by: Brad Beardow

VW technology has come a long way over the years, and for many the pinnacle of VW’s engineering might is the 1.8T engine. Powerful, compact, and eminently tune-able, the only downside is that this wonderful engine is typically saddled with a heavy new-style VW to lug around (weight being one of the downsides to modern technology). But wouldn’t it be cool to combine VW’s latest, greatest engine with their oldest and lightest watercooled chassis? Of course it would and as most folks know this has been done many times over many years.

But Aaron Stehly, a bicycle mechanic from Minneapolis, doesn’t care that this combination isn’t the rarest of them all. He’s certain that there are twenty 16v Rabbit conversions for every 1.8T swap, and that’s rare enough for him.

Full Story...

Aaron Stehly

As far as the article goes, there is a lot of missing credit on this car, and the custom strut tower brace did not come from S&L. In fact it was a former employee of S&L that gave us the drive to finish the car ourselves as his words were and I quote "you will never finish that car without my help." I am sure however that they will have more input in his next project.

He did however purchase the wheels there when he owned his previous MKII GTI.

As for some of the other custom work, South Central Imports did the intercooler piping and helped source some of the other parts for the project.

The Strut tower brace was a custom piece that was designed and built by the same guy that welded the roll cage. D&E Specialties deserves the credit on them.

The paint was done by Wreck Brothers Auto, and took twice as long and twice as much money as the orginal quote. But for the most part came out very nice.

Modified by amtrakjack at 6:27 PM 7-26-2005

Love the car!

Vortex Transaction History

Look, I did the best I could with the info given to me by the owner.

If you are concerned with inaccuracies, I'd appreciate it if you contacted Aaron so that he could ask me to make any necessary changes to the article.

Thanks

if you dont mind me asking, what did the paint end up costing, versus the quote

(i am getting ideas for restoring my rabbit )

http://volkseuroteamtrashwerksportMN.org.com.net

Aaron

Modified by rabbidmk1 at 10:22 PM 7-26-2005

i LOVE the hatch, thats pretty damn cool. the only thing i'd do differently is like a dark silver or grey outline along the lettering to make it stand out a little more. but yes. sweet. very original.

call me dumb, but how do you know how fast you're going in that badboy? i don't see a speedo

As for some questions in this thread, the original paint qoute was around $2500. All told, it was over twice that.

As for knowing the speed without a speedo, when you are behind the wheel it is the last thing on your mind. On the serious side, he's pretty good at pacing traffic. It's the on ramps he has to look out for. 95 in a 55 before the freeway with a cop at the end of the entrance ramp got him his first ticket in the car.

The 1/4 was decent with a 13.5 @ 107 with crappy 60 foot times. Better tires and a little more tuning would have broken it into the 12's. The tires that were on the car at the time were just Drag Radials, wrinklewalls would have done better. Funny thing is the tires were borrowed from the guy that said we wouldn't finish the car without his help. Hehe, that's how good the VW scene is here, everything is in good spirit. Here is one of my favorite pictures.

As far as the top speed, we wouldn't know for sure. I know I passed a buddy that was at a 125 like he was standing still on a back road right before a gust of wind blew me from the right shoulder of the road to left shoulder of the road. I shut it down real quick after that.

edit for spelling

Modified by amtrakjack at 12:42 AM 7-27-2005

Plenty of shots of the car at speed, standing still... any of the build that we can take a look at?

PJ

"I cut it twice and it's still too short."

.:Recession Accomplished:.

VW's I have owned: 74 411 (dead)
82 Rabbit (still running I hear)
98 Vento (RIP)
91 Passat (gave it to the blind),
01 Golf 4 door 1.8T (new project)

Nitrous is like a hooker, everyone is tempted to try it but they are afraid of the results:: HarvVAG

NUR-16V FS - name your price.

VW's I have owned: 74 411 (dead)
82 Rabbit (still running I hear)
98 Vento (RIP)
91 Passat (gave it to the blind),
01 Golf 4 door 1.8T (new project)

Nitrous is like a hooker, everyone is tempted to try it but they are afraid of the results:: HarvVAG

+1