Tell Me About Mk 1 Rabbits And Jettas

[jyl]

I've been interested in getting a Mk 1 Rabbit or Jetta or Cabriolet. Sort of a run-around car, casual project car, spare car, and maybe in 3 years my daughter's first car - although when the time comes she might get stuffed into a Volvo tank.

On Craigslist, these seem to go for anything from $500 ("runs and drives") to $1,000-2,000 ("nice condition, everything works except this one teeny thing that I can't afford to fix) to $8,000 ("fully restored").

I'm a newbie here - back in they day I owned Dashers and Foxes and drove Rabbits, but never wrenched on them. So, can I get pointed in the right direction here?

1. What's reasonable to pay for a straight, non-rusty, complete, looks nice from 20 feet, driver?

2. Are parts all available and reasonably priced?

3. Viewed not through the rosy fog of 30 years, do these cars suck?

[Won]

May I suggest that you also look into Mk2 cars? You get a lot more of a car yet you only lose only a little bit of "character" if that's why you prefer Mk1. Up here Mk1s are either rusted out/turned into a race car or became too expensive for what they are in good condition. I think in the back of your mind you already know the answer to Q#3

[jyl]

Well, I drive a 1988 Vanagon and a 1989 Porsche, so I wonder if a Mk 1 would be that more primitive. I don't know much about Mk 2s, but will learn up.

[island911]

The rubber seals for the cabs are NOT cheap . . and almost always blown out on anything out there. West coast metric used to be the place for those.

An OE sunroof rabbit or Jetta might be good. The bunny being lighter.

They don't take well to mod's --that whole 'chain being only as strong as the weakest link' problem comes to play. Taht is, they are not over-built, like the Vanagons are.

[Racerbvd]

I have owned many, love them, much more character than one over weight VWs (and I have owned those as well) Pretty simple CIS. GTIs are a blast, a 2 door Jetta has a very nice look and has a huge trunk!! If it was just for you, not your daughter, I would look at a Pick up, I have own several of them as well and loved them.. I have also had A FEW CABS in FL. we like the open air) and they maintained the same Mk1 body until 94...

[emcon5]

Originally Posted by island911

They don't take well to mod's --that whole 'chain being only as strong as the weakest link' problem comes to play. Taht is, they are not over-built, like the Vanagons are.

Actually, the 8V ones are pretty stout. We got 100hp/96 ft-lbs to the ground on the 1.8 GTI race car with just a cam, exhaust, and a little head shave. Stock they were 90HP/105 ft-lb at the crank. That was on CIS by the way.

The whole "CIS can't handle big cams" thing is largely ignored by the VW guys.

Parts are not as easy to find as they once were, but they are still out there.

I agree with Won, don't rule out A2s.

[island911]

Hey Tom, I have a low-mile close ratio gear box out of an early GTi, sitting in my basement. Is it worth anything?

Oh, specifics on my weak link comment... my experience has been tears in the metal around engine mounts (running a tweaked motor) and tears in the metal around suspension pick-up points (when running a stiffer suspension) . .. a looong time ago.

[jyl]

I see an 81 cab and an 83 rabbit GTI locally for around $1K. The cab has 175K, might be a 1-owner car.

The GTI looks like a project although it is claimed to "run and drive great", maybe I should call it an alleged GTI absent proof. Did 83 GTI's have all red dashes and interiors? Edit: I see they were either red or blue. Does that prove it's GTI-ness?

On the cab, 175K means engine will need rebuild, right? Hard to do or get parts? Entire suspension will need refresh, yes? Same questions?

What model-specific questions should I get answered on these?

[Tobra]

If you plan on the cabrio seeing any rain or parking out doors, plan on spending a big sack of dough on rubber seals. Check it very carefully for rust, especially in the back.

[Reg]

I vote for the 83 84 GTI. The one I had was blue interior with red on the seats. It was short geared and you could lite the 185's up easily through the first couple gears. The GLI 2 dr early jettas we nice too. My sister had an 85 jetta and that was also a great car. The quality seemed to fall off as the years went by. I'm not so sure it ever came back.

[oldE]

Mk I: Earlier cars for NA were imported from Germany. Later cars (with the exception of cabs) came from Pennsylvania (square headlights). I can state there were build quality issues with some of the US built. Only VW I had that had interior trim screws falling out while you drove.
I suspect after 30 years those will be non-issues, but of the two I had, I preferred the earlier Mk I Rabbit.

Mk II. I had an '85 and a '92 Jetta. Around 1990, they moved to the body colored 'aero bumpers'. Again build issues have been sorted on surviving examples, but the same rule of thumb applied in my case. The early edition (in Canada) came from Wolfsburg. The latter from Mexico. In 7 years they had made enough changes to seriously F up a fantastic car.

Echoing the quality issues raised above (and Jake Palmer will happily tell you tales of woe about the 90s Mexico-built VWs) I would stay away from just about any example (Mk II, III & IIII) built in Mexico before 2000.

Les

[Racerbvd]

My 1st VW truck, a gas one that was pretty quick..




I built this one from a diesel, turned it into a GTI.








And this one, I kept stock, traded it off for a 944 project that became my track car, oh, it had around 450K miles on it and got over 40 MPG.



Had a few Cabs too,

[emcon5]

Originally Posted by island911

Hey Tom, I have a low-mile close ratio gear box out of an early GTi, sitting in my basement. Is it worth anything?

Yeah, probably if you can find someone who wants one locally. VW guys tend to be cheapskates though. That is a good little tranny.

Oh, specifics on my weak link comment... my experience has been tears in the metal around engine mounts (running a tweaked motor) and tears in the metal around suspension pick-up points (when running a stiffer suspension) . .. a looong time ago.

Yeah, that is true. We tore up a poly rear mount, thinking of fabbing up solid mounts, but haven't decided yet.

By the way, unless you have a specific reason to, (Like class rules say you have to) you really don't rebuild a VW engine, you swap in a newer bigger one. The easy button for the A1 cars is the 2L ABA block (A3 Golfs, Jettas, and Cabriolets) with the stock A1 (JH) big valve mechanical head. Bolts right up, all you need is a new downpipe, and you get a nice bump to 115hp. Details here, as well as a hundred other places.

Fun little cars:

[WIL84911]