Rare RHD 1973 B1 Passat

As much as I love mk1 Golf's, I very much have a soft spot for B1 passats, and I have just found this very early (1973 - first year of production) 3dr coupe in RHD on ebay. It looks very tired and in need of a lot of love but also quite rust free from what I would expect!

I would love nothing more than to buy this and return it to its former glory, but lack of funds, space and time means that ill obviously never own it Does anyone else share the same B1 love?  or is it just me? 

Always liked the Coupe's remember walking to School past a house which had one of these and a 75 Mk1 Golf - and it was in 1975!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VOLKSWAGEN-PASSAT-1973-RED-/321690505870?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item4ae63f928e

Wonder where you would get the parts from though?

looks saveable, glass may be hard to find

Yeah the glass and dash would be hard to come across amongst other potentially damaged or missing parts  there can't be many of these left in the UK though, I know of one 1974 coupe in white being restored currently

Yeah, luv the b1 Passat...not many left

I have a 77 Inari silver B1 GLS, WITH 25 thousand on the clock.

Although the the imterior is mint, the panels have suffered a bit from rust.

As mentioned, getting parts are nigh on impossible. I've owned the cars for nearly 3 years now and the resto has stopped cause I can't get a now front o/s wing.

biggest problem I have is the trailing arms on the chasis at the rear are badly corroded, so much so that there isn't enough left for me to get them replicated!!!

ill just need to be patient and I'm sure it'll get completed.

jim

That one on ebay looks like a can of worms to me, few weels back he was wanting £1500 for it rock bottom.

I imagine sourcing parts is like sourcing genuine swallowtail parts though

I like b1s. Prefer the b2 though   

leembo said

I have a 77 Inari silver B1 GLS, WITH 25 thousand on the clock.

Although the the imterior is mint, the panels have suffered a bit from rust.

As mentioned, getting parts are nigh on impossible. I've owned the cars for nearly 3 years now and the resto has stopped cause I can't get a now front o/s wing.

biggest problem I have is the trailing arms on the chasis at the rear are badly corroded, so much so that there isn't enough left for me to get them replicated!!!

ill just need to be patient and I'm sure it'll get completed.

jim

Have you got any pictures? That sounds very cool 

Shame about the rust/ difficulty sourcing parts though 

Yes I think if it was in better nick I would have considered it more. I have however found someone selling a 1980 5 door that I would love to own but he is wanting a fair bit more and I can't justify owning two mk1 VW's 

I have started restoring it. I have done the near side, with a nos genuine vw wing, sill and rear arch repair, but as you can see from the last picture, the rust at the trailing arm at the chassis has stumped me.

I need to do the same to the off side plus a front valance, which I have a genuine nos one of. The only parts I need to be able to finish it is a genuine o/s front wing and to find somebody with the skills to manufacture me the 2 trailing arms. The difficulty I have with this, is that once the existing one is removed, there is very little of it left to allow accurate sizes/angles etc to be taken.

Cheers

Jim

thats lovely    are you a member for the facebook page for b1 passat's? because ive seen people selling to saying where they can get hold of wings etc.

id love to see more if youve got a project thread anywhere?

Hi mazza, thanks for that.

I didnt know know about the facebook page, now started checking it out.

this topic has got me thinking about my passat, and I am going to continue the resto next week, as it's been on hold for nearly a year now.

but my mk1 Jetta is coming back from the spray painter's so I'm going to fill the space the Jetta leaves with the passat 😄😄

i'll start a project thread in the next few weeks.

jim

Yes, there are some people that really know their b1 passats on there.

Post a link up when you get it started, ill look forward to watching it closely  

Cheers,
Matt

Like b1s myself,  parts can be tricky but definately are out there with a lot of hunting and patience tbh,  low values make them a labour of love sadly,,  the dasher forum is a great spot for parts hunting at time,  or theres a few groups on f/b that are worthwhile joining