California Mk1 Caddy Love - Intro

[fwdvw]

.....Then went to a local scrap yard and picked up a couple little things, one being a new to me front bumper with hydro-mounts to flush up.....

One more thing about the bumpers. The Cabrio clipper kit, has bumper supports for the re-bar. They sit closer and have no hydro part. Just a solid mount and it sits closer to the body. I've used these on standard bumpers and they fit nicely.

[CasperSYTFU]

Thanks so much for the replies (and sweet pictures!)

How much were you guys wanting for the rear bumpers? (You can PM me)
And those supports sound great!

I forgot about the most nit-picky item I'm missing... The driver side running board exterior trim strip.

Not sure where I can find one and it's killing me having it missing!

[CasperSYTFU]

I'd rather keep everything in 1 thread so I have some newbie questions (don't have a service manual here at work)

Noticed this the other night.

A) the part of the bracket is cracket to the motor. Guess it's time to get to welding?


B) Leaking some oil or fluid. Is this a coolant line? The fluid really looks like motor oil but it doesn't look like it's leaking from above, but the nipple here. (What is this section?)


Sorry for the really beginner questions but as I said I can't flip open my service manual right now

[fwdvw]

That's power steering. They always ooozzz fluid eventually. You can get that bracket from the junk yard easy. Its a simple part to replace with roughly 5 screws and very easy to access.

Look for Cabriolets with power steering and even MKII golfs have that same part.

[CasperSYTFU]

Thanks so much for the tip, man!
The yard we went to over the weekend the only MK2 had the same crack HAHA

Got some goodies I'll post a pic of later on

Back to the yards for find the bracket next weekend.

[CasperSYTFU]

Well damn. Put my car on the lift at the shop I work at in my spare time to install my new drop plates.



Guess theres not much room for the bolts on the 2.5" template so I had to grind down my caliper bracket. No problem. Then had to grind down some bolts since they then hit the back of the plate. No problem here either!

Move the the other wheel and get down to removing the caliper brackets 2 #8 allen bolts. Well turns out the PO's shop used industrial thread-lock and no anti-seize so the bolt sheered. Had to return everything to stock until I can use my buddies extractors next week or so

Next update will have new grille, new grill filler valance I found, and lowered (hopefully a new PS bracket too!).

Fingers crossed

[CasperSYTFU]

Another quick question.
Can't find a paint code sticker since the front had been resprayed.
It's an 81, and I know Slate Grey Metallic was an option but it looks more like Onyx Green Metallic.

Any gurus able to shed light?

[likes2driveslow]

yeah it looks a little too green to be slate grey to me and your interior door jambs are white or grey. word of caution though, the slate grey i'm looking at in my caddy is 30 years old!

what color is it in the engine bay?

[CasperSYTFU]

Everything is the same green.
Engine bay and everything. Not sure if you were looking at the pictures other people posted.
It's definitely the original color. Just not sure where else to look for paint codes.
Hmm

[likes2driveslow]

whoops, definitely looking at those. my bad.

check this out, "forest green metallic clearcoat", as stock on an '81:

http://www.mk1vw.info/paint3.php

your car isn't as green as the sample picture but it's a guess...

there was also "jasper green" on the '83.

[CasperSYTFU]

The more I look the more I'm convinced its Onyx Green Metallic.

Need to find a damn paint code in this bucket!

Onyx example I found:

[likes2driveslow]

onyx metallic green = LD6V

http://mk1vw.info/paint4.php
http://www.the152.com/modules.php?na...ewtopic&t=3874

i think the only original paint code was that sticker. try peeling it and looking under the sticker?

are you sure it's the original color? closest color listed for the caddies is that slate grey

[CasperSYTFU]

Yea even in the nastiest of places in the engine bay its the same old paint. Even on the undeside and where pain has chipped.

Maybe I have a unicorn? lol

[likes2driveslow]

Yea even in the nastiest of places in the engine bay its the same old paint. Even on the undeside and where pain has chipped.

Maybe I have a unicorn? lol

haha, it's a nice color but it must have been resprayed since the VOLKSWAGEN on the back is not in white lettering and the tailgate matches the rest of the car

EDIT: also inside paint looks a little lighter than the outside. maybe inside is slate gray (original) and the outside got the onyx?

[CasperSYTFU]

Obviously I need to dig further. It's killing me cause I want to get the GTI lip thats on it re-sprayed.

Edit: I see way you're saying about that interior paint. I guess I could just get the lip reshot in onyx and see if it matches then beg for a respray if not haha. Got to go through all the paper work from PO's and see if the answer is in there. Thanks for your help man!

[likes2driveslow]

lol no prob. good luck with your hunt. you could always paint the GTI lip matte black maybe?

[CasperSYTFU]

I may just Plastidip it for the time being I guess. I'm going to try a double lip (Large duckbill and GTI). We'll see how it looks

[CasperSYTFU]

Anyone have advice on removing an MK1 dash or an estimate on how long it should take?
Desperately need to repaint it... either taking it out or removing everyone off it taping off the interior and doing it in there as a last resort.

