. Doing my fair share of research over the past few months on the Bugs and everything related if you don't mind getting your hands dirty you can build one hell of a work horse out of the existing motor, not to mention they are familiar turf for you i assume.

I don't have any experience with vw's, yet. So I can't say how reliable the air cooled vw's are but if anything were to go wrong during a long trip or when you're out campin it's a lot easier and less expensive to get it back on the road than if you get stranded somewhere with an efi motor.

The stock family 1, 1.8L ecotech motor puts out between 115 and 125 hp and around 130 lbs of torque haven't been able to find the weight so far but that would be my concern. So even by doing an engine swap would that little of a power boost be worth it?