Late model Fastback

[stretch]

I bought a quick project (ha ha, are they ever quick ?!) to cruise around in until the beetle is back on the road.  I've known the car for years, a mate of mine owned it & had it painted 6 years ago.  At that time various bits & pieces were done to the car to make it a presentable 70's fasty.

The car was bone stock as this is what my mate wanted.

I contacted him a while ago to see if he still had it & what he was doing with it.  Turns out it hadn't turned a wheel (in fact it hadn't moved 1mm) since it was driven from the paint shop to the garage it was stored in.  I went & viewed the care & struck a deal to buy it.  This was probably late June / early July.

This is how it looked when we eventually got it out of storage.





Getting it out of the garage it was stored in ended up being a nightmare.  The place had overgrown over the years & the car was stuck fast.

I thought when I bought it, it would be a case of a quick re-commission (service, adjust the brakes, etc).  If only !!!

Once it had been free'd from it's resting place I got it home & washed the years of dirt & grime off it.  Turns out it scrubbed up pretty well:





If only the rest of the mods I had in mind went as easily........

[stretch]

I have owned a few different types of aircooled VW's over the years, but, never a Type 3.  How different could it be right?   

All I basically wanted to do to the car was lower it, fit some different wheels & get it road-worthy again.  Shouldn't be too difficult.  Hmmmm.

Firstly, it would be easier getting parts for a Heb than a late model Type 3 !!  Not quite, but, you get the idea.  Plus, every single nut & bolt I tried to undo was seized solid.  The number of sheared fasteners I went through was ridiculous.

Anyway, after about 10 weeks work (I was thinking it would be a week, 2 at the very most if I was being lazy), I'm nearly there.  Just the horn (which is doing my head in) to sort then off to the MOT station.  Fingers crossed, my car to use for the summer will go for MOT this weekend i.e. first weekend in Autumn.  Typical old VW, you'd think I would have known by now.

This is how it turned out, I'm quite pleased with the way it looks now.





Oh, by the way, if anyone has a pair of seats & door cards for a late model fasty i'd be interested.     The interior can be sorted once it road legal again though.   

[Neil Davies]

Nice car Stretch! Early water-cooled seats will fit with a tiny bit of modification - we put some in my dad's '73 squareback and they were far more comfy. Mk2 Golf ones would be good!

[stretch]

Thanks Neil, I'll look into that.   

[modnrod]

I really like those wheels on these late models.

They give the cars that "Matchbox" or "Hot Wheels" look perfectly, especially with bright paint, brings back memories of my collection as a kid.

 
 

[richie]

Looks good Stretch   You got to love a "quick fix" to get back on the road my 1st vw was a 71 fasty so got a soft spot for them, and I put mk1 gti seats in it same as neil mentioned, had to mod the 2 back tube mounts, pretty certain they had to move in a little to fit but it was along time ago now!!!

cheers Richie

[stretch]

They are matchbox wheels to me as well.   

Yeah, "quick fix", no such thing on an old VW.  You'd think we'd learn eh?   

Thanks for the positive comments.