[T3] I must part with my car :-(

[Jennifer Sawyer <alakazam@gmail.com>]

Hi everyone,

I have some sad news to share. I am not going to be able to keep my
Squareback after all. I thought that I could get her running and fix
her up, but my situation has changed for the worse. I have some very
important and expensive legal issues that require my financial and
emotional devotion and my landlord will not let me bring the car home
in its current condition. So I am forced to sell her. I hope that she
will get a good home. Here's the scoop:

I bought my 68 Squareback in 2001. She was completely stock with fuel
injection. She had been a daily driver for the previous owner and
continued to be one for me. As I have named all of my VWs, I named her
Gurdy. Gurdy has her original keys and original manual with
maintenance stamps and nifty snapping plastic sleeve (I love cool
historical stuff like that :-) ). She was originally purchased in Palo
Alto in November of 1967 and didn't stray very far from there. I also
have a folder full of receipts from the last owner dating back to 93
or 94. During the time that I drove her I took her in for maintenance
on time all the time. I also had a nice Kenwood CD player
professionally installed, though I never got nice speakers aside from
a speaker box that just sat in the back. In 2002 I began to have
serious engine issues. I took her in and was told that one of the
heads was cracked and that it would be $750 to repair. I agreed to
this and when the mechanic dug in to it he found the block was cracked
too. Gurdy sat at the shop for a couple of months while I ordered a
new engine for $1500 from Mofoco and had it shipped out. The shop got
around to installing the engine several months later. I had to
purchase another car during that time and Gurdy became my project.
After they installed the engine they told me that it wouldn't run
because the fuel injection was broken. I was really upset because I
drove her there with perfectly functioning fuel injection. In fact the
woman I bought the car from had had major servicing done to the fuel
injection before I bought it. I think they just lost some parts or
something and didn't want to admit it. They said I needed to buy a
carb kit and they would call me back with a price. They never called
and I was busy with work and life and neglected to follow up for some
time. I paid $1200 for the engine install and storage, but I've never
been able to drive her again. Gurdy is still at that shop except now
she looks like hell from sitting out in the weather. Her tires are
pretty shot though they're still good enough to roll her around as
needed. She has bad rust on all four fenders and some small spots on
the roof and doors. Her interior is pretty ugly as the seats got
sunburned (I didn't know that was possible). Amazingly the dash pad
isn't cracked though. The brakes aren't seized at all and the clutch
feels good too. The tranny was always good and feels like it still is.
The electrical has always been great too. No one has ever played
electrician with this car. The floorpan has no holes or anything
either. I don't know if you guys care about these sorts of details (I
do! I hate spiders and rat nests!), but there's nothing living in or
on her except a few spiders and she has remarkably few webs after all
this time. The shop assures me that if I buy a carb kit and a battery
she'll run awesome within a couple of hours. With the brand new
engine, I should hope so! Of course, they still haven't been able to
locate carbs...(they're not very resourceful)

It is really hard for me to part with my car. I've always had at least
one VW since I was 17. Unfortunately, I really can't spend the money
on her right now or any time soon. I would really like to see her go
to a home where someone will finish fixing her up. I hope that I'll be
able to get another someday when my situation improves.

I paid $2000 for her and another $2,700 on the engine alone. I would
like to sell her for $2,000, but I'll take offers. I'll say in advance
that I don't want to go below $1,500 since that's what I paid for the
brand new engine. Oh and she's currently located in Scotts Valley, CA.

-Jen

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