Not much to report...

Just an update, everything squirreled away in the garage for winter, 3 cars in a 2 car garage...the dance of a thousand floor jacks.

The GLI will be first up in 2020, once the mouse nest is removed that is, we can push on to the finish line.  Looking for Heidelburg show to be the shakedown run.

I have promised Niko some movement on his GLI, so I'll endevour to get a 220V outlet installed on the outside of the house so the "Summer of Weld" can begin.

Did more poking around on the Beetle, and I think it'll be a quick turnaround.  I hummed and hawed over the Klokkerholm framehead that came with the car.  Having welded an aftermarket framehead on Jesse's buggie repair years ago, the frustration was all too apparent that QC just wasn't there.  I don't want to go through that again.  I did some sleuthing on thesamba, and asked a buddy in Michigan to pickup at the greyhound depot, a rustfree framehead cut off a car from Colorado.  Cost me $330, but I sold the Klokkerholm one to a guy in Ottawa for $300.  As Edd China would say; "Result!"

I hope I did alright.  The cutoff has an extra 8-12" on length, which is good, because the car has about 3 or 4" of rot past the Napolean hat.  She's nasty, but the new cutoff should get rid of most of the rot.  I have the framehead, front bulkhead, L & R heater channels, and the front half floor section on the DR side.  I know you're thinking "just replace the whole f^ckin' pan!" but this car was undercoated within months of new, and under the coating is pristine metal, so I want to keep as much German metal as possible and keep the budget tight.  All in, I've spent $350 on the pan sheet metal.  We'll drop the pan in the spring, and get a good assessment.  That's all for now!  Merry Christmas!

Komm nach Hause, verlorener Sohn

Come Home, Lost son...

So lets go WAY back 26 years to a summer drafting job in 1993 and (what I though was) a copius amount of money made. I decided to piss it away as any 19 year old would....on a car.

$10,000 later, I had turned a ho hum 1972 Superbeetle into a cool little cruiser.  (You might be thinking "10 grand WTF?" and you'd be right.  There was alot of bought and sold Empi and Bugpack sh^t bought for this car that had a short shelf life) I spent the next 4 years wearing the tires down driving all over southern Ontario with friends, in the new found freedom.  But by 1998, I needed something I could drive in the winter, as I couldn't use dad's diesel rabbit anymore (met its demise to a food service truck) and apartment living was hard to own 2 cars...a beetle as a second vehicle was hard to hide from the landlord.  So the decision was made to sell her, as she needed some work to the pan and frame that I couldn't do with no garage or driveway.  So I yanked the engine and sold the rest for $800, figuring I'd never see it again.  I did poke my head into the new owner's house in Cambridge a couple years later and there she sat under a tree, not turning a wheel.  Like f^ck, big plans....right.  I said my goodbyes.

Fast forward 21 years...

I have the Kijiji app on my phone, (like Craigslist to my US friends) hard wired to "Classic cars/Volkswagen/All of Ontario"  no sense in searching anything else I'd say...And one day while musing on the litany of Empi-catalogue-built Meyers Manx clones fetching $15,000+ I spot the Chevy Bright Aqua beacon on the page!  There she is! And is Local to boot!  I call the guy and try not to sound like a blithering idiot (to steal Clarkson's line) and head down to look at her.  I got the chance to go over her without the owner there, and man....what a time machine!  There was even a mechanical drafting pencil of mine in the glovebox!  Nothing has changed?  We, err, I did pull the motor, so that was different, and my Sony deck was gone.  But anything else changed?  nope...not one bit!

As one would expect, the paint is tired, but I did take solace in my bodywork skills that they had help up rather well for 25 years!  Only some small rust blisters exist now, a couple of which I saw starting when I sold it.  I figure old Neil did the most damage in the couple years after I sold it to him, and the balance of time she sat in a dark dry garage away from the elements.  

The framehead is gone, as is the drivers side floor under the pedals, but not to worry...VW bugs are the most supported car in the aftermarket.  Which comes to the finagling with the owner...he HAS a new klokkerholm framehead for it.  Score!

I'm buried in the GLI build, so I really don't need this.  Let's make it clear...I don't want a bug, I have no interest in them, they are slow, they are cold, and I much prefer the watercooled VW variety.  But, I put alot of blood and sweat into THIS car, and was cheated by time, apartment living, and an era where aircooled VWs, especially Superbeetles, were worthless. (some would argue still are)  So I say again, I would NEVER bring home 'A' bug, but I will bring home THIS bug.  I was cheated when I basically gave it away, and now I have the means to fix it.  So I gave the owner a somewhat lowball offer, and a sob story on its history and he agreed to sell it to me...

