New parts truck - 1981 VW Caddy (Rabbit Pickup)

[FreedS4]

Thought you all would like to see my new parts truck. She's not much to look at, yet, but she's gonna be fun to work on and it gives me something else to drive while I'm working on my e30. Mechanically she's pretty sound, but as you can see, the paint leaves a little to be desired. I want to fix the rust spots and get a fresh coat of paint on it, maybe do a few other minor things to it. Any advice on fixing rust spots that have gone all the way through? I've heard Por-15 is pretty legitimate stuff. Any previous Caddy owners?

[ethree]

Diesel or gasser? I have an 81 as well with bad paint but at least it's factory paint. They're fun and easy to work on that's for sure.

[AndrewBird]

Lower it.

[FreedS4]

Diesel or gasser? I have an 81 as well with bad paint but at least it's factory paint. They're fun and easy to work on that's for sure.

It's actually got a 1.8L gas engine out of an '83 Scirocco.

Lower it.

Least of my worries right now, but that'll come later on down the rode.

[M-technik-3]

If you lower it you are going to loose the ability to carry things. Rather have that than a lowered Caddie. I've owned a few vw's over the years, and A1's are A1's they all have the same weakness's and strengths.

[Jesse30]

por-15 will not work for rust thats gone all the way through. thats only a surface rust treatment.


as far as fixing the rust thats gone all the way through, hit it with a wire wheel to get all the surface rust off then figure out where the metal is good again (the hole will grow i can guarantee that) then cut out bad metal, cut fresh metal to fit and weld into place. not too hard. just time consuming

[87e30]

Fresh grill.

[4bangerfury]

Lower it.

Fuck, for a second I thought I was back on vortex.

[FreedS4]

If you lower it you are going to loose the ability to carry things. Rather have that than a lowered Caddie. I've owned a few vw's over the years, and A1's are A1's they all have the same weakness's and strengths.

I'm going to keep it the same height it's at now. I actually just put on my old bottlecaps and it sits a little higher because of the taller tires. What kind of weaknesses should I be looking for?

por-15 will not work for rust thats gone all the way through. thats only a surface rust treatment.


as far as fixing the rust thats gone all the way through, hit it with a wire wheel to get all the surface rust off then figure out where the metal is good again (the hole will grow i can guarantee that) then cut out bad metal, cut fresh metal to fit and weld into place. not too hard. just time consuming

Just talked to a shop and they said they'd take care of all the deep stuff for me. Quoted me a pretty reasonable price for the work too! I'm going to POR-15 the surface rust through, to prevent it from eating it's way through anymore.

Fresh grill.

Yeah, the guy I bought it from was a huge Opel fan and all of his cars were the sweet blue color of the grill. I've already paint most of the blue accented pieces black. I've got the original VW emblem that'll go back on once I get her painted.

Fuck, for a second I thought I was back on vortex.

It's funny you say that, because every Caddy over there is just about scraping the ground. They look good (descent), but have no functionality.

Thanks for all the comments!

[Chabs]

that thing just doesn't look right.

[einstein57]

I searched for a clean diesal caddy for almost two years before i got the e30. You an guess how my search results ended.

[FreedS4]

that thing just doesn't look right.

I'm working on getting the body right and getting it painted. I'm just torn on how much I'm willing to spend to get it looking right.

I searched for a clean diesal caddy for almost two years before i got the e30. You an guess how my search results ended.

I can't imagine well. These babies are hard to come by, from what I've seen.

Chris

[FreedS4]

While we're on the topic of Caddy's, does anyone live near a junkyard that has parts for these or have one of their own that'd be willing to part out?

[Ryann]

I've owned a few Rabbits, and the caddy was my favorite by far. It had a souped GTI drivetrain and sport suspension and was unbelievably quick. Unfortunately it also had a leaky aftermarket glass roof and a ridiculous metallic purple paint job.

[FreedS4]

Put my old bottlecaps on her and got rid of the sweet stickers.