1972 Squareback from Russia

[splodge]

Hello everyone!
First of all, want to say that English isn't my native language and I didn't practice for a long time. Sorry for mistakes!
I am from Saint-Petersburg, Russia.

6 years ago I decided to restore my first car, and it was Golf mk1, 1979 https://www.drive2.ru/r/volkswagen/golf/997630/ (it is a link for Russian "car facebook").
I often thought about an aircooled cars, but did not want to buy a Beetle. Unfortunately in Russia it is quite difficult to find something else with air cooling.
One day I noticed an ad with Squareback, 1973. It was being sold by an VW enthusiast and my fella. Price was 300 000 rubles (4000 $)
Of course, the condition was not the best, but all body parts were in place and it could start, which is already not bad.
So I decided to buy it.
Type 3 is quite rare in Russia, I think there is 10-15 Type3 in Russia.

All works are making by:
https://www.instagram.com/danhainov/
and
https://www.instagram.com/gaps_n_edges/
I am just owner and try to help them

[splodge]

Of сourse, we started by disassembling the car and identifying all problem areas.
Since the car at the beginning of its life in Russia was very improperly stored in a wet region, there are a lot of rotten parts along the bottom.

And here we would have a big problem. But it would be later

[splodge]

While we were identifying all the problems with the car, I decided to find out its history and ordered Data sheet and Zertifikat from Volkswagen AutoMuseum.

From these docs I learned:
1. The car was released in 1972, not 1973 (but it was sold in 1973, so this year appears everywhere).
2. Body - 365 121 delivery van! But for me it still remains a mystery, because we did not find traces of cutting out metal and inserting windows.
There are also options in the data, the descriptions of which I have not found anywhere. these are A41, M072, M266. Maybe someone knows what it is?

3. Country of first sale - Norway.
Later I learned the full history of the car, thanks to the previous owners and one guy from Norway with whom I got into a conversation on Ebey.
Squareback was used in Norway until 1994 and had 4 owners. Initially, it was Marine Blue, but then for some reason it was repainted in gray.
In 1994, a sailor from Arkhangelsk, Russia bought it and transported Type3 home by ship (Several years after the collapse of the USSR, this was one of the few ways to get a foreign car).
He drove the car for several years until his starter broke. Then why, instead of repairing the starter, he put the car in the backyard on the ground for 7 years.
After that, the car was owned by 3 fans of the brand, but did not begin its recovery path.

[splodge]

In order to disconnect the car body from the chassis, it was first necessary to repair important body elements so that the body would't collapse on the car body tilter.
There were a huge tones of patches.

the right side is straight

but left not so good

looks like car horror film

and right side:

to check how everything is going, we had to assemble the front end

[splodge]

While the work on the body was going on, I began to buy spare parts.
In Russia, there are no shops for classic VW, so I ordered 70% of spare parts in ISPwest, and the rest in Paruzzi, CIP1 and Type3headquarter


All rubbers for all fenredrs, windiws and etc

These are straight body moldings. At least FedEx France thinks they are straight

All spare parts for engine. It turned out that the engine starts and good working.
But I want to make it like new, so we need to change some parts

Yes, I know that this type of steering wheel is for an early model, but it sooooo beautiful Maybe later I will put the correct steering wheel

I also bought a stereo from RetroSound. Looks good, I hope it works great too

[jaransonT3]

Really nice work....and a ton of it. Keep it up.

....and your English is just fine. Better than some native speakers. <G>
_________________
Later,
John Jaranson
'66 Square
'69 Square
'70-1 Fasty
https://www.carartbyjohn.com
https://www.carartbyjohn.com/2024Invasion/

[VWporscheGT3]

wow , the fabrication skills. cant wait to see more !!!

[veedweeb]

Great work!
_________________
1963 Turbo WBX Bug
2000 Sedan Clasico Mexican Bug
1972 Type 3 Squareback

[DQDan]

Very Impressive! Great Job!!!

[gt1953]

You have a ton of patince, skills and a place to do all of this.
So glad you are savings that vehicle.
_________________
Volkswagen: We tune what we drive.
Numbers Matching VW's are getting harder to find. Source out the most Stock vehicle and keep that way. You will be glad you did.

72 type 1
72 Squareback
({59 Euro bug, 62, 63, 67, 68, 69, 73 type ones 68 & 69 type two, 68 Ghia all sold})

[Bobnotch]

WOW!! I thought I was crazy rebuilding a very rusty car or 2, but your fabrication skills are incredible. Very nice job on the rust repair. Are you going to rebuild it back as a panel truck? Or keep it as a wagon? If you decide to go panel, contact Pedro, as he's made the window replacement pieces, and they are exact copies of the factory pieces. You hardly ever see a late t-3 panel van. Earlies yes, but late no.

Your English is fine, better than most here who speak it daily (native tongue).

Did you get the gas heater for it too? Just asking, as some of the extra holes on the left side were put in for it.
Thanks for sharing your build with us. We like pictures of this kind of craziness. Post up more as you make more progress.
_________________
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

[splodge]

jaransonT3, VWporscheGT3, veedweeb, DQDan, gt1953, Thanks guys!

Bobnotch, Thanks!
A strange story with a panel van: we did not find traces of metal cutting and window inserts. As if it wasn't a van.
I thought about the idea of restoring it like panel van, but decided to restore as a usual squareback.

Yes, I have a gas heater, but we haven't tested it yet.
Perhaps we will look for a more modern one and install it in the original case. We will keep the entire original heating system, but as a fake one. In rainy weather, it would be better to use a gas heater.

[splodge]

Next part of restoring.
After the main work on the right side was ready, it was time to mount the tank tube.

The front end on this Squareback was a pie with holes, patches and rust.
Also, the parts below were damaged from accidents.

After the front has been repaired, the fender and door gaps need to be adjusted.
This is not an easy task considering the amount of filler on the doors and fenders.

During installation, left door required a little bit repair

Due to the accident, the door in the opening was moved forward, the hinge was also damaged

Now we can proceed to repair the left front part

And a little bit on a right side

[andybla]

very nice fab skills!

[knewknew]

I'll state the obvious and give you props for such skilled bodywork!

Curious about the front turn signals, I have never seen ones like that before. Do you think the original wraparounds replaced at some point?
_________________
1970 Squareback

[Bobnotch]

[pitargue]

Wow. Thank you so much for sharing.

[andybla]

[Bobnotch]

[splodge]

knewknew, Oh, this is a Russian innovation
These are the turn signals from some kind of Russian car
Most likely, the original ones were damaged in an accident and the owner should have installed at least something

I also decided to assemble a set of wheels.
I chose wheels for a long time and in the end It is: 4x130x5.5 R15 Uber wheels with Michelin Primacy 4 165/65R15.
Also i bought 2.5cm whitewalls.
I think wheels looks nice!