My 67 project, Is it worth it???, Please need advice

I purchased this 67 for $500.00. The engine runs excelent, it was serviced some months ago. I took the front beam out to get it narrowed and purchased new ball joints, tie rods and soon some spindles. I put a new master cylinder and reservoir.
I took out the carpet and insulation to see the extent of the damage. IT IS MORE THAN I EXPECTED!!!!
I don't know if it is worth dumping money in to it and to try and get rid of all the rust, or go with plan B...just patch up the floors and continue driving it until it falls apart. I really like the car and I would like to restore it, but I don't have thousands of dollars or the equipment.
The car would need
new rear fenders
floor pans
heater channels
inner fender wells
rocker panels
front apron
running boards
area behind rear seat
and numerous patches here and there






the dash like most of the car is still original

this is the area that hurt my feelings


this area is not that bad but you can see some lithg coming thru the holes


front inner wheel wells


I am going to replace all the front suspension pieces because they are 40 years old and the front was shacking real bad

The car looks fine from certain angles, but not from the one I looks at when driving, LoL

buy a welder, a grinder, sander, and a sawzall and build one of these

patch up all the holes and have lots more attention than you would refurbishing it.

That's some nasty stuff man. Most of those sections are reproduced.... but you're gonna need a lot of replacement panels. The cost of the panels alone adds up, and if you don't have a welder, decent workspace, and the time, it's going to cost a lot more to pay someone else to do the work.

As far as "patching" the pans and rolling it, you could try, but patching requires atleast having some useable metal to attach to, and I don't see much on the floor of that car that I would trust.

In all honesty, I'd probably just take the engine and transmission (67 is a good tranny year) and walk away from it and try to sell it as a parts car. Much worse has been brought back to life, but I'm sure it was very costly.

It looks like the bottom 2 1/2 - 3 inches on that car are gone. I don't think the car is worth restoring. At most you could patch it and roll it for a while but the extent of the cancer from the pics makes me leary about safely doing even that and I've seen some pretty rotten cars rolling down the road. I would love to say to save them all but, the truth is, some must die so that others may live. The good thing is that it's a '67 and many parts are one year only so you can probably get some of your $500 back selling the parts and get a good engine/trany out of the deal.

So IMO, pull the engine trany and evey other peice that isn't welded to the car off and scrap the body. Then find yourself something like this...

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=699509

and plug your stuff into it. You'll save both money and time.

vinayak, That is cool project.
Thank you guys for all the input. I was afraid that the reality was going to be the burial of my project. I could buy the tools and take my time doing it. But I figured it is going to be around $1,200 on parts + tools. +++ all the extra stuff.

I am going to finish fixing the front end and put some sheet metal on the floors, so I don't fall thru and drive it for a while. The engine runs perfect, and I like driving it. At least I have to have some fun with it. I've seen bad rusty cars brought to life but it is going to cost me more than buying another car. The doors, deck lid, engine tranny, dash, some of the glass and other little things are still good and I can get some money out of it.

you should never add the price of a tool to the cost of building a car. tools are a gift that keeps on giving.

You are correct, but it is still money I don't have to spare and it is not like I use a selder all the time.
Anyway, I started looking at other options and I think a rolling bus like this one would be perfect.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=688075
Would my engine and tranny combo fit in this? I know you can put any engine in any car, but I mean like a bolt on?

yea a type 1 motor will go in. not sure on the details though

oh once you get a welder you will be surprised how use full they really can be. i have used mine to fix the heat pump outside.

Yea your engine should fit any '71 or older bus. I think it was '72 they switched over to the TypeIV. (someone correct me if I'm wrong)

I wouldn't buy the bus in the bus in that ad simply because they grafted the wrong nose on it. Anyone wanting to go through that much work to put the WRONG part on a car is very scary and I think you would be in the same boat with that bus as you are with the bug. I can imagine 2 inches of bondo and some pop rivets are all that's holding that bus together.

...and x2 on the welder. I've fixed patio chairs, a metal bench, a lawn mower and a friends drivers seat on his pickup with mine.

thanks for the info. I'll just put the resto money to the side and save for another project. I might keep the car and use it to practice body work and take a couple of years of resto work. I have to buy a welder soon, but I could use that money to get the car running. Maybe I'll ask Santa to bring me one, jajaja

atleast you have something to start with, if you put your mind (& money) to it you could fix it but i do believe you could finnd a better starting point, just my 2 cents...

I suggest just trying to find a cheap solid body

Attorney Isaiah Loophole wrote:I suggest just trying to find a cheap solid body

I have to go with Bryce on this one. $500 for a good running engine and a donor car is not bad at all. Try to find a good body, decent pan with a blown or no engine. You'll find that "bandwagon" VW owners will give up on a car after the engine dies. Keep an eye out on The Samba and Craig's List.

Thanks guys, this is why I like this site so much. Everyone likes to help and give out there opinion. If I could just get my wife to read some of the comments here, she might buy the idea. LoL

I am not going to buy nothing out ot desperation, but I will keep looking for a good deal. If someone finds a good option for me, please let me know.