Hi everyone, I'm a long time lurker on this forum, but this is my first post. I picked up this squareback last year and although its not the first in the family, it is my first VW. When I found it I was actually looking for a kombi, but I saw this thing advertised semi locally, it was reasonably priced and I like cars that look a bit different from the norm, so I thought why not and picked it up.



Now it certainly has some issues, but it was registered so I planned to just drive it as is for a while, then sometime down the track give it a custom treatment.

The problem I have now is that it ran out of rego in December, problem being December and January is my busiest time of year with work and I just haven't had time to look at it let alone make the repairs it needs to get back on the road. Now that work has quietened off a bit, I finally have the time to work on it, but I have just under two months until it needs a blue slip.

The biggest issue I have is that the front end is completely worn out, like every moving part. If I jack up the front, I can grab the wheel and move it considerably in all directions. I wouldn't have been too worried about changing ball joints, wheel bearings, tie rods etc as these are things I am used to doing, but my main concern is that there is quite a bit of movement in the suspension arms which I am guessing is the bearings/bushings inside the housing. I am not sure I am equipped to make these repairs at home, so with that in mind I have been looking to find someone who can recondition my front end, or even an exchange item.

I am located in Tamworth NSW, but can ship to anywhere to have the work done, does anyone have a recommendation of someone who can rebuild or exchange my type 3 front end for me? Or failing that, a lead on a good used front end.

Thanks in advance for any help anyone can give me.

Cheers!

Hi,
Try "Klaus" on here for type 3 bits, he has wrecked a few lately.
Also, there is a VW mechanic around South West Rocks....not sure of his name, but Peter comes to mind.
Good luck with it

Nath

Thanks for the tip!

Couple of front ends in newcastle at my place.

Hi mate, I tried to pm you, but I don't have enough posts to pm people apparently... Newcastle is good for me, I need an excuse to go see my grandmother, haha... What condition are the front ends that you have in? My main concern is movement and wear in the torsion arms, as mine are flogged out... I do have new ball joints and tie rods etc waiting to go in so they aren't as important. Thanks mate!

Also on another note, a local mechanic told me that I should be able to adjust the movement in my torsion arms by doing up a nut to adjust them or something? Does that sound right?

Thanks for the tip, I will spend some time on Monday to see if adjusting the stabiliser bolt helps... If it doesn't, then I would definitely be interested in a good front end that I can swap out. Thanks a lot.

if you need a front end give me a shout on 04 14 881 0 84

Thanks for your very kind offer... I am actually picking up a complete front end next weekend, so I'm hoping I can get the problem sorted with a simple swap out... If I run into any more dramas, I will definitely take you up on the offer though, cheers mate!

I finally got Fritzl back on the road (Fritzl is the name given to my squareback, and yes, it is named after the guy who locked his family in the basement! Inappropriate? Probably, but the name has stuck)... Thanks to everyone who offered advice, and thanks to Scott for the front end... It never drove anywhere near as good as it does now with all these new suspension parts, not since I've owned it anyway...

I got 4 new tyres today, I am absolutely loving the 145x70x15s on the front! I'm thinking of going one spline lower on the front to give it some more rake... Should look good I reckon.




Next job on the list is to try to get rid of the fumes in the cabin, I've already replaced the engine lid seal, and I have a new tailgate seal to go in, so I'll see how that goes... I was kind of hoping its not the heater pushing fumes in, since I know nothing about the heater plumbing or how it works, but I dare say that's what it is... I guess I will have to learn about it one way or the other, because it's pretty bad... I can literally drive it for 15 minutes, and I will be coughing and short of breath for the next hour... Carbon monoxide=Not good!

Good news, the new tailgate rubber solved the cabin fume problem, I feel much safer driving around now! Anyhow, I got bored the other day and decided to remove the front bumper and blinkers, and lower the front one more spline. I'm really liking the bumperless look, my plan is to weld up the holes from the blinkers and make a small nerf bar to put the fog lights back on. When I get some more spare time, the rear will also get the bumperless treatment, with the tailgate shaved and custom tail lights, and I will probably shave the door handles as well.

Glad you got it sorted
car you have there.

Man that old front end was scary. Could have been the end of you if those little dog eared safety tabs near the lower grease seal had failed. That was the only thing that stopped those lower arms from migrating out. The top being the stabilizer was clearly loose but worth hanging onto if it came from a square back cause that top torsion rod is thicker on square backs. 13.7mm as opposed to 11mm on fastbacks and notches. If your new beam didn't come from a SB then it might be something you want to swap over at some point for more roll stiffness.

Yeah, that old front end was definitely a bit scary... All good now though, it drives like a completely different car, and has none of the bangs, bumps and squeaks it used to have. That's a good tip about the top torsion rod as well, I'm not sure what new front end came from, but I'll keep that in mind!

Cool but I'd think twice about more rake. It looks great the way it is but as the lower trailing arm is longer than the top the lower you go the more caster you are loosing. Ad that to the reduction in caster simply due to rake angle and what you'll end up is with a car that wanders all over the place and becomes more unstable in crosswinds and high speed.