How to Rebuild Your Old Volkswagen

Car enthusiasts know that Volkswagen has earned itself a reputation for building reliable and long-lasting cars. As a result, a huge number of car collectors choose to rebuild or restore old Volkswagens for themselves — everything from iconic VW Vans to classic VW Beetles and more.

If you’re thinking about rebuilding an old Volkswagen, then you’re in good company, and there are many great resources available online. Volkswagen has built some of the most popular cars of all time, including the Volkswagen Beetle (21.5 million cars sold), Volkswagen Passat (23 million), and the Volkswagen Golf (33 million) — so you shouldn’t have many problems finding used parts for these projects!

Here a couple of quick tips from our team that will help you get started with your Volkswagen rebuild project. Please leave a comment below if you have any questions.

Source a Good Project Car

The first step in any rebuild project will be sourcing a project car.

Before you start looking, you should have a solid idea of what type of car you want to rebuild. Ensure that you take into account how you’re planning on using the car — does it need to get you from home to work or will it be used just for afternoon drives?

Next, you should try to find a good, running car that is already in decent condition. You may be able to find something that isn’t currently driveable and is cheaper, but it’s easier to rebuild a car that’s already in good working shape — especially if you have limited experience with rebuilds.

Disassemble and Inventory Your Car

The next step will take the longest — probably several weeks of work, depending on how much time you’re putting toward it each day. You’ll need to fully disassemble your car, while bagging and tagging every individual part along the way.

The goal of this process is to understand what parts are in good condition and what needs to be replaced. Disassembly will also help you identify past repairs that may require additional work. Make sure you take careful notes during this process to understand everything you’ll need to do going forward.

There are many great guides available online that will provide further details on the specifics of the disassembly process. We recommend that you do lots of research before you start this step, so that you understand everything that’s involved and what problems need to be identified. The more time you put into preparation, the more you’ll set yourself up for success.

Find High-Quality Parts

Once your car is disassembled, your next step in the restoration process will be stripping and repainting the vehicle. In all likelihood, you’ll want to send your Volkswagen off to an auto body shop for this stage of the process, as it’s challenging to do in your garage.

During this phase of the rebuild, you’ll want to start looking for high-quality replacement parts for your Volkswagen. This is where we can help — at Logel’s, we carry a wide range of used auto parts for different makes and models. Let us know what parts you need for your Volkswagen rebuild and we’ll get in touch with you whenever those parts in our inventory. It’s that simple!

Restoring a classic car is a challenging yet rewarding project and we’re happy to provide any help that we can. We wish you the best of luck rebuilding your old Volkswagen!