Posts

O/S roof repairs and window surrounds

Chasing what I hope are the final major rust repairs on the Baja shell.

The classic rusty beetle roof meant chopping out a section of the roof, guttering and rear quarter. I’ve rebuilt the rear quarter section, and now just need to fabricate the guttering and roof to close it all up.

While on this side of the bug I noticed some blistering of the paint along the window aperture so stripped the paint off to investigate.

Cue chopping out 75% of the window aperture and welding in fresh steel. Just a few more repairs to go in to close this area up.

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Wiring loom laid out

A spot of wiring this week. This has been sat in our back room for months quietly being ignored. I’m making another beetle headliner this week for someone and the board I’d used for the wiring is also my headliner template!

New main loom has been laid out and all bundled together now.

I slightly over ordered some of the cables though as I mistakenly entered 20 metres instead of 2 for one colour. 🤦‍♂️

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MX5 seat upholstery finished

The Baja’s MX5 seats have been on the back burner for a little while but I found a bit of time to get the drivers back sewn up and both covers installed. The backs are made from 14 individual pieces, by comparison the T25 seats I’ve been doing recently only have 4!

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Engine bay panels welded in

Just a bit of welding on the Baja today. Engine bay front panel welded in and just need to grind the welds flush.

I’ve started bringing home the fibreglass bolt on panels to prep them for some primer.

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Wiring

Look what turned up just in time for the bank holiday weekend!

Enough cable to hopefully make a new wiring loom for the baja. That should keep me busy for a while.

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Baja rear chop

Time to make the arse of this bug look a bit more like a baja!

I spent a fair bit of time getting the rear fenders and engine cover aligned nicely.

Then out with the angle grinder to chop the rear apron off.

Much better. 😁

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Chassis rebuild

Made a good start on the chassis rebuild today. Fuel line and gear shift rod installed. Rear brakes rebuilt and new bearings pressed in. Loosely fitted most of the rear suspension components. 😁

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Front beam modifications

Few bits left to sort on the Baja suspension before I can shot blast and paint it all.

Fully welded on my brackets for the front tube bumper and added a strengthening plate to the base of the shock tower.

A stock beetle beam doesn’t have a lower bump stop so I’ve added a hook and rod to hopefully save my shocks from any heavy off road use.

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Chassis into paint

Got the rest of the baja chassis painted over the weekend.

I can now start cleaning up and bolting bits back on to build up a rolling chassis.

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