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Two Rabbit Pickups / Caddys rescued yesterday; Now What?! Advice needed...

969 views 2 replies 2 participants last post by  rtroy 
#1 ·
Hi All,

... Drug two "Rabbit Pickups" back from the chaparral yesterday - quite a feat, I must say! These cars had sat for decades, and the one of them was literally embedded in the dirt almost to its axles. How we got them both out in one day was miraculous. And, we did have near tragedy as one car came off the car dolley we were using, but somehow we remedied the situation.

...The plan is that I bought them both and even before getting them out of the desert, I flipped one of them and figured I'd sell the second as well. However, the flipped one is to a friend of mine who intends to run it and I already know I'll be the "mechanic on duty" even though I'll have him do all the work in a master / apprentice relationship. Only, I'd better be up to the task of "master!"

However, while fetching the first car, I instantly understood that the one car was much worse off than I'd realized, so there's really only one good set worth of parts present, and the other is unlikely to be anything more than a backup set of additional parts - though they'll have to be sold off (or scrapped if necessary) due to space limitations.

I know from the time of my ownership of a 4 door Rabbit, '79 to '83 that there are virtually no length-based hoses on the engine, though I do recall, I think, that there were some such hoses in the engine bay... maybe the coolant overflow, windshield washers, and maybe (gasoline model) evaporative control system... I suppose one could just try the hoses and let them fail, but seems to me foolish: all new if you intend to run it! Maybe a vendor supplies a kit?

The one is a 4 speed and is thought to have a good gearbox but the engine is seized. The other is a 5 speed and the engine is not seized, but the transaxle is said to have a bad 5th gear. Unfortunately, the one with the bad engine AND only 4 gears is the one which has the better body. We're now thinking we'll move both good engine and bad transaxle from one the one with the worse body, rebuilding the transaxle along the way, so the car ends up with 5 speeds. Are there any reasons this wouldn't work?

Also, the one with the better body and 4 speed doesn't shift AT ALL, and it's in gear. With a seized engine, this makes it rather annoying to move around! I vaguely recall from my earlier Rabbit experience that there are nylon balls or some such in the linkage that can cause such a problem? Any pointers here? ...Today I've ordered the Bentley manual, but it will take some time to arrive. In the mean time, any tips on either popping it out of gear or perhaps manually actuating the clutch from inside the engine bay soas to release the gearbox? I guess I can disconnect the axle ends - do they take an M6 hex or a special star shaped tool? My vague memory of my '79 Rabbit says yes, one or the other, like earlier IRS VWs, but also that that's not necessarily the most simple means of releasing things, either.

In making this a runner, brakes are also on my mind. Any issues to look out for here? Are some parts no longer available?

Also, on the better car, both rear wheels stuck to their drums so we were lucky the rubber was good enough to take air and get us home. Any advice on removing these "alloys" without damaging them?

AND... Without the benefit of the Bentley yet... Where are the dang jack points and where do you put jack stands for safety? Several Porsche models have this same "lack of jack points" issue and it's a royal pain... For lack of a better plan, I ended up using the bottom of the engine's oil pan to lift the whole front end and I gather that's bad practice - does this hurt anything?

Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Richard
 
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#2 ·
Read the faqs I have the jack point.
To remove the rears I would loose the axle bearing nuts on the rear and pull them and the drums off.
Jacking the pan can crush the oil pickup.

Safer to use the front Pinch welds behind the tires.

You have to move the links from the 4 spd to the 5spd links are different.
www.cabby-info.com has a bunch of suspension and stuff that crosses over.
The DIYS by section above shows a bunch of things as well

If the Alloys depends, I would just pull the drums on the rears and for the fronts Soak the Disk from the Back with PB-Blaster and the Front let it work, then use some heat, and wrench those bad boys off. Shoot I suppose after it sits in pb, you could try using left handed bits on a reversing drill in reverse and drill them out....

