1981 VW Rabbit Caddy TDI for sale

Rickyracer99

New member
Joined
Jun 3, 2025
Location
SoCal
TDI
1981 VW Cady TDI
This truck belonged to my uncle who was a lifelong diesel mechanic. He passed away a few months ago and my aunt is looking to sell it. It was running and driving before he parked it to deal with his illness. He was in the middle of working on the dash which is why the instrument cluster is off(sitting on the passenger seat). He pulled the original 1.6/4speed and upgraded to a turbo diesel and 5 speed manual from a Jetta(don't know what year it came from). The truck comes with the original non turbo 1.6 diesel engine along with a lot of parts(even a GTI grill) as seen in the pics. This was his daily driver. It is on a non op with no fees. It has a clean title and is now under my aunts name so transfer of title will be clean and easy. The car is located in West Covina, Ca. I added the link to the Facebook marketplace ad so you can see the pictures there. I can get more pictures if needed. Feel free to reach out with any questions and I will try to answer them.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplac...h&referral_code=null&referral_story_type=post
 

Rickyracer99

New member
Joined
Jun 3, 2025
Location
SoCal
TDI
1981 VW Cady TDI
The engine is a IDI 1.6 Turbo Diesel engine. Can't tell if it is a hydraulic lifter or solid lifter engine though.
Thanks for the additional info. I have been out of the Rabbit diesel life for almost 20 years. My daily in the early 2000's was an 83 Rabbit diesel LS with a 5 speed. I wish I kept that car. I had over 300K miles on it when I let it go. I wish I had talked to my uncle more about the changes he was doing on his Caddy back then.
 

vwxyzero

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2004
Location
Los Angeles, CA
TDI
'96 TDI Passat Sedan, '96 TDI Passat Wagon, & Jetta Sedan, '83 Turbodiesel (IDI)
Once you find those rocker arms.... that's the tough part... :D
@oilhammer Ha! You're absolutely right, I was thinking about the valve lash on a 4-cylinder Cummins.
The VW 1.6 L IDI TD has solid lifters and tappet shims to adjust the valve lash. My 82 Jetta GL TD has been parked in my garage since 2005 and I wasn't really thinking about it - time to do some garage cleaning!
 

UhOh

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Dec 24, 2014
Location
PNW
TDI
2003 Golf GLS ([2] 2005 Mercedes E320 CDI)
For viewing FB stuff w/o a login just dismiss the login window by clicking on "x" (close).
 

fatmobile

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 16, 2019
Location
north iowa
TDI
an ALH M-TDI in a MK2, a 2000 Jetta, 2003 wagon
Sooo $2700.

Usually that only works for a short time for me.
Then another window pops up demanding I log in.
This time a second window didn't pop up it was just a banner across the bottom.
 

Rickyracer99

New member
Joined
Jun 3, 2025
Location
SoCal
TDI
1981 VW Cady TDI
Sooo $2700.

Usually that only works for a short time for me.
Then another window pops up demanding I log in.
This time a second window didn't pop up it was just a banner across the bottom.
I can send you any information/pics you would like.
 
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