Wes, I laughed multiple times starting with "Were good, it missed the donuts!" I had a 1966 Saab 95 that my Grandpa had been "holding" for me for when I got old enough to drive. With his chest puffed out, he gave me the keys. I unlocked the door, climbed into the car and immediately the seat crashed through the wonderful unibody floor boards. It was completely rusted. Ironically, it was the same color as your little cream puff. Good stuff, can't wait for part 2.
Neither his brake lines nor your floors would have rotted if they had been spray waxed before they were parked, at almost any self serve car wash, or pressure washer bottle or trigger sprayer, and silicone tire shine, from a trigger sprayer, for exhaust. The rear trailing arm mount rusted out on my Rabbit, I first fixed it by bolting in a piece of an old fence post, and later I crudely welded it. I think the fence post was actually the stronger fix. My other fence post repair worked well too.
I had two of these back in the day- wonderful cars .European spec with a engine kill switch that you had to pull out to operate - the key just affected the electrics.The motor was very rough by modern standards - the dashboard on mine was always shaking itself loose and falling out, having said that the fuel economy was unbelievable - 60 mpg easily.They were a huge seller in Ireland and you still see an odd one about.Indistructable under stressed motors with no turbo- with regular oil changes you achieved starship milages.A quality vehicle! Greetings from Ireland!
@@thesteelrodent1796 The Rabbit was the name VW gave the Golf when they launched it on the US market.Its true that there were some differences - modifications to lighting and bigger( uglier) bumpers etc but it was the same car.Still see an odd one around here- super car.
In the early 80's I ran lock service out of the pickup version of that. What a great little vehicle, not fast but sporty and fantastic fuel economy. We beat the crap out of it and never had a problem.
Back then I worked with a huge guy that drove one. It would leave a black mark on his shirt where his belly rubbed against the steering wheel. It was a tough little car and got something like 60+ mpg.
I don't know anymore if it was a diesel, but around '82 we had a "sampling dropoff" at our farm for the sweet corn company. A guy would visit the fields in the area to get crop samples (as harvest time approached) and then dropped them off in a pile to be picked up later by someone else later in the day. He drove a baby blue VW pickup based on the rabbit. I think that is the only one I ever saw in real life back then.
I had one, it got you where you wanted to go, not fast but you eventually got there. It had AC, but on a hot day you had to choose between climbing a hill or staying cool. And getting on the freeway was always an adventure. With all that, it was a dependable semi comfortable car that got great gas mileage.
Wes, you’re killing me! From the beginning through “No steering, no brakes. Let’s go for a ride.” I almost snorted my coffee 3 times. Oh, and don’t forget to give your brother back his coat. 😮
@@WatchWesWorkA Prius transmission for propulsion(near 200bhp is possible), 3 hybrid battery packs, Prius electric steering, GTI bits(South African upper rear c-posts..) making a 150+ mile EV oh an hybrid batteries like big discharges and fast charging current....
Hi Wes! Love to see that 83 VW Rabbit on your channel! I had a 84 diesel VW Rabbit for close to 22 years! But, if you are planning on keeping that engine running, I would replace that timing belt ASAP! If that belt breaks at idle, it will still do some serious damage. I had a timing belt break on me, and the end result was a new head, new piston, (Valve and a piston can't occupy the same space), and a new rod. I used to get all my parts called Parts Place out of Michigan. They still deal with these older VW Rabbits and stocks just about anything that you may need. They will also have the specialty tools needed to change a timing belt as well.
Valve and piston can not occupy the same space - for very long at least! :) You are going to be in for a pleasant surprise how we changes the belt with all basic mechanic tools! Actually pretty genius!
Memories! Learned to drive in '85 in one of those ... and even then the shifter was more like a Ouija Board than a shifter. Keep 'em coming! Thanks for sharing 🇨🇦
I grew up working on these cars. My dad owned a shop that specialized foreign automotive repair so we saw a lot of these kinds of things from all over the state. Those engines always sounded like a bag of hammers even when new. Good times.
Thanks for this video. It was really a trip down memory lane for me :-) It was really fantastic to see this model again. It is/was called Golf in Denmark/Europe. It is actually the first generation of Golf My first car was a Golf diesel from 1980. I bought it around 1990 and had it some years. It had a lot of km on the clock and it was a cheap car. I do not remember i had to pull a button when starting, but it had to preheat for app. 10-20 seconds and the key could be turned fully when a yellow light, showing a coil, went out. I remember working on gear shifter too - it was worn I also remember one of the control arms collapsed during a hard brake down - it was compleately rotten - it was before the inspections was introduced in my country. The Golf was a very popular car in the 1980's and was known for good German quality. The Golf brand can still be purchased today - now in a generation 8 i think Mine was old and rusty - but the car i could afford. I remember the head gasket blew and i sold the car (the buyer was informed about the head gasket. He wanted to fix it).The last trip of app. 5 km required app. 5 liters of water and the exhaust was like steam train. I never forget that trip :-) Thank you Regards from Denmark
It’s easy to replace the head gasket, and a lot of things.. I had two of those.. the only reason I gave it up , that it wasn’t passing emission.. the cis was a fragile system, and I couldn’t afford the expensive diagnostic tools to troubleshoot it..
