Aesthetic help for Rabbit!!!!!!!!!!

[ORCoaster]

Rabbit82

The tire size in the pictures _ 185 60R 14  At that point in time I had just purchased the Snowflakes and took the tires off some steelies I purchased earlier in the summer.  Since the picture I have chewed through two of them and so I replaced them with 185 70R 14 tires in the rear.  I will add a picture here later tomorrow of that look.  I will capture the same side of the car for comparison.  They fill the wheel well even more to the point that when I am fully loaded they can rub if I hit a sharp bump going over 35 mph.  I know that from last trip north.  Very unnerving, am I going to tear a tire or two off this thing? 

Ahh the not so normal flare to the bottom of the car.  Do a google on Zender body kit.  It was an add on deal that was and still is available.  Prepare to pay or find a deal.  I found a guy looking to get it out of his garage and he even threw in the European bumpers to sweeten the deal.  I think I did him the bigger favor getting him space in the garage.  These kits were screwed or pop riveted to the body.  I was going to do that but my son talked me into affixing them with fiberglass and then using close to a gallon of body putty to smooth them out.  Here are a couple in process pictures. 



It took us two full days to get the curves to blend in the way we did and my hands were killing me.  After the first coat of primer I was thankful he made his case so convincing.  It really does add to the look.  Not quite as plain jane, driven by a nun look.



The Zender nose is very different from this one.  I picked it up off Craigslist for 10 bucks.  Just lately I saw one for 70.  Same part.  It secures with screws along the front and you have to put three in on each side.  I used the plastic pop in style inserts and some stainless screws.  The European bumpers hide the side screws


So add on kits might be something you might want to look into if you can do bodywork and paint them up.  Flare the wheel wells and paint them black up to the first line up the door.  That is a good cut line all the way down the body.  Easy to tape off above that. 

Have you seen those decals that say Diesel Rabbit on them.  I think they are on MK1Autohaus.com

He has flare kits too:  http://www.ebay.com/itm/VW-Cabriolet-Clipper-Stone-Gaurd-Kit-Matte-Black-NEW-/320157634818?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item4a8ae1d102

Here is a multistripe decal that would do you just fine.  Dressed up black tie affair.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/VW-Rabbit-Rally-Stripe-Kit-Hatch-Included-BLACK-2-4Dr-/320001807043?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item4a819812c3

Have fun with it.  You likely can spend from 100 to 1000 doing what ever.  Just take my sons advice.  If your going to spend the time you better make it right. 

[rallydiesel]

Nice find on the Zender kit. Some people would kill for those! Looking forward to seeing the build continue.

[ORCoaster]

I keep my eye open for them now and would even buy one just to make sure someone here gets it. 

Most of my work is done on the outside with the exception of the chrome stripping that has to go back into the rubber window seals.  ECU was selling it for like half off about two months ago so I got enough to do the rear windows and the hatch.  But I have to wait till the weather gets warmer so I can install it with ease.  Might have to go to the guys that did my windshield and see what kind of tool they use to spread that rubber gasket and insert this flexible strip. 

I have nearly finished the interior as well but I have held off on the new carpet install until I went through the winter with new wing windows.  I found a set of those on some Cabby doors and bought em just for the screw on hinges.  Posted that pictorial here some place.  Did a headliner and insulated the roof with foam camping pads and glued the headliner material to the foam with spray on adhesive.   I found that Jo Ann fabrics carries the same headliner material at a reasonable cost and they generally stock the gray and brown colors.

 

[Baron VonZeppelin]

Not very much besides VW alloys will fit our cars.
Don't get fooled into Honda, Mazda and other 4x100x14. The center hub hole is too small for ours. Unless you have a good friend who can bore them.
Some really older Audi/BMW wheels will fit.
And aftermarket Uni-Lugs, but most of those look really cheap'ish.

I disagree on the import wheels, most that I know of have 73mm centerbores and are lugcentric while bmw and vw have 57.1mm cb and are hubcentric so you if you found a set that you actually liked the center bore difference can be easily overcome with a set of hubcentric rings. Also keep an eye on offset depending on the donor vehicle it may or may not be compatible.

