Hello all!
I really need your expertise and advice on this one, so please, any help at all is most appreciated!
I am a newbie air-cooled owner. My wife and I bought a '73 Thing a little over a year ago in very good condition. Very pleased with it. However, I found out this weekend that a '74 Ghia will be up for auction later this week..
I sneaked into the lot this morning and checked out what I could. From my investigation into this car, it appears that it was last running in
1987 (I found some paper with that year on it). All the tires are flat. The paint is considerably faded, and there is only the slightest amount of cosmetic rust on the nose (smaller than a dime). The doors appear pretty solid and close all the way. The floor pans appeared (to me) to be okay, but there wasn't the greatest way to examine them considering the tires being flat. There is some rust on both rocker panels, but it looks fixable with some sand-blasting and Bondo. The dash's vinyl is cracked in various spots. Everything else looks stock, although there was noticeable over-spray onto the carpet near the doors which indicates there more than likely was a re-paint at some point.I think it is safe to assume this car has not run in almost 20 years and I don't imagine the auction lot is gonna even try to start the engine (if they even have a key!). It is probably being sold "AS IS" with little or no documentation (salvage title?).
My question is this: considering what I just presented, what would YOU bid on this car? What issues are involved with a car that hasn't run in almost 20 years? The brakes are probably shot, but what else should I be worried about? There is no way to test the transmission and what if that was the reason why it was abandoned in 1987? I am somewhat of a shade-tree mechanic with my others cars (a '73 MG Midget and a '78 Toyota Land Cruiser), but have never worked on a VW before. Are parts plentiful? Affordable? Are repairs easily done at home, or do I need an expert VW mechanic? Plus, I am NOT interested in replacing a whole engine, let alone a transmission at his point in time.
The bidding starts at $50.00. Should I stay under $1,000.00 or bid no more than $500.00 and store it until I am ready to fully invest my time and money into it?
I've always loved Ghias and now is a somewhat unique opportunity to get one with what appears to be a pretty solid body, but a very questionable engine and transmission. So, what would you guys do?
THANKS!
- Darren
BTW - this car is in central Ohio, and the speedometer reads 75,000... if that helps.