They had lots of names in various markets. I seem to remember reading when the MK2 came out, they slapped a stylised rabbit badge onto the MK1, added a bunch of extras from higher-spec models and sold it as the Golf Rabbit in Austria, for the price of the base-spec MK2, which ended up being a fairly popular deal. There was definitely a MK2 Golf Rabbit as well, not sure about the later ones. One of my aunts drove a beige Beetle well into the early 2000s and then swapped it for an almost equally ancient MK1 Golf the same colour, probably also gone by now. In a place where cars rust as badly as in Wes' neck of the wood but that has strict yearly safety inspections, cars that age are either fully restored vintage cars kept in a heated garage 95% of the time or simply gone. By now, MK1 convertibles might be more common than any other body styles even though much fewer of them were sold new, simply because convertibles are rarely driven in snow and salt and because they were built until the MK3 was launched, there never was a MK2 convertible. My dad test-drove a MK1 Golf when they were new, hated it and refused to ever drive a VW again, at least until he could be convinced that a 2009 Golf was an entirely different car and bought a secondhand one in 2017. It drives like a charm (if it starts) but it's burning money almost faster than petrol.
When Wes drops a "will it run" you know it's going to be unusual. This was a fun one to watch because while I never wrenched on one, they were sure popular when I was in high school. Can't wait to see part 2! Thanks Wes!
I haven't even started the video yet, but the answer is Yes. Those old mechanical VW diesels will run on nothing but a hope and a prayer. Glad to see another long format video from you, Wes
When I was a kid, a friend of mine had one of these. He lived out in the country so he had a driving permit at 14. So we used to ride around in this thing since he was the only one of us who could legally drive. Fun times.
I drove my buddy's diesel Rabbit on a road trip with him. It was freezing outside and the driver's window didn't go all the way up. Great memories!!!! I can hardly wait to see how this goes!
We had several of them brand new where I was employed for 35 years and now I’m retired but I remember how under powered they were and down right scary to try and merge onto our freeways here in the D F/W area. Needless to say the company didn’t keep them very long.
had a few of them and turned up the pumps. they worked better after that (and belched a lil black smoke). also put a turbofold on one when the ears broke off the exhaust manifold, and it turned it up some more. worked pretty good after that :)
I have never been so scared driving at night into Texas from the West at night. All over the rest of the USA trucks drive the speed limit. In West Texas the big 18 wheelers run as fast as they can possibly go. Scariest moment of my life till I could get off North. Looked like 95 was low ball.
They were downright dangerous with respect to power. 93 North in Boston out of the Sumner tunnel...uphill and crazy traffic. Lucky if you got it up to 35 MPH to merge in to 60MPH traffic. Sort of unsafe and made for tense moments for sure. However, they were reliable, great on fuel (50MPG)and started very very well even at -20F. That pull out knob is just a timing advance. It makes no difference pumping the pedal on start.
Those engines are damn near indestructible unless the timing belt breaks. I'm curious to see what you do with the car. I have a 1981 Rabbit diesel that was purchased new by my parents when I was 7 years old. It's currently undergoing some heart surgery, and I'm planning to paint it soon. I drove the car all through college, and while it was slow as all get out, it was a great car to learn to wrench on. I'll be watching this series with interest!
I’m not sure why, but this really spoke to me. I found this absolutely hilarious. This was my life for so long. I hated this at the time, but I miss this soooo such at the same time. I appreciate what you do.
That was a very desirable car, in the day! I wanted one but couldn't afford it. I got a 1977 Ford Fiesta instead. Very similar design but a gas engine. It had 12" wheels, which were hard to find! Love your opening music. Long live "Farfegnugen"!!
Wes, the rabbit diesel engines in my area are loved by the Amish. They can be used for generators, or for running pto equipment. I had an 84, and this video brings back memories, some of which are less than pleasant, such as tractor trailers passing me going up a hill.
The 3D printed bushings was ingenious, even tho not perfect, it'll work better than what was there before. Very cool video Wes, my parents had one of these before I was born. It's no wonder they replaced it with a 1983 Volvo station wagon. Great video!
Do you have one of those machines? Had a friend who complained her roommate had one in his room and was always printing and ran the electric bill up. Said it always smelled like burning.
@@LAactor depends on the material being printed. ABS will smell. I've been printing for 4 years and never even used the stuff. I stick with PLA, PETG, TPU and a couple of other higher end materials. And as the other person said, these things use less power than a coffee maker or tea kettle. I saw more of an impact on my electric bill (lower) by using LED light bulbs than I did running 2 3D printers nearly every day.
UA-cam analytics said my videos get suggested to people after they watch your content, so I had to come see what your channel is all about. Now I know what all the fuss is about haha awesome content!
Mr Wes a lot of people would laugh at that car. But the of the matter is the VW Rabbit is one of the best cars you could buy at the time. And they are still going strong. My friend had one and he could not beat it . Great milage and run for years. And I still love the Rabbit and the VW Jetta. Great content.
I'm very happy to see economy car revivals as too many are muscle cars or luxury V8s. I especially want to see Datsun 610s and F10s. I think I did see a Datsun 620 pickup, but ruined by plans to put in a v8, ruining traction and economy. Pefectionism is not economical either, but reliability is.
I might have changed my mind. Like mine, this car might have too much structural rot to be worth saving, unless he is and efficient rot welder. It should probably be parted out for other diesel Rabbits, including from the desert, where they need plastic and vinyl parts, and engines because desert engines get sand in them.
This brings back fond memories! I bought one new and drove it for years. One of the best cars I have ever owned. Best mileage was 55 MPG on a long trip. Changed the oil regularly and she kept on running.
Wes AND working on VWs is a double-win for me. Mark over at the "2stroketurbo" channel has a customer who bought one of these new and still daily drives it. Car has something like 600K on it and still runs like a champ. BTW the 2 and 4-door versions of this car were always called the Rabbit here in the US. The Dasher was actually a different car (first gen Passat). Sorry if it sounds like I'm splitting hares 🤣
Diesels have many distinct advantages due to fuel that is stable and lubricating(sort of like it's own WD-40, which BTW makes a fair starting fluid test..fires on WD-40 might be salvageable)
@@charlesangell_bulmtl I came here to say the same thing. Bringing a small diesel back to life is almost always easier than a gasser. No spark issues and no old gas. But if that injector pump is bad... all bets are off.
Well, considering the stuff Wes usually has in his workshop, the Rabbit practically IS mint… those are getting increasingly rare here in Europe, esp the no frills standard ones, since noone ever thought that anyone would think about them in the future. But to many of us around here those are „first cars“ with alot of memories attached to them.
Love it! My uncle bought one of these new, either silver or white. I can’t remember. It was so slow to accelerate that he avoided slowing down for corners and would take them as fast as possible. He would lean way over on right handers like he was on a motorcycle. It was a real hoot. Can’t wait to see what you do with this one next.
Awesome to see another German car video from you! Especially a mk1!! Those 1.6d never die. A vw will always run! Tons of good parts still on the 2 door! The 2 door is still a rabbit. The dasher is larger and has the engine in longitudinally. Can't wait for episode 2!
I had a rabbit (gas), I liked it. Practical, got great gas mileage, easy to work on. Probably not very safe, but my prior car was a vw bug so it was an upgrade to that.
A friend of mine had the gulf in Germany.. he loved that little car.. personally I loved my opal manta. Loving this stuff keep up the great humorous content!
Great project. I have never owned or driven a rabbit, but 3 of my friends have. Buy the stories they tell I think you got thier car. Looking forward to learning all about Rabbits
I really enjoyed this video! I had five of these cars from 1979 till 2009. Two of them were diesels. I had one engine run away, sucking up the engine oil and it was almost impossible to shut it off. Had to put in a brand new engine, but that was under warranty. 😀
Also, you're so hard on yourself. You always say you did something stupid but your entire existence is mechanical knowledge, including some of the best fabrication I have ever seen and that includes custom 4x4 shops. PS, remember how you mythbusted the pouring out of the jug in a way that doesn't glug that VGG showed his boy how to do? Can you disprove the using a screwdriver pour trick where you pour slowly down the shaft and it dribbles in somehow due to surface tension? Not that you have screwdrivers in your pockets like Obrochta does..
Rabbits (Golfs) were 2 or 4 doors, and the pickup. Jettas were basically at first a rabbit with a trunk. The Dasher was the VW version of the Audi Fox (Audi 80) and the long lost but fantastic "sporty" version of the rabbit in only 2 door was the Scirocco. But then all of that went out the window in the mid to late 80's. Owned many of them, every different model and my 79 diesel was similar, German built (round headlights) and yeah those 56 horses had to work real hard.
At least in Mk2 and Mk3 a Jetta is still just a Golf with a backpack. Looking under it you can even see the mounting points for the Golf rear bumper and the 25cm they just added to the trunk floor.
@@dranoelr Yes, and the even more rare Derby was a Polo with a backpack. The one and only Derby I've ever seen is a greyish-green one that hasn't changed owners since at least 1990 (in Austria you can tell from the plates, if they're black the car last changed hands before January 1990 when the whole plate design was changed). The Dasher was sold as the Passat in most markets.
Just saw this,didn't get my notice. I friggin wait for the new videos and am never disappointed. You are amazing at your craft, let me watch the next one now. Thanks again for another great Video. Max is a trip...lol
What a great video to watch on a Monday morning. Thanks Wes! I worked on a bunch of these Bunnies in the 90s. The slop in the shifter we called normal.
Those orange bushings ought to add at least 10 HP. This has been fun looking forward to part 2. I have been binge watching Mortske's main channel glad I listened to you.
Same same. Funny at the beginning of this video Wes was using some of mortski sayings lol glad the both of them do the back and forth, especially the shout outs. I think I have watched Wes and mortski videos atkeast 2-3 times.
So with your 3d printed bushings, another thing to try at some point is to split them so the retainer fits well, and if they're tight, just ream them out instead of reprinting. You never get quite enough accuracy on 3d, so most of the time we ream them out to get them good for fitting with bolts / shafts.
When your parts-car appears to be in better shape than your project-car, maybe it's time for a new game-plan:) I remember these things were impossible to find, back in the mid-90's. It was at the point where people were starting to worry about fuel prices and getting sick of technology and gadgets. If you saw one, it wasn't for sale and if it was, it ran just well enough to limp it's way to the car crusher.
Bought a Minivan with a blown engine to pull the gearbox, swapped the motor from the daily (all gears had become a slipping drive) and the rear window (had wiper mount) and did 40k miles
If you want plastic parts to "pop" in and out, you need a relief "cut" somewhere for it to bend into, so you'd make 2 "half" ish circles on either side cut a little past the retention lip. How far depends on what material and how thick.
I had a nice one I held onto as a spare car for the family. If anyone needed a car they could use it, just transfer it into your name and insure it, give it back when your done. Than one day it didn't see it at my sisters house. My brother in-law sold it when he didn't need it anymore. He said he needed to recoup the cost of replacing the windshield after he broke it. I haven't talked to him since and that was 20 years ago.
Brings back some memories, my next-door neighbor had one of those back in the 80s. He had it for a very long time. It too was a rustbucket eventually. The NJ winters weren't friendly to it.
The "choke" lever is actually a cold start lever, it advances the injector pump timing a few degrees to assist with cold starts. I think it has to be pretty cold to even warrant pulling the lever. In the country where I live, greater than 95% of the country never gets that cold.
I have the same motor (or similar) in my vanagon and my mechanic told me you can leave it out all the time, cause in warm weather it doesn't make a difference.