Is it normal to know your tow truck driver by name, and he knows by memory where to bring these old VWs to? (Thanks Emad, you rock!)

But I gotta say (and my brother reiterates the feeling) that even if all I do to it is stare at it, I couldn't have let it go again.  There's a reason why it hasn't been touched, or ravaged by time.  An omen?  Maybe?  

And the definition of CATHARSIS, is handwashing a car you haven't seen in 20 years.... ;)

Oh, its been a busy summer...

Oh, its been a busy summer...

While that statement is true, its not so much for the GLI.  Its been alot of stop and go on that front.  I was making good progress on the running gear, having completed the brakelines, brakes, bearings, bushings, balljoints, hubs, gas tank, filler pipe, etc. but I did make a trip over to see Chris my mechanic, and while talking about someone else's car he stated "only an idiot would run fuel hose on the high pressure side of CIS"... oops...I guess all the HP fuel hose in my engine compartment's gotta go! So hard fuel lines and braided are back on the menu...

I also had a local buddy offer to powder coat a buncha stuff for me...ok, off comes all the sheet metal from the engine that was ready to drop in.  Oh, about the engine, I yanked the JH block out of Rabby, and it looks REALLY good.  Didn't snap any studs, and by the looks of inside the head I'd be surprised if this JH has more than 200k on it.

There's also an awful stink inside the otherwise stripped interior, which always points to the headliner, so pulling down the trim around the doors reveals a mouse hotel in the headliner.  f^ckin' great...  So I'll have to call Jesse to bring his window tools to take all the windows out so we can gingerly remove the headliner and clean it.  Good news there is that I can touch up the rustwork around the window gaskets.

One step forward...two steps back...

I changed out the flares too, the ones on the car were cut and quite beat up.  I had a nice set squirreled away so a change was in order.  Living in Ontario, there is a definite trepidation to touching fender flares on Canadian cars.  They usually crumble around the screw holes and you'll never get them back on without new holes if there's any sheet metal left for screws at all.  But, this car amazes me yet again!  The metal behind the flares is mint!  Except for the bottom edges cut for tire clearance, they are very straight!  Whew!

I did make some headway on the drivers window regulator though. Window regs are around $100 shipped to my neck of the woods, so I thought I'd use what I have. The cabby does a better job of moving the window up and down without the help of a B pillar, and I always hated the way the stock regulators on 2 doors would allow the window to tip back and slice open the back rubber channel. I hate that! So the cabby regulators motion follows the vent channel perfectly and lifts on 2 points on the glass rather than 1, hopefully getting rid of the glass tilting back. I do need to build a little cradle to hold it with the window down as it flaps a bit in the door if you slam it. I was this close to tossing the cabby regs! Glad I didn't! Only 5 new holes, some countersunk bolts, and a stack of washers to make the change. And I don't need to replace the split rubbers, because the window no longer needs them to direct the glass up.

Some new tires on the P slots too, I opted not to restore the wheels yet as I just got some cheap Mazzinis to get it to the safety check and work through the snag phase.  I really want proper Pirellis on those rims, so eventually I'll get them restored with black and diamond cut faces.  Not in the budget at this time though.

So while this all appears as sundry items, it is.  An old flame came back into my life...that's what has distracted my efforts...

Let's get it started..

OK, let’s go with an actual GLI update.

Before I delve into this update, I have to say that this GLI is in fantastic body shape, brings a smile to my face to work on it actually….kinda giddy actually, not gonna lie.  Nowhere is there any rot that needs to be dealt with right away.  I’ve always noticed that non-metallic red VWs don’t seem to rust as easily as any other colour.  I used to drive an 84 NA diesel rabbit with Mahogany red paint, and it had a golfball sized rust spot on the rear quarter when we got the car, and a golfball sized rust spot when we scrapped the car 4 years later…and I didn’t wash it ever!

This GLI is kind of a weird beast, as it has not seen many winters and is good in that regard, but whomever did the 16VT swap, hydro clutch conversion, rear disc swap, paint respray etc, either rushed it, didn’t know what they were doing, or didn’t care.  There are safety faux pas everywhere, ranging from loose balljoints held in with too small bolts, half a dozen crudely cut holes in the firewall, kinked brakelines, rear calipers that didn't actually slide on the guide pins, up to a clutch pedal hinged on bolts with no bushings or locknuts.  

Knowing this, I’m pushing on anyway, correcting most of these ills that exist.  I also need to preface this by saying that I decided to just put this GLI back together rather than execute a full restoration.  My reasoning is twofold:

1.  I need to take stock of the contents of my garage hoard, what I have and what I need, so the thought is to just pull the parts into the daylight, assess it, freshen it up, fix it, rebuild it whatever, and put it on the car.

