Author Topic: Rabbit sloppy door stay pivot rod fix  (Read 4605 times)

August 08, 2005, 06:50:55 pm

fspGTD

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Rabbit sloppy door stay pivot rod fix
« on: August 08, 2005, 06:50:55 pm »
I fixed the door stay rod pivot joint on my Rabbit to remove play.  Over many door openings and closings what happens is the hole that the 6mm diameter factory pin rides in gets worn into an egg-shape.  The result is after opening your door, it moves several inches before the door stay "catches" it.

What I did was I found a 1/4" bolt with a non-threaded shank of the correct length (this is known in aerospace bolt specification as the "grip length"), and filed out the hole from 6mm to 1/4" so that the bolt fit perfectly.  1/4" turns out to be 6.35mm, so it's just slightly oversized versus the stock hole, however the original 6mm pin tends to wear down some as well also contributing to overall play.

A 7mm shanked bolt would have also worked well and allowed the egg-shaped hole to be restored even more to a circular shape, but I didn't have one handy (it is not a very common size.)  8mm just seemed too big.  I figured I'd start off with the 1/4" bolt I had as I could always enlarge it out more later if I wanted.

I installed the 1/4" shanked bolt with a nylon lock nut, just tensioning it enough so it tightens things up and reduces rocking without causing any binding.  I also cleaned the wearing surfaces and greased them up well when I had it apart so it should keep things working smoothly.

I am quite pleased with the result.  It no longer makes "snap", "pop" noises when opening and closing the door, and the door stay holds the door open almost as soon as it opens fully.

Combined with fresh door latch pins, this door is feeling almost like new now!  (Just gotta save up for some new door seals to complete the effect. :) )


Jake Russell
'81 VW Rabbit GTD Autocrosser 1.6lTD, SCCA FSP Class
Dieselicious Turbocharger Upgrade/Rebuild Kits

Reply #1August 08, 2005, 09:15:32 pm

lord_verminaard

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Rabbit sloppy door stay pivot rod fix
« Reply #1 on: August 08, 2005, 09:15:32 pm »
About those door seals, over in the Scirocco fourm on the 'Tex, a guy named Randy (username is RLN or something of the sort) has a company called "vintage rubber" and has made a complete set of seals for the Mk1 Rocco, and is working on the Mk2 stuff right now.  That's ALL of the seals; side window scrapers, inner door seals, front and rear windshield seals, hatch seals, etc... and I'm sure that some of the Rocco bits would fit a Rabbit.  Might want to contact him, as his prices are WAY below what VW wants for them.  I priced a set of door seals and scrapers for my Rocco back when I worked for VW, and it came out to something like $700 employee price.   :shock:   It hurt enough to spend the $90 on the sunroof seal.....

Just a heads up.  I've never met or talked to the guy but he's had nothing but good reports from the guys that have bought his stuff, and I plan on going to him when he gets the MK2 seals finished.

Brendan
84 Scirocco 8v
00 Camaro L36 M49
81 Scirocco 'S -->Soon to be m-TDI
93 Corrado SLC VR6
'86 Golf N/A Diesel  -->Wife's car
1990 Audi CQ
05 New Beetle PD TDI


"I am a man, I can change... if I have to.... I guess....."

-Red Green

Reply #2August 09, 2005, 12:21:50 pm

fspGTD

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Rabbit sloppy door stay pivot rod fix
« Reply #2 on: August 09, 2005, 12:21:50 pm »
A set of genuine VW Rabbit door seals are available for $180-$190 from Far Out Parts.  They are still being made by VW for the "Citi Golf", which is being sold in South Africa.

Funny thing is, even though there are twice the seals on a 4-door Rabbit versus a 2-door, a complete door seal set costs a little bit less!
Jake Russell
'81 VW Rabbit GTD Autocrosser 1.6lTD, SCCA FSP Class
Dieselicious Turbocharger Upgrade/Rebuild Kits

 

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