You cant just slap a Turbo on something and expect it to work..
you must build a "turbo motor and add the appropriate Turbo"

good advice... I'm pretty sure aircooled up north here in idaho will do alright most of the year...but definitely would look into liquid cooled if I ever had problems with over heating.

NoKnowledgeCollegKid wrote:

Dalton wrote: NoKnowledgeCollegKid wrote: Dalton, what engine did you swap into your bug though? It looks like you were doing a lot of work for an intercooler, we it turboed? That is something that I'm considering to increase the hp. it is a Subaru 2.5l quad cam.. "Old school" but it works very well. I didn't want to cut a hole in my firewall. next time I am going to move the trans back 3" then install the motor.. No it is not a Turbo... I am a "Turbo Holic" I just cant keep my foot out of it.... Turbo are way cool-cheep HP.. But I feel they are not meant to be put on a air cooled motor in Airzona... I had a lot of trouble getting it to work well... had a lot of trouble of dissipating the heat. You cant just slap a Turbo on something and expect it to work.. you must build a "turbo motor and add the appropriate Turbo" in the end.... I found it cheaper to go with the appropriate sized water cooled Motor for what I was going to use the car for. it cost just about the same to build a big Air cooled motor as to put in a water pumper.. (I think) That makes sense, I'm from Dallas, TX so would it be worth eventually looking into a water cooled engine? I figure with the heat that we get down there getting over 100 that it might just be too much for an air cooled.

air cooled works fine as long as use thick wall cylinder tubes .... 1776cc,,, 1915cc ...ect

Good info for all. Thanks for taking the time to post Dalton.

VWBOAT(JOHN)

These guys are giving you newbies some very good advice.

I have a couple of minor corrections for you.
- ".002" and ".091" are incorrect. There is no "." in front. they are simply "002" and 091". Those numbers are the last group of numbers in the VW part number for those particular transaxles.

002 is VW Bus IRS trans from 1968 until the late 70s and includes the "pyramid" (Dalton had the word spelled wrong) 5-rib trans. This one has a taller 4.86 differential ratio than the 3-rib 5.14 to 5.38 ratio. The ribs on the pyramid case are flat on top, but the ends of the ribs are "cut" at an angle like the sides of a pyramid. 6 rib 091 has a 4.56 ratio.

Here is a link to a different forum, but the thread has a lot of info:
Samba - Transmissions for Dummies

Regarding the overall build and care of a Baja Bug, MalEvolent has created a series of threads (under construction) in the Samba for newbies. "Baja Bugs for Volkswagen Virgins" Lots of good info there too.

But DON'T quit coming around here just because I referred you to the Samba. This is a great group here.

Then moving on to another issue...
"yellowchev" was a good boy. He told us in his avatar where he is located. and I that helps us help him.
"NoKnowledgeCollegKid " was a bad boy...we had to wring his location out of him. ;~) It's OK, I don't like to tell Big Brother or the wicked people where I'm at either. But knowing where you are tells us a lot about offroad opportunities, local suppliers and mechanics and others who are nearby to help out as well.
Because yellowchev is in Pocatello ID, I know some folks not too far from him who might be of help. Over on another great forum called "ShopTalkForum - OffRoadForum", there is a fellow Baja Bug enthusiast TimS, who has a Subaru powered Baja (often his daily driver, even in snow) and a 1600 desert race buggy --- AND lives in the Pocatello area. There are some others not too far away from him like uh60ce on ShopTalk and Samba who lives in the lower west corner of Idaho.

These guys I've mentioned above are folks I've only met through the forums, not in person, but I feel they are old and close friends. If I had gone to Las Vegas NV (more acurately Primm) this weekend, I might be meeting Tim in person as I believe he is attending the Mint 400. My son headed out for there this morning. I just met some others from the STF offroad group at the SNORE Battle at Primm race 3 weeks ago.

As for the "college kid", DFW is a little tougher for offroad opportunities, because the only public land for offroading in all of Texas is down at Big Bend. But there ARE private land opportunities, you just have to know the right people.

So back to the cars you guys have asked about...
I suggest you keep it simple as recommended above. In fact, financially, it is far better in most cases to buy an existing Baja from someone else instead of re-inventing the wheel. VWs hold their market value pretty well considering that they started out as economy cars. A 50 year old Bug in fair shape is currently worth 2-3 x it's original new sale price. Most cars that age were converted into dog food cans long ago. Almost ANY VW Bug has potential to be a great piece of machinery for a very economical price. But spend your money wisely. There is an offroading forum where the most common phrase is "You get what you pay for." They use that to put down anything that they feel is beneath consideration. What they miss is that when one pays top dollar, often one does NOT get as much as they pay for, yet when one seeks bargains, one often gets far MORE than they pay for. Any problem in a VW can be fixed or made better. But don't pay big bucks for a box of problems. On the other hand, at a bargain price, that same box of problems might be a diamond in the rough.

