74 Senegalrot Swallowtail - Project G40

Hi there, I'm back… Been a member for a long time, but went away for a while and owned some mk2's, a beetle and a type 3 amongst other random motors…. also had a couple of kids! Anyway I recently saw this swallow on eBay and snapped it up as a little project, I've always wanted one, so bit the bullet before they become unobtainable (to me anyway).

It needs alot of work and some welding here and there, so I thought I'd start a thread on here to help share my pain around a little. My overall plan is weld it up and make it solid, paint it in it's original colour, make a few changes to the running gear, ride height and interior without taking away its charm.

Photobucket is being a pain in the bum today, so I will upload a few photos of it in my shed later, I've already ripped off the front wings to expose some nasties, but hopefully a few on here can put my mind at ease…. I've certainly seen worse! Thanks all!


 

Aaaaand you can tell I've been away, I put this in the wrong section, du'hhh.    

The night it arrived. 

Little bit of a tear down, the front end needs a little inner wing welding. I'm sending it to my local vehicle welder to get stitched up as that's beyond my capabilities. 



This is the worst side.





And this rear corner 

The rest of it seems suprisingly solid, although I've not torn it right down yet. 

Welcome back Raul - and in style!! That's a nice find. Shouldn't take too much to get it back on the road.

What's the interior looking like?

3-door as well, very good find  

Cheers mate. 

Interior is tired but all there, and seems to be all original, even down to the ally kick plates. Dunno if the rear belts are original?

Now moved to your mk1 golf projects section.

Cheers

The Moderating Team


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That's a nice find, a rare sight nowadays! What kind of changes to the running gear do you have in mind?
Good luck with the restoration, I look forward to the updates.

Not sure yet bud, that'll be the last thing I sort out really as the current running gear is all there and working, just a bit gutless for me tho. 

Priorities are to get it straight and solid and in fresh paint then I'll go from there. 

nice swallow tail nice shed as well

Thanks mate!

This has now had all the major areas of rot dealt with, mostly the inner front wings, one rear arch, a few little plates needed here and there. 



Plenty of photos on  Photobucket of the repairs, I'll not post them all on here. 

I've taken the inner arches to bare metal and I'm going to apply epoxy to them. 



What a rubbish job that is! I won't do it again…. EVER.


Then I think my next task is put it all back together and get it mot ready after Xmas so I can register it. 

You know I might rock it for a while in its ratty 'unrestored' state, I think it deserves a spring/summer like that before I tear it down again for paint…..
plus I love a bit of tatty patina, I won't have to worry about leaving it anywhere.

Looking very good! What's the history of the car, where was it kept originally to be in such good condition?
Do love an early swallow tail :-)


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Not much history on the car tbf, it came from Sweden tho, but then i've seen some really rotten stuff come in from Sweden too, so not sure that says much.  

Raul said

Not much history on the car tbf, it came from Sweden tho, but then i've seen some really rotten stuff come in from Sweden too, so not sure that says much.  

Now you've said Sweden I seem to remember this car, did it not come up for sale on here and elsewhere about 2 or 3 years ago?

The price if I remember correctly included the bloke driving it to the buyer from Sweden to somewhere in Europe depending on the highest bid!

Maybe a different car, but there's an awful lot of similarities, age, colour and coming from Sweden! 😀👍

I dunno tbh, it's possible?

Graham who runs fbivw brought it over from Sweden, I noticed he had it for sale and snapped it up off him.

I wasn't really in the market or actively looking for one, but I'd just sold my Fastback so took the gamble….. I purchased it blind!      

Epoxy'd the inner front arches, got the washers and horn working, then bolted the wings back on temporarily so I can roll the arches. 

Mocked the original grill and headlights in just so it looked more like a car again. 
I took the black paint off the original chrome trim too, quite why it was painted black I'll never know.