Local auction. What is it?

Thanks for the info. Sounds like I will just pass on it or bid couple hundred and part out if the windows and doors are good.

Hey Pleasehelp, what experience does your dad have with working on mechanical things?

If it's a little bit and you have some US & metric wrenches, I think it would be a really nice project for you to work on together.

From the looks of the pix you posted that GT does not look battered, I don't see any cracks or damage to the body the engine cover looks like it's siting nice and square. And the doors are still on there.

The tail lights and and nerf bars look nice and tight. Those are signs that the car has not been butchered by a bunch of different owners. I'd have to guess and it is only a guess that it's just dusty

and it may have been stored for any number of reasons, not necessarily that it died a "horrible death".

If you have the down payment for the car, and take your time with it like in "easy does it", you can plan out your work for the next couple of years until you're legal.

I've found that VW people are really helpful and willing to lend a hand when a projects in the works. Back in the day when I was a teenager with my first VW I found lots of good parts for very reasonable

and a lot of times for free. I'm in Florida 6 months of the year and I can tell you that the guys that run vintage VW shops down here will sell a good running complete motor for around $1200.

If I were you and the initial cash outlay of $500 won't be a hardship, I would definitely go for it.

Good luck to you pal - when you go to the auction, if that ride talks to you then you'll know it.

all the best, Mike Horen

FYI Something to think about... Getting it running and keeping it running will be a headache if the vehicle has been sitting a really long time and no one drained the gas. Usually people don't think about that. The gas evaporates over time and leaves a mess of varnish in the gas tank and carburator float bowl. My car had that problem. It is a real headache to get the gas tank out of the Bradley. You may not notice anything when you first fill the tank. It takes a while for the new gas to melt the varnish, however, when it starts to melt it gets sucked into the fuel filter and clogs it up pretty quickly. And the problem persists tank after tank of gas. I have been through it.

Hello pleasehelp,
The gull wing doors have this issue of cracking and needing to be re-supported more often than not. They are made so that they may be taken off and reinstalled in the blink of an eye,and when you do take them off and set them somewhere, you have to make sure they are somewhere safe otherwise they are prone to get damaged. Considering that they are nearly 40 years old, you could do a little modifying to them and be just fine. There are numous posts on here talking about just the doors and what others with this issue have done to repair, or replace them. And yes most of them do have the dark smoked plexiglass, and unless you plan on doing a lot of nighttime driving, it really is nice. Its not as dark on the inside as what you think it would be.

The new battery IS a bonus, that will save you around 100 right off the bat! Most batteries cost 75-140 depending on where you go. tires are typically 65-200 depending on the brand of tire. And the motor does run! that in its self is worth 1000+!

Lights could simply be a blown fuse or pulling out the wrong toggle switch. I have 2 Bradleys, one of them has a toggle switch that you pull back one click and it turns the park lights on, and pull back a second click and the headlights come on; the other I have to pull one swithc out to turn the park lights on, and then pull a second one for the headlights,8 and a third for the bright... depends on who built it and how they wanted it done, and how much they knew when it was done in the first place.

The light covers, yes those go up and down with a lever inside the car. There are other ways of doing it, but this works just fine. Your friends dad is right, it is just a simple adjustment to refit the light cover.

the mufflers for these are really cheap, and are interchangeable with most any VW. it is possible that the owner simply pulled it off this and used it on a different VW since he had a few different ones. The Frame/Chassis being in good shape is a MAJOR BONUS, no matter if you like the bradley body or not, it is hard to find a frame/chassis in good shape for other projects.

From what little i can see in the photos and what you have said about it so far, the car sounds to be worth $1200-$1800. if you can get it for less than that you are doing great!

I do want to forewarn you, these are very lightweight so they can be very quick, however being so light they are not good at handling in rain / wet roads, and if you get snow where you live DO NOT DRIVE IT IN SNOW! Whenever possible, park it in the shade otherwise they ger very hot inside in the summer, and if you leave it parked outside in daylight a lot, get a carcover for it... as far as the color goes, if you don't like the brown metalflake, these cars are typically cheap to have repainted because they have such simple lines and hardly any masking off of parts.

Let us know how it goes, and if you don't get it but like the idea of getting something similar, check out www.thesamba.com in the classifideds section, there are always a lot of different kit cars in there.

Good luck and have a nice day!
Bob

Couple more pictures. thanks

HI,

The engine lid, tail light mounting and windshield installation put the car at a 1975 or earlier model. If it has a title, it would read the date that the car was completed and titled, not the year that the kit left the Bradley building. The interior if far from perfect, but looks to be better than most I've seen.

Interesting treatment around the windows. I had planned to make some very differently shaped reinforcing parts from stainless, but your images gave me the idea of doing them in Plexiglas, which will retain the original look of the gulls - and I like that. I've seen cars with metal around the gulls, but don't care for it much. It hampers vision in an already visually poor visibility car, and mostly looks like homemade crap.

