I purchased this in April, 1998 from a fellow who lives about 30 miles south of me, along the coast in a small fishing town. He said he was getting into 4x4's and needed to clear the bus out of his yard. He had driven it for several years, then had a serious enough problem to require a replacement engine; he bought a used single-port 1600 and drove it for a while until it started to get "low compression" and he parked it.

The thumbnails below show the condition in summer 1998; click any for a fullsize view.

Parked in my folks' barn near Lake Seminole, Georgia

Emergency escape hatch in poptop. Must've been some party.

Tranny after I pulled the engine and CVs/axles. Possibly a mainshaft oil seal leak? I also pulled the tranny and checked front mount and gearshift lever bushings.

This is the interior unit for the "Volkswagen Products Corp." air conditioner. The controls are on the side of the driver's seat pedestal and on the dash. Everything seems to be present and in good shape except -- no compressor.

Gives you an idea of how rust-free the car is. I've jacked it up with the stock jack at all four points with no signs of weak metal.

The PO says he had a tire come apart and tear up this wheelwell. The battery tray is long gone. However, this is about the worst area on the whole car. The paint is pretty even and there are few rust bubbles. The white "dust" on everything is Wakulla County sand.

I replaced the gearshift rod bushings, rear wheel bearings, CV boots and rebuilt the engine (Type2 listmembers know of my woes with reusing the old case and having it seize TWICE; it now has a new case); rebuilt the brakes (front calipers still a bit sticky), fixed the horn & got all the electricals in order; replaced the windshield seal and one rear side window seal (the ventwing frame was rotted so I used one-piece glass....

Finally brought it home from the farm in summer 1999 and had it on the road in time for a camping trip with the kids at Christmas, complete with correct add-a-room tent.