| aveyinc |
Tue Jul 11, 2006 8:26 am |
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A good friend of mine is going to buy an 80 Diesel Rabbit LS. I want to know a few things he should look for on the car. We went and saw it yesterday, outside of Flagstaff, AZ. Little surface rust. Checked that spot under the hood, no rust-through. Runs well, shifts well (5 gears), nice comfy seats, missing some interior pieces. One rear door doesn't open. 104,000 miles!
He hopes to convert it to run on either bio-diesel or straight vegetable oil.
A couple of questions...
What does the "LS" stand for?
The dash is cracked all to hell... options?
What hoses/tubes should be replaced right off the bat?
Seems fine, but I want a second, third, and maybe fourth opinion.
Well, here is what the owner said:
- 1980 Rabbit Diesel LS
- 5-spd transmission
- Rear-drivers-side door does not open. I haven't had time to take the panel off and see if it's just needing to be reconnected or if something needs replacing.
- Door keys: I have the key for the passenger side door only, so in order to unlock or lock the car, it has to be done from the passenger side. The door handles have two different locks and I only have the key for the passenger door handle.
- Heater-core/AC: I have it pulled out for now, but I put all the parts in the hatch if you want to fix the leaking heater core, charge the AC and reinstall it. I have the knee bar removed completely, so it's easily accessible. (I still have the knee bar if you want it, but I found it very crowded with it installed and roomy without it.)
- Paint: The paint is a little rough and there were some rust areas, and therefore the car is part OEM silver and part rust-inhibitor-primer grey. I was experimenting with what the car would look like two-tone, so most of everything below the door bumpers is rust-inhibitor grey, and above it most is OEM silver. I was planning on stripping/painting the car this Summer until I found my Caddy truck.
- Radiator: Has a few small leaks, and I add coolant every once-in-a-while when it gets low. It barely leaks, but it is something that'll need attention in the future.
- Body: Overall VERY straight. A few dings here and there, and a sizeable dent above the hatch on the roof. Some surface rust, but not bad.
- LOW miles. ~104k on the clock & it runs like a champion! It doesn't appear to burn much, if any oil.
- Less than 500 miles on new shocks
- interior cloth is great, seats are perfect, only a few small tears in the roof, dash has a few cracks but is overall in decent shape. Just needs a good vacuuming.
This is a great commuter car with GREAT mpg. Could be converted to run on straight vegetable oil or just run on biodiesel. I've only ever run regular diesel on it and I get over 40mpg. I'm an avid watercooled VW collector but this car has to go since I've recently acquired another one.
Please give some ideas... |
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