Making an 82 Rabbit pick-up not suck at moving

Well, last Friday I got the bracket version 2.0 done. 

Not great to look at but should get the job and is way beefier than the old one. 

Saturday, I took most off the day off work so I could sort things out on the truck before 4 hours of driving on Sunday/

It could have gone better. I thought, I'll start by throwing that fan on the radiator! But the plastic connectors that come with the fan didn't fit through the radiator so for some reason I decided to do it the right way and build a proper fan shroud. Que the build montage music. 

Ok, so not that that didn't go well, but it took me 5 fricking hours. 

And I really should have focused on say, installing the horn or aligning the wheels. 

So I lifted it up to do the alignment, and...

E36 M3.

The other side was worse but I didn't snap a picture. So I ran around to every open parts store in town only to be told that they don't carry the clamps or the tools to tighten them... another hour wasted. 

So I went back home, used vice grips to tighten the old clamps down as well as I could and then did my best to forget what I had seen. 

On the upside, the alignment went very smoothly, Thanks GRM! Also thanks to my brother for building the blocks. 

I didn't bother checking the camber because with all of the lowering from the coilovers, you can adjust the bolts all the way positive and then still visually see negative camber on the car. I raised the front an extra inch and it doesn't look 'stanced' anymore. 

At this point it was dark and cold and I didn't even wash it before taking it to the VW show the next day.  

But that's all ok! Sunday was all win. 2 hours there, no issues. 

Met 3 other 'caddies', all way nicer looking than mine. That's ok, I had best in class engine. (In my opinion, all the others were stock and not pretty, I didn't stick around to see who won)

And... found a hood! 

Color matched and everything!

Also I met this funky dude and his rabbit. Absolutely the cleanest, nicest diesel motor I've ever seen. 

The whole car was a bit wacky but you can't argue with his quality. 

Anyway, made it back home with no issues as well, I guess I can take a break from my furious pace now and actually clean the garage. 

The kids wanted to start with the truck.

Can't do that with a new hood on there. 

wow, that white diesel engine bay is silly clean for a diesel.  

xflowgolf said:

wow, that white diesel engine bay is silly clean for a diesel.  

It's silly clean for an operating room.

Been away on business for a few days. I should have some time in the garage on Sunday. 

I've still got a ton of work to do on patches...

but...

Other projects...

Must wait... Must Wait.

Well, I'm back from an uneventful business trip and was pretty tired this weekend but I at least managed one small project on the truck.

I added a horn, which I should have done earlier. Especially because I am very distrusting of other motorists, and especially when I am driving a project car. 

I didn't take many pictures but I had to pull part of the wiring harness out of the car and re-wrap it so I wouldn't have loose wires. Again, I should have done this earlier. 

I did get to use my new box of weather proof plugs... they work ok. 

And the finished mounting position. 

Looks reasonable and is wired up properly through the stock Relay. I also moved the license plate to protect the radiator til I get the bumper on. 

I got a few more tweaks done on the car. First, I'm sure many of you will be happy to see I removed the "Bosozoku" exhaust pipe. 

I cut it, too many times, and fiddled with it for too long but it looks 'ight

Is painters tape not an approved exhaust sealant? 

Better. Now that I made the rear less ridiculous, lets make the front more ridiculous!

Tape lines...

Oh yeah.

And some bending...

There we go, Intercooler-Gills. 

I ran a string test which you can kind of see in the video.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/8kWgT81aefZmefUM7

Video was much more interesting to film than watch. Still, it goes pretty good for 43 MPG.

But long story short, the louvers don't really work. I like the look though, so I am going to try and make a plastic box around the intercooler to see if it will draw air through. If not? well, I've got another hood.

For now, My brother is replacing the clutch on the 944, but Patches still gets to keep his parking spot. #SmallCarBenifits 

Work truck, Activate!

I went out and picked up some lumber and supplies for a new door. With winter coming, it's real annoying having to open the bay doors with the heat on. 

I poured some concrete into the cinderblock and while that is drying, I'll have to find something to do... Well the seat belt buckle always falls down on the driver's side.

So, I made a bender.

Folded up some aluminum.

Soft hammer to flatten. 

And wrap it around the seat belt. 

I think it turned out pretty well, Now onto that other annoyance. The missing cover for the seat fold switch. 

I found a chunk of Aluminum and milled a hole in it. 

After that, I spent way too long centering it in the lathe. 

But after doing both sides and drilling a set screw into it...

I'm still not super happy with it, I think I need to give it more of a triangle shape, but then I'm not sure how to do the round over other than free-hand.

Oh well, the real tricky part is figuring out how to make the little trim piece that covers the track... any ideas?

Well, I wasn't feeling great this morning so I played hooky and stayed home in the garage instead.

First I rounded off the top of the lever, could use a touch more polishing. 

But I decided to take a crack at the trim piece instead.

Proof of concept... this just might work. 

So I made a better one.

A little bending later...

Well, I'll be Damned, I didn't think that would really work, and not so easily either. I have to pull the lever off and clearance it a bit but other than that, win. 

Purdy!

Thanks, 

I was so chuffed with that, I started on some other interior bits.

I ordered 1/16 ABS thermoplastic as an experiment. 

The carpet I ordered was about 2 inches too small. It doesn't tuck neatly under the trim pieces. I didn't trim the sides at all, scouts honor!

