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Rabid Rabbit build


Farkas

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If fwd drag racing is the purpose of this car the 70/30 split is a good thing. Also in the Honda world, guys with K series buy what hey call "gangster lean" engine mounts, which essentially does what the picture you posted of a vr in this chassis looks like. I'm not a vw guy, but I do like cool, different builds people do. Keep up the solid work
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Not much room for a radiator, is there? How are you going to solve for that?

 

Btw, I do love this project...just in case it comes off like I dont.

 

I should be able to squeak a radiator in there, but mind you, this isn't the final resting position of the motor. I only have the two side mounts in currently, so it should bring the motor back maybe an inch once I get the front on to support it better.

 

Oh, and no worries, I figured people will have questions.. :beer:

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UPDATE:

 

Another work week has gone by and I can get some more work done on the rabbit again.

 

Not a whole lot was accomplished on the motor as I'm really waiting to get the engine harness back from NLS so I can finish buttoning up the intake manifold and route my wiring the way it needs to be. I did get a chance to fit my radiator and fit the fan on the radiator and figure out how I was going to mount it up. I just used the original radiator and flipped it so that the outlets were on the correct side. I'll make brackets on the bottom so that it doesn't go anywhere, and attach the top to the rad support one way or another, but it should work out perfect. You can see I got the front mount in, but I'm still trying to figure out how to get the rear mount in that's supplied by the Eurowise kit.

 

Also test fit my small bumper just for fun to see what it was going to look like while my other two end caps were on their way in the mail. The ones on these bumpers basically disintegrated from age and were extremely brittle. Pretty happy with the chrome, so I'll probably leave it as-is instead of painting them black how I originally planned.

 

Now, because the VR is such a tall motor and generally they hang pretty low on these cars, I had already ordered the shortened pan with that in mind. But, once I got the motor in, sitting where it should, I still wasn't satisfied with how far up the pan was tucked. So, with a little brainstorming I decided I had a couple options: 1. Modify the Eurowise mount which would require welding additional material onto the mount and drilling new holes. 2. Drill a new hole into the motor mount ears on the chassis. I decided to go with option two because I could always put the motor back in the original holes if I wanted to, and I didn't want to take the chance of ruining the Eurowise mount by possibly making it weak. So I got to work and as you can see, I got a good 3/4" to an 1" extra lift on the motor. Just enough that I'm happy with how it sits now, and should still have plenty of room underneath the hood. Knowing me, I can't drive anything at a reasonable height, so this is just the little extra for peace of mind that I needed.

 

Also, when I bought the car, the previous owner threw in some Raceland coil overs for free that he said rode like crap. It was obvious why- he lowered them so much he was literally riding on bump stops. I already had a pretty good idea that I'd need these raised upper strut caps, but I went ahead and took out the bump stops and helper springs from the coils since they're a waste of space as it is, and got the caps installed. Haven't done the rears yet, but figured I might as well knock the front stuff out while I'm in there. Once I get the frame notched I'll be installing the axles and I should be able to put the car back on the ground.

 

Just trying to think what's left... Need the harness, work out the down pipe for the exhaust, install the O2A shift tower and shift cables, change the throttle cable and clutch cable system, and I'm still waiting on silicon coolant hoses. Not too far off as the rest of that should be pretty straight forward and I think I can make pretty quick work of it. I did happen to get a C2 race file from a good buddy of mine, Ramon, so that should keep my CEL issues at bay for the SAI and etc. I think I'm on the back stretch of this swap, unless something crazy comes up.

 

 

16299621588_c6c8b6237b_b.jpgIMG_8382 by Andrew M. Farkas, on Flickr

 

16301428617_e32032ac13_b.jpgIMG_8384 by Andrew M. Farkas, on Flickr

 

16486353392_0ce88b35f0_b.jpgIMG_8385 by Andrew M. Farkas, on Flickr

 

16299616138_97e7592c8e_b.jpgIMG_8386 by Andrew M. Farkas, on Flickr

 

16299614198_af0948cae3_b.jpgIMG_8388 by Andrew M. Farkas, on Flickr

 

16301420797_30c78c437c_b.jpgIMG_8390 by Andrew M. Farkas, on Flickr

 

16461344756_2309d4e82c_b.jpgIMG_8380 by Andrew M. Farkas, on Flickr

 

16487339565_dbc0e87397_b.jpgIMG_8375 by Andrew M. Farkas, on Flickr

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Couple cracks on the dash pad, but the interior looks great!

 

Yep! Nothing a dash cover can't fix lol

 

Is moving the engine up going to have any negative effect on the driveline angle, or is it not significant enough to make any real difference? Interesting build btw, I don't think I have ever seen this swap done before, but I am admittedly not a VW guy myself.

 

In reality it's not significant enough to make much difference, but in theory, it should actually have some benefit on the angle of the axles. Naturally, when you lower the car, the angle of the axles becomes greater. Lifting the motor should actually lessen the angle, but I haven't done it a significant amount where it will really help. Usually it just creates more problems with the axle hitting the frame, which is fixed with a C-Notch.

