How to Revive Your "Barn Find" or "Field Find"

[Stray Catalyst]

So, you finally found that old bug, or bus, sitting out in a farmer's field since the dawn of time. It's complete, and the owner tells you it ran when he parked it, so many years ago.

So now what?

I've bought a handful of VWs this way - bugs, buses, a Thing, a few kit cars and dune buggies. They tend to have some of the same problems, due to their age. So, without further ado, here's a quick guide on how to change it from a long-dormant project to a drivable car again.

Tires:
Tires, even if they're holding air, do not last forever. If a tire shows any dry rot, weather cracking, unusual wear, or the like, replace it. Even if the tires are expensive, a blowout can kill or cripple you - it's not a place to save money. Any tire that's more than seven years old is risky to use, and should probably be replaced. If you're going to tow it home (either flat tow with a tow bar, or behind a tow truck) make sure that any tires that touch the road will survive the trip! If it's going home on a trailer or a flatbed, this is less important.

Wheels/Brakes:
If they turn, you're lucky. Often, brakes will stick, or the drums/disks will have enough surface rust to keep them from turning. Take the wheels and drums off and examine the brakes - are the cylinders leaking? Are the shoes/pads peeling off the backing? Are those vital springs still present and intact? If they look okay, and the drum isn't too rusts, bleed the brakes and see how ugly the fluid looks. Strongly consider replacing the brake lines, or at least the rubber ones. If the hand brake was engaged when they parked it, you're likely to have some trouble disengaging it, and the cable is probably toast, so just cut the cable (NOT the brake line!) if it doesn't work, and expect to replace it before you drive. Older VWs have a single system for all the brakes, so one blown or cut line will leave you with no brakes except the hand brake...

Engine:
When you go to look at the car, bring along some basic tools - fire extinguisher, test light, compression tester, an assortment of sockets and a ratchet, screwdrivers, etc. If it's been stored with the carb open to the weather, it's unlikely that you can use the engine as anything except a paperweight - when water gets in, it will rust the cylinders, the valves, and any other steel part it can find. You may be able to salvage the case and some other parts, but the engine itself is probably a goner. If it's in boxes in the back seat, don't expect that all the parts are there, or that all the parts that are there, are from that engine and/or are useful. If the engine is installed, and complete, and turns over, then you can compression test it - all cylinders 120 or over, it's got a lot of life left. Over 100, it's still potentially a running engine. Any cylinder more than 10-15 psi different from the rest, or any cylinder less than 95, the engine probably needs a rebuild. Any cylinder with zero compression, you probably have a stuck valve and you shouldn't try to start it. If it's missing the engine tin, don't try to run it, or it will rapidly overheat.
The oil has been sitting in that case since some time before the car was parked. Change it. The belt too, and it couldn't hurt to replace all the usual tuneup stuff, while you're at it. If the spark plugs are clean, you might be able to get away with reusing them. If it's been sitting for several years, you'll be better off doing an oil change, valve adjustment, and basic tuneup before you try to start it. Change the fuel filter (which is probably in the Molotov position, right behind the distributor) and drain the fuel out of the tank. Expect to replace all the fuel lines once, and the filter several times as the rust and gunk drains out of the gas tank. Fuel pump membranes also degrade with age, and if it's been there for a long time, you're going to have to rebuild the carb(s) to get the varnish out of it.
If it's been parked in a field, it's possible that rodents have built nests in it. Some of them like engines... and their nests provide good insulation where you absolutely do not want it. They also chew wires, eat the interior, and carry Hanta virus as an added bonus. I've removed mouse nests from on top of cylinders 3&4 - the mice roasted the first time I drove it, which didn't make the heat smell any better.

Electrical:
VWs are famous for electrical problems. It's not because they were poorly designed or made, it's because they're at least 30 years old by the time you get them, and have often had a series of semi-competent repairs inflicted upon them over the years. The first time you hook a battery to the vehicle, hook the positive lead, then tap the negative lead to the terminal and check for sparks. If the car is off (and the door is closed - the dome light is enough to give you a small spark) then you should see no sparks at all. A spark will indicate that you have at least one short to ground. Look on the floor under the fusebox and you may well find a bunch of blown fuses, probably all of the same value. These will give you a hint as to which system is going to need your attention first.
If it passes the spark test, you're not through yet.

Trans:
These are generally bulletproof. They're also difficult to test unless the engine runs, or has been removed so you can manually turn the clutch disk and see if it turns the wheels. Look over the boots on the axles if you have the opportunity - if the boots are intact, there's a much better chance that the CV joints under them are intact, too.

Hornets:
Hornets LOVE Volkswagens! I've found football sized hornet's nests under fenders, and heard of them in dashboards, engine compartments, and other inconvenient locations. It's one good reason to get cars during the winter, even with the added pain of snow and ice.

