My first build thread!!! VW Rabbit AutoX/Hillclimber

N Sperlo wrote: ... now HERE'S a swapped engine for ya. Squeezed her in there. Now if i could just get her to run....

Whoa.... Skyline motor?? Into a ... what??

And how come she doesn't run, what do you have left to do?

In reply to anjaloveshervw:

That's the RB20DET Skyline GTS-t engine in the S13 (see my garage). The donor body was $100 and I've used it to get all the upper harness wiring done. It will be scrapped, or swapped for rallycross/mudding, or the clip will be turned into a towable BBQ pit.

I need a lower S13 harness to finish up wiring and then shes ready to drop into a clean S13 (which will need to be purchased), hooked up, plugged in, and the final wiring will be completed. Will be a good show car and Sunday driver. I just berkeleyed up my DD Escort, so now im in the market for a DD Volvo so I don't have to drive my truck at 12 mpg. Fortunately I wasn't hurt in that accident and the car still runs perfectly. Body and minor frame damage only.

An update is definitely due.

For all of you who shook your heads in shame when I mentioned spending over 2 hours trying to install the axles and couldn't figure it out.... well.... I did it! :D sigh of relief

I had watched a video of a guy on youtube who took out his passat axles without detaching any suspension pieces, so I thought that I could, too. (THERE MUST BE A WAYYYYY!!!) I didn't want to mess up my perfect alignment rolls eyes or something like that. So I tried, and tried, and tried, until my arms were about to fall off from holding the axles in the push-up position over my head for so long. I moved onto something else, and returned a couple days later and eventually took out the bolts that held the struts in place, unclipped the steering linkage, and slip the axles easily into place. No-problem-o. Only half an hour start to finish both sides!

I did recently read, though, that moving a car without her axles in is bad for the wheel bearings. I rolled Gaia onto the trailer, and off of the trailer (well... no, not single-handedly, mind you! I had help!!) into the garage without her axles in... that wasn't very far, but I hope that her bearings are ok. I will have to remember to check these later.

On to other news, we got presents in the mail today!!

Hooray! This is a custom downpipe from Techtonics Tuning. Like... a whole paycheck worth of downpipe :) but I don't really have a welder or the skills to fabricate my own, so this seemed to be the best solution.

Now, I just have to fix those broken studs in the exhaust manifold and everything should be great. Hopefully I can figure out how to piece myself an exhaust together and make something useful.

I also figured out which of my intake boots to use. If you remember back a few pictures, I had 2, one had an extra hose coming off of it that fed into the idle air control module. Apparently, this is the one to use, since it is OBD1 specific. The OBD2 models had a throttle body that also handles IAC, so all of the air went only into the throttle body. Fascinating. Now I know how the 2 throttle bodies are different, too.

And, some other fun things goin' on: my throttle cable is too short, and my accessory belt is too long.... hmph. And these coolant hoses are getting out of control! There are millions going everywhere. I feel like this could be so much simpler, but there is stuff T'ed off and going into the same places, and it really seems excessive. And to make matters worse, I think that my Rabbit's cabin heating system (with the shut-off valve on the hose feeding into the heater core) is different from that of the 3rd generation Golf, which, of course, is my motor. I am not sure how the mk3 handles this situation but I think that I need to fabricate something even more, as if these coolant hoses haven't decided to challenge me enough. I will figure out how to work with them.

Working with inanimate objects is much easier than working with, like, people. You know, coworkers or customers or clients. Inanimate objects just sit there and take the abuse.

I have more to say, but that's enough for now! Goodnight.

Great job on your build so far. I just finished looking threw the 6 pages. Your updates and stories are very entertaining.

Now that it is several months too late, when I have to push around my 77 rabbit without it's axles I used large nut bolt washer combo to hold the hub together. I seriously doubt you did any lasting damage rolling Gaia that short a distance without axles. Otherwise watching with great interest to see how this all works out. It's looking better with each update.

Sometimes just taking a break will do wonders! Glad to see you making really good progress Anja! Got my insurance $ yesterday so let the fun begin on the lil Mazda... Wanna help me with it? lol

Moving along much faster than any of my projects. Keep er up.

You're making so much progress on your Rabbit and I am shamed at the progress I've made on my MkIII Golf.

Keep up the great work. I've always been a fan of the Country models myself.

Side note: I had to close this browser window when my 4 year old daughter walked by, because if she saw the butterflies on your car, she would've wanted me to put some on my car.

I do think you need to replace the wheel bearings, they are not supposed to be turned at all with any weight on them with the axles out. Its not that big a deal though, its a good excuse to get new ones lol.

Travis_K wrote: I do think you need to replace the wheel bearings, they are not supposed to be turned at all with any weight on them with the axles out. Its not that big a deal though, its a good excuse to get new ones lol.

Travis, that is my suspicion, too. sigh not a huge deal, but another thing to add to the list. !! Now I know for next time! I seem to learn quite a bit by just making mistakes :)

anjaloveshervw wrote:

Travis_K wrote: I do think you need to replace the wheel bearings, they are not supposed to be turned at all with any weight on them with the axles out. Its not that big a deal though, its a good excuse to get new ones lol.

