What redneck fixes have you done to prolong the scrapper?

[adam78]

Hey all, I'm fighting a losing battle with my bug, but intend to drive it until it is literally impossible to drive anymore! I picked up the car for $800 and was told there was minimal rust except for the floor pan. When I picked it up, it looked worse than described, but took an $800 gamble, especially with a newly rebuilt engine. It wasn't until I got it home and really started digging under the carpet that I realised the previous owner had used some sort of wood screws and an after market pan! The body where the two meet is completely gone, and no auto body shop I take it to will touch it. Right now she has her front latch tied down with a belt because the latch broke, and i just etched away a bunch of rust with a file and am about to push a bunch of JB weld where there was once body. What kind of redneck fixes have you guys come up with? Yesterday I drove home with a vacuum plug made out of bubblegum! I'll post photos later lol
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1975 Beetle 1600dp 4spd Daily Driver.
1972 Westy 1600 Type IV 4spd project/ soon to be driver.

[vwkirb]

Sounds like you need to go down to harbor freight and buy a mig welder. Thats about as redneck as I would suggest.

[Bama Dave]

Well I am in Alabama, so I guess I am a redneck. My fix is not what you are expecting to hear. I totally disassembled mine and did a ground up restoration. They don't make them anymore, so the scrapper would just mean one less. If you are up for the challenge, fixing the car properly could be very rewarding. Might take years to do....mine has taken 2 years...so far. Still not done.

If you do not believe your car is safe to drive, or if you get tired of fiddling with it, selling it for parts would net you some return on your $800. I bet that someone near you needs your car parts to finish theirs.

Likewise, you may may find another car for parts to fix yours.

Best of luck.
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David Richerson

1970 Beetle
1971 Super
1972 Baja

[Old n' slow]

It wasn't a VW but my buddy had a 1960's Fiat 600 (weighed 1290 lb.) that was so rusted it sagged terribly in the center, couldn't keep the doors from flying open. We fiberglassed 2x4's underneath in the rocker panel area on two sides. Worked great and 2x4's don't rust
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Currently own : 1969 Beetle w/ 1600cc, Single Port, Solex 30 PICT 2, Dist. 113 905 205 T, stock exhaust.
All my daily drivers gone but not forgotten;

1964(sunroof)1967 & (2)1968 Beetles , 1968 Squareback , 1963 (23 window )Deluxe Sunroof Bus , 1969 Westphalia camper, 1974 Dasher , 1985 Vanagon , (2) 1981 Rabbit Diesels & a 1991 Jetta Diesel .

[1965mt]

My car came from Ohio. The PO used JB Weld to repair the front beam. My redneck fix was to replace the beam with a new one, properly painted of course. This also required all new ball joints and tie rod ends.

[wcfvw69]

[itskyle]

We've all seen...

The most recent footloose movie throttle cable snap replaced by drive by baling wire.

I did something similar with my 66.

Also, heard discouraging rust stories.

Now I have a 69 or 72 autostick. Looks like the rust is worse on this than the previous, but will work with it as possible.

A lot of credit is given to the guys and gals on the forum who tear down and do the complete restore rebuild. Those with money and time to do that, at least.

However, not enough credit is given to those of us who have not enough money and certainly not enough time but still go through valiant efforts to keep more VWs from the scrapper.

Kyle
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--
69 or 72 Autostick Bug current
66 Bug (We both miss it)
74 SuperBeetle Auto Stick (I miss that car)
73 SquareBack, Straight Stick (Wife misses this one.)

[adam78]

For some reason, the site wont allow me to post from my phone. Despite me doing nothing but that for years. So i'll try to post from work. Here it goes!

It's safe enough, and I have driven worse cars. One SUV had the frame snap in half while driving one day. The bug's frame is pretty solid, and the running gear is okay, it's just the body is very rusty, and the front beam has a bit of rust on it, but I had that inspected and he said I have about another two or so years before it becomes dangerous. It's mostly me sitting at an angel because the floor is falling down and there isnt enough good metal to do a proper fix unless I start cutting and welding deep into the body. But I'll leave that for the next owner. She's a 1975 and, to me, isn't worth the money or time commitment.

