53 Year Old Barnfind Vw Variant Re-Commissioning.

[kadman]

I am just gonna park this here for a couple of weeks until I get organised to look at the car in depth, and then decide what needs doing. I have purposely not called it a restoration, as I want to re commission it and get it roadworthy and driving, as near to its present state as possible,FIRST.
Then when I have driven it for a while I will make the final decision as to whether to restore, or drive as is.

Thats why I am taking up this parking space with it, and would welcome what you think is the best given the history and character of this car. Its always nice to hear other views that you may not have thought of before.

First off when I get moving on it after I clear the decks, I would be taking out the engine. Stripping that down and looking to see what needs replacing. Engine parts for VW are plentiful and available, and well priced. So parts wont be a problem. It is driving ok, but it would be good practice to check it out in depth, and it gives me an opportunity to put in a new clutch as well.

So if you have any thoughts, dont keep them to your self. And in case you dont know the car, its this one here.

[Fratello]

If it were mine I'd go with a respray. The chrome looks reasonable. Interior just needs a deep clean.
Try to retain as much original material as possible. All the grease will need changing so lots of stripping down needed. Rubber elements will need changing. So would not try go go for a mint restoration but a respray and general tidy up.
I'd imagine engine wear will be minimal.

I never restored a car. I always liked bicycles and then railway locomotives.

[Memento Mori]

Will follow this with great interest. Have not yet moved on to tinkering with cars and such, although have almost exhausted my interest in restoring vintage bicycles. Have my eye on an old tractor though...

[kadman]

If it were mine I'd go with a respray. The chrome looks reasonable. Interior just needs a deep clean.
Try to retain as much original material as possible. All the grease will need changing so lots of stripping down needed. Rubber elements will need changing. So would not try go go for a mint restoration but a respray and general tidy up.
I'd imagine engine wear will be minimal.

I never restored a car. I always liked bicycles and then railway locomotives.

Total respray om this car will probably mean a full bare metal respray. This is because the car has damage to paintwork all over the car that requires some rust cratering to be repaired first. Its not apparent form these photos, so I will post up specific photos to show this.

I will be replacing the front clip and inner clip due to a bumper nudge on the front. The mounting area that got cracked is showing rust damage. It could be repaired no problem, but I have manged to source an inner and outer clip from NOS material of the same year, so its good german metal. And i think this car deserves it.

Deep clean as you suggest is something I will be doing alright. Engine has minimal wear I would say, but after such a long lay up I would say the heads need lapping, and checking out in general.
Thanks.

[kadman]

My mother had one of them in Orange.

I suppose its long gone now, like a lot of them.

[kadman]

I had intended to do this thread over at the other place because of where it came from and the other cars from the same previous owner. But having just come from there, its way too quiet, little or no activity, and its just so,so,slow even looking through the threads on classic cars. I did put up a few posts on this car there, but I think I will have to start from the beginning again here, so as not confuse anyone who is not familiar with my previous barnfind thread over yonder.

First thing I did after I got it running was up onto the scissor lift to check out the usual suspects for rust.
The type 3 design had some design issues that resulted in a happy environment for rust in some spots. Front airbox under the bonnet, as well as the 2 front windscreen/wing joins were familiar rust territory. As were the heater channels, under the back seat at the inner wheelhouse area. And inside the front boot on the inner wheel house of both wings. And at the petrol tank body mount where the airbox comes down to the tank. And the obvious spare wheel well area, and front nose clip.AS well as both floor pans.

Up on the lift, and the floor pans look great.

[kadman]

Still on the lift.
No major rust here either, just superficial surface rust.

[kadman]

Rear ward end of the back wheel you can see the tail inner panels rusty. These are a normal area of rust, normally far more extensive than this is. You can also see the inner flap just at the back of the wheel. These would not normally survive at all. I had to make them for my 72 fastback. So its great to see them still intact complete with rubber.



And a floor pan view from the front of the car, showing how good they are. If you know VW's then you will know that a 53 year old should normally be red rotten. As this one spent 50 years in a shed has saved it from extensive damage.

[kadman]

Front drivers side bumper mount. This has had a front nudge here pushing the bumper mount back about 1 ". Nothing major as the bonnet closes well, and the drivers door to.




Tail panel under the rear bumper is prone to disintegration from collecting numerous amounts of muck thrown up from the back wheels, but here again its in great shape.

[kadman]

I took off the rocker cover to see what crap would be stuck in here after all these years. But it was remarkably clean.



Inside of the rocker cover was even cleaner.

[kadman]

Heater channel sills show surface rust that needs to be removed to see how solid they are.


Bottom corner of rear wing needs replacing. Its a small section thats easily made as they are unavailable off the shelf.



And front wings look worse than they actually are. Surface rust mostly with some cratering on the metal, but no holes.

[kadman]

The right hand side of the engine bay looked pretty good.



And the left side.



Oil looked great too, but I changed it for new anyway.

[kadman]

Rear inner bulkhead behind the rear wheel, looked great.

Even down to the new looking bolts behind the leather access flap.

And the drivers side rear which is a favourite place for rust. Is very clean.

[kadman]

Under the back seat is another rust prone area. At both corners and floor pans.
But its in great shape here.


And under the battery is an obvious place as well for rust. But here its solid.

[kadman]

Biggest surprise on this car body are the heater channel conditions. Here on the drivers side B post area its spotless.



And on the passenger side is in better condition as you can see from the shiney metal B post area.
I have had lots of classic vw's down through the years, and never had one so rust free as this.

[kadman]

And just to give you an idea what 50 year old crap looks like on a classic VW interior. Here you go, its nasty .

But nothing that soapy water wont get rid of as you can see from a quick wipe.


And the door cards are something similar.

[Osciiboscii]

Keep'm coming, Kadman. I've vivid memories as a smallie of the Beetle we had, late 60s into 70s, exact same shade of blue. 7 of us in it! I used to be in behind the back seat .

[kadman]

I think Ireland is full of memories in old beetles. And the back seat was a warm little cubby hole for sure. I remember beetles and all vw's in our family back to the early 60's. I'm giving away me age now.

Here is a beetle I sold back to a family member 6 months ago. He sold it to me in bits and pieces as a project he did not want to finish at the time, and he was getting out of vw's. I 95% finished it to a driving car, and then he wanted to nuy it back. So as I had 2 other VW's and he liked the beetle, I sold it to him finished, for what I paid him for the bits.

[Osciiboscii]

Lovely. Ours was an older version, going by the bumper style...

[Osciiboscii]

AETV70855966_1.jpg

Just like this. Great memories of going to the creamery with dad, and the dog to keep me company...showing my own age there too

[kadman]

Lovely. Ours was an older version, going by the bumper style...

Bumper blade type and door handle would suggest a late 60's model. Lovely car.

[kadman]

Another picture of the car interior. Its intact and in good order, but needs a mega deep clean.

[kadman]

And here is how they restore these in the punjab

Health and safety aficionados please take note.

[silverbirch]

And here is how they restore these in the punjab

Health and safety aficionados please take note.

I'm liking the safety shoes!

[kadman]

I'm liking the safety shoes!

Non slip of course