Mr. E.'s 1976 Scirocco Refresh

About 3 years ago I sold my beloved '76 Scirocco, aptly name Mr. Yuk. Immediately after that SWMBO says something to the effect of "I always liked the car, you shouldn't have gotten rid of it." Luckily enough I live in the Pacific Northwest where things have a strange way of not rusting. Unluckily enough Mr. Yuk was bent and somebody had cut a massive hole in the roof for a cheap-o sunroof. That said, I took my Revolutions off and cut my losses with her. But, I've always kept my eyes open (and a few extra c-notes in the sock drawer) for another metal bumpered Scirocco with the roof intact.

Yesterday a rusty '75 model with an automatic in non-running condition sold for $2200. This morning I made the call. It's an early '76 Special Edition, which makes it the first automobile that VW manufactured with CIS. The 1.6l has been axed in favor of a hotted up JH from an '84 GTI/GLI which also donated it's close-ration 5 speed transmission.

It's incredibly solid. I poured over the thing looking for rust and other flaws for close to an hour, only finding a small pinhole on top of the drivers rocker panel. I came with a few spares, notably a supposedly NIB Shrick 272 and a full set of BBS RAs (which will be flipped because they're made of aluminum that is softer than playdough). I am super excited to be back in an A1 right now.

Edit: Moved the first post in from the "I knew this day would come" thread.

Finally got the chance to drag home the new Scirocco today and I must say, I am quite enamored with her at the moment.

Here's a few shots of her right after she came off the trailer.

As you can see from my quality wheel chock, the E-Brake exploded on me immediately after removing it from the trailer. There is a bit more rust on top of the drivers rocker panel than I remember, but it's mostly just surface rust with one pinhole. The pinhole is almost exactly where it was on my last 'Rocco.

All of the under-dash trays are intact and in nice shape- a definite bonus. There is a good sized hole on the drivers outer seat bolster, I'm willing to pay to have the section repair if it can be done in a matching fabric.

Yes it's got a CB Radio, and yes it's got a Graphic Equalizer.

The first grip of parts arrived last night, too!

I'm still debating on whether or not to keep track of the budget ala Dusterbd13 or Mazduece.

Hopefully she's up and running by the time I leave for work tomorrow. I'll be sure to chronicle all of the cool vintage speed parts she has on her as I unearth more.

I'm in to watch the evolution. Cool car!

Woohoo!

I'm having fond memories of the A1 GTI I had, the sidedraft-and-ragtop-equipped Rabbit I didn't quite buy, and a bunch of driving all over Fox Hollow, Loraine hwy, McBeth...

Awesome! I hope you can make it look as nice as the green one! Looking forward to updates!

Sciroccos are so much fun. I have been loving autocrossing one.

Mr_Estrotica wrote: I'm still debating on whether or not to keep track of the budget ala Dusterbd13 or Mazduece.

Generally a bad idea, especially if the budget will be a large chunk of your income

keep a budget. its eye opening for yourself, a good reference for others considering a similar build, keeps people dreaming realistic, and makes it easy to find out what you should charge the mouthbreather that walks up to you at a gas station and asks if its for sale.

so, in short, YES keep a budget.

Not much to report today. I forgot that I had to return the U-Haul tow dolly, so that cut into much of my free time this morning. I spent a few minutes picking the some of the cedar droppings off of the car to make it look a little less homely; hopefully my landlord (who is a real pain in the hootus) won't give me a hard time about a "non-running car on the premises".

SWMBO said: Mine, mine, mine, mine. Just peeked into her and I want to keep her!

So that's a step in the right direction.

I also mounted up the other two Revolution RFX's from the old car. I like to think the soul of Mr. Yuk lives on. While the car was up on jackstands I took the liberty of removing the beard. She's gonna need a good wallop with the lowering stick. I've been looking around, trying to decide what I'm going to do suspension wise. The car already wears adjustable Tokico struts, so I'm looking at all manner of lowering springs while trying to stay away from budget-o-coilovers. I wish there was a IE3 equivalent for these cars. I'm leaning towards a FK Automotive setup at the moment, but I can't find spring rates anywhere.

The battery is on a trickle charge right now, so hopefully tomorrow morning will be a little more productive. I find a little more rust every day, but I'm pretty well convinced she is a keeper.

You only do these projects to torture me with Revolutions, right?

I need like three more sets of them for maxtimum tortures.

You should get these AC Schnitzer reps for your 2002. You know you want to. They're so cheesy they're cool again.

In reply to Mr_Estrotica:

If I were sticking with such dinky meats I'd totally rock those...

Mr_Estrotica wrote: She's gonna need a good wallop with the lowering stick. I've been looking around, trying to decide what I'm going to do suspension wise.

How about bilstien sport dampers and some stiffer springs (like either stock or aftermarket passat springs) and cut them to the right ride height? Thats what the VW people I know usually do. The passat ones can even be found with the MK1 style top, but idk what brand they were or if they are still made.

Welp. A deal has been struck for a set of used Ground Control sleeves, springs, and hats. That solves the (not-so)great suspension debacle for Scirocco 2.0. No info on spring rates, though. Still, not gonna pass them up for $120 and ten minutes from my house.

Hopefully these possibly ancient Tokicos hold their seals long enough for some Koni's or Billy sports to find their way under the car.

:thumbsup:

Our Scirocco has Neuspeed Race springs and Bilsteins in it. I like it but I wish we had Konis.