2.  I have an adage that no car is worth anything until it has pulled its weight.  No car of mine will get any serious money thrown at it, unless it is running/driving and put some miles under it with me at the wheel first.

So, once it’s back together, and driving, we will think about putting it on a rotisserie for a full restoration in the future.  There nothing pressing, and some of the hack and slash holes in the firewall (and there are a lot of them) can get a quick patch for now.

Work is progressing on the rolling gear, and engine bay.  I started grinding out the PO’s brutal attempt at mounting the cable shifter, (they cut a hole in the tunnel, but didn't actually use it) and the new tunnel section is to be welded in to reinstall a stock shifter plate.  The floors have only 4 holes, all drilled by me to drain away any water intrusion.  I haven’t seen any windshield leaks so we maybe ok there.  I did track down a LR taillight leak, that BION ends up putting water under the driver’s seat, so don’t go and assume the windshield is always the culprit.  There is also a hole under the sound deadening in the rain tray, or scuttle tray that will need to be patched with panel sealer.  That seems to be it on this car.

So, all the brakes are getting redone obviously, I have enough spares in the garage to put fresh slider pins and gators in every caliper, and a friend has found some new rear ATE rotors in his parts hoard, to go with the new 9.4”Zimmermanns on the front.  New bearings front and rear, thanks to my brother Jeremy and his press.  Word to the wise, buy the front bearing KIT, not just the bearings, as the 74mm circlips are hard to find, the bearings are easy.  I opted to go with replacing anything in the front end with Cabby parts, off the scrapped 88 Azur.  Reason being is that when I go grab a spare axle off the shelf, I don’t want to jam a 100mm outer CV in a 90mm hub, cuz at first glance the axle will fit.  Just looking for some parts commonality in the garage.

So last Saturday, my driveway looked like a used suspension yard sale. I took everything I had out of the garage and laid it out.  I have several stock sets of course, but there was Koni, Bilstein, Boge, Neuspeed, H&R, Eibach, etc strewn everywhere.  I had every intention of using the ‘coilovers’ that I was sold on when I bought the car, but upon further investigation, found they weren’t coilovers at all, they were adjustable ghetto Ebay sleeves on stock tubes.  Barf.  BUT, I was happy to see that inside the front hillbilly tubes were wide piston Bilsteins…score!  So I took apart my Koni red/Neuspeed front struts and installed the Bilstein sport inserts.  I should be happier with those, at least my teeth will be.  I’m still going with the Koni yellows on the rear and Neuspeed springs.  New parts all around would be nice, but let’s squeeze every ounce out of this eclectic parts hoard, I must have kept this sh^t for a reason.  I’m also not an advocate of coilovers, as I’m only looking for a moderate drop so spring/cup is perfect for me, and slightly easier to swallow if you spread out the payments for each component over time. (Buy springs first, buy shocks later)

I swapped out the steering rack too, as the PO cut off all the mounting points for the mechanical shift gear from the original setup.  He did use poly bushings, so I put them on the mint rack from Shawn B's westie shell…nothing gets wasted here!  The tie rods are new too!  The PO sold the sway bar off, as I assume it was something other than stock that had some intrinsic value for him, so I’m bringing the cabby sway bar over…but there’s a PROBLEM!  I have never been able to remove the end bushing brackets from the control arms without snapping the studs off.  Thanks Ontario road salt.  Everybody it seems, apart from a UK company that is too lazy to put 2 brackets in a bubble mailer to ship across the pond, doesn’t have any in stock.  Grrrr.  Might come to fabricating those, but I’ll leave the sway bar off for the safety if I have to. Have to resist tight cornering!

The brakelines are decent, except for the crossover in front of the gas tank, it was hillbillied in place, (almost looks like a roadside repair) with the flex lines flapping in the breeze.  The hard lines on the rear beam are also too short and will be replaced.  Unfortunately, with all of the pedal clusters I had, the westie cluster from Shawn B’s car was in the best shape.  BUT, the 22mm brake booster has a different actuator rod, so I’ve tasked my father with welding the old rod on the newer booster, with a little bit of rod adjustment.  Who’da thunk that Westmoreland and Wolfsburg couldn’t agree on a pedal hinge pin, or booster rod style.I have a suspicion that this booster is from a US car (Like a Dodge Omni) and Westmoreland used it to help qualify for NAFTA domestic content.

The westie cluster wouldn’t have been my first choice, as the Cabby cluster has return springs on the pedals and better pin bushings, but the repair done to the clutch tube was brutal and unusable, and I’ve scrapped more autos than manuals, so I don’t have a lot of these 2 pedal clusters.  The cluster that came with the GLI had some sort of homemade weird side appendage for the hydro clutch master cylinder that was mounted to the left of it. The location, and lever action concept was well thought out, but very poorly executed, and unfortunately the PO cut off the clutch cable hook which would have made it all returnable to stock, including the brake booster.  C’est Domage.

