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Got a Free 81 Rabbit D, Think I want a Refund!!

35K views 302 replies 25 participants last post by  vwpieces 
#1 · (Edited)
Might as well make a thread on this car.
Build in Progress.

Quick story of this car:
A real good friend had it for about a year. Did some work on it and quit. Had to have it moved from where it was kept during that time. He knew I was looking for something to replace the 83 TD and said I could have it. Told him Nothing is Free... I did some work on a couple of his other cars, 73 Bus panel van and his 67 Beetle. Didn't charge him for the work, figured that would get him motivated to get the Rabbit to me. It worked, Rabbit was at my house in a week.

Been joking with my buddy as I find issues with the car. I keep telling him I want a refund. He laughs and says I cant afford to pay the repair bill.

The last PA inspection on this car is 1994. I had it running the day it arrived. Was missing a lot of parts but between my buddy being a VW nut too and my Hoard I really haven't had to buy much. And I think I'm under $290 in parts. Kinda funny, another friend in NH who is also a MK1 guy just got a CIS Rabbit too. Seeing who is spending the least on them is fun. I do have him beat simply from the free car standpoint. I also just posted the engine and trans FS. If I sell it I just might be on the Plus side.

Had to buy list so far from RA
rear muffler $57 Ansa
hatch strut $12 and it was a Stabilis
New heater core $28

Another order from Potterman, parts4vws.com
Needed 2 front hubs and a 16V Rocco P-brake cable. $57 total

And a consumables restock of 3/16 Nickel Copper brake line 50ft. $53

TSC for GREEN Paint $15

Yet another Parts Order 7/30, from AutohausAZ for $68
Needed the Lower coolant hose from front water neck to pump & oil warmer. The "Y" one. That is the only hose out of All the hoses I didn't have in the Hoard. Of course there were a few more things to ad to the order "while I was there"
Front Y hose $14
MK2 coolant Pipe $25
48.5mm exhaust clamp $3.50 But was refunded as out of stock and one arrived anyway.
Some washers for the AC sensor, to fill the hole, prolly wont use, but I was out of stock $0.21ea 3X
Blue expansion tank cap. Febi China. Yeah I might reuse the Old. $2.60
And the gasket for the turbo to down pipe. $3.50







 
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#71 · (Edited)
More teardown and some special tools.
No particular order.

Kukko puller needed some help from slipping off.


5th gear adjusting tool


This one don't Bend... :laugh:


More Kukko, internal race puller. I should have one more size bigger and the support arms but I get by.


The Factory adapters for transmission holding fixture
 
#72 · (Edited)
Best way I know to get the pinion shaft raced off. Cut into the race with wizzer wheel,and DON'T hit the shaft or teeth. Use a Good chisel and crack the race once thinned. Slide right off.




Good Old drill press, named Wobbly. It works and was FREE. Notice another special tool, cough, cough bolt, for turning the diff while setting preload.


MMM, Hungry?


Geez, looked these up to see if still available. Yes they are... ONLY $140. Should have 3 easy payment plan behind the price. But I had it and a couple more in the Hoard.


Another special tool :rolleyes: to lock spider gears from turning during diff preload setting.


Some might get it...
Diff DONE.
 
#73 · (Edited)
Something worth a try... Go with the same shim size that came out from under the pinion and diff races. Worth a try BUT STILL CHECK it!! I have had many that were right in spec with new bearings and New shims of the same thickness. But if you mar up the race seats in the case your SOL. Just might save you the time setting up a dial indicator and measuring the play and calculating the "needed" shims. Then pulling races AGAIN, etc. NO guarantees but its worked for me more times than not.

Another special too from another hobby, Wheeler Fat Wrench. Only thing I had that could read the low inch pounds for the pinion.
Set it to max tolerance and see if it clicks. Mine didn't. So pinion and diff within spec. Keep dialing it back to get the ballpark. And a 19mm 12 point socket slips over the pinion splines for checking.



No details building. But its all in there. Every single bearing was replaced with original NOS. Even the needle roller sleeves in the gears. But reused the synchros form the rusty. Like new, and all the gears were immaculate.






Brown seals and a gasket that isnt bigger than the case.


