Excited to see your progress!
Those seats looked gigantic in that car lol
Those seats looked gigantic in that car lol
My new project -- Saving a 1964 Volkswagen Notchback
So as some of you know, I build stuff. I don't reassemble stock cars, I build resto mod cars.
I also build engines on the side for people. I've never posted any pics from that because people just don't seem interested in me nerding out about engine specs and looking at pics of me fine tuning clearances. But I figure I can slip it into a larger thread about a whole car that I'm building and people will be none the wiser. So when I got ready to get my new house I spent time selling off all of my cars, save the essential ones. So I got rid of a 1963 Karmann Ghia, a 1958 Sedan, a 1981 Rabbit 'vert and my 87 coupe Jetta. I kept my E350 and my 1955 Chevy Nomad. This also gave me a chance to rebuild my collection of cars. Yes there will be more coming in the future.
Fast forward a year and I took possession of my new house and began plotting. I started looking for a Volkswagen Notchback. These are by far and away my favorite VW's. I've had a couple of them in the past, more specifically a 63 and a 65. These were never officially imported into the US. Yes we got the Squareback and in 1966 we started getting the Fastback, but never the Notch. With that being said these used to be more plentiful, meaning you used to actually be able to locate one. Now, not so much. So I looked and then I looked some more. I wanted to stay away from a car that needed a ton of metal work (read: rust) because the metal is insanely hard to find. There are some parts that are very specific to the notch and it also so happens that those are the rusty bits. So fixing a rusty one would have included either stumbling upon a donor car or fabricating everything from scratch. While either is possible, it just adds to the total price tag of the car. And while I don't plan on selling this car I also don't want to go 100k deep into it. I know that number sounds huge but it's not impossible on a notch considering that rusty hulks regularly sell for 6-10k and a good solid shell that "runs and drives" is probably a 20k car to start. so I put up a 'Want to buy" ad on The Samba and began scouring Facebook and chasing down other IRL leads to find a car.
Eventually I ended up finding one that to be honest slightly scares the **** out of me, due to what I may find. But also is pretty solid from a rusted out piece of **** standpoint. I found a car via my online ad in San Antonio, TX, which is only about 110 miles from me. Lucky me, right. So I drove down and looked at it, the seller and I agreed to a price and a time was arranged to go and pick it up. Once I got it a few things stood in my way. I needed to build out my garage was the big one. If I started tearing this car apart without first sealing the floors, it would never happen. And also time, there's that.
So the car I found is kind of a mess. It was converted into an electric car, really an oversized golf cart. Not an electric car like you'd picture. So the wiring is well, butchered. He cut out parts of the car to make room for batteries and access, not to mention the butchery to mount the motor. He apparently thought it was a big joke so he also painted the car Electron Blue off a 1998 Honda Civic Si. Cool color, but not for this car. His assembly skills left something to be desired and the paint was a 10 footer job at best. So needless to say he was having a hard time selling it. So I bought it.
The car itself is a decent base to start with, it needs some metal but not a huge deal. It's just ugly and put together really badly. So the current plan for the car is to tear it down to the shell and strip the paint back. Maybe I get back to the original sea blue, maybe I don't. But this car won't leave my garage electron blue. I plan to paint it down the road, but I want to completely build the car first, drive it around for the shows one year then blow it all back apart and paint it. I will be doing all the powdercoating, painting, restoration and fabrication of everything else at this point though, so there will be shiny stuff. I'm also going to redo the interior when I blow it apart for paint. So at this point we're doing the mechancals and getting the car back into a good place. If time permits I'd like to have it driving by this coming summer. We'll see if that happens but that's the plan. Next winter fall/winter I'll rip it back apart to paint it.
