Former VWDieselParts.com Forum

Another Rabbit bites the dust.
I got this metalflake blue '80 Rabbit, with the jumping B Rabbit decal,.. along with another Rabbit.
A you want one, you gotta buy both kinda deal.
I rebuilt the 1.5 and it runs great, I did alot of work and put some nice parts on it before noticing how badly rusted the rear end was.
Having other VWs to work on and drive, this one got set back and hardly driven. I knew the body was bad, even though it looks great, but always wanted to get the last out of it before parting it out.
With the recent cold spell, the tired old engine in the Fatmobile wasn't going to start easily so I swapped insurance over to "Old Blue".
With the rebuilt engine and crappy body it seemed like a great winter car.
Well the rear end broke free of the body while going through town. I've had this happen before... the emergency brake cable starts pulling on the brake, holding the rear back while the car gets pulled forward by the front wheels. This usually makes a noise but I didn't hear it. This time it just started driving squirrly so I pulled into a mini mall before I heard the rear wheel rubbing on the body.
Don't feel too bad about it. I can use a good parts car right now. Front end, engine, exhaust and suspension for "Hit a deer", rear panel for "hit in rear",
the baby blue interior looks great... the old school headliner is minty, great glass and seals.

I'm not too bummed about it.... actually had a feel of accomplishment as I confirmed it's final tour.
The other car I got in the package deal, belongs to a friend of mine and I'm in the middle of installing a vegy conversion in it.
Both cars for $400. His came with a bad head/spare head. I got my car for free for swapping heads and getting his running.

wow that's hilarious! .....I wouldn't say that unless I thought you were alright with it...

I think it's great it died with such certainty.

THIS THREAD IS USELESS WITHOUT PICS!

Hay CoolAirVw we need your expertise to make old blue do the rumba when the axle lets go. That makes me shutter just thinking about. I own a blue Golf thats a close relative.

4BTA 3.9 Cummins Stepvan
86TD Golf
91TD Jetta

THIS THREAD IS USELESS WITHOUT PICS!

Harsh but true, ha

Here's a pic of the wayward wheel and the lovely jumping B Rabbit decal.


I don't see many Rabbits with a metalflake paintjob. I really like the color.
Lots of good parts on it.

This has happened to me before... with the first Rabbit I ever owned.
I had the rear seat out and was using it as a work horse.
I used to go to the local cabinet maker and jump in their dumpster for firewood.
Oak, cherry, hard maple, hickory... my favorite was the 1x4s of oak or hickory.
One time I pulled up next to it and there was 1x4s of oak, far as the eye could see. The whole top of this 8' high dumpster was covered with it. I opened the hatch and started throwing wood pieces down into my Rabbit.
I made it almost all the way home before I noticed the rear brake dragging, throbbing. As the rear end was breaking off and pulling away from the car, the emergency brake was getting pulled. The drums must have been worn unevenly because it wasn't a steady pull.
Got it home and parked it... no big hurry to get the wood unloaded, parked it right in front of the door and unloaded it as I needed. About a weeks worth of heat.
A normal Rabbit could've handled it, this was an old '79. The bolts holding the rear on had been snapped off and it was welded back to the rusty frame best it could be.

I got the good parts from it so it will live on in other Rabbits. It had the nice headliner:


I saved the headliner and parts for another project but the rest of the car is pretty torn up now:


I planned to put the front on a car that hit a deer:


,... but there was too much wrong with it,... and I want a 4 door.
So I traded Bill "Hit a Deer" for his '84, 4 door "Hit in Rear".







I wasn't crazy about the color or patina at first but it's growing on me.
I have the old rear panel removed and Old Blue's small tails panel in place. I have a friend that will lend me a nice 110 volt mig welder, a neighbor that has offered to teach me to weld,... and plenty of practice metal.
Gonna be like Capt. Cool
I'll take some more pics.

I scrapped my 79 just before that was going to happen. I had the rear axle to frame bolts snapped when replacing the exhuast system with a 200 dollar factory setup. I welded the rear axle to the frame. What rusty tings these cars turn out to be.

Oh, there's that Capt. Cool comment again! (kinda like it actually)




.

I got the rear panel cut out,.. a little more trimming and prepping and all the panels will be ready to weld in.

The carpet and interior are out, the doors started coming off today.
There is some floor pan work at the driver's feet and by the passenger's seat slider.
I'll get the camera out tomorrow, along with the suspension and rest of the doors.

I love this thread, the family had a chuckle too. That pink colour....sure ol'blue won't mind? You could sell cosmetics.Good that you were with blue when she died.

PINK????
I'm not sure what color that is but it's not a factory pink... Blue WOULD be insulted
I've been taking note of all the rusty spots. Here's one under the passenger side fender:


It's coming apart nicely:


Here's some more rust-through by the passenger side seat rail:


Here's the bad rust:

Not much of a driver's floor pan left.

Still have the windshield to remove and a support bar to bolt in before I tip it up on it's side,... oh yeah and a fuel tank to drain.

My my Fatmobile, you seem like your up to your nuts in work.

The 91 Jetta that I got today needs to have some serious front end work. D/S wheel pointing to the left, P/S wheel straight.

Subframe or something is rusted out badly. I'm hoping it isn't too much of a job to replace and that I can find one.

I got all the extra weights and fluids off/out of it, the support bar bolted to the seat belt holder and tipped it up on it's side:







I've been working toward this for awhile. It's great to find out it works. I lifted it up without any help,... and it came back down easily to.

Looking good the way you've got that body set-up. Let us know how this poor Rabbit makes out. I'm starting to like the colour too. It reminds me of the Terex green I got out of the US to paint a Tree Farmer. We have some left and my son wants to paint the Caddy that lime green colour. Do you have the mig yet? Phil