My 1973 Type 3 Notchback.

G'day, here's my 1973 Type 3 notch. I bought it a little over a month ago. This is my second vw (first was a 2002 Golf :P) I've wanted to buy an old dub for a while now but I was never able to find the space at home for it. I saw this for sale and took the plunge.

I was originally looking for a Beetle but I always liked Type 3's but could never really find a decent one. I fell in love with this one though and couldn't pass it up.

At the moment I'm just fixing it up a bit so it will pass rego which is due in one month. It's got a bit of an oil leak at the moment, and some rust in the doors. I've fixed some stuff so I'll see how it goes for rego 🙂

I'm planning on getting some Empi 914 rims, lower it, spray it matt black, roof racks. Still deciding though 🙂

Enough talk! Pictures!

nice, where do you live? the Hamptons??.

Cheers. Haha. Nah I'm near Gladesville area.

hehe, nice notch, my square is of the same vintage, love to drive it.. love the colour, polish slam and drive!..

dont know about the eyelids tho 😉 ..

It came with the eyelids already on. I like them 😀

cool, what another pair??? ill post em!.

Haha. I'm good for now!

Here's a picture of that oil leak. I'm not 100% sure where it's coming from. But I'll figure it out or it'll get fixed when I get it serviced next week.

Pollywaffle wrote:Cheers. Haha. Nah I'm near Gladesville area.

Ahh......a local

I'm across the bridge and turn right

As for the leak
Degrease it all really well
2 new rocker gaskets

grease them up and al should be fine

Nice notch, what are your plans ??

Bizarre wrote:

Pollywaffle wrote:Cheers. Haha. Nah I'm near Gladesville area.

Ahh......a local

I'm across the bridge and turn right

As for the leak
Degrease it all really well
2 new rocker gaskets

grease them up and al should be fine

Ah nice. Very close then!

Cheers. I put some 'stop engine leak' fluid in there and it worked for about 2 days but then it came back again. But I figured it'd be the gaskets.

Barnabie wrote:Nice notch, what are your plans ??

Cheers. After all the servicing and rego is done, I'd like to spray it matte black, put some Empi 914 rims on there, lower it, roof racks, fix the interior.

Make sure you pull the guards off and get at all the rust to stop it spreading, there will be rust hiding there!
Other areas besides the doors you menioned, he other common areas are the air vents front & rear, cars this age will have rust in there and not easy to see or fix.
Also under the windows.
Late type 3's had the big air inlet at the front, I took the hard decision to cut it upen (made a small opening from the boot area) and removed the fresh air fan. Glad I did, I could stop what rust was there and prevented it doing major damage is left alone. Notches also have the hidden passages for cooling air in the back that wagons and fasty's don;t.
All helps to keep these gret cars going into the future 🙂

Oh, and I think '73's are by far the best type 3, so great choice 🙂

Cheers for the advice Andy. I'll be sure to check those spots. It's always so nerve racking to check for rust!

I love your Notch, but then I should, since it's the same!
I see your Notch is suffering from a familiar case of Mustard-itis, a paint condition that starts in patches and spreads to whole panels! 😉
I've tried to find a colour match using a vw or Dulux code, but I got nowhere, but I did find a shop that matched prefect.
Concept paints, Auto- acrylic Vw-Mustard # 13974.
Happiness is driving a Notch!!
-Cheers,
GR.

Very nice notch. Hope to get one myself one day, but will be a few years since I need to finish the baja first.

Notchbacktastic wrote:I love your Notch, but then I should, since it's the same!
I see your Notch is suffering from a familiar case of Mustard-itis, a paint condition that starts in patches and spreads to whole panels! 😉
I've tried to find a colour match using a vw or Dulux code, but I got nowhere, but I did find a shop that matched prefect.
Concept paints, Auto- acrylic Vw-Mustard # 13974.
Happiness is driving a Notch!!
-Cheers,
GR.

Haha. Cheers. It won't be the mustard colour for much longer. It's currently getting a service and rego done (I'm hoping it passes! Rego expires in 11 days!) and when the rego is finished I'll be painting it 🙂

baghall wrote:Very nice notch. Hope to get one myself one day, but will be a few years since I need to finish the baja first.

Thank you 🙂

Gonna look SWEEET matte black 🙂 You gonna slam the front end too, like your banner ?

Yeah I'm thinking it'll look great black. There's a nice baby blue undercoat too, so I was thinking of possibly even sanding it back to give it a patchy effect. I'm leaning more towards to the black though. I'm thinking of slamming the whole thing actually. The back right suspension has died and needs replacing anyway.

It's at the mechanics getting a service and a rego check. Fingers crossed rego passes!

Rego passed!! I'm very happy. Now I can have some fun.

I'm contacting Cip1.com about some Porsche 914 rims. They seem to be about $250 cheap there than any store in Australia. I'd prefer to buy local but with a saving like that, it's a tad hard. I'll also be combining shipping (which is expensive) and buying a stinger exhaust and silencer. I'll probably pick up a few other little things that I can think of too.

