Mr. E.'s 1976 Scirocco Refresh

turboswede wrote: In reply to Hasbro: Considering the fact that it wasn't even supposed to be made as the 924 was originally proposed to fill that gap. Luckily, VW didn't have the sack to stick with the project and Porsche bought it away from them and it eventually grew into the 968.

Another great line. I've been hounding the 968 forum lately.

Wow--great build!!!

Mr. Yuk was a beauty! Looking forward to this one taking shape.

I would have sworn those 14's were 15's, just by how they look in proportion to the rest of the car. I forget how small VW's were back then.

Such a nice design. Still the pure vision from Guigiaro.

Thanks for all the kind words, guys. They really do have some great lines. There's 5 of them accounted for between 3 of my good friends (not including mine), so I know where some of them are hiding.

It seems like a small car until you roll it up next to my Fiat 850 or stick it in my comically undersized garage, then it's downright massive.

Absolutely berk all has happened since the last update. I went out and fiddled with the HVAC controls and blower motor, but couldn't even a squeak out of the fan. I'm guessing it's packed full of rodent goodies. Luckily with all of the interior already out, it should be a pretty quick job to remedy that. Tomorrow, maybe.

Here's a super-hip (and mildly blurry) filtered image in front of my neighbors strangely-Dutch home for yous.

Well it was fun while it lasted. Looks like I'll actually have to drive the thing now. Took the time to wax the plate tub, spit shine the bumper, and blacken the bumpstrip.

It's a good thing I'm working 20 extra hours this week because holy hell that was a spendy trip.

I'll keep my eyes peeled for it on the road!

Good looking car that should be truly fun to drive.

Jealous...

Indeed. On the morrow I shall take this Volkswagen Slopingback along the main thoroughfares and, Science willing, arrive at a destination of my choosing without perishing or becoming seriously maimed.

With a nice drop, this car would be lovely, IMHO. The patina would add to the charm.

A good drop is on the docket. There is Ground Control sleeves and springs waiting for the car in the garage, but I'm holding off until I can get the control arms loaded up with fresh bushings and ball joints at the same time. I need to do cv boots and steering rack bellows before I roll too many miles on it, as well.

I know I could look it up, but I'd rather ask. What was the original curb weight of these beasties and what sort of power did they put out? I've actually never driven a VW of this era though I do admit a lingering curiosity because most of my favorite FWD cars are all compared to them.

Early cars like this should weigh in around 1800lbs, give or take.

As for power, I don't really know. I'm sure manufacturers in the '70s were posting real, quality information on that front. I am interested to know what it makes now, though.

In reply to mazdeuce:

I want to say my ridiculously-bulky A1 GTI, with 170 pounds of me, 40 pounds of tool box, a full tank, and the ludicrous U.S.-market 1/4" plate A/C mounting bracketry and giant bumpers crossed a truck scale at 2380. Wikipedia (I know, I know) puts the original ones under 1800, which I don't find all that hard to believe (sparing everyone the math, mine above would've been 2170 with me and the tools removed but still a full tank and a bunch of egregious weight-adding bits). IIRC, the Scirocco was slightly heavier than the Rabbit.

95hp?

The bottom line is that you should drive one. A good one. Like most cars, the experience is much more than weight and power can tell you. Having had a few other cars between my second and third A1s, my gripe coming back to it was a slow steering rack, but I don't recall that ever crossing my mind the first two times.

I am unspeakably cross with Mr_Estrotica for making me miss A1s again when I'm making so little headway with the rest of my to-try list.

My stripped 83 GTI with every 8valve trick was 147hp in 1760#s and was an absolute hoot to drive. 1800# is pretty easy in the early cars but 100hp is about it for a JH without extensive head work or a turbo.

The slow steering rack can be fixed if you scrounge for an old autotech rack, I've had two cars with them and it makes a world of difference.

Awesome build!!! I had a 'roc back in the day........

After about 20 miles this morning the only glaring issues is an occasional first gear popout and a possibly worn clutch. I poked my head under the hood after I got to work and it looks like there is still some adjustment on the clutch cable, so hopefully that's that. The shift linkage is typical MK1 fodder, sloppy at best. So hopefully that will take care of that.

Looks like the fuel level sender is inop, too. Bummer.

I'm putting together a nice long parts list for the car now. I think the next step is going to be bringing it a little closer to the earth.

Erick Estrotica is a very happy man right now.

Approaching 50 miles now. It hasn't tried to killed me yet. We are steadily approaching 10 compliments from random strangers, amazingly enough none of them were tweaky!

I should probably take the five minutes necessary to swap out the crusty v-belt for the new one I ordered when the car came home so I can stop fretting about that. I figure I should also take the time to peek behind the timing cover to see how bad the t-belt is.

I've been enjoying ringing the car out to redline several times a day. I also need to start a to do list for all the small nagging things I'll ultimately push off into the future.

Cool little car! It's coming along quickly, too!

Took the time to slap on a fresh V-Belt this morning and pulled the timing cover to inspect the "important" belt. Good enough for who's it for. Look's like the cam seal or valve cover gasket may have been seeping at some point, but it's not bad enough to deal with at this time. If that's the biggest leak this things got, we're golden.

Then, on my way to work I confirmed what I've always suspected. A 1976 Volkswagen Scirocco is indeed faster than a Ferrari 308 (in traffic).

Changed out the transmission fluid this morning in hopes that it would cure the first gear popout issue like it normally does with junky old 020s.

Dat is one nasty tranny. Having been bit by this in the past, I opted to remove the fill plug before removing the drain plug. Nothing worse than having a transmission that is completely devoid of fluid, not being able to get fresh fluid back in, and being late for work... Ah.

I used the finest low profile drain pan on the market today. Fancy!

Nassssssty.

Only the best for my grindy old 020. I honestly wouldn't have put Redline in it, but it was already paid for and had been sitting on the shelf for a couple of years...

In conclusion, it didn't do a damn thing. Still pops out of gear, maybe even worse. Hopefully it's a collapsed drivers side motor mount that is holding it out of gear. We will see soon enough.

I didn't do anything on the Scirocco today, but I did make a handy little tool that will aid in fixing the floor. Scrap bin engineering at it's finest. This little guy punches 3/4" rounds out of sheet metal. Now I can just unibit out the pinholes to 3/4" and plop my plug in place.

In other news, I started cleaning up the Passat so in preparation of it's sale. I'll be a happy boy when it becomes someone else problem (and my bank account reflects that action).

Is the passat listed here?

Nope, I know it's modifications aren't too popular here, so I wasn't going to post it. I just put a "Feeler" out on the land of short arms and deep pockets, the vwvortex.

It's here, if you'd like to take a look. Just a quick and dirty ad, nothing special or noteworthy.

I don't blame you. I'd be lying if i said i was seriously interested in buying but i am genuinely curious about the mods/parts etc and will probably hoard a pic or two of the car forever until my hard drive breaks.

Thanks for the link and GLWS.

Now back to scirocco content.