Well, I was indeed talking him into making it a racer
First tell your wife she's out of her mind.
Assuming you want to sell her, you'll have several possible buyers.
- The aficionado, cleanliness, originality/matching parts is the name of the game, will know exactly what parts are $$$, how things are supposed to look like, see right through your MAACO paint job, will know exactly the true resale value of your car and will shoot down your ego and price down.
- The racer, He's going to gut the inside/rebuild engine/trany/suspensions anyway, all the cares about is how straight/rust free the body/frame is. The bad part, he wants something dirt cheap. OR he'll try to pay for the racing parts by selling on ebay great shape interior/engine/suspension parts ... which your car doesn't seem to have.
- The pigeon, aka (I always wanted one - I don't know crap into cars - my son wants it bad) that's full of good intentions, will overlook all the little things that add up to $$$. The good enough glitter combined by a sudden irrational desire to look cool will wipe out common sense and saving accounts.
Assuming you want to restore her, and since you have no tools:
Restore for you, or to sell and make a profit. Making a profit, except if you find a 'pigeon', not going to happen. For you, I'll settle for the good enough. By that I mean thins car will be your fun car, you want a car that doesn't leak oil all over you driveway, that is reliable, that looks good enough that you feel happy getting in something special for a little week end escapade. That doesn't include : "I spent $6000 for the paintjob alone, and I'm paranoiac I'm going to collect in asingle rock chip on my way to the car show'. Not my idea of 'fun', thus the good enough rule part.
What do you need? I don't know. It looks like the body is straight, and the interior is mediocre. How's the engine? Is it the usual 'protective layer of crud all over the bottom of it?' How's the internals, did you get at least a compression/leak down test to find at what you have? Does the engine shakes itself silly in third gear at 6000 RPM? Does the car track straight? Does the car jumps from lane to lane @80MPH? Does the transmission shifts smooth on spirited driving, does the car brakes straight when you stomp on the brake.
Basically you have:
- Engine/transmission. I'm pretty sure engine alone for a rebuilt stock one would be $2500 - $3500 range. From what I know about VWs, if you indeed do have a mechanic friend you might be able to refresh this engine for $1,000-1500. (New pistons, bearings, rings, gaskets, valve guides, carbs/fuel injection parts (dono what you have), and machine shop machining labor. The transaxel transmission IDK. Then don't forget the engine external that might look borderline about to die, the stupid $50 relay, alternator/generator, starter all those $20 to $100 items that leaves you out of the part store with a $400 bill.
How rotten is the exhaust system?
- The body. Assuming there's no rust to be taken car off (I don't see any rot on your car but I'm on a cell phone). Off course you could go to MAACO for $600, but if you want to do it yourself, and keep it cheap, you'll do : sand the paint/bondo little dents/prime/single stage paint. That means At least a 30+ gallon compressor ($500), some type of oil/water separation gizmo ($30 to 250), 2 paint guns, one for primer, one for paint ($150-250 each on the cheap), primer filler, primer sealer, single stage paint (maybe $500ish of paint), painting supply (measuring cups, lint free rags, painting mask, compounds & BS stuff $200), a DA sander, a polisher ($100 for both) and countless sanding papers of various grits at $4 a pop, and a lot of them.
- The interior, Those seats will need re-apostery, just saw a set on Ebay for $800, but maybe your local rag cutter can make a descent set for a couple $100, just bring only the seats so he doesn't overcharge because you said 'Porsche'.
The cracked dash pad, I think I saw one on ebay for $350. And then the gauges ... do they all work? Does the tach bounces all over? Carpet probably $100+, knobs, switches, Door panels ... all that accumulates to an another couple $100s.
- Brakes/suspensions, Do you need new ball joints, are they commonly available? Shocks/brake rotors/wheel bearings, again a couple of $100s if you do the work yourself, otherwise my kid's car just cost me $250 for the front brakes, $400 for all shocks.
- Tools, ouch ... we already talked about the compressor/paint guns/DA sander. You'll really enjoy a set of wrenches/ratch ... you know the $250 SAE/metric 400 pieces SEARS special, a solid air gun $75, a set of power tool sockets, plus all the silly specialized tools such as tie rod separator, pullers, spring compressors .etc Again those add up at $20 - $50 a pop. Engine crane, engine stand ($200).
Combine all those numbers and add you initial $1,800. Then cruise craiglist and figure out that you'll never get your money back. Here's an example from my local classified :
$2,900
http://www.ksl.com/index.php?sid=0&nid=443&tab=list/view&ad=6135750Now about making her a racer/week end warriorThe concept sounds cheap, gut her out, redo the brakes, stop the leaks, put some safety equipments. But it's not. You WILL melt you pads on your rotors after your first cession. Then here comes the $$$ brake system. You are not going to enjoy driving around the track shifting at 4000 RPM either, so you'll rebuild your engine possibly with upgraded parts that can withstand being revved up at 7K. And your trany/differential better be able to handle the 4 to 2nd downshift too. You might put bigger tire, but then then the extra grip might overwork your suspensions, and here comes shocks/adjustable this/reinforced that ... which ain't cheap either. IDK, someone that knows about the weakness of those will tell you what is a 'must upgrade'.
And here's my disclaimer, I am unfamiliar with those cars, so don't take my word as the gospel
I'm trying to give you an idea via my personal experience as a car hobbyist. I know one thing for sure, when you disconnect/unbolt something during your restoration - Take a picture - draw a diagram - put everything in a labelled zip-lock ... because even 10 min later you will second guess yourself on how it's supposed to come back together.