Rust:
In a car of this age, rust is pretty much a given. Look for structural rot - frame, heater channels, frame head, trans support members, mustache bar (if it's a newer bus) etc. If you're a welder with a garage, patience, and a lot of money, rust isn't a big worry. For the other 98% of people, look for a car that's only rusty in places you can replace or repair. Expect to find holes in the floor under the battery. If your jack points (two or four of them, depending on model) aren't rusted, then that's a few hundred dollars worth of rust work you won't have to do.

Paint:
Is covered in many places on the web. If you want a "purist" car then look for one with original paint, even if the paint is ugly. Otherwise, just look for one without too much rust, and don't worry about paint.

Interior:
Yep, old VWs have a peculiar funky smell. The smell will never go away, but it'll get fainter once you've opened the doors to air it out. After you've driven the car for a few weeks you won't notice the smell.
Seats are often worn and tired. If it's too uncomfortable to use, or it has springs sticking out, then replace the seat, or pile a couple of folded towels on it until you can replace it. Before you drive it, check the seatbelts, including the mount points. If there's rust around those mount points the seatbelt won't restrain you in a crash.
Attach a piece of wood to the bottom of the back seat, right over the battery. The springs on the bottom of the seat can create a fire by grounding out the battery. A bit of plywood and a few zip ties will prevent this.

Gas Tank:
If it was full of fuel when it was parked, it's full of varnish and rust now. If it was empty, it's full of a lot more rust. Expect to have to clean out and re-seal the tank, or replace if you have the budget. While you're doing this, it's the ideal time to replace all the fuel lines, and relocate that fuel filter to a safer place, like near the trans. Many, many engine fires are a result of that fuel filter in the engine compartment - it's not a coincidence that VW never placed them there.

Glass:
Some states won't let you drive a car if the windshield is fogged. Sunlight fogs the plastic in between the two layers of safety glass - it's usually worst on the bottom of the windshield. Wing/vent window latches and hinges often rust solid, but WD-40 sometimes can revive them. Window regulators (the things to roll them up and down) CAN be rebuilt, and they only take an hour or so each, so you don't have to replace a door just because the window is stubborn. If your car has safari windows, check the hinges and latches carefully. If it's a kit car with broken glass, you may be in for all the torments of the damned to find replacements... some kit cars used (for example) single-year-only Corvette glass, which was somewhat available when the car was new but now goes for a fortune, if you can find it at all. If it's a chop top, the glass will be cu$tom, and has to be made specifically for that car.

[jgm_72]

Great rightup. Should be very helpful for people picking up cars and not knowing where to start. The only times Ive been stung by any stinging insects in my adult years has been working on air cooled cars fresh out of fields. I would add a can of wasp killer and maby an epipen (sp? shot for people allergic to bee stings) where applicable

[Stray Catalyst]

Further lessons I'm learning from the Westy I just brought home...

When you get it home, wash it. That gives you a chance to examine every square inch of the bodywork, to see if that "patina" is a rust hole, etc. It also encourages you to work on it, because it looks more like a car and less like a rusting, moss-covered boulder in your driveway.

The first time you drive it, go a VERY short distance and bring it back, then check everything - lug nuts, check if one wheel is hot (sticky brake) or wobbly (bad bearing). If the steering didn't feel safe, you shouldn't drive it at all - pull over and call a tow truck, it's better than finding out how well the car crashes. Check the engine, and remember the way it sounded when you drove. My Westy had a sticky brake, so I pulled over as soon as I felt/smelled it, and I'm now working on the brakes - my mechanic warned me that one brake felt sticky, but I'd hoped I could free it up with some gentle use. It was safe enough to stop with, but the caliper didn't want to fully release and it finished its ride to my house on a flatbed.

The first time you drive, a cellphone and AAA card are as important as basic tools.

[Sneaks]

A couple of things I would like to add to David's fantastic list here..

- Flat towing or dolly towing...stop after a few miles of low speed travel and check: your safety chains (you did remember them, right?), tightness of the hold-down straps, etc. Also check the hubs for heat (bearing, stuck brake, etc). Grab the wheels and give 'em a good shake, are they solid? Are the tires unusually hot? I've had a wheel bearing go bad on a tow as well as a tire that looked perfectly fine but ended up zippering at about 60mph on I-95. Not fun. Always have a few extra ratchet straps with you, they are worth their weight in gold when that driver's door latch decides the pounding it's getting on the dirt road is more than it wants to deal with and lets go. Make sure you stop at a few places along the way that are well-traveled, you'd be surprised how many leads to parts and cars you can get just doing this.

- Skip those plastic see-through fuel filters and grab a suitable sized metal one, I use ones designed for 70's Chrysler products and have been very pleased.

- Before you make your shopping list for all those little pieces that are missing, pull out the spare tire and back seat, you'd be amazed at how many window cranks, dash knobs and stock radios I've found there.

[Stray Catalyst]

And a new field find!



My family has been plagued with car problems - a van that spent three months(!) in shops for transmission work, a pickup truck that stubbornly refuses to pass an inspection, my own crappy PT Cruiser - all led to a long period of one car, three employed drivers... painful combination. I finally got permission to get another car (as I was freely loaning my car to any that needed it) and started checking the uber-cheap VWs on Craigslist.

