My 81 Rabbit Diesel project

[Rabbit TD]

omg, get rid of that transmission unless it is a 4 speed freak of nature with a .71 4th gear.

If it's the original 4 speed from 81 it probably is a .71 4th gear, that's what my 81 had when I got it about 5 transmissions ago.  Actualy it's the one that gets the best mileage of all the 020's but it doesn't do much for driving fun.

[DieselSteed]

The FF or FN tranny will work with the AAZ. I had that bolted to my mk1 Jetta AAZ. I believe the biggest clutch for this setup is the 210mm because of the bell housing.  Bleached Bora (vender section) offered a 5th that’s 0.65 for the 020 transaxles, and is easy to swap, which I would think work be great for 75+ freeway and still have tall gears for light to light driving. Nice car BTW. Love the coupe

[Rabbit on Roids]

omg, get rid of that transmission unless it is a 4 speed freak of nature with a .71 4th gear.

If it's the original 4 speed from 81 it probably is a .71 4th gear, that's what my 81 had when I got it about 5 transmissions ago.  Actualy it's the one that gets the best mileage of all the 020's but it doesn't do much for driving fun.

uh? ive got 4 speeds from the late 70's clear up till they quit making them. the only one i have that has the tall gears is out of a stock gas rabbit. all my diesel 4 speeds have ridiculously low gears that sound like you are turning 8000 going 70 mph.

[Pre95]

omg, get rid of that transmission unless it is a 4 speed freak of nature with a .71 4th gear.

If it's the original 4 speed from 81 it probably is a .71 4th gear, that's what my 81 had when I got it about 5 transmissions ago.  Actualy it's the one that gets the best mileage of all the 020's but it doesn't do much for driving fun.

uh? ive got 4 speeds from the late 70's clear up till they quit making them. the only one i have that has the tall gears is out of a stock gas rabbit. all my diesel 4 speeds have ridiculously low gears that sound like you are turning 8000 going 70 mph.

Luckily (after some digging) I have found that I do in fact have the long geared 4th. unfortunately what this does is cause you to either have to keep her floored @ 65mph to maintain speed, or to cruise up to ~70mph where it takes very little pedal to keep her moving. I was eyeballing the 7A trans as a suitable replacement (also a .71 final gear) but will need to see whats readily available when the swap time comes.

[lovinthedeez]

I had the gp .71 fourth gear tranny in my rabbit, and now have an ACN behind the same motor in a mk2 jetta.  the four speed and the five speed are almost identical when it comes to cruising on the highway.  its the gears in the middle that really make the difference.  The final drive is lower on the ACN, but makes minimal difference in rpm in contrast to the gp.  if you need proof, just enter the info here
http://scirocco.org/gears/
at 70, there was less than 100 rpm difference.
now driving in the 35 mph zones, I prefer the ACN all the way.....
5 speed for the win

[Pre95]

Wow, it's been some time since the last update, things have come along quite nicely. Really enjoying the simple design of the MK1  

Anyways, there has been progress:

New alternator & belt went on along with a new cluster voltage regulator so now I know for sure my gauges are reading correctly (apposed to hitting a bump and it looks like I am overheating... hit another bump and it looks like I am out of gas..). The actual problem was a loose connection @ the cluster regulator but figured I had the new one sitting in my lap with the dash all apart, might as well replace it. The old alternator was making a bit of noise, and while it was charging OK, for $50 with a $3 core why not replace it and just have it done. I noticed driving it felt a lot spunkier then on the old alternator..

Then replaced the clutch release bearing. The clutch was making a bit of noise with the pedal out, no noise with the pedal in, and the new bearing solved it. I still have a touch of noise while the clutch pedal is out apposed to in, but with how loud the motor cackles I cannot figure out exactly what it is (sounds like a light scraping of some sort... disheartening to say the least but so far 1k with the noise and no drivability changes). With the plan of a future 5 speed swap I figure I will drive her till she pops.

After that was done I got to actually clean the car out (havent since I purchased it..). Removed the back seat and tucked that away, pulled the numerous boxes of parts out and started getting the garage organized. When i overhauled the brakes (front pads & rotors, rear drums & shoes, both rear wheel cylinders, both e-brake cables, and a flush of super blue to boot) I removed the 13" panasport replica wheels as they required the use of a stud / lug kit which I am not a fan of. During the brake overhaul removing the slightly rusted / corroded stud kit from the front hubs proved to be quite challenging (see: torch, PB blaster). Instead of the replicas I mounted up the original 13" steelies w/ 155 80 13's, the tires had tons of tread left so I have some time to procure a set of 15x6 corrado steel wheels (currently working a deal). I will say the 155/80's are NOT a fan of corners... unsafe if you ask me. It'll be going to 195/50-15's

On the stockers:


You may notice in the rear window something hanging on the back there, had to toss some vintage 80's flare on her  


(sorry for cell phone pics)

Took awhile to track down the louver but well worth the effort  

Then on to the cooling system. One morning I drive to work and the car -will not- warm up beyond 1/4 of the gauge, I popped the thermostat housing off to find my thermo was dead. At the same time I realized the bottom radiator tube was ballooned out pretty large (oil leaked on it from a bad valve cover gasket, since replaced). A few days later a small leak had formed from the same tube, it had a split while the car was sitting in the garage after a 2 day rest. You could actually see the braided thread inside the crack! So not wanting to play games with overheating I replaced the whole lot. All coolant hoses were replaced, thermostat, both temperature senders, and the fan switch.

