Erk! is ?520 too much to spend on getting the car fixed!

Hi all,

Just had a report back from my local Mk1 specialists (HeriotHill, Edinburgh) following my inspection service.

Transpires I have a hole within 30cm of somewhere at the rear axle (I have no idea how these are put together, but I am told that where the hole is would be an MOT fail…)

I'm told that they need to demount the whole back end, including the fuel tank etc, and some of the interior as they need to do a bit of welding to reinforce the section. I'm also told that doing it now while there is still enough structural strength is cheaper than waiting until the MOT, by which time it might have deteriorated.

Thankfully, they've offered to fit a new fuel tank (mine is rusting from the inside) for free as part of the process.

So, including new brake shoes, the carburettor repairs (which included electrical work) and the service, that's ?240, plus ?672 to carry out the chassis repair and fit the new fuel tank (including parts, consumables and VAT) meaning a bill of ?912  

Having listened to what they've said, I'm told that the rest of the car is sound and that, with regular servicing the car should go on for a good while yet.

Has anyone else had a similar issue with corrosion in this part of the car, and a similar sized bill?

In any event, I've told them to go ahead (having first spoken to the wife!) but it has eaten into my restoration budget quite badly…

Cheers
AndyC

Corrosion around rear chassis legs where the rear beam bolts on is common. The rear beam and fuel tank have to come off for access and safety. Not sure about price of bill as I do this sort of work myself, but does sound a bit on the steep side. Depends on what standard of repair they are undertaking - i.e cutting out all the rot letting in new metal and finishing or just slapping a patch and underseal over the area?

In any case they are right to say that you should sort it asap as it will only deteriorate into a bigger job and let moisture etc into other parts of the chassis area.

Good luck

Is that going to outprice the value of the car,sounds very expensive to me mate,i work in a garage,and im a mot tester,i know for a fact thats over priced,pull it from them and try elsewhere first.
Bert

I agree, that sounds expensive. Is there no way you can cut the bill down by doing some of the stripping and re-assembly work yourself and leaving the welding to the experts...

its on the expensive side, do you have a picture of it if its on the rear axle mounting points these are available as a whole repair panel might be worth doing the whole thing rather than a patch.

Its a lot of labour to strip and refit the amount of stuff, in the area it tends to rust in. The problem with stripping it yourself, is that as soon as you've removed the rear axle, the car has to stay where it is….

This garage have always been very reasonable in the past - they are probably the best classic VW and Mk1 garage in Edinburgh, and have a bucket load of satisfied customers, myself included.

The quote is ?580 for the chassis repair, ?100 for the fuel tank, ?240 for the service, (including the electrical work and the carburettor overhaul aswell). So it's really just the ?580 part I'm talking about.

I'm sure the work they're doing will be of a high standard, after all they have a lot of old golf, polo, passat, fastback, beetle and campervan customers that keep coming back.

As for the value of the car, something only has value if you're selling it (and I almost did for ?350 to a mate of mine, but I'm glad I didn't owing to this problem).

It's still cheaper, more fun, and more rewarding to keep this on the road than it is to get some crappy little run of the mill runabout. And they inform me that other than that, the car is in great nick.

Cheers for all the replies.

AndyC

Really need a photo if you wanted a judged response.

I can suggest a couple of other top quality places in edinburgh mate.  :dontknow:

I mate,

Care to PM me the details? I doubt they've started on the car yet, and I'd be keen to get a second opinion…

I can't really get a photo owing to the fact that I don't have the car…

Cheers,
AndyC

hi mate,

pop down to roseburn garages near murrayburn stadium, its owned my my mothers brother and he has done hundreds of cars over the years, mainly vws but will touch others…

they still have thier stretch beetle that was built over 15 years ago and shes still rocking.

good luck lad

Hi all…

I picked up the car today and the garage were kind enough to put the car up on the ramp to show me what the problem was. I took a couple of pictures and it's pretty clear from the images where the hole is.

This is the nearside mounting:



This is the offside mounting:



Hopefully this gives you an idea of what I'm looking at, and how much I need to be spending to rectify.

Thanks in advance for all your help,

AndyC

Hi all…

Just wondering if anyone has had a look at the pics and might be able to tell me what i need to be spending on getting this fixed?

Cheers,
AndyC

Not unusual rot for a mk1 - 25 or so years of being blasted with water and muck. Problem is you can't be sure how much needs to be cut away to sort it out until you get stuck into the job. A lot of the 'surface rust' you see could require cutting out as the metal will be too thin if you grind the rust off.

Did the previous garage explain what sort of job they would do for the price? There's a big difference in price and job between simple MOT patching and proper restoration style replacement of panels.

Your cheapest bet is to shop around for a price on simply cutting out the worst rot and patching up the areas, but you can't be sure it will be a long term fix and will probabty look ugly. Once rot has got in you ultimately got to remove all effected areas and weld in sections and paint and finish properly to ensure a good permenant fix. Pattern repair sections should still be available for this area from Hadrian panels. You will probably find the inner and outer sills in this area will also need a bit of attention if you want a proper job done.

You need to shop around for prices to get a better idea, cheapest option would be to do it yourself. All comes down to whether you want to keep the car short or long term and whether you may redo the job resto style yourself in the future and just want to keep it on the road for the meantime.

Good luck

That hole in the second picture is supposed to be there, I would grind off the loose rust, if it's not too bad it could just be repainted…

thing is that hole on the other side aint supposed to be there and to fix that you will need to drop the whole rear beam.

Hadrian do a repair panel for this section I think

http://www.carpanels.co.uk/index_catalogues.htm

Make: VOLKSWAGEN
Model: GOLF/JETTA
Variant: 74-08/83
HCP Part Number: 91-22-373  

European No:  952082-1  
Description:  CHASSIS RPR BY REAR AXLE L/H

  
I am afraid ?500 doesn't sound far off the mark.

Peter.

While the axle is down fit some polybushes to the axle and anti roll bar. It looks like those axle retaining nuts and studs will more than likely snap when they go to undo them, so bearing in mind they have probably taken that scenario into account the price isn't to dear and they wouldnt have needed to remove the tank to do the repair so that seems to have been included in the price.

Thanks all…

I've contacted the local VW restoration specialist (PFP Coachworks, just outside Edinburgh - they have a website http://www.pfpcoachworks.co.uk/).

I'll be taking it out to him for a once-over on Monday, but he reckons the ?500 mark is about right…

It's eating into my overall restoration budget, but all in all I can probably live with the expense, if it keeps the car on the road.

Cheers,
AndyC