The front seats are terribly saggy and the covers are splitting. I was thinking of getting some TMI covers (also from Cip1.com) but I'm going to speak to an upholsterer first because I was thinking of a black and white chequered pattern on the seats. If it's too hard or pricey I'll just get the TMI covers instead. I need new springs and foam though. I've also contacted Bus n Bug to see what they can do for me and I'm just waiting to hear back from them.

I also want to spray it matte black. I've never done any spraying before besides a bit of primer :P So I'm doing some research on that. I think a relative has an air compressor so that'll come in handy. I just need to know the preparation process. But it's supposed to look a little ratty. I'm not going for a perfect finish.

I'll be lowering it with new suspension too and adding all the little accessories like a roof rack, venetians and anything else I can find 🙂

Apologies for this waffle. I'm at work on a Saturday morning and I'm pretty bored. 👎

Its not boring waffle mate, it keeps you sane .... especially while sitting at work 😀

Glad you got through the rego process, you planning on doing all the work yourself?

Barnabie wrote:Its not boring waffle mate, it keeps you sane .... especially while sitting at work 😀

Glad you got through the rego process, you planning on doing all the work yourself?

Haha. It sure is keeping me sane! Yeah I'll probably be doing all the work myself (trying to do it anyway). I'll get a mate to hook me up with the suspension and the fitting. But the rest will pretty much be done with my free time on weekends 🙂

Rims purchased! Just trying to get the correct rubber for them. Having a hard time getting 165's. I'll get them in time though.

Nice those are what I'm thinking about for mine.
Where did you get them?

Pollywaffle wrote:Rims purchased! Just trying to get the correct rubber for them. Having a hard time getting 165's. I'll get them in time though.

Don't you have 165s on the stock rims now? Also i think the color of your car is Wattle and I like it. Those 70s colours are cool.

zocstar wrote:Nice those are what I'm thinking about for mine.
Where did you get them?

I got them at Classic Vee Dub in Sydney. They were cheaper than I thought they'd be too.
I personally think some white walls would look nice on your square, zocstar. Maybe paint the original rim red too.

Burrelli wrote:Don't you have 165s on the stock rims now? Also i think the color of your car is Wattle and I like it. Those 70s colours are cool.

Yeah they were 165's. I was a tad confused with the sizes but I got it all figured out in the end.

Rims and rubber are on!
I went to Bob Jane's in Drummoyne and the manager gave me a hand finding the correct tyre. They're 185's and they don't rub. Whereas the originals were skinnier and did rub 🤪

Anyway, I love them and it sits a little lower which I'm pleased with too.







Please ignore the annoying primer areas 😂 They'll be gone soon when the sanding is done.

The wheels look sweet man... are you going to narrow the track a little? 2"couldn't hurt 🙂 Tuck those shoes under I say!

Cheers Ben. Nah I don't think I'll be narrowing the beam. I'll be lowering it though. I'm on the lookout for an oval window beetle. I'm just trying to find more space at home for it. That will have a narrowed beam though 😉

The 'to do' list:
- Continue to sand it and give it a patchy look and then seal it
- New exhaust system
- Mesh sun visor (Purchased. Just waiting for delivery)
- Venetian
- Roof rack
- New covers and padding for the front seats
- Lower it

That it...so far :P

Hows the car going man ? Are you still working on rubbing the paint back ??

The car seems to be going well, Ben 🙂 I got my mesh sun visor on there last week.

I started sanding the paint back with a mouse sander at first but that did nothing (understandable. It was a small sander). Then I moved to a orbital sander and it did nothing. So then I did some research and tried some graffiti removal and acetone to get the top layer off because it was giving me such a hard time. That seems to work but it's still taking forever. There appears to be quite a thick layer of top coat paint on there and I almost feel a bit bad taking it off! But I'm not a fan of the finish I'm getting at the moment with the sanding. It's not quite turning out how I expected. When I was first sanding it, there was a nice baby blue paint underneath and I liked it but all I'm getting now is the grey primer. I'm going to go back to my original idea of painting it matte black 🙂 I'm just researching the prep work and I'll be painting soon I hope!

Keep chippin away mate, you'll get there.

Matte black still sounds like a good option especially with those rims. I imagine giving it an all over rub with the orbital would be enough for the matte black to take quite nicely. keep us posted ... photos!! 🙂

What about putting paint stripper in spots to eat it away?? And then rub back around those spots?

benjicon wrote:Keep chippin away mate, you'll get there.

Matte black still sounds like a good option especially with those rims. I imagine giving it an all over rub with the orbital would be enough for the matte black to take quite nicely. keep us posted ... photos!! 🙂

Thanks Ben. Yeah I've never painted a car before so I have nooo idea what to do 😂 After the prep work is done, I can use the air compressor to spray it. But some say for a great ratty look to just use a load of rattle cans to spray it. I'm not sure! I'll try and get a picture when I get home from work too to show the sanding so far.

zocstar wrote:What about putting paint stripper in spots to eat it away?? And then rub back around those spots?

