Deep Philosophical Question re: Keeping it Stock

[desertthing]

I just bought a thing and I want go change it over to a Subaru. The stock cars are great but I want to go ofraod and explore in baja. Watercooled and jacked up with lights pointing in every direct. I just need a big pile of money now to get started.

Ron

[desertthing]

first I need to learn how to type

[azbaja1]

For me it depends on the car. For example;

if I buy a nice clean, original car I would be buying it to keep it stock.

On the otherhand, if I'm looking for one to fix up and use off-road or slam and shave I wouldn't buy that clean stock one I would look for something more used or with mods I was planning anyway.

[Semper_Dad]

Good thread. Deserves resurrecting to see how us newbies (since 2005) weigh in.

I'm definitely in the restorable mods camp. I prefer the stock look overall. However, an alternator and gauges seem to be a reasonable upgrade. Seats and lighting for safety. Just about anything that can bolt on or off I can feel good about.

If you're planning on towing a trailer then brake and engine upgrades are in order.

I purchased my car about 2 years ago and except for the color it's bone stock. I've added some adittional gauges and fuse panel but the fuse panel is stock in a military 181. I was going to replace the generator with an alterator but I got a good deal on a replacement generator that that mod is on hold til next time.
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Walküre Restoration Thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=737492

[Deckard]

I'm all for stock. Ever since I bought my '73 in '92,

I have been on a mission to restore him to its Mexican-made glory. I loved the idea of its functional, spartan technology. From the clever way pressure from the spare tire was put to work on the windshield-washer to the marvel of the gas heater's multiple safeguards, it is a showcase of old school engineering. I think the stock car is a simple, utilitarian machine that never fails to put a smile on my face.

I think that Barrett-Jackson has proved beyond a reasonable doubt that stock cars carry a well-deserved premium. They are moving museums that perfectly capture the spirit of an era.

[79SuperVert]

If I am going to own it and drive it I want it to be a bone-stock time machine so that when I get in it I can touch and feel and smell and experience what it was like when it was new. But I don't make judgments about what anyone else does to their cars.

My only reservation is that as cars get older there are fewer of them around and so it becomes a service to future generations to keep them stock. Still doesn't seem to be anything wrong with taking a saw to a 70's model but an original split window is much scarcer and so a different matter.
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Central Jersey VW Society

Wanted: Art Collins VW (Savannah, Georgia) items - license plate surrounds and other items. Also ivory "AM", "FM" and "SW" buttons for a US Blaupunkt Frankfurt.

[///Mink]

Can I be in two categories? I've had two Things - one a #1 and one a #3.

Then again, the one I still have is the #1 so I guess I answered my own question.

Interesting thread resurrection, BTW. I just realized it was originally asked 7 years ago.

[CraigInPA]

I'm in the #2 class. I'll upgrade things for safety reasons, but I prefer to keep the vehicle somewhat close to original. For example, I have a metal fuel filter in the engine compartment. I've put the braces on the windshield to prevent it from being bent back. I'll eventually put in better seat belts and upgrade to high back seats. I've put in halogen headlights. But, I prefer the original style exhaust, original car height, and don't mind the anemic performance of the 1600 dp engine. I won't touch the exterior "look" except with original accessories (like the rear tire holder and hard top that came with car).

If this was my daily driver, I'd feel pressed to put in a real roll cage, a type IV engine, TTS sliding windows, and fix the heater. I would, by necessity, become a #3 or #4 owner.

Craig

[crofty]

#2 for me.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1302393
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Your Vanagon sucks, Stop waving at me.

[Yarkle]

#2

Crofty, your thing looks real nice, good luck on the auction!

[tallman206]

I guess I am a confused 3.5?
The chassis and body were lovingly restored to better than factory condition, but in the spirit of bone stock. I probably turned the corner to the Dark Side when I painted the body a non-stock color, but I love Stone Grey.
I have lots of customization that is all mostly reversable:
Porsche Industrial Engine (stock engine is restored and preserved in a crate)
Porsche 914 steering wheel cut down in diameter and covered in mahogany
Electronic Eberspaecher timer for the gas heater
VDO three gauge instrumentation addition
Electric fuel primer pump
Bottom of tank fuel cutoff with operating handle on firewall
H4 halogen headlights with relays
Bosch imitation dual horns (Wolo) with relay
High back beetle front seats with stock OEM-look black vinyl upholstering
Glass slider side curtains
Non-original Hella tail lights and turn signal light assys
Dual Optima batteries under rear seats with auto charging relay and second fuse box for added accessories
Glove box locking door
New complete wiring harness (without diagnostics wiring)
Added door jamb switch for interior courtesy entrance lighting
Truck bed spray on liner on pan bottom for rock protection
And more.
Most are reversable and the original parts are safely stored away.
So lots of customization, some reversable, some not. The overall look was to be a tasteful but a subtle upgrade to an otherwise stock beauty. Can never be judged in the stock classes, but I don't care, as I did it for me, not for a show car. Lovin' it!
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Jerry Henning
Southern Classic Works
St.Petersburg, Florida
1973 VW Type 181 with 616/33-6 powerplant
1962 356B-T6 Cabriolet Rustbucket

