Alex Thompson haha you can definitely say that again! grew up like 30 minutes further from these roads so staying code or moving closer to them was definitely a big factor with the house purchase. just gotta watch for deer and tourists(hour and a half north of NYC).
Wow that engine looks like it’s a blast!! Maybe that will be my next build! I’m currently in the process of rebuilding my 87 Jetta’s engine, then finishing my ABA-T for my mk3!
hahah wow i can only imagine! i’ve read about people taking coals from the fire and putting them on a tray and under the under before. it was always funny to see the “cold start instructions” on the back of the sun visor on these early rabbits.
@@mk1rabbithole funny my car was a 78 Rabbit. Three cars later I owned a Jetta, took for ever to defrost the windows. My Topaz was much better in the winter
I totally dig your channel. Thanks. The stock engine mounts bring up my thing. I always tried to make my rabbits back to stock. I was lucky. I worked in a vw parts dept. I found new old stock. My 1981 4 door wirh sunroof and auto trans sid 85 mph so clean (with bigger 90s jetta wheels and conti tires) that I could have filled a martini glass on the dash and never spilled a drop. It had the bosch fuel injection that,with the bentley, I found incredibly simple. Love your build, but AS MADE these cars were awesome.
Can you talk about the steering wheel a little? Is the diameter the same as stock or smaller? How does that effect the drive. I’m more on the line of low maintenance projects as the actually get done and then I don’t regret them when life gets full. I have 8 kids and one on the way (which yes I know how that happens and I happen to love both the process and my kids, all of them). Anyway I’m headed down from MO to TN in two weeks to pick out a mk1 rabbit diesel from an amazing guy who is thinning his herd, as he used to specialize in German auto repair. I have considered wether I would be content with a n/a 1.6D or if I should swap out with 1.6 TD or add a turbo to the stock engine. My daily driver is a 03 TDI wagon with a manual so I’ll be stepping down in power but up in fun. I’ve had an mk2 8v gold that was an absolute blast to drive basically stock. 100ft/lbs torque was awesome with that light of a car. I’m currently addicted to oil burners. I cam across your channel from the guy who has the super clean maroon 79 rabbit on RU-vid. Forgot his name. Good content and would always like to see more budget decisions with diesels. I would like to see more of the hill climber too. May get a sticker or something if they are still available. Thanks if you read this far shesh!
the steering wheel is about the same diameter as stock if i remember correctly, maybe a little bit smaller but not enough to really make the drive any different. in my experience the only differences with wheels sizes are most noticeable when parallel parking or at low speeds through parking lots and driveways. the smaller wheels definitely end up taking a little more muscle to move at low speeds or when stopped. 8 kids and counting?!? sheesh! congrats on the next one. my parents had 6 so i know full well the craziness involved haha. honestly, based on what I've read and heard over the years, just slap a turbo on the n/a 1.6 and turn the fuel pump up a bit, the oil squirters don't really make or break it as long as you're not beating the breaks off the thing all day. once you're talking about swapping the engine entirely, its worth considering doing a 1.9tdi instead. keep me posted on how the acquisition goes! im actually going to florida in a few weeks myself to pick up a new rabbit myself haha. thanks for coming to the channel and appreciate the suggestions, should have some hillclimb car videos coming soon.
A trip to FL would be awesome. I really get into the excitement of getting a new car. Yeah I’m seriously considering just turboing the NA and that’s it. All I need is to have enough to climb the medium size hills here without down shifting into 3rd. I’m ok with slow. I had considered the 1.9TDI for a swap but price and the fact that I want an older diesel to be able to run straight “black diesel” in. Really fascinated by the idea. The TDI can only run a 50/50 blend and maintain reliability. I had a good friend in the military that I met in Sicily who looks/talks a lot like you. He is responsible for the VW fever I caught. We geeked out on all of the amazing cars available over in Europe. I brought a euro spec. Beetle back. Me and another friend used to ride our Ducati’s (yes I had my toys too) up Mt. Etna through the curvy roads and pass by the hill climbers decked out Fiat’s and Mini Coopers. Things that looked like a Fiat 131 Abarth’s. Good stuff. By the way I have to disagree a little with you. Although the VR6 sounds amazing, a good breathing 4 cyl can sound good. I like cackling in the exhaust. If I were to drive a gasser every day it would be something close to your 78’. I enjoy your work. Keep at it and keep it fun for you. Oh and we have a family RU-vid channel that we sometimes Vlog on. I plan on vlogging a little about the trip to TN. After it’s up I could let you know.
yup! definitely going to want to run 93 octane with this setup. 91 octane might be fine too but you’ll have to be careful with your timing settings since you’ll knock easier, can’t be too aggressive with your timing.
i am pretty much new to this stuff but i had one question. is it possible to put a turbo in this build? i have been told it isn't possible but from what i know is they haven't done this build. get back to me when you can
sorry i didn’t see this comment till now! so yes, with enough time/money/knowledge(any ratio of the 3), you can turbo anything haha. i’m not sure if you mean turbo this motor with the carb or just this motor setup itself with the higher than stock compression ratio. so i’ll answer both; you can do a “blow through” turbo setup through the carb, though it’s nowhere nears as efficient as fuel injection. you can only run very low boost through a carb. too much and you’ll push fuel out of the seals. you can encase them whole carb inside an intake box of sorts so the entire carb body sees the same pressure, eliminating fuel being pushed out, but too much boost with that and you’ll collapse fuel floats and run into other issues...as well as compression ratio issues. speaking of which, putting a turbo to thus motor combo in general; i’m not a turbo expert when it comes to boosting n/a motors, but i do know you want a nice low compression ratio down near the 8 or 9:1 range. this setup is closer to 10:1 so you can only run very low boost unless you start running knock sensors, standalone ecu’s, race gas, and/or upgraded engine internals. in short, the juice isn’t really worth the squeeze in my opinion unless you’re just wanting the wow factor or you literally have parts kicking around that you don’t mind breaking/blowing up. you can defintiely throw a on this motor with or without the carb, but i wouldn’t bother. this was as short winded of an answer as i could manage so if you want me to elaborate on anything further with my opinions feel free to ask!
