ratrog64
Well-known member
I guess I'll start off with a quick introduction. My name is Roger, aka "ratrog". I live in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. 46 years old and a true VW guy.
I saw my first Sterling in about 2005 and it was love at first sight. I have owned a VW pretty much all of my adult life, but only went off the deep end of buying cars, parts and what most would say is junk over the last 4 to 5 yrs.
I found my Sterling during a routine parts buying mission one afternoon after work. I showed up to buy a set of VW rims and what ever else VW I could talk the guy out of. Typical for me is to show up to buy one part and leave with the tailgate open and straps holding the crap in the bed of my truck. This day was no different however this time I needed a trailer and 2 additional trips to bring home my prize.
The previous owner was a cool guy who had dabbled with VW's among other projects however his first love was motorcycles. He had a new bike and a full garage and no where dry to park it. I think the timing was just right.
The PO bought it a few years before just a mile or so from his home from a guy who had brought it out from his home in Vegas. This owner had bought it from a guy in Cali who was the original owner and builder. I have also met owner #2 and he was a great resource as to the history of the car and an all around cool guy. Both previous owners had plans for restore and drive the Sterling but as it does often, life gets in the way. The original donor car was a 68 beetle (though the original builder swears it was a 67) swing axle chassis. Car body #310 and all built somewhere around 1974 / 75. The first owner put about 5k miles on the car then let it sit for 25 or so years in his garage. Owner #2 & 3 never really had a chance to get the car on the road and thankfully it was stored inside most of its remaining years. I owe them both a ride when I have completed my restoration.
Now this is where I come into the picture. I bought the car in the beginning of July 2010. Kind of a Birthday present for myself. I paid more for the car then I have for any other VW I own except 1. My plan is to do a complete pan off restoration and have the car ready for BugJam in November 2010. I don't know that I'll make the date, I get easily distracted with other projects I have going (always have several irons in the fire at one time) but thats my goal none the less. I have worked on the car on and off since the purchase in July, not as much as I need to to meet the goal, but still quite a bit. I have a 1 car garage and a covered 2 car driveway / carport. I do most of my work in the driveway and pretty much do all of my own work. In the past 2 months I have only worked on the car a total of about 2 weeks or so. Its been a very wet summer and work has been pretty busy. So now is crunch time. Time to kick ass and take names! Or maybe just get out there and get busy.
Today is Sept 8th 2010. I'll start here and try and figure out how to post photos, explain some of what I'm doing and why. Here we go.
I saw my first Sterling in about 2005 and it was love at first sight. I have owned a VW pretty much all of my adult life, but only went off the deep end of buying cars, parts and what most would say is junk over the last 4 to 5 yrs.
I found my Sterling during a routine parts buying mission one afternoon after work. I showed up to buy a set of VW rims and what ever else VW I could talk the guy out of. Typical for me is to show up to buy one part and leave with the tailgate open and straps holding the crap in the bed of my truck. This day was no different however this time I needed a trailer and 2 additional trips to bring home my prize.
The previous owner was a cool guy who had dabbled with VW's among other projects however his first love was motorcycles. He had a new bike and a full garage and no where dry to park it. I think the timing was just right.
The PO bought it a few years before just a mile or so from his home from a guy who had brought it out from his home in Vegas. This owner had bought it from a guy in Cali who was the original owner and builder. I have also met owner #2 and he was a great resource as to the history of the car and an all around cool guy. Both previous owners had plans for restore and drive the Sterling but as it does often, life gets in the way. The original donor car was a 68 beetle (though the original builder swears it was a 67) swing axle chassis. Car body #310 and all built somewhere around 1974 / 75. The first owner put about 5k miles on the car then let it sit for 25 or so years in his garage. Owner #2 & 3 never really had a chance to get the car on the road and thankfully it was stored inside most of its remaining years. I owe them both a ride when I have completed my restoration.
Now this is where I come into the picture. I bought the car in the beginning of July 2010. Kind of a Birthday present for myself. I paid more for the car then I have for any other VW I own except 1. My plan is to do a complete pan off restoration and have the car ready for BugJam in November 2010. I don't know that I'll make the date, I get easily distracted with other projects I have going (always have several irons in the fire at one time) but thats my goal none the less. I have worked on the car on and off since the purchase in July, not as much as I need to to meet the goal, but still quite a bit. I have a 1 car garage and a covered 2 car driveway / carport. I do most of my work in the driveway and pretty much do all of my own work. In the past 2 months I have only worked on the car a total of about 2 weeks or so. Its been a very wet summer and work has been pretty busy. So now is crunch time. Time to kick ass and take names! Or maybe just get out there and get busy.
Today is Sept 8th 2010. I'll start here and try and figure out how to post photos, explain some of what I'm doing and why. Here we go.
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