1982 Volkswagen Rabbit Truck Turbo Diesel

What price would you be willing to pay for perfection? For most people, restoring a car is more a labor of love than a prudent investment. First there’s the massive amount of time that you need to invest to make the car right; presuming it doesn’t have massive body damage or corrosion, even what many would consider only a reasonable paint job will still cost thousands of dollars. Then there are the countless trim items that need to be replaced, seats and carpeting. Do them right and you’re looking at several thousand dollars more. Move to the suspension, brakes and drive line and another few thousand dollars will be gone. At the end, you’ll receive a disproportionately small amount of kudos for the large amount of effort and cash that you’ve infused into your project. But, it’s a labor of love – so it doesn’t matter that no one else appreciates your work, right? That’s why it’s so strange when these projects go up for sale:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1982 Volkswagen Rabbit Truck Turbo Diesel on eBay

Year: 1982
Model: Rabbit Truck
Engine: 1.6 liter turbocharged inline-4
Transmission: 4-speed manual
Mileage: “3,424” mi
Price: $18,000 Buy It Now

** Completely Rebuilt and Professionally Restored & Customized 1982 Volkswagen Caddy – No Expense Spared **

**Please inquire for a copy of the extensive build sheet**

Brief overview of build:

-Originally a rust-free Southern Georgia truck that was sand blasted, primed and painted Toyota Sandstorm Beige
-Underbody chemical cleaned and pressure washed
-Underbody sprayed with (2) coats of bed liner material
-All New Suspension
-All New Steering
-All New Brake Hardware & Axles
-All New Lighting
-Fully customized interior including 911 seats, Mk1 GTI center console and OEM Euro rear window
-Custom Kenwood stereo with Boston Acoustics speakers
-New Heating and A/C System
-Fuel tank cleaned, flushed and refinished
-Fuel lines were cleaned and flushed (all rubber lines and clamps are new)
-1.6L Turbo diesel block with piston squirters, .5 mm over bore with new turbo pistons and rings
-New turbo, intake manifold, intake plumbing, & turbo oil lines
-New exhaust manifold and custom dual exhaust system
-Transmission Rebuilt
-New Clutch
-New Cooling System
-1992 Cabriolet 14 x 6 alloy wheels with new Michelin Pilot Sport tires

** Call us for more information or to schedule a test drive at (828) 702-3592 **

1982 Diesel VW Caddy Rebuild

Body Exterior:
-Rust- free South GA Truck
-Body exterior sand blasted, primed and painted Toyota sandstorm beige base coat- clear coat
-Underbody chemical cleaned and pressure washed
-Underbody sprayed 2 coats bed liner material
-Front and Rear bumper powder coated black
-Drip rail trim powder coated black
-New center body molding
-New rocker panel molding
-New wheel arch flares

Front Suspension:
-New front KYB struts with red powder coated strut tubes
-New control arms, ball joints, suspension rubber
-New front OEM heavy duty springs
-New strut bearings
-New wheel bearings and hubs
-Front sway bar with new rubber mounts
-New front upper & lower strut braces

Steering:
-New poly rack mounts
-New inner & outer tie rod assembly
-New upper & lower steering column bearings

Front brakes:
-New calipers
-New upgraded ventilated rotors
-New pads
-New brake hoses
-New brake master cylinder & reservoir
-New brake hard lines
-Brake booster refinished

Rear Brakes & Axle:
-New shoes and hardware
-Turned rear drums
-New wheel bearings
-New rear brake wheel cylinder’s
-New factory brake hose assembly
-Sandblasted & painted rear axle
-Sandblasted & painted rear springs
-Black powder coated parking brake handle
-New parking brake cables

Shifter:
-Powder coated shift rod
-New underbody shift boot & cap
-New shift bushings and bearings
-Gold zinc plated shift linkage

Lighting:
-New front Hella H4 headlights with City lights
-New clear front turnlight light assemblys with yellow bulbs
-New OEM rear taillights with premium bulbs
-New remanufactured LED tag lights
-New headlight switch with dimmer