IT'S ALIVE! Or at least it was briefly. I dropped the fuel pump and beat it against a rock until it ran freely. Then threw on some fresh plugs, cap, and rotor and the old girl rumbled to live for about a minute before petering out. I'm hoping that there just isn't enough fuel in the tank to saturate the pump.

Awesome! My older brother had one of those (orange), aside from the pain of having to work on the POS, it was a lot of fun.....until he wrecked it.

BTW, why did you remove the front air dam? I would think it would be somewhat useful.

Love the Revolutions, missed out on a set for my old GLH-T back in the day, still want a set for one of my current cars.

A running tally is a pretty interesting thing to keep on a project. On the other hand, you might not want your wife to read the thread a year from now if you go that route.
Very cool car. It will be fun to watch it come back into shape.

I had the sketchiest craigslist interaction last night after work. I didn't even think about how odd it was to arrive at a sellers house after 11pm, in a shady neighborhood, with a pocket full of cash until I pulled up in front of his house. I managed to avoid getting robbed and/or abducted and escaped with my life and some Ground Control goodies.

The springs don't have any markings, but having plugged the numbers in to a variety of online calculators show the rates to be roughly 350#F/300#R. The Budget-O-Coilovers that the last car had came with 350#F/325#R, IIRC. So that should be close enough to get rolling.

I'll start totaling up the receipts and bring the budget half of the thread up to date.

The Magnificent Turd coughed to life just now. It's amazing what happens when you put fresh fuel in a vehicle that is holding up expired tags from 2006. She starts, idles, revs, smokes, and leaks oil; so she must be German. Tomorrow is brakes, then maiden voyage!

Here's the included for sale ad from 1991.

"Scirocco Fact Sheet"

-For Sale-

The car is the 1976 Special Edition, of which some 20,000 were made, which VW used to introduce fuel injection. Special features included movable vent windows and rear washer/wiper. The car has been continuously refined and upgraded over the 15 years since - always with the intent of extracting more of what it could be without making it in any way radical.

Engine The engine is from a 1984 GTI - the largest that fits the stock engine bay without modification. Exhaust is a more efficient 4-into-2 stock 1979 manifold, feeding a Techtonics 2-into-1 collector, to a Rabbit Hutch exhaust which has been further modified for more power and less noise. It mimicks the stock European exhaust, gives significantly more power than stock and has a more pleasant sound, but is not noticeably louder. Cam is the European GTI G-Grind. (A Schrick 272 and adjustable cam-timing wheel are also available.) A larger throttle body also adds power; an Audi fuel regulator improves throttle response. Oil was tested frequently for contaminants for several years, and changed at 2,500-mile intervals thereafter.

Transmission Wider ratio than the close-ratio GTI box, it cruises much more easily. Ratios are fairly evenly spaced (unlike some which have four close ratios and a long fifth). The transmission was selected to idealize the car for "active" high speed touring. It has just been rebuilt )new bearings and synchros).

Suspension Springs and bars from a stock GTI provided the best balance of the many improvements tried. Coils are cut slightly (professionally heated and retempered) to return the car to stock ride height. Shocks are Tokico Illumina 5-position adjustables; all 4 can be reset from above in about a minute. Wheels are original to maintain the stock look; the Continental CH-51s grip well, ride and wear decently, and give exceptionally good feel at the limit. Two new studded snow tires, also on stock rims, are included. All of the original suspension parts are also available.

Brakes A transplanted vented-disc GTI brake system included braided-steel reinforced brake lines which improve pedal feel. (Fluid has been changed every 2 years)

Lights 400 watts of high beams, fed by fused heavy wiring and the 90-amp alternator from an Audi 5000. No additional lights, in order to preserve the stock look.

Body Stripped to bare metal, hand blocked and hand rubbed. To maintain the stock look, the original paint formulation was flown in from Germany. The only alteration to stock is the front air dam (necessary to keep the car stable at the higher speeds its bigger engine provides), and an internally-adjustable left door mirror. The air dam is a stock VW part, but from a later year; the original chin spoilder is available. The car recently got a new windshield to restore the original clarity. (After several years, fine sand chips were causing a bit of sparkle in bright sun.

Interior Recaro-designed seats used by VW varied from year to year; these were, I think, the best of the series. Interior materials are the highest grade of Naugahyde (much better than stock), but as near the original color as possible. The stock "fake stitching" pattern was followed as closely as possible, but the new interior is all hand stitched. Oil pressure and temperature gauges, and an outside air temperature readout, have been added. The speedometer has been calibrated to optimize accuracy between 60 and 90 mph.

Price Best offer above $5,000, exclusive of sound system. (The car was appraised at $8,000, and has not changed significantly since). Must wait until a new car (ordered) has been delivered

Dale.

It sounds as if somebody knew what he was doing.

so, did you test drive it?

Dusterbd13 wrote: so, did you test drive it?

Unfortunately, no. I've had some trouble getting a hold of new wheel cylinders for it (which is ridiculous considering how many vehicles VW used that same part on). They should be in tonight/tomorrow morning, just like they should have been in this morning. I passed on the ancient one they had on the shelf with dry-rotting seals. Either way, I'm a little short on free time until this weekend, so I'm not too bent out of shape about it. I've just been fiddling away under the hood with tune-up parts, and cleaning seven years of negligence out of the interior.

The good news is, all the overtime I've worked this month means lots of shiny new parts for the old girl. Once she is running, registered, and insured I will start the next phase of purchases.