At gatherings of family and friends and the topic of cars comes up, my dad will tell a story from my childhood and then joke that I have achieved said story.
I grew up across the street from the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds. I played in there when I was a kid, and that property played a big part in my imagination as when I dreamed of the what the world held for me, the fairgrounds was often part of the plan. My dad and I used to walk around in the junkyard every now and then as well as go and examine the ravaged hulks of steel left over the day after demolition derbys.
So my pops story is about how one day we were standing in the front yard as fathers and sons sometimes do, although neither one of us remembers what exactly we were doing, but I looked right at him and said "Dad, someday I am going to buy the fairgrounds and make it into a junkyard." Now, I don't know how old I was, but I wasn't very old.
Although I no longer hold hopes I will open a junkyard (I've found other things to fufill childhood hopes and dreams) I still throughout the years have had a collection that brings this story out of my dads mouth as well, to most, I could have a junkyard albeit a small one.
I have progressed from calling what looks like junk to most to calling all these things people obtain "collections" as really, that's what they are.
I am always posting "looking for" threads in different communities on facebook and other social media outlets. Now more than ever with the 337 as I needed alot of stuff for this thing. The biggest hunt was straight body panels so I could move forward with the cosmetic part of this build. Almost never without a lead to follow up on, I love getting out and seeing what people have laying around. Even when going to look for one thing in specific, frequently you stumble across people that have all kinds of stuff you weren't expecting to see. Of course that can also go the other way. You can talk to somebody about some parts and they will invite you out claiming to have the honey hole, Alladins lamp, and a stable full of unicorns and when you get there you are looking at the biggest most awesome pile of 85 golf parts that are covered in mold, dirt and rodent droppings.
My journey that day was nothing like that. My friend Andrew had ridden along for poops and snickers and as we came around the bend in this rural Wisconsin driveway and the property came into view our vehicle heard several "whoas, lookit thats, and dangs!" from the cockpit. Just about every generation of VW was represented just in plain sight, and there were several outbuildings that through the open doors you could tell were full of cars. Damn, score!
Along with the cars I had anticipated being there, there were more cars than I could even get a quick count on in varying conditions and several of which I am always on the hunt for. I call these things "treasure" and immediately go into what I call "acquisition mode" In my earlier posts on project resurrection I had mentioned the struggle for my wife. The wide assortment of yard art I would bring home and shove in the garage provoking sometimes not the most awe inspiring reactions from her as well as the neighbors. Of course when that switch is flipped in my head it's more like a feeding frenzy vs a well thought out plan. I've impulse bought cars that needed to be moved out from the point of sale 2 hours from home and no plan on getting it out and a family function in an hour. If you aren't living on the edge, you are taking up to much space. Fortunately for my wife, the transactions were not going to happen that day but I can assure you, there has been a flurry of text activity regarding some of the treasures that surfaced for me that day.
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| Just look at that refrigerator. 1985 whirlpool, eggshell finish and an ice maker in the door. dang. Gotta have it! |
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| Maybe I wasn't looking at the fridge :drool: |
So I wandered around the property daydreaming about what I would do if I had a large outbuilding, with thoughts of a vintage VW junkyard (collection) just steps from my home dancing in my head, sigh.......
After realizing the clock was ticking away and I needed to get back to Oshkosh our attention turned to the task at hand.
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| The lucky donor. Between this car and another black mk4 golf I managed to get all the body parts I needed |
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| Many ask why cars like this are left to sit. I say it's good that they are available for parts. Recycle...... |
So here we go. The meat and potatos of this project is coming for people who are bored with the trivial little things that you can't really see. Soon there will be a very visible transformation with this car. How will it look? In my minds eye, badass. I need to qualify that too. Some may not see it that way, I'm totally ok with that. I will build it how I want it, full steam ahead, my car, my problem if it looks dumb. I won't tell you what to do with yours, nor will I ask you what to do with mine. I don't think that will be a problem though. Like I said, I'm not looking to break the internet with this project, just build a respectable, clean driver that makes me turn around and look at it when I'm walking away.
The box of maintenance parts, and the box of fun stuff parts is growing and soon, it will be go time.
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| Soon....... |
See you next time.....
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