1981 Rabbit Truck TDI (afn)

Just successfully figured out the pedal wiring and did a separate writeup for it:

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=440272

Now onto the downpipe! I need something there before I drive it so the engine bay isn't getting flooded with exhaust fumes.

Andrew

So Close! Big Breath...

These days I have the beast running and driving down the road like it was meant to. It's just silly fun to drive. I welded extensions on the downpipe so that it ends just below the stick shift. Most of the exhaust goes out into the world, but I still wouldn't drive with the windows rolled up quite yet.
Just sort of puttering along, and shifting early and often, it drives nicely. Kind of rumbly and vibraty for my tastes, but very useable.
But... when I step on it... it's like nothing else! The turbo whistles like a drunken sailor anyway, tempting the driver to use it. Then, when it does spool up I get thrown back in the seat like someones trying to tell me something, and it runs through the numbers on the speedometer faster than I can comprehend-- until I chicken out and let off the go pedal.
It's just silly fun!

Driving it is nice. Wiring it is not nice. It took me 2.5 days to figure out the blinkers. They work now: (front)
Rear:

But my god it was a battle....
This site helped immeasurably: http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=219953
As they did with my van conversion. But I'll never be proficient at wiring, so there is a lot of trial and error, and conceptualizing, and hair pulling, and weeping, before I get the crap that I want to work, to work.
The blinkers all work now. The headlights too. And all the stuff on the dash!
Last little bit is the brake lights.
As you can see, I have them both lighting up when the brake is applied, but one is significantly brighter than the other. Frustrating!!!
Someone rewired the whole shebang back there to light up the silly lights on the top and side of the canopy, and now the brake lights are all kinds of screwey. Here you can see the difference in how bright they are

Stupid!!!
So, now I get to sort it all out. Stupid previous owners.

But-- the awesome news is that it is close to done! It's drivable to the point of being almost reliable! An amazing feat for such a basket case just over a year ago. And, it really is a blast to drive. More fun than any car I've ever driven. Period.
I'll get a youtube video up here next time with me driving it, everything working right, and victory music blaring in the background = screeching tires as I burn through 1st, 2nd, and 3rd !

Andrew

This was kind of fun. Not quite done yet, but thought I'd share. I just roughed it out, got it to scale, and printed it on my printer. I'll take it to a real printer later today and have them print it on something that can be permanent and using high quality stuff. I might change the tach numbers too. The font selection was limited and that was the closest I could find. They're pretty dang close though! Stay tuned for the final iteration .

Andrew

Before:


After:

Looks like fun, I'm trying to convince my wife into a caddy project at the moment. Funny thing, I saw that caddy on Craigslist prior to you buying it. Hope everything keeps going in your favor.

There are a few caddy's on the list right now that are so ridiculously perfect for a swap I have to force myself not to look again so I don't buy them.

This truck is kind of unique looking, but I think fun. Maybe we could have found another in a little better condition for the price, but everything considered we're happy.

And these days we're really happy. This thing scoots like you wouldn't believe. It's irresponsibly fast! I downloaded a gps speedometer on my phone and plugged in scangauge to verify if I got the mph marks right on the speedo, because how fast it gets to 60 doesn't seem possible. It's spot on.

Everything turned out really good in the car. The intercooler setup works great. You can hear the pump for it come on with the key when you start it up, but it's not obtrusive. The mechanical clutch feels great. I actually prefer it now to the hydraulic.

I installed a button in the old emergency flasher hole on the dash intending to have it turn on the lights on top of the cab and on the sides of the canopy. The switch on the dash lights up when you turn it on, but I never got around to hooking it up to anything else. The guy who I built this car for loves that button more than anything. We had the best time with thought of a button in a car that does nothing-- and you could tell everyone it does anything (heated seats, powers the turbo, ejector button, etc.). Fun stuff!

Once my kids are in college I'm going to get a 4 door rabbit and do this swap again. In a decade or so. It's just too insanely impractical for my life right now, but I like it more than any of my other cars. If I had it to do all over again, I'd put an Alh or European version of that in there. But this one is still pretty damn good.

With the truck I'm down to little things to get it done done done. Needs the bumpers put back on. Probably needs front bearings at some point. The dash could be put on a little better. The drivers side window is a basket case, I don't know what I'm going to do with that. But mostly it's useable and a kick in the pants to drive.

Thanks for giving me a chance to update and reflect here!

Andrew

5 points for anyone who can accurately identify the bolts used in the stick shift surround!

On to the side vent covers today. The tubes and vent louvers didn't make it so I eliminated them at the heater box (we now have defrost, and somemore defrost), and am making block off plates for the vent holes in the dash. I'll get a picture of that up later today.

It's been a year now, and the truck is going strong now! Nice to have it running well and working on aesthetics.

annieneff said:

5 points for anyone who can accurately identify the bolts used in the stick shift surround!

Click to expand...

Looks like axel triple-square bolts

Head bolts.

-Todd

Head bolts all the way! Good eye, Todd .

Got the vent block-off's done. I think they turned out great!