Some of the comments I've read in this thread might scare you away, but I have 645,000 on my GT (built in 1976) and have had very little trouble with it. When a GT is built correctly, it's just a a VW with a plastic body, and the VW was always reputed to be an extremely low-maintenance vehicle.

The electrical system could be a problem, so check carefully to see if anything other than headlights are not answering the call. A complete rewire is a pain in the ass, but certainly doable. If the wiring isn't burned out or mouse chewed, you shouldn't need a new harness - just a little patience and the appropriate replacement wires and quick-disconnect connectors.

The headlight door is hitting the light bezels because the original builder installed the headlight bucket too far forward in the body. This is an easy fix with the body separated from the chassis, but can be difficult to access with the body mounted. If you need to do electrical work, I recommend a body pull, which is not all that difficult, then you can address the headlight bucket(s). The headlight actuator sounds like the hardware-store lever that came with the kit. It looks homemade, but it's the factory-provided lever, and it does the job. My CD shows a cleaner, much nicer setup that raises the lids using the unused heater lever next to the shifter.

Heat is a problem in the GT because of the long hoses that are exposed to outside air in several places. There are fixes, but they can be time consuming to inspect and correct, however they are not at all costly. I drive my car in rain, wind, snow, ice and anything else. It was my daily driver for many years, and registered in five states, most of which had fairly severe winters. Heat is far from great, but can be made acceptable. Some owners may disagree, but for a daily driver, air-co should be installed. Kits are available.

"Expensive" is a term often used for replacement Bradley Plexiglas gulls and rear windows. I guess if you pay $300 for a POS car, you look at $250 as being high for the cost to replace a gull door. On the other hand, if you bought almost any used production car for $300 and priced a replacement piece of glass, I think you would see that the $250 for the gull is not so much after all. Does anyone really think that you could get a window or windshield for an old car that would relate to what was paid for the car? A replacement Corvette windshield runs anywhere from $150 to $300, regardless of whether it's going on a mid-year ('63-67) Corvette coupe or a Bradley GT. What you paid for the car is irrelevant.

If you buy the car, I do suggest ordering one of my CDs. It has files for all of the manuals, and a lot of useful information that can help you get - and keep - the car in good shape.

Best of luck and warmest regards,

I know I know....I seem harsh. But it is really directed for the poster and not the kit car hobby as a whole.

As some of you know I have rescued a few kits over the years. And when I say "rescued" I mean brought back to life as fully functional, road worthy, cars. I have a great passion for this hobby. The work and effort I personally put into the 12 or more kits reflects that.

But.....a fiberglass kit car is not a great first car for a 14-15 year old. It won't be a great car for him to drive to school with. Kids should have ABS, they should have airbags, they should have well engineered seat restraints. As an adult you can make those choices for yourself, but for someone just learning to drive and who will likely make some mistakes along the way, the previously mentioned safety features can be a life saver.

The young kid too will struggle with the money needed to get the car safe and reliable. Sure...we might be able to throw $100 for an exhaust but thats alot for a kid. And don't forget the old carb with the loose throttle shafts...another couple of hundred there. And a $250 door...it is still expensive to a kid. If you are real careful with the plexi maybe it won't break and maybe it will last. But lets all take a moment to remember how careful were were with things at 17.

And Jeff..you are right...they were engineered to be simple and therefore "low maintenance", but compared to anything of recent history it is so much more to keep running right. Modern fuel injection and computers really make turning the key the hardest thing to do. They aren't as sensitive to small amount of dirt clogging their idle jets (cause they don't have them of course), nor do they leak oil as much, nor are their heads and as easily cracked.

I have built 2 Bradleys. I liked them both. Their adult owners love them too. But it really is a hobby for those with some limited disposable income. Father/son project? Absolutely. First car for a young kid? Not in my opinion.

Thanks for all the advise everyone. I bid on the car up to $1200 and it sold for $1800.
The next car was the 58 oval window. My dad said that will be a nice project also and will help me buy it together. so with my $1500 and his $1500 we decided to bid.
They had a new battery in it also, it started right up. 
We got it for $3300. Dad picked up the other 300 also.
We talked with several people who came late and all said it was a great deal. Dad found someone who knew how to get it into reverse. Tires were pumped up, brakes seemed to work.
We went to get mom and some fresh gas and drove it home 3 miles while mom followed.(she not real happy it seemed), What happened to the GT she asked? Dad smiled and said we didn't like the color. I think it was a hair thing joke. I heard mom say she was going to get her hair colored this morning.
Anyways, thanks again for everyones help. guess I'll have to find a different forum now for this car. Dad said maybe put it for sale in a couple days and we fix when weather gets warmer if not sold. I'm going to wash it in the morning and take pictures.

Oh, title says 57