[vwabbitman]

I'm picking up a mk2 in the next few weeks so I can rebuild my grandpa's truck. So here's a little back story.
In 1983 my grandfather bought this truck from the VW dealer in Sacramento. It was ordered a year before by someone else and they never picked it up so my grandfather bought it and used it to haul firewood from the hills around Chico to their house in Chico along with anything he needed to haul including a metal boat with outboard motor.

Then in late 94 early95 he gave it my brother who drove it til he graduated high school and joined the military in June of 95. He left it at our parents house while in basic training with the plans of getting it after basic. But unbeknownst to him and my parents it had a coolant leak. Our mom drove it twice and on her way home the second time the engine over heated. It was towed to a local shop where it sat for two years until our parents picked it up and brought it home where it sat for another 5 years when I wreaked my first car on February 7, 2002 exactly a month after my 18th birthday.

My dad gave me the option to fix up the truck or he would buy a Ford Ranger and put hand controls in it so he could drive it. Well it's obvious which option I took. Over the next two months my dad and I rebuilt the engine and repaired the brakes and I have driven it ever since.

There's more to the story so I'll add to it later. But here's a pic of how it sits now.

 

[SpeedieD]

It is always good to keep a car with a history like yours on the road and in the family.

 

[vwabbitman]

It is always good to keep a car with a history like yours on the road and in the family.

Yes I do agree with that. Just need to get my mom to put it back in my name. Took my name off when my ex wife filed for divorce and now I'm fighting my mom to get it back in my name. This truck has slot of sentimental value because of how close with my grandpa I was. He was there the day my dad and I got it running and told me this truck is to never be a garage queen and to use it to haul stuff. In the last ten years I have hauled anywhere from a go kart to a full set of office cabinets(large desk, two book shelves and two file cabinets. All solid wood), and 2500 pounds of construction garbage to the dump(1000 in the bed and 1500 on my trailer). At least 320,000 miles on the truck and its still running. Odometer in it now says 289766 but it was 40,000 less then the original odometer.

 

[vwabbitman]

Getting the mk2 is coming closer and closer, I can feel it. Past few weeks I have been looking into and pricing everything I have to do to rebuild the entire truck. Body will be taken to a shop in Sacramento since the ones around here apparently employ idiots that would rather paint a car with everything still on it and it needs a lot of rust repair to which the local body shops say bondo, uh NO. Suspension, brakes and all that will be all brand new and upgraded if possible(poly bushings and heavy duty parts). Transmission will be rebuilt by brokevw and I will give the engine a once over and possibly have the block machined again if it needs it which I doubt. Heads gonna be replaced with hopefully a hydraulic turbo diesel head (I hate solid lifters), and exhaust will be replaced with dual downpipe and 2 inch minimum pipe from downpipe to rear muffler and out the back. And finally the interior and body will be taken completely back to stock or as close as I can possibly get(only because that's what my grandpa would want).

Well that's it for now. I'll post back again when I start the rebuild.

 

[vswager]

Yes I do agree with that. Just need to get my mom to put it back in my name. Took my name off when my ex wife filed for divorce and now I'm fighting my mom to get it back in my name. This truck has slot of sentimental value because of how close with my grandpa I was. He was there the day my dad and I got it running and told me this truck is to never be a garage queen and to use it to haul stuff. In the last ten years I have hauled anywhere from a go kart to a full set of office cabinets(large desk, two book shelves and two file cabinets. All solid wood), and 2500 pounds of construction garbage to the dump(1000 in the bed and 1500 on my trailer). At least 320,000 miles on the truck and its still running. Odometer in it now says 289766 but it was 40,000 less then the original odometer.

:thumbup: talking about the brown truck ? hold on to that keep in the family.

 

[vwabbitman]

:thumbup: talking about the brown truck ? hold on to that keep in the family.

Yes. That black pile of $h!t is my friends. It barely runs right has an exhaust leak on the head and the downpipe is broke off where it connects to the cat. Oh and he has gone through one trans and two axles in the two years I have known him. And don't forget the gallon every month coolant leak and it had a quart every two weeks oil leak until we replaced the pan. Yeah he is an idiot but he is a good friend.

