Re: Frustration (I'm I crazy?)

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

John T. Croteau wrote:
> 
> Ok, help me understand something here because I must be crazy.
> As frustration and impatience sets in on a cold winters day, a nice
> looking Squareback pops up for sale at the same price as the amount
> I have already shelled out on my car.
> Am I crazy for doing this project?  Shouldn't I just save up my
> money and buy a nice Type-3 in great condition and be done with it?

John,

If you're crazy, at least you're in good company. Working on my '64
Notch today in a cold, drafty garage, I was thinking the very same
thing. My wife a daughter gave me a couple of hours to work on the car,
which I used to disassemble the dash as part of the pre-painting prep.

Now I have a box of dash parts, which joins a bunch of other boxes
filled with parts - trim & lights, electrical, engine, fuel system ....
I'm reminded of a project I did as a small child. I tried to draw a
picture of every part of a car. One page showed every part of the
engine, another the interior, and so on. It was overwelming, and at
times, so is the reality of a garage full of boxes of Volkswagen parts.
Yet this has a very real purpose.

First, I love seeing progress made on the project. It's a satisfaction
you'll never get from buying an already restored car.

Next, for better or for worse, I'll know what my Notch is when it's done
(in my case, that will be a '64 with '72 running gear). If you buy a car
that's "90 percent restored," chances are good it's really about 50
percent restored, is 10 percent Bondo by weight, and has a Type-1
transmission with bad syncros.

Last, we crazy people help keep the "breed" alive. Had I not tried to
restore this basket case '64 Notch, it might have been parted out or
simply abandoned. And from an economic standpoint that would have been
the smartest thing to do with it -- just walk away. But this isn't 
about economics.

This is an adventure. Perhaps crazy, but a good thing in the long run.

-- Bob Couse-Baker
   '64 Notch