my baby car made it home yesterday. It had been boarding at a friends place for the last 3 years where it suffered the indignity of having a number 53 attached to it and got used as a kids playground. Was originally only meant to be away 37 weeks while I built the new house, but the house took 16 months and then the rest was waiting for me to pull my finger out.

Had a near disaster when we got back. I was using a 1 inch thick nylon rope, that was very old but looked OK and it snapped while dragging the car up my 45 degree slope driveway. Fortunately my daughter wasnt standing behind the car and my quick thinking workmate steered it along the footpath until it came to a stop as the brakes arent there.

I would have cried for a week if it had gone back into the house across the road and not because of the money. I've always said to the wife and kid that this car has been with me for longer than they have so it has priority.

Finally a 4wd snatch strap was sourced and everything turned out OK. Does anyone have a spare $30K for the resto?

good on you chris, must be nice to have it home, hope the enthusiasm it still there

glad to see its in one piece and safely home

good work now get back in there and start on it.

Yay Chris, finally got your baby home. I remember seeing this in the flesh at your old house!

There was another scare, before I left the friends garage. When I was hooking it up ready to pull up her steep driveway I noticed heaps of flakey rust on the ground. ARGH! but then I realised it had come from the old filing cabinets that were stacked around it. Phew.

All the enthusiasm is still there to put it together. I dont know why I love this car so much since I've never driven it before. I cant see myself ever selling it. I just dont have the cash to start and probably wont have it for a couple of years. I could build the front end up properly but then the paint will have faded, the tie rod boots perished, before I get to the back end. I could put the bottom end of the motor together now, but theres no point I dont want bits rusting before I get a chance to connect an ignition wire to the coil. So we wait. 25 years isnt too long for a build is it?

Makes you appreciate it more Chris, i know how attached you are to the old girl!

ahhh don't waste your time or money
Rose said she will take that old car off your hands and she will even give you $500 bucks for your trouble

hey dude, sweet car!!! looks like something mike and i would like to work on, if u need any help we can offer the assistance..... wont cost u 30g... lol but beside the point... really sweet ride... always had a soft for the ol'ovals... really hope to build a totally stock 54 resto one day.......... cheers adam

Wow! A 30k resto? What are your plans?
Sounds like total rebuild!

Photo's can be decieving, but to my eyes it looks very much drivable as it is (obviously with brakes and motor sorted!)
Or is that defeating the object?

If i can be nosey and ask how long have you owned it....and what's the story with having the car so long and not having driven it?

Lovely looking car!

Best of luck

Tell Rose I think it owes me $800 so she'll need to up her offer a little.

I bought it back iin the very early 90's, not sure exactly. Bought it off long time Club VW Illawarra member Michael Carr who used it as a drag car at the VW Nationals. Probably lucky it wasnt totalled after it broke a CV and turned hard right towards the concrete wall. It was on a semi auto pan then, and I had plans of doing a cal looker. But then I aged somewhat. I now have plans of a full 100% or as close as possible resto. It now sits on a 56 pan which is very clean with original unrusted floors. It has the original W decklid as you can see, but the bonnet is 60's. Its a 4 bolt 3 tab, raised emblem jobbie. It probably got replaced after a minor front ender. There is a small amount of slight creasing of the front inner guards. It has a very small amount of rust at the heater channels under the rear seat. Michael told me it has a little bit at the front of the body at the 'harbour bridge' bit that goes over the floorpan tunnel but I havent ever seen it. A replacement panel came with the car along with a full set of rubbers, which I still have. Needs bumpers which is no big deal. I have a front one that needs rechroming.

The reason I have had it so damned long and not driven it. Many of them. At the time I bought it I was restoring my kombi. And then I began the turbo kombi raccer so that was taking a lot of my time and money. I also had a very good early type 3 wagon, 1968 maybe, that I was in love with and wanted to do up. Couldnt decide which one so was doing none. (I was living with my parents and couldnt keep all 3. Ended up selling that and it was written off because the guy drove it (unregistered I think) at night without lights and it got hammered by a 4WD. Decided I wanted aircon and bought a brand new Lancer. Then I took the running gear out of the kombi and put it into a late fasty. That took more money/time. I then bought a house and got married. 12 months later, wife went on maternity leave. Years later when she finally went back to work full time, I quit work to go to uni. Took me 18 months to find real work after uni. Then I built this house. Clarendon shafted me and near bankrupted me. Its jsut never been at the top of the time vs money vs priority list.

Over the years I have collected a few engines and a couple of gearboxes, a NOS set of rod bearings, pushrod tubes, and of course the pan when they pop up for next to nothing. I dont think ovals and parts are rare enough to command the prices they do, I think its just because of people like me who hang on to the stuff for years. You cant have your cake and eat it too they say so its what I have to live with.

I've also had the fantasy of doing a "hot lap" of australia in it before I do the full paint/interior resto. Just do the mechanicals in a kind of rat without patina looker. I'd paint a map of Australia with the route onto the 60's bonnet and update it as I go. Then hang it on the wall as a souvenir when I got back.

Baah its all just fantasy for a while yet.

hmmm 1" old rope.. many expletives pop to mind
but glad you've finally got it home
now get on with it so we can see it at valla fella

how long ago was it we swaped that 36hp engine for the beast

let me know when u want the gearbox done

ok than Chris $800.99

what day can I come down to pick it up?
We have a 50's split gear box for it & I even think that I might have a spare correct bonnet.
I would have a matching pair than one to drive on Saturdays & one to drive on Sundays.

Nice oval What are the plans for her? Must be something pretty amazing for $30k, looks very solid from the photo.

I dont think it would be too hard to approach that kind of money for an every single nut and bolt concours restoration. I know a couple of people who would have spent over $20K. Check out this one, It would easily top $30K. Skip to page 82 of this build, pics of the floorpan. its bloody beautiful. http://restowagenuk.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=10783 

A teaser:


My body (the cars body) appears to be in much better shape so I shouldn't have to spend so much in that department. Who knows what lies under the paint though. Little things like trying to find 14mm headed bolts are the bits that will all add up and blow the budget. Probably get must of the hardware plated too. I'd prefer to find original stuff and spend a fortune on restoring it rather than buy repro stuff that isnt quite right.

A 25 year project had better win a few trophies!

Nah M8, its a classic "Rat" in the making!
Just add some flat black bumpers and a shitter engine your away immediately complete with those dinky cheesecutters tyres!

Rats FTW!
L8r
E

30K is easily spent on a good quality resto.

damm my brother has spent more than that on an engine alone!!