I also plan on spending a small fortune building this motor. It's going to be a stroker motor, but I'm also going to get rid of the dual carbs and conjure up an EFI system and use stand alone to manage it. I also plan on getting rid of the distributor and going to a crank fire ignition system with individual coil packs. Oh yeah, I'm also going to turbo charge and intercool it to get the power up near 300whp. I know that doesn't' sound like a lot but this car weighs damn near nothing and a 250whp car can get you into the 10's with one. Transaxle will be built appropriately as will the chassis. I'm also going to fit this all under the stock engine cover. While that wallet killing motor is being built I'm going to do a "sweep the floor" build with parts that I already have. I'll add a few here or there but I already have some of it. so I'm probably going to put an 1835cc motor together for the moment. In any case this post is starting to get long with many words. So let's move onto the pics and where I currently am with it.
First set of pics is the day of pickup.
![Wheel Tire Car Vehicle Sky]()
So super exciting, right. I picked the car up loaded it on a trailer and drove it back to my house.
![Automotive parking light Vehicle registration plate Vehicle Car Automotive lighting]()
Here it is tucked into my one car garage last spring. I washed it off and pushed it in.
![Tire Wheel Car Automotive parking light Vehicle]()
Here you can see some of the horrible panel fitment. It gets better the PO was a hack.
![Car Vehicle Motor vehicle Window Automotive design]()
Who does this to a notch? The seats don't even fit in without being crushed by the door.
![Vehicle Hood Car Motor vehicle Vehicle door]()
Gross.
So I could do much while it lived in the other garage, waiting for me to finish the two car. But I couldn't look at that interior, so I ripped it out.
![Tire Automotive tire Vehicle Comfort Wheel]()
![Rectangle Asphalt Road surface Flooring Font]()
![Automotive parking light Hood Motor vehicle Automotive lighting Vehicle]()
![Car Vehicle Motor vehicle Hood Blue]()
![Vehicle Car Motor vehicle Hood Blue]()
Next post coming up is the butchery and I start taking things out of it...
I also build engines on the side for people. I've never posted any pics from that because people just don't seem interested in me nerding out about engine specs and looking at pics of me fine tuning clearances. But I figure I can slip it into a larger thread about a whole car that I'm building and people will be none the wiser. So when I got ready to get my new house I spent time selling off all of my cars, save the essential ones. So I got rid of a 1963 Karmann Ghia, a 1958 Sedan, a 1981 Rabbit 'vert and my 87 coupe Jetta. I kept my E350 and my 1955 Chevy Nomad. This also gave me a chance to rebuild my collection of cars. Yes there will be more coming in the future.
Fast forward a year and I took possession of my new house and began plotting. I started looking for a Volkswagen Notchback. These are by far and away my favorite VW's. I've had a couple of them in the past, more specifically a 63 and a 65. These were never officially imported into the US. Yes we got the Squareback and in 1966 we started getting the Fastback, but never the Notch. With that being said these used to be more plentiful, meaning you used to actually be able to locate one. Now, not so much. So I looked and then I looked some more. I wanted to stay away from a car that needed a ton of metal work (read: rust) because the metal is insanely hard to find. There are some parts that are very specific to the notch and it also so happens that those are the rusty bits. So fixing a rusty one would have included either stumbling upon a donor car or fabricating everything from scratch. While either is possible, it just adds to the total price tag of the car. And while I don't plan on selling this car I also don't want to go 100k deep into it. I know that number sounds huge but it's not impossible on a notch considering that rusty hulks regularly sell for 6-10k and a good solid shell that "runs and drives" is probably a 20k car to start. so I put up a 'Want to buy" ad on The Samba and began scouring Facebook and chasing down other IRL leads to find a car.
Eventually I ended up finding one that to be honest slightly scares the **** out of me, due to what I may find. But also is pretty solid from a rusted out piece of **** standpoint. I found a car via my online ad in San Antonio, TX, which is only about 110 miles from me. Lucky me, right. So I drove down and looked at it, the seller and I agreed to a price and a time was arranged to go and pick it up. Once I got it a few things stood in my way. I needed to build out my garage was the big one. If I started tearing this car apart without first sealing the floors, it would never happen. And also time, there's that.
