All,
I\'ve just posted in another thread and reminded myself of something I was wondering a while back. I\'ve got an old (1970 - worst year for rust apparently) Volkswagen Beetle sitting on my parent\'s driveway and rusting away. I\'d like to restore it but I haven\'t the first clue how to go about it. In the meantime I\'d like to make sure it has the best possible chance of survival - does anyone have any tips to belatedly prolong its life?
It\'s been sat in one place for several years now, on its wheels. The tyres are completely flat, the exhaust has pretty much disintegrated, and the body work is coated in green scum. Am I too late to save it do you think? How much would it cost me to get it restored to driveable condition at a guess, assuming all that was really wrong with it was some body rust that could be filled out and some exhaust etc rusting? I know that\'s an impossible question without examining the car, but has anyone seen a similar case and know what that cost?
First step (obviously) clean it up and treat the visible rust - Would it live longer on axle stands? Or will any suspension damage already have been done?
It was really annoying having to stop driving it. A woman in a rover pulled out in front of me and I slid into the side of her car. My car was pretty much undamaged but hers was big time dented and she was making out it was as much my fault as hers. Cue forms to the insurers to try to sort it out, and the temporary loss of my NCD pending investigation. Of course I was third party insurance tho so my insurers didn\'t have anything to gain by chasing it if the other woman wasn\'t bothered and hence they didn\'t give a toss about whether I could afford to run it at the higher rate (which I couldn\'t). The woman never bothered filling in a form and sending it back (must have decided to get the work done herself) so I had to wait a full year while my insurers tried to get her insurers to send them a form. By the time they said \'OK you can have your no claims back\' the car had been sitting for a year and wasn\'t (at the time) possible to bring back to drivability.
It was just lucky that I had the accident in April and then my insurance renewed in May - otherwise I wouldn\'t have been able to cancel the insurance until the claim was resolved. They tried to stop me anyway. There\'s an insurer I wouldn\'t go to again.
-- Kev
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Kev
This is a bit of a \"How long is my piece of string you can\'t see\" question! But..
The best thing you can do to stop it deteriorating is to get it under cover - garage preferably, but car port or cover otherwise (in order of preference). This will help to keep it dry and prevent further rot.
I am not au-fait with the Beetle\'s construction, but I understand it uses a flat chassis, with the body on the top. It is likely that your 30 year old car is going to need the body off and some weld repairs made to the chassis and bodywork. All new tyres, rebuild of the brakes and probably some electrical work. Interior work? Repainting etc etc. A professional will almost certainly want more than the car is worth - 5 grand maybe?
Are you in a position (disregarding the time element!) to do some of the work? If you can strip some parts and just get someone in to do, say, the welding you might make the cost look more reasonable.
I am currently in the process of \'reviving\' a 1984 Citroen Visa Convertible - a rare car, but certainly not \'classic\', it appeals to me however for sentimental reasons (oh, and I\'m a Citroen nut!). I thought it would just be a few patches welding on required, however, it currently has half the interior removed, no wings, bonnet or front parts (grill, bumper, lights etc) and I have removed the fuel tank. It needs new front inner wings both sides, parts welding into the inside, new drivers floor (all of which will have to be fabricated also), and new O/S sill welding on, plus some holes in the boot floor welding up. It\'s starting to look more like a restoration by the day!
On a good day when it\'s finished it might be worth £500, whereas the welding alone would probably cost 3 times that if I was not doing it myself. I am lucky that I was able to keep it inside since I took it off the road 2.5 years ago, as I believe another winter outside would have rendered it beyond repair.
If you really wish to see the beetle revived, it might be best to sell it to an enthusiast, then buy yourself an easier project when you have time/funds available!
Not sure I have helped you, just reminded myself how much work there is still to do on the Visa....
RichardW
Is it illogical? It must be Citroen....
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OK next question - are there any beetle enthusiasts out there fancy a project car? 1970 J Reg, white (currently with black wings) 1.3 petrol engine.
Mods - could you please change the subject of this whole topic to include the word \'Beetle\' somewhere? Cheers
(done. DD)
-- Kev
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Cheers.
Might finally get round to cleaning the paintwork and putting it on eBay unless someone on here shows an interest.
-- Kev
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![2016 Volkswagen Beetle 1.2 TSI 3dr [Start Stop]](http://images.honestjohn.co.uk/imagecache/url/crop/90x60/https/cdn.uk.prod.group-mobility-trader.com/images/cas/3ec388beec3a2aec544715c9038fd700/dcbdce82e0957f267f981dbae2a9307d.jpg)