FYI the dasher was an entirely different model. I learned to drive on these diesel rabbits and confession I once had my sister's 48hp over 100 mph very late at night, no traffic. The family had 6 Vw and an Audi at one time. They wanted to do an ad on us, dad said no because they wouldn't pay us.😃
I think Wes is a glutton for punishment. 🙃 I love the comment about "the required minimum amount of yacking" at the beginning of the "will it start" videos. So true! 🤣😂
I just went back to Alabama and got my beloved 1986 Volkswagen Jetta Wolfsburg edition with a high performance 6-cylinder 5-speed transmission she needed so much love after sitting for more than 10 years but she was a powerful car and a joy to drive and was well worth retrieving her and bringing it home
LOVE this series! A buddy of mine had a 1982 diesel Rabbit at the same time as I had a 5.0 Mustang. If he ever got in front of me (it took some serious good fortune and was only possible in the ebb and flow of multi-lane traffic), he loved to shift from 2nd to fifth and floor it. That little oil furnace of a motor would shudder in protest at 1100RPM and puke smoke and carbon and filth out the 3/4" diameter tail pipe...I had to back off and use my windshield washer fluid to clear my glass. Good times Greta would have had a stroke
@Watch Wes Work I had to watch this, my grandpa had a pickup with the NA Diesel. Just the rattle of that thing brought back memories. Isn't that "choke" the hotplate control? I don't think it has glowplugs, more like the Cummins air heater set up. I work on cars professionally and find myself watching, I enjoy the commentary! Keep up the videos.
I bought a 1981 Rabbit S, 5 speed Sun roof, black, it was gas. Bought it new. It died at 322K. Great little car. Sold it, the guy fixed it and never seen it again. Great video.
Wes’ maniacal laugh when something surprisingly works and the gentlemen’s snowball fight back and forth between Wes and Mortske is all good stuff.
That laugh would make a fantastic ring tone.
I dunno what you're talking about.
Yes, like Clancy Brown (The Kurgan) in “Highlander”.
That's a going to town rig there. Always like the no title, no tabs, no insurance, no brakes, no steering, no frame, Let's roll attutude. Love it.
Wes, I laughed multiple times starting with "Were good, it missed the donuts!" I had a 1966 Saab 95 that my Grandpa had been "holding" for me for when I got old enough to drive. With his chest puffed out, he gave me the keys. I unlocked the door, climbed into the car and immediately the seat crashed through the wonderful unibody floor boards. It was completely rusted. Ironically, it was the same color as your little cream puff. Good stuff, can't wait for part 2.
What's humorous here is in the mid 90's I saw a Saab in Bellvue WA....had a vanity plate that read "SNAAB"!
LOL, cream puff!😂
My grandfather and I picked up a 68 95 wagon with the V4 as a project. I love the car, they’re so quirky and neat.
Grandpa was just funing you
Neither his brake lines nor your floors would have rotted if they had been spray waxed before they were parked, at almost any self serve car wash, or pressure washer bottle or trigger sprayer, and silicone tire shine, from a trigger sprayer, for exhaust.
The rear trailing arm mount rusted out on my Rabbit, I first fixed it by bolting in a piece of an old fence post, and later I crudely welded it. I think the fence post was actually the stronger fix. My other fence post repair worked well too.
I had two of these back in the day- wonderful cars .European spec with a engine kill switch that you had to pull out to operate - the key just affected the electrics.The motor was very rough by modern standards - the dashboard on mine was always shaking itself loose and falling out, having said that the fuel economy was unbelievable - 60 mpg easily.They were a huge seller in Ireland and you still see an odd one about.Indistructable under stressed motors with no turbo- with regular oil changes you achieved starship milages.A quality vehicle! Greetings from Ireland!
There was a UA-camr revived one down in limerick direction a while back, Cannibal Cars was the channel
@@thesteelrodent1796 The Rabbit was the name VW gave the Golf when they launched it on the US market.Its true that there were some differences - modifications to lighting and bigger( uglier) bumpers etc but it was the same car.Still see an odd one around here- super car.
Hey you just described a modern Mitsubishi Mirage!
Fun fact, I worked at a VW dealership when those cars were brand new.
The "OH no" when the brake line attachment gave way was priceless!!!
@@sharedknowledge6640ll I know. I knew a college professor. Has one of these. And it went 400k miles
In the early 80's I ran lock service out of the pickup version of that. What a great little vehicle, not fast but sporty and fantastic fuel economy. We beat the crap out of it and never had a problem.
Back then I worked with a huge guy that drove one. It would leave a black mark on his shirt where his belly rubbed against the steering wheel. It was a tough little car and got something like 60+ mpg.
Man, those caddy's are selling for over 10k now. Lol. I never owned one of them but I owned over 30 rabbits in every variation. I love them
Always wanted the diesel pickup version.
I don't know anymore if it was a diesel, but around '82 we had a "sampling dropoff" at our farm for the sweet corn company. A guy would visit the fields in the area to get crop samples (as harvest time approached) and then dropped them off in a pile to be picked up later by someone else later in the day. He drove a baby blue VW pickup based on the rabbit. I think that is the only one I ever saw in real life back then.
Once again watching a competent mechanic waking up a dormant machine while doing a simultaneous dry comedy routine. My kind of entertainment.
Would you please give me a subscribe
The crunch when undoing the brake lines and "Oh no" while laughing was just too good!
And so relatable to anyone who drove old clunkers in the rust belt. Metal that has become crunchy orange dust.
42:00 Wes, you forgot to scrounge the oil dipstick out of the motor LOL
I don't think I've laughed this hard at a UA-cam video in years.
Wes is the best.
50 minutes of Wes in a VGG-Style revival? Yes please!
Needle-scaler Garage!!!
Nah. Mortske-esque.
Don't sully Wes' name with VGG.
I'm excited
This is the unique content and style that put you on our map Wes. Thank you for being the consummate teacher/entertainer!!
I had one, it got you where you wanted to go, not fast but you eventually got there. It had AC, but on a hot day you had to choose between climbing a hill or staying cool. And getting on the freeway was always an adventure. With all that, it was a dependable semi comfortable car that got great gas mileage.
