I don't think I ever saw rust like that in the rear of the cars inside. something was leaking for a long time. the floor pans are what goes most often here in Missouri. the battery in my bug is mounted to the rear seat frame with tie downs. dropping the battery out the bottom of a bug doing 60 mph is not fun...
Wow ! She is a goner rust wise ! Probably best to get the pedals working and sell it as a running and driving project or parts car and try to get some of the money back you spent on it.
That’s a pretty common condition for an east coast and central southern car that has just sat outside too long. Between parts cars and the aftermarket replacement panels that are available, that Bug is still repairable; however, if nicer and more solid Beetles still exist “on the cheap” in your area then this would probably make a better parts car to give up it’s running gear for another with a solid body but missing most everything else. Where I am, around $600 would be a reasonable price for that car with a sound engine that doesn’t have excessive crankshaft end play and a good, useable 4 speed transaxle that doesn’t leak much and isn’t popping out of gear.
Given that the front end of the car seems fine and the engine seems good, as long as the center tunnel and the transmission fork are solid that car can be brought back to life. The floor pans, deck pan, and heater channels are all available aftermarket and for a mechanic of your skill could all be replaced in a solid weekend of work
Never seen the wheel well rust from the inside! Since you got so much for the ceased engine, you could run an ad that says, "Smooth running vintage VW engine $800, must take car.".
This isn’t bad! Looks like it was dipped in the ocean! Makes for easier clutch cable changes! Partials tray delete ! Mouse Condo Delete! I was going to ask - what is all the bondo on the speaker grill? I see it’s just tape? Interesting!
Man, bugs rust out eventually no matter where you live. Remember this is a 50 plus-year-old car! I'm thinking you should just sell the whole thing as is with good running motor as a project / parts. You've got a bunch of other more worthy projects than that thing. There's much nicer bugs out there too start from.
Look on the bright side with the rust hole! You have easy access to the starter and the clutch cable adjustment, but on a serious note: you can buy a replacement luggage shelf, and all new metal for the other rusty areas.
👍👌👏 2) 1 say: Sell the roof, all the glass, the engine, gearbox, dash, front respectively all the parts you can. Maybe even the frame. Usually the doors are liked as wall hangers. So is the front (nose) and rear. Scrap the rest, it's not worth investing work/money into it. Especially if it stinks additionally. Thanks a lot for making explaining recording editing uploading and sharing. Best regards luck and especially health to both of you.
Having owned over 30 vintage VW's I would say that one is pretty much dead and too far gone and not worth restoring. There are much better starting projects and this isn't a particularly desireable model. If you were game you could pull the body off and ditch it and try and find a beach buggy body and put it on the chassis and use the running gear, but not the most practical vehicle for the North West! Cheers Steve
Reckon its a good parts car for a Beetle enthusiast who builds these cars...However given your passion and ability...im.sure you can rebuild and recover this car
Ouch - she's a parts car now! .. it would only be worth saving if there was a providence value to the specific chassis number (assuming you have the title), e.g. verifiable movie star ownership or a particularly special version of the beetle.
I've seen worse (heck, I've OWNED worse...). Every rusty panel you have is available as a weld-on panel. You'll need to separate the body from the 'chassis', but that's not too big a deal. Just a lot of cutting and welding.....BTW, those rear pop-out windows alone are worth a lot of $$.
Here in New England, most if not all surviving used cheap vintage non running VW bugs look like this one.
You got that right.
I don't think I ever saw rust like that in the rear of the cars inside. something was leaking for a long time. the floor pans are what goes most often here in Missouri. the battery in my bug is mounted to the rear seat frame with tie downs. dropping the battery out the bottom of a bug doing 60 mph is not fun...
So many possibilities - for comedy! You could make it into your shop loaner car!
Wow ! She is a goner rust wise ! Probably best to get the pedals working and sell it as a running and driving project or parts car and try to get some of the money back you spent on it.
That’s a pretty common condition for an east coast and central southern car that has just sat outside too long. Between parts cars and the aftermarket replacement panels that are available, that Bug is still repairable; however, if nicer and more solid Beetles still exist “on the cheap” in your area then this would probably make a better parts car to give up it’s running gear for another with a solid body but missing most everything else. Where I am, around $600 would be a reasonable price for that car with a sound engine that doesn’t have excessive crankshaft end play and a good, useable 4 speed transaxle that doesn’t leak much and isn’t popping out of gear.
Sell sell sell! VW running gear is in demand.
Perfect candidate for restoration
Given that the front end of the car seems fine and the engine seems good, as long as the center tunnel and the transmission fork are solid that car can be brought back to life. The floor pans, deck pan, and heater channels are all available aftermarket and for a mechanic of your skill could all be replaced in a solid weekend of work
Except he has like 5 other project cars.
