1piece front

[neonracing2001]

how hard and what would be needed to cut i prefer this over the regular 4 piece front.

[Class 11 streeter]

how hard and what would be needed to cut

All the nose sheetmetal that is showing on the outside from forward of the door hinge is cut away and the stock hood removed. What you are left with is the inner firewall sheetmetal that sits above your legs and keeps the body mounted to the pan. With a sawzall or a cutoff wheel it's not hard at all.

Then the *real* fun begins. After cutting there is no longer any structure up front to attatch anything to, so you will need to come up with some way to mount the fiberglass nose piece and someplaces to mount a fuel tank, master cylinder reservoir, and lights. Lots of carefull measuring, cutting, and welding of tubing involved. If you or your best bud own a fabrication shop, this will be cake for you. If you are like me and don't have all the equipment/experience for this stuff, expect to hand over lots of dead presidents to get it done somewhere. I have two parts bugs in my backyard where the PO's did the cutting (easy) then lost interest when they realized what is involved in fabricating the stuff needed to finish (hard, requires time/money, interest, brains).

How serious of an offroader are you talking about? If it's just a street legal/play Baja the four piece front ends are *much* easier to deal with and the downtime will be a lot less. You also get to keep your stock gas tank and you also have storage space in the stock trunk area. I agree the one piece front end looks cool, but it will require a lot more effort to get together without cutting corners or doing half-a$$ work.

[guestasneonracing2001]

cool i think i might go with the multiple piece kit.. do i have to cut anything with that.

[vicsvw]

The largest disadvantage with the one piece kit is that it traps the air and forces it through any opening (like speaker hole) it does work best if you have body damage in the panels, just in front of the doors. "Parts Book" Schematics and VW part numbers. -> http://www.vwhelp.com
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[the_porch_honkey]

cool i think i might go with the multiple piece kit.. do i have to cut anything with that.

You got to cut the front off where the spare tire is carried. Pick up the "How to Baja and Buggies" book. They have a chapter in there that shows the process of installing a 7 piece kit.

[74baja1915]

The largest disadvantage with the one piece kit is that it traps the air and forces it through any opening (like speaker hole) it does work best if you have body damage in the panels, just in front of the doors. "Parts Book" Schematics and VW part numbers. -> http://www.vwhelp.com
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Oh that wonderful air rushing through all the little vent and hole in the baja flying down the highway @75-80. it also make the front end take flight at speeds greater then 98mph<--thats guessing cuz 97.5mph was to scary for me.

Luke

[Eriksport]

My baja speedo is off due to the larger than stock front tires, at 60mph reading (205/75/15 fronts) there is so much wind coming through the holes in the dash its not funny. I have a 7 piece kit, but the nose is very much not air tight. Its not so bad when its hot out, kinda nice actually. But when its cold out, it totally sucks. I have a pair of wool gloves I keep in the car for when its cold out. I cant wait till I find a one piece front end, I'll just weld in a plate to block airflow into the cabin.

Erik

[guestasneonracing2001]

sweet i just want to upgrad the front the back i want it stock so that *they dont mess around with my engine or steal parts.
*who ever is curious enough to...

[CopperBaja]

Digging, digging, just keep digging.

1-piece front options...
For the forward tilt 1-piece hoods...is there a reinforcement for the hood?

When my front is caged out, I would like to retain storage for tools and have a fuel cell.

Options? Pics?

[david58]

Here are some pics of how I did mine. You have already seen them.

[CopperBaja]

Ha! I was just logging on to search for your thread! thanks!

[bajaherbie]

here is a good pick of the tilt assembly that came with my hood....
the black tube has a long tube for a sleeve and a 3/16" plate welded to the sleeve. the plate bolts to the fiberglass hood above the tag indentation. the hood pivots on the tube allowing the hood to tilt forward.... the hood actually "rests" on the actual bumper tube (grey in my pic) and keeps it from flopping too far forward.





if anybody is interested in the front shocks let me know and i'll give them a good deal on them.

[airdreams1]

For the air leaks, just silicone rround the speedo, radio & all other leaky arias....

For airconditioning in the summer just open the glove box door (with box removed, ovcorse.)


Either way you go, Id recomend trying to find someone whoi has already done it before if possible....
If not, cut it so there is more material than you think is nessacery! its easier to cut again than to try to add new material......

If you get the 4 pice kit & it doesnt come with a template, here is the beat advice I can give:

Mount the fenders + hood & mark the body where they end... Then cut just the nose off. leave about 1 to 2 inches infront of where the hood stops & as much lower metal as posible unless you can weld/fabricate. (you can bend it back a bit id its in the way of test fitting). It can be bent up & forward to make a wind block later..... (everyone always cuts it off & leaves the huge hole there so air gets in & everything in the trunk can fall out)
Ill try to make a diagram for you if your kit doeant have spacific info or a template.... Just let me know.

If you lived close to me Id help you with it.