Worked with a guy, who was the project supt. on job my employer was doing. He swore by the diesel rabbit, wouldn't drive anything else; back in 1979.
@@jdmccorful It got traded for a GT Mustang, I'm not sure it was the smarter trade, but that mustang was fast.
@@satguybad choice. Mustangs are truly shit.
Wes, you’re killing me! From the beginning through “No steering, no brakes. Let’s go for a ride.” I almost snorted my coffee 3 times.
Oh, and don’t forget to give your brother back his coat. 😮
He was asking about it...
And Wes had to cut out the panicked swearing as he was about to roll into that red truck.
it's been 10 minutes and I'm still laughing
@@TomWood60 He was getting ready to do the Fred Flinstone stop--And he didn't even need to open the door! LOL
@@WatchWesWorkA Prius transmission for propulsion(near 200bhp is possible), 3 hybrid battery packs, Prius electric steering, GTI bits(South African upper rear c-posts..) making a 150+ mile EV oh an hybrid batteries like big discharges and fast charging current....
Hi Wes! Love to see that 83 VW Rabbit on your channel! I had a 84 diesel VW Rabbit for close to 22 years! But, if you are planning on keeping that engine running, I would replace that timing belt ASAP! If that belt breaks at idle, it will still do some serious damage. I had a timing belt break on me, and the end result was a new head, new piston, (Valve and a piston can't occupy the same space), and a new rod. I used to get all my parts called Parts Place out of Michigan. They still deal with these older VW Rabbits and stocks just about anything that you may need. They will also have the specialty tools needed to change a timing belt as well.
Valve and piston can not occupy the same space - for very long at least! :) You are going to be in for a pleasant surprise how we changes the belt with all basic mechanic tools! Actually pretty genius!
Memories! Learned to drive in '85 in one of those ... and even then the shifter was more like a Ouija Board than a shifter.
Keep 'em coming!
Thanks for sharing 🇨🇦
I grew up working on these cars. My dad owned a shop that specialized foreign automotive repair so we saw a lot of these kinds of things from all over the state. Those engines always sounded like a bag of hammers even when new. Good times.
A bag of hammers....hadnt heard that one before...hilarious
I gave a ride to a guy one time in my '79 diesel Rabbit and when I started it he said "if this isn't a diesel, you got some serious problems." ha ha
Thanks for this video. It was really a trip down memory lane for me :-)
It was really fantastic to see this model again. It is/was called Golf in Denmark/Europe. It is actually the first generation of Golf
My first car was a Golf diesel from 1980. I bought it around 1990 and had it some years. It had a lot of km on the clock and it was a cheap car.
I do not remember i had to pull a button when starting, but it had to preheat for app. 10-20 seconds and the key could be turned fully when a yellow light, showing a coil, went out.
I remember working on gear shifter too - it was worn
I also remember one of the control arms collapsed during a hard brake down - it was compleately rotten - it was before the inspections was introduced in my country.
The Golf was a very popular car in the 1980's and was known for good German quality. The Golf brand can still be purchased today - now in a generation 8 i think
Mine was old and rusty - but the car i could afford.
I remember the head gasket blew and i sold the car (the buyer was informed about the head gasket. He wanted to fix it).The last trip of app. 5 km required app. 5 liters of water and the exhaust was like steam train.
I never forget that trip :-)
Thank you
Regards from Denmark
It’s easy to replace the head gasket, and a lot of things.. I had two of those.. the only reason I gave it up , that it wasn’t passing emission.. the cis was a fragile system, and I couldn’t afford the expensive diagnostic tools to troubleshoot it..
They had lots of names in various markets. I seem to remember reading when the MK2 came out, they slapped a stylised rabbit badge onto the MK1, added a bunch of extras from higher-spec models and sold it as the Golf Rabbit in Austria, for the price of the base-spec MK2, which ended up being a fairly popular deal. There was definitely a MK2 Golf Rabbit as well, not sure about the later ones. One of my aunts drove a beige Beetle well into the early 2000s and then swapped it for an almost equally ancient MK1 Golf the same colour, probably also gone by now. In a place where cars rust as badly as in Wes' neck of the wood but that has strict yearly safety inspections, cars that age are either fully restored vintage cars kept in a heated garage 95% of the time or simply gone. By now, MK1 convertibles might be more common than any other body styles even though much fewer of them were sold new, simply because convertibles are rarely driven in snow and salt and because they were built until the MK3 was launched, there never was a MK2 convertible.
My dad test-drove a MK1 Golf when they were new, hated it and refused to ever drive a VW again, at least until he could be convinced that a 2009 Golf was an entirely different car and bought a secondhand one in 2017. It drives like a charm (if it starts) but it's burning money almost faster than petrol.
Den bedste bil er så absolut Golf II ❤️ er stadig ikke træt af dem ☺️
No brakes. No steering. Maniacal laughter. You're a wild man, Wes. 👍
When Wes drops a "will it run" you know it's going to be unusual. This was a fun one to watch because while I never wrenched on one, they were sure popular when I was in high school. Can't wait to see part 2! Thanks Wes!
Not one, but TWO bursts of maniacal laughter from Wes? Definitely a thumbs up moment.
👍👍👍
I haven't even started the video yet, but the answer is Yes. Those old mechanical VW diesels will run on nothing but a hope and a prayer. Glad to see another long format video from you, Wes
When I was a kid, a friend of mine had one of these. He lived out in the country so he had a driving permit at 14. So we used to ride around in this thing since he was the only one of us who could legally drive. Fun times.
My buddy and I lifted his with chunks of pressure treated 4x4s😂 good times
I can usually figure out your plans but you've got me stumped on this one. I am patiently waiting for this one.
my sister had one of these as her first car when I was a kid. it was troublesome but I still remembered fondly
loving it.
