Rescued a fat chick today

[Nate M.]

Today me and a friend went on a little trip out to Lopez Island, WA in the San Juans to pick up a car that a guy has called me about. I call the San Juan Islands the "PNW roach motel for cars" because cars check on the islands but they never check off the islands. So they are full of really nice cars waiting to be discovered. This one was a ’71 Square. Not really my thing, but my buddy really needs a car, so. . .

According to the owner, the motor for it was pulled and was still injected, but was told it smoked badly. So I have a spare complete T-3 1600 laying around at the shop that runs perfect, so the plan is just to transplant that into it and send it down the road.

When I the guy called, he claimed that it had virtually no rust and about a 10 y/o paint job that had sat for 8 of those 10 years. He claimed no dents and totally solid. Well excuse me for being a little jaded, but those claims are as chiche’ as they come in car circles, so I had my doubts. Since I could only see the car in photos before I bought it, I wasn’t going to spend much considering it cost about $100 (all things included) to get out to Lopez Island via ferry. We struck a tentative deal @ $600 if it is as described.

So we get out there this morning on the first Ferry. . . It’s EXACTLY as described!! I was shocked. We loaded it up on my car dolly and made a dash for the return ferry. Here’s the car as purchased waiting in the ferry line and on the boat.

We got it back to the shop, my buddy Dave (the soon to be car owner) began the clean-up, vacuuming and washing.

After close inspection, we discovered that not only is it a truly rust-free car, but it also has a nearly new factory muffler that is complete out to the tail pipe in excellent condition with very low miles on it and ALL it's engine tin. That was a real plus. But the real surprise was when I lifted the rear seat bottom and found that it had a pair of the rare accessory Hul Camping hinges installed!!

The only down side to the car is that the previous owner outfitted it with “Tweetie Bird” mud flaps and other various Tweetie bird crap. . . “I taut I taw a dump pwevious owner!!” Needless to say, that gay-@ss crap is at the bottom of the garbage can. . . Unfortunately I think they had it painted the same Tweetie bird yellow too. But hey, I don't have to roll in that thing so that's not my problem . It cleaned-up well and I think even the paint, while not perfect, will shine right-up with some waxing and buffing.

All in all, it was a good day and a good score. I’m happy that my buddy will have a good solid car to drive his two boys around in when it’s back on the road.
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Regards,

Nate M.

Squarsche build
Heavy Metal Affliction feature

For heaven's sake, put a type4 and a Porsche 5-speed in there. . . It's the right thing to do!!

[jefftrish]

Nice to hear a good story for a change Good on you, for helping your friend.
Good karma coming your way!
Best regards,
Jeff
~

[Suesanctuary]

Nice Score!

I can hear your buddy driving down the road singing, " You are my Sunshine..."

Just shows that we Definitely live in the wrong part of the country, when it comes to looking for these "hidden gems."


Though, if we were to, by chance, come across a T3, as nice as this, I'm not sure how he'd react.



Let's see, tow it home, wash the outside, clean up the inside, go thru the brakes, repair or replace the motor and install. Then drive it! Probably would only take him a few short days, if he stretched it.....

Would he feel strangely dissatisfied?







Again, Congrats, Very Nice Find!
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Sue
70 Fastback-AT w/ pop-outs


Did you know:
New York was the first state to require license plates, back in 1901. In those days, you had to make your own. Sears even sold Kits! Massachusetts was the first state to issue them in 1903.
Source: Automobile Magazine, Nov. 2006

[Tram]

Excuse me? Oh, you meant you rescued a Second Design car?

Excellent.
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Немає виправдання для війни! Я з Україною.

[dailyt3]

Cool find, congrats man... Get her on the road asap..
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1973 Squareback Stock F.I - Hazel
2005- 2012 Sitting in dirt lot in Compton Ca.
Purchased Aug-2012
Revived and on the road March 1, 2013

[Nate M.]

