Project title: Red Balls

[ArsenicPants]

I picked up a new project today, i'm pretty damn stoked on it
it's a 1982 Jetta diesel, it's Surinam Red Metallic, with a brown interior
it's got a whole host of electrical problems, the engine bay is a rat's nest of wires, it doesn't run, and it's been spray bombed black
but the body is almost 100% rust free and it came with a bunch of goodies, and it was dirt dirt dirt cheap

I want to get into driving it as soon as possible, taking more or less everything from my existiing 1984 jetta and putting them in this (coils, 1.6 TD, wheels & stiffening bars, etc), since this one has a much better body than my '84
I wanted to really do a full resto on this thing, but seeing as I had a bit of an accident with my '84 recently, which bent the front inner fender, it looks like i'll be having to rush it a little
i'll still be going over everything pretty well though, it just won't be perfect, just a really nice daily

my first concern with the car is getting it running, and getting the wiring cleaned up. probably one will lead to the other. I also want to get the spray paint off as quickly as possible and bring the original colour back out. the windshield seal is also toast so i hocked that out and cleaned up the seam, which has very little rust, just surface

EXCITED!


it's a small garage, i'll have better profile shots when i can get it out on it's own power




1.6D with 300k


*shudder* why doesn't it run? could it be this ball of random wires bypassing everything that SUPPOSED to make it run? hmmm...? rednecks


crap seat, but I LOVE BROWN



so fresh so clean

oh, and a bunch of goodies in the trunk namely, a full set of 14" P-slots (1 cap ), an FN transmission, and some interior goodies


more soon

[danderso]

Looks good! I'll be watching this thread!

[Fusor2]

looks like shes pretty solid... the p-slots are a plus!

[Kaneb]

Watching as well Atleast the diesel wiring harness is easy enough to figure out.

[ArsenicPants]

ya, it's definitely easier
it's the old stick style fuse box though, so i might just rip the whole harness and wiring out of my '84 and use that instead

[funnee84bunny]

ya, it's definitely easier
it's the old stick style fuse box though, so i might just rip the whole harness and wiring out of my '84 and use that instead

Thats the setup i put into my 81 jetta. old fusebox tried to catch itself on fire one day. There's a few differences between the two, but the ce1 is sooooo much better. good luck.

[ArsenicPants]

I started today on stripping the paint off
it's going to be a slow process; i went though 2 1/2 bottles of goof off and a bag of triple-0 steel wool, and only did about a 16th of the car
nail polish remover didn't work, acetone didn't either, so this is all i've got so far





the paint was sanded down in spots before it was bombed black, mostly on the trunk so far, so i'll definitely be needing a touch-up can made up
the existing paint is sooooo smooth though
i also stripped out a bit of the interior, and am cleaning the existing paint as i go over the body

[16v_HOR]

Try using aircraft remover and laquer thinner to take off the paint, between the 2 one SHOULD work. If not, go to Harbor Frieght and buy an inline air sander. They're cheap and make sanding down big surfaces soo much faster. Btw I'm very jealous of your pinch welds

[Rommel2]

never done it myself but I have heard that oven cleaner will take spraypaint off so try some of that. good luck

[bm20thbmp]

yea man save that OG paint!! Nothing beats the original, even if theres some battle scars Just recently got my 84 champagne 4door on the road, and let me tell you....aint nothin like bouncin' around in a mk1 jetta, lots of conversation at the gas pump

for saving one from the hands of some punk and his rattle can

[IronTrap]

for saving one from the hands of some punk and his rattle can

x2

[SGLoki]

oven cleaner will eat that crap right off and save the o.g. paint...

Keep the stuff moist as it works, wear gloves, wear a respirator in that garage... If you get it on your skin use water to rinse it right away (not vinegar! someone will tell you to use it because it neutralizes the lye, but it also causes an exothermic reaction white it neutralizes and it'll cause some serious chemical burns.)



I don't know about the name.,.... it needs some of dem truck nutz.

[UR-GTI]

Sorry for the question, but i see the P-Slot in your Jetta.

Can you buy the center cap from the Pirelli-Alloywheel in the US or they are sold out ?

[kustomizingkid]

Save that Jetta!!

I'm sure you will have it sorted and running in no time.

[ArsenicPants]

oven cleaner will eat that crap right off and save the o.g. paint...

Keep the stuff moist as it works, wear gloves, wear a respirator in that garage... If you get it on your skin use water to rinse it right away (not vinegar! someone will tell you to use it because it neutralizes the lye, but it also causes an exothermic reaction white it neutralizes and it'll cause some serious chemical burns.)



I don't know about the name.,.... it needs some of dem truck nutz.

