Member Rides March - respect.your.roots: 1983 Rabbit GTI

db · #1 (**permalink**) 02-26-2006, 04:23 PM

Congratulations to respect.your.roots on winning ride of the month for March. He has won a VWFORUM decal pack and T-Shirt.

Member Name: respect.your.roots
Year: 1983
Make: Volkswagen
Model: Rabbit GTI
Color: Diamond Silver Metallic

Summary of the car: I purchased this car from the original owner, who was a retired teacher. The car was driven to Florida every year when the previous owner and his wife traveled there to spend the winter. Keeping it away from Pennsylvania winters surely contributed to the less-than-average amount of rust that was on the vehicle when it was purchased by me.

When I found the car, it was sitting on the street during the winter, the owner having decided to take his newer Jetta to Florida that year. The car was not for sale, but once the owner returned from Florida in the spring, I contacted him, discussed the situation with him, and he eventually decided to sell the car to me, on the condition that I take good care of it and not hack it up.

Don’t let the pictures fool you – when I purchased the car, it was in complete, but very worn, condition. The paint was in poor condition, with the hood and roof being badly etched. A few odds and ends were missing (but nothing major), and the interior needed some help as the seats were fairly torn up and the headliner was held in place with staples. The car as a whole was very dirty from sitting unattended for several months, and it took some work to get the car to start and run reliably.

To this day, the car still has a shallow dent in the roof and another on the hood. When the owner was still teaching, he was in his classroom one day after school had let out. He heard a commotion outside on the street and looked out the window to see two kids chasing each other down the street. One of the kids proceeded to step up onto the car’s bumper, then hood, then onto the roof, and then jump off the other side of the car – so he quite literally “ran over” the car!

My objective was to refurbish the car to presentable stock condition. I hesitate to use the word “restoration” when I talk about this car, because I think that implies a much more involved process.

I tried to reuse the original parts whenever possible. When I had to replace a part, I made every effort to source a suitable NOS or OEM replacement.

Pictures:

Engine Specs: Stock 1.8L 8v. Nearly 233,000 miles and it has never been rebuilt, but still pulls strong and has good compression. Stock 5-speed close ratio transmission, also original and never rebuilt.

Suspension & Wheels: Stock suspension; stock GTI "snowflake" wheels on 185/60-14 tires.

Exterior Specs: Stock except for deleted rear hatch vinyl surround and custom CNC'd aluminum license plate frame (yeah, I'm really stretching it here, lol).

Interior Specs: Stock; completely original except for front seats, headliner, floor mats, and speakers.

Notable Acomplishments: 1st place in class - Buggy Madness 2004 and Volksfest 2005; 2nd place in class - Super Jam 2005, Summer Sizzle 2004, and Summer Sizzle 2005; 3rd place in class - Super Jam 2004. VWforum calendar car, April 2005.

Comments: My username says it all...respect your roots