Itinerant Air-Cooled

We found this one and I emailed the guy to go take a look at it.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/ ... ?id=388209

What areas should I really hone in on...besides the engines...anyway to tell if the tranny is toast without an engine in there?

Thanks for the help!!

Biggest things to watch/check for are rust and the condition of the EFI wiring harness (if you want to go back to stock injection .. you probably will in the long run).

While that looks like a solid car from what I can see, specific areas to check for rust are obviously the pans (especially! teh battery tray under the rear seat), the rockers under the doors, the rear edge of the front wheelwells, and since this is a post-1970 check under the trunk lining for rust along the top of the "bump" for the fresh-air fans. Good solid floorpans are worth their weight in unobtanium, which is what new pans are made of.

If the EFI harness is butchered badly, replacement with a good used one is the only option. If it's not hacked too badly it can usually be repaired with silver-soldered splices & heatshrink .. no black tape! Just about everything else is available, sometimes new sometimes used. Transaxle isn't too big a deal if it's shot; except for teh nosecone and the "hockey stick" it's the same as Type 1, with slightly different gearing in some years. No way to test it without a running engine installed.

Hmm, thanks Hal. You are guiding me in the dark!

The guy hasn't called me yet but I am used to the flaky seller thing so my hopes aren't too high.

Hey, our first VW was/is (still own it) a '70 Fastback, and I spent a year and a half working on them at the DDB here in Portland. So .. I kinda know a few things about Type 3's. Sorta.

Looks like it'd be a good little car once it's put back together. Keep us informed about what happens.

Use a keen eye to track down all possible water damage from common entry points. My left wiper arm pivot was loose. This caused water to come in under the dash. Fuse box, front carpeting, floor pan in front of pedal cluster and under pedal cluster, heater cables to side wells, all showed damage from this stupid thing. Resultant humidity damaged seat horsehair and caused bubbled rust pockets along floor pan under seats. The fresh air plenum drain hose was clogged with pine needles, this drowned the fresh air fan, AND caused water incursion into the leading edge of the floor pan. Check drains for the cooling louvres along both rear fenders. All of this stuff needs to be clean or the car gets damaged subtly over time. Body-on-frame cars with removeable fenders are tricky. Even the charcoal canister in the left front wheel well can collect clots of road debris and rust out the fender mounting bolts. These cars need to be inspected carefully. Headlamp buckets too, the wiring grommets need to be present and in good condition. Whether or not this is a pre-purchase inspection or a post-purchase inspection, track down the details.
Colin

Thanks fellas!

Can damage occur from tire 'fling' up into the nooks and crannies of the wheel wells/fenders as well?

Sure can. It's more potentially worrysome if it happened in a rear fender, there's more "body" and less "fender" to be damaged. In the front it's mostly "fender" that would get damaged, with some "body" if it hit the inner side or rear of the wheelwell. Well, except for teh gas filler pipe on the passenger side.

Fenders are fairly straightforward to replace, damage to the actual body shell is more difficult to deal with.

That's some good advice right there, tell you what. Thanks Hal!


The guy contacted me and I I have to do is set up a time to go and see the SB....however, AHEM< HOWEVER my wallet is throwing a tantrum over giving up $1100.00.

I'm just too damn cheap but I know if I go and look at and it's nice that I will change my tune.....

<bump>

Hey Spiffy, any news?

I don't know, spiff... The pic of the hood in brush...not a good sign.

tristessa wrote:<bump>

Hey Spiffy, any news?

I haven't made it over there yet as my wallet and a lingering thought that I don't need any more stuff is holding me back.

Ya' ever get that thought that says "self, you could do other things with that money.....like pull the dents and scrapes off the bus"

What I REALLY need to do is stop looking at the classifieds....they are like crack to me.

spiffy wrote:What I REALLY need to do is stop looking at the classifieds....they are like crack to me.

Doesn't help much. I'm thinking about buying an 8-valve 1.8L engine (watercooled VW, think Jetta/Rabbit) that I ran across earlier this week. Price is good, supposed to have just over 100k miles on it.

tristessa wrote:

spiffy wrote:What I REALLY need to do is stop looking at the classifieds....they are like crack to me.

Doesn't help much. I'm thinking about buying an 8-valve 1.8L engine (watercooled VW, think Jetta/Rabbit) that I ran across earlier this week. Price is good, supposed to have just over 100k miles on it.

True, my convictions are overcome by my fancies more times than I would like to admit.

Wait until wintertime when those $200 deals are out there. At least for Beetles n Buses.