[guppysoup]

I´m a 3 all the way. I would be a 4 if I had the xtra money. The roads I drive warrant the mods. I could never leave a stock bug alone either Oh and those original Thing colors YIKES! NEVER. They couldn´t of picked fuglier colors IMO. Oh ya and the most uncomfortable seats ever made. Nuff said.
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1973 Thing/Safari
1985 Bug/Vocho wanna be class 11
2014 Amarok TDI 4x4

[Nijyboy]

Mine is pretty much stock apart from alternator conversion and a leisure battery to run the stereo and sub....gotta have those tunes!
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1969 ex Bundeswehr VW 181
1st year of production

[dan macmillan]

I guess mine is a #2, I find that for the most part it looks stock but items such as fully welded fenders with integrated running boards tend to shift it towards a 4 as some would consider these non reversible changes to be radical.

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Licensed Automotive Service Technician
Licensed Truck and Coach Technician
Licensed Heavy Duty Equipment Technician
CFC/HCFC/HFC A/C handling and installation license
Alignment specialist
66 Modified Manx,68 Kyote,74 Thing,74 Beetle, 76 Transporter,75 self made Double Cab,65 Meyers Manx,78Westy,68 Ghia, 79 Bradley GT2
Current projects:
Built for others:69 Manx Clone

[Metal Twister]

These results surprise me a bit. I would of figured that the original group would of been much higher in the results?

Secondly why improve your vehicle with the ability to go backwards and put it back into the stock configuration someday in the future? Are resale prices any better for a stock un restored car than a modified vehicle? Are you thinking these Things are so prized keeping it stockish is your duty to the next guy?

Personally Im all about making it function in the way I will be using it. Un fortunately to some of you that dictates that I fall in that last group. Full roll cage, more and stiffer suspension, using the original power plant but squeezing a bit more juice out of it should achieve a good on / off road vehicle for me.

I appreciate all the different aspects of car building and usage. As far as a fully modified starter vehicle getting its start from a cheap hack donor I think not. To achieve a really clean extreme mod vehicle the cleaner the donor to start with the better. Give me an extra clean donor car to start with any time... Great topic and its fun to see how others feel about their vehicles.
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Change is Opportunity!
Instagram=metaltwister

[Zylinderkopf]

My approach is closest to the bone stock category - although my Thing is not quite there yet. As others have already said here, I too see it as a piece of history and I like to see it preserved and eventually passed on. I try not to be too anal about it, but I do go out of my way to buy stock parts - or close to stock whenever possible (e.g. I paid more than double for the German Thing-only rear drums last month when I could have bought the Chinese version or make beetle drums work).

I take this approach to all of my VWs. Of course, German parts are hard to come by and there are compromises at every turn.
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1963 Beetle
1966 Beetle 1300
1970 Karmann Ghia Coupe
1971 Super Beetle
1974 Thing


"A lot of people never use their initiative because no one told them to."

[Captain Spalding]

[iltis74]

[Metal Twister]

I do understand where you guys are coming from. I come from the Hot Rod world where you can buy a nicely restored Model A Ford for 12 to 14,000 all day long. Take the same car and put a V8 in it and slam it and the price tag goes up to the $25,000 plus range. Back before the latest financial hit I was building long travel off road cars. A seriously modified LS1 vw thing which is basically a very nice off road race car or sand buggy with a thing body on it for about $50,000 in this economy... A few years ago we were selling our sand cars and pre runners for $80.000. I didn't mean to be rude or insensitive, I'm just coming from a different part of our industry. I really do appreciate ALL the different stages and configurations of the Thing. Think I had better do more looking and learning at this point and less writing...
_________________
Change is Opportunity!
Instagram=metaltwister

[germanbilly]

At the Car show last weekend someone came up to me and asked if I had seen the Thing with hard top sell on Barrett Jackson sell for 50k that makes 2 that have sold for that price. He said mine looked a lot nicer. I asked him if he wanted to buy it for that price. Said he was broke, lol.
GB