TheSamba.com :: View topic - restoring a vehicle

Tue Oct 18, 2016 5:23 pm

just pre-thinking here.

if one were to purchase an early to mid 60's bug that has either been stripped of all, or will plan on stripping, to begin the restoration process. Is there a thread or write up that has been created, that will explain where to start?

From the exterior to the interior, how does one know what to tackle first?

I would think there has got to be a method to the madness of restoration. to make it easier and more enjoyable

Tue Oct 18, 2016 5:45 pm

I would pull the interior first, making it easier to move around.

Tue Oct 18, 2016 5:47 pm

you wouldn't paint the exterior first and work inwards?

Tue Oct 18, 2016 5:54 pm

Have you already purchased a vehicle?
If not, head this information.
Try to find the best car that you can afford. It will save you many hours of frustrations and money wasted.
I bought a car from CL for $800. It was in need of everything. Rusted body parts, rusted pans. needed a hood, fender, interior, wiring, bumpers, and on and on.
After spending $1400 in body parts. I took a huge step back and reassessed where this car was headed. I came to the conclusion that the car would never be a show car. Maybe someday it might be a decent driver but nothing more that that.
So I began a new search for a better platform to start with. (see the thread "buying a car sight unseen" for the purchase story)
I spent 6K on a good car and have enjoyed it as a daily driver for the last year.
Think long and hard as to what your expectations are regarding a car that needs alot of work versus a car that is a good starting point that you can enjoy while making your plans for a much better car. Do you want it to be a show car? A daily driver? A weekend Mustang killer? These thing should all be taken into consideration when making plans. Also assess what you should expect from yourself. Do you plan to do all of the work yourself? Or are you going to farm out the work to others? These thing can make a wallet very thin in no time.
Good Luck.

Tue Oct 18, 2016 6:08 pm

My resto thread is basically what Avenger is describing :lol: It needs everything! You said buying a car that needs to be stripped. I would strip the interior to make it easier to get around in, and then take off all the components. Work on the body, paint, and then reassemble. Bugs can be rust buckets that have been disguised as gems. I once looked at a '71 standard. It was nice then you opened the hood... it had the front end/firewall area screwed on and covered in filler to look nice :shock: :? :roll:

Just make sure you find the right one...

Tue Oct 18, 2016 6:12 pm

double your time frame and triple your bank account :lol:
don't buy a car already stripped, you will spent lots of time and a fortune chasing down missing parts.
Read thru all the build threads and learn from others.

Tue Oct 18, 2016 6:13 pm

Wanna take a guess as to what's in the garage ATM?
Yeah, There Rusty sits, while Little and Big Blue sit in the driveway in the rain :shock:
Go figure!

Tue Oct 18, 2016 6:23 pm

60ragtop wrote: double your time frame and triple your bank account :lol:
don't buy a car already stripped, you will spent lots of time and a fortune chasing down missing parts.
Read thru all the build threads and learn from others.
The bolded part isn't always true. My car was pre stripped and seems to have everything. It just isn't all together.

Tue Oct 18, 2016 6:48 pm

have I already purchased a car? no. I am still in the figuring out what I want to do.

I don't mind a project car at all. It isn't going to be a daily driver. But it's also not going to be a show car. I want it to be as nice and original as possible, and drive me around every once in awhile.

Honestly, a member on here posted a link to a vehicle in my area that was a decent price, but needed a lot of work. The bug was already stripped. Funny thing, is that it's a daily driver. It has the seats, new floor pans, and body was being prepared to be painted. It's a project to say the least, but not ever having done a restore project before, I figured I'd ask about where to start.

I know I'll never get out, what i put in money wise, but as of now, I have no desire to buy another. I'd like to get one that I restore, make pretty, and drive it for nothing more than enjoyment. Never in snow or rain. So I'm definitely looking for a keeper. Just not sure how much money I want to spend to get this ideal "bug". It would be fun to rebuild the bug.....but i have no experience in the process.