 

[vswager]

you might have to give your friend a hand with his rabbit truck, do you know if the four tone paint job is factory ?

 

[vwabbitman]

you might have to give your friend a hand with his rabbit truck, do you know if the four tone paint job is factory ?

I have offered and told him many times what he needs to fix and he keeps making excuses. I finally just told him if it breaks I will tell him I told you so and MIGHT help him fix it. Either that or just laugh and watch him try and fix it.

The brown is factory but the Orange and black is a dealership paint job the guy that ordered it wanted. But he never picked it up so it sat for a year on the dealership lot until my grandpa bought it.

 

[vswager]

nice very cool truck, one of a kind super rare. interior photos?

 

[vwabbitman]

nice very cool truck, one of a kind super rare. interior photos?

I'll get some soon. Bone stock dash besides tach and Sony stereo. I do have a cb taped to the top of the dash. Wouldn't fit anywhere else due to its large size. Gti seats with no head rests and gti console and gti steering wheel. And door pockets.

 

[vswager]

sounds nice :thumbup:

 

[vwabbitman]

FV-QR

Well still havent got the mk2. right now the trucks just sitting because i cant drive due to a work injury back in april which workers comp is refusing to accept. i go out once a week and atleast start it up. some days i feel good enough to take it down the road and back but thats about all i can do. its sad its just sitting there right now but nothing much i can do til the appeals case with workers comp gets done. ill get some interior pics when i go out to start it tomorrow.

 

[vwabbitman]

looks like I forgot interior pics. still fighting with workers comp so no mk2 yet. ill get those pics tomorrow with the other pics I need to get. plus ill get a few of how its sitting now. I did actually drive it more then just up and down the road day before yesterday for the first time in probably 2 months. 15 miles to meet my parents at a casino. other then some bump steer(60+ on a bumpy country road) it ran great. felt great to actually drive it and I cant wait to drive it when its factory fresh.

Word of advise to anyone that gets injured on the job. talk to a lawyer as soon as possible. don't rely on the claim being accepted. I didn't until the claim got denied. And never ever ever trust what a workers comp adjuster says. the one for my claim said he would file appeals for me and never did. I ended up waiting the 60 days he said it would take appeals and finally started my own appeals case which is at a stand still now because my lawyer didn't have enough time to do their research. this crap is taking forever and due to my limited mobility im gaining all the weight back I lost before I got injured and my health is going down since im not anywhere near as active as I was before the injury. anyways that's my rant.

 

[vwabbitman]

finally got pictures (29 to be exact) of the trucks present state. the red golf which was bought in 07 to do the same thing my mk2 will be doing, replacing my truck as my daily, is my old mk3 that blew the diff rivets through the case back in 09. iim parting it out except for what parts ill be using on my mk2. Tank, lines, subframe, motor mounts, exhaust and a few other odds and ends. ANYWAYS on to the pics.

a few are a little dark but I should be able to fix that in a bit. ill edit if I get them fixed. lets hope I can get these in the right order... :screwy:
front 'stance' was achieved with stock rabbit springs. actually was a wrong part ordered deal but I like it. rear is stock besides helper springs.


yes I like Star Trek


I call him dukbalz found him along side the road the same morning my grandpa died.


motor yes that's a pa speaker on the passenger fender


suspension modifications(these all stay) and yes I have an oil leak...:banghead:


I love love love the overload springs.


few years ago had running issue traced back to in tank filter. replaced it with exterior filter. this is the third type I have tried and im sticking with it since its the easiest and cheapest to replace. and I do have a tank leak somewhere.



interior yes I have a pa speaker hooked up to my cb. no I don't use it. oh who am I kidding. I love to scare people with it. :laugh: main reason for the pa is if you don't hear my engine or my air horn you WILL hear me.


about a month after getting it on the road back in 02 I got pissed off at the sagging headliner and ripped it down while driving. got home and put some sound deadener up and that's as far as that went. still have the hard board somewhere.


my grandpa always said don't swallow your gum or youll fart bubbles so when I found this I stuck it in the truck.


