86 Jetta build

[92EcoDiesel Jetta]

Nice you are saving it from eventual rust death. Did you get a quote for the sandblasting, welding and undercoating? What material(s) will they be using for the  undercoat?

[JBG3]

Nice you are saving it from eventual rust death. Did you get a quote for the sandblasting, welding and undercoating? What material(s) will they be using for the  undercoat?

the blasting and coating is a 500 dollar service, welding in patches will probably cost me another couple hundred bucks.  I expect this adventure to be around or just under about a thousand bucks.  Worth it to me since ive already saved more than 600 bucks in fuel costs driving this car over the last couple months.  Ive been saving that up for rust repair. 

[theman53]

On my 86 I bought a welder for 800 and did it myself. The ease and timeframe are TONS better the route you are going. My only benefit is that I still have the welder. I also had to weld in the floors from front to back on the  drivers side and the knock outs on the passenger. Yours is looking good.

I am so glad you are not just throwing the car out and scrapping it in favor of one more clean. IMHO too many people are doing that today.

[JBG3]

On my 86 I bought a welder for 800 and did it myself. The ease and timeframe are TONS better the route you are going. My only benefit is that I still have the welder. I also had to weld in the floors from front to back on the  drivers side and the knock outs on the passenger. Yours is looking good.

I am so glad you are not just throwing the car out and scrapping it in favor of one more clean. IMHO too many people are doing that today.

Thats what I did with an 81 mercedes a while back.  I welded over 40 patches to just the driver side with a fisher-price brand wire feed welder from HF  , and eventually lost steam leaving a huge hole for months on the passenger side.  Fortunately,  I crashed that car and twisted the subframe before I had to finish the project 

Excited about having it done, worth it to me to just spend the money and be done with it, then I can rubbercoat and paint inside surface with rust converter.  You should have seen what I pulled out of the driver floor, it was a rubber house entrance mat, a sheet of galvanized steel over that, all glued down, and then someone had actually laid down some expensive dynamat over this ridiculous hack! 

[JBG3]

got some front fenders in the mail!   

Both front fenders are the car are rusted and dented, one or the other it would be worth fixing, but not both, and the rust is pretty bad.  Some nice replacement fenders out of the midwest, minimal rust-



also check this out-



When I pulled the rear bumper for the rust work, this piece fell out.  Its a section of cast iron from the front of the original 1.6D that the PO blew up in this car.  Amazingly, it must have bounced or something when the engine blew, and caught up in the rear bumper, it was just sitting there! 

[theman53]

where I am from those look like clean fenders

[JBG3]

where I am from those look like clean fenders

me too, those are the replacements.  A little sanding and body work, and it will look mint.  Heres the passenger fender on the car itself (I left them on in case the rust guys needed the shape)



They are rusty, and up front pretty dented up.  Ill probably keep them as spare sheet metal though

[JBG3]

just got a call, the car is done! 

Ill be able to pick it up some time next week (out of town)

[JBG3]

well, im pretty pleased with how it turned out.   

here are some comparison pics-
















and a few pics of how the undercoating looks.  Dam thing looks brand new underneath.  I will wait a couple days for the undercoating to fully set I think, then put her back together.  I have to order a bunch of stuff for the interior too.  Gonna be a slick ride eventually

[JBG3]

Question-  is there some kind of trick to removing the front bumper so I can pull the fenders?  Seems not clear, and the bentley seems a little unclear too on this.  Clearly I'm missing something obvious

[JBG3]

so some updates.

I have new insulation, and carpeting coming for the interior, then I can start putting things back in. 

I did reinstall the fuel tank and driver seat so I could actually move it around, but after driving it about 80 miles, suddenly my clutch pedal started returning to about 6 inches above normal. 

The transmission clutch lever is still in the correct place, something has popped off in the pedal assembly, and its more than a little wobbly now.  Pretty much undrivable



Next on the list was to pull the dash back out, and pull the climate control so I could recover the heater direct doors, and remove the A/C components from inside.  When I do that, I can probably do something about whatever the heck happened with the pedal

[JBG3]

also some updates on the driver door sitting 1/4 inch further out than correct which I don't think I mentioned in the thread.  Its interesting how when you start digging in these cars, all the little secrets come out, every little shoddy repair is exposed to the light of day.  

So ive never done a vin run on carfax, but i might to see out of curiosity.  I already knew that this car had been wrecked, but the extent I did not.  My next door neighbor is a body guy, and he was looking over the car trying to see whats going on with door.  

What happened is a crappy repair job after whatever accident, they overextended the A-pillar when they were pulling it out, and did not fix it properly, or correctly.  

What I need to do is find the A pillar external skin from a donor car, cut out whats in there, and weld it in how it should correctly be, then the door will probably close properly.  Pretty major repair though, it will have to wait for now.  Going to be long term if I want to do it.  

[JBG3]

figured the clutch problem out, the clip was from the end of the pivot shaft that both the clutch pedal and brake pedal turn on.  That shaft seems horribly worn, with the clip reinstalled, there is still major wobble, so I will have to take it apart and see what can be done.  

my carpeting arrived in the mail today-
before and after-  still waiting on the insulation though, then i can start reinstalling the interior.  Ive put over 300 miles on the car with just a driver seat, and it would be nice to hear again, and have kids stop laughing at me.  

out of the box, directions say to let it sit for a while on the old carpet so it can regain its shape from being crushed by shipping.  Looks like some trimming and fitting will have to be done, but its a quality product, for 120 bucks, im pretty pleased.



old one-



compared-

[92EcoDiesel Jetta]

Are the carpets new, new or used new? Hard to tell from the pic. Who sells new carpeting?

[JBG3]

Are the carpets new, new or used new? Hard to tell from the pic. Who sells new carpeting?

brand new aftermarket, lots of color options too

-http://www.stockinteriors.com/