Bought my first VW today!
Oct 31, 2010 21:32:13 GMT -5
Post by ed on Oct 31, 2010 21:32:13 GMT -5
Earlier in the week, I saw an ad on Toledo's Craigslist for a '71 Super, and I went to see it today. It spent most of its life in Louisiana and Texas; it has been in MI for about 7 years, and wasn't driven in the winter here. It's been parked for about 3 years. The seller bought it to convert it to an electric vehicle, but decided against it.
I was impressed enough, and the price was right enough, that I went ahead and Wrote The Check.
Just like the ad said, the chassis is in great condition. The heater channels are great, and so are the floor pans, except for right under the battery. The strut mount points in front are very solid as well. It should make a great starting point.
The body has surface rust in several places, but no rust-throughs. It does, however, have this sort of rubberized coating stuff on the roof, from the tops of the pillars up. The story the seller got from the previous owner was that they put this stuff on the roof to reflect some of the heat in the summer. Not sure if that stuff will come off, but it's OK with me if it doesn't. I'm not going for Concours here, just a fun project.
The engine isn't running. It stopped on the freeway during a long drive. The seller took it out, and found that 2 of the 4 pistons don't move when the engine is turned over. Doesn't sound too good, and I'll definitely need to have a look inside the case. Speaking of the case -- it looks like someone else was in there, or trying to get in there, at some point. There's a nick in the seam that's just about the size of a big screwdriver.
It was obvious that some oil had been leaking from there, but I don't know how much. I'm not holding out a lot of hope for the bottom end, but maybe I'll have a pleasant surprise.
The seller will be bringing it up, probably next weekend; he has access to a car-hauler. (I'm the one who asked him if he could do that; I'm pretty comfortable that there won't be any problem, although I support I could have been talking to Faceman, Jr.
)
Needless to say, I'm pretty excited right now. The perma-grin probably won't wear off until the second or third meeting at work tomorrow. ;D
I was impressed enough, and the price was right enough, that I went ahead and Wrote The Check.
Just like the ad said, the chassis is in great condition. The heater channels are great, and so are the floor pans, except for right under the battery. The strut mount points in front are very solid as well. It should make a great starting point.
The body has surface rust in several places, but no rust-throughs. It does, however, have this sort of rubberized coating stuff on the roof, from the tops of the pillars up. The story the seller got from the previous owner was that they put this stuff on the roof to reflect some of the heat in the summer. Not sure if that stuff will come off, but it's OK with me if it doesn't. I'm not going for Concours here, just a fun project.
The engine isn't running. It stopped on the freeway during a long drive. The seller took it out, and found that 2 of the 4 pistons don't move when the engine is turned over. Doesn't sound too good, and I'll definitely need to have a look inside the case. Speaking of the case -- it looks like someone else was in there, or trying to get in there, at some point. There's a nick in the seam that's just about the size of a big screwdriver.
It was obvious that some oil had been leaking from there, but I don't know how much. I'm not holding out a lot of hope for the bottom end, but maybe I'll have a pleasant surprise.The seller will be bringing it up, probably next weekend; he has access to a car-hauler. (I'm the one who asked him if he could do that; I'm pretty comfortable that there won't be any problem, although I support I could have been talking to Faceman, Jr.
)Needless to say, I'm pretty excited right now. The perma-grin probably won't wear off until the second or third meeting at work tomorrow. ;D
