I'm very new to the world of 356's and was asking for anyone's help please on identifying the good and bad points of this car and any questions I should be asking before I bid on it...
http://bit.ly/1w6mVJ0
Thankyou very much.
Original Post
Replies sorted oldest to newest
I am not an expert on home-built CMCs, but I can see several things that would concern me.
1. The car appears to be afflicted with the rear end droop. Look at he picture of the driver side door and note the large gap at the top.
2. The engine is missing the tins that keep the hot air below the car out of the engine compartment, which often result in overheating issues.
3. The carpeting (?) on the seat backs almost looks as if it was stapled on.
4. It sits up awfully high in back and low in front, meaning the caster is probably screwed up, resulting in some scary stability and steering issues.
I've seen better cars on this board for similar money. Hopefully some of the folks with more applicable experience will speak up. Alan?
Thanks! How much of a job is it to fix the caster and the rear end droop? My dad is a mechanic so hoping no labour costs are needed.
Ditto what Lane said. This looks more like a 5 - 6 K car than a 10K (starting bid) car to me. If the things you can't see look as bad as the things you can see I would not even make an offer on this car. Keep shopping my friend, there's some great cars out there for the same or a little more money than the seller's offer.
my 2 kroner
Hoss
Butt sag (stated in ad) is afternoon fix and $25 worth of steel, bolts and liquid nails. Engine is missing 2 side fiberglass (or metal) heat sealing pieces and rubber gasket - a 2 hour $40 fix. Probably has CMC recommended cut/twist/weld front end lowering method and back torsion bars were not adjusted lower - 6 hour no cost fix. Interior as stated in ad does need some attention. Don't expect heat in car as the tubes are blocked off and suspect no proper heater boxes (J tubes are often used since they are cheap). You'll need to make side curtains ($100). So all could be fixed for less than $2k. Would the assembly date of 1986 not be issue? You'd be better off if it were registered as a 1969 VW I suspect. No offers and only 2 days to go - make offer so he has it should the car not sell. If you can do the work - it is inexpensive entry into Speedster hobby. If you can't do work yourself - move on and spend more.
From the looks of it, I would avoid this car. Just too much wrong to make it a fun driver.
8K max
Thanks for all your advice. We are experienced in VW's so hope it will help! To import a replica to Australia, I need the date that it was manufactured (before 1989), rather than the year of the pan. So all is good on that front. I like the idea of it not being painted, so there will be no worries of getting it scratched in shipping, and also that I can paint it whatever colour I like. Even once it's restored, it's still ending up far cheaper than I could wish for. To put my mind at ease I will be getting an inspector to take a look and if there's no other big problems, I will take the suggestion of offering a lower price. You've all really helped me out, so thankyou.
http://delaware.craigslist.org/cto/4520026117.html
This might be a better platform to start with. Offer $12K and meet in the middle.
She's an absolute beauty, Bill! I could never access Craigslist (must be because i live in Aus?!) but that link worked. You're right, something like this, all ready to go, and with a bigger engine, is more of the way to go. Just got to find out when it was made.
Did someone say bigger engine?
Lane and Greg are spot on and that is just what you can see in the photos , usually a few additional surprises when seen in person.....
I agree... it's best to upgrade to this one and save you a lot of time and stre$$
Alan
http://delaware.craigslist.org/cto/4520026117.html
This might be a better platform to start with. Offer $12K and meet in the middle.
Alan- The guy's ad says the 2 liter engine has a stock cam (interesting choice for a 2 liter). I've emailed him for confirmation, and I'll report back if I hear from him. Al
YUP An $80 cam upgrade when building a 1915 can give a substantial bump in HP over using a stock one.
I took everyone's advice and didn't buy that car. The other one I think may be sold. I found it on another website saying it was sold and after a few days, I haven't had a reply back.