Project gone sour

[Patty and Bob Couse-Baker <c-b@pacbell.net>]

The story of a project gone sour

I’m about to give up on my Notch. This note is not to ask for
encouragement, but rather some sensible advice. I’ve made a number of
poor choices in the course of this enterprise, and it’s time I cut my
losses.

The original car was an impulse purchase: ’64 Notch, more or less
complete, but very rough mechanicals and electricals, gutted interior,
frozen motor and a "cherry" body in gray primer. Hey, no problem. So it
needs window rubber and an engine, I’ll bet I’ll have it up and running
in a couple of months …

When I got it home and started prepping it for paint, the pits started
showing up in the "cherry" body. Under the primer was Bondo. And under
the Bondo was rust. Lots and lots of rust. Really abundant, thorough,
world-class rust. There was rust everywhere – in the doors, in the dash,
heater channels and even where the body bolts to the pan. The pan itself
was in great shape (as I had seen on my initial cursory inspection), but
its serial number showed it to be from a ’73 Squareback, and the
swing-axle suspension was not properly mated to it.

(If I’d had to do it all over again, I would have rolled it off a cliff
at this point and forgotten all about it).

Lesson one: Always, always inspect a car in the daylight before purchase

The fenders and roof looked okay, so it was time to switch to "Plan B." 

Okay, "Plan B" involved moving the salvageable parts of the ’64 to a
donor car. From the outside it should look like a ’64, but why not
modernize a bit on the inside?

I bought a ’72 Squareback for the donor. Really cheap. It had a very
tired engine (0 psi compression on one cylinder, but started and ran), a
little front-end sheetmetal damage, but was otherwise in fairly good
shape. And no structural rust. Perfect. Combine the best of both,
rebuild the engine and volla -- Notch-o-rama. Err, not exactly.

Lesson two (with apologies to Mark Twain) – "Once in their life,
everyone gets a great idea that won’t work."

I pulled them both apart, made the cuts – using the front clip, top and
fenders of the ’64, removing the corresponding parts of the ’72. I test
fit the parts (the front clip worked better than you might imagine - and
yes, you can get the front fenders to fit well). Then I hauled the whole
thing to a stripping service to have the paint blasted off with plastic
media.

When I got the parts back home,  more surprises. There was even more
Bondo (and rust) than I’d noticed before.  The rear parcel shelf looks
like it’s made of cheesecloth – paper thin steel, with lots of little
holes. Hmmm, not good. The key welds were in places undamaged by rust,
so I began to weld. (Cue dramatic music).

The MIG welding went well on the front clip. The front fenders, hood and
gas tank bolted up fine to the new front clip (or new car, depending on
how you look at it). Then I did the A-pillars. The welds went well on
the front (outside). Then I got to the back side. Here the rust had done
its work, and there was simply too little metal left; too thin to weld.
Even at the lowest heat settings, there’s no way to really finish the
A-pillars. They look fine from the outside, but I don’t think they will
be strong enough. Any "fix" at this point would be cosmetic, not
structural.

Now I’m left with a car that’s never really going to be right. I could
patch it together, slap some Bondo over the thin metal, rebuild engine,
get a $149 paint job, put a headliner in it and sell it to somebody
stupider than me. But that’s not what I’m going to do (even if I could
FIND somebody stupider than me).

Here’s where I’d like some advice from the group. I have several
options, select the one you think is best:

1.  Roll it off a cliff

2. Trade it for a clean, low-miles ’69 Fastback 4 speed sunroof, with a
factory tachometer, working air conditioning and a gas heater (If you
know of anyone who is willing to do this trade, please let me know which
mental health facility he’s living at)

3.  Sell it whole as a project - cheap. Someone with a different vision
for the car might be satisfied with the end result – such as a drag
racer with roll cage, or perhaps a full custom of one variety or another

4.  Suck it up. Admit it is a flawed car, finish it, keep it, drive it.
(This is not very likely -- I'm tired of this project)

5.  Light it on fire, then roll it off a cliff.

6.  "Notchbash" … take it to the next big VW event, rent people a
sledgehammer for $10 a blow.

7.  Part it out (sorry, I can’t ship sheet metal)

8.   Sell tickets, light it on fire, then roll it off a cliff

Please let me know your choice. I’m seriously interested in the group’s
opinion. I’ll report back to the group with the voting results.

¨ Bob Couse-Baker
¨ ’64 Notch (project gone sour)

P.S. If you have any extra time, please review my list of bits, and give
me an estimated value for the whole package (I don’t really want to part
it out):

1.  Aforementioned flawed merger of ’64 and ’72 T-3 (clean title,
California registration)
2.  Five good tires and rims
3.  Stock FI system, complete
4.  Stock electrical system and gauges
5.  Ratty seats from the ’72
6.  Glass, good in all positions
7.  New Cal-look window seals for front and rear (not installed yet)
8.  Turn signals, side marker and tail lights, with all with lenses
9.  Good (not great) bumpers
10.  ’69 right front fender (with fuel filler flap), for ‘72’s fuel
system, good condition
11.  Other fenders from the ’64, fair condition, with Bondo
12.  Doors (complete) from the ’72, very good condition
13.  Hood from a ‘67-’69 good condition (no Bondo), dented mustache
14.  Rear trunk lid, fair but refurbishable (no Bondo)
15.  Fuel tanks for both ’64 and ‘72
16.  Good 4-speed transmission; front suspension & brakes
17.  Most of the of assorted other stuff one would expect from this
mess, like mirrors, all electricals, latches, carpets and so on. In
theory, you put it all together, and rebuilt the engine, it should be a
working car. Needs a headliner kit, quarter-window pinch welt, fender
welting and outer seals for the quarter windows.