kaputtwagen 1982 rabbit AAZ swap/build

[jack's lack]

Sorry I dropped off of the face of the planet guys. I moved to Maryland, and I haven't had a space or the money to do much with the old VW.


She did win the POS Beater class this year at H2O if you can believe it! Which now serves as my motivation to try and get her some awards for actually being a nice car.
Also, it is not that obvious in the photo, but I scored some BBS RA's for a song. I absolutely love the look, and the price was about a tenth of what I would have paid for a set of RS's

However in the next couple of weeks I am moving to a place where the rent is half as much, and there is a garage! 
I'm planning on finally tearing it down completely and doing paint and body.


Also in other news she is no longer a daily. As I scored a support vehicle for a decent price. Sadly it is not a diesel, but is a 2.0L Turbo.

More to come soon I hope. If I work really quickly I might be able to make some of the shows this season. Maybe not SoWo, which is too bad, because it is my favorite, but H20 should be a reasonable target.

[Syncroincity]

HE HAS RISEN! Welcome back, good to hear from you. Nice A4, too. Love the BBS wheels on the Rabbit.

[jack's lack]

Thanks Jerry,

Something about BBS meshies and these cars just fits together like PB&J. It's a truly gestalt assemblage. Fun fact: I got the tires from a MB dealership. They are for a smart car, which take the smallest tires you can find without special ordering federal FD1's from California. 

The A4 is pretty awesome. It is a 2008 6spd Quattro, Ibisweiss with a black interior. It have found it nearly impossible to find that combination.
The guy at the stealership said "I thought I was going to have a difficult time selling this thing, I mean, who wants a luxury car with a manual transmission". I put my hand in the air and said "this guy". The crazy thing is that it was a Honda dealer, and a new Civic had the same sticker price! Yes it's used, but it is a lot more car than even a loaded civic. I've actually managed to get 30mpg highway out of the thing, which isn't an impressive number on this site, but the thing does weigh 1500 Lbs. more than the rabbit. 


The rabbit is officially in the garage, albeit a very small garage. Good thing it is a very small car. This would be easier if I had more room, but I think it is safe to say that I enjoy a challenge.

[shorttimer]

Thanks for the FD1 tip. Been thinking about a good tire for the money.

[Syncroincity]

6-Spd = even more awesome. Is that the 2.0T? I looked for a long time for my 5-spd Passat 4-Mo 1.8T wagon... I almost went for an Allroad, but they're too thirsty for my taste. I've seen 30-35mpg hwy pretty consistently in the Passat.

[jack's lack]

Long overdue update:

I put up a bunch of T8 fluorescent lights in the garage so I could see what I was doing.


I discovered why I lost my clutch! This is the $400+ ACT unit that I installed with the matching 6puck sintered clutch. less than 10K on it and NO racing.


I figured It was a good opportunity to clean this guy up, and…


paint it to match the engine


Next up I decided it was time to open up the grille a little so that I could sneak the oil cooler in behind it.

Step1: drill a bunch of tiny holes.

Step2 cut between with a tiny cutoff wheel and X-acto as needed.

Step 3: File like mad, and then sand

The finished product. I think it will look pretty stock once I dye it black again, and it is mounted.


Time for this beast to come back out.

Off the mounts and on the ground. Ready to jack the car and slide it out.

Out of the way for now.


A lot of work remains.

Good thing I have my little helper.


And a new bigger helper 

 
Powersteering bracket deleted


Battery tray deleted. Note the big rust hole to repair


Progress albeit small


Coolant reservoir bracket deleted


Time to attack the interior

Almost all of the rust is surface. I have only found one spot where it rotted through the floorboard, and there was a big rust through in the firewall above, so no surprise.


A couple of bags full of our worst fears. I have carefully labeled everything. As part of this I am going to tuck the wires as much as possible, and I anticipate that I will be pretty much rebuilding this whole rat's nest.

[stewardc]

Interesting comment on the 6-puck clutch. I had put a 4-puck in mine and hated it from day one. In 3 months, it absolutely destroyed a new flywheel. I put in a new ACT setup with a standard-type disc, and, after 3 years of daily driving, couldn't be happier.

[theman53]

I have a 6 puck clutchnet in mine and it works pretty good now. Same thing happened to it after a few thousand miles. I called and they redid the diaphragm springs for 0 dollars for me. That is what is in the car and feels almost like a stock clutch now. It wasn't right from day one before. It was an on off switch before, now since the new springs it feels almost normal and it is a great performing clutch.

[jack's lack]

Update: Sorry I keep forgetting to take pictures and post. Lots of work is happening though I swear.
The car is disassembled and I have been sanding and shaving the engine bay for what seems like forever. I'm getting close to being able to move on to welding and filling.
This rubbery seam sealer stuff is everywhere and is a pain to get off. I've always had a lot of respect for a clean nicely shaved engine bay, but I honestly had no idea how much work it actually takes. Pics of the progress.

[deepgrooves74]

I noticed that you ground off the mount for your windshield washer reservoir… Are you going to pull the fluid from the trunk area? Or are you not going to have any washer fluid spray onto the front windshield?

Here's mine:



Just finishing up media blasting last night…

[RabbitJockey]

great build man, i dunno how i missed it all these years

[jack's lack]

I noticed that you ground off the mount for your windshield washer reservoir… Are you going to pull the fluid from the trunk area? Or are you not going to have any washer fluid spray onto the front windshield?

Just finishing up media blasting last night…

I haven't decided. I might pull it from the trunk, but first I think I'll just go without it. This car isn't going to daily anymore. It is gonna be sunny sunday / show car. I'm deleting the heat and the blower (gonna hide a small electric unit in the dash), and all the rear wiper, washer, and defog. I'm really going for a more stripped down, clean, simplified go kart. Yours is looking good. I decided to get a cheap media blaster to help me get in all of those pesky little nooks that I can't seem to get to with tools or my fingers.

[hanisbb21]

DUB LUV

[jack's lack]

Much overdue update. Painstaking bodywork continues at a glacial pace. Slow and steady is something any VW owner get's comfortable







The front valence was pretty dinged up. A lot of pulling and filling was required. These images were from months ago. I have dozens more to post. I'm trying to catch up.

[deepgrooves74]

Looking good! Keep at it! I was about to do more on mine yesterday, but then realized I needed to redo the crown molding in the dining room for my wife... There goes the first time in 3 months to work on the rabbit.


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