I drove my buddy's diesel Rabbit on a road trip with him. It was freezing outside and the driver's window didn't go all the way up. Great memories!!!! I can hardly wait to see how this goes!
We had several of them brand new where I was employed for 35 years and now I’m retired but I remember how under powered they were and down right scary to try and merge onto our freeways here in the D F/W area. Needless to say the company didn’t keep them very long.
I learned to drive on two of those. Scary merge, but drive all week on $ 6.
had a few of them and turned up the pumps. they worked better after that (and belched a lil black smoke). also put a turbofold on one when the ears broke off the exhaust manifold, and it turned it up some more. worked pretty good after that :)
I have never been so scared driving at night into Texas from the West at night. All over the rest of the USA trucks drive the speed limit. In West Texas the big 18 wheelers run as fast as they can possibly go. Scariest moment of my life till I could get off North. Looked like 95 was low ball.
They were downright dangerous with respect to power. 93 North in Boston out of the Sumner tunnel...uphill and crazy traffic. Lucky if you got it up to 35 MPH to merge in to 60MPH traffic. Sort of unsafe and made for tense moments for sure.
However, they were reliable, great on fuel (50MPG)and started very very well even at -20F. That pull out knob is just a timing advance. It makes no difference pumping the pedal on start.
Is that how they say DFW these days? It's been a minute but it's the first time I've seen it made like that.
I don't think I've heard the maniacal laugh quite so often as I did today Wes. Thanks.
Those engines are damn near indestructible unless the timing belt breaks. I'm curious to see what you do with the car. I have a 1981 Rabbit diesel that was purchased new by my parents when I was 7 years old. It's currently undergoing some heart surgery, and I'm planning to paint it soon. I drove the car all through college, and while it was slow as all get out, it was a great car to learn to wrench on. I'll be watching this series with interest!
I’m not sure why, but this really spoke to me. I found this absolutely hilarious. This was my life for so long. I hated this at the time, but I miss this soooo such at the same time. I appreciate what you do.
Omg Wes, I love your will it runs and the fact your doing a Mortski Repair homage hahaha
Please do more!!
That was a very desirable car, in the day! I wanted one but couldn't afford it. I got a 1977 Ford Fiesta instead. Very similar design but a gas engine. It had 12" wheels, which were hard to find! Love your opening music. Long live "Farfegnugen"!!
I had a couple of fiestas those things were great especially with that Weber 2 barrel in them.
I had a mk1 fiesta 1.1 popular plus as my 1st car. Was a great little car and cheap to run. 12inch wheels look tiny these days.
Aber bitte, Fahrvergnügen mein Herr!
@@shoots2001 they look tiny until you park next to a Mini with 10's :)
@@rennkafer13 yeah thats true lol
Wes, the rabbit diesel engines in my area are loved by the Amish. They can be used for generators, or for running pto equipment.
I had an 84, and this video brings back memories, some of which are less than pleasant, such as tractor trailers passing me going up a hill.
Well those 1 horsepower ones are real sleepers.
@@LAactor Some Amish call them Oatsmobiles.
My coffee went everywhere at the 7/16” “crunchhh” ooo no!! 😅😅😅😅thanks for sharing
The bantering between Wes and Mortske is hilarious!!!
Our family had a brand new 1978 Diesel Rabbit which got 50mpg. The thing had no guts. Brings back many memories!! thanks for working on it!!
The 3D printed bushings was ingenious, even tho not perfect, it'll work better than what was there before. Very cool video Wes, my parents had one of these before I was born. It's no wonder they replaced it with a 1983 Volvo station wagon. Great video!
Do you have one of those machines? Had a friend who complained her roommate had one in his room and was always printing and ran the electric bill up. Said it always smelled like burning.
@@LAactor mine uses about 90 watts, and doesn't really smell, but ymmv big time.
@@LAactor depends on the material being printed. ABS will smell. I've been printing for 4 years and never even used the stuff. I stick with PLA, PETG, TPU and a couple of other higher end materials. And as the other person said, these things use less power than a coffee maker or tea kettle. I saw more of an impact on my electric bill (lower) by using LED light bulbs than I did running 2 3D printers nearly every day.
I bet Mrs. Wes will be so happy you got her one of those nice fancy German engineered vehicles!
Brings back memories-- I had a very similar '82 Rabbit diesel. Ran fine for me for four years and I traded it on an Isuzu Trooper II.
UA-cam analytics said my videos get suggested to people after they watch your content, so I had to come see what your channel is all about. Now I know what all the fuss is about haha awesome content!
Hello Wes, as a VW diesel nerd (Golf 2 GTD owner) very happy to see this car on the channel.
43:22 Yeah the rod style gear linkage is trash, I hate it but thankfully in later Golf 3 models they switched to cable style which is much better
That was awesome. Great project and dry Wes humor at its best. Thanks for posting!
Thank you Wes for getting me through hard times my dad passed away a year ago and your videos help me alot.
Mr Wes a lot of people would laugh at that car. But the of the matter is the VW Rabbit is one of the best cars you could buy at the time. And they are still going strong. My friend had one and he could not beat it . Great milage and run for years. And I still love the Rabbit and the VW Jetta. Great content.
The adventures of Restoring with Wes!❤ Looking forward to part 2!
I'm very happy to see economy car revivals as too many are muscle cars or luxury V8s. I especially want to see Datsun 610s and F10s. I think I did see a Datsun 620 pickup, but ruined by plans to put in a v8, ruining traction and economy. Pefectionism is not economical either, but reliability is.
I might have changed my mind. Like mine, this car might have too much structural rot to be worth saving, unless he is and efficient rot welder. It should probably be parted out for other diesel Rabbits, including from the desert, where they need plastic and vinyl parts, and engines because desert engines get sand in them.
