Inca Brown '79 Rabbit

[PoorHouse]

Nice work!

[rabbitnothopper]

so i had been searching since last fall on a nice mk1 to purchase. after looking at lots of rusty buckets that people wanted way too much for i finally found my 1979 rabbit back in May. I'm the 3rd owner. The PO had bought it from the original old people and he only put 1,000 miles on it or so when owning it. When I bought it it had 49,238 miles

I know everyone is strong on keeping original cars original as possible. I just have a few minor things im going to be doing soon.
- auto to manual swap
- coil overs
- wheels

I already did a bit of a "tune up"
- timing belt & water pump
- plugs & wires
- distributor cap & rotor
- fuel filter

nice bro, great project

really enjoy the last pic with the engine bay
havent seen one so factory perfect with AC!

[mk1vDUBtec]

glad it's turning out so well... You gotta cruise by when it's done so I can see it.
Also, I'm really jealous on the wheels.

[Jesse_717]

nice bro, great project

really enjoy the last pic with the engine bay
havent seen one so factory perfect with AC!

Thanks

glad it's turning out so well... You gotta cruise by when it's done so I can see it.
Also, I'm really jealous on the wheels.

Yeah def.

[Jesse_717]

Got my wheels today. Haven't seen these in the vortex classifieds that often and really liked them so I had to get them. I'm planning on getting coilovers in the spring ( H&R Ultra Ultra Lows )

Enkei Apache V's 14 x 6 ET 18

So far looks like center bore needs increased about 0.7 mm or so and they are hitting front brake calipers. Not sure yet what to do if I will grind the calipers or look into spacers, but I don't want to poke. I would like them to be flush with the fenders.

I'm going to look into getting the lips with little nicks smoothed out and centers powder coated since there is some worn spots but overall in very good shape.

[RiseAbove]

Those are gonna look sick against the brown! Do you have the early style calipers still? Might be worth changing over so you wouldn't have to run spacers. Gonna be at Madness again?

[deathhare.]

[Jesse_717]

Those are gonna look sick against the brown! Do you have the early style calipers still? Might be worth changing over so you wouldn't have to run spacers. Gonna be at Madness again?

Yeah I still have the early calipers, they stick out so far.

Yes, I will def be at Madness again.

[sin bar]

good lookin' car.
nice lookin' work.
keep it up!

[BozDub]

WoW!! Great Looking ride!!

[boxylooks27]

very nice rabbit and also very nice work !!!

[Jesse_717]

Thanks guys, I'm excited for spring time and to daily it again. (not driving the rabbit on these salty PA roads this winter)

[Jesse_717]

Today I got to check out the wheel fitment a little better. I removed the caliper and test fit the wheel and the center bore is good, must of just been my eyes deceiving me with the caliper. A friend stopped by and also brought a couple spacers he had. A 6mm spacer allowed me to just be able to clear the caliper. I believe I'm going to switch the front brakes out to the newer KH brakes. I won't really know how the the wheels will sit until I get my suspension, tires and alignment.

[Jesse_717]

If anyone has some KH front brakes let me know!

[rabbitnothopper]

If anyone has some KH front brakes let me know!

considering you have power brake booster the KH would be very helpful to you

just remember you need to have new brake hoses at the calipers to match the right hand screw patterns

[Jesse_717]

considering you have power brake booster the KH would be very helpful to you

just remember you need to have new brake hoses at the calipers to match the right hand screw patterns

Yeah I saw that when I was reading some the old threads on the issue. I'm considering braided lines but not sure.

[mk1vDUBtec]

or just save yourself the hassle, sell me the wheels and buy some different ones!

[LubsDaDubs]

I love that colour, my next project will have to have that colour

[Jesse_717]

Been tinkering away on the rabbit in my free time but haven't updated in a while.


I finally took out my steering column to replace my wasted lower bearing. It steers very nice now with no rattling or bumps.



I took my head off for some work and also replace the head gasket. I had 4 new exhaust valve guides, new valve stem seals, valve job, cam seal and head resurfaced at Krimes. I also replaced the passenger side motor mount while I had the head off since I had put new mounts in for the rest.



Head back on with upper front strut bar.



I also add a NOS wooden Wolfsburg shift knob I picked up from a guy on the samba.




So I removed my early style calipers and rebuilt a pair of KH calipers to put on with vented rotors. I also got my H&R Ultra Ultra Low coilovers on with my wheels. I had to grind the caliper carriers a little and use 5mm spacers to clear, and I also used 15mm spacers in the rear. Suspension still needs to settle some and I need an alignment. The rear rubs the finders a bit going around corners with bumps I guess from body roll.

[rabbitnothopper]

awesome finally pics of the KH i sold you

great job on the head, shifter knob, and steering column!
now you just need a pimp early scirocco style steering wheel

project is flowing along nicely, keep it up

[avw4me]

Coming along nicely.

[Estreetcrew3]

for another amazing early westy.

[Jesse_717]

awesome finally pics of the KH i sold you

great job on the head, shifter knob, and steering column!
now you just need a pimp early scirocco style steering wheel

project is flowing along nicely, keep it up

Yeah! Those things were stuck terribly! Took a ton of PSI from my compressor to pop the piston out to rebuild it. The "brake fluid" was like rusty dirty bronze color lol.

