TheSamba.com :: View topic - Decided to restore

Mon Feb 19, 2024 7:01 pm

Everyone has good intentions to finish a car. I have been restoring my Father's car at least for 10 years and despite my love for the car, life gets in the way and there is so much more to do.

Even as I am in retirement, there's always the home maintenance, driving grandchildren to sport, looking after a sick spouse or a very elderly mother-in-law, trying to get exercise, socialising etc.

So what I would do in your situation is firstly DO NOTHING on the car! Get a whiteboard or a large piece of paper and stick it up in your garage. Write down what is not right about your car. In otherwords a "to-do-list". Take your time and critically assess the car's shortcomings.

Against each item, create 5 columns.

(1) Write down whether it is easy/hard/need to pay someone else
(2)What is $$$ or just your time
(3)"Does it HAVE to be done" or "It won't affect getting this car driveable"
(4) Prioritise what can be done in a couple of hours, and what is a longer term proposition. Such priorities need not be static as sometimes you have time or the psychological capability to do only 2 hours on something and other times you might find you feel like and have a few hours to spend on something bigger.
(5) Against each item write down an approximate completion percentage. At the start it will be zero. I too have a habit of doing a superb job for 95% of the time and forgetting the last bits! My wife pulls me back to reality and reminds me of what is still to do. In the nicest possible way. After 53 years of marriage, I take her seriously even if it annoys me.

Make yourself a promise to spend at least (X) hours a week on the car. Find a time when you can do something worthwhile and not sit around and look aimlessly at Reels on your phone. Make a "date-night".

Now when you go into the garage on date-night you have something to concentrate on. Sometimes you'll just not feel like doing that difficult job, or you might only have an hour to do something. Do SOMETHING from that list EVERY week. Doesn't matter what, but preferably something that will get that car running.

Add to the list but when you have completed something (and there is still space on the whiteboard) mark it complete so you see how far you've come. Hopefully that will give you the incentive you need to keep going.

It sounds long winded but it is a tried and tested process to break down a huge job into manageable bits.

Mon Feb 19, 2024 7:15 pm

richparker wrote: I’m sure you have some shops to choose from over there in So. Cal. He's in the bay area. Not much affordable up there.
Eric&Barb wrote: Do post some images of the engine, preferably before you tear it apart. He said he tore it down to the case, probably a decade ago.
viiking wrote: Now when you go into the garage on date-night you have something to concentrate on. The car sitting in the driveway for a dozen years indicates no garage space available. (It's surprising you haven't had knocks on the door inquiring about that monument in your driveway. You must live off the grid!)

Sell the car or store it away properly until the day comes you can address it. Letting it sit out defines neglect. You'll be surprised how a simple thing like moving it from its dormant spot will have a psychological effect.

Mon Feb 19, 2024 8:30 pm

viiking wrote: Now when you go into the garage on date-night you have something to concentrate on. The car sitting in the driveway for a dozen years indicates no garage space available. (It's surprising you haven't had knocks on the door inquiring about that monument in your driveway. You must live off the grid!)

Sell the car or store it away properly until the day comes you can address it. Letting it sit out defines neglect. You'll be surprised how a simple thing like moving it from its dormant spot will have a psychological effect.[/quote]

OK. If no garage then just find any appropriate wall/space to hang your todo list!

Mon Feb 19, 2024 10:37 pm

Regarding the two hour a week thought, I say set the bar really low - fifteen minutes. Commit to spending fifteen minutes a week. If you spend fifteen, you met your goal, and made progress. If you get into a groove and work all afternoon and night, awesome, that's the kind of thing that gets people motivated to continue! Either way is a win, and progress.

There are so many small things that have to get done to make a car roadworthy and reliable. Every one has to get done, no matter how small.. The seatbelts have to be bolted up in the car. The tires have to have air. The headlights have to work. Everything has to get done, so even if all you do is install a windshield wiper one week, you're further than you were.

I'm sitting on a 4-year project that was supposed to be a quick pans replacement and driver.

Thu Feb 22, 2024 11:21 am

I've done motor swaps crawlin' around on my back on the frozen ground.

Cut years off your project.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2660905

Spend this week's couple hours drivin' towards Sacramento.

Sat Feb 24, 2024 3:50 pm

Eric&Barb wrote:
2. Do post some images of the engine, preferably before you tear it apart. That way you can get advice about the engine from all of us here, if you are missing any tins or seals or etc..

Thanks for all the advice, here's the only picture I took prior to teardown.

Sat Feb 24, 2024 3:56 pm

Blue Baron wrote: The car sitting in the driveway for a dozen years indicates no garage space available. (It's surprising you haven't had knocks on the door inquiring about that monument in your driveway. You must live off the grid!)

Sell the car or store it away properly until the day comes you can address it. Letting it sit out defines neglect. You'll be surprised how a simple thing like moving it from its dormant spot will have a psychological effect.