He’s got a business to run and this would eat up too much time
My Dad bought one of these brand new in 71 of the same colour. Marina Blue is the colour I believe.
Never seen the wheel well rust from the inside! Since you got so much for the ceased engine, you could run an ad that says, "Smooth running vintage VW engine $800, must take car.".
I wish i had a shop like you
"That 'll buff right out!", or "love the patina"?
learned to drive a stick in one of these. it was a green '68, looked like yours but not rusty
That's really a bummer. On the plus side, if the lines aren't seized too bad you should be able to get the master out through the left wheelwell....
Agree with other comment, remove engine & send body to scrap, too far gone 😔
I like the Baja bug idea !
This isn’t bad! Looks like it was dipped in the ocean!
Makes for easier clutch cable changes!
Partials tray delete !
Mouse Condo Delete!
I was going to ask - what is all the bondo on the speaker grill? I see it’s just tape? Interesting!
Man, bugs rust out eventually no matter where you live. Remember this is a 50 plus-year-old car! I'm thinking you should just sell the whole thing as is with good running motor as a project / parts. You've got a bunch of other more worthy projects than that thing. There's much nicer bugs out there too start from.
Look on the bright side with the rust hole! You have easy access to the starter and the clutch cable adjustment, but on a serious note: you can buy a replacement luggage shelf, and all new metal for the other rusty areas.
Pull out the engine, sell it, scrap it, work on the Renault instead!
I vote for a part-out. Come down here to Socal, you can still find decent Bugs being daily driven
👍👌👏 2) 1 say: Sell the roof, all the glass, the engine, gearbox, dash, front respectively all the parts you can. Maybe even the frame. Usually the doors are liked as wall hangers. So is the front (nose) and rear. Scrap the rest, it's not worth investing work/money into it. Especially if it stinks additionally.
Thanks a lot for making explaining recording editing uploading and sharing.
Best regards luck and especially health to both of you.
It’s done. The curse of the VW Beetle!
Wow! Didn't know cars rusted that bad in Oregon.
Engine, trans, beam and the rear side pop-out windows. That thing is toast.
Isn't the rust what's holding it together at this point? 🤷
😂
People build worse ones 🤦♂️🤷♂️
Having owned over 30 vintage VW's I would say that one is pretty much dead and too far gone and not worth restoring. There are much better starting projects and this isn't a particularly desireable model. If you were game you could pull the body off and ditch it and try and find a beach buggy body and put it on the chassis and use the running gear, but not the most practical vehicle for the North West! Cheers Steve
As a long time VW guy, this is a parts car at best... Not economically worth repair/restore.
Superleggia.
2 words…parts car!
I agree, sometimes it's worth more in parts than as a whole.
You can't save them all.
In south Florida all bugs look like this.
Id pull the drivetrain out of it and let the rest go,, maybe do a old DKW rear engine car,,
Cut the rusty back off and make a pickup conversion. Or make a rear wheel drive Goliath station wagon.
Sell it to someone who plays with those things.
In Maine rust never sleeps .
Reckon its a good parts car for a Beetle enthusiast who builds these cars...However given your passion and ability...im.sure you can rebuild and recover this car
No pass it up. Be a great doner for someone restoring one . Engine and trans . Good for someone
Dune Buggy?
pull the engine and trans axel , and scrap the rest
Ouch - she's a parts car now! .. it would only be worth saving if there was a providence value to the specific chassis number (assuming you have the title), e.g. verifiable movie star ownership or a particularly special version of the beetle.
Turn it into a Baja bug….🥴
If you're lucky you might be able to get 10 cents for it at the bottle recycling center.
Too many projects honestly I would’ve loved to see it revived but it’s too far gone sadly probably good for a motor swap
The original pop out windows are worth $150 give or take. If the engine runs and the transmission works good, you got a deal.
I'd say just make it drivable and enjoy it like that. Ignore the rust, it makes you appreciate the other cars.
I like what you say..
I've seen worse (heck, I've OWNED worse...). Every rusty panel you have is available as a weld-on panel. You'll need to separate the body from the 'chassis', but that's not too big a deal. Just a lot of cutting and welding.....BTW, those rear pop-out windows alone are worth a lot of $$.
I would sell that as a running project
...Mark, do you need a 2 year project to sink $10,000 into only to have a $2000 car?
Your words ring true.
Raffle it off for charity and be done with it. 🎉. Google can pick random numbers
Steeeeeelllla!!!
Strip engine, transaxle and any decent parts and scrap it
Sell the engine to a VW bug enthusiast with a car with a good body and bad engine. Sell the body as scrap metal/rust