Super Beetle Baja progress

I have been working on the super baja over the past few months. Getting ready for paint. A majority of the body work is completed including the nasty dent in the rain channel above the drivers rear window. All of the dents in the roof are done and almost all of the rust is taken care of. Found some new rust around the rear window when my son and I removed the rear glass. Not a lot of rot, but it needs to be fixed. I got a light to use for the third brake light. It is a motorcycle tail light from a Honda CBR 1000 with triple flash brake and sequential turn signals. I am working on the enclosure for it now. I am also working on the hood.





The hood is for a standard beetle and I am chopping it up and putting it back together so it will fit properly.

I cup out the center sections and now I am debating about putting it back to the way it was, or raising them for a custom look.





What do you think. Put it back or raise the panels?

Update on the Baja progress. I decided to put it back together as a normal hood. I wasn't sure how it would look. I can always make another one later.


Put it back together. The filler was a lot of getting it right.


The hood was short, so I put foil tape down on the edge of the body and used it for a mold to get the fiberglass filler to release. This way the filler won't stick to the body.


Primed, painted, waxed and then mold release. Then the fun started with the fiberglass reverse mold.


Ended up that I didn't let the paint dry long enough before doing the fiberglass mold. Now I just have to make the hood.

When I get the hood done, I will make it thin first then take it out of the mold. I am removing the brace for the original steel hood and attach it to the hinges and then use epoxy clay to locate the hood on the brace. Once that is done I will fiberglass the hood brace onto the hood.

Total cost is less than the shipping on the hood if I ordered one. I probably have $60 in it and about 8 hours. I have more time than money.

Fenders are next. Reverse mold of the steel fenders (2" out from the body only) and then attach that to the fiberglass fenders. Then reverse molds of them too. With the molds, I can make as many as I may ever need.

Nice glass work! I love working with fiberglass. I have built a ton of speaker boxes and custom parts out of f.glass! I did a reverse mold on the tail lights for my old split bug. Good looking stuff man!!!!!

I have been having a lot of fun with the fiberglass. Those light housings look cool. I am trying to get the front done over the next week.

I needed a nose cone. I tried to make the one from the standard Beetle work, it looked like crap. So I decided to just make one. The first one I thought I was done, then my wife came home and told me it looked too bulky and wasn't going to look right. So I took it all apart and made this one. I used a wooden framework and then filled it in with 2" insulation board and then modeling clay. The silver tape is to make it so the fiberglass will not stick to the clay or melt the insulation.

Pics anyone?

I am still going strong on the build. I finished the nose cone. Now working on the fenders. The fenders are also from a standard so they don't fit right.



Had a big gap to fill. I made a piece of fiberglass and put it onto the nose cone and then I had to mold it with clay.




I then covered it with fiberglass. I will have more pics later in the week.

Only a few weeks until the spring cruise! Hope it's ready to roll by then!

I am hoping to get it done soon. Planting season, so I may be cutting it close.

Almost done with the fenders. When they are done, I get the molds made and then make the actual fenders that will go on the car.





I need to make the fenders longer.

I am bringing them down lower.

I made a mold of the first inch of the metal fenders so I have a way of attaching them.





I haven't had the time to load the pics of the rest yet. I will post them soon.