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Some Mk1 history tidbits I wasn't aware of...

358K views 618 replies 168 participants last post by  Hammandy 
#1 ·
#154 ·
Another bit of Westmoreland history. Today's lesson is paint application of the newly assembled shells. Yes boys an girls the shells were painted but with a twist. When I was training in Wolfsburg on my painting certification I spent alot of time in the spray booths actually spraying the bettles and rabbits online with my meister in tow. VW wanted all of the initial supervisors to go through and pass a production painting course. I was able to complete the course and pass but when the exam was posted my exam had a note: Individual must apply more paint in order to achieve the necessary orange peel, that was part of VW spec at the time. During the course my meister was always telling me to apply more and I didn"t understand why until after the exam. A little background, before starting I had a small buisiness restoring older cars and had a good reputation for very smooth paint jobs. I had learned from my mentors hoe to apply paint so it laid down smooth with high DOI (distinction of Image) and alot of depth. Now I go to Germany and when my paint jobs looked heavy it was good. I was not happy with my results so I went to the Director of Paint and requested an audience. I explained what happened and my results and and asked his toughts. His response was that he had monitored my training and even though the work was excellent it was not repeatable day afer day. So by his analysis the coating could be a little orange peely and be perfectly acceptable and repeatable. Also he told me that there had been paint studies with the general population in Germany and the results demonstrated that the preception of and orange peeled surface was seen in a positive light, more than enough coating to protect the metal from rusting.
The next item to pass along was the type of paint used at Westmoreland. Westmoreland was a total PPG plant. PPG supplied all the primer and topcoats plus the repair materials. The paints were used in the system were called thermalsets. This type of paint was chemically designed for industrial settings. The interesting aspects of this paint is once a surface is coated and left out in the air, it will never dry. The resins in the paint have chemical blockers that do not allow the coating to cure. In order to cure the coating the paint must see a heat source of 400 degrees +. When the coating goes through the oven, Westmoreland was 450 degrees F for 35 monutes, the heat evaporates the blockers from the chemical composition and allows the resin to crosslink causing a cure.
As far as topcoats go the metallics and the pastels where straight shades, no base coat -clear coat system. The topcoats were designed to contain all the necessary ingredients necessary to atain color, shine and longevety. What you laid down was what you got or it went to repair.
Brain empty.
Captain
 
#552 ·
chambersburg connection

Hey Ken,
I am the individual you are looking for. I am the one who is building longhare. I go by Cooljet and am the person who worked at Westmoreland in the early 80's In the beginning of this tread I have posted a lot of impute from my time at Westmoreland.
Capt.:cool::cool:
 
#564 ·
Found this old video and don't know where to post it.
some old footage with mk1 caddys in it.
its the 1984 olympic games LA, but all the camera-vehicles for the race are rabbit pickup trucks.
Proud moment in USA VW history.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KjgvaAb1uE
Your video has a permissions block. It does not allow us to view on any other website except for YouTube.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#606 ·
Back in the day, spares were full size tires, so it is still a spare.

Many newer cars have those space saver spare tires, pretty much worthless but it does get you back on the road. Those are called spare tires too.

Some newer cars have no spare tires, they usually have run flats or a compressor. There will be a time when people will wonder what a spare tire is.

I suspect that knowing what a spare tire is will determine your age.
 
#607 ·
well no, the black spare was a standard vw steel wheel, it was thinner and obviously painted black inside and out
these days its just on a stack of other wheels without tires
if normal stock wheels are 4.5inch, it must be a 4inch wheel. i dont have access to it currently but im looking through my old photos...

--edit
yep here we go




appears to be factory paint
and yes i remember when i painted my 4 wheels i compared it to the spare and determined its a 4inch wheel
 
#2 ·
Re: Some Mk1 history tidbits I wasn't aware of... (mk216v)

The US Factory Bumpers didn't make the '83-'84 GTI 140 lbs heavier. The GTI bumpers were Aluminum & most had light weight non shock brackets. The older steel US bumpers & shock brackets where much heavier. The door impact beams added a few pounds. The US carpet & sound deading added a few pounds too, but I can't see 140 lbs total.
 
#3 ·
Re: Some Mk1 history tidbits I wasn't aware of... (531sb2)

85 max for all of that stuff on the US GTi..after removal and weighing..that's about what i saw in loss.
 
#4 ·
Re: Some Mk1 history tidbits I wasn't aware of... (Vegeta Gti)

There are a few facts that are incorrect in the article.
-round-headlight rabbits. All Rabbits up to 79/80 had round headlights.
-wider track of the GTI? Due to the wheels maybe. The A-arms and rear beam are the same as a non-GTI Rabbit
-pronounced fender flairs?
If you're going to go thru the effort to write an article on the subject, why use a modified car in the photos? And why not use a car that had been washed recently....

-Dave
 
#598 ·
Re: Some Mk1 history tidbits I wasn't aware of... (Vegeta Gti)

There are a few facts that are incorrect in the article.
-round-headlight rabbits. All Rabbits up to 79/80 had round headlights.
-wider track of the GTI? Due to the wheels maybe. The A-arms and rear beam are the same as a non-GTI Rabbit
-pronounced fender flairs?
If you're going to go thru the effort to write an article on the subject, why use a modified car in the photos? And why not use a car that had been washed recently....

-Dave
* to '79 and '81 for diesel, i.e. '78 was the last year for rounds on the gas model, and '80 was the last diesel with rounds.
 
#7 ·
Re: FV-QR (EzekielGTi)

no.....it isnt.
edit: American-market Mk 1 Golfs were called Rabbits; the Golf name wasn't adopted in the U.S. until the Mk 2 appeared as a 1985 model. Thanks in part to the 5-mph (8-kph) bumpers required by federal safety standards, the U.S. GTI was some 140 lb (64 kg) heavier than its European counterpart, which made the Rabbit GTI's power deficit that much more apparent.
 
