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Wed May 08, 2013 3:23 pm

Hey everyone. I am now the proud owner of a 71 Squareback. :D I'm so new of an owner, it's not even home yet. LOL The PO is delivering it to me tonight.

It needs some TLC but I can't wait to start giving it some. The main thing it needs and the hardest thing to deal with, is a motor rebuild. It has a bad Thrush bearing ( I think that is what it is called). The motor is in pieces right now. Half of it is still connected to the tranny and the other half is on top in the trunk area. It was converted to carbs a long time ago and there is none of the FI stuff left. I would like to put it back to FI but I heard it is really hard to find the FI stuff.

It has a red paint job that is flaking off of it's original orange paint. I would like to try to take the red off and go back to the orange. Just need to reread some info on removing the paint. Then slowly I will start replacing seals and such.

It has some rust here and there. The worst of it being in the battery tray and also the back floor just ahead of the battery tray. Nothing I can't handle though. :D

Here are some pics of it at it's PO's place. I will update this thread as I do things to it.

Oh, some of you may know me from the Bay Window forum. :D

Here's the pics. :D

Yikes!

This being my first Type 3 "ever", I am off to do some research. :D

Wed May 08, 2013 4:27 pm

Probably easier to just put the early carbs on for now.

Wed May 08, 2013 4:36 pm

You should be able to find a competent VW engine builder in Sacramento if you ask around. The stock dual Solex carburetors in your picture are easy to work with! You could try to remove the black paint, but you will probably want to just repaint it all Clementine Orange in the end?

Wed May 08, 2013 4:47 pm

Thanks for the replies!

As far as the engine rebuild, we can do it ourselves. :D My hubby used to own a VW repair and parts place. Sadly it was over 10 years ago and we have long since got rid of most of the parts. The problem will be if the case is bad. We have extra heads and all, but no cases for type 3's.

I want to get the motor torn apart and looked at before Bugorama, that way we may have a chance at finding stuff that we may need, somewhat cheaper then new! :D

Just found a motor in the classifieds, but it is on CO. Little to far the ship and I don't have the time off to make the drive. That and gas prices would bring it's overall cost a lot more. LOL

Is there any websites that cater to Squarebacks? I did find Jbugs and stuff, and I think I saw West Coast Metric had some stuff. Just curious if there is any other places ( like Busdepot for Busses)?

Wed May 08, 2013 5:16 pm

Congrats on the Squareback and welcome to the type 3 forum! I've followed your threads in the bay window section and you do great work.

As far as parts for type 3s this is your best bet
http://www.vwispwest.com/

Thu May 09, 2013 4:54 pm

Adam wrote: Congrats on the Squareback and welcome to the type 3 forum! I've followed your threads in the bay window section and you do great work.

As far as parts for type 3s this is your best bet
http://www.vwispwest.com/

Thanks for the compliment and the tip!! :D

I managed to get a little done to the car today. :D

First I had to take some before pics.

Took some degreaser to this stuff.

Need to fix the battery tray.

Wiring mess.

Dash needs some love.

Then I tried my hand at paint removal. :D

Where I left off for the day.

This will be a long tedious process, but I like doing it. :D I found out that the areas that were in the sun came off a lot easier then the shaded areas. Problem with that is, I get hot in the sun. LOL I may give it a try with a heat gun in the garage tomorrow.

Tonight I hope to get the old motor out. Then we can start working on putting another motor together. Lucked out and hubby found that we have 2 full universal motors. So it will be just a matter of swapping parts! :D

Thu May 09, 2013 5:27 pm

Make sure hubby knows the diff on distributor drive orientation between Type 1 and Type 3. This is critical. I just mention that because most VW guys haven't been into a Type 3 in so long they've forgotten there's a difference.

Also, I could likely hook you up with a complete FI system if you're interested.

Thu May 09, 2013 7:28 pm

Looks like it's mostly complete, as are the carbs. It's good that you've got a couple of universal cases laying around, as it'll make life easier. Good luck with your new project, once you drive it, you'll love it. :wink:

Fri May 10, 2013 9:50 am

Tram wrote: Make sure hubby knows the diff on distributor drive orientation between Type 1 and Type 3. This is critical. I just mention that because most VW guys haven't been into a Type 3 in so long they've forgotten there's a difference.

Also, I could likely hook you up with a complete FI system if you're interested.

Ok, I will remind him about the distributor. Thanks for the tip.

As far as the FI stuff, I'll PM you.

