you don't really need it if you go off road...

fyi... some of them don't put it back on after an engine conversion because
there's no room for it and it's take too much works to fabricate brackets
...

it would be nice if there are some pics so we can see what part is missing

do you mean this one?

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1834058

or this one?

https://shufti.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/img_0724.jpg