...a DARKSIDE work in progess.

Learn all about her in the sections below.

Her Story

Current Project Status

Rustoration

Future Plans
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

My Car's Story

I originally bought this 1971 VW Fastback in Erie, PA in 1992 from the first owner's granddaughter. She had 36k miles on her and had been well cared for. The interior was black vinyl and in perfect condition, the exterior was light blue and although the front fenders had been replaced and repainted, the rest of the exterior was original. The powertrain was completely stock and in great condition. 

I drove the car for a little over a year, but it was too nice to be considered for customizing, which is what I wanted to do. I just could not bring myself to put her under the knife(torch). I eventually sold her to my wife's cousin in NY state. Pam drove the car for 3 years, putting on an additonal 30k miles or so. When her family grew too large for the Fastback and it began to show the signs of having spent 3 winters on the NY roads(rust), Pam parked the Fasty with a FOR SALE in the window.

In 1996, I bought my girl back. The only problem was she was in NY and I was in MI by that time. She was no longer road worthy enough for the 600 mile trip, needing brake work and an exhaust at a minimum. It took me a year and a half to finally get her back to MI, but she finally arrived in June of 1998. 

I began the process of stripping her down for rustoration and a custom interior. In the fall of 1998, I switched jobs again and she made the trip to MN in the moving van with all of our other stuff. 

May 30, 2000

After spending one year in the frozen North, I went back to work for Ford and she made the trip on the moving van back to Dearborn, MI. Check out the Current Status  for more information on her current state.

March 31, 2002

Well, I have not done much with Jane during the last year or so.  Not since getting the 66 Squareback.  I am actually  a bit ashamed to say that she has been neglected.  I have even "borrowed" parts from her for the Squareback. 8^(  But I have not given up on this dream project of mine.  She is just on hold until I can get the Squareback painted this spring and the engine rebuilt for the trip to Parma for the Invasion.  Then I promise to get back to the rustoration of Jane.

Just a bit of explanation about her name.  A while ago there was a thread on the VWTYPE3.ORG List discussing the various versions of the Fasty, Square and Notch.  I posted Jane's (then nameless) VIN to the List.  Russ Wolfe replied that she was a "plain jane" basic 71 Fasty.  I thought it was an interesting contrast to the future plans that I have for Jane...so the name stuck.

Current Project Status

April 1, 2002

Jane has been put on hold while I work on getting her sister, my 66 Squareback, on the road and ready for the trip to Parma, ID for the Invasion.  She has also donated her engine longblock for a rebuild to go in her sister.  This was necessary since I am now driving the 66 Squareback for daily transportation.  Hard to rebuild the engine and drive her at the same time.

I have not ignored Jane altogether.  I did pick up a new rust free floorpan for her.  I will be POR-15 coating it ce the weather warms up.

November 26, 2000

Here is Jane resting comfortably in her latest garage.  She is basically just a bare shell sitting on the pan.  All the bolts have been removed to separate the body from the pan, but I need to do some structural reconstruction before I separate them or she might just fold up in cople of places.  Check out my Rustoration page to see some of the rust that I am up against.  I have been actively practicing my welding techniques, but I am still a little ways from being comfortable with putting the torch to "real" parts on my baby.  I have also been busy sandblasting lots of bits and pieces, getting them rady for paint and restoration.  Check out the pictures and captions below for more details.

BTW, the car on the left above is a coachbuilt Model T Ford.  It belongs to my neighbor, not me.  The interesting thing about this car is that the rear end is the front clip and hood from a Beetle. Very interesting.

Click on any of the pictures to see a full size version.  You will have to use your browser's BACK button to get back here.
 

