Jeremy's 1967 Squareback Slow Build

[jeremydoc]

Hey guys. My name is Jeremy, and I live in the South Bay in SoCal. I've been lurking on this site for quite some time now, and I finally recently made an account.

Just as a note, I'm not a mechanic, however, I've always been pretty good with my hands. I like to tinker; tearing things apart to see how they work and putting everything back together. I've worked on cars before, but only regular maintenance like brake jobs, oil changes, and small electrical stuff. Anything and everything about this car is a new experience for me. Part of the reason why I bought this was to learn the ins and outs as much as I can through hands-on experience, research, and with the help of you guys. So please be nice to me

I've been a big fan of Type 3's for a while, more specifically the Squarebacks. I've wanted one for a long time, just searching for the right one through the classifieds, Craigslist, etc. About a couple of weeks ago, I came across a 1967 Squareback in running condition (kind of), clean title, already registered, body wasn't all mangled and bent out of shape, only 14 miles from where I live, and most importantly for a decent price. It had 55,266 miles on the Odometer, but Im sure that's way past rolled over.

Here are some photos of it when I checked it out:

slight damage on the right side of the front apron.

only slight dents on fenders on all four corners, a couple on each door.

rear hatch has dent on left side, and hatch doesn't lock shut. might be misaligned?

engine bay

I was able to get an even better deal on it because the dude said there was something wrong with the engine, and he didn't know what it was. He drove it around the block with me in the passenger seat, and you can tell there was barely any power at all. It struggled to go over 20mph in the neighborhood. I didn't want to risk driving it home, even though it was only 14 miles. So I had it towed home with the extra money I had left over. He said the last thing he worked on was the Ignition system, and then let it sit for a while.

I've done my share of research on the ignition system, and i can proudly say I've learned more about it in the past two weeks than I have since I've been interested in this car. First thing I checked on were the spark plugs. I found out cylinders 1 and 2 weren't giving off any sparks at all. I removed them and they were FILTHY.

This pic doesn't do them justice as I had cleaned it off a bit already. From left to right, cylinder 1,2,4. It looked like there was a bit of gap bridging on two of the spark plugs resulting in a dead cylinder

I cannot for the life of me reach deep enough to fit a spark plug socket to remove cylinder 3's plug. Not sure if I'm supposed to remove the carburetor to free up some space, or if i need a special tool. Any suggestions on how to get around that?

After I had replaced those 3 spark plugs, I can definitely feel the difference in power. I was able to drive the car around at 50mph comfortably (kind of).

My first drive around. Went to get some air in the tires.

I know I still need to set the points gap, maybe replace spark plug hoses, and all that jazz. I just haven't made much time to do so.

[jeremydoc]

Decided to remove seats and clean up the floor pans a bit. They were dirtier than I had hoped. I scrubbed all the dirt and most of the rust chips off and vacuumed them after these photos were taken. Hard to see but theres about a dozen small rust holes around where the back of the front seats would be. And by "small" i mean a little smaller than half the size of a dime. The biggest one was probably a little smaller than a penny. I also chipped off what was left of the padding on the floor. They came off with little to no effort. I did however leave the padding stuff on the center column as those were still in pretty good shape.

I eventually want to cut all of the rust spots off and just weld on a whole new floor pan, but that project will be waaaay in the future as funds as well as space is very limited in my current situation.

I didn't get the chance to remove the rear seats, just just did a quick vacuum under there. I didn't see any rust under the battery, as I've heard that this area on the floor pan is very susceptible to rust. I'll post pictures once I work on that area.

[GDOG57]

Nice project there. I used to live on 182nd st. and Hawthorne in Torrance.
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'57 oval window deluxe,Agave green(L240) 2276cc w/51.5 IDA's
'57 type 2 panel ( L31 dove blue) project daily driver,Singleport 1955cc
'69 Squareback (L30A Royal Red)

[jeremydoc]

Next up was under the hood....or trunk... or whatever the proper name is for the front storage area.

Looked like it hadn't been opened in a while. things were just piled in there.

I kept the interior trim pieces in case I wanted to use as a stencil to make my own in the future

After carpet pieces were removed and slightly swept up...

...scrubbed...

...and washed

As I've previously mentioned there was some damage to the front apron. You can see the damage done to it on that last photo. I'm pretty sure this Squareback had previously been in an accident or two, and then covered up. The hood latch doesn't perfectly fir in the apron so the hood lever under the dash doesn't work. and the hood is slanted as see in these photos. The damage to the apron destroyed the serial placard so it sucks I cant see the original. Anyone here know where else I can find that information? I know of the serial numbers on the chassis under the rear seats. maybe theres other locations around the car for me to check? I'll take closer pics of the damage soon.

[jeremydoc]

[MonT3]

Hi Jeremy, welcome to the community. It’s a bummer the VIN plate wasn’t in the glovebox or amongst the stuff left in the frunk. The pans look to be pretty decent shape. Rather than replacing the floor pans, maybe those pin holes can be tracked down and welded in with some patches. Your front well and inner rocker areas look pretty good so pulling the pans off may not be necessary. There’s a lot of great information here so get to reading and don’t be afraid of asking questions as folks will chime in and offer recommendations on how to deal with certain issues which may arise. I’d recommend you get a Bently or Blue book manual to keep you company when maintaining the car.
You have a good starting point and look forward to reading up on your updates.
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MonT3
67 Squareback
64 Squareback
63 Squareback
Engine rebuild
Trailer rebuild

[jeremydoc]

Worked on head lights this time. There wasn't really anything wrong with them, they functioned just fine. I just wanted them to look a little cleaner....(or so I thought)

right

Evidence of previous accident. Broken headlight glass behind headlight was left behind. The headlight that came out of this right side looked like it was supposed to be a left head light. So I actually have two left side headlights. They still work just fine, but it'll be weird trying to re-align the lights once I'm finished with them.

left

Started disassembly on the right side. I had trouble removing these screws, looks like previous owner tried opening it up while it was rusted without any for of lubrication, ruining the screws.