Tue Oct 18, 2016 6:53 pm

Quote: The bolded part isn't always true. My car was pre stripped and seems to have everything. It just isn't all together.

Haha oh lord. There's like 1/1000 chance Old Man River that stripped the car 10 years ago didn't loose parts in the hodgepodge of boxes he threw stuff into.

But that's not the point. Parts are relatively cheap. The important thing is the body work. Rusty shitboxes take twice the effort and money as relatively incomplete clean original starters. And who did the welding if it's been massaged. Leroy with the welder sometimes creates more headaches when you get around to check the quality/time he's put into "restoring" that primer beauty. I prefer an original example that hasn't been welded on. That way you know what's up.

To answer your original question: I like to start with removing the engine/trans/running gear. That way if the project gets stalled (money/time etc) you're still relatively close to running vehicle again.

There's a huge nut of money that must be made for weld panels/paint and another for the engine/trans/front axle. It's preferable/ideal in my book to be out of steam with a mechanically functional car than have a nice clean body and no cash to go the final mile on making it actually go again.

Especially if it's your first time.

Tue Oct 18, 2016 7:14 pm

OP are you talking about the different colored paneled bug?? that was a good starting point and you could get it much cheaper than asking like 1k less if not more...

if you are good with your hands that car would be perfect...First car I ever painted was a bus, while I do construction for a living I wasn't afraid of the work... boy did I learn a LOT..... what I'm saying is, if you like working on stuff you'll be fine and this site is invaluable when it comes to questions and help along the way...

as to where to start I guess it would depend on what type of restoration you plan on doing, but word of advice... bag and tag everything and don't throw ANYTHING away and I mean ANYTHING!!! Until your car is 100% where you want it, you'd be surprised how many parts you can sell or repurposed, even if it looks like trash someone can restore or use it....

Tue Oct 18, 2016 7:27 pm

Not trying to be nosy, but whats your price range for this project. Just the car not any parts.

Tue Oct 18, 2016 7:50 pm

Lets back up.....What is your background and experience level? If you have never worked on cars much, then REALLY think about whether this is a good idea or not. Not saying that you must have experience, but it sure helps.

If not real familiar with VWs, do NOT buy a car that has been tore down already. Besides missing parts, you wont know how to put it back together....Chime in how many of you installed window regulators wrong the first time...

And if you never had a VW, how do you know what you really want until you drive the car for a while?

Do this - get the best car you can afford and ou want a driver. There are plenty of "buyers guides" on here and other places to help you know what to look for. Find someone who knows the cars to come along with you when you look at a car.

Now that you bought a car, start at the bottom and work your way up to make it safe and reliable. (Brakes, bearings, seals, fuel lines etc). Drive the car for a couple months and THEN decide what you want to do with it.

Money - very important - I do spread sheets before I do a build and I know what variables to factor in. You don't - but lets assume you are doing all or most of the work yourself - no major problems with mechanical or body.

Here's an example - Just got a message from a guy that bought a nice western bug for around $6K (paid a grand to ship it east). Needs some odds and ends done. Assuming engine and tranny are fine. He will easily spend another grand in parts. If I do the work, will be another grand on top of it. So when all said and done the car will cost him just shy of $10K....thats about right.

Worrying about when to paint is the least of your concerns right now.

Wed Oct 19, 2016 4:28 am

63 vwnotch wrote: OP are you talking about the different colored paneled bug?? that was a good starting point and you could get it much cheaper than asking like 1k less if not more...

if you are good with your hands that car would be perfect...First car I ever painted was a bus, while I do construction for a living I wasn't afraid of the work... boy did I learn a LOT..... what I'm saying is, if you like working on stuff you'll be fine and this site is invaluable when it comes to questions and help along the way...

as to where to start I guess it would depend on what type of restoration you plan on doing, but word of advice... bag and tag everything and don't throw ANYTHING away and I mean ANYTHING!!! Until your car is 100% where you want it, you'd be surprised how many parts you can sell or repurposed, even if it looks like trash someone can restore or use it....

to be more specific on what I'm looking at, here is the car in discussion: http://cleveland.craigslist.org/cto/5816408784.html

Wed Oct 19, 2016 4:35 am

I like that bug! Early bugs with the small windows look great in my opinion. I'm sure you could haggle with him. He says the floors are new so that's good. The heater channels look good too. I would look at it, and come back with a report.