Travis, that is my suspicion, too. *sigh* not a huge deal, but another thing to add to the list. !! Now I know for next time! I seem to learn quite a bit by just making mistakes :)

I tend to agree with travis, all though if it was my car I wouldn't worry about it at this stage. I would get the car running and driving and take the change first. Worst case situation you'll be replacing them 3 - 4 months after its up and running after they get noisy. You wont save any time doing it now or later anyways. There is a chance that they will be fine.

Brett_Murphy wrote: You're making so much progress on your Rabbit and I am shamed at the progress I've made on my MkIII Golf. Keep up the great work. I've always been a fan of the Country models myself. Side note: I had to close this browser window when my 4 year old daughter walked by, because if she saw the butterflies on your car, she would've wanted me to put some on my car.

Do not be ashamed! I love the mk3! I had a 96 GTI that I loved dearly, and actually sold in order to buy this rabbit. It was a hard decision, but it was worth it :)

Your daughter probably would have loved to be there when we covered Gaia in finger paint, too! She was decorated for a friend's wedding. She was the limo!

Her paint and butterflies are not going to be around for much longer. I cannot wait to paint her again!

Thanks for the comments everybody!

The time away from my computer and my car have been worth it - I am off to my first day of work at my new job :) details later...

Happy weekend :)

Awesome!!! Congrats Anja ;-)

Congrats on the new job!

Congrats on the new job!

Thanks you guys!!! I had my third day today, and I already kind of feel like I could take on the world!! Between ending my old job, starting my new job, and going to the dentist... (oh, yeah, and doing some maintenance work to my poor abused daily driver...) my poor Gaia has been left in the dust. Hopefully this pattern will not continue for much longer.

Oh! Though I did do ONE thing for her this week, which was remove and replace some very old, rusted, and a couple broken studs from the exhaust manifold. Hooray!

Progress is progress doll... just remember that! Keep it up ;-)

dansxr2 wrote: Progress is progress doll... just remember that! Keep it up ;-)

Thank you :-)

Well, while we're on the topic of progress, I should mention that, while I haven't actually even been anywhere NEAR my little rabbit in the past 3 weeks, progress has been made on figuring out her wiring.

I think that she may be running and driving sooner than I ever expected. This is good!!

I also found a new exhaust manifold, since the one that I had, sadly, I noticed was slightly cracked. :( I am using a manifold that is common for ABA swaps, it is from a mk2 16v. I will post up pictures when I actually take some.

What a day!

Very cool!!!

anjaloveshervw wrote:

dansxr2 wrote: Progress is progress doll... just remember that! Keep it up ;-)

Thank you :-) Well, while we're on the topic of progress, I should mention that, while I haven't actually even been anywhere NEAR my little rabbit in the past 3 weeks, progress has been made on figuring out her wiring. I think that she may be running and driving sooner than I ever expected. This is good!! I also found a new exhaust manifold, since the one that I had, sadly, I noticed was slightly cracked. :( I am using a manifold that is common for ABA swaps, it is from a mk2 16v. I will post up pictures when I actually take some. What a day!

Finally! She is at my shop. Right next to Casey's Vanagon, which happens to have the same motor swap.... how convenient. I can look at it when I get confused.

Jeez, I love this berkeleying car! What is wrong with me?

Goodnight, all.

More progress pics coming soon :-)

So are you working at that shop or ate they working on something for you?

anjaloveshervw wrote: Jeez, I love this berkeleying car! What is wrong with me?

Whats wrong with you? You have a new-to-you shop, a project car that you love, and a working example of your swap-in-progress an arms length away...Id say everything is just about as right as it can be.

I'll reiterate, the above Anja. Glad to see things lookin up for you!! I hope my future girlfried/wife is 10% as awesome as you! ;-) keep up the great work, get your stuff turned in for school?

dansxr2 wrote: I'll reiterate, the above Anja. Glad to see things lookin up for you!! I hope my future girlfried/wife is 10% as awesome as you! ;-) keep up the great work, get your stuff turned in for school?

• blushes *

Yeah, I got my stuff turned in for school. Now it is just a waiting game. I am on the waitlist. 72nd, to be exact. I am hoping for this Spring. My fingers are crossed.

Yes, good guess. I work at an Auto Repair Shop in Portland. I am the intern/apprentice/whatever tech. I do oil changes, and easy stuff that doesn't take a lot of brains, like ... today.... tune up to a Mercedes 300E, axles on a Subaru (these are common?), coolant flush on a Honda, wiring problem on a Toyota pickup (horn didn't work), tail ights and windshield wipers... you know, the usual E36 M3 that most anyone could do :)

I actually had a meeting with the owner this evening, and he wants to hire me on full time as a tech, and not just as an intern. How cool would that be?

Yeah, so tomorrow night is shop night. Hopefully I can get a significant amount of work done, since lifts, air tools, mitchell on demand and alldata are at my disposal. I am seriously like, the luckiest girl on Earth. :-)

Thanks for all of the support, you guys!

xoxo