[Mk2Chinchilla]

Hello all, long time lurker, first time poster. I have learned so much from vortex over the years and across many projects, I figured I'd finally do a proper build thread.

I have been wanting to build a decent daily for some time now. This was going to be the starting point. A complete, relatively clean '89 Jetta 1.6d with a seized engine.

It was such a great deal until I started taking it apart. Lots of questionable bodywork and LOTS of rot. Both rear quarters were replaced at some point, and they were completely rotten at almost every seam. Whatever. Guess I gotta pull another one out of the woods.

Enter this gem. An actual Wolfsburg edition. It is a proper five alarm dumpster fire mechanically and electrically, but absolutely no rust. Ecologically friendly too, given the exceptional amount of vegetation that has taken root in the interior. I'll tell the story of retrieving this turd later in the thread, it was an experience. Anyways, it's getting an ABA, paint and a bunch of other stuff I'll get to later. Excited to figure out the AC system. I am fat and it is a necessity down here in the loser states.

Also pulled a westy golf out of the woods for good measure. Stick around to watch me average them into one decent car.

 

[Mk2Chinchilla]

I suppose I'll introduce some of my other junk before I get started.

This is my Westy GTI valver that was an absolute rock box when I got it. It was also CIS, which didn't work. I was poor, so I forced it to work on ABA engine management. I drove it for 2 years, but decided to go a different direction (AWP) in January. Absolutely love that little nugget.

This is my 82 rabbit pickup that was in a flood, then sat in the woods for 10 years. I did a full mechanical restoration, even rebuilt the engine in my ****ty apartments kitchen. I would confidently drive this rig to the ends of the earth.

On to the Jetta(s). I took all the bolts out, painted the floor and put down some boom mat. That is all for now.

 

[Boosted8v]

Love the wheels on your Westy GTI! Can't wait to see how the Jetta turns out!

 

[Mk2Chinchilla]

Love the wheels on your Westy GTI! Can't wait to see how the Jetta turns out!

Thanks man! I have a weak spot for white steelies.

 

[MorganW.]

Interested to see the direction you take with this thing man.

 

[calituner]

I too, am doing a restomod to a mk2. Little by little and using it for daily duties.

I will follow and look forward to seeing the mod parts.


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[400hpSlimGli]

definitely following this as I too am doing a budget restoration to a 16v GLI from Arizona that was lets just say covered with this super sticky oil mud. Never spent this much time cleaning an engine bay, engine and undercarriage and i have owned over a dozen mk2 and mk3s

 

[banjopete]

Good stuff, those are some dirty options for starting points but you seem up to the challenge and must have a hoard of parts to work with. Good luck!

 

[Chinchillabob]

You make all of us Chinchillians damned proud, son!
Carry on.................

 

[tunedveedub]

Looking good!

 

[mellofello9]

Looks like this is going to be a lot of fun (to watch 😁) and am in for updates!

On a side note, though...is that an MGB hiding in the background from one of your pick-up spots? Or, is the perspective messing with me:

That poor, forgotten mongrel....🍻

 

[Mk2Chinchilla]

I too, am doing a restomod to a mk2. Little by little and using it for daily duties.

I will follow and look forward to seeing the mod parts.


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Excellent. I am also building it to be a daily, so I'm sure our builds will have a lot in common.

It's not going to be anything crazy, just practical stuff like the ol' reliable ABA, ac and better brakes. Mostly mk3 OEM stuff.

 

[Mk2Chinchilla]

Good stuff, those are some dirty options for starting points but you seem up to the challenge and must have a hoard of parts to work with. Good luck!

Yup! I actually had a rust-free drivable gasser golf that would have been a better option, but it was too nice to completely gut. I'm also a sucker for doing WAY more work than is really necessary so bare shell it is.

 

[calituner]

Excellent. I am also building it to be a daily, so I'm sure our builds will have a lot in common.

It's not going to be anything crazy, just practical stuff like the ol' reliable ABA, ac and better brakes. Mostly mk3 OEM stuff.

