Meet Niknak, my brother in laws T3 hightop and my new winter project. Its going to be weather dependant as its too high to fit in the garage though atleast its under cover (sort of), so progress might be slow. I've had a quick poke around today to see what work needs doing. For a 37 year old converted panel van its not too bad. Dented panel filled with 1/2" of filler. Other corner had been filled and a seam sanded into the filler. Gonna need a new lower panel welding in A little work to the arch plus some work to the bottom and rear of the snorkel box. Hole here into the engine bay is going to be fun to sort with the engine in. The usual T3 rot location at the end of the sill where the rubberised factory underseal stuff has dried out, cracked and let water in.
Sill under the sliding door is mostly solid, though the seal retaining strip was 90% rotten and had caused the sill to become holed a bit. Rear valance is shot. Its been damaged, is bent, rotten and was full of mud so is toast. Theres also a rotten exhaust hanging off it. Sliding door needs work as the mechanism is worn so it likes to fall off sometimes. Drivers door is missing the bottom 2 or 3" of metal inside and the outer skin is pretty knackered too. Think a replacement door is probably the best option. Will have to see if i can find an early door in Marsala red as that'd just mean the top half would need painting white. The lower half of the body is painted a faded red thats turning pink so it'll get painted Marsala red to match the inside next year once its warm enough to paint outside again. Its running a 1.9AAZ turbo diesel from a passat though it was fitted without the turbo, probably using the original 1600 or 1700 diesel inlet and exhaust manifolds and exhaust and its gutless. Big parts list is needed to fit a turbo to it though.
I've got another one needing similar work to do aswell, though theres no space undercover for that one so i think making a carport (with sides) next to the garage is in order.
I'm still working out whats needed parts wise. Its mostly rear end panels i think plus the slider mechanism. It isn't too bad given its age. I've definately seen and restored much worse. Fitting the turbo is out of the equation now as the parts list easily adds up to £5-600 plus the cost of a decent turbo. The 1.6TD manifold has a obscure mounting shape so theres not many turbos that'll fit and the AAZ manifold off the passat the engine came out of won't clear the side of the engine bay or engine lid as it puts the turbo too high. I'm hoping a good tuneup with the injection timing set correctly will give a bit more power. It currently runs out of puff on motorway grades. The specs for a 1Y code (basically an AAZ without the turbo) should be putting out about 63 BHP and 91lbft of torque which you'd expect to be just enough to keep ahead of trucks on a hill but isn't. Its running an unknown 4 speed petrol box and 185/75/14 tyres instead of 185/14 so somethings not quite matched or adjusted properly. It'll run 70+ on the motorway until you get to a hill so maybe the gearing is too high?
First box of parts arrived. Lower rear corner, an engine bay lid seal and a nylon guide for the sliding door. Still haven't found a rear valance body cut and the new panels are £300. Drivers door is rotten along the bottom and all the doors i can find are for the other side, are stupidly priced £1o0+ or miles away. No-one seems to make an inner door repair though you can buy the outer lower skin. The rear end of the rear arch doesn't seem to be available (in the UK at least) so you need to buy a complete arch to use just the back 3".
How far away are you from HG3 postcode? The fella I rent my workshop space from is cutting up a t25 and has some extra doors aswell
Nathan at NB restorations is tooling up and making quite a few panels so it might be worth speaking to him Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I'm about 250 miles away. I'm heading to my parents for xmas though so passing close(ish) by on the A59.
I have a nsr arch that is no use to me I'm happy to cut it about and post for a small donation to a charity if it helps
I’ll try and get some pics when I’m next down the workshop and if anything is of interest I’ll put you in touch with him
I have a couple of good doors and a few body cuts, which part of arch are you looking for, any pictures?
Finally got an afternoon to chop some rot out. Inner structure behind the back valance corner is toast. So i chopped it out. Other side is just the same so it'll get the chop too. Doesn't look tood bad to fab something up though. I really need the towbar out of the road but the drivers side 3 bolts are being a PITA to remove. Rear of back arch gone. So is the bottom of the rear corner.
I thought the edge of the snorkel box floor was OK but it was so thin i just chopped it out. Wire brushing off the factory rubberised underseal stuff shows its not too bad. I've seen some where the whole vertical face is non existant under the sealant. Still a fair amount to chop out though. This should be fun to sort as access isn't great. I need to figure out how the air filter housing unbolts from the inlet manifold so i can get a grinder in.