[rabbitnothopper]

Yeah! Those things were stuck terribly! Took a ton of PSI from my compressor to pop the piston out to rebuild it. The "brake fluid" was like rusty dirty bronze color lol.

not too bad.... i was the one who disconnected them off that 91 ea in the 100F dirt

and yea, my 81 had bronze colored fluid until i flushed it also

fluid needs to be flushed every few years

good thing you got them rebuilt like a pro



so tell us about the difference in braking?
does it seem stiffer, stop faster, no fade on the pedal?

how about the ET clearance on those rims?

those KH calipers were designed to accept Vents etc so glad you went with those rotors
although you could have gone either way

i didnt need those calipers
the Teves on my 78 work just fine

[Jesse_717]

not too bad.... i was the one who disconnected them off that 91 ea in the 100F dirt

and yea, my 81 had bronze colored fluid until i flushed it also

fluid needs to be flushed every few years

good thing you got them rebuilt like a pro



so tell us about the difference in braking?
does it seem stiffer, stop faster, no fade on the pedal?

how about the ET clearance on those rims?

those KH calipers were designed to accept Vents etc so glad you went with those rotors
although you could have gone either way

i didnt need those calipers
the Teves on my 78 work just fine

ET is 19 on the wheels. They still ended up hitting the brake carrier a bit, so I added a 5mm spacer and grinded a little of the carriers.

Brakes are a lot better. Not sure how much was due to my old lines flexing a bunch from most likely being old or the upgraded brakes.

[Rocketdub442]

I may have just missed it, but what is the tire size? I am thinking they are 195/45, but they just seem a bit taller...

Looks great though man. Early Westy cars are by far the best looking mk1's.

[Jesse_717]

I may have just missed it, but what is the tire size? I am thinking they are 195/45, but they just seem a bit taller...

Looks great though man. Early Westy cars are by far the best looking mk1's.

165/55/14 Federals

[Jesse_717]

So I had some issues Friday night, I was pulling into parking lot and my car starts steaming and leaking lots of coolant from the radiator cap. Called AAA and had it towed back to my house.

So far I've confirmed my radiator fan works by jumping it straight from the battery and also by adding a jumper wire across the connectors on the radiator fan switch. The fuse for the fan was also good. Today I topped my radiator off with coolant from what had spilled out and warmed the car back up in my driveway. The fan did not come on and I noticed steam starting to come out of the radiator cap again so I shut it off before it started leaking. The bitch of it is I have no coolant temp gauge to judge to know if its overheating. I was thinking of buying an infrared thermometer to check the temp of the block.

I'm trying to figure out what my issue is with the car.

Things done recently:

head gasket (very recently)
thermostat (put a new one in while doing head gasket)
water pump (4-5k ago)

Also my ignition timing is a bit more than the 6 BTDC as it seemed a little sluggish at 6. Can the ignition timing cause overheating issues? I did order a new radiator fan switch to try to see if that is why my fan is not turning on and also another radiator cap.

I'm really hoping this didn't just mess up my brand new head gasket and getting my head surfaced.

[rabbitnothopper]

hmmmm...ignition timing can cause higher temp and so can fuel mix (lean is hot)


i think you need to find out if your coolant is flowing
if the radiator fan switch isnt getting hot then it may not be toggling the fan
of course if the switch is bad (you can test its resistance cold & hot) then obviously i wont switch the fan on
obviously cold you will have infinity or a HIGH ohms (open), HOT you should have zero or LOW ohms (closed)

check the upper/lower rad hoses as the car warms up

hmmm why no gauge??
there is normally a cheap sensor on the head outlet flange facing the transmission


it is possible to add too much coolant
coolant expands as it heats and the radiator cap is designed to vent pressure over 15psi
so is your block plugged?
tried opening or closing the heater core on the HVAC?
well the heater core is passive so no pressure really enters there


as long as your oil is black and not milky cream then your HG is fine
also smell your exhaust, if it smells "sweet" or is white colored then yes you broke the HG.
also pressure from the cyliners would enter into the coolant causing excessive pressure in the rad
since you dont have an overflow tank you cant really test that

[IronTrap]

sounds like your fan switch could have taken a **** and stopped working.. might be a good idea to get a low temp fan switch to be safe.

Where'd you get the new lower column bearing assembly?

[Jesse_717]

hmmm why no gauge??
there is normally a cheap sensor on the head outlet flange facing the transmission

My car just has cyclops dash bezel. I only have an idiot light, no gauge.

sounds like your fan switch could have taken a **** and stopped working.. might be a good idea to get a low temp fan switch to be safe.

Where'd you get the new lower column bearing assembly?

Yeah I might have to get a low temp switch and thermostat to put in. It currently just has standard 87 degree t-stat and switch.

I got the lower bearing from mk1autohaus. My inner race was still good yet, just a couple little cracks in it but nothing to hurt its stability. The bearing was the only part replaced.

[BROsiah]

beautiful car ...hope you get the running issues sorted

[rabbitnothopper]

ah...yeah

i think i have a spare temp gauge if you want me to mail it
you can custom up your own mounting, wires are not difficult
but i believe it requires 10volts from the voltage stabilizer

its from a later style cluster (not early round cluster)

anything is better than nothing.

[Jesse_717]

ah...yeah

i think i have a spare temp gauge if you want me to mail it
you can custom up your own mounting, wires are not difficult
but i believe it requires 10volts from the voltage stabilizer

its from a later style cluster (not early round cluster)

anything is better than nothing.

I might look into that down the line but kinda want to keep it stock for now. Mostly everything in the car is new or nice shape so hoping the new switch squares things away and have no more cooling issues.

[2mAn]

nice progress, might want to look into getting a dual round gauge cluster. it gives you a tach and a normal coolant gauge. kinda bummed i didnt see this earlier as I would've recommended doing more head work or even looking for a big valve 1.6 head. it really wakes up the 1.6. either way, keep it up. car looks great