I'm kinda weary to go with the oven cleaner, it seems like there's too much room for error
I guess looking at how much of the original paint has been sanded down anyways though, i might give it a go

I'm calling it Red Balls 'cause my Blue Jetta was named Blue Balls
suspension travel? huh? what's that?

I have no idea if the p-slot caps are still available
i'll probably sell the one i have and polish the wheels (i like shiny things )
i like the way they look without the caps, anyways

[gen2fanatic]

I love how all the mk1 finds come with a whole trunk filled with parts lol

Diggin' the brown interior as well I miss mine.

[Rommel2]

oven cleaner wont eff it up as bad as aircraft stripper, I swear that stuff will dissolve like 2.5 dead hookers an hour if you let it.

[ArsenicPants]

I've made a pretty big change of plans
I'm going to be ditching the whole diesel thing and dropping in an OBD1 ABA
i'm doing this for a few reasons:

1. I'm sick and tired of diesel. I don't care how fuel efficient they are, i want my rev happy gas motor back
2. I have to replace the fuel filler neck, wiring harness, and motor anyways (found a bit of rust on the neck, the body is fine though)
3. this way i can drive my '84 TD all the way up until i have to switch over my insurance

so i went to the yard and pulled an OBD1 computer, harness and instrument cluster out of a manual trans 95 Jetta, making sure to mark each wire. it took me the better part of the day, the car was complete and I've never take apart a mk3 before, so it took some time
I'm going to swap in the entire system, leaving out the air bags and all that crap of course
I've seen photos of mk3 clusters swapped into cabby dashes, so i know it's possible, it'll just take a lot of 'massaging'

stripping the paint is still reeeally slow
i'm sticking with the goof off stuff though, it seems to do the best job of keeping the original paint while still cleanly removing the spray paint

on to the photos





the trunk is clean, the messy ball of wires looks... uhh.. like a lot of fun


floors are nice and solid, but I think the PO's tried to lift the car on the floor some time in the past 'cause it humps up on the passenger side


tiny specs of rust on the windshield seam, and 1 tiny hole i'll be filling before i put it back together


bit of surface rust on the battery tray. nothing a little sanding won't fix. though



good towers, but really crappy patch job by the PO on the passenger mount point. i really don't know why that area would have to be cut out, either. I'll be getting rid of the ugliness


spotless passenger fender rail, but...


a bit of rust on the driver side


and this is where i'm at now

cheers

[tSoG-84bit]

nice. aircraft stripper is much meaner than oven cleaner. it will also make two grown men have a giggling conversation about the power puff girls if used in an unventilated garage.


dibs on the diesel stuff? I wants me some more mk1 td goodness.

[SGLoki]

oven cleaner wont eff it up as bad as aircraft stripper, I swear that stuff will dissolve like 2.5 dead hookers an hour if you let it.

Good calculation, this is true.

Nice progress man, looks like she's in pretty fair shape.

[joshbucolo]

this is going to be awesome, great job on the paint stripping. ABA's are so cheap and reliable I almost went that way myself. Good luck on that wiring!

[joshbucolo]

when I bought my diesel 82 it was under some spookily similar redneck-stylez circumstances, maybe the same retard owned them both:



Also, I have two extra seats that are in similar condition to your drivers side seat. Not any better than yours just something you could use for extra material as theres probably enough to make one good seat between the both of them. I'm in philadelphia, no idea where you're located. I'm not using them, so if you can get to them they're yours.

Also if the passenger's side under dash is brown is faded and flaking like every brown jetta interior I've come across, the Cabriolet brown under dash is a good solution, though you lose the extra compartment.

faded:



cabby knee bar, vinyl wrapped like the dash and doesn't fade, fairly easy to find:

[ArsenicPants]

dibs on the diesel stuff? I wants me some more mk1 td goodness.

if you want to come all the way up to Vancouver to get a 300k km NA diesel, she's all yours

when i ditch the TD in my current 84 i'll be sure to plop it on the vortex
it's a 1.6 TD block with an AAZ head gasket and AAR studs, ABA oil girdle, a rebuilt k14 with a manual boost controller, 2.5" intercooler piping with a 2.5 x 6 x 27" intercooler, a tweaked pump obviously, mercedes injectors and a G60 valve cover
with about 60,000 km

, I have two extra seats that are in similar condition to your drivers side seat. Not any better than yours just something you could use for extra material as theres probably enough to make one good seat between the both of them. I'm in philadelphia, no idea where you're located. I'm not using them, so if you can get to them they're yours.

