My $600 to $1300 B4 passat TDI

My $600 B4 passat TDI

I found an ad for a 96 passat TDI on CL for $1000, the ad had no pictures. So I decided to go take a look and see how bad the car was. The car had been sitting under a pine tree for a while, had bumper rebar damage front and rear (covers were OK, just not alligned correctly). Car was filthy inside and, but ran fairly well. The seller just had about $500 in suspension and brake work done, at that time the garage told him the turbo was shot. He decided he was done with the car and wanted it gone. I offered $600 and left with the car. The next day I found the boost issue was caused by a front hit that popped the boost hose off the IC. I fixed that issue and then found I was making 25psi, so I lubed and worked the wg linkage and corrected that issue. I bought some g60 BBS wheels for $100 and some cheapo $55/ea tires. I also got varios body parts, bumper rebar, etc, and straightend the car out a bit. I fixed some rust bubbles on the lower doors, sanded and prepped the car for paint. I now have about $1300 into the car and she looks pretty good. I have some .205 nozzles and an ebay microchips chip to install still and will need to fix the headliner at some point. Here are some progress pics:

Nice!!! I will bring you my bug and you can paint it. ha ha

Awesome find. It's coming along, too bad that you got rid of the bumper stickers

Volk14 said:

Awesome find. It's coming along, too bad that you got rid of the bumper stickers

Click to expand...

I saved them just in case, would you like me to mail them to you?

This car was driven by the guys college student daughter, apparently she was in to causes.

Oh yeah, the car has 207,000 miles on the clock. First tank was about 40MPG. I have a lot of wind noise from the back of the two front doors, is this common? easy fix? I have the wife using the car for her 50 mile round trip work commute. heated, power, leather seats are next on my list.

That looks awesome. Its amazing what a paint job will do. Another TDI saved from the junkyard! Nice wheels too.

nice job!

Good save! Car looks amazing. Want to come do some paint over on this side? =)

I love these B4 rescues.

Looks great!!

Nice paint job, will you do my B5?
You need this bumper sticker instead:

Thanks for the comments, I plan on keeping the car for a while. although, I could probably flip it for decent money but I'm more interested in the economy right now.

What is the concensus on headliner replacement? I was thinking pop out windshield, pull headliner, drop it of to shop for recover, reinstall and have ins replace windshield.

You can get the headliner out with the glass in place, but i bet it's easier to remove with it out.

-J

What would you get for a repaint on a B4, if you do such things? Mine is in better shape than yours started, but it really needs a new paint job and that looks spectacular.

The front door windows are a pretty easy fix, just raise the front window attachment point a little and it'll seal evenly. It's pretty common on B4's with worn regulators.

You can also try just pressing down on the button for a quick blip and that will probably bring it into alignment better.

fletcher0780 said:

Thanks for the comments, I plan on keeping the car for a while. although, I could probably flip it for decent money but I'm more interested in the economy right now.

What is the concensus on headliner replacement? I was thinking pop out windshield, pull headliner, drop it of to shop for recover, reinstall and have ins replace windshield.

Click to expand...

Beeeeeeeeeeauuuutifull !!! "The Family Waggin" needs that spa treatment on her body.
The headliner comes out via the right rear door. remove all of the headrests, open all 4 doors, and recline both frt seats and it will come out pretty easy. I love that green color
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showpost.php?p=3117411&postcount=54

Like Compu said, no need to remove the windshield, unless the windshield is cracked and you're going to replace it anyway.

The headliner comes out the passenger front door quite easily with the front seats lowered all the way down. When you remove the headliner, make sure you replace the antenna base gasket.

SCORE!!! Good Find, good job.

Nice score and great transformation! I love the Corrado wheels.

I want to ask something serious: would you paint my car for a reasonable cost (it's also green)? If so, PM me and we'll discuss.

Any more details on the wheels? I love them!

^Im with him on the wheels. More information needed.

Car looks awesome. I do like the color.

Keep us posted as you bring it back to life.

Vince

Wheels are VW BBS RZ's 15x6.5 from the G60, they are very very similar to the BMW E30 ix BBS RZ's. I've got the cheapest new tire I could find to fit, kuhmo 185/60/15's for $55ea shipped. Finding affordable center caps for these wheels is quite the task. I got the wheels off CL for $100. I didn't shoot the paint myself, I just did the body work. I'm helping a friend with a turbo/megasquirt project, and in return he sprayed my car. I'll be installing the microchips chip Friday, and perhaps the .205's as well.

BKmetz said:

Like Compu said, no need to remove the windshield, unless the windshield is cracked and you're going to replace it anyway.

The headliner comes out the passenger front door quite easily with the front seats lowered all the way down. When you remove the headliner, make sure you replace the antenna base gasket.

Click to expand...

Where can one buy just the antenna base gasket? I need one each for the Golf and the new B4.

Nice job on the car. I wish getting mine in shape was so easy. Good find.

Great find!

I just wish my 'project' (link in signature) was that clean and cheap. Maybe I'll paint it in another year or so.

Tony

I installed my veg-205 nozzles and microchips chip today with ok results. I've got a bit more power, but smoke under hard acceleration. boost is only up to 15.75 peak and settles around 14psi. I ordered this boost controller to bump it up a bit: http://www.3barracing.com/product_7.htm and help control smoke. I don't have vagcom, so I wasn't able to adjust idle fuel or egr. I'm looking at buying a handheld scanner that supports adaptation now.

Not happy with the crappy ebay chip and hesitant to go MBC to increase boost before investigating a proper stage 2 chip. This car is just a fun little project and commuter, so I'm not looking to break the bank.

Ebay...you get what you pay for! Not trying to rub salt in the wound...too much.

I would talk to Mark @ Malone tuning. I REALLY like his stage 2 tune, even with stock Nozzles. Really makes the car fun and driveable.

After last weeks' turbo debacle, I'll have to put off nozzles until maybe in the summer.

Tony

wow that car looks brand new! good job!

I too would have saved or taped off the stickers though! lol

Great job on the exterior - now the interior?

Welcome to the forum, and excellent post! Inspirational. After seeing how good the exterior is now, I think you should get some leather shifter booties. I think the website is redline.com or something similar.
NICE CAR!