3/75 One owner Rabbit SAVED! UPDATE 5/09/12

[Vedubauman]

Finally was able to pick up a 3/75 4 door Miami Blue automatic this weekend. It's a one owner car that's been in storage for nearly 20 years. 25,965 documented miles! I plan on getting her back on the road this weekend. Here's a few pictures from the rescue:

[golfgtd]

Nice score sir! Was wondering about that one!!

Low miles....

[briggz]

any updates on how it cleaned up?

[Vedubauman]

Still working slowly on her. The paint came out very well overall. The passenger side took a hit at some point in its life. Lot of crazing of the paint and the prep was terrible so the paint is flaking off. I don't plan on fixing it.

I'm currently working on restoring the bumpers. I finished refurbing the wheels this past weekend and they're ready for tires. I'll be tackling the interior soon.

Pulled the windshield to replace the seal. Zero rust found! Even my '81 Southern Rabbit truck had some rust, lol.

I'll get some pictures very soon.

[lve]

Glad you got it, was wondering who would...

More updates, great to hear for the windshield surround!

[Vedubauman]

Sorry for the delay on updates.

My plan is to roll this thing out this weekend and get some pictures...provided it's mobile by then.

Lots of stumbling blocks lately. I dropped the tank this past weekend and put another '75 tank back in. 20 years of sitting really hosed up the tank and sender. Thankfully I had another setup to go back in.

I'm now fighting with the carb. I had a NOS unit that was supposed to be for an automatic but I'm finding out it isn't so I'm having to modify the new one. Why they made two different types I'll never know.

Last up, fighting with the dealer add-on a/c. This is something I really want working in this car. Talk about an unusual set-up. I can't find a receiver drier to fit so I'm having to update to a later style condensor and drier setup. A couple of the lines are going to have be changed out as well. I'm going with an SD508 compressor using a modifed MK2 setup. If the system is good, I may invest in using R12 freon. It cools so much better than a finely tuned R134 system.

My plan is to get this car running this weekend with any luck. All the small detail stuff is really taking up a lot of time. I think I've touched every single system on this car and I'm still not done yet.

Here's a picture I snapped this morning. Yeah, I went with coilovers. All the rest of it will be stock though... ;D

[Vedubauman]

Just about finished! Suspension is on, A/C is charged and it's now insured and tagged! Heading to SOWO next week so I need to get some miles on her to make sure it's all sorted out. I went through 3 NOS carbs and finally got it running right with the last one. Transmission shifts fine! I may still swap out for a proper manual transmission but for now it's fine.

I'll get some pictures of it in the sun soon. ;D

[lve]

Car look soooo great, great work!

[golfgtd]

Looks fantastic Steve!!

Cleaned up nicely by the looks of it!

Cool ST!

[Vedubauman]

Thanks! I've been driving it around a bit. Trying to work any bugs out that I can before taking it to Southern Worthersee (not that it's any great distance from me).

All in all it runs fantastic. The only downside of this car is the 3 speed automatic. It drives me nuts! I foresee doing a transmission swap this summer.

[lve]

Please keep it auto, there is almost none left...

[lve]

Sold?

[Vedubauman]

Yep. I had my fun with it. It wasn't getting driven much and my driveway is just too full right now. It was also taking up a coveted garage parking spot.

The new owner plans on doing a full cosmetic restoration in the next couple of years. She plans on keeping it fairly stock. It went to a good home.

[loopsnew]

New owner, here! Name is Noosh. And I ADORE my new rabbit! THANK YOU STEVE!!! Finally got her registered and tagged ;D I have one question for now, I want to take care of the few spots of paint that need attention, but am debating how to do it:

1. Shall I repaint the entire car?
2. OR Just fix the few spots?

I don't want to ruin the history of the car, but I want to restore her. Oh, and here's a shot from this past Sunday, getting primped for Caffeine & Octane

Edit: Can't figure out how to make the image display

[Vedubauman]

Tough call. I'm glad I left that decision for you. I think to preserve the car it's going to need to be re-sprayed at some point. Glad you are enjoying it!