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On 9 Aug 2006 at 6:16, Douglas Gaither wrote: > My son has purchased a '69 Fastback that was a stalled restoration > project. They had started with the body/paint. When we received it, > the motor was out and in buckets (there was actually another party > between us and the original restorer). We have consequently found out > that we did have the correct motor and what we DID have was not > complete (block only). So the local VW specialty shop said they could > build us a motor for $995 + $300 core (incorrect block). But on top > of that would be all of the ancillary items (dist, oil pump, > generator, FI, etc..) that were missing. Although it did come with > two Weber carbs. This was looking pretty expensive! So, I located a > parts car (thankyou vwtype3.org classifieds) and purchased it (1970 > FB runner). The previous owner was pretty sure it had about 30K on a > rebuild, but it was leaking oil. So, I'd like to glean some wisdom as > we are now faced with a few decisions. This is a terribly familiar story: Nice old car is bought by someone who starts out to fix it up. He takes EVERYTHING apart and puts about half of it back together before he runs out of money or patience. The key to a project like this is to approach it in steps; attack one problem at a time. Get that part running perfectly and then move on to the next trouble area. The parts car was a smart purchase. You would not have done this unless you were willing to put some of your own effort into this car, so I'm going to assume that this is the case. Since this is to be your son's car, he should also have some sweat investment, just so he appreciates what he has. > This car is for my 17 year-old son. We're not looking for a hot-rod > although smart upgrades are desired. Forget about upgrades until you get the parts that you have running well. You won't know what you need until you know what works well. There's nothing worse than spending your whole budget on things that you didn't need, only to discover all the things that you DID need. > Should I be concerned about the oil leaks? I've heard about a gasket > kit every 30K miles for vw's... myth? That's a myth I've never heard. Just fix what's broken. Shotgun approaches to repairs just waste time, money, and patience. Almost everything that can go wrong with one of these cars can be actually diagnosed first and then fixed. That's a lot cheaper, and it means that you come out in the end with a better understanding of how it all works, which puts you in a much better position the next time you're faced with a problem. > Perhaps I should just have it rebuilt? We only spent $10 on the '69 > and $850 for the '70 so I don't mind putting some money rebuilding > if that is wise. There are many of these that really need a rebuild, but there are also many that just need a $30 part and a tuneup. Slow down and figure out which you have before you start spending your money. Don't worry, even if you're patient, you'll still probably find plenty of places to spend your money. Wait for them. > The parts car has F.I. with some issues. I've been reading the posts > recently about FI vs Carbs and although the FI may be alright, I'm > not going to be working on this and neither is my son. So we need > something 'mechanic-friendly'. Are the Webers a good match for the > 1600cc? Given what you have, your best, cheapest bet would probably be to swap the complete engine, along with ALL the FI components from the '70 to the '69 (unless the body on the '70 is better.) There WILL be a FI learning curve. Ask questions here. Buy a Bentley manual. Listen and learn, and get your son involved. > Lastly (for now), is most of the running gear from the 1970 swappable > with the 1969? Almost everything other than body parts is the same. The two FI systems are slightly different, but most of them that are mounted on the body are the same. If you bring over the engine along with everything that is bolted to it, then the only other FI part that you'll need is the '70 pressure sensor, which hangs under the deck over the engine, toward the front and left from the engine. That part changed between '69 and '70. You'll probably have some trouble with the fuel pump, too. The two pumps look alike, but they are interchangable. This way you have 2 to choose from. They may not want to run if water has sat in them, so it may be a good thing that you have 2 to choose from. -- ******************************* Jim Adney, jadney@vwtype3.org Madison, Wisconsin, USA ******************************* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List info at http://www.vwtype3.org/list | mailto:gregm@vwtype3.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~