There comes a time when.......

[MoparEd]

You have to accept defeat........

I want to thank you all for the help while I was building my engine.  I always wanted to build an engine, and im glad it was a diesel VW. You guys are great.  The engine runs awesome, but my car is a POS. Its gone on long enough, I had the passat since November and was only able to put on 600kms. There is too much wrong with the car to justify spending any more money. Im $5000 in, and its time I swallow my pride and move on. Im going to yank the drivetrain and crush the car, Its a shame I know, considering it has no rust, but it has to be done lol.  This was my first VW, and I wish I found this site prior to buying it.

Good luck on your projects! and Thanks again for all  the knowledge and help.

Ed

[truckinwagen]

no shame in that, I have given up on a few cars in my time as well.

knowing when to say enough is enough is difficult some times.

I hope the motor finds its way into something more reliable soon!

-Owen

[78sharpshooter]

I am right there with you. I bought an 85 1.6 NA and spent quite a bit on it before realizing it had to be put down. It was difficult to take such a loss in money but I found a nice 86 that cosmetically in great condition that is worthy of putting money into. Once you have another VW diesel you will feel much better and not think about this one too much. Don't let this stress you out and good luck on your next one.

[theman53]

So there is a point when you say enough? Man I hope I am done before I get there. I am starting to get to that point. I really wished I could have found a car that didn't need everything. At the same time it shouldn't need much of anything for a long while, but it needs to be finished first.

Good luck on finding a new shell.

[745 turbogreasel]

Some cars are cursed, and should be crushed from their misery.  Don't feel too bad.

[gldgti]

Some cars are cursed, and should be crushed from their misery.  Don't feel too bad.

strange, sad, and true. Nerry a truer word was said, infact. I have had this '77 for a couple of years, was to be a fixer-upper - drives great, handles great - but shoddy electrics and none of the doors shut nicely, and the paint is really bad. For the sake of having a car with nicely shutting doors, i have bought a '76 that has worse electrics and some nasty hidden rust - but, all the panels are straight. So its getting a full cabriolet wiring loom (circa 90's) and dash and all the other bits. I have already welded up the rust. I reckon this car will actually be more work, but i would never have been happy with th '77 and its crappy slam-the-crap-out-of-it doors.

[Rabbit on Roids]

yea, i know what you mean, the doors on my 81 would damn near close themselves. you could latch them from the inside with 1 finger. and they didnt rattle. the doors on my 84 rattle and dont close that well.

[RabbitJockey]

i always wanted to sit down scratch my head and stick a ce2 harness in my jetta, kind of pointless though since i've already replaced almost every wire in it, and it's a diesel so i don't get the benefit of easier engine swaps, unless i went tdi.

[rabbitman]

yea, i know what you mean, the doors on my 81 would damn near close themselves. you could latch them from the inside with 1 finger. and they didnt rattle. the doors on my 84 rattle and dont close that well.

Clean and lube the latch box, adjust the hinges and make sure the latch hits the striker bolt squarely without it pushing the door up or down and you'll be shocked. I've had a rough time getting the doors to close easy and still not leak, there's a fine line between the two.......

To the OP, too bad it got to this but from what I've seen the engines, if maintained and treated good, will last a loooong time, the bodies not quite so good.

It saddens me every time a vw gets crushed.......but if it must be done then just do it......or sell it.......

[RabbitJockey]

yeah i agree the doors are tricky, but if you spend your time you can get them nice and straight and opening and closing easily.  my gfs cabby used to leak like crazy, all i had to do was align the doors properly and adjust the window stops and the leak was gone and it opened and closed easily.  and i was a hero.  alot of the time you just have to jack the door up to take out the sag.