The battery tray which isn't the worst i've seen, I may reinforce it because the metal is getting thin, but not yet gone. I was thinking some diamond plate or maybe an old street sign I have in the garage.

My latch broke and will no longer line up, even with a new one. I have it tied here, but I will be riveting the belt to the fenders and run it across much like the old Jaguars and a sweet 356 I saw at a car show a while back.

The running boards aren't exactly connected to the car anymore, it also has no heater channels at all.

The floor! It's technically not that bad itself, it's where the previous owner sometime down the road got what looks to be a newer pan, and screwed it into the body which caused both the floor and where the screws went into the body to rust. Now it separates from the pedals all the way to past the drivers seat. I threw some knockoff JB weld in the crack and jacked the floor up to meet the body, but I am going to be getting real JB weld (ordered on amazon) and will be filing down as much rust as I can to find some okay metal. A hack job? You better believe it! But as a college student that has 4 cars and works part time, this is the kind of stuff that you have to half ass haha.
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1975 Beetle 1600dp 4spd Daily Driver.
1972 Westy 1600 Type IV 4spd project/ soon to be driver.

[Bama Dave]

[zoobyshoe]

As for the belt hood closure thing: I have mine chained shut with a padlock. I removed the little circular plate you take off to access the shift rod, and I lead one end of the chain into the trunk through that hole. Inside, I found a drain hole or vent hole already there on the floor of the spare tire well, through which I put a bolt with nuts and washers to secure the chain. The other end of the chain comes out the hole and loops around the hood handle and padlocks to itself. This doesn't interfere with the spare at all, and it's a bit less ghetto than a belt.

The reason for this is that the whole lever and its mounting inside the glove box was torn away from the glove box by some PO. The result is the trunk doesn't lock. It latches, but anyone passing by could open it, and I keep a tool box and floor jack in there.

[adam78]

[vwuberalles]

This wasn't really a long term fix, more of a limp it home kinda thing, but it was still pretty redneck nonetheless. So there we were, myself and 2 or 3 friends in the mid 90s, cruising around in my 73 Super when the gas pedal hit the floor with no response from the engine. Upon quick inspection I realized the throttle cable had broken, and I didn't have a spare and cell phones didn't really exist yet. I told everyone to give me their shoelaces, and the begrudgingly handed them over. I tied them together end to end and attached one end to the throttle arm on the carburetor, and ran it out the decklid vent. I looped the other end around the side view mirror. Much to everyone's surprise, I was able to get us all back home, pulling the shoestrings by hand to work the throttle.
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1973 Superbeetle: 1st car, owned since age 12. Update thread --> https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9919140#9919140
1967 Kombi: Owned since age 17, Dad's retirement project.
1966 Beetle: My new project. (SOLD) Build thread--> https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=678040

[Old n' slow]

Again not a long term fix but my friends VW ran out of gas and we had no money, but we did have a hand held propane torch. We wired it up over the carb and cracked open the valve and started it up on propane gas. It got us home a few miles,at about 10mph, on local Queens N.Y. city streets.

Don't ever think there aren't resourceful Redneck's in N.Y.C......well at least back in the 1960's there were a lot of us.
_________________
Currently own : 1969 Beetle w/ 1600cc, Single Port, Solex 30 PICT 2, Dist. 113 905 205 T, stock exhaust.
All my daily drivers gone but not forgotten;

1964(sunroof)1967 & (2)1968 Beetles , 1968 Squareback , 1963 (23 window )Deluxe Sunroof Bus , 1969 Westphalia camper, 1974 Dasher , 1985 Vanagon , (2) 1981 Rabbit Diesels & a 1991 Jetta Diesel .

