1981 Volkswagen Rabbit

LX Diesel Pickup truck

4 - Cyl.

Manual

1V1LG0177BV124814

Clear

Diesel

Super clean, restored 1981 Rabbit diesel 4-speed manual shift pickup. Extremely straight and clean body. I discovered this truck covered and stored away at my 83 year old friend's barn. He told me he spent $1,450 to have the engine rebuilt at 178,00 miles due to heavy exhaust smoking. This rebuild occurred way back in the early 90's but the truck never ran. He could not get it started after several attempts. My friend parked it and planned to tinker with it later. Later turned into many years. Then I came along a few years ago and he told me about having the truck along with many other VW and Toyota diesels. With his permission I began troubleshooting why the engine wouldn't start. I found he had installed the timing belt 180 degrees out of timing. After aligning the timing belt properly and setting the injector pump timing, the engine fired right up but with lots of smoking. After the engine warmed up a little the smoking stopped. I ended up buying the truck and decided to completely restore it since the body was so straight and clean. The truck now has a new paint job that I hired professionally done inside and out with the original metallic green color. I have put 2000 miles on this rebuilt engine and retorqued the head bolts after the engine ran a few hours after I first got it running. With the new injector pump, injectors and glow plugs installed last week this truck runs like a new one. No leaks under the truck. Installed a new valve cover gasket last week. After inspecting the brakes last week the drivers side front disc caliper needed replacing. Zero smoking even at initial startup. The truck steers straight and has good brakes. I have been driving it between 55 and 60 MPH getting between 42-45 miles per gallon. I get even higher fuel mileage driving it 45-50 MPH which is a little too slow for our speed limit. The truck can do 65 MPH which is pretty much top speed on level ground. Being an LX model it has all the components for factory AC. I chose not to restore the AC system but it's all intact if the new owner wants to get it going. I personally like the better fuel economy without AC. The heater and defrost works great on all 4 fan speeds. I installed a new used windshield wiper motor last week so the wipers work great on hi and lo. All the turn signals, flashers, running and tail/brake lights function as they should. I pulled out the original radio which was junk and left the space empty. I'm not a big music and radio listener so the new owner can install the radio or cd player of his/her choice. The clock, speedometer, odometer , temp. guages, dome light, cig. lighter, all work. Installed a new horn last week but could not get it to work due to the copper strip being worn away under the steering wheel so I installed a red push button as seen in one of the photos. I also have the radiator fan where you can run in auto or manual mode with a dash switch beside the flasher signal switch. This is a good option for climbing steep hills where I live. I swapped out the original rusty steel VW wheels with newer VW aluminum alloy wheels. The tires that came with the wheels are not brand new but have quite a bit of life left in them. The spare is still a VW steel wheel and I have several VW chrome hubcaps and clips that go with the truck. The truck bed was painted with the rest of the truck but I chose to not have a sprayed in bed liner. The bed is so clean I wanted the new owner to see what he's really getting and that I have not covered up any rust in the bed with a sprayed in liner. This truck is ready to drive cross country. It is very solid mechanically and sharp to look at. I am a bit of a perfectionist and have invested a lot of time and money into this restoration project. If you have any questions about the truck please do not email me thru EBAY but feel free to CALL MY CELL PHONE: 479-970-2677. Upon winning the auction a $500 deposit will need to be payed thru my Pay Pal account with the balance payed within 7 days. This truck is also for sale locally so I have the right to cancel the auction if I have a local buyer. The following is a long list of new items I installed: Brand new items installed: New front struts (shock towers are solid, zero rust) New front windshield, windshield gasket and wipers New drivers side and passengers side roll up window glass and window rail mounts New drivers side and passenger side interior door panels Complete custom re-upholstery job inside cab which includes new uphosltery on bucket seats, slide on Ostrich skin seat protector covers. New ceiling, quarter panel and behind seat upholstery. Even the stick shifter boot. New complete 1/8" thick one piece vinyl molded flooring (tan colored) New stick shifter bushing kit New spare tire never been on the road, bought last week New right and left rear tail lights from England ( I have one brand new extra set still in the box that goes with truck) New timing belt and tensioner installed last week New rebuilt injector pump. Rebuilt by Arkansas' top injector pump rebuilder. Installed last week. New set of glow plugs New injectors (not rebuilt, brand new) New water pump belt and alternator belt New aftermarket booster fuel pump New rear view mirror New aluminum tool box New fuel level sending unit (installed after pulling fuel tank and steam cleaning) New drivers side disc brake caliper New water pump New fuel, air, and oil filter New valve cover gasket New muffler and exhaust piping ahead and behind muffler New/used items replaced on truck: VW aluminum alloy wheels Replaced right and left quarter glass windows and gaskets (non-opening) Replaced radiator and overflow reserve tank Replaced VW rear bumper with heavy duty used aftermarket chrome bumper On Jun-21-10 at 09:00:20 PDT, seller added the following information: Once again, everything is there for the air conditioning system. Everything!The only thing not hooked up are two hard lines (that go thru the firewall) as seen in my last photograph. I purposely left these two lines off when I changed out the injector pump last week. Whoever restores the a/c system will need to change out the compressor and dryer, so these 2 lines would have to be removed anyway. Just saving someone a little labor. I also have a spare set of these lines that go with the truck along with the firewall rubber grommets.