Arlee Montana

When I see the word "Montana" in the title of a thread on an internet ACVW forum, my ears (?) instinctively perk up. Word was there was a "complete" 1974 "Westy" in a junkyard in Arlee, not thirty miles from our front door. What an easy excuse to hop into Ludwig for a quick jaunt North.

The first old gal I spotted was this 1969 Squareback. I gave her a good going-over and got all the good turn signal assemblies off her. If I'd had more room/time/motivation I might've scored the bumpers as well. Whatever; she's not going anywhere.

This was the only interesting Beetle in sight. It's been pretty much picked clean of the little stuff but some of that metal is good, and that bumper probably is as well. If I see that prices are good on those kinds of things, I might go back for some of it. Every time I go to a junkyard I'm in danger of bringing the whole damn place home.

The object of the trip, a 1974 "Westy", that is to say, Riviera. Big difference. We're not looking for any camping parts anyway (except a child's cot), so that didn't matter.

The guy who left it at the yard was either in a big hurry or just didn't care. He left behind everything.

And I mean EVerything.

The parting shot. I took all I could think of that was worth taking. Yes, that included one of the Type IV holy grails, the thermostat. There's some other stuff left that I might go up for later. Contrary to earlier speculation (viz., the thread linked to above), this bus is a lot more project than most would want to deal with. Its bottom three inches are basically rust.

I piled my tools and the things I was buying on this old Ghia for safekeeping. Some of the metal on this thing is decent. Do I dare go back? Good thing I don't own a Sawzall.

Now that's patina.

When we were in Nebraska last time, I saw that the driver's side taillight assembly on my parents' Subaru wagon was broken. So I got one for them off of this one at the same junkyard. I was looking for the keys (to pop the tailgate) and took this picture. Notice anything weird?

post script

US 93 from Evaro to Arlee is torn up all to hell right now. A lot of the time it was like driving on a forest service road, so the sixty or so miles there and back took over an hour and-a-half. Some of the work includes installing a few prefab tunnels like this that'll eventually have dirt and flora on top. Then, goes the hope, wildlife will be able to walk over the road, not across it.

Thank you, Jim A. of Madison Wisconsin

...for fixing Gertie's odometer.

Nebraskans

These were the only ACVWs we saw in Lincoln while we were back.

46th & Vine Goodwill parking lot



Carseat and everything



Historical.

Out near Pioneers Park

Relics

Freida isn't the only VW whiling away the hours at the farm. The 1960 single cab below ("Noel") should be familiar to devotees of this blog. He's the beast 02McDonald and I drove from Lincoln (Nebraska) to Middleton New York, and back, in July 2001. 

Look at all that patina.

Second Place!

More patina.

This is the 1963 Beetle that 01Melcher used to drive, eons ago. I think he's like, second or third owner. Someone's future barn find? It's in a for real barn, after all.

All Apologies

Freida's engine died mere weeks after her rendezvous with a deer, in the early Spring of 1997. She was abandoned on 01Melcher's farm with only the most vague plans for revival.


Even with her problems, the same car today would be well worth the time and attention of a restoration, at least to daily driver status. Unfortunately at the time I was in no position to put either body or engine work on my plate--let alone both--and so time and climate have taken their toll.


And what a toll it has been over these eleven years:



That tree fell over in the last year or so. On my last trip there I managed to get most of the stuff worth getting off the poor gal (and make the video). She's completely at the mercy of the weather at this point. And since she's missing some windows now, well, it's kind of sad to think about.

Mereology

A trip to Nebraska for a three-day wedding extravaganza occasioned the recent lull in our blogging. But a peripheral event provided the fuel for a few new posts, so let's call it a wash.


The peripheral event at issue was my solo trip to rural Stanton County, where I did my best to relieve the Melcher farm of the remainder of its Type III parts. Melissa mentioned earlier that Gertie's seats are pretty shabby, and it is the liberal application of duct tape alone that keeps them usable. I knew that I had spare seats back on the farm, but I'd forgotten that they were white!

Off-white, anyway. (I remembered as I looked at them: when I got Freida , I put Anne's old black seats in her because her (Freida's) white seats didn't seem becoming of a "race" car.) I called Melissa to make sure she'd still want them, and she said that white would've been her first choice anyway. Ex-cellent. Notice also the luggage rack at right. We're still undecided on that one. Pro: totally awesome. Con: requires drilling into the roof.


The rest of that junk is parts that we can use or try to sell, mostly try to sell.