All new Green.




Whew, DONE!


 
#77 · (Edited)
Had this right side rear flap for about 15 years. Finally was able to source a left to make the pair. These are molded rubber WEGU brand. I have only ever seen 3 pairs, RARE. Same maker as the old original air-cooled flaps.





Also dug out this NOS stripe kit from the Hoard. Gonna be some time till these get installed. The DIESEL part is a lil too bold for my taste. And definitely not going to use the large DIESL under the rear window on the hatch. Might have the set copied with a running bunny at the front fender and Rabbit at the rear quarter. I think there was a similar set with bunnies instead of the DIESEL.


 
#80 · (Edited)
Was fed up with plexiglass on blast cabinet so I wet sanded it polished with compound. Wow, I can see again and it cost nothing.



Guess the dust collector was jealous for attention too. Third time motor quit, but this time it's DONE!
Not buying a $60 motor either. Just ordered a 2.5in flanged port to bolt on in place of the motor for $6. Just hook up the shop vac hose to the can now.








And the welder decided to be a PITA too.
Trigger switch acting up. And I'm not going to pay $30 for a switch. Hiding inside is a tiny micro SW. Got it apart and cleaned contacts.
Works again [emoji106][emoji16]

 
#81 ·
I’m surprised your fancy cabinet doesn’t have glass. I went to glass on my heavily modded HF cabinet years ago... lasts way longer than plexi.

Just replaced the glass with free glass, I found on CL. I picked up enough, that I was able to cut 5 more disposable windows. There’s a lot more left, that I may grab.

-Todd
 
#82 ·
Friend of mine got the cabinet for free from another friend that closed his shop and moved to FL. My friend shares a shop that already has a cabinet. He wanted it out of his basement and gave it to me. It had the plexi already in it. This cabinet was completely covered in over spray, filter bag rotted, brushes on motor seized cause motor was sucking grit through it from the bad filter. Foot pedal I added and its Eastwood. Was only $70+ ship and something all cabinets should have. I also added the dual lighting and a switched receptacle box on back. Turns lights and vac on at same time.

I have had an Old Eastwood cabinet and used the HF ( freestanding models). Both of those are built better and are bigger than this one. However this one does have a real strong deck that is impossible to remove if the siphon tube ever needs work. I have glass and thought about it... eventually it will be glass. Parts blasting is coming to and end for the Rabbit. Otherwise it doesn't see much use, calipers and carriers.

This cabinet also came with a free 80 gal compressor. But it was all apart, basket case. Was told it would only pump up to 30-40psi. Pump seemed OK, so I figured it was a motor capacitor. I didn't figure on the MudDobber nests that were keeping the centrifugal switch contacts from letting motor go to Run cycle. But I gave motor new bearings and the pump a new valve body. New compressor for $80 :D
 
#83 ·
I did those mods, you mentioned, but the best (other than decent gauntlets) may be the vibration motor. I saw some people were fastening a palm sander to their cabinet, but I found an oscillating fan at work, that was destined for the dumpster. Stripped it down, made a bracket and mounted it to the media chute. Cut the blades off the hub and added a nut and bolt to make it off balance. This is also controlled by the cabinet switch, although I added an inline switch. I’m thinking media was blowing out of the back of this cabinet and eventually ruined the windings. I just installed the 2nd motor from a trash picked box fan and installed a A1 filter assembly to catch the media from the rear port... this was about a month ago.

My cabinet was also a CL find and most of my materials for mods were trash picked, although I did purchase the foot pedal. I think it was $20 from China. Very little money was spent, but I have invested a decent amount of time, in this. This cabinet makes very little mess, something I was going for. I used to absolutely hate blasting, but the mods make it a lot more tolerable.

With the vibration mod and the modded siphon gun, I could probably blast with less than 2 cups of media. Since you’ll be using a shop vac, I’d probably invest in a router speed control. I run the vac at the lowest speed possible. It’s enough suction to pull the dust, but not the media.