Wed Oct 19, 2016 4:41 am

67ctbug wrote: Not trying to be nosy, but whats your price range for this project. Just the car not any parts.

well, it first started in the 5k range. about a week ago.
I had a huge set back and the bug idea had to be put on the back burner.

now i have it to where, in my mind, i don't need a bug that needs little work. I am not driving it full time, and it would give me something to do come winter and beyond. A completed bug isn't that important. It's gonna sit all winter anyways.

So then I got to thinking about a 3k or less bug with little to no rust, that I could get and start tearing apart or building upon.

So right now I am looking in the 3k or less range. 3k or less range means a lot of work. I get that. The rust worries me a lot. I've never welded. i have watched videos on that and it doesn't seem difficult, but it's probably different once you actually do it. Not saying I need to weld but if there is sheet metal to be replaced, then it has to happen. Welding is intimidating. :(

As for my range of comfort around a car. I have worked on my own cars over the years. Minor stuff. From oil changes, to brake jobs, to alternator changes, things of that sort. I owned one bug in 95 in high school that was less than ok. I had no knowledge, and no funds to keep it going. Knowing what I know now, would have went a long way then. 95 was the last time I owned a bug. Hopefully that answers that question. I am not to worried about taking on a mechanically crippled vehicle :)

I was running some rookie numbers yesterday from paint, to all the interior gizmos i would need to complete the bug. If I bought a bug like the one i listed at 2k, i was expecting to put 4-5k in to it once all said and done. That would put me back in to the range that i first started looking in. so if it costs roughly the same to get it to a no work needed bug, i didn't see much of a financial difference. It would come to time and labor which is the question. time? I have tons of that. I wanted something I could work on when money came available. So I could buy a 6k bug, and have it sit, that wouldn't need much work. Or I buy a cheap bug, and start the building process.

hopefully i answered your questions

Wed Oct 19, 2016 4:58 am

This ones a little more, but it's been up since March so I'm sure he'll haggle. And it's the best year :lol:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1905479

Wed Oct 19, 2016 5:29 am

Doing a car for $5-6K is unrealistic particularly if you need paint and any body work. Welding in floor pans or something like that is a COMPLETELY different animal than body panels. You can buy a $100 mig with flux core wire and do simple "ugly" stuff with minimal experience - that's what I started with.

But now I can really weld (well most of the time anyway) and have a more serious set up and have custom fabbed chassis, did beam adjusters, etc. But my body guy does the body work. Example - A car just came in the other day. We are doing a color change on a 77 vert with minimal body work. I am pretty cheap and the initial estimate is close to $7K. Blowing the car apart yourself can reduce the cost dramatically, but plan on at least $4K for a paint job.

You NEED to listen to folks on the real costs. What I found early on is whatever you think its gonna cost, double or triple it because there are ALWAYS surprises.

Not trying to discourage you, but you need to have a bit of disposable income when you get into ANY classic car. If you don't, wait a couple years until you are ready. Guys like me snag abandoned projects dirt cheap - like the car for a couple grand you listed. You dont want to be that guy that is selling.

Wed Oct 19, 2016 8:23 am

crankbait09 wrote: to be more specific on what I'm looking at, here is the car in discussion: http://cleveland.craigslist.org/cto/5816408784.html

Engine needs rebuilding if he's been driving it with the openings in the fan shroud unplugged. Hard to tell in the photo but they look open. Overheated for sure.

Wed Oct 19, 2016 8:25 am

67ctbug wrote: This ones a little more, but it's been up since March so I'm sure he'll haggle. And it's the best year :lol:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1905479

This one looks better. Check for rust. Seller feedback is good, too.