Well anyway, I figured I can make some plastic trim pieces that will hold the carpet in place and cover the defects. 

I'm going to start behind the seat first, those are less visible and a moreover simple shape.

Stuff bands real nicely with a heat gun. 

And trims pretty easily with tin snips. I made a little mistake there though...

Oh well, I got extra and I can remake it if it bothers me. 

7/10. Better than before. But a successful experiment for sure. 

I would have all 4 done but I've been working on the garage door. 

I also put an auto door opener above bay 3 where patches lives. I just have to wait for the opener switch to arrive from china and I will be pulling in and out in luxury. 

If you've pulled the thick mat of sound deadening from under the rug a new rug will sit lower and not tuck as you describe. 

In reply to vwcorvette :

Cool, I didn't use the thick carpet pad, just dynamat. I'll have to throw some under there. 

Three small updates: 

One: I finished the carpet trim. Pic dump below.

The last one has a lump to go over the battery cable but you can see it now holds the carpet nicely. 

Two. I decided to try something else with the abs plastic. 

Here are the three main power connectors that run all of the accessories. They were bolted to an old battery terminal and then wrapped in electrical tape. Not my proudest moment.

So I decided to try and build an isolator box. 

This stuff didn't want to 'Weld' as well as the intake pipes.

But it's holding, I should probably go back and add silicon sealant all around. 

And Three. I noticed that the injector pump was leaking fuel. I did some research and found new seals for $20. There are other obstacles though. 

First of all, this is one of the bolts holding it together. 

I don't know how well you can see that, but it's shaped like a  triangle with lopped off corners. 

Instead of spending another $23 on a special tool, I'll make one. 

Now, I know what you're thinking, that's not a triangle. And yeah, it looks particularly crappy in that photo but the edges line up okay and with some light hammering...

It fits! The bolt was super easy to break free... luckily.

I've been off the forums for a bit but getting little things done. 

First, I finished fixing the leaky injection pump. 

The seals were super easy to replace and the only real issue is that removing the top half of the pump changes the "quantity adjuster value" 

There is a trick where you use a glob JB weld on the back and break it apart leaving jagged "fitment" edges. but I bought the VCDS tool because, well, do you really need an excuse to buy more tools? 

Here you can see the injection quantity at 3.2. In spec is between 2.5-9. It was at 10 after the rebuild but I dropped it way down because a lower value is more fuel and most TDI guys will say you get better throttle response at a lower value. 

And now, for something completely different...

A Scotsman, on a horse. 

No, wait, sheet metal.

What's it gonna be guys? 5 internet points to whoever guesses correct!

In reply to BirgerBuilder :

Battery box. Optima style.

Oooh I want internet points! 

Is it going to be a steel oval made out of L-channel?

I'll be here all week.

But seriously, looks good. Those ABS plastic interior bits you made turned out nice! 

Headlight fluid overflow slide!

oh, also. contact cement on the ABS, the solvents in there really bite deep, but on both sides, wait till tacky, don't miss putting it together, it won't come apart. Cosplay tricks... that and warbla.. but i wouldn't put warbla near heat unless you like melted things.

Gunchsta said:

Oooh I want internet points! 

Is it going to be a steel oval made out of L-channel?

Damn, hit the nail on the head there! lol.

Any guesses as to what it will be used for?

In reply to BirgerBuilder :

It looks moderately like an Optima battery hold down(which was already mentioned), and it also looks like it could be the base of a VW cable-shift box, but I think you already have that sorted.

It's not going to be a charcoal canister or oil catch can is it? 

Those ABS parts look awesome!  I'm now off to find 1/16" ABS thermoplastic... any leads on where you sourced it from?

Great guesses all around and thanks for all the nice comments about the trim.

In reply to Ian F :

I got the ABS from U.S. plastic Corp. and bought 6 2'x4' sheets for $60

Gunchsta said :

It looks moderately like an Optima battery hold down(which was already mentioned), and it also looks like it could be the base of a VW cable-shift box, but I think you already have that sorted.

It's not going to be a charcoal canister or oil catch can is it? 

Gunchsta is closest without going over, claim your prize!

I was in need of something to cover the shifter and attach a shift boot. I went back and forth about what material to use and finally said, berk it, I've got this piece of stainless just sitting around and over-built the hell out of it.

Now, not exactly finished yet, but I've got the overall fitment done. What am I gonna cover it with?

16 feet of cow. 

Hopefully my wife's newly acquired cosplay sowing skills will be paying off here. 

I think we need a cosplay subsection of GRM... 

I'm impressed by your ability to build functional and pretty stuff out of nothing, and will probably use this thread as reference for future fabrication projects

Congrats on getting the pick up driving again

BirgerBuilder said:

Great guesses all around and thanks for all the nice comments about the trim.

In reply to Ian F :

I got the ABS from U.S. plastic Corp. and bought 6 2'x4' sheets for $60

Gunchsta said :

It looks moderately like an Optima battery hold down(which was already mentioned), and it also looks like it could be the base of a VW cable-shift box, but I think you already have that sorted.

It's not going to be a charcoal canister or oil catch can is it? 

 

Gunchsta is closest without going over, claim your prize!

 

Yaay! 5 internets!!! 

That should be real nice. I'm still super impressed with the amount of work you've put into this truck and saddened by how bad these rust.