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After 5y Lived out of the caddy, then lived in a geodesic dome on mokoosh land.Until he narcissistic rage and we back in the truck.

45K views 625 replies 39 participants last post by  David@vwvortex 
#1 · (Edited)
Hey ALL!
I've been on here for a while.
I actually owned a reputable VW shop for several years. It was killing me and I hated it so closed the doors, packed all my tools, sold my lift and tools and I moved into my 81 n/a mtdi/ corrado trans, rabbit truck and headed to the West Coast! With my Dog.




I got stabbed by a drug addict Iraq vet and lost my finance and my one employee and had to leave the area to maintain sanity.
Ever get your cloths cut off, then flown by helicopter at a hospital where nobody knows you, phone dead and no wallet and you got stabbed attempted murder and your birthday is next week? maybe it makes you question what your working for. My mk1 obviously ! ;p







Bye everyone. I will miss you a LOT. Made countless friends. Learned a LOT!!! Got a couple people started who now run successful shops!

Thought you guys might get a kick out of my ride! Lots of mods, and mods to turn it into a camper.

Now onto the MK1 Content:
First mod was a tow bar in the front, because you never know! it could save a fortune. Drives fine already crossed the country once! An old man who towed a Cabriolet behind his RV brought it to me one day at the shop because he said it "belonged there" being nicely made, they are few and far between.



On Highway 101 being a beach bum and I'm not the only one!!!

Through the high desert in SoCal! I think the rabbit found its natural habitat.

In lower sequoia all alone in the valley with Maxine!


For the TDI swap I used an 11mm rover pump supplied by CRSMP5 (currently banned) p520 nozzles, 6 puck clutch, corrado trans and linkage, eurovan actuator, home made mounts and clutch cable using 1989 honda civic clutch cable, 100mm axles. I de-turboed it after I blew a k24 running 25 psi interceded (never hit 1200 on EGT).
Used 4-2-1 downpipes and n/a/custom intake. Now it is NON TURBO M-TDI.
I had to rebuild my axle in the Mojave desert in Slab City! but the sand got in there and it is NOT fun to jack a car up on sand.....
or keep sand out of a greasy dessert with sand blowing and its 110f!
It is getting 60MPG loaded down through the rockies.

So for the extra torque I converted to a mk2 diesel gold engine mount.
Are you Jelly you didn't think of it first? made it bolt in. Lets see another one!


A few mods I made where:
Dual Auxiliary Batteries! (3 totaling 450AH)
A/c D/c converter.
150W solar pannel
10A solar charge converter
120A Alternator that can charge aux batteries while running the motor or isolate the aux electrical system
phone chargers on 2 different electrical systems.


Corrado Transmission
1998 TDI engine rebuilt with ALH pistons and De-Turbo'd
ALH adjustable Injection Pump pulley on Rover 11mm 2.5l pump rebuilt
Cable shift from corrado
custom mk3 brake swap with 22mm master cylinder
All aluminum cooling flanges
removed rear wall so camper is a walk through!
rebuilt-everything, owned a shop LOL
Yes I have no Timing belt cover, yes I have left it off for years because the metal mk1 kept breaking. and it's crossed the US multiple times and never jumped a belt in 34+ years so save your breath.




Here is my bed. about 7' 10" perfect for me and my dog curled up at my feet. Curtains all around. enough electricity for a week. stove. cooler. water. Mobile internet.
Mtdi caddy.




Does anyone need more motivation to see the world in their caddy??


Nothing better than a N/A MTDI 02A

Anyone need any work done around the country PM me as I am a mobile mechanic now.
And heck yes I love living in my mk1!

Happy motoring!
Chilling in seattle for a little because SoCal is too hot right now!!!
Questions/comments WELCOME
 
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#3 ·
Quite a story. Good to see someone doing it their way. :thumbup:

The mobil mechanic idea might bear fruit. Seems like every month or so someone is looking for a good shop for an engine swap or complete rewire.

Maybe you found a niche!
 
