Type 3 newbie

[bhayne]

Hello Type 3 world. My name is Brendan and I am a Type 3 Newbie.

I talked my wife into letting me work on another project. Several years ago I restored a 1964 Split window bus ( and received a lot of advice from the great guys on Type 2 side of TheSamba)
Now I went and found a nice Type 3 Squareback to restore. I found a cool 65 Squareback/ Variant S with a factory sunroof. My goal is to take the next year and start working my way through the resto.

-Was sitting in storage for 6 years after being painted.
-It has all the bodywork completed but needs minor scratch touch ups.
-No engine
-Tranny seems in good shape (shifts well)
-Rolls fine
-Missing a few parts but almost complete (Chrome was all in boxes which is good because I can see already that some of those chrome parts are bloody expensive)
-Floor pans need complete replacement but heater channels and seat rails seem solid.
-Everything is gutted inside
-Wiring harness is all there but dangling. Seems in good shape though.
-All windows came with it but are removed from vehicle.

I have never removed a pan from a body but I need to do floor pans, engine, brakes and suspension. All the hard work I need to do is down there. I'm thinking this is a great candidate for a Pan Off since its already gutted and all the bolts holding body to frame are as accessible as they ever could be. I looked through some of the forums and found bolt locations but didn't see good pics or videos of that process. if anyone knows of any please send me some links (or talk me out of it if this is a bad idea).


Thanks guys and I look forward to your great advice.

Here are some pics:

And My Bus:

[dirtslinger]

That's the one that was on CL in OC right? I wanted to go look at it.

[Mike Fisher]

You can cut out & replace 90% of the pans with the body still on the chassis. Leave 5-10% at the front & rear to weld onto. You can't rebuild it in 1 year if you separate the body & pan?
_________________
https://imgur.com/user/FisherSquareback/posts
69 FI/AT square Daily Driver
66 sunroof,67,70,71,71,71AT,72,72AT,73 Parts
two 57 oval ragtops sold
'68 Karmann Ghia sold

Society is like stew. If you don't keep it stirred up you end up with a lot of scum on the top! - Russ_Wolfe/Edward Abbey

[Erik G]

WELCOME!

That is a good car to start with, I saw it here and on craigs list. very very desireable car, I know I would have bought it if I were close

first things first, do not throw anything away. nothing. not one washer, because you never know, it might not be available. These cars are very different than bugs or buses, they do not reproduce parts for our cars

you have some great people local to you. I would change the title of this thread to "New '65 squareback owner in San Diego"
_________________
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[bhayne]

Yes. it was the one on craigslist in Corona/San Bernadino area. Really nice guy that was trying to do a proper restoration but ran out of time and funds because of kids. Much respect for him though. What he did- he did well.

I won't throw anything away! I learned that lesson the hard way with my bus. But with these it seems even worse. Every part is expensive. Im in a panic about the sunroof, I think even the nuts and washers are $200

Im glad you said its very desirable. I did some homework and it seemed that way from what I read. Glad I got it right.

Understand what you're saying about the pan off taking longer than a year. Im a bit of a perfectionist so Im going to what to fix everything i can see once its off. But I was figuring that it would make all of those jobs so much easier that it would be worth getting it off there and also not risk the new paint with everything i have to do.

[tcolt45]

congrats on your new Squareback. looks good. also love your bus.
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1971 VW Squareback FI A/T
2015 VW GLI

[ataraxia]

You've got a good platform to start on.

How bad are the existing pans? Do you need full pan halves or can you use the 1/4 pans?

Erik is right - you've got a great location for local resources.

Looking forward to seeing this car go back together.

[bhayne]

Pans look pretty shot all the way to me. There is a rubber/tar mat at the front which I'm guessing is original. It look ok up there but I see pin holes within an inch of it.

I saw some full Ghia pans on line for about $200. They said on the site that you could make them work with a Type 3 with some minor modification. Not sure what that means but if its true I would do it to save the money.


Let me know if you guys think this will work.
http://www.eisparts.com/141701059/Floor+Pan%2C+Sheet+Metal%2CLeft+Side%2C+Ghia+%26+Type+3%27s.html

[JeeJeeJason]

If you're thinking of doing the pans and all, check out Steve's (Clatter) thread called black fastback build. He's done all of this that you're talking about and documented it throughout 45 or so pages I believe. If you're a perfectionist, you'll especially enjoy it.
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1968 FI Squareback

[ataraxia]

[ibjack]

Bhayne, welcome to the world of type 3. There are a few of us here in SD. Let us know what advice or help you need and at some point we will want to visit. I'm working on my '65 sunroof notch and have a '65 panel squareback and a '64 t34. Where in SD are you?
_________________
'68 Lotus White T34 automatic sunroof
'64 Manila Yellow T34
'65 Sea Blue Square Panel
the1500club.com
Shop Lacky at the T3/34 Factory, https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100094313902074

[bhayne]

[bhayne]

[bhayne]

I have a color question. PO didn't know what color it was painted exactly but thought it was an official VW color. He said something about "Sea" and something about "Gul". I interpret that as either Sea Blue (L360) or Gulf Blue (L390). It looks more like Sea Blue to me. Any thoughts, knowledge, opinions appreciated.

[ALLWAGONS]

Hello Brendan,

You bought my other bookend. I built a '65 sunroof variant myself. If you need any help, I will gladly assist you. Look up my gallery or look up my 65 sunroof variant for info.

Martin
allwagons
_________________
I'd be UNSTOPPABLE if not for Law Enforcement and PHYSICS.

I recycle old cars and parts, other than when I rot, that's as Green as I am going to get.

Thanks to my Tesla driving neighbors, I feel more relaxed driving my SUBURBAN and old VW's.

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[ibjack]

[sjbartnik]

It looks like Sea Blue to me but it can be hard to discern the subtleties of color on a computer screen. What I dig about Sea Blue is it can look very different depending on the light - the light can really play with the amount of green you see in it.

Here's my Sea Blue for comparison

_________________
1965 Volkswagen 1500 Variant S
2000 Kawasaki W650

[ibldrc]

Excellent purchase. You'll be very happy with that one! I too was looking at it on CL, just too far away.
And don't fret too much with the pans, they're easy!
I'd suggest a couple engine stands from HF for a rotisserie, you have to go back and forth a bit.
There's lots of build info here for that work.
I've not done a T3 before (getting my '64 ready now), but my research says if you're gonna do it, get Gerson pans for no hassles and top quality.

[bhayne]

[bhayne]

1. Your Squareback is beautiful.
2. Sure looks close in color to mine but I can't tell on a computer screen either.