So the car I found is kind of a mess. It was converted into an electric car, really an oversized golf cart. Not an electric car like you'd picture. So the wiring is well, butchered. He cut out parts of the car to make room for batteries and access, not to mention the butchery to mount the motor. He apparently thought it was a big joke so he also painted the car Electron Blue off a 1998 Honda Civic Si. Cool color, but not for this car. His assembly skills left something to be desired and the paint was a 10 footer job at best. So needless to say he was having a hard time selling it. So I bought it.
The car itself is a decent base to start with, it needs some metal but not a huge deal. It's just ugly and put together really badly. So the current plan for the car is to tear it down to the shell and strip the paint back. Maybe I get back to the original sea blue, maybe I don't. But this car won't leave my garage electron blue. I plan to paint it down the road, but I want to completely build the car first, drive it around for the shows one year then blow it all back apart and paint it. I will be doing all the powdercoating, painting, restoration and fabrication of everything else at this point though, so there will be shiny stuff. I'm also going to redo the interior when I blow it apart for paint. So at this point we're doing the mechancals and getting the car back into a good place. If time permits I'd like to have it driving by this coming summer. We'll see if that happens but that's the plan. Next winter fall/winter I'll rip it back apart to paint it.
I also plan on spending a small fortune building this motor. It's going to be a stroker motor, but I'm also going to get rid of the dual carbs and conjure up an EFI system and use stand alone to manage it. I also plan on getting rid of the distributor and going to a crank fire ignition system with individual coil packs. Oh yeah, I'm also going to turbo charge and intercool it to get the power up near 300whp. I know that doesn't' sound like a lot but this car weighs damn near nothing and a 250whp car can get you into the 10's with one. Transaxle will be built appropriately as will the chassis. I'm also going to fit this all under the stock engine cover. While that wallet killing motor is being built I'm going to do a "sweep the floor" build with parts that I already have. I'll add a few here or there but I already have some of it. so I'm probably going to put an 1835cc motor together for the moment. In any case this post is starting to get long with many words. So let's move onto the pics and where I currently am with it.
First set of pics is the day of pickup.
So super exciting, right. I picked the car up loaded it on a trailer and drove it back to my house.
Here it is tucked into my one car garage last spring. I washed it off and pushed it in.
Here you can see some of the horrible panel fitment. It gets better the PO was a hack.
Who does this to a notch? The seats don't even fit in without being crushed by the door.
Gross.
So I could do much while it lived in the other garage, waiting for me to finish the two car. But I couldn't look at that interior, so I ripped it out.
Next post coming up is the butchery and I start taking things out of it...
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Next up we have evidence of his hackery and me taking things apart. It's where I'm at right now with it. I haven't gotten too far yet but that should change over the next few weeks. And luckily for me most of the hackery took place at the rear of the car.
![Motor vehicle Hood Automotive tire Mode of transport Automotive exterior]()
Here you get a glimpse of the original color of the car, which is sea blue.
![Wood Automotive tire Motor vehicle Automotive exterior Composite material]()
![Hood Automotive lighting Motor vehicle Automotive tire Vehicle registration plate]()
![Vehicle Car Hood Motor vehicle Automotive lighting]()
First task is to remove the windows
![Automotive tire Automotive lighting Hood Motor vehicle Grille]()
Best way to do that is to cut into the rubber and try to create a channel
![Automotive parking light Car Vehicle Plant Automotive lighting]()
Cal look window rubber, gross...
![Automotive parking light Automotive lighting Hood Automotive tire Grille]()
![Grille Hood Automotive lighting Sleeve Textile]()
![Car Vehicle Land vehicle Hood Automotive lighting]()
Then you cut away sections of the rubber that lay over the glass. Also at this point you want to do a vertical relief cut. It helps with the stress on the glass and lowers the likelihood of cracking it while banging on it with other parts loose. Then just peel the top layer away. The glass should just be sitting on the rubber shelf you left behind and you can just lift the window out with no stress on the glass.