I get notes on the car all the time but I have always just thrown them out. You're right about the garage space, and my first step is to reclaim the garage so I can get to work on the vehicle. I'm trying to craigslist a bunch of homebrew and exercise crap that are collecting dust, but that's been a chore in itself.

Sun Feb 25, 2024 2:59 am

vwtc489 wrote:
I get notes on the car all the time but I have always just thrown them out. You're right about the garage space, and my first step is to reclaim the garage so I can get to work on the vehicle. I'm trying to craigslist a bunch of homebrew and exercise crap that are collecting dust, but that's been a chore in itself.

If you had the car in the garage, there would never have been room for homebrew and exercise crap. ;-) and the car would be on the road!

My kids joke about my method of going at projects, as it's a deliberative process. Read, study the manual, review on line threads, stare at the whatever it is till you have an understanding. Then shop for and lay in the parts. Then go soak the nuts and bolts with pb blaster or kroil days beforehand.
They think I spend more time prepping for a project than doing the work, and they are not wrong.
I usually do stuff on the weekends now, having learned that disappearing into the barn after dinner and emerging at midnight for weeks on end does not a happy wife make. It did get the bus engine rebuilt however.

I make a goal for the time I have. The key thing is have an achievable goal for the time you have available.

Sun Feb 25, 2024 12:46 pm

Quote: ...it's a deliberative process. Read, study the manual, review on line threads, stare at the whatever it is till you have an understanding. Then shop for and lay in the parts.
^ ^ ^ Straight outta the bible, that there.

Sun Feb 25, 2024 2:29 pm

I take mine to a Mechanic & he normally keeps my squareback running good. :D
I'm waiting in line for my automatic transmission 'slipping when hot' adjustment Now! :evil:
Let the Mechanic get it running & then you can take over the interior etc.

Mon Mar 04, 2024 11:33 am

Thanks again for all the feedback. I decided to sell off the brewery and gym to make room for proper storage while I rebuild the engine. I'm still working on getting the space in order, but the car is finally in the garage. I'm trying to figure out how to post photos, but it's not working for me (I'm not doing anything differently from when I successfully posted the engine). Anyway, I'll post some pics once i figure it out :D

Mon Mar 04, 2024 12:25 pm

vwtc489 wrote: I decided to sell off the brewery and gym to make room for proper storage while I rebuild the engine. I'm still working on getting the space in order, but the car is finally in the garage.

If you have a most positive feeling of accomplishment in getting that all done, then you are on the right path. :D

Mon Mar 04, 2024 12:27 pm

vwtc489 wrote: ...the car is finally in the garage.
No better feeling than that.

Mon Mar 04, 2024 12:34 pm

Eric&Barb wrote:
If you have a most positive feeling of accomplishment in getting that all done, then you are on the right path. :D

I certainly do. It felts great and I can't wait to actually start working on it.

Mon Mar 04, 2024 12:50 pm

Ok, figured out how to post photos.

Before

After

Mon Mar 04, 2024 12:59 pm

I recognize that architecture, I think you're in my neighborhood :)

Heck, I'd replace the crusty bits and roll that thing. That doesn't need a full restoration!

Mon Mar 04, 2024 1:34 pm

Busstom wrote: vwtc489 wrote: ...the car is finally in the garage.
No better feeling than that.

Correction: even BETTER feeling when it's started and comes OUT of the garage!!!

Mon Mar 04, 2024 1:45 pm

Busstom wrote: I recognize that architecture, I think you're in my neighborhood :)

Heck, I'd replace the crusty bits and roll that thing. That doesn't need a full restoration!

Nice, I'm near Santa Teresa High. That's a flattering picture of her good side after washing (Before the oxidation haze had time to reappear). The interior's pretty thrashed too...

But yeah, I don't think I want to pour my time and effort into a full restoration. I simply would like to get it running again. I plan to put function before form and embrace her flaws.

Mon Mar 04, 2024 1:52 pm

1. Arrest any rust. (you are in a dry climate but nip anything serious in the bud)
2. Make it safe. (brakes and tires)
3. Make it sanitary. (scrub and cover)
4. Make it reliable. (learn all the Phase I procedures in the Muir book, if you didn't already)

Anything further is up to desire and budget, but if you get through these four, you will have the fantastic joy of driving it again!

Mon Mar 04, 2024 2:20 pm

KTPhil wrote: Busstom wrote: vwtc489 wrote: ...the car is finally in the garage.
No better feeling than that.

Correction: even BETTER feeling when it's started and comes OUT of the garage!!!
Touché

vwtc489 wrote: Busstom wrote: I recognize that architecture, I think you're in my neighborhood :)

Nice, I'm near Santa Teresa High.
Yep. Homes by Singer, built in '68 '69. I bet I even know the model you're in based on the garage. Mine is very similar, but different model. I recognize them from a mile away. We're in the same 'hood.