Do you know which ones/makes have the 73mm C.bore with 4x100x14" ?
I've tried Mazda and Honda - and both were too small on C.bore.

And i've never heard of hubcentric rings - guess i'm too old. lol
How much do they cost for a set of 4 ?

[DieselBalz]

I am on 185/70's. I am also in a Mk2 Jetta. But it should still be fine for your Rabbit.

That Zender kit is sweet.

[rabbit82]

Nice work on the trim kit, I would love to have that look but if I went that far I would change the color of the car. I'm not wanting to spend that much just yet. I'll be looking for some cheaper upgrades.
 I searched high and low last night on CL for some rims. The teardrop rims are plentiful but I don't really like them. I'll keep looking.
I haven't checked yet but it looks like I can remove the bumper guards (or whatever they are called) from the bumpers to clean it up a little. I have a bunch of cheap wide electrical tape that I thought about using on the rockers and around the fenders for a test, just to see what it would look like before I do anything. NO, I wouldn't be leaving it on, just for testing.

[DieselBalz]

I look forward to the mock up pics. I would just go with new plastic on the fender wells. Cheap and looks great.

[ORCoaster]

Take a good look at the front tires compared to the rears  60R versus 70R on the back.  Both on 14 inch rims
Stock tire is 155 80R 13 and stands about as high as the front I think.  I use it as my spare.



A little closer please. 


And the back, very tight

[R.O.R-2.0]

I am on 185/70's. I am also in a Mk2 Jetta. But it should still be fine for your Rabbit.

That Zender kit is sweet.

185/70s are too big for a mk2, and WAY TOO BIG for a mk1..

[ORCoaster]

Please Explain to me how the ones on the rear wheels seem to be going around in circles just as they should?  I am not sure they would work on the front given the steering and up and down motions combined.

DAS

[DieselBalz]

I have zero issues ROR. No rubbing, great ride, and  they even handle when I toss it around a little. At 13 seconds into that video I posted of the Eco on the user ride wall shows what it looks like on stock wheels with stock suspension. A ok. They also look great on that Rabbit soooo whaddya talking bout meng?

[ORCoaster]

Another delirious moment from our favorite West side guy? 

The only issue I had a couple weeks ago was with 2950 lbs of vehicle and goods piled inside.  Rubbed on some of the bumps going over the bridge expansion joints.  But remember I run a Zender kit and that adds a lip inside the normal wheel well.  And that is what the tires were buzzing on not the stock part. 

[DieselBalz]

That reminds me. Last week I brought home about 150 pounds of chicken feed/pineshavings/feed block and that was stuffed in there with my existing kicker ten, amp, tool box and ratchet set. The rear tires were actually slighty tucked under the wheel arch. I should of taken a pic. Even with all that, not a rub once.

[Baron VonZeppelin]

Rabbit82, i forgot about teardrops.
I think they would look good with black insets, on your Rabbit.
And they are usually the cheapest 14" VW Alloy to source.
Believe a SnowFlake center cap will work on them also.

A set of Flakes as clean and bright as ORC found would fetch 250-300.
80 is completely untypical unless they are quite rough.
In 5 years have found 4 sets - 2 sets were full silver paint like from later model Cabriolets - 2 sets were decent driver quality early model type (good to restore later on).

That picture i mentioned has to be on the crashed box.
Searched through everything on this box.
But here is a Truck with the wheel arch trims, black rockers, black side moldings that might help.

[mystery3]

Do you know which ones/makes have the 73mm C.bore with 4x100x14" ?
I've tried Mazda and Honda - and both were too small on C.bore.

And i've never heard of hubcentric rings - guess i'm too old. lol
How much do they cost for a set of 4 ?

I guess I was thinking of older toyota or datsun wheels. I looked around a bit and it looks like honda and mazda are 56.1 cb, nissan are 66.? didn't look at domestics but easy enough to research junkyard/craigslist wheel set.

Hubcentric rings go between $15-30 for a set of 4. This place has every conceivable size and I think the current euro/usd exchange rate might be favorable.