#9 ·
Re: FV-QR (OLD-GTI)

Could they be talking of the weight difference between US built mk1s and german built cars? There were NO german built US GTi's, and I would imagine that ALL euro GTi's were built in germany, so it's not an apples to apples comparison.
Other things that come to mind.
4 spd vs 5 spd
early mech CIS 1.6 vs smogged CIS 1.8 w/ cat conv, etc
13s vs 14s
no flares vs flares
 
#11 ·
Re: FV-QR (g60vw)

Quote, originally posted by g60vw »
Could they be talking of the weight difference between US built mk1s and german built cars? There were NO german built US GTi's, and I would imagine that ALL euro GTi's were built in germany, so it's not an apples to apples comparison.
Other things that come to mind.
4 spd vs 5 spd
early mech CIS 1.6 vs smogged CIS 1.8 w/ cat conv, etc
13s vs 14s
no flares vs flares

um....a european spec 1984 gti had a 1.8, 5spd, and were available w/14's.
140 is probably a close estimate. bumpers weigh another 25-30lbs, 40-45lbs of sound deadening, 50lbs worth of emissions and a/c (which most u.s. gti's had)
 
#12 ·
Re: Some Mk1 history tidbits I wasn't aware of... (4000stq)

I didn't say all the info was correct.
Just some other info (design-wise and such) I hadn't heard of before.
Quote, originally posted by 4000stq »
79 gas had squares, diesel had rounds, 80 all squares

Correct.
 
#13 ·
Re: Some Mk1 history tidbits I wasn't aware of... (4000stq)

Quote, originally posted by 4000stq »
79 gas had squares, diesel had rounds, 80 all squares

Some '78 gas cars had squares too. Part of the ramp up to full production at the Westmoreland plant.
 
#14 ·
Re: Some Mk1 history tidbits I wasn't aware of... (Kevin Rowley)

Quote, originally posted by Kevin Rowley »

Some '78 gas cars had squares too. Part of the ramp up to full production at the Westmoreland plant.

production at Westmorland did not begin until july 1978. there were no 78 model year Westmorland rabbits. all 1978 model year cars were German production.


Modified by 4000stq at 10:08 PM 2-24-2010
 
#15 ·
Re: Some Mk1 history tidbits I wasn't aware of... (4000stq)

Quote, originally posted by 4000stq »
production at Westmorland did not begin until july 1978. there were no 78 model year Westmorland rabbits. all 1978 model year cars were German production.

The parents of a girl I knew in high school bought her a Rabbit C, baby blue with blue interior and square headlights in late summer of 1978. The title read "1978 model year" and the registration did as well.
 
#16 ·
Re: Some Mk1 history tidbits I wasn't aware of... (Kevin Rowley)

"In July of '78, VW started production of the 1979 Rabbit in a new plant it had built (using the shell of an old Chrysler plant as a base) in Westmoreland, Pennsylvania. Volkswagen became the first foreign manufacturer to establish a significant production base in the U.S., opening the door for Honda, Toyota and just about every other German manufacturer to follow."
from here- http://www.edmunds.com/volkswa....html
edit- further more, i would be willing to bet that the VIN on your friends car would reflect that it was a 1979.


Modified by 4000stq at 4:08 PM 2-25-2010
 
#17 ·
Re: Some Mk1 history tidbits I wasn't aware of... (4000stq)

4000stq further more said:
For the record, Edmunds has a history of getting facts wrong. I wouldn't refer to it as though it were the bible.
In the old days, a '79 model would generally be a car produced after 09/78. Since it only takes a month to build a car, one could assume there are some 08/78 build date Rabbits. They brought theirs home in late August.
The car went to the crusher a long time ago. However, I lost a bet to her because as a know it all 16 year old male, I insisted it had to be a '79 model. She produced the title which stated it was a '78. Titles are issued based on VINs and MSOs (Manufacturer's Statement of Origin), so I have to assume it had a 1978 title.
 
#18 ·
Re: Some Mk1 history tidbits I wasn't aware of... (Kevin Rowley)

WOW!I transfered to VW Headquarters in Englewood Cliffs N.J. 1/1/78 as a member of the team that put together the after production parts supply/support for the Westmoreland Rabbit which was to begin for the 1979 model year.That said I would not be suprised if the first ones built were 78s.The Americans wanted to build asap and the Germans wanted to keep initial control.As a matter of fact the first ones built were basically one big Engineering deviation.All initial parts had to come from Production until the vendor could get Engineering approval.I could probably go on with stories for hours but I won't.There are a couple of people who know the answer and I will try and locate them.I'll post when I do!
 
#19 ·
Re: Some Mk1 history tidbits I wasn't aware of... (slats)

Quote, originally posted by slats »
WOW!I transfered to VW Headquarters in Englewood Cliffs N.J. 1/1/78 as a member of the team that put together the after production parts supply/support for the Westmoreland Rabbit which was to begin for the 1979 model year.That said I would not be suprised if the first ones built were 78s.The Americans wanted to build asap and the Germans wanted to keep initial control.As a matter of fact the first ones built were basically one big Engineering deviation.All initial parts had to come from Production until the vendor could get Engineering approval.I could probably go on with stories for hours but I won't.There are a couple of people who know the answer and I will try and locate them.I'll post when I do!

Please share your valuable info when you can. Thank you!!
 
#20 ·
Re: Some Mk1 history tidbits I wasn't aware of... (mk216v)

Quote, originally posted by mk216v »

Please share your valuable info when you can. Thank you!!

Agreed, we would love to hear more! http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif
 
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