Rabbit TDI Swap – Teardown continued

The remnants of todays work



a very empty engine bay – I started pressure washing until the pressure washer blew a seal

a nice clean dashboard – all wiring it out of the car, screw that old wiring harness

I think there used to be a fuse box here

no heater core here

bumpers are off the car, i’m going to try and blast the rust off and get them re-chromed as I think that’ll look pretty sweet. the hooks will be coming off

the front end without bumpers, needs a lot of pressure washing. I’m debating between quad round cabrio and quad square jetta front end, either way I have to do some body work to get the lights to fit. probably be hacking the front lower portion out for some more IC space

rear without the bump, i’m really digging the way it looks. probably go for a small bumper back here – maybe the current smashed in and rechromed without the plastic outer pieces.

I picked up some spray cans of rustoleum this weekend to test some colors – I got the charcoal gray which wasnt as dark as I was hoping it was and this delicious black night metallics. was going to spray them in the trunk area to test out the colors on the metal.

then I found out I can’t get the black night metallic in liquid form – and I don’t want to rattle can the car. now i’m seriously torn between doing a nice rustoleum charcoal gray and spending the extra bucks on the auto paint and doing it right – either way i’m going to spray the paint on. Only thing i’m concerned about with the rustoleum is the fading, yes I could clear over it (rustoleum clear) but I’m not sure how long it will last before it starts fading and lookin’ like poo. Have there been any rustoleum threads on any other forums with details on longevity? best I could find was people talking about mailbox comparisons. What about some good details on at home painting with the proper automotive paint? I haven’t been able to find much on that category

the search for a parts car is going eh, all the auto dismantlers want WAY too much for a swap – 3500 for just the engine/electronics. another guy has a full swap car with a blown turbo and possibly a bottom end, another guy has the swap but is in ontario. the euro swap with the 6sp is 4700 bucks, IMO WAY too much to spend on the extra nicety of a 6sp. It’s only been 5 days on that search though so i’m still optimistic i’ll be able to get a good swap car with solid engine for about ~2500

Tomorrow i’m going to pull the fenders off and pressure wash the whole car. hit the home improvement store and start building my home paint booth. going to stop by the local rental yard and see if I can rent a sand blaster – few spots in the engine bay i’d like to make sure don’t rust again. Hopefully I can get the paint booth built so I can get the car in there and strip the suspension off and really get to body prep

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *