Cosmetically it was in decent shape. I had to fix the back window that had detached. Top was in excellent shape so I chose to just reglue the window. Did a lot of research and ended up buying a kit that worked out well.

I replaced the timing belt, shortly afterwards the timing chain tensioner went out and the chain slipped cause some internal damage to the valves. So I went to our local u-pull it yard, and although they didn’t have any tt’s on the lot, they had a few vw’s with the identical 1.8 engine. So I was able to grab the entire top end off one that had good compression and swapped out the bad one. Total cost including the $200 I gave to my buddy for helping me was $350.
Changed a the fluids and any hoses that were in poor condition.

Oh, and I put in a new chain tensioner, which I recommend be done at the same time as the timing belt and water pump

Biggest problem I’ve had to deal with other than the new top end, has been vacuum issues. After battling that for a few weeks I’ve decided it’s best just to take a night and replace all the hoses.

I’m up for keeping in touch with the progress of our projects. The biggest hastle is that when you need to replace a worn or broken part, before you can remove that particular part, there usually 8-10 other parts that have to be removed before you have access to the broken part. So repairs are usually labor intensive.

I’m glad to bump into some other people who have interest in restoring the tt.