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My First Car, a 1983 Rabbit GTI

16K views 89 replies 26 participants last post by  orrcj 
#1 · (Edited)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/169416243@N04/shares/88gkuB

I just joined Vortex so I figured I'd introduce myself, and my car. The car is an 83 Rabbit GTI. It was recently purchased from Iowa and shipped out to me in CT. The craigslist ad showed that the car was in decent shape, no visible blemishes in the paint or major body damage. So upon arrival I was expecting a pretty good project car. When the car actully showed up, it was covered, and I mean covered in dirt and salt. Its the beginning of February, which means cold and snow up in CT. My first instinct when the car got here was to wash it and see what I'd got, which seems like a good idea until you factor in that its 9:30 at night and probably low 30's for the temperature. Lemme tell you, it wasn't fun. Even worse than the cold was seeing it in the garage the next day, still covered in dirt in some places. Oh no big deal, its daytime out so I'll just roll the car out and finish up the job. Nope, the hose froze rock solid overnight.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/169416243@N04/shares/38D0c8

Whatever. Now that it's inside and I have a general idea of what the car needs, its time to order parts. My dad and I, orrtj who you might know if you hang around the Scirocco forums, recently completely rebuilt an 81 Scirocco S. I've been around A1 chassis Vws for most of my life, so I already have a pretty decent understanding of what's what on these things.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/169416243@N04/shares/1NkNUu
https://www.flickr.com/photos/169416243@N04/shares/5925oY

And we wondered why the brakes were so bad.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/169416243@N04/shares/Jq370L

The plan of attack on this GTI was to get it to be as good, if not better than it would have been in 1983, which means a complete rebuild of the brakes all around, and then move on to the suspension.
 
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#12 ·
I am currently trying to get the images transferred to imgur, they should be available soon.
I use Flickr for 3rd party hosting on this site. Make sure your photos are set to 'public' and then choose the share icon under your photo, select 'BBC code', cut and paste. Then you can edit off the Flickr ad on the end. Preview post will show you if your embedded photo is showing as you would like.
 
#14 ·
Interior Pictures

For those who are interested, here’s the interior. It’s in surprisingly good shape. The only issues that are noteworthy is the falling headliner, which is being held up by push pins from the previous owner, the driver’s side seat bolster which is torn.

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

Another thing that's an issue is sill trim for the back seats, as pictured above

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

In the back seat is a roll of fabric which will be replacing the headliner.

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr
 
#15 ·
An Ode to Stupidity

If there's one thing I've learned working on this car, its that some people have no idea what they're doing.

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

As if using washers to lower the car wasn't bad enough, the springs were cut too.

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

I'm convinced this guy had a thing for cutting stuff. Another "improvement" he made was cutting go fast holes into the airbox because "more air means more powahhhhh"

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

Unfortunately, the majority of this project is correcting stupid quick "fixes" that the last owner made.

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

What I assume happened here is the EGR pipe rusted away and in this guy's mind the best fix was to shove a bolt in the hole.

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

The stereo that's in the car is good, until you turn it on. It sounds okay when the car isn't running, but as soon as the volume is loud enough to overcome the engine noise, the stereo sounds like crap. There's also a random switch on the side of the center console that doesn't seem to do anything.

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

Someone also added a cruise control system at some point, but was disconnected when I got the car.

Since the headliner is getting replaced anyways, I decided to take some of it down, specifically on the C pillar. Underneath the headliner there's a hole that will hold a seat belt bolt perfectly. Does anybody know of rabbits getting 3 point belts for the rear seats?

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

On a not stupid note, its finally nice out in CT which means that it's time to roll out the Sciroccos.

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr
 
#18 ·
:laugh::laugh::laugh:

OP, welcome! Looks like you have a good guide at home to help you do the right things by the look of the rocco twins!

I had my first car at 15 as well as both of my sons....younger son and I went to Ohio (from MD) to pick his up...91 GTI 2.0 16v. He's now a college grad and we just picked up "our" '03 Audi RS6 toy....neither one of us will grow up! :p
 
#19 · (Edited)
Cutting holes in the airbox actually isnt that much of a "stupid" move. A bolt in the egr tube also isnt that unheard of. Cutting springs although unsafe also is pretty common. The washer trick is a little ghetto. Random switch on the side of the center console isnt that out of the ordinary consider the car is 36 yrs old with terrible OEM wiring and I'm sure a few uneducated owners.