Here is some of my engine tin after getting hte blasting treatment.  The blaster leaves nice clean metal with a great surface for painting.  Really nice to see the bare metal without all the old paint, rust and grime.	Here is the rear engine crossmember after the blaster treatment.  You can also see some of the rust that I am up against in the background.	Here is my right front fender after I completely stripped it of paint.  It is in pretty good shape with only one small rust hole at the bottom behind the wheel well.  I removed the inner sheetmetal for the fuel filler.  I am going to fill this section and smooth it over.  The fuel filler will be under the hood like the early cars.	Here is one of the "early" rear fernders that I got from Russ Wolfe.  I have also stripped both of them to bare metal.  The bare sheetmetal is great to see.  I have treated all of the bare sheetmetal with an acid metal prep to keep them from rusting until I can get them in primer.

Rustoration...or the miracle of resurrection

November 26, 2000
Click on any of the images to view it full size.  You will have to use the BACK button on your browser to get back here.

This is what is left of my front bumper mount.  The other side is about the same.  I will be fabrticating a new piece of sheet metal for this section.  I don't plan to use bumpers, so I can skip the mout details.	This is easily the worst spot on the whole car.  I have started to clean up the area and cut away the rusted metal.  I have also treated this area with an acid metal prep to stop the rust and convert it.  I will be using POR-15 after the welding repairs have been made.  This one will take several patches!	Here is a shot of the foam that VW used in the c-pillar of the Fasty.  This area is often prone to rust if the flow-thru vent drains get clogged and the foam gets wet.  It holds the water and the section rusts from the inside out.  Fortunately my car is not rusty here.

Previous Stuff
Click on any of the images to view it full size.  You will have to use the BACK button on your browser to get back here.

This is the worst spot on the "hole" car. Driver's side inner fender well is completely rusted through. Yes, that is the grey concrete floor that you see through the hole. The pan is really not too bad in this area. It is the body that is shot.	The passenger side is not as bad, but still have a hole clear through. I will need to rebuild both sides of this section (inner and outer)	This is under the rear seat. The hole in the center of the picture is where the rear seat belt was "anchored".	This is the front end under the gas tank. Most of this rust is related to clogged drains on the fresh air plenum.
The passenger side inside the front trunk. The black area is a previous repair around the gas filler neck. You can see more evidence of the clogged fresh air plenum vents here too.	Here's a shot of the driver's side front inner fender well from the outside. The rust is pretty extensive. It is the areas like this that have me considering the "channeling" (see my Future Plans page) of the body for the lowered look.	The front bumper mounting surface....or at least what is left of it. The PO had welded the bumper bracke to the body here and did not do anything to rust-proof it. The heat effected metal around the welded area was paper thin due to rust.	The bottom of the rear airboxes. The flapper vents had been bondo'd shut as part of a previous repair. The honeycomb looking stuff at the bottom of the body is actually body that has been applied over a wire mesh.....not a good way to repair a rusty section of sheet metal.

Future Project Plans......Click on any image to view a larger version.
 

	This is an illustration that I did of my car in the future. Lowered, custom wheels and low profile tires, "ground effects", power pop-out windows, new exhaust, early style rear fenders, etc, etc, etc.
	More wild ideas....this is the proposed dash for my Fasty. The illustraion on the left is a computer image that I originally created for the dash. The photo on the right is of the 1/4 scale foam model that I am working on of the dash. I will use it to create templates which will be scaled up and used on the actual dash. The dash will be custom fabricated of fiberglass composites with white-faced vintage gages, integrated center console, etc, etc, etc. You can also start to see what I am planning for the door panels.
	In addition to the custom dash, I am planning on installing a pair of black leather Mustang seats. I got these seats from a friend at Lear for installing a kitchen floor for him. The illustration I did to help me layout the brackets I will need to fabricate to install the seats.
	Another area I plan to re-engineer is the heat system. Since I don't live in the VW mecca known as SoCal, I will need heat. I plan to reconfigure the system so that it recirculates the air in the car and adds heat to it. It will also have an electric fan for moving the heating air. This will free up the engine fan for engine cooling only.
	The bottom 3-4 inches of the body of my Fasty is pretty rusty (as in "Fred Flinstone" rusty). I am considering "channeling" the body to lower the stance of my ride and still be able to keep the suspension geometry close to stock. "Channeling" the body over the chassis is pretty common among the street rod crowd. Have never seen it on a VW. Just might try it....