other then a few(I wish) rust spots, peeled clear coat, a dent from a deer, and a broken grill from another deer the paint isn't to shabby for 32 years old.
about a year ago I hit a deer doing 30. broke grill, emblem and headlight adjusters. it hit smack dab on the front edge of the hood above the passenger headlight rolled up the hood and ran off. almost had some nice venison. :banghead:

6 or 7 years ago hit a deer doing 60+. hit its neck on drivers blinker breaking the blinker and severing the deers neck. it spun and hit pretty hard on the drivers door. left some hair between the tire and rim and two decent dents on the door. one smaller right under the handle which I was able to pop out and a bigger one you can see here which I wasn't able to pop out due to the rib inside the door being right there. was a baby so no meat.

peeled clearcoat. per my grandfathers request it has never and probably never will be a garage queen. yes after I finish rebuilding I may park it in a garage when its not being used but it will not just sit there un driven.



and now the rust
these two just popped up within the last 6 months along with one on the passenger lower windshield surround I forgot about til I looked at the peeled paint pic.


this one is going to be a pain to fix. im glad im not doing it. gonna have a body shop do the rust repair because my welding wouldn't hold a baby up.

drivers side back of cab. another one im glad im not doing.

I know what your thinking, oh that's not bad. look at this one...


and that's how she sits right now.

and just an fyi. I am a ******* country guy and I love guns and hunting and all that stuff but id prefer a vw over a lifted truck any day.

 

[vwabbitman]

found a picture from when the truck was less then a few years old and a picture of my grandpa from about the same time.

the white bar on the back of the shell is for when he hauled a 15' collapsible aluminum boat. there should be one on the front of the roof to.

 

[wildwittlewabbit]

pleeease put the stripes back on it!!

 

[vwabbitman]

pleeease put the stripes back on it!!

The way it looks in that pic is exactly what it will look like when it's done. Suspension and drive train will be slightly modernized. Sway bars, tie bars, poly bushings and any other upgrades I decide on. Interior will also be original minus remote mirrors and cb radio. I will be replacing the tailgate with one in better condition. The og tailgate will be saved for when I use it to haul stuff. Per my grandfather's request it will not be a garage queen. The bed will have bed liner and be used.

 

[ducatipaso]

The way it looks in that pic is exactly what it will look like when it's done. Suspension and drive train will be slightly modernized. Sway bars, tie bars, poly bushings and any other upgrades I decide on. Interior will also be original minus remote mirrors and cb radio. I will be replacing the tailgate with one in better condition. The og tailgate will be saved for when I use it to haul stuff. Per my grandfather's request it will not be a garage queen. The bed will have bed liner and be used.

subscribed :thumbup:

 

[vwabbitman]

so since it seems like rebuilding the truck might be a year or two off (thanks to workers comp being the asshats that they are) ill just turn this into a what did I do with the truck today thread until I actually get to rebuild it. Also since I cant drive because of an on the job knee injury April of last year and am still fighting workers comp and registration is up in July ill be putting the truck on non op but will still be using the truck to haul stuff around the property like this load.

3rd of four loads all done with my truck. hauled from the covered trailer my parents also got at the auction. trailer is on the other side of the property and to far to use a cart so I volunteered to use my truck. im glad I have helper springs on the rear leafs or it would have been dragging ass real hard.


the two old cars are my parents. the one in the garage is a 1930 Model A Ford Town Sedan. Its my dads and he doesn't think its a show car because its been neglected :screwy: :what: but trust me it is well taken care of. and the one outside the garage in the second pic is a 1956 Chevy 210. its my moms daily driver bought to replace the pos explorer that I HATE working on. I prefer older cars.

I made a time lapse video of un loading this load. ill post it in a bit. well actually camera took time lapse pictures I need to turn into a video.

 

[vwabbitman]

Well truck was put on non op yesterday. I'm going out soon to start taking the non stock body and interior stuff out and put stock back in. Plus I'm gonna clean out all of my junk. When I get my workers comp claim accepted, knee fixed so I can return to work and move to my grandparents house in Chico the rebuild will begin in the garage of the same house the truck lived at from 83 to 95. Perfect place to rebuild it. Anyways that's today's update.