But yeah nice GTI.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk
 
#23 · (Edited)
It's been a while since my last post, but progress has been made. Today's my last day of school and I should be writing an essay for my English final right now, but we all know a Mk1 Rabbit trumps that.
The most progress I made was up front in the Engine bay.

[/url]Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr[/IMG]

The following pictures will show lots of VW special tool goodies.

I replaced things like the valve cover gasket

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

I learned how to replace a clutch, pressure plate and flywheel and that its difficult.....

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

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Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

This is a diagnostic tool from the 80's, we have two which we combined to make one nice example which does get used.

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr
Here's a picture of it being used sometime in the 80's on a mk2 Jetta (I think)

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

Painting things like the cam cover and fan shroud go a long way in making the car look way better, which is my main goal.

In other news, I rolled this thing outside and its starting to come together.

 
#26 ·
Hey buddy, welcome to the forum and to MK1 ownership. Great find with the 83! looks to be very solid overall...I like the corrections/fixes you have already jumped on. 84 with red interior was my first car too...bought it before I could drive it...brings back a lot of memories. Looks like this car was lucky enough to find a home in a garage full of siblings! Keep up the good work...maybe I'll see you on the road or at a CT show some day :thumbup::thumbup:
 
#28 ·
Done???

The car is on the ground, and its finished mechanically... well actually its not because the shift linkage is giving us headaches, but its basically done. It needs an alignment, other than that its mechanically sorted. I spent 4 hours wet sanding the rims, trying to clean up the pitted aluminum which worked fantastically. Well, on all except for one rim which is pitted beyond repair without sending it out to be done professionally. (possily looking for a clean snowflake if anyone has one???)

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

The interior is next on the list. And its, yet again fixing things the previous owner did. I'd like to have a uhhh..... coversation with him...
The speakers were mounted on top of the speaker panels, rather than underneath how the original speakers were. Mounting the rear speakers on top of the speaker panels meant destroying the panels, not just the top but the entire thing. Each side was cracked badly around the bolt holes, and someone added new bolt holes instead of using the exististing ones.... :banghead:

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

So... I think I might have found some already but those pieces are definitely something I am looking for.

Last thing to do that isn't in the interior is the A/C. Its all there but not hooked up. The condenser leaks, we found the source. However the clutch is bad. It's a York compressor.

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

If anybody knows where to find/ has a working clucth I would be happy to buy it.
 
#29 ·
Progress

[/url]Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr[/IMG]

This is a NOS carpet from Mk1 Autohaus. The only issue I found with it is that the holes for where the seat belt mounts to the body of the car are misplaced. I will be cutting new holes which is kind of unfortunate, but it looks way better than what came out.

by C Orr, on Flickr

While the carpet was out, we took this as a good time to put sound deadening down to hopefully make the rattles and such less noticeable.

[/url]Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr[/IMG]

[/url]Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr[/IMG]

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

The carpet on the partial shelf was wrong, as well as the carpet on the speaker surrounds were faded so re replaced the carpet.

[/url]Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr[/IMG]

[/url]Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr[/IMG]

[/url]Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr[/IMG]

The headliner was redone with a suede like material, since it was the only thing we could find that was similar to the old materials color and texture.

[/url] by C Orr, on Flickr[/IMG]

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

The old headliner

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr

Untitled by C Orr, on Flickr
 
#32 ·
Looking thru the pix, I hope you realize how much you scored..that's in amazing condition, believe it or not.. I been around these cars for years and yours is very clean! Did you pay much? At 15 years old- what set your heart on this car specifically, as much to have it shipped and be a project? You'll never regret it [emoji3531]

Sent from my Z982 using Tapatalk
 
#34 ·
I paid what I thought was reasonable for the car, because of the condition based on the pictures in the ad. I'd prefer to see it in person first buy it was just too far away. I was just looking around craigslist for cool VW's. I really wanted to find a clean (ish) 1998 jetta GLX, or a mk4 Jetta GlI / wagon. I found a GLS wagon 1.8t manual black on black but we didnt have the time to commit to buying it. Also, having the knowledge from completely restoring a 1981 Scirocco S (With 20K miles) and maintaining a 1980 Scirocco i figured I have enough of an understanding on how to fix things. The original plan was to fix up what needed replacing and flip it, but now I don't want to sell...
 
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