[KTPhil]

[marchi]

Great score!
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I drive my VW or I walk
'70 Squareback
'21 Tiguan (daughters)
SOLD
'69 Fastback (Flamer)

[Flow Master]

That's great. Don't found them like that in my neck of the woods.
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Powder Springs, Ga. (West of Atlanta) 1971 Squareback 1600 converted from FI to dual Weber 34ict carbs

[W1K1]

ford falcon truck, that's about as unusual as a type 3 to see nowadays
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http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/manuals/jim_martin_engine_build.php

1973 super
1965 squareback 1500E
1971 bay window westy- subi swap

[notchboy]

[vwkombi1966]

Nate, I can't thank you enough bro! You are really helping me out of a tight spot! for those who have been following this thread, here's what Nate and I have been doing for the last two days (updates to follow):

DAY ONE
- Towed my fat baby home (and promptly did a happy dance upon arrival to the shop)
- downloaded the original engine into the shop for teardown later
- removed the front calipers (they were frozen, and we need to roll her around the shop)
- removed the trunk liner (in pretty good shape)
- removed all the Ghey A@@ tweety bird seat covers, tweety bird mud flaps, tweety bird pictures and tweety bird airfresheners!
- vacuumed EVERYTHING. under seats, under carpet, trunk, engine bay, pans, ect. ect. (found LOTS of rat crap & woodlouse spiders!)
- washed the car!
- removed various little items (seat belt stuff and knobs, seat cover, ect.) from a donor 68 Square. (Thanx Nate!)
- so then Nate and I got curious about the underside of this square, so onto the lift she went! boy were we surprised! we spent about 30 minutes just looking everything over. We are both so amazed that the pans are just AWESOME! what a beautiful barn-find!

DAY TWO
so the emphasis for today was mostly engine work, as the square is fairly well prepped. What's even better, I have NEVER owned a Type-3 (always appreciated though), nor have I owned a Fuel Injected VW, so my knowledge of both is very rudamentary. But today, that began to change, thanks to Nate educating me on F\I components\operation as I tore down the F\I stuff on the original engine in prep for transfer to a known GOOD (single carb) 1600 T-3. Neat stuff! so, as I remove items from the old engine, I'm also taking the oppertunity to clean everything (F\I parts, Engine-tin, ect.) and ensure good operation! What's better, is Nate has a ultrasonic cleaner that cleans up fuel injectors so well, they look like they are new! just awesome! the rest of my day was spent learning how to remove the engin tin, generator, fan, fan shroud, carb\intake, and oil cleaner off the known good engine. good thing i did, because even though it runs well, there was so much oil\dirt, that this engine would surely over heat first road trip. i ran out of time, so the good engine is still in dire need of a good pressure washing, but i'll get to that when i get a "Day Three". until then, enjoy the following pics!

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Aircooled VW: more expensive than CRACK!

- 1968 Squareback (Scarlett)
- 1969 Westy

[vwfye]

When I bought my first notch in Oak Harbor, it had a PERFECT pan as well... but, it had about 4" of rot the entire way around the bottom of the body. The pan matched the car. It was odd, but that pan was a rock!
Congrats on the car. If I get up to OH at the end of this month, is there a chance I could see you car in person? Is Nate's shop still across from the reservation entrance?
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64 No'back Speedster "Pearl"
1980s Sand Dragster "The Plunger"
LME "Little Giant Killer 3"

[vwkombi1966]

THANX! Nate is still located in the same place!
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Aircooled VW: more expensive than CRACK!

- 1968 Squareback (Scarlett)
- 1969 Westy

[vwkombi1966]

[TommyBoyGomes]

Totally digging that early Ranchero that you used to tow it home. I had a '72 GT with a 351-C that I restored once, I'm kicking myself for selling it.
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1969 Squareback, 1776cc
1990 Vanagon Multivan

[Nate M.]

[dragsters for life]

[VeeDub Fasty]

Your pic of the Ranchero towing the squareback has brought much joy in to our house. You see my eldest son is building a 69 fasty and my youngest son is building a 63 Ranchero! The eldest is always teasing his brother about the "found on road dead " Ford comments. So now the youngest can has one over on him..hahahahahaha.

Nice buy/find. Congrats. I'm really enjoying your shop car build too.

David
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1969 Fastback
1966 Austin Mini Cooper S

[nodrenim]

Not to rain on your parade, but are those rust holes I see on that front beam? I would check that a lot closer, from what I see. I had to replace an entire front beam on a fastback, not long ago.