Also if the passenger's side under dash is brown is faded and flaking like every brown jetta interior I've come across, the Cabriolet brown under dash is a good solution, though you lose the extra compartment.

thanks, like I said I'm in vancouver Canada, so i don't think i'll be asking you about that material
i intend to redo a set of sport seats, or find a set of recaros and recover them
my brown underdash stuff is actually in really good shape; not faded or anything
i wish i had a second glove box, just because, but i might try and look for one
i know a guy who's selling a brown Scirocco steering wheel with the correct horn button that i'll probably grab, too
my center console is actually pretty beat, the PO cut the gauge section out, so i'll need another one of those

cheers

[jamesbush]

LMK when you're going to put yer turbo diezel up for sale... Do want.

[robw_z]

crap seat, but I LOVE BROWN

There is a 2dr Jetta of the same color and interior code in my local junkyard. The passenger side seat is in good condition if you want me to try and pick up the bottom for you, maybe the seat back too if you wanna swap it.

-Rob

[ArsenicPants]

moar!

I've been plugging away at it over the last few weeks
i've stripped more paint, and bought a bunch of stuff
-passenger side euro headlight, signal and trim to replace the smashed one from my current car
-mint driver side tail light
-a buttload of relays to finish off my fuse panel
-an ODB1 ABA with 155k, although since ripping into it it seems like it might need more work than i'd like
-some maintenance bits for the ABA, like a new timing belt, water neck pieces, thermostat, distributor, etc
- an OEM trunk matt in pristine shape
and some other little bits

i tore into the rear flares, something I always dread, and for good reason
because i found rust, and lots of it



so new repair pieces are needed

i've got most of the wiring harness together and organized



brought the motor home last weekend and started taking it apart to get cleaned up




unfortunately, the block had dead snails all in the cracks and between the alternator and the block and stuff, which is pretty disconcerning, as it was probably sitting somewhere very damp for a while
apparently the guy who had it pulled it straight from a running mk3 though, so we'll see
the alternator tensioning bolts were snapped off in the bracket, and I can't take the bracket off without taking the alternator off, so i'll have to drill it out and retap it
also, the exhaust studs were super rusty and corroded; one has snapped off already, and they're all really easily rounded, so i'm soaking them in PB and hopefully i'll be able to get them off without getting too into it

and my garage is a complete mess


also, it's a real bitch, but my daily has been issued a vehicle inspection, so it's coming off the road and being parted, as it would never pass inspection in a million years (rusty trunk and virtually no interior lighting, "too low", etc)
so if anyone is interested in anything, give me a shout



oh, and can anyone tell me what the crap this thing is?
i grabbed it with the relays since i figured i might need it; do i?



cheers

[whtgolf2.0]

[/QUOTE]
oh, and can anyone tell me what the crap this thing is?
i grabbed it with the relays since i figured i might need it; do i?


[/QUOTE]

Fan control module, not needed if you keep the original fan setup

[ArsenicPants]

ahh, ok
I'll probably be using it then, I've got a vR6 dual fan with a shallow motor i'd like to use if possible

thanks

[jjvblack]

cool build. how did the inspection for the car come up? that's crazy man, where I'm from that crap would never happen. is that a Canadian thing?

[ArsenicPants]

cool build. how did the inspection for the car come up? that's crazy man, where I'm from that crap would never happen. is that a Canadian thing?

ya, it happens more often than we'd like up here
I was driving late at night with a burnt out tail light, and i just had a fender bender with a car in traffic a few weeks before, smashing my headlight, and the insurance adjuster had only just looked at it
i intended to fix it this weekend
the DRL was still working, but the headlight was out
and because the car is so low and old they'll use the two lights as enough of a reason to tell me it needs to be safety inspected
they just hand it to you, there's no ticket; you just either have to pay to have it tested, or take the car off the road within 1 month

it was bound to happen sooner or later, it's really my fault for letting the little things go unfixed for so long
i've moved passed it, I no longer want to smash everything in sight

[sk8ordie]

[jjvblack]

I no longer want to smash everything in sight

lol, thats a bummer. you better hurry up and finish this Red Balls project then pronto.

[joshbucolo]

did your old diesel have ac? Need controls and wiring for the control knob.

[ArsenicPants]

did your old diesel have ac? Need controls and wiring for the control knob.

no it did not osrry
but in other news, RED BALLS IS RED AGAIN!




I found d way faster way of stripping the paint
i got some graffiti remover, which is like the talstrip only much milder
so i can dowse a panel in the stuff, walk away, come back and wipe it off 15 minutes later, and clean up the little bits with the goof off
WAY faster
I've also been piecing together more and more interior bits, and working on cleaning the motor
motor is next on the list as far priority goes

[16v_HOR]

Og patina>flat black Great job getting all of that crap off there, this thing should look great with some of the parts off your last Jetta swapped on, like the Epsilons and euro lights for example