Unfortunately Bentley isn't very clear on the topic

[nedlands]

Anyone have advice on removing an MK1 dash or an estimate on how long it should take?
Desperately need to repaint it... either taking it out or removing everyone off it taping off the interior and doing it in there as a last resort.

Unfortunately Bentley isn't very clear on the topic

It should take less than an hour to pull the dash. Taking the steering wheel off first gives a lot more access. Start by pulling the cluster panel, vents etc, then two bolts either end iirc and it's off

[CasperSYTFU]

Awesome. Torrential rain the last weekend and turns out I have a leak in the cab of the Caddy.
Flooded passenger section. PO said to check the new windshield seal. But he drilled the amp rack onto the rear section of the cab so I have a feeling between those bolts and the normal issues of water through those vents I'm going to have a long weekend.

[golf_fanatic]

Nice color

[vento86]

[fwdvw]

Awesome. Torrential rain the last weekend and turns out I have a leak in the cab of the Caddy. Flooded passenger section. PO said to check the new windshield seal.

FLood behind the passenger seat? If there is water coming from the drains behind the seats, its the body seal all along the back of the cab. The seam right on the B pillar that run along the side to the back of the cab, if its cracked thats where the water gets in. Need some Body Caulk.

[CasperSYTFU]

So gutted the caddy today and turns out the issue was 2 pronged!
I was expecting the B-pillar seem leak as well but I checked the access holes and no signs of leak.
I knew already that there was a tiny bit of surface rust behind the seams where the bed and cab meet and they are vented.
I did see the drain plug under the passenger seat was half lifted and definitely wasn't helping so I resealed it with silicon.


Turns out the MAIN source of the sh*t-ton of water that had literally soaked every bit of carpeting and backing in the right side of the car was... DUN DUN DUN, the drain tube from the heater core WASN'T EVER CONNECTED. So it was literally pissing into the cab.

Ripped everything out, clamped the drain tube.


I'm now layering coats of bed-liner to finish sealing and finishing before I get my new molded carpet kit and sound deadening.

[the-vwjedi]

She looks real nice, diggin' the Borbets. The "stance" () looks a little raked in this photo, I know you said 195/45s in front and 195/50s in rear but does it have drop springs also in the front? Did you get the drop plates on the rear yet?

Keep us updated, the PO installed a fitted carpet kit in my Caddy from England, it is very nize.

[CasperSYTFU]

A little raked is an understatement haha
The front is on air shocks with I believe rabbit springs which lowers it a bit.
The rear is stock and therefore exactly 2.5" higher.
I have a set of drop plates I was going to install before this leak nonsense.
They will go in next Saturday I hope and yea I will definitely be going with a molded carpet from stockinteriors.com with mass backing over dynamat sound deadening.

More progress to come!

[CasperSYTFU]

Unfortunately the water came back except this time since the interior is still stripped finding the source was easy.

Heater core right?

[Mr. Mk1]

If it is coolant that is leaking- Heater Core
If it is just water- The heater box to rain tray seal is bad and/or your rain try drains are clogged the the rain tray is backing up with water.

[Mr. Mk1]

The front is on air shocks

Help me understand this?

[vento86]

Help me understand this?

Ya me too

[CasperSYTFU]

Sorry guys meant Gas Shocks... KYB's.

As for the fluid. Just checked... it is water. However it hasn't rained since I stripped the interior and bed lined it this weekend. There was no water present for 2 days. I drove it to work today and parked it in front of my garage (light slope so the nose of the car is up). I had the heater blowing hard with the windows down since there is still a slight smell from the bed liner undercoat I put down.

Where could it be coming from?

Thanks so much for all of the help as well

EDIT: Also updated the first post with a little better info now that I can go through his files Turns out they are Neuspeed springs so thats why it is a little lower in the front

[CasperSYTFU]

Picked up the caddy this morning after paying a grip of $$$ to have the front leaks fixed.
It was coming in from the rain tray since the boxes weren't sealed correctly.

Going to take out my sliding window and replace it with a single piece of privacy glass also.
So I will be posting the sliding window FS next week.

PO also bolted the amp rack to the bulk head so I'm going to replace the hardware and try to actually seal the holes a little better.

Maybe after all this I can finally move on the refinishing the interior as I was planning

[CasperSYTFU]

Just keeping this going as a place to keep a running journal.

Front leak seems to have been fixed by the shop I brought it to. If the ac runs it seems to leak still so that's just going to stay off... forever.

New single piece rear window tomorrow to hopefully fix the rear leak so I can move forward with the restoration.

Picked these up from a local diesel caddy owner:




Vestatech front air dam and a set of headers (Just under 1.5" runner piping).

Also got a new to me power steering pulley bracket to fix mine with from the local yard.

To Do List:

1. New rear glass to hopefully end leaks
2. Extract rear caliper bolt to install drop plates to eliminate rake
3. Fix pulley bracket
4. Oil Change
5. Tuck front bumper
6. Install new lip
7. Install header
8. Re-ground everything
9. Re-wire sound system from OP
10. Door Panels
11. Carpet Kit

[GTrabbIt]

[corradog67]

looks good, I would like to know where you get the carpet kit from as i need to do the same thing in mine.

and i hope to see you and your truck at the old school gtg in HMB