Thing in the woods

[Paul Wright]

My Cousin found me a VW thing in the woods behind a house a friend bought.
There is so much crap around the car I can not see a whole lot. I know the pans are gone!!! Looks like the rockers are shot. It is buried in mud about 6 inches deep. The motor is also gone. The top frame is there but very rusted.
I am asking him to let me have it for free.
What am I getting myself into????
I have restored a bunch of Ghias and bugs, but never a Thing.
It looks like the replacement panels are very expensive!!!
Are there heater channels like a bug or ghia?? Or are the rockers easier to replace.
I think I heard that the floor pans are the same as a Ghia. True??
Thanks
Paul in indiana

[nthang]

The ghia pans are a match. New rockers are available. How is the apron, hood, windshield frame, frame? The top frame can be restored unless damaged. New top are fairly cheap. Bus trannys are frequently used. Type 1 engine, no problem, only the fan housing is Thing specific. The front beam, arms, spindles, brake shoes are Thing specific and costly, so look at that. You can pretty much buy any part for the car, interior and exterior either new or used. The restoration nets unique on/off road head turner that is fun to drive.

73' had louvers on the rear qtr panels to the engine and a gasoline heater under the hood. 74' had "muff" covers in lieu of the louvers and a fresh air heat system with exhaust manifold "heater boxes" and "add on" heater channels along the tunnel in the interior. Other than that, both year models are the same Thing. The cars sell for every price under the sun, depending on condition. A running, unrestored Thing sells for the low thousands and is in high demand. Retore it or get it to someone who will. We need more Things on the highways.
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NTHANG, LLC

[germansupplyscott]

of course it is all up to your ability and motivation, but that does sound a bit scary. i restored a thing that was pretty bad, but i ended up getting an entire new body tub and clean pan. my doors etc were pretty good, but the original body was gone bad and i came across a very good body for sale, so i scrapped my rusty one.

what my orignal car had was all the thing only parts, the running gear, interior, trim etc, everything original and complete and if you want a thing that is original or close to, then these bits and peices can get very expensive, so your rusty hulk still looks good if it has everything still on it.

you will still need tons of parts to make a car if you get the rustbucket, for instance see if the fenders are useable - they are expensive to replace. richard is incorrect about the engine - code AM stamped on the case - this is thing only and worth extra if you were to want one. the difference is the case has mouting bosses for the engine protection plates. again, look for the details like are the engine protection devices present on the engine. richard metioned the windshield frame, the lower frame is almost always gone on a rusty car, and they are very expensive to replace.

there are no heater channels on a thing. thing outer rockers are available but very expensive. rocker patch pannels can be made by cutting up thing doors, the stamping pattern wil match up, but you need two or three doors to make one long panel if that is what you want. the inner rockers are ususally gone near the front footwell, there are no panels available for here unless you get really lucky. you have to fabricate. floor pans are no problem, thingsunlimited.net have them for a good price, and yes, they are ghia. look for the original seats, they are thing only, similar to 65 or so beetle.

the cool part about bodywork on a thing is that since the car is finished so crudely, the body repairs can be somewhat crude also and the car will still look good. my original plan was to do crude structural repairs to my rustbucket body, then clad the repaired areas with aluminum tread plate. that can look cool, and get the job done.
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SL

[nthang]

ANY new or rebuilt Type 1 engine is what you need. Finding a Thing doghouse fan housing may be a trick or costly, but they are out there.
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NTHANG, LLC

[Paul Wright]

Thanks for the advice, I hope to find more info in the next several days.
My Cousin will talk to the owner of the house, hopefully the motor is in the garage.
I will keep everyone updated.
Paul