-Todd
 
#84 · (Edited)
Thats a good deal on the pedal. I got the full kit with gun and pedal, hoses etc. Gun that came with cabinet used tips that aren't readily available any more. I did get a 20pk of the 6mm nozzles for $18 from china instead of the 3pk for $10ish from Eastwood. But its a great gun too. Don't clog or build up concrete dust inside. It's design also doesn't expose the air nozzle to the media flow so it no longer a wear part.

2 cups of media would never work in this cabinet. While it has a real deep tapered chute to the siphon tube, there is also a 2in "shelf" around the whole grate that holds way too much media. No issues with media not returning to bottom once the "shelf" is full. I have some walnut but only use the coal slag from TSC. $8 a bag and they are 5 min away. I'm on my 3rd bag in the 2 years of moderate use.

The Powertec wood working filter bag I found to fit was $16 amazon return. Its supposed to be 2 micron so the suction is weak on that original motor once it got some fine dust in it. Hardly pulls the gloves up when on. Still keeping the Skat can as the pre-filter system. I'll use the shop vac on the port I will install to replace the burnt motor. Eventually I'll find another shop vac to keep at the cabinet. Cheep or free... they usually burn the switches or blow the thermal fuse on motor. Won't even need a filter in the shop vac with the original collector can attached. Buddy works at the Towns trash drop station, got him on the lookout for a vac someone throws away. Last week he gave me an older Echo gas hedge trimmer. Had it running that day and used on my hedges. Think someone hit a fence with it on its first use and was scared to use it anymore after. Honed the nicks out of the blades and dumped the old nasty gas, plug porcelain and air filter were like new. Fresh gas and over primed it to get fresh gas circulating... Fired up and runs like new. Love Free Shtuff. No more dragging Long cords across yard for the hedges.
 
#88 · (Edited)
That's a 1963 bug. I'll get around to it some day. And when I do get it restored it will look exactly the same.

I have more air than water. You can seem my 68 bus in the background. There's another 75 camper outside. Under the house garage is a 62 bug, 65 ghia very and a restored chassis for a 68 bug vert.



 
#89 ·
Very nice collection!
My vw love started with a ‘68 beetle.
Was a rusty junk pile but it never let me down (completely haha).

I started working at a vw water cooled shop because I figured why not.

And as soon as I realized how amazingly a Diesel engine can idle perfectly, has good heat (comparatively), and can get TWICE the fuel mileage...... I eventually left air cooled car behind.
 
#90 · (Edited)
Yeah bus gets 20mpg highway with a dual carb single.port. balanced rods myself, etc. some port work, and an amazing cam from WEB that makes good torque for the hills round here. Otherwise stock 1600cc bug engine. And the bus gets driven the most during summer or until the salt hits the streets.

Never ran NA Diesel's but the 1.6l TD only does 35mpg mixed but it will pass my buddy's GTI ona long hill in 5th.

And all the work done to the 2L 16V 2dr Jetta, it will do 32mpg hwy @ 75mph
And setup to 12.5:1afr wot. Cis-e.
 
#97 ·
Removable battery tray.

I did the same, but used rivnuts at each mounting point; without looking, I think I have 7 mounting points. There was enough of a flange, where I didn’t need to weld tabs on. I’m using M8 hardware, but a combo of standard hex and socket screws. I may go with the button heads, as you did. I’m guessing you’re using SS?

I also like the stud idea... may just run a bolt through, from underneath.

-Todd
 
#96 · (Edited)
Tonight I shot some epoxy primer. It's a first for me doing this type of work and learned a lot. Don't think I'll use the stuff again without reducer. Still had more than my share of runs but it's not easy painting an engine bay. Over all I think I still did Ok. For an amateur.

Used the pass inner fender to get gun and pressure dialed. Yeah it took a bit to get it. Made a mess.




Getting up under all the nooks and crannies wasn't easy either. Used too much product too.









Only bought 1/2 gallon of the epoxy. And think I barely have enough left to do the front fenders.

Last 2 pics...





Next I'll show ya how bad I am going to mess up the color coat.
 
#100 · (Edited)
Nothing much today. Helped a buddy move a fridge and got a nice pair of early 60's bug fenders for a 62 I have. Not the gray one pictured earlier.

Replaced the steering column lower bearing and race with NOS parts.





And finally did the motor delete for the dust collector on the blast cabinet.

 
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