Should I purchase a very rough 1968 Beetle

[AH64Doc]

Hi everyone,
My name is David, and I am a new guy here. Recently came across a 1968 Beetle in my area that is for sale for $600. I'm considering going for it, but it is in ROUGH shape.

My question to all of you is: Is it worth it? It would probably be a full ground up restoration.

Thoughts?

Thanks for your time.

[Q-Dog]

Define "worth" to you. Also, does it have a title?
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Brian

'69 Dune Buggy
'69 Beetle Convertible
'70 Beetle

[Glenn]

Do.you have the skill to do it yourself?
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Glenn
74 Beetle Specs | 74 Beetle Restoration | 2180cc Engine
"You may not get what you pay for, but you always pay for what you get"

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[AH64Doc]

Good point on worth.

Guess I should ask, would this be a bottomless pit of $$$ for a restoration?

Yes it does have a title.

[AH64Doc]

Glenn,
Some things I'll be able to do myself, others with assistance, and others still through professionals.

[hobthebob]

I have no experience doing serious restoration work, so take my opinion with a grain of salt:

If I were you I'd find a moderately priced Beetle less than 10k that needs little to no work. For less than 10k you can have a fully driving, reliable, and good looking automobile from the mid-late 60's.

For $600, you're most likely going to spend 15k to make it driveable, but not good looking. Paint jobs alone can be thousands upon thousands for a decent job.

[mukluk]

Unless somebody has done a frame head swap, that isn't a 1968 chassis shown in the second picture -- note the link pin front end.
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1960 Ragtop w/Semaphores "Inga"

[VWFIXER]

offer to tow it away for free, thats it.
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( ) Cheap
( ) Fast
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Choose 2

Over a million air cooled miles driven and 15,000+ cars serviced.

[Joe 20]

Floor looks good. Body doesn't look rusted. You'd probably have to remove the body anyway. Does the engine run? If you have the skill and the room, $600 sounds reasonable if you are looking for a VW project. Good Luck!!
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"Someday the world is gonna be populated by nothing but Volkswagens'" Corporal Klairvoy

[oprn]

That is a long long term project! Do you have the glue to stick to it to the finish? If not it will be a sinkhole for money that you will never get back. If you can see it through then yes it is worth it.
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We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age)

[Abscate]

If you want to do a Beetle project , yes.

If you think your time will convert to money down the road , no.

Most are surprised at how much fixed cost there is in restoration. You can burn $100 of gas welding in an evening , for example.

Take the $600’and mulitiply by 10x. If you can part with that money and still not have a driver and are ok with that, go for it.
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.ssS!

[vwinnovator]

most important is to make sure you have a title matching the chassis vin.

that's a pre '66 chassis, link'ing pin axle beam.

previous body probably want to an IRS chassis

$600 is worth the chassis alone if the title matches it. (a titled chassis has more value as it can be used under a car, for a dune buggy, for a kit car, etc..)

the body ('6 if only worth the amount of rust repairs you DON't have to do...
example- if its going to cost you $1000 to do heater channel, It's worth $1000 LESS than the seller thinks it is...
If you don't have to do any rust repairs, it's worth maybe $1000/1500

[gt1953]

Keep looking around as you will have a boat load of cash into it when completed.
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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})

[ebenasky]

Check the tunnel on the chassis for the VIN and also check the VIN plate under the hood on the body. You can do a look up on The Samba to determine what years you have there.

I bought a $500 car and spent $8k before I sold it. I also put 10K miles on it and learned a LOT about bugs. I can rebuild a carb in my sleep now and even know how to rebuild distributors. Learned to weld and paint as well. I have more tools now too! Had it for almost 10 years,

Don't look at this as a quick way to make money - look at it as a learning experience that is a LOT of fun to drive. If that is not your reason to buy, then skip it.

I have two more projects waiting for me as well as my '78 Chevy truck. Working on my cars is my way to relax.

Oh ya, if you don't have a garage, then it's going to be a LOT harder to do.
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"I don't fix 'em to look at 'em, I fix them to drive."

- '60 Beetle "Ruby"
- '70 Beetle "Peace"

[wheel607]

NO!

[AH64Doc]

Thanks everybody. Great advice all the way around.

Ultimately, I offered the guy $400 and he accepted.

What I am going to do is use this particular car as a way to learn about bugs, and what it takes to repair them and keep them operational.

I see that this one has rust everywhere, so it would probably be cheaper as most of you have posted to buy a runner and fix it up rather than trying to take this beater and turn it into something amazing.

[Abscate]

[Pruneman99]

So was there a title with that pan?

[AirHead1966]

[iowegian]

I see 400 bucks worth of entertainment value there even if you never get the car put back together.