The fuel pump was ziptied in place, typical of most CDN mk1s, as the foam cradle is one of the first things to get ravaged by road salt.  It really is a poor design, thanks VW.  The accumulator and lines look good, reusable for sure.  The gas tank has a bit of shellac gas left in it,I’ll probably change it out, as I have a brand new one in the hoard. The filler tube looks aftermarket and scabby.  Hopefully the surface rust pitting is not too deep and I can save it.  Even the plastic cover in the RH rear wheelwell covering the tank vent lines unbolted from the car without issue, testament to the condition of this car!  I’m reluctant to remove the body flares yet though.  I don’t want to go there just yet, that’s where the ‘Rot’ lives...

That’s it for now.  I need to get her back on 4 wheels, as I have some garage work planned and she’s in the way for the heavy equipment!  Once that’s done, we’ll get the JH engine out of the Rabby with an AUG trans put in as well(the original 4K is in Red Hare right now) and start to get her wired up.  The wiring in the GLI looks sound, although some of the JH-specific wiring is missing from the engine bay, but no biggy… I GOT SPARES!

Stay tuned!

                

What's an Iltis?

Ok, this is supposed to be a Jetta GLI blog...WTF.

Some of you might be wondering what that cameo headlight is in some of the photos.  It's an Iltis, a weird offroad offspring, borne of the German Army's need to replace 'The Thing' Type 181 and Audi's burgeoning Quattro endeavour.  Its not well known from the VW catalogue, and is basically a parts grab assembled on a single, ugly, utilitarian platform.  I acquired one while I was in the Canadian Army back in 2006.  My dad actually did all the legwork, dealing with an Edmonton-based auction house.  He acquired 6 or 7 (can't remember) of them back in 2004, to 2006.

Mine came from Highbury depot in London, with evidence of belonging to the 1st Hussars.  Here is how she looked when she was dropped off, looking like a parts machine for the repair dept.  It only cost $750 at auction.

It was pretty well intact, missing the roof, and wiper motor and some odds and ends.  With a new fuel pump, it fired right up.  The rust was minimal, but typical of these beasties, the floor under the battery under the rear seat was rotted right thru, which is what probably sidelined this one.  in 2005, the Chevy Milverado replacement was well underway and these were being pushed to the fenceline at Army depots every week.

I had no intention of keeping the military accoutrements intact, so I had a custom black boat canvas top made, and the blackout lighting was removed.  The broken mesh was removed from the bushguard, and other updates made.  And eveybody seems to cringe at the S1 steering wheel painted green, but f^ck off, its my ride.  Other than that, it's still basically stock though.  Under the bonnet, its all VW, a mild 1.7L carb'd gasser in there.  Nothing earth shattering, but VERY familiar.  In fact, I just donated the engine it came with to another dubb'r who is planning to install it in a swallowtail.

It has a 24V electrical system, to run the CF radios, but its kind of a pain.  There's no reliability problems, and everything is rebuildable, but I can't just go into the garage and grab an alternator, coil or starter off the shelf and throw it on.

After playing with it hard for a couple years, and replacing both the trans and rear diff, I've been a lot nicer to it lately to keep the stress off the wallet.  The rear diff was a real challenge to find, so if I broke it again, I'd be up sh^ts creek for another.

I rarely drive it much these days, its on silverwheels insurance, so it doesn't owe me much.  My kids would disown me if I sold it, but it is in need of some considerable work.  The lower windshield frame is rotten, and the clutch needs replacement, so those are on the order of battle this year.  I also had a matching trailer at one time, but with it weighing 700lbs empty, it was a real pig behind the anemic 1.7

So just like my roomate bought a mk1 Jetta (whitey) cuz he liked mine, he also bought an iltis too.  His in alot of ways was better than mine, and his was a rare Ambulance version.  As was typical with Ambs assigned to Army Reserve units, they were driven to the Exercise and parked for the week/end.  It was in immaculate shape, not wailed on like mine was, and if memory serves me, only paid $1200 for it.  Again, the battery floor was rotted out too.  Very common problem!

So I'm on the fence whether to keep or sell mine.  (Jeff sold his) I don't really enjoy the utilitarian feel anymore, long trips really kick the sh^t out of you.  With the Cabby, it can satisfy the open air feel too.  I'm probably going to fix her up this year, and quietly sell her before the kids notice.  :)

UPDATE

Sold May 8, 2019.  BTW, the kids noticed.  Mallory was furious...