![Tire Car Vehicle Wheel Land vehicle]()
Then you end up with a window-less car. I still have to take the doors apart, but I'm working on the car all this week and I've taken off work until the 9th so we'll see how far I get.
Here you get a glimpse of the original color of the car, which is sea blue.
First task is to remove the windows
Best way to do that is to cut into the rubber and try to create a channel
Cal look window rubber, gross...
Then you cut away sections of the rubber that lay over the glass. Also at this point you want to do a vertical relief cut. It helps with the stress on the glass and lowers the likelihood of cracking it while banging on it with other parts loose. Then just peel the top layer away. The glass should just be sitting on the rubber shelf you left behind and you can just lift the window out with no stress on the glass.
Then you end up with a window-less car. I still have to take the doors apart, but I'm working on the car all this week and I've taken off work until the 9th so we'll see how far I get.
Looking forward to following this! 
Yasssss. Needless to say I'm perfectly happy to nerd out about your engine specs, so bring 'em on!
300ish HP in something like this will be a terror. Most would be astonished with how strong they feel with 150.
I'm saddened that you sold your '58, as that thing was just about perfect.
(Most people don't know about or forgot about that "Razor Edge" Ghia!)
300ish HP in something like this will be a terror. Most would be astonished with how strong they feel with 150.
I'm saddened that you sold your '58, as that thing was just about perfect.
So you've had a Squareback, Fastback, and a Type 3 Karmann Ghia?
(Most people don't know about or forgot about that "Razor Edge" Ghia!)
2 Squares, 2 Fastbacks, and a ratty Ghia (that had big plans but never got finished). At the time, the Type III Ghia was unloved and cheap, unlike the "regular" Ghia...So you've had a Squareback, Fastback, and a Type 3 Karmann Ghia?
Nice! I figured you had forgotten about it! For those unaware, the Type 3 Ghia (Model 343 in LHD form) and Notchback were never imported into the U.S. and we only officially got the Squareback and Fastback.
I've had 2 Squarebacks, a Fastback and dad had a '63 Notch when I was a kid that I barely remember. I was young enough that I sat on the armrest and mostly remember it because I started a ruckus bouncing on it while dad was driving.
I'd love another Fasty. Those are my favorite Type 3, bar none.They're quit rare in the U.S. and most came from Canada, which did import them.
Then there are the weird Brazilian cars that look like a mash-up of the Type 3 and Type 4, but I should shut up before I really screw up his thread.
Very nice. Excited to watch this.
Those specs will be in here along with the actual build of the motor. I'm using an AS41 case that's already cut for 94's so I'm probably gonna run thick walled 92's on it. I've got a set of big valve heads too 40x35's but the port is stock and its a VW casting, so I may do a set of Panchitos because they're super cheap. I'm trying to figure out what I want to do with gearing on it so the transaxle is still up in the air. The catch is with the STF build that will be in there first is that I have a "over the top" type 3 exhaust that uses heater boxes, so I can't push a lot of air out, so anything too wild will get choked anyways. The turbo setup I was talking with A1 to build a turbo header for it, putting the turbo on the driver's side of the engine bay, so I can run the charge cooler on the other side. Packaging is going to be a constant issue.Yasssss. Needless to say I'm perfectly happy to nerd out about your engine specs, so bring 'em on!
300ish HP in something like this will be a terror. Most would be astonished with how strong they feel with 150.
I'm saddened that you sold your '58, as that thing was just about perfect.
I agree the color itself isn't bad. I had a Porcelain Blue Jetta, about 20 years ago, that was very similar in color. Just not on this car.
Thanks for the compliments on the 58 and my building abilities, I appreciate it. That car was really good and it is being featured in a magazine. It was shot for a cover. This car is going to be better by the way. The engine tech out there now is just fantastic to where I can build a single throttle body fuel injection system with just a small bit of fab work for tubing, manifolds and the like. Most of the stuff I can buy off the shelf, like the management, injectors, etc...
For those that haven't seen it, this is the 58 I built.
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