The Story:
THE FOLLOWING WAS ORIGINALLY POSTED TWO OWNERS AGO... A friend told me about a 71E coupe under an open shed at a local vw mechanics shop. The clutch had fallen in and the owner had not fixed the car so it had not run for two years. The body looked to be straight and largely rust free. Injection replaced by dual webers, a.c. compressor had been removed. Original owners manual and tool kit still with the car. Paid four thousand realizing it could be a nightmare. Flatbed to Scott's Porsche shop. After some magnesium welding and rebuilt carbs, new shocks and tires, it's running and a whole lot of fun.
Now for an update...I purchased the car in 2/06. I ran across it while on a business call for work. Current owner owed money to the shop that had recently done work to the front suspension. We arrived a suitable price and I drove it home. The car has most recently been vintage raced and is set up for the track, though it is street legal. I bought it because all the mechanicals are in in excellent shape, having been rebuilt or replaced in the last two years. The car, based on the log book, competed in a total of four SVRA races. The body is in good shape, but does now have some rust issues and sports a terrible repaint. The interior is rough and the car now has a roll bar and fuel cell. It does still retain the original engine, transmission, tools, and owners manual. My plan, at this point, is to have the rust issues addressed, give it a decent repaint, clean up the interior, and hopefully not be too upside down!
June 11, 2006: Well, it has been since February 2006 since I bought the car. SInce then I've enjoyed driving it in it's beater attire. However, the time came about three weeks ago to move on to the next step. I took it for its last drive and then started to strip it. I am pleased to say that the car ran great before I parked it. Kind of good karma. WIth the help of a knowledgable friend, we removed the motor and transmission. I finished stripping the interior and trim yesterday. We took it to the shop today for body work and paint. Not too many surprises when stripping the car. Found some rust in the rear seat area, rockers, and headlight area. Nothing horrible, though. WIll update with more pictures and info as the adventure continues.
November 20, 2006. Well, I have been remiss in my duities in updating this page. Alot has happened since last June. The car went out for body work and paint. The car was stripped the rest of the way and fortunatly there were no surprises. The car was never hit and was very straight. All the rust was repaired with metal. While the body was out, I cleaned up the motor and replaced all of the valve cover gaskets. I also replaced the engine shroud to eliminate the heating ducts. I also addressed a few other details like the fan housing and alternator. I began to source all of my interior pieces, like seats from GTS and other trim items. Meanwhile, I decided to add a Martini stripe to the car as well as the Martini red bumpers. All of this was done in paint and clearcoted. The car was returned to the original shade of silver (8080). The body came back home in early October and now the fun began. My very helpful and knowledgable friend Peter helped, or I should say that I helped him, get the drivetrain back in the car. We completed this and had the car running after working several evenings into the early morning hours. Since that time I have been working out the bugs and have driven it a little bit. I am now completing a rebuild of the front brakes. The car has "S" calibers and so far everything has been pretty straightforward. More updates to follow.