#4 ·
This is beautiful. I have a very similar mexico beige rabbit pickup that I just acquired and I was thinking of doing a camper build just like this. I agree, a mobile mech would be great, don't know where you are on the west coast right now. But I live a block off highway 1 in San Francisco's sunset district if you make it up this way. :beer:
 
#8 · (Edited)
Been traveling a lot. Big things! Back east. Caddy a doing better than ever.



So I visited my former employee at Ohio auto house (now the owner who employs his father *20+year mechanic, and his Air Force airplane mechanic brother) to pick up some parts to fix a friend of mines Audi A4.
My friend ran the engine without oil pressure until the camshaft seized in the head good thing I had stashed a good 1.8t engine out of a mk4 so I just needed a few gaskets and bolts good to see he is doing well

Derek. The owner of ohio auto haus was kind enough to purchase a passat to let me have the used turbo off of!

Would recommend his shop just south of Columbus (740) 901-1745 to anyone. Top notch.

I had to run my girlfriend down to the airport in North Carolina and passed this ridiculous truck it almost made me embarrassed




Well drove back up to well drove back up to Ohio and wasted no time yanking out my friends bad engine block from his 2003 Audi


I actually built the Gti in the background at my old shop.
 
#9 ·
Somehow I managed to use the tools I had in my truck which are not head tools but it only took me about four hours to rebuild the head with all new valves and seals grinding the seats to match the valves blah blah blah





I got the engine back in the car and of course the turbo was blowing oil so I had to go back up to my friend Derek's shop where he was kind enough to let me pull a turbo off of one of his parts cars what a guy.
Of course my dog Max is still by my side every step of the way



Got the turbo in and out of the Audi had never run better job well done first try with just stuff out of my truck is a job well done.

Stopped by some old friends house to have a beer holy crap that's a big cricket

 
#10 ·
Damn this vehicle has served me well 12,000 miles on it since June crossed the hottest deserts at 110° and has kept me relatively dry safe and warm electrical system is working perfect and after crossing the Rocky Mountains so many times I'm glad I deleted the turbo off of my AHU Tdi because it doesn't hardly consume any oil, is good for 60+MPG @65mph ( with 1000 pounds of tools in it)and thing just runs like it's going to last forever best mod I did was fill my engine mounts with polyurethane that stops them from wearing out. Corrado gearbox and Eurovan actuator and Honda Civic clutch cable feel better every day.
Unknown 6puck clutch flawless.
I can certainly say a mk1 has influenced my life LOL




I love this truck



Like anyone would ever want it after the way I have owned her 😘
 
#11 ·
Right on :)
Mk1-dwelling can be a fun lifestyle. I was traveling around the first 4 months I did it, but now I'm staying in Portland and finding it a fun way to live. It's super easy to do here.
How the hell are you getting 60MPG? Best I've seen is 52, and that was driving 55MPH through the flattest parts of the country with no extra weight.
 
#12 · (Edited)
I was JUST in Portland. Now I'm in Fargo North Dakota.
Long story. Haha.

My truck has a 1998 tdi engine I rebuilt with an 11mm Land Rover mechanical pump (crsmp5) and 520 nozzles I deleted the turbo because it started blowing oil out my soot stack (when I had one)
But now it's just slow, about as fast as a stock turbo diesel idi.
But I used to have a vr6 in it. So I'm down about a hundred horses :laugh:
Blew a coolant hose this morning. Oe rotted hose to the oil cooler. Luckily I always have coolant hose and water just in case. 45 min later back on schedule.
I narrowed my whole shop down to tool boxes in my caddy so I can do almost anything I could in my shop out of the truck bed. So I'm well prepared.
I rebuilt that 1.8t 2003 Audi from what I have so nothing this truck can throw at me that's going to send me for a loop. Haha.
We should meet up some time and maintain our homes
:thumbup:

I saw your thread and I was like no way. I was just there. Sleeping in my mk1
Small world for how long it takes to drive across @50mph hahahaha
It's also because they are the same color combo. How insane is that brother.
 
#17 · (Edited)
Made a 1200+ mile trip in two days. Burned 2.25 tanks of fuel. Refilling At the big white mark closest to the orange.
Somewhere around 60mpg loaded.
Zero fault with the truck.
Thank you good friend.

He is happy I resealed the injection pump and replaced said bloated cooling hoses. And finally got another rear mount.