Interior:
-Cab & Doors lined with sound deadening mats
-Cab roof, floor, firewall and rear wall sound & heat insulated
-Molded massback carpet
-New fiberglass panels on doors, headliner, cab sides, and rear bed wall
-New Berber front mats
-Seats are Porsche 911 covered in brown suede leather with black vinyl trim
-Door panels have vinyl and leather
-All other trim and headliner are premium vinyl
-Dash and Interior trim refinished black
-Interior door pulls are Porsche
-Cabriolet Arm Rests
-Cabriolet Steering Wheel
-GTI center console with new gauges and green LED bulbs
-New rubber shift boot
-All new doors & window rubber seals and guides channels
-Vent windows are upgraded bolt thru style with new rubber
-Front windshield is new with new rubber
-Rear window is OEM Euro bubble for High back seats with new rubber seal

Stereo:
-Kenwood Excelon 994 CD receiver with Bluetooth Phone
-Sirius Satellite
-Hirschman motorized amplified antenna
-Boston Acoustic speakers front and rear

Heat & AC:
-New heat exchanger core
-New AC evaporator
-New AC expansion valve
-Refurb AC compressor
-New AC condenser
-New AC seals
-Converted to R-134
-New Heater fan and damper seals

Gauge Cluster:
-Speedometer and gauges were professionally serviced, calibrated and reset to zero with new bulbs

Fuel System:
-Fuel tank cleaned, flushed and refinished
-Fuel hard lines were cleaned and flushed
-All rubber lines and clamps are new
-New additional in line filter with glass bowl water separator
-New OEM filter
-New OEM flexline from filter housing to injection pump

Engine:
-1.6 Turbo diesel block with piston squirters
-.5 mm over bore with new German turbo pistons and rings
-New complete German cylinder head, new bearings, new water pump, new thermostat, new high capacity oil pump and new high capacity oil pan
-New turbo charger, new intake manifold, new intake plumbing, new turbo oil lines, new intake air filter
-Rebuilt turbo injection pump
-New exhaust manifold, and new custom exhaust with 1 into 2 mufflers with dual exhaust to 2 rear mufflers
-New Turbo fuel injectors
-New Glow plugs

Transmission:
-Transmission was rebuilt with new bearings, seals, gears and synchros as needed

Engine Peripherals:
-New Bosch Remanufactured Alternator
-Cleaned, checked and painted starter
-New diesel battery and cables

Clutch:
-New 200mm OEM clutch
-New 200mm OEM flywheel
-New 200 mm pressure plate
-New release bearing and clutch cable

Cooling System:
-New radiator
-New radiator fan
-New radiator fan switch
-New coolant reservoir
-New hoses and new clamps

Wheels & Tires:
-1992 Cabriolet 14 x 6 alloy wheels
-Sandblast and two powder coats (one silver coat and one clear coat)
-Four Michelin tires
-New spare tire on silver powder coat rim

Impressive certainly summarizes this car, but doesn’t fully explain the level of this restoration. The details are great – from the 911 seats and GTi bits through the oddly chosen but good looking Toyota color. Underneath, they went so far as to re-plate and powder-coat pieces no one will ever see, like the shift linkage. It’s a level of detail I try to do on my own car – even if you’re the only one who will know. The wheels appear to be early A2 GTi/GLi wheels – Paul and I were just discussing these, as they also appeared on some of the Jetta Carat and Golf GT models later when the GTi and GLi went to teardrops. However, I don’t think they made it to the 1992 Cabriolet – a minor point, and one that’s likely mute. What’s undeniable is that this car was well prepared and looks absolutely spectacular. The turbo diesel won’t get you there very quickly but it’s a desirable package overall, one that will have the VW faithful swooning. Does that mean it’s an $18,000 car? Well, if you want effectively a brand new – but well upgraded – Rabbit truck, this is about what the sticker price would have equated to in 1982 dollars – perhaps a little high, but not much. Still, I’m guessing most will baulk at the price – even if they acknowledge that they probably couldn’t reproduce this car for much, if any, less.

-Carter