I tried that also. It went straight through to bare metal which I didn't want to happen too much. Plus I was hoping more of the blue paint would come through too. But that just seems to be at the bottom of the doors for some reason. That is where I first sanded the car (while repairing something) and I got the idea to do the patchy sanding all over. But all I'm getting is primer on the other panels 🙁

Updates yo! Whats happening?

Haha. I've been so slow. Venetians came last week and are on. Still slowly sanding it. Whenever I start, the weather changes and I get soaked. I'm lightly sanding it all to get it a bit rough and then that will give something for the new paint to bond to. I'm not looking forward to masking the glass etc. for when I paint :P

I'll be ordering the new headers and muffler tonight. I might get some new shockies to go with it too as the ones now are pretty saggy. I'll be taking it all to VW King and I'll get him to change the head gasket, install the new exhaust system, replace the shocks and drop it two splines.

I was hoping to take it for a drive to Newtown tonight too for a bit of a cruise and some cheap thai food but those black clouds look a bit threatening and my wiper blades are non existent!

Nice ... keep at it man.. You'll get there. 🙂

Looking good dude.. well done keep it going.. looks like it we be a great notch when you're finished.. and there can never be enough type 3's on the road!!!!

Cheers! I just want it done!

Pollywaffle wrote:I just want it done!

You're making steady progress mate, as benj said, you'll get there. Its great that you've still got the passion ... a lot of people end up giving it away at the first sign of difficulty, which you clearly have not.

Wheels look great too, can't wait to see it lowered 😉

Kris

looking good..

Thanks for the kind words guys. Means a lot!

I've ordered the headers, muffler and J pipes from cip1. I maybe got a cheeky stinger exhaust tip and baffler too 😉 I'm hoping to get some more sanding done this weekend as I really want the car painted. I'll see how much time my girlfriend takes up 😂

I haven't posted pics for a little bit (sorry for always bumping). But I took a couple today and figured I'd chuck 'em up. Please ignore the poor sanding process too 🤪

I've recently added the venetians, mesh sun visor and raccoons tail :P I should be ordering the roof rack this week too (if my bank account allows it). I can't put it on yet until the sanding and paintwork is finished anyway.




My poor girlfriend gets dragged along a lot with this car. She's a good sport 😂





My new exhaust system should come tomorrow. I'll hopefully be taking it to VW King this Saturday (I haven't even called him yet. Too lazy) and I'll see if he can drop it two splines. I'll have a chat to him though and see what he can do for me.

Man you are making my project look VERY slow, but well done and keep up the good work. Looking forward to seeing it dressed in black.

Cheers 🙂 I actually think I'm really far behind schedule. It's at VW King as we speak fitting new headers, exhaust and he'll be dropping it too. I supplied the parts so he'll be calling me today to confirm that they all fit. Not sure when he'll be finished though. Hopefully soon!

I've changed my mind multiple times about the paint =/ I've already started sanding so I guess I have to keep going and do it matte black.

Good to see some progress on this! Love the raccoon tail, where did you get it?

Loving the car - any more pictures of the girlfriend?

I got a call from Dr Moshe today. Leaking crank case, leaking oil pump, leaking head gasket and something wrong with the tappets. Hmm. Hopefully he'll look after me 😉

Doctor wrote:Good to see some progress on this! Love the raccoon tail, where did you get it?

eBay! $7.90 from the US and that included shipping. It's actually a real taxidermy one. I was trying to find a fake one for import reasons but there's none. It actually feels really nice.

tacker75 wrote:Loving the car - any more pictures of the girlfriend?

Haha. Ummm. Maaaybe :P I'll have loads of pictures of the car (and maybe her) when it's all done.

I got her back last night from Moshe at VW King. Spent about $1,200 fixing a load of things and fitting a new exhaust and headers (which I supplied). He dropped it a little bit for me too but he couldnt do too much without narrowing the beams. The exhaust seems to be a bit wonky and poorly made. I think Moshe enjoyed getting stuck into me about this as he's a bit of a purist. Haha. A good bloke though. I'll probably contact Cip1 about this as the muffler appears to have a poor weld on it which has given it that angle.

It drives much nicer now and also has a good sound. With the new shocks, I can actually go over speed bumps now without breaking my back.

It's strange though, it doesn't look that much lower in the pictures here. But seeing it in the flesh and when you're sitting in it, feels quite low.

Here's a couple of pics. (me and my pics hey. Always posting them for the slightest things :P)





Roof racks and paint next on the list!

Looking at it now I think it's just about at the lowest practical height you can get it without worrying about steep driveways and speed-humps etc.
The front is a tad high though and that muffler looks goofy don't you think? 😀
Definitely looking cool though, keeps getting better each month.

Yeah the front is a tad high and the muffler does look goofy =/ I'll contact Cip1 about this and see what they say.