I went back to the VW graveyard on Wednesday to see if I could dig up a few more parts. This time I brought in my camera.
Here's what was left of the car that grudgingly gave up its bumper last week. Not much left there.
Speaking of bumpers, the driver's side of this one is missing its chrome guard. It's in my garage. So is the horn that was attached behind the guard. I can't believe those rusty bolts turned free without breaking off. Maybe the bolts knew what was coming, and they were happy to be saved from that fate.
When I said I had to climb over cars and dangerous debris to look for parts, I wasn't kidding. This place is a vicious obstacle course. After the recent rainfall, it was also a mud hole, but I couldn't let that get in my way... the things we do for love.
This time I was on the lookout for original sun visors, a headlight lens, and a trim ring for a headlight. I could use a better front floor mat, too. Like a Honda Element, early VW's only used rubber mats for the floor. Mine has cracked into three pieces.
In the above photo, do you see those chrome hubcaps on that Karmann Ghia?
You don't? Let's zoom in, then.
Behind those hubcaps is an early 60's Beetle. After breaking off some intruding, tree branches and flipping a rotten mattress out of the way, I was able to open a door and poke my head inside. The floor was covered with a layer of oily sludge, and the air was stale from dead leaves. But the car appeared to have decent sun visors and a solid floor mat. Time to go in.
My jeans got soaked from sitting on the wet sponge of a seat, and the soggy headliner drooped into my hair. It was gross, but the rusted screws holding up the rear view mirror and visors turned out with ease. I guess the news about their future had spread back here, too.
As you would imagine, the mat was filthy.
I didn't want to bring home all of that dirt (and disease?), so I stopped by a car wash and gave the mat a thorough blasting. It cleaned up pretty well considering where it had been.
Since this mat isn't all there or the right color, I'm going to glue my current mat pieces on top of this one with spray adhesive. In my car the mat will look the same, but won't slide around beneath my feet.
I like the irony of this sticker.
Here's the rest of my spoils.
It's dirty, but heater hose on the left is in great shape, the round horn beeps when hooked up to a 6 volt battery charger, and the sun visors will be cleaned more and sprayed with vinyl dye to match my interior. The windshield wiper blades were taking refuge in a dilapidated Bug's glovebox, so I'll put them in mine for the vintage vibe. But the chrome bumper guard is only slightly better what I have on my car now. Again, one shiny part in a field of rust looks awesome, but when compared to what I have at home, it pales. Context is everything... still, I'll install it.
Like last week, the owner only wanted to charge $15. He told me he and his wife had recently discovered they had inherited this land from her grandfather, and the city of Des Moines wanted it cleared out. Sadly, his wife's grandfather died 15 years ago, and that's why all these cool cars and their parts had been left to rot. Within a few weeks this lot will be empty.
I'm glad I was a step ahead of the car crusher this time, but I'm sad I didn't get more time to mine this field for more VW gold. Like the floor mat, there's so much there that could be creatively recycled. At least I get to keep a few parts alive, but I won't be dancing about it this time.
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It's dirty, but heater hose on the left is in great shape, the round horn beeps when hooked up to a 6 volt battery charger, and the sun visors will be cleaned more and sprayed with vinyl dye to match my interior. The windshield wiper blades were taking refuge in a dilapidated Bug's glovebox, so I'll put them in mine for the vintage vibe. But the chrome bumper guard is only slightly better what I have on my car now. Again, one shiny part in a field of rust looks awesome, but when compared to what I have at home, it pales. Context is everything... still, I'll install it.
Like last week, the owner only wanted to charge $15. He told me he and his wife had recently discovered they had inherited this land from her grandfather, and the city of Des Moines wanted it cleared out. Sadly, his wife's grandfather died 15 years ago, and that's why all these cool cars and their parts had been left to rot. Within a few weeks this lot will be empty.
I'm glad I was a step ahead of the car crusher this time, but I'm sad I didn't get more time to mine this field for more VW gold. Like the floor mat, there's so much there that could be creatively recycled. At least I get to keep a few parts alive, but I won't be dancing about it this time.
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