1981 Volkswagen Rabbit

Pickup Truck Pickup Truck

1.6 Diesel

Manual

1V1KG0175BV182951

Clear

Diesel

Up for bid is my 1981 VW Rabbit Pickup Truck. I've owned it for about 5 years now, using it for my off & on daily driver. It only shows 98,103 miles, and I've put on roughly the last 11,000 of that. Selling it because I don't use it much, (see mileage above) and don't need to keep an extra vehicle running & insured just to go to the dump once in a while. Powered by a simple 1.6L Diesel engine backed with a manual transaxle, it can get nearly 50 MPG. It has optional 5-speed tranny, Air Conditioning, 65A high output alternator, block heater, hubcaps. It has been upgraded with fabric seats, p-brake handle & trim, doorpanels & console from a 1984 Jetta, and a bed cap. The truck is in excellent mechanical condition. The lightweight fiberglass bed cap with sliding side windows is easily removed for carrying larger loads, being retained by just 6 C-clamps. When it was purchased 5 years ago with 87K miles, it ran OK, but was hard to start, even with the new battery installed by the PO. The glow plug system was found to be completely inoperable. 4 new GP's, a fuse link and some wiring repairs got that working again, and it has only failed to start once since then. The next time it failed to start was due to the seals in the injection pump shrinking due to the new ULSD fuel. The IP was rebuilt with new hardened seal kit, and it now runs better than new. Recently it has gotten 4 new tires and a new battery. The brake system has been completely gone through and frt rotors have been upgraded from solid discs to vented & cross drilled discs from our racecar. It needs nothing mechanically, and I would be willing to jump in and drive anywhere right now. In the last 11,000 miles that I have owned the truck, it has had the following repairs & more: 97750 4 new Sears Guardsman radial tires 97580 New Advance Auto battery (correct VW diesel size) new wiper blades 94800 rebuilt leaking injection pump, increased fueling & governor mod new fuel filter new radiator & bypass hoses, engine coolant new heater valve new OEM engine block heater new OEM timing belt, tensioner, cam & crank seals, V-belts new side & rear engine mounts, radiator mounts new Bosch Duraterm glow plugs new valve cover gasket, splash shield & valve adjustment 94610 Reman brake master cylinder, flush fluid 93923 New rear exh system, muffler, hangers 92700 New RH outer CV boot new loaded front calipers used drilled & vented rotors from the racecar new parking brake cables rebuilt rear cylinders & p-brake mechanism new rear brake shoes & hardware new rear wheel bearings, seals, dust caps new coolant jug 89050 fixed HVAC fan on all speeds, charged AC w/ R12. Cooled for 1 week. 87935 rebuilt shift linkage w/ new bushing kit new MissingLinkZ short shift arm New door strikers 87280 New front exhaust pipe & clips Reman bosch alternator new air filter new glow plug fuse & generic glowplugs Cosmetically, it looks like a 31 year old truck with original paint. The left front corner is slightly wrinkled, but the damage appears to be very isolated to the bumper, fender & trim. The hood and doors all fit & shut properly. There is one rust hole in the bed floor (pictured), rust at the bottom seam of the rocker sill in places, and there is rust on the left frt strut tower. The floors seem solid everywhere. The headliner was a mouse hotel, so has been removed and stripped of the vinyl. The pressboard panel is still available. The passenger door had a broken glass one bitterly cold morning, so when I went to the junkyard to ask about a glass, they made me a good deal for the pair of doors off the rare, rust free, 1984 JettaGLI. One Jetta door is installed on the passenger side complete with deluxe interior panel. The matching Jetta driver door goes with the truck. The fiberglass cap is in good structural condition, both side windows open & close, hatch closes and latches properly. The white gelcoat is dull with age, and has some black splotches that will scrub off. Problems: The HVAC will blow hot or cold air out of the defrost or dash vents, but will not blow hot air on the floor. The air conditioning was tested a couple years ago and indicated no leaks, so the system was recharged. It worked for a week and then ran low on freon. There is no visual indication of leakage. The heater fan works well on all speeds. But it smells on lower speeds. There must be some paper or leaves stuck on the fan speed resistor, because there is a smell like burning paper when the fan is run on lower speeds, there is no smell on zero or high fan. The interior light does not work. No radio. License plate lights are inop. Horn does not work. The wire does not seem to be inside the steering column. The truck also comes with a small pile of spare parts: new Blaupunkt speakers, good frt calipers & pads, another set of better x-drilled vented rotors, the German driver's door with deluxe interior panel... and anything else I come across in the garage. Vehicle is located in Central Ohio, just north of Lancaster, OH 43130. Personal inspection is encouraged. The vehicle can be delivered to the winning bidder at the Columbus OH airport if needed. I can also meet a shipper at the interstate truck stop to load up the vehicle if buyer arranges shipping. I might be able to deliver within a few hundred miles for $2/loaded mile. Have to check my schedule for that. This is a used vehicle sold as-is, where is. I have done my best to describe it accurately. There is no warranty of any kind. Thanks for looking! On Nov-25-12 at 19:38:17 PST, seller added the following information: On Nov-26-12 at 09:08:12 PST, seller added the following information: Minor error in the description: It is the RIGHT front corner that is slightly wrinkled. And another spare part included with the truck is a NIB carpet kit. This is an absolute auction. There is no reserve. The auction will not be ended early for a lowball offer. Please bid whatever it's worth to you. Thanks!