My front and side are home made. So I was pleased when the $75 o2a eBay mount bolted up!
Found a missing bolt on the crank flange and now it only leaves 2-3 drops out the straight breather after ... 6 hours of run time. 02a Corrado with cable clutch is doing great and my brake fluid reservoir grommets finally fully seated.

It's better than ever. Near 20k this summer so far. Let's just say I trust this shaky crude beast. Suspension still tight. Still needs one strut mount and one rear control arm bushing. But they're all oe.

When the injection pump seal was leaking it ruined the coolant lines. (Oil cooler eliminated and mostly copper pipe)
And the serp belt became really stretchy and came off. Fortunately I found one (and a spare at o'reilies for $8 each.

Timing belt seems fine I sprayed it with brake clean. Greased rollers.
Probably change the belt and crank gear and bolt and seal in the spring.

But what. A. Vehicle.
I give all the credit to my amazing rabbit.
Even better than a peanut.


Cost $80 in fuel at around $2.45- 2.65
It isn't beatable. Not fast but plent of room to sleep.

Picked up these 07 jetta leather seats with lumbar for $100 each.
Passenger can recline fully back :) and it folds flat and with the wheel for adjusting the seat it easily becomes an adjustable sleeping angle.

Not even sore after 2 long days and sleeping a cold night in illinios in a rig parking lot (I love those guys)
Easy to mod into a mk1 a.... What I would be safe approach. But nothing about what I am doing is safe in any way. Except how damn reliable it is.

She appreciated the seat. And it even has new 2007 silky smooth seat belts.
Lucky the seat track barely touches the above the tunnel Corrado shifter with VOTEX leather boot.
 
#18 ·
And my custom coolant hoses. Now I just keep a couple spare spools of the 3 sizes and I'm unstoppable.


Makes over the top heat. Has a new blower!
Oil cooler didn't affect a thing. Never did trust those stupid adapter hoses.
Adapter for water pump to hard line was 2.19 at hardware store.
 
#19 · (Edited)
Here is how I modified my Westy with the oe pedal and light switch for use on a mk3 booster. Corrado master.



I actually cut this out of a scrap pedal from a mk3. In theory a simple bracket could be used.

Uses factory pin.


So you get this. Tiny pedal effort with all stock fresh brakes.
And the Auto adjusting booster. Highly recommend if you don't feel like swapping or even pulling the cluster. And your Westy brakes will indecisively drag.



Thanks for the love on the autobahn dealer sticker.
Someone traded in a beetle for it and it was a company car for at least 9 years.

110k on body, 325,000 on engine. Lol
Hope ya'll enjoy the update.

Life is going decent indeed.

 
#24 · (Edited)
Set seats in and use a marker to mark holes where you want the sliders to bolt down.

Drilled holes in the top of the rear seat slider rails in the car (PERFECT FIT for mk5 into mk1)

Drilled holes in the front seat support bar.

And used 8mm exhaust studs with washers/nuts above and below to level out (outside is about 1" lower than the inside if you don't) and bolt the seat down.

Some may not prove but it is strong, seat sliders work great, and I doubt its any less safe than the factory 3 point connection slide in seats.
And NO HOLES ARE DRILLED IN THE FLOOR.

Install takes about 1 hour for both sides and it is reversible to stock!:thumbup:

You have to swap in mk5 seatbelts but they bolt in with mix matching mk5 seatbelt bolts with mk1 bolts.:thumbup:

My back thanks me. And with this method you sit higher up, but with height adjustment you can lower it to about factory mk1. I like the better view of the road and at 6" still have plenty of head room.

Got another 2500 miles coming up in about 10 days!
wish me luck.
 
#25 ·
Thanks for the info. So your not drilling into the cars floor but your drilling the holes in the stock seats rails on the car to bolt the seats in? It seems the seats sit on top of the stock rails correct?
 
#26 ·
You got it! I can take a closer up picture if you would like, but it is -5 right now. (and the diesel still starter right up:thumbup:)
It's so easy and the metal there is REALLY strong.
Also, only the top lip of the rail would catch the seat in an accident, seems about as safe as my setup.

We are talking about safety in a mk1 tho:laugh:
 
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