If you want, contact JWHRacing on this site. Until recently he was running a 1915 with a turbo in Phoenix for years with no problems.

He has lots of pics here: websta.me/n/jwhracing

wideopenmotorsports wrote:

If you want, contact JWHRacing on this site. Until recently he was running a 1915 with a turbo in Phoenix for years with no problems. He has lots of pics here: websta.me/n/jwhracing

Thanks that actually gives me a good idea of what I'm lookin for.

MojaveRacer208 wrote:

These guys are giving you newbies some very good advice. I have a couple of minor corrections for you. - ".002" and ".091" are incorrect. There is no "." in front. they are simply "002" and 091". Those numbers are the last group of numbers in the VW part number for those particular transaxles. 002 is VW Bus IRS trans from 1968 until the late 70s and includes the "pyramid" (Dalton had the word spelled wrong) 5-rib trans. This one has a taller 4.86 differential ratio than the 3-rib 5.14 to 5.38 ratio. The ribs on the pyramid case are flat on top, but the ends of the ribs are "cut" at an angle like the sides of a pyramid. 6 rib 091 has a 4.56 ratio. Here is a link to a different forum, but the thread has a lot of info: Samba - Transmissions for Dummies Regarding the overall build and care of a Baja Bug, MalEvolent has created a series of threads (under construction) in the Samba for newbies. "Baja Bugs for Volkswagen Virgins" Lots of good info there too. But DON'T quit coming around here just because I referred you to the Samba. This is a great group here. Then moving on to another issue... "yellowchev" was a good boy. He told us in his avatar where he is located. and I that helps us help him. "NoKnowledgeCollegKid " was a bad boy...we had to wring his location out of him. ;~) It's OK, I don't like to tell Big Brother or the wicked people where I'm at either. But knowing where you are tells us a lot about offroad opportunities, local suppliers and mechanics and others who are nearby to help out as well. Because yellowchev is in Pocatello ID, I know some folks not too far from him who might be of help. Over on another great forum called "ShopTalkForum - OffRoadForum", there is a fellow Baja Bug enthusiast TimS, who has a Subaru powered Baja (often his daily driver, even in snow) and a 1600 desert race buggy --- AND lives in the Pocatello area. There are some others not too far away from him like uh60ce on ShopTalk and Samba who lives in the lower west corner of Idaho. These guys I've mentioned above are folks I've only met through the forums, not in person, but I feel they are old and close friends. If I had gone to Las Vegas NV (more acurately Primm) this weekend, I might be meeting Tim in person as I believe he is attending the Mint 400. My son headed out for there this morning. I just met some others from the STF offroad group at the SNORE Battle at Primm race 3 weeks ago. As for the "college kid", DFW is a little tougher for offroad opportunities, because the only public land for offroading in all of Texas is down at Big Bend. But there ARE private land opportunities, you just have to know the right people. So back to the cars you guys have asked about... I suggest you keep it simple as recommended above. In fact, financially, it is far better in most cases to buy an existing Baja from someone else instead of re-inventing the wheel. VWs hold their market value pretty well considering that they started out as economy cars. A 50 year old Bug in fair shape is currently worth 2-3 x it's original new sale price. Most cars that age were converted into dog food cans long ago. Almost ANY VW Bug has potential to be a great piece of machinery for a very economical price. But spend your money wisely. There is an offroading forum where the most common phrase is "You get what you pay for." They use that to put down anything that they feel is beneath consideration. What they miss is that when one pays top dollar, often one does NOT get as much as they pay for, yet when one seeks bargains, one often gets far MORE than they pay for. Any problem in a VW can be fixed or made better. But don't pay big bucks for a box of problems. On the other hand, at a bargain price, that same box of problems might be a diamond in the rough.

Yea this is all super helpful and means a lot that people actually care enough to give good advice and yea haha I was just too lazy to fill out all of my information but that makes sense.

Diddo^^^ learning tons. I came across the 'transmissions for dummies' on the samba. Was great info. Thanks for the other thread info as well. Definitely enjoy this forum though and plan to keep up the visits so I can keep learning.

Nice updates.