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Baja Bug Project

A Long Journey

Super Beetle
Click: Introduction
Below are project pages for converting a stock VW Super Beetle into a street legal Baja Bug. The conversion enables an already versatile passenger car to become a full fledged off-road machine. Along with the aging Classic VW Beetles, the endeavor is becoming rare. Baja-ing a VW can be simple, or in the case here, more involved. When in doubt, read all manuals, and know this massively informative website/forum: The Samba. This project began about 2008.
VW Body
Click: Body (6 pages)
First, beef up the front suspension. Then start taking off all the lights, marking each wire. THEN unbolt fenders, bumpers, hoods front and back. Now the fun part: Chop up the vehicle.
Electrical
Click: Electrical (3 pages)
Probably the most difficult and tedious part of the job. Carefully pull and mark wiring from the engine. Remove dash, mark wiring that you need to keep. Replace main wiring with custom kit. You will need a plan.
VW Engine
Click: Engine, Transmission (3 pages)
Pay a professional to do this. Ask for a powerful, custom-built hot rod. Nothing off the shelf. Good luck finding a shop to do this. I found one nearby, Frenchs' Auto.
VW Interior
Click: Interior (5 pages)
This became part of the project that kept growing. Once you start looking closely at a 40-year-old car's guts, you'll end up gutting the whole insides. Replace everything, including the floor pans.