That’s awesome. Same here but with a tdi install. Already did Audi g60 front brakes. I can’t do the body stuff till I get a house with a garage. I will be watching and looking forward to updates.

Add lots of pics!


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[Mk2Chinchilla]

Looks like this is going to be a lot of fun (to watch 😁) and am in for updates!

On a side note, though...is that an MGB hiding in the background from one of your pick-up spots? Or, is the perspective messing with me:
View attachment 112083
That poor, forgotten mongrel....🍻

Oh yes, there will be updates a plenty as soon as I get back from a conveniently timed work trip haha.

And yes! You are absolutely right, it's an MGB. There were actually two of them Right next to each other. The guy said he was going to make one good one, but given how his "handywork" absolutely destroyed the electrical and fuel again of this Jetta, I do not have much confidence. I think I'll make an update about just how ruined this car was while I'm on the road.

 

[Mk2Chinchilla]

A better look at how destroyed thing actually was:

This is what all the wiring looked like. I completely filled a milk crate with all of the unnecessary wires the PO stuffed into it. There was a random Nissan relay box under the hood. No idea what that was supposed to do, but it didn't work. He had also converted it to run on vegetable oil, which meant even more unnecessary, garbage-tier "wiring" and "plumbing". Not a hard line in sight by the way, rubber hose front to back.

For good measure, he ran the transmission dry. It sounds like a handful of marbles in a washing machine just rolling it around. I'll certainly be autopsying it in this thread.

I do feel a little sad over yanking out a 1.6td I'm favor on an ABA, but the turbo is shot, the injectors knock bad and it only barely makes enough compression to fire off (once I put a lead straight from the battery to the fuel solenoid/glow plugs and installed a kosher dill fuel cell)

I was also adopted by an abandoned cat while I did this, and this is the only photo I have of the kosher dill fuel cell. (Her name is Kombi and she is perfect)

By some cosmic anomaly the upholstery actually survived, the entire Wolfsburg interior is nearly spotless (after a VERY deep clean) minus some attention needed on the door cards.

The same can't be said for the carpet, but at least that is still gettable in North America. On top of the 2" of stagnant swamp water, The guy ripped out his oil pressure gauge but left the line open, so the entire time it was running trying to get it out of the mud, It was just dumping oil on my shoes and the carpet. Good thing diesel oil doesn't stain too bad.

Anyways, Hope you all got some good cringes out of those photos and understand why it's a bare shell now.

More to come soon!

 

[Mk2Chinchilla]

So in saying "rust free" I didn't count the battery tray, that's just a given. Luckily, KeyParts still has the panel in the states.

Made an absolute mess with the seam sealant but that's going to be a problem for later. Just sprayed it black to seal the primer for the time being.

 

[Mk2Chinchilla]

Did some tidying up underneath and made some questionable color choices, but its better than the symphony of various browns that it was.

At least now the boring parts are mostly over and the shell is a solid base to start dumping parts into. RIP the wallet. just ordered my wheels.

First on the shopping list was suspension and breaks. I got the Solowerks coils because they were on sale and match the gold and blue theme. Also scooped some rear discs from a mk3.5 cabrio in a yard and went with vented discs for the freshly rebuilt front calipers.

All put together with new hoses, pads, rotors and bearings thanks to Rockauto, the Harbor Freight bearing press and the case of "expired" Aeroshell 5 I found at work.

 

[Mk2Chinchilla]

Time to start spraying parts in the vague direction of the engine.

It was pretty tidy straight out of the donor, so I just cleaned it up and did new gaskets, basic tune up and slapped on the ABA trans that came out of my GTI with a new clutch and flywheel. May have hyperfocused and painted everything.

Plopped that whole lump in and got the shifter together with all new stuff.

I made an error (very rare) it will be corrected.

 

[banjopete]

Looking good, lots of colour all over the place. It's going to be pretty awesome when it's all put together.