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UPDATE:

 

Had my first "oops."

 

Welp, once again I feel like I got a lot accomplished, but I had a minor setback that will cost me some money I didn't intend on spending. I got the frame notched on each side, but in the process of doing the passenger side, my hole saw caught my brake hard line and put a hole in it. So if anyone has a hard line laying around for the passenger side brake, I would love to take it off your hands. In the meantime, I pinched the line as best I could to keep the air out of the system.

 

Suspension and axles finally went in after I got the frame notched tonight. Unfortunately, I don't have my welder at my home, so I'll have to leave the frame gaping until the car runs and I can get it over to my shop to weld them shut. Never-the-less, the front end has been buttoned together and the car is ready to go back on the ground, finally.

 

I had been putting it off, but I finally built up the motivation to deal with the shifter and cables. I had the option of putting the O2A shift tower beneath the car like a MK3, but I didn't like how low the shift selector sat inside the car. So, I opted to mount the shift tower inside the car with the cables routed beneath the carpet and into the tunnel where it then goes over the steering rack and where it should be. Talk about a total PITA, but I'm pretty happy with the end result. I'll have to fabricate a center console to cover the new shift tower as the OEM no longer works, but I'm hoping whatever I come up with will accept the OEM boot so it retains some of the original look. Shouldn't be too hard, just going to take a little time and ingenuity.

 

Since the original 14" wheels will take some time to get the parts made and shipped over from NZ, I decided I'll buy a temporary set of cheapies to hold me over. Found these JNC wheels online in 15x8.25 +25 for a whopping $350 shipped. They're not horrible, but they'll definitely work for the time being. Fitment is going to be tight in the front, and I'm already expecting I'll need a 10mm spacer for the rear, so if anyone has a spacer with hardware they wanna offer up, let me know!

 

Aside from that, I made little brackets for my radiator to secure it, even though I doubt it was really going to move anyhow. Hoping my silicon coolant hoses come in soon so I can deal with the rest of the coolant system and get it sealed up. Really, I just have the harness to work out when it gets back to me from NLS, and get the fuel system worked out, which should be a piece of cake since I already did it once on my roommate's ABA swap. Just nice to be on the downside of the project, and finally get my garage back in order.. I was getting a little anxiety from the mess. Decided I would install my short chin spoiler to reward myself for the hard work hah.

 

16506436712_4f307f8048_b.jpgIMG_8408 by Andrew M. Farkas, on Flickr

 

16321179799_c63b91da4f_b.jpgIMG_8406 by Andrew M. Farkas, on Flickr

 

16319993870_3a61dc1215_b.jpgIMG_8412 by Andrew M. Farkas, on Flickr

 

15884888584_f57aa966df_b.jpgIMG_8411 by Andrew M. Farkas, on Flickr

 

16319727498_6952deb41d_b.jpgIMG_8410 by Andrew M. Farkas, on Flickr

 

16319992680_e0b28216ed_b.jpgIMG_8414 by Andrew M. Farkas, on Flickr

 

16319991210_be6fc06b7f_b.jpgIMG_8416 by Andrew M. Farkas, on Flickr

 

16506427542_c815c67856_b.jpgIMG_8417 by Andrew M. Farkas, on Flickr

 

15884881154_6d21cfc719_b.jpgIMG_8420 by Andrew M. Farkas, on Flickr

 

16481445316_6587c3bc02_b.jpgIMG_8421 by Andrew M. Farkas, on Flickr

 

15884882334_059a3b8aa0_b.jpgIMG_8418 by Andrew M. Farkas, on Flickr

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You obviously don't know Andy Farkas.

 

other than being the guy doc pointed to one day in Cup O' Joe and said "that's Andy Farkas" I don't.

 

That being said, when he mentioned straight line performance I was kind of picturing this:

 

http://www.volkswurks.com/projects/a1-rabbit-andy/07Rabbit/Rabbit02.jpg

 

or This

 

http://www.dragtimes.com/images/24377-1984-Volkswagen-Rabbit.jpg

 

not this:

 

8206772aaf173e9c9416fd9daa00ef08.jpg

 

still a cool project, seems like a shame to saddle an Olympic sprinter with 6" stiletto pumps but whatev, there is people who like this stuff I guess.

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So you think a little beater daily he's swapping to cruise around and enjoy would have giant slicks up front? Ok.

 

Besides, if he wants to run it at the track or whatever and needs to make adjustments, it has coilovers.

 

Nailed it.

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So you think a little beater daily he's swapping to cruise around and enjoy would have giant slicks up front? Ok.

 

Besides, if he wants to run it at the track or whatever and needs to make adjustments, it has coilovers.

 

 

No, drag radials. Again that was because I am picturing it in my mind and that is what I would do. Also as pointed out I don't know him and his taste toward hellaflush.

 

Not saying any work is bad, So far everything in this thread is pretty awesome, I'm just not into the hellaflush thing. no biggie.

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