Fri May 10, 2013 4:25 pm

We got the motor stripped last night. Now we just need to decide what good motor we will be using and then I get to put all the stuff back on. :D

Today a okiefied my headliner. Was going to use duck tape but couldn't find any. I found this aluminum tape and it seemed to be pretty sticky so I gave it a go. Just hope no one steels the car for the aluminum. LOL

I know, pretty hokey, but I don't want to replace the headliner till I'm ready to replace all the seals. :D

Then I got some more of the red off. I figure I will just do a little at a time every chance I get. Eventually I will get it all back to orange. :D

Mon May 13, 2013 8:47 pm

Just a little update.

We found out that the motor in my bug is a full universal motor, so we are going to be fixing the motor that 'was' in my bug (had a bad valve) and then put it in it, then we will put all the type 3 stuff on the universal motor. We tore into the bad valve motor and are just waiting to test out a few heads we have laying around to see if we can just swap heads.

I also took care of a very important part of getting the car together. I bought eye brows for it! LOL :D

Today I bought some oven cleaner from the 99 cent store and discovered that it is crap. So I am going to have to buy the more expensive "Easy Off' brand oven cleaner. Luckily I did buy one can of it today too, so I was able to make some more progress on the paint removal.

Then I got a little anxious and used some TR3 Resin Glaze on the orange paint. Forgot I was going to clear coat the whole car once I had all the red off. Oh well, I will just TR3 it for now. :D

Right side is done with TR3, the other side isn't.

Here is a before and after TR3.

Tomorrow I will go buy some Easy Off and get some more done. Oh, I also came up with a name for her. She is now Clementine. Named after her paint color. :D

Mon May 13, 2013 9:29 pm

justcruzin wrote: Just a little update.

We found out that the motor in my bug is a full universal motor, so we are going to be fixing the motor that 'was' in my bug (had a bad valve) and then put it in it, then we will put all the type 3 stuff on the universal motor. We tore into the bad valve motor and are just waiting to test out a few heads we have laying around to see if we can just swap heads.

I also took care of a very important part of getting the car together. I bought eye brows for it! LOL :D

Today I bought some oven cleaner from the 99 cent store and discovered that it is crap. So I am going to have to buy the more expensive "Easy Off' brand oven cleaner. Luckily I did buy one can of it today too, so I was able to make some more progress on the paint removal.

Then I got a little anxious and used some TR3 Resin Glaze on the orange paint. Forgot I was going to clear coat the whole car once I had all the red off. Oh well, I will just TR3 it for now. :D

Right side is done with TR3, the other side isn't.

Here is a before and after TR3.

Tomorrow I will go buy some Easy Off and get some more done. Oh, I also came up with a name for her. She is now Clementine. Named after her paint color. :D

Ahhh, Clementine has a theme song now:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYz_GlMeQng

:lol:

Mon May 13, 2013 9:34 pm

[quote="Tram"] justcruzin wrote: Just a little update.

Ahhh, Clementine has a theme song now:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYz_GlMeQng

:lol:

I was thinking more of this song. LOL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUzQy4mmT3Q

Mon May 13, 2013 9:36 pm

[quote="justcruzin"] Tram wrote: justcruzin wrote: Just a little update.

Ahhh, Clementine has a theme song now:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYz_GlMeQng

:lol:

I was thinking more of this song. LOL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUzQy4mmT3Q

That works too, but that guy's no Tiny Tim... :lol:

Thu May 16, 2013 5:03 pm

More red off. :D

Planning on getting the fender done tomorrow then turn the car around to start on the driver side. :D

Thu May 16, 2013 5:54 pm

Great progress :D

Wed May 22, 2013 1:48 pm

Well, I haven't got much done in the last couple days. The wind has really put a dampner on my plans of getting the rest of the red paint off. Never fails, when you want to use any type of aerosol product, it gets windy. :x Last week I did manage to get the rest of the passenger side done.

I did want to share the surprise I got today, with you guy's. I got a special delivery in the mail today, wasn't expecting it at all.

Tram sent me the ECU cover!! :D Made my day. :D No more duct tape. Just need to clean off the left over duct tape residue and find the plugs for the holes. The biggest part is taken care of though.

Thanks again Tram, I sent you a pm.

Wed Jan 15, 2014 11:59 am

so whats the plan for this one? Because to me its itchin to be in the weeds :lol: :wink:

Sat Apr 09, 2016 9:37 pm

Updates?