So, lots of "projects", more than a few "it ran last year, please don't pay attention to the huge rust holes and fire damage" and a small number of "I don't know what's wrong with it but the wife wants it out of the yard" cars came up as possibilities. Nothing I could afford was in running condition, but the ones that I could afford - some of them were completely disassembled but complete. Others were complete, and together, but really rusty. A few others were complete, not too rusty, but hadn't run for forever - I picked the one of those that was closest to where I lived.

It's a 1970 VW Bug, with an autostick. I've never seen so stock a bug up close - down to and including the original Sapphire AM radio in the dash, with one lonely mouse-eaten speaker in the dashboard. The seats were mouse-eaten, the windows all had bad gaskets (so the headliner was also toast, but still present) and the tires were dry rotted, but the only rust was in the luggage compartment due to the leaky rear window - good floors, good heater channels, solid floor even under the battery. The battery didn't have enough juice to even make a clicking noise, so I assumed it was going to have electrical problems - mice like wires - but it was $400, and I've rewired a bug before, so I got it anyway. The tires were good enough to flat tow it home, with a couple of stops to check if the wheels were getting warm.

Once I brought the car home, the first thing I did was wash it - it was parked under a tree, and was crusty with black mildew growing on the paint. Soap and warm water took the majority of the gross stuff off, though I'll still need to use rubbing compound and wax to make it shiny again (the shine in the picture is when it was wet). The seats were awful - the driver's seat less so than the passenger's seat, but it still took me a roll of Gorilla tape and a pair of seat covers to make them usable again. I picked a pattern of seat cover that was as similar to stock VW as possible. While I was working on the seats, I put the battery on a charger, as it was a fairly new battery - I was hoping I could save it in spite of it being stored discharged, to save another $80 or so.





By the time I finished with the seats, the battery had a charge - and the bug started! Crappy old gas and years of neglect, it still started and ran!

So, I drove it around the yard a bit to check brakes, steering, etc - but the tires were still too scary for road use, so I ordered four new tires, and cleaned up rust in the few days I had to wait.

Once the tires arrived and got mounted, I used the least bad tire as a spare... and drove to work. I was expecting disaster, but it ran fine. Autostick is new to me, and I'm not entirely fond of it - but $400 for a running air cooled VW was more than I could hope for. I'm keeping the car local to home for another week or so before I hit the highway with it and start roaming New England - this car may be the daily driver I've been hoping for.

[Bonemaro]

I'm currently on the road bringing my find home. I'll be sure to read this soon.

[Stray Catalyst]

I've been driving my 1970 Bug for a few weeks, and ran into a new problem - on the highway, when trucks pass me... clouds of dead bugs spew out of the vents! So - if you have this problem, use a shopvac on the vents to try to get rid of as many bugs as possible - don't wait for them to blow into the interior.

And maybe the shopvac will also reduce some of the old VW funk, assuming it's desiccated bugs in the vents. I'm also going to vacuum out the heater channels at the same time.

[Stray Catalyst]

Looks like time for another update of this article, as I've just been given (free!) a complete 1969 Westy that's been parked for a couple of years! It's a California bus, so the amount of rust, for New England, is practically zero. I'm told that it has a brand new gas heater, waiting to be installed, as well.

[Stray Catalyst]

Further updates!

I've lucked into a dream job, of sorts. I now work part time (in addition to the usual full time job) at a VW shop, working for an older mechanic who was factory trained in the 70's and has been working on VWs ever since. He has a yard full of VWs, many of which ran when parked but haven't moved for many years! So I have at least fifteen vehicles to try to start - a bunch of Ghias, several Bugs, three more buses, a pair of Vanagons...

So I picked a 74 Westy, largely at random, that hadn't been started for a decade or so. Center mounted 2 bbl carb on a later model pancake engine, electric fuel pump, minimal rust but maximum wasps nests (eight of them, just in the front doors!). Put in a battery, engine clicked once but wouldn't turn over. Wrench and swearing freed up the motor, sloshed a little gasoline into the carb and got it to fire but not run.

Gentle hammering on the carb, more sloshed gasoline (keep a fire extinguisher on hand) and I got it running. Added a gallon of gas to the fortunately-empty gas tank and the engine stays running! Drove it out of the parking place, leaving two deep scars in the grass where the front wheels failed to turn... two new brake calipers and it's ready to drive anywhere you'd go on tires with more cracks than Humpty Dumpty. I may end up replacing the mouse-eaten tent and the sun-ruined rubber seals on the roof, or selling it cheaply as a rust-free bus in New England.

Lessons learned - cold mornings make wasps sluggish, so you can run away before they swarm. Empty gas tanks have condensation problems but full gas tanks are much worse due to gasoline turning into caramel-colored tar. Old tires are about as safe as going over Niagara Falls in a barrel. If it ran when parked, there's a pretty good chance it will run again without major work, but a tuneup never hurts.