VW Type 3 1600 can it be saved?
Discussion
The short answer, yes if you're truly mental, you have a lot of time, money, patience, a good sweeping brush and you don't ask yourself "why do you keep doing this to yourself, you're mental"
We will go back to 2004 I was learning to drive, I'd had cars prior to this to work on, Hillman Imp, Beach Buggy, Splitscreen van, but none roadworthy, I sold the Imp after rebuilding the engine, and the van I stripped for parts and scrapped, Buggy I took apart and dragged around for 10 years or so till I eventually restored it and sold it, it was an 80's built buggy, steering column held up with a door stop, tape and the dashboard (I kid you not) nothing really attached to it, cobbled together in a shed type of affair, kinda wish I kept it as it was the only known sole surviving MK1 LWB GP Superbuggy that hadn't been cut up.
I digress, I felt my first car was going to be a variant, I fell in love with them at a VW show, I needed a fastback, I searched high and low, saw many until I settled on one, with a budget of £1500 I spent £350, you can probably see where I went wrong here, but I saw the car and knew it was my car, well it was rotten, so I bodged it through an MOT, somehow, I've had helpful MOT's before, but none ever this helpful,but I just wanted it done, young, dumb impatient.
£1000 of welding later I had a car, I had some good times in it, lots of breakdowns, couple of small fires, destroyed the rotten floor pans on every bump, got it stuck on several speed bumps, once in a car park to the annoyance of a BMW driver, but the car was special and for the past 14 years I've dragged it around as it got rustier and rustier, its probably at a point where only a mentalist would attempt saving it, but the car has significance to myself.
It's a 1969 car, registered on a 72 K plate, Reg ending 69K, my first name starting with K, 69 car, pretty cool.....then I found out on the log book it was registered on my birthday, cooler again, but then I found out it was built on the 25th Feb 1969, and I passed my test on the 25th Feb 2005, you can't make this up, the car stays.
This is going to be a long project, I've had to buy a donor RHD car to cut up (I can hear the VW purists crying, cutting up an early Type 3 Fastback) but needs must, my car is more important that a twisted and rotten 68.
As I bought it
Then I got bored one afternoon, needed to practice spraying and test some products out so this happened, car was coming off the road anyway so didn't really care about finish, as it would all be stripped off and then I would paint it back original colour of green.
same time I also installed bending glass rear popout windows, yes the glass bends no hinges.
So where does this leave the car now? Well in bits, in a barn, but I have slowly been gathering parts to fix it
It is rough, floorpans, heater channels, window frames, gutters, inner wings front and rear, front and rear valances, engine bay I don't even know how I am going to tackle that, it's crispy and the donor car doesn't have IRS like mine so it is different, but I will tackle it somehow, current plan.
Cut up the 68 for all the body cuts I need and flog the rest I don't, I need to weld up the body to stop it twisting, cut it off the floor pan, been welded to it in places and the bolts aren't going to undo, take it for soda blasting, see what's left, probably not a lot, then get to it, it's actually not as bad as it looks, it's not a good starting point I know, but in true project car fashion, MOT in a couple of weeks
In the next couple of weeks though plans will be afoot to get it started, drag it out of the barn and see what is what.
We will go back to 2004 I was learning to drive, I'd had cars prior to this to work on, Hillman Imp, Beach Buggy, Splitscreen van, but none roadworthy, I sold the Imp after rebuilding the engine, and the van I stripped for parts and scrapped, Buggy I took apart and dragged around for 10 years or so till I eventually restored it and sold it, it was an 80's built buggy, steering column held up with a door stop, tape and the dashboard (I kid you not) nothing really attached to it, cobbled together in a shed type of affair, kinda wish I kept it as it was the only known sole surviving MK1 LWB GP Superbuggy that hadn't been cut up.
I digress, I felt my first car was going to be a variant, I fell in love with them at a VW show, I needed a fastback, I searched high and low, saw many until I settled on one, with a budget of £1500 I spent £350, you can probably see where I went wrong here, but I saw the car and knew it was my car, well it was rotten, so I bodged it through an MOT, somehow, I've had helpful MOT's before, but none ever this helpful,but I just wanted it done, young, dumb impatient.
£1000 of welding later I had a car, I had some good times in it, lots of breakdowns, couple of small fires, destroyed the rotten floor pans on every bump, got it stuck on several speed bumps, once in a car park to the annoyance of a BMW driver, but the car was special and for the past 14 years I've dragged it around as it got rustier and rustier, its probably at a point where only a mentalist would attempt saving it, but the car has significance to myself.
It's a 1969 car, registered on a 72 K plate, Reg ending 69K, my first name starting with K, 69 car, pretty cool.....then I found out on the log book it was registered on my birthday, cooler again, but then I found out it was built on the 25th Feb 1969, and I passed my test on the 25th Feb 2005, you can't make this up, the car stays.
This is going to be a long project, I've had to buy a donor RHD car to cut up (I can hear the VW purists crying, cutting up an early Type 3 Fastback) but needs must, my car is more important that a twisted and rotten 68.
As I bought it
Then I got bored one afternoon, needed to practice spraying and test some products out so this happened, car was coming off the road anyway so didn't really care about finish, as it would all be stripped off and then I would paint it back original colour of green.
same time I also installed bending glass rear popout windows, yes the glass bends no hinges.
So where does this leave the car now? Well in bits, in a barn, but I have slowly been gathering parts to fix it
It is rough, floorpans, heater channels, window frames, gutters, inner wings front and rear, front and rear valances, engine bay I don't even know how I am going to tackle that, it's crispy and the donor car doesn't have IRS like mine so it is different, but I will tackle it somehow, current plan.
Cut up the 68 for all the body cuts I need and flog the rest I don't, I need to weld up the body to stop it twisting, cut it off the floor pan, been welded to it in places and the bolts aren't going to undo, take it for soda blasting, see what's left, probably not a lot, then get to it, it's actually not as bad as it looks, it's not a good starting point I know, but in true project car fashion, MOT in a couple of weeks
In the next couple of weeks though plans will be afoot to get it started, drag it out of the barn and see what is what.
Tangerine is not the colour for me, as I've aged I've become a very OEM person, it'll end up OEM+ obviously, I'm pretty sure it's Elm Green originally
Will be taking loads of photos, trying to get the other car out to body shop for cutting up, once that's done I can get mine out there, get it braced, get it separated and get it blasted, it's going to be an effort, most would say it's too far gone, probably is, but I've seen worse restored
Will be taking loads of photos, trying to get the other car out to body shop for cutting up, once that's done I can get mine out there, get it braced, get it separated and get it blasted, it's going to be an effort, most would say it's too far gone, probably is, but I've seen worse restored
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