This brings back fond memories! I bought one new and drove it for years. One of the best cars I have ever owned. Best mileage was 55 MPG on a long trip. Changed the oil regularly and she kept on running.
Been waiting all morning for this. From one Wes to another, thanks as always for the great content.
Wes AND working on VWs is a double-win for me. Mark over at the "2stroketurbo" channel has a customer who bought one of these new and still daily drives it. Car has something like 600K on it and still runs like a champ.
BTW the 2 and 4-door versions of this car were always called the Rabbit here in the US. The Dasher was actually a different car (first gen Passat). Sorry if it sounds like I'm splitting hares 🤣
Splitting hares… 💀
One of the more enjoyable videos you have put out in a while. Amazing how an engine can just come back to life after sitting for so long.
Diesels have many distinct advantages due to fuel that is stable and lubricating(sort of like it's own WD-40, which BTW makes a fair starting fluid test..fires on WD-40 might be salvageable)
@@charlesangell_bulmtl I came here to say the same thing. Bringing a small diesel back to life is almost always easier than a gasser. No spark issues and no old gas. But if that injector pump is bad... all bets are off.
Well, considering the stuff Wes usually has in his workshop, the Rabbit practically IS mint… those are getting increasingly rare here in Europe, esp the no frills standard ones, since noone ever thought that anyone would think about them in the future. But to many of us around here those are „first cars“ with alot of memories attached to them.
Love it! My uncle bought one of these new, either silver or white. I can’t remember. It was so slow to accelerate that he avoided slowing down for corners and would take them as fast as possible. He would lean way over on right handers like he was on a motorcycle. It was a real hoot. Can’t wait to see what you do with this one next.
Fantastic!
Nice job Wes. Brings back memories. I had 1 just like it that my kids drove in the woods for years until the rear axle fell out of it. Haha.
Awesome to see another German car video from you! Especially a mk1!! Those 1.6d never die. A vw will always run! Tons of good parts still on the 2 door! The 2 door is still a rabbit. The dasher is larger and has the engine in longitudinally. Can't wait for episode 2!
There is an interesting video from ShopDAP where they ran some mk3 Jetta without coolant and it never died :D
@@rkan2 those 2.0 Aba are just as indestructible 😂
I had a rabbit (gas), I liked it. Practical, got great gas mileage, easy to work on. Probably not very safe, but my prior car was a vw bug so it was an upgrade to that.
The first car I ever worked on was my Dads 1978 VW Golf 1.6 Diesel. Thanks for bringing back some great memories
The brake line bracket crumbling when you tried to take the line off made ME laugh too! SO FUNNY. Always a riot to hear your commentary.
A friend of mine had the gulf in Germany.. he loved that little car.. personally I loved my opal manta. Loving this stuff keep up the great humorous content!
11:22 Not a choke, some sort of timing advance. It really helped winter cold starts.
There used to be a CS on there. It’s the cold start knob.
Great project. I have never owned or driven a rabbit, but 3 of my friends have. Buy the stories they tell I think you got thier car. Looking forward to learning all about Rabbits
Great stuff Wes, glad I'm not the only one who welds without gloves !!
I am 70 years old , you are the best
That's a really solid trailer hitch!
The carbon for hardening your weld comes from the burning rubber overmolded ball...
This should be an interesting project thanks for posting Wes!
I really enjoyed this video! I had five of these cars from 1979 till 2009. Two of them were diesels. I had one engine run away, sucking up the engine oil and it was almost impossible to shut it off. Had to put in a brand new engine, but that was under warranty. 😀
What a hoot, love the 3D printing machine. you did a good job on those bushings. and that Laugh, love it.
I can't thank you enough for the time you generously give to us....
One of the best channels on you tube thank you sir
This is fantastic. VGG has been on his strange back to his roots builds and I've been feening for a good revival. Great timing.
Also, you're so hard on yourself. You always say you did something stupid but your entire existence is mechanical knowledge, including some of the best fabrication I have ever seen and that includes custom 4x4 shops.
PS, remember how you mythbusted the pouring out of the jug in a way that doesn't glug that VGG showed his boy how to do? Can you disprove the using a screwdriver pour trick where you pour slowly down the shaft and it dribbles in somehow due to surface tension? Not that you have screwdrivers in your pockets like Obrochta does..
I can try...
Rabbits (Golfs) were 2 or 4 doors, and the pickup. Jettas were basically at first a rabbit with a trunk. The Dasher was the VW version of the Audi Fox (Audi 80) and the long lost but fantastic "sporty" version of the rabbit in only 2 door was the Scirocco. But then all of that went out the window in the mid to late 80's. Owned many of them, every different model and my 79 diesel was similar, German built (round headlights) and yeah those 56 horses had to work real hard.
At least in Mk2 and Mk3 a Jetta is still just a Golf with a backpack. Looking under it you can even see the mounting points for the Golf rear bumper and the 25cm they just added to the trunk floor.
@@dranoelr Yes, and the even more rare Derby was a Polo with a backpack. The one and only Derby I've ever seen is a greyish-green one that hasn't changed owners since at least 1990 (in Austria you can tell from the plates, if they're black the car last changed hands before January 1990 when the whole plate design was changed). The Dasher was sold as the Passat in most markets.
@@Ragnar8504the passat has always been a bigger car than these. A lot bigger infact
@@Mind-your-own-beeswax Absolutely. So is the Dasher because they're the same car. Unless all the online sources I've found are wrong.
Just saw this,didn't get my notice.
I friggin wait for the new videos and am never disappointed.
You are amazing at your craft, let me watch the next one now.
Thanks again for another great Video.
Max is a trip...lol
What a great video to watch on a Monday morning. Thanks Wes! I worked on a bunch of these Bunnies in the 90s. The slop in the shifter we called normal.
Those orange bushings ought to add at least 10 HP. This has been fun looking forward to part 2. I have been binge watching Mortske's main channel glad I listened to you.