Then a few days later sitting at a stop light my old loose feeling driver seat back snapped, leaving me laying flat staring at the roof of the car. Splendid. Tucked the spare tire up against the back of the seat for the drive home. Got home to find the seat had been broken for some time, and finally the other side went rendering it useless. I pulled the driver seat out, swapped the passenger side over and need to hit the junkyard to find a match from another MK2. Nothing like saving weight (even when you dont necessarily want to)



I re-tuned the injection pump again before this last tank of fuel. I was getting a bit more smoke @ WOT then I wanted and at this point all I am doing is adjusting the fuel load down until I have the least amount of smoke with the least amount of performance lost. Last tank average 46mpg (just a hair under, 45.886). Now she will cruise 70mph while barely on the pedal (as it should be) and actually has acceleration up to freeway speeds. So far the car has to be at least twice as fast as when i purchased it so I am definitely a happy camper. WOT has a light gray mist at this point (at certain RPM's) so I think I am about there.

And finally, this past weekend I got a little spend happy with the ol' girl and have a slew of parts in the mail for her. Autotech 28mm rear swaybar + hardware, european bumpers & turn signals, H4 headlamps, and a 3m eraser wheel to buff the old striping off. All due to arrive on 9/18... CMON UPS!!! More to come...

[VelocityConservation]

Pre95,

Sounds very much like my deall with my 90 jetta.

I splurged on Bilstein Sports for the rear a couple of weeks ago (had put them on the front last year).  BIG difference.  Even improved the fuel economy.

Beautiful car.

VelocityConservation

[Rabbit TD]

How do the 195-50's compare in heigth compared to the 155-80's, I've been thinking about going to something wider too but it doesn't take much of an increase of heigth to really screw up the gearing on the little cars.

[Pre95]

How do the 195-50's compare in heigth compared to the 155-80's, I've been thinking about going to something wider too but it doesn't take much of an increase of heigth to really screw up the gearing on the little cars.

Using the tire calculator on Miata net here it's actually surprising to find that the difference between a 155/80-13 and a 195/50-15 is very slight. Radius and diameter only change by .1 inch, and the circumference changes by .3 inches. Revs per mile increase, but only by 3 rpm! The reduction in sidewall (and addition of the 28mm rear sway) will give me back the handling characteristics I currently lack. I can live with a +3 rpm  

[Pre95]

Not much this weekend. Installed my newly acquired autotech 28mm rear sway bar. My rear beam was pre-drilled so it only took about 30 mins. Took it for a quick spin and I can already tell the rear is a lot tighter then before. Definitely looking forward to hitting some twisties tomorrow 

[Pre95]

Scored a set of 15" borbet type T's last week, got some spline drive lugs and she's all bolted up. UPS also showed up (late) friday so finally got some time (and parts) for the rabbit. Luckily the 15x7 et35's clear with 195/50's mounted (I was told otherwise...). I have about 3-5mm of clearance up front and a good 10-15mm of clearance in the back off the coilovers so they bolted right up. After some hard twisties I have 0 rubbing all around (I am shocked, but then again not that low). I am still planning on running some 3mm front and 5mm rear spacers to even the stance out, and just in case the yokohama's are a touch narrower then bfgoods which will be there replacements.  I also need to lower the coils and bring the height down about 1". Figure I'll tackle that sooner or later..

Eurobumpers and smoked signals went on. The upper smoked signals are going to get a coat of high gloss clear enamel so they will match the lowers. Also have a set of H4's out on the bench but I need to pick up a couple relays before I can install them. I also am on the hunt for a late westy grill, mine is cracked under the passenger side light.

I will say, with these new tires the car is on rails. Next up will be some chassis bracing and an afternoon with the 3m eraser wheel  

[Rabbit on Roids]

where did you find the butt rockin 80's rear deck louvre?

[Pre95]

where did you find the butt rockin 80's rear deck louvre?

heh, well.. if you want one it just takes a bit of time tracking em down. They are pretty rare and most are beat up or tossed by now. I happened to score mine from a local mk1 guru from a want ad I had posted (ran for 2 months...)

[Rabbit on Roids]

well, i guess i better start looking then. cause i want one. i dig the way it looks. it would look great on my ride, it has some classic Keystone wheels. black spoked mags like what the general lee had. they are RWD offset so they stick way out there.

[bugnut]

Where did you get the euro bumpers at.  I have been looking and found everybody to be sold out and not getting any more.