TheSamba.com :: View topic

Mon Jun 20, 2016 7:02 am

This is the 1974 VW Thing I bought from a friend just a couple weeks ago. I want to put a more stock exhaust on it (I don't like the dune buggy type exhaust on it currently, and I need to find what looks like a bad ground in the dash lights....oh, and the throttle tends to stick.

Glad to be here though! I grew up with a 63 VW Bug, so have always liked VWs.

Mon Jun 20, 2016 7:06 am

Gorgeous!!

Bad grounds are a bear, it's amazing how much we don't appreciate good grounds, until you've dealt with bad!! Lol

Welcome!

Mon Jun 20, 2016 5:52 pm

Yeah, baby, I love green '74s. Nice! 8)

Wed Jun 29, 2016 9:12 pm

I lurk in here often- but just had to scan all pages since 2008 to find I had not posted my thing here before! I (with help from Dad's wallet) found and bought it in the summer of 1985- and I spent my senior year finding the needed parts (like the top latch hooks that were unobtainium in the 80s) to make it complete. We painted the fenders black because 3/4 were dented- and we could not trust a single shop in town to match the factory orange paint. It also sports a white fibrejet top an alternate years.

Sat Jul 30, 2016 8:51 pm

This is my 71' 181. I have it since 2012.

I found the car in a sawmill under a layer of dust!

VW runs in our family history. My father worked for a short time in the Wolfsburg VW factory and his first car was a split bug. My brother owns a 64' Kombi, a buggy and a SP2.

Wed Aug 17, 2016 10:24 am

Great looking and nice find. Do you get up in the mountains with it?

Mon Aug 29, 2016 3:25 pm

Hey guys. I'm 65 and live in The Bahamas on an outlying island (not Nasau or Freeport, one of the Family Islands). Anyone can buy a new or relatively new car here or have one shipped in. But the import duties and shipping add an additional 70% to the cost. Plus, on my island there are no machine shops, service stations, hardware stores, nothing. A couple of shade tree guys, but no tuneup equipment. There is a garage about an hour from here operated by the Mennonites that do maintenance etc. So you can't get a car serviced or repaired unless you put it on a barge and take it back to Nasau. Plus, the government recently passed a law that you can't import a vehicle more than 10 years old. This puts the used car market under extreme pressure. Plus, all cars here rust out completely. I am a long time VW and Jeep guy. First motor I rebuilt was in a 60 bug. I did this with Muir's book. No computers/internet back in 1970. The few available cars stay in a pool. Someone moved off island and their wheels go up for sale. I lucked on to a 73 Thing that had been semi-converted into a buggy. Perfect. With my ancient memory, Haynes, and your help, I'm diving in to it!

Mon Aug 29, 2016 3:43 pm

Thought I'd set the stage for what I'm trying to accomplish. I just need transportation. I can't do any work that requires any type of machine work. Parts aren't available. Mail order works 50% of the time, most companies refuse to do a custom's form. Plus the import duty. And at least a month for shipping. I get back to the States about once each 6 weeks. So I often order something and have it shipped to a friends house, then pick it up and bring it back in my suitcase (allowed couple hundred bucks duty free flying back in). It is always 70-90 where I live (on the water. So no heater, no preheater needed. One main road here, mostly unpaved. Only 2 stop signs on the whole island. 30 mph speed limit. Here's a pic of the road through my village. Thanks for the future help and suggestions! I hope to contribute more than I receive! Bahama Joe

Tue Aug 30, 2016 2:29 pm

so you have found a THING? Or- you would like one?....

oh never mind I just saw the pictures you put up. Looks like a fun vehicle for you

Wed Sep 07, 2016 4:35 pm

Re- owner here . This is a pic of the last one my dad and I went completely through over 25 years ago . I just got it back last month and am currently bringing it back to running condition .

Wed Sep 07, 2016 6:06 pm

JWeber,
What's it look like now?
That's cool you were able to find and retrieve it!

Fri Sep 09, 2016 3:22 pm

Last weekend was the first time I had to pull the doors off and clean everything out . I have a few things on order to bring it back to running condition . My dad sold it in June of 1990 . It has sat most of it life in a garage and has not moved since 2007 . This is one of my keepers .

Thu Sep 15, 2016 10:37 pm

I purchased this 1973 Thing a few months ago. The picture was taken by the previous owner after he completed the restoration. The car is now in South Orange County, CA

Tue Sep 20, 2016 4:23 pm

I'm not typically a wide white sidewall fan but it looks dynamite on yours.

Thu Oct 20, 2016 7:47 am

Just purchased a Sunshine Yellow 73 Thing in Northern Virginia. Runs but needs brakes. PO had wheels sandblasted and powder coated with new tires and hubcaps. Remarkably little rust. Last inspected in Oklahoma in 92 and titled in Alaska in 99. Previous PO was Army. Going to be a fun project...

Last VW owned was 69 bug used as winter rat in upstate NY in early 80s when I was in HS. How dumb was that???!!! Memories of scraping the inside of the windshield by hand as I drove due to frost; stowed scraper between 8-track player and dash. Also could fly down back rods in winter that were clear then hit 2 foot snowdrifts and float over them and come back down on the road. Didn't have a lot of dates in the winter for some reason :shock:

Sat Nov 05, 2016 5:56 pm

Hello, This is my 1st Thing post.
I'm normally in the Bay Bus forum, but was looking for a Thing project for quit a while so I picked up a '74 Thing 11-4-16. It needs a lot of work, no brakes or E brake, needs pans and rocker work. The seller supplied some donor metal, (Thanks Richard). Here is some pics;

Sun Nov 06, 2016 7:29 am

1535 turbo.

I pick her up sometime between today and Thursday.

I would have liked a bone stock 181, but an off-road will do.

Yes that is the fender bungied to the hood.

Tue Nov 08, 2016 4:22 pm

^^^^^^^

Picking her up tonight!

I have to think of a name before I get her home....

My daily driver Baja Bug is Brunhilde....

Fri Dec 23, 2016 3:59 pm

Restoring a 1973 Thing from the ground up. Found the car in Fort Mill, SC and brought it home to Iron Station, NC. About 9 months later, the frame is ready with new pans, the rusty body has new inner and outer rocker panels, the motor is being professionally built, and I hope to get it all finished in 2017. I plan to take it to local car shows and make it more or less a garage queen. It's been a fun project so far. :D

Sun Jan 22, 2017 10:18 am

Here is my 732 miles from new 1974 Puebla assembled Type 181. The first image is of the original key I found along the gas line behind the fan shroud in the engine compartment. The next seven images are from my date of purchase, April 20, 2015. The vehicle had been placed in a North Carolina garage in 1981 and remained stored there until I purchased and removed the car into daylight for the first time in 34 years.

The last image is how the car appeared in July 2016 at the Antique Automobile Club of America Annual Grand National show where the car earned a second place award as the only unrestored vehicle in its class.