They were in such bad shape, I wasn't able to remove the screws. So I was left with no other option but to bust out my dremmel tool. Made a make-shift flat-head screw instead and used massive amounts of WD-40.

After taking it all apart, I started sanding down the housings. this is what it came out to

There were early signs of rust beginning to form under the paint, so I'm glad I was able to catch that before things got worse

used my dremmel tool with steel wire brush attachment to get down to bare metal

The rear plate had more signs of rust on it under the paint

the back of it was still in pretty good shape though. im planning on repainting these housings, so it sucks i had to remove all of it. here's some photos of the labeling

the small amount of workspace I have to deal with

I ended up taking apart the actual headlight glass. The seal between the glass lens and the other glass piece was completely worn off to the point where it would crack and break when small amounts of pressure were applied to them. Now I don't want to put the headlight back together until I can somehow find a new seal. Not sure if this is a special seal that has a particular part number, or if any generic brand can be used. If a specific part number can be provided, I would much rather choose that. If you know, please let me know where I may purchase a pair.

[KTPhil]

Looks like the fan shroud heater outlets may be uncapped, which will overheat the engine in short order.

[jeremydoc]

[MonT3]

[eyetzr]

Welcome. Nice car, great project. I also have a squareback. The Samba has helped many & I am a huge fan. Check out the classifieds, there are a few vendors that could help you with your new ride. Blue Bentley is a service manual for your VW, again check the classifieds. I got my Bentley from Amazon.
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I think he meant "rare", as in "not well-done"

[dirtslinger]

Welcome and congrats on the 67.

I'm in the Southbay also, and I'm building a 67 for my daughter. You can check it out, you might find what I did to the floors useful. I wasn't about to do a pan off for a 15 y/o girl, so I used the KBS coatings floor repair and coating kit. It was easy and came out pretty good.

Hope it helps, and maybe I'll see ya driving around. You won't see my daughters for a few more months, still quite a bit left to do.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=651234
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1967 Class 5
1970 Class 11 HSD Racing
1972 5/1600 V-MAR/Rasta Baja
1956 Baja
1960 Sand Rover buggy
1965 Street bug
1967 Squareback

[jeremydoc]

[Bobnotch]

[jeremydoc]

[Bobnotch]

Well, I'd plan on replacing that headlight for sure, as they're vacuum sealed when put together.
As for doing the floor repairs, I'd look at getting some pan sections from ISP if you're wanting to do a permanent repair. In the short term, you could add some tape to the bottom side of the holes, and add some chopped fiberglass cloth to the por 15. It'll buy you a year or so, but it's only for a short term fix. Save some money up for the pan sections and get them welded in for a long term fix.
You're going to need to spend some time on getting the hood and trunk latches aligned so both will close and latch. Both ends have screws that when loosened can move the striker plates/pin to get it in alignment. You can also loosen the bolts holding the hood/gate, to get a better fit out of either one. Just try and work 1 side at a time, so you're not fighting the whole thing. DON'T get in a hurry, as that just seems to make things worse. Where the dent is in the front apron will be a challenge to fix, as it'll need to be [pulled out. You can remove the fender and the bumper, add a bracket (bolt on) to the fender hole closest to the dent, then using a strap and a tree, pull it out. You might have to do a little hammer work while you have it in tension. I hope this helps.
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Bob 65 Notch S with Sunroof
71 Notch ...aka Krunchy; build pics here;
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=249390 -been busy working
64 T-34 Ghia...aka Wolfie, under construction... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=412120

[Air-Cooled Head]

Welcome to the world of T3. I also LOVE Squarebacks! I've had mine about 13 years.

[squaretobehip]

[Bobnotch]

[jeremydoc]

Changed the oil for the first time last night. I bought an oil change kit from IPC in Hawthorne. Small shop, but has lots of replacement parts and stuff.

Can someone verify if this is the original oil cover? The ones I've seen during my search on how to change oil, there has been a large bolt right in the center. This one only has the 6 small bolts around the circumference.

I've also read and heard from several sources that the mesh filters and seals can be cleaned and re-used with no problem. I ended up just replacing everything since I already had the parts available. I'll probably just clean the old ones up and keep them as extras.

Now this one really raises my concern. When I removed the 6 nuts from the oil cover plate thing, I found out that 4 of them matched, one of them was a generic nut, and the other one was a bolt. I'm sure this is not OEM, but do you guys think it will affect anything besides just how it looks? They were all removed using a 10mm socket.

You can see where the one bolt screw into and the rest have the bolts coming out of the oil pan here. My guess is someone had broken one of the bolts, and just had it re-drilled and tapped.

So I've read everywhere, even the Haynes Repair Manual, that these engines will take 2.5 liters of oil. I think I've read here on Samba too. But, the dude at IPC swore on his life that they take 3.5 liters. So at first, i put in 2.5 liters, and this was the reading on the dipstick

then I put the remainder of the .5 liters in, and this is what the reading said

I'm wondering why the guy said that he's always always always used 3.5, when obviously in my case, it would have overflowed.