Thing as daily driver , have ?s

detailbarn · Post by **detailbarn** » Tue Feb 10, 2004 2:01 pm

My wife wants to get into the VW scene with me and we where looking at getting a Syncro Vanagon for her but I prefer aircooled due to thier simplicity. She found a picture of a thing and fell in love with it so I'm stoked that she found an air-cooled she can call here own. But with all good things there are negatives the biggest being the height of the door sill , she thinks that it will be difficult to get in and out of esepcially in a skirt. My questions are can the sills be cut down and the doors be extended down to make the opening lower? Or is it really not as bad as it looks and will be ok for a daily driver. Last she loves the fact that it's covertable but in the winter a hard top will be a must, do you have to remove the soft top to put on the hard top. Thanks Much for the help. Here is the picture she found and what she wants her's to look like.

http://www.autopia.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=5663

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Capn Skully · Post by **Capn Skully** » Wed Feb 11, 2004 5:02 am

Things are different to climb in and out of. I ruined three pairs of dress pants on mine.

I can't condone extensive body mods because you are likely to have trouble selling it later. Of course it is your car and I wish you all the best with your project.

Michael Basso · Post by **Michael Basso** » Wed Feb 11, 2004 6:35 am

yes, you must remove the soft top to put the hardtop on,

if your wife is wearing a skirt, i recommend that you maybe test drive one first.

rfoutch · Post by **rfoutch** » Wed Feb 11, 2004 8:23 am

Getting in and out can be a problem, but running boards or nerf bars for her to step on first would solve the issue.

I am sure that Mike has some running boards around that he can let go of.

Other than that, I don't see a problem with it.

Randy

Bob Ingman · Post by **Bob Ingman** » Wed Feb 11, 2004 8:44 am

If you have a 73 Thing it will be equipped with a gas heater. It will supply more than enough heat during winter. Best of luck. Bob Ingman

Post by **Marc** » Wed Feb 11, 2004 9:58 am

By all means have her drive one first - they're pretty austere inside and not everyone enjoys the serenade of noises/rattles/thumps you're exposed to in the typical one.

detailbarn · Post by **detailbarn** » Wed Feb 11, 2004 10:02 am

thanks for the reply's everyone , we went and looked at one last night and decieded it won't be good for a daily driver for her. So it's back to the Syncro Vanagon , which is a cool vehicle in it's own right so I'll just have half of the garage air-cooled and the other half water-cooled.

MNAirHead · Post by **MNAirHead** » Thu Feb 12, 2004 7:57 am

SKIRT.......

This one reminds me of the day I picked up my girlfriend (now bride) in our Mini-T.....

Mini-T's are by FAR the toughest car to get into -- they have running boards that must be spanned over to get in or out...

SO....

She's a real sport... jumped into the car without complaining....

We showed up to the pub for dinner ... they had tall mirrored glass floor-to-ceiling windows.

We got free dinner....

WHY????

She was wearing a mini-skirt... Guess all the guys in the bar enjoyed her trying to span our fiberglass tub without using the front windshield or touching the running boards.

Unless you have the top off and a roll bar to grab onto (or running boards like suggested) it may be tought to get in or out of.

T.

T.

lastsafari · Post by **lastsafari** » Mon Feb 16, 2004 6:55 pm

cutting the sides will reduce the structural rigidity of a Thing. The floor tunel will not hold long enough the car´s driving once the sides are cut since there is no roof.

Bob Ingman · Post by **Bob Ingman** » Tue Feb 17, 2004 10:38 am

Welcome back Pedro. We`ve missed you. Best of luck. Bob Ingman