Same same. Funny at the beginning of this video Wes was using some of mortski sayings lol glad the both of them do the back and forth, especially the shout outs. I think I have watched Wes and mortski videos atkeast 2-3 times.
Wow this was a great video. Can't wait for part two. Well done Wes!!
So with your 3d printed bushings, another thing to try at some point is to split them so the retainer fits well, and if they're tight, just ream them out instead of reprinting. You never get quite enough accuracy on 3d, so most of the time we ream them out to get them good for fitting with bolts / shafts.
As a VW nerd, this content is HIGHLY relevant to my interests! I’ll surely be watching Wes work on this pile
My first car was a Jetta of this vintage. Thanks for the memories ❤️
When your parts-car appears to be in better shape than your project-car, maybe it's time for a new game-plan:) I remember these things were impossible to find, back in the mid-90's. It was at the point where people were starting to worry about fuel prices and getting sick of technology and gadgets. If you saw one, it wasn't for sale and if it was, it ran just well enough to limp it's way to the car crusher.
Oh yeah, might actually be worth swapping the engine into the parts car, although it's hard to tell without having seen that from underneath.
Bought a Minivan with a blown engine to pull the gearbox, swapped the motor from the daily (all gears had become a slipping drive) and the rear window (had wiper mount) and did 40k miles
@@Ragnar8504 Time to jack it up and crawl in the weeds and mud. That's always fun:)
If you want plastic parts to "pop" in and out, you need a relief "cut" somewhere for it to bend into, so you'd make 2 "half" ish circles on either side cut a little past the retention lip. How far depends on what material and how thick.
When I watch this man I learn a lot and laugh a lot. Thanks for your hard work,Wes.
I love it! "We won't get first place at Pebble Beach" Could you imagine this entry LOL.
I had a nice one I held onto as a spare car for the family.
If anyone needed a car they could use it, just transfer it into your name and insure it, give it back when your done.
Than one day it didn't see it at my sisters house. My brother in-law sold it when he didn't need it anymore.
He said he needed to recoup the cost of replacing the windshield after he broke it.
I haven't talked to him since and that was 20 years ago.
Ouch.
If that was my brother in law, my sister would of been a widow
Thumbs up 👍 it’s not a barn find. But a barnyard find ! EDIT: a 3 D printer comes in handy !
Look at it this way Wes, that pre-separated floor-pan is beckoning you to do a body-off restoration!😁
Love this video! My mom owned a 1980 Rabbit and then a 1986 Golf. Those little cars were bulletproof.........UNTIL the brake issues came up
Brings back some memories, my next-door neighbor had one of those back in the 80s. He had it for a very long time. It too was a rustbucket eventually. The NJ winters weren't friendly to it.
The "choke" lever is actually a cold start lever, it advances the injector pump timing a few degrees to assist with cold starts. I think it has to be pretty cold to even warrant pulling the lever. In the country where I live, greater than 95% of the country never gets that cold.
I have the same motor (or similar) in my vanagon and my mechanic told me you can leave it out all the time, cause in warm weather it doesn't make a difference.
FYI the dasher was an entirely different model. I learned to drive on these diesel rabbits and confession I once had my sister's 48hp over 100 mph very late at night, no traffic. The family had 6 Vw and an Audi at one time. They wanted to do an ad on us, dad said no because they wouldn't pay us.😃
Must have been a steep hill for 100mph. A 75hp MK2 barely makes it over 160
I think Wes is a glutton for punishment. 🙃
I love the comment about "the required minimum amount of yacking" at the beginning of the "will it start" videos. So true! 🤣😂
Masochist.
Love it, “No brakes, no steering, let’s take it for a drive, oh, don’t hit the truck “! 🤣😂🤣
I just went back to Alabama and got my beloved 1986 Volkswagen Jetta Wolfsburg edition with a high performance 6-cylinder 5-speed transmission she needed so much love after sitting for more than 10 years but she was a powerful car and a joy to drive and was well worth retrieving her and bringing it home
Can't wait to see the expression on your wife's face when you tell her she has a new car. That is what I would tell my wife lol😂
Noticed it instantly ran better when u aired up the front passenger tire 😂
LOVE this series!
A buddy of mine had a 1982 diesel Rabbit at the same time as I had a 5.0 Mustang. If he ever got in front of me (it took some serious good fortune and was only possible in the ebb and flow of multi-lane traffic), he loved to shift from 2nd to fifth and floor it. That little oil furnace of a motor would shudder in protest at 1100RPM and puke smoke and carbon and filth out the 3/4" diameter tail pipe...I had to back off and use my windshield washer fluid to clear my glass. Good times
Greta would have had a stroke
Seeing that forklift brings memories from when I first started watching your channel
You are indeed the Patron Saint of Lost Causes. My hat is off to you.
If you get it running, you will be able to accelerate to 60 MPH in less than 5 miles!
Yeah. Top speed was about 62mph when new, and she ain't new.
@Watch Wes Work I had to watch this, my grandpa had a pickup with the NA Diesel. Just the rattle of that thing brought back memories. Isn't that "choke" the hotplate control? I don't think it has glowplugs, more like the Cummins air heater set up. I work on cars professionally and find myself watching, I enjoy the commentary! Keep up the videos.
Fine German craftsmanship. Nice funny movie..Your wife did very well . Give her a raise.
I bought a 1981 Rabbit S, 5 speed Sun roof, black, it was gas. Bought it new. It died at 322K. Great little car. Sold it, the guy fixed it and never seen it again. Great video.
"We've got no brakes or steering. Lets go for a drive" 😂😂😂
Your laughter when something surprisingly works and out look underneath of the car was great 👍 😅 .
It's all learning about what you don't know and thank you Wes for teaching me