Today we are pleased to add a new section to our blog. These entries will document the storyline (as mostly written by the students) of the restoration and rebuild of a diesel VW Rabbit Pickup by students at Penn Manor High School in Lancaster, PA. We hope to help them along the with advice and some products to help their project move along. I think this will be a great chance to see them grow and hone their skills (not to mention maybe inspire some of our adult “beginners” to take on a project or two of your own!). Ill let one of the students Tyler kick it off with his background on the truck.
My name is Tyler Newswanger, I am one of the students from Penn Manor working on the Volkswagen diesel pickup. A basic history of our project began a few years ago when our chapter of TSA was working on creating bio-diesel. We wanted to continue our experiments and create a larger scale operation to create bio-diesel and have a vehicle to run it through. We wanted something that was unique and yet still usable. After searching several weeks, and several failed attempts, we were able to find our 1981 Volkswagen “Caddy.” It was in an old garage of which the owner was tearing down and had to remove the contents (see attached photos). It was delivered to our school with needs of a replacement head gasket and repair several spots of rust damage (see attached photo of driver’s side shock tower). In the past week we have set up a schedule to work Mondays and Fridays after school and start removing the head. We are currently in the process of cleaning parts that we have removed and finally removing the head.
For most people when you talk about a car show they think of shiny paint, chrome bits glistening in the sun, and proud owners prepping their cars in anticipation of being judged. This is the reason you go to a “Car Show” is for the “Cars”; right? Meanwhile there is a overlooked portion of most every car event that the your average show goer forgets. This is the swap meet or auto jumble (as our British counter parts like to call them). Most every show sees trucks and trailers full of old parts brought in, sold, traded, and dug through by fellow enthusiasts. These swap meets often can be a great way to find that hard-to-find bit or bob for your project that you have been searching for. Some, like myself go to a swap meet with more of a “treasure hunter” mentality, looking for rare or obsolete collectible parts that normally would be a fortune if sold in another venue.
Often times when unregulated (like when the wife wanders away to get lunch) we end up buying things at the swap meet we may question our thinking on later. This goes from something you already had 10 of to maybe something that is “neat” or “rare”, but you have NO real need or use for. I can recall a number of times walking out of a show with piles and piles of parts, only to try and figure out how to get it all in my car! One of my most guilty of times was when I bought a vintage VW/Audi/Porsche Microfiche machine (think of that giant machine you used to blow old newspaper/magazine articles up with in the high school library) for viewing old parts diagrams. If this wasn’t bad enough, I already had one I inherited from a local repair shop. But while in the moment, I couldn’t turn down the “amazing” price. Next thing I knew I was lugging this thing a mile across the parking lot in 90 degree weather to my tiny little car and asking myself what the heck I was thinking!
This past weekend our own “J.R.” here at Eastwood had a similar moment and came home with a vintage GM diagnostic tool. This is one of those cases where the price offset the forethought of where to put it, or the real necessity for it. But hey, who cares when it is something this neat! Apparently this unit is from the early-mid 70′s and it has all kinds of connections, from a timing light to a emissions analyzer lead! Measuring in at 4’5 in height, this is not something you can easily hide from the wife! In true swap meet fashion he even did a little “haggling” or negotiating to get the price to a comfortable spot for his wallet. If anything, this will be a cool vintage garage decoration and discussion piece, so definitely money well spent! Feel free to respond or comment with any cool treasures (or ridiculous items you regretted!) that you have turned up at the local swap meet, flea market, etc.!
While browsing one of my favorite auto forums that we currently advertise on www.thesamba.com , I found this amazing story of one of the original VW bug prototypes being uncovered in Lithuania. VW made a handful of prototype cars named VW38. Each of these cars were hand made and many found their way into the ownership of some legendary people. These cars can be seen in many old “war era” photos during German/Nazi parades and social gatherings.
Above is a picture and video of the car as it was found in Lithuania. The car was heavily modified with parts from a Russian Volga sedan and therefore many of the original parts for it had to be re-fabricated by hand. Since this car was built completely from hand originally, it seems quite fitting that the restoration/rebuild is being done the same way. Everything from the firewall to the steering column components to the windshield frame and running gear have been replaced along the way with parts from other cars (mostly all from a Volga!). Most would have certainly given up if faced withthe task of restoring this car. But, because of how important to the history of the vintage car community this car is, the car was turned over to a master restoration shop specializing in KDF cars. They then began cutting away what wasn’t original to help with the decision of what had to be fabricated to bring it back to original state. As you can see there wasn’t much left of what was the original car!
This project is so very important in the history of these cars that it was put on display at the church of Hessisch Oldendorf for the masses of VW fans to come and view the shell of this legendary car. This goes to show how much of a “religion” old cars are to some of us. (Note to readers: Show this blog to your significant other next time they yell at you for spending too much time/money on “that rusty old junker”).
During the cutting and chopping of this car, they came to find that the car was in fact the license plate number 43006. Which makes this the 6th VW38 prototype built! It is quite “eery” to look at old photos of this car! I’m sure no one in these pictures could ever imagine this car would be found some 70 years later in a Lithuanian back yard!
Along the way. the restoration shop has carefully recreated some of the key items that were lost when this car was modified over the years. Anything from dash bits to gauge cluster pieces, to even the glove box were remade by hand! There isn’t a item that has been overlooked or they have planned to bring back to the original condition.
This project is still going and the metal work and fabrication being done to restore this to original condition is something you’d see when restoring any other “ancient artifact” in a museum. Projects and stories like these are what all of us as car enthusiasts need to keep us going on that “never ending project”. Feel free to check the Samba forum thread listed below for further details on the specifics of this build. Also check the website devoted to the restoration and history of this car (just brush up on your German first!) Enjoy the read and watch out for more intense restoration projects as I dig their stories up for everyone!
Subscribe to this blog