Jon's 3.2 Hot Rod build

[65 deluxe]

Hi Folks , I've been lurking on here for a little while and thought id start a build thread on my car .

I own a small VW restoration company in Wiltshire - England and was recently offered a 3.2 at a price I could not turn down .

Always had a hankering for an early 911 or 356 but prices are prohibitive so I decided to build my own .

So this is what I picked up - 1986 - 3.2 - Euro spec car, RHD



Non Runner as purchased - back to my place on a trailer


Up on a ramp to see haw rotten it is


I was expecting the worse and I got what I was expecting ;-)

Inner wings ( Fenders ) on front


Rust under the front



The normal sills - Kidneys etc



Jacking points



Some rust in the rear 1/4



First Job was to get it running - after a bit of research and testing I changed the crank speed sensor and it burt into life - Not Flames but it did look like it - I Guess there was a fair bit of oil that had managed to get past the valves etc into the exhaust - after a while it cleared

[Discseven]

Love the smoker shot!

[fransdecourt]

Going by the pics i have seen of the various classic VW models you have restored, I'm sure you'll do a great job on your 3.2 also. Good luck and keep posting pics and details of the process.
Cheers from NZ, Frans

[Elombard]

Wow - non sunroof euro motor car - that is a great starting point. Do they salt the roads over there? I know it rains a good bit but I am always surprised how even more modern cars rust so much. I grew up in Seattle - similar weather but galvanized cars dont rust out.

[65 deluxe]

Originally Posted by Elombard

Wow - non sunroof euro motor car - that is a great starting point. Do they salt the roads over there? I know it rains a good bit but I am always surprised how even more modern cars rust so much. I grew up in Seattle - similar weather but galvanized cars dont rust out.

Bad pictures I'm afraid - there is a sunroof and yes they salt the roads in a big way and they rot out badly !!

[65 deluxe]

As I have the car running I'm happy that the engine is OK - I do have a quite loud knocking on the right hand side that could be the rockers - or maybe the cam chain - I will investigate this later .

I have been looking at all the body and bumpers etc and have realised that if I am going to get this to a high quality car I will have to replace all the rubbers and trim anyway - so I decided to build myself a little Hot Rod .

The main thing I wanted to do was to build it all from steel , using as many original parts as possible .

Some of which have come from this very forum - so thanks for that .

The first bits to be found were the rear bumpers - From a SWB car as I like the trim more .



I removed the trim which was in very good condition



Lots of black rubbish



After a bit of cleaning it comes up ok - needs a bit of straightening and blasting on the inside



Not much in the way of progress but its something