[modok]

1970 bug. Drivers side heater channel totally went, so I welded the door shut.
Climbed in and out of the window, which sounds hard, but gets easier with practice. The floor was falling away but still solidly connected to the pan, so the drivers seat tilted over and rested on the b pillar, so basically, the seat was holding up the floor.

if you take any OLD vw, and press it back into year round service, I think this will happen to them all in 3-5 years. This is kinda depressing to think about, but, it must not be a big deal to most. Most of them are fair weather only, so they don't care.

Yes, if you need to keep it alive then better learn to weld.

And why scrap it? just park it in somebody's backyard. That's how they survive long distances of time, by resting peacefully.

[jinx758]

My first bug ... a metalic purple '72 S/B w/white interior and a Lite beer tap handle as a shift knob (it was 1986 & I was a senior in HS). Got me to the beach OK but after surfing it refused to start. I knew nuthin bout cars back then. Some guy stops by & offers help. Turns out the little tab on top of the rotor had broken off. Dang it. Well we found a soda can under the seat, used a pocket knife to get a strip of metal, & twisted it around the rotor with pliers. It fired rite up. Drove it home ... about 30 miles at 55 mph. As I got near the apt complex I heard it disintegrate. Pushed the clutch in & coasted into the parking space. Replaced the cap & rotor a few days later & it never missed a beat. Tough little cars they are ... ! ! !

Ever since this day I have carried some duct tape and bailin wire in all the vehicles I've owned.

I drove this car for well over 6 weeks while parking to where I could just pull forward cause I didn't know where reverse was. Army recruiter showed me. Valve adjustment ... what's that?

Thars sum rednik-humble pie I tell u what !
_________________
" It's not valuable unless you learn something from an experience. " Henry Ford

It's not unlike the same difference

You can't push a rope


VALVES (cold)
POINTS
TIMING
CARB (fully warmed engine)

SCRAPE ALL GROUNDS

My Craigslist rescued 100 footer :
1971 Standard Bug
1776cc dual port
034 distributor
38mm EGAS Carburetor

[jinx758]

Tried to edit ... fail.

Purple bug started to pull to one side about 3 months later. Fought it for a while but none of my friends at that time knew much. Went out & passenger side tire was kissing the headlight bucket. Parked it & caught the bus for a while. As the flatbed hauled it away, the tow driver noticed the frame horn had severe rust ... coastal casualty. Good times in that one !
_________________
" It's not valuable unless you learn something from an experience. " Henry Ford

It's not unlike the same difference

You can't push a rope


VALVES (cold)
POINTS
TIMING
CARB (fully warmed engine)

SCRAPE ALL GROUNDS

My Craigslist rescued 100 footer :
1971 Standard Bug
1776cc dual port
034 distributor
38mm EGAS Carburetor

[nickfancher1]

Pull the engine and transmission, the door handles and the windows, the seats and the gas tank, the wheels and the tires, any other usable part that's still ok and call in a tow truck so they can drag it up onto it. Just cut your losses and either sell the parts you have or keep them for the next car.

Start saving money and pay yourself a car payment every month. Once you have the money, fly to Texas, Florida, New Mexico, or Arizona and pick up a really clean VW, bring a suitcase of necessary tools and drive the car back home.

I bought my 1970 VW Beetle a few years ago for $3,000. It's as clean as a whistle and literally has ZERO rust.
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1970 Beetle

[andrewvwclassic]

You thought it would be cool to buy a vintage car and learn how to tune on it a little. You could not afford an ell camino or find a decent pickup truck. You forked over 800 bux on a straight gamble and realized you got what you paid for. You do not know how to buy a vintage car so once again you got what you paid for. Not a complete loss someone got rid of a bug in bad condition and found someone that will probably wind up scrapping it so sais person lols themselves to sleep afterwords with a tiny grin. Cant lie happened to me a few times. Long story short should have saved for the el camino.

[adam78]

[adam78]