Hello all,
I still have my same two cars. Between the two of them, they have over a half million miles. Quite a bit of driving, I'd say!
My first car was a 1981 Volkswagen Rabbit Diesel. My parents purchased it new in May of 1981 with 32 miles on it. When I turned 17, I bought the car from my dad for $800 (long story). It had 180K-ish miles in it. I drove it all through college. I kept the car running for the most part, but it sure broke a lot. At 240K, one of the rings broke. I did a 'fake' rebuild and kept it on the road for around $250. After driving it for 5 years, I sold it back to my father and bought another car. After 3 more years, he told me he was going to junk it, so I took it back. I've had it since 1999 this round. I haven't worked on it for the last couple of years, but I still have it.
Things I've done:
replaced the rings and rod bearings
new struts/springs
new brakes
new cooling system
new head gasket (had to do it a second time - a learning experience)
all new seals on the engine
new front end (wheel bearings/bushings/etc)
one new control arm
re-seal of the injection pump
new wheels
new headliner
cleaned the hell out of that thing (eew!)
It still needs a lot more. I just don't have the time/money to work on it currently. Hopefully someday I can get back to it and finish restoring it.
some pics:
This is when my dad brought it to me right when he was going to junk it. It's fairly straight, and it's a CO car. No rust to speak of!
After cleaning it up some
The interior needs some TLC for sure
After redoing all the seals and head gasket for the 2nd time
new headliner
new suspension and wheels
All in all, I've gotten a good start on it. The interior and body need some work. Especially paint and this:
Someone thought I went at a stop sign. I hadn't. I never got it fixed, as I was a poor kid and used the insurance money elsewhere. Hopefully I can get this repaired and the car painted at some point.
Topic: My two diesels (Read 6804 times)