Axles take a 8mm Triple Square tool 12pt.
Snapon has them as well as there are Lisle ones avail at the parts store. Make sure that you clean out the bolt heads, and then tap the tool to fully engage the head, I would also suggest a small pair of vice grips on the heads,,,,,, Soak in PB-Blaster.....prior.

You should be able to remove the links and place it in any gear, but it could also mean that the Clutch is rust welded to the engine.....and engaged.
 
#3 ·
Thank you again Briano, for the help.

Read the faqs I have the jack point.
Safer to use the front Pinch welds behind the tires.
I have a VERY vague memory of these "pinch welds" as a jack point you speak of from back when I owned my '79 - like a weird notch in the lower edge the supplied jack locks in to. ... On some other makes I own, vendors sell a product that inserts into the stock jack point and provides a circular disk suitable for a standard floor jack. Is there anything like that available for these?

To remove the rears I would loose the axle bearing nuts on the rear and pull them and the drums off.
OK, I suppose that once that was done I could use a dead-blow hammer after supporting the wheel on wood or some such, thus driving the drum down.

Jacking the pan can crush the oil pickup.
So noted, however, in this case, I watched very carefully and never saw any additional damage to the sumps. I'll improve my game!

You have to move the links from the 4 spd to the 5spd links are different.
http://www.cabby-info.com has a bunch of suspension and stuff that crosses over.
The DIYS by section above shows a
Thanks, I'll be reading up! I ALSO found today an owners manual in one of the cars! :cool: I will be reading it from cover to cover!

If the Alloys depends, I would just pull the drums on the rears and for the fronts Soak the Disk from the Back with PB-Blaster and the Front let it work, then use some heat, and wrench those bad boys off. Shoot I suppose after it sits in pb, you could try using left handed bits on a reversing drill in reverse and drill them out....
Hmmm... "We and the Americans are Two Great peoples separated by a common language."

PB = either peanut butter or lead, neither of which seems suitable here! A lead blaster sounds like a gun and a peanut butter blaster sounds like a crazy food product! :D:

Either way, sounds like you misunderstand: The lug bolts came out just fine, but the wheels are stuck to the drums - both rears. We even smacked them with a 2X4 board (on the inflated tire). I didn't even try the front since the use of a tow-dolley meant there was no concern about the fronts holding air, and also meant no concerns about the front even rotating!

Axles take a 8mm Triple Square tool 12pt.
Snapon has them as well as there are Lisle ones avail at the parts store. Make sure that you clean out the bolt heads, and then tap the tool to fully engage the head, I would also suggest a small pair of vice grips on the heads,,,,,, Soak in PB-Blaster.....prior.
THANKS! I am sure I can find such a thing... Do ALL the younger cars take this same tool? I mean, I've heard these cars take 90mm CV (constant velocity) joints and there are apparently 100mm CV joints on even younger VWs - just wondering if there's another younger version or if the 100mms also take the same bolt.

You should be able to remove the links and place it in any gear, but it could also mean that the Clutch is rust welded to the engine.....and engaged.
Hmmm... Seems to me that the clutch isn't welded in my case since a person in the cockpit with a leg on the clutch permits the car to be moved even though it's in gear, but even if it were, the clutch being rust-welded is immaterial to my problem here since all I want to do is move it around WITHOUT someone in the cockpit. Disconnecting the CVs seems like the most certain method forward. However, I also understand that it matters to put the transaxle in neutral, too, and that that's an alternative to disconnecting CVs. I'll probably do both at some point! ;)

This is the beginning of a bit of an adventure.

Just curious, both of the "vin tags" (vehicle ID) inside the door jambs are a bit tattered, and I see there's a part number for them. Is there some kind of program available from VW to have them re-issue you a new one, say, if for example you can prove ownership, so that you can repaint the car and have it "look like new?" (I know there will be local regulation, but if the part isn't available the regulations are moot.)

Thanks again,
Richard
 
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