Saga de Baja part IV
Late November 1997...
It's been some time since I updated this section so I'm sure there is much I have forgoten. One thing I have not forgoten is how pesky this whole project has become.

If anybody is considering building a Baja Bug I would stronly disuade them from the endevour. The one thing that I have realised is that there is no part of the construction that has not been frustrating - at least for this neophyte car builder. It seems that the whole Baja Bug industry, if there is one, is totally unconcerned with quality of manufacture or the relationship of one part to another. Maybe if a manufacturer made a kit that included everything you needed then the results might be different, but it has been my experience that you will have to jury-rig every single step of the the process.

But I continue. I have no choice.
To the right you see the front end as we left it after the abortive cutting and attempted fitting of my earlier kit. You can make out the sheet metal I added to allow me to connect the new kit.

The second kit arrived as promised from Mark V. It was pretty well packed and had suffered no damge in the shipping. The first thing that I noticed that was different from the other kit was that the gel-coat is black. I suppose I will discover if this is going to be a factor when I come to paint the beast. I wouldn't be surprised if it screwed things up.

No that's not a little piggy there - that's Felix one of our dogs.

Stuck on the side is the cutting template supplied with the kit. You measure from the gutter near the door pillar for the top reference point and then drill a hole below the gas-tank for the lower reference point. Neither super accurate points, but at this stage better than nothing. I marked round the template with a Sharpie marker and fired up my angle grinder with the metal cutting blade.
Picture at left shows the front end after making the cut. I had sliced and diced so much before that I wasn't sure what I had cut off and what was needed. As I tried to fit the nose-piece and bumpers later I discovered I needed to cut off the area that is hanging down below the hole where the gas-tank lived. It's very important to remove the gas-tank for obvious safety reasons.

I also had to remove the anti-sway bar so that the front bumper would mount. I was told by some that "I didn't need it" and by others "that I would notice a difference" with it removed.

I haven't had a chance yet to find out what the effect has been. It too was a hastle to get off. What's new?
Here's the nose piece attached and the hood roughly positioned. I realised that to make it all look good you have to fit, adjust, fit, sand, adjust, fit etc etc. I am confident however that I can get the front end to look good. There is quite a bit of filling and patching to be done around the edges of the nose-piece, but I am waiting till I have the lights figured out before I do all that. I am still not sure if I am going to permanently attach the nose piece or not. It will probably look better aesthetically if it is smoothed in with the body, but I like the ability to remove it to get at the suspension and steering.

I still don't know if it is correctly fitted, but at least it looks right! At last things are vaguely taking shape.