The Automotive Thread

[Supe]

 

[blybrook PE]

Supe getting ready for his next race:

 

[Supe]

NO DRIFTING!

Besides, they didn't hit anything. I rarely get so lucky.

 

[knight1fox3]

VW made a truck?! :huh:

 

[Capt Worley PE]

^Yup..early eighties. Built in PA.

 

[Dexman PE PMP]

It had the same front end as the Cabriolet, just on a longer frame with a small truck bed. It was in line with the Subaru Brat...

 

[Flyer_PE]

I haven't seen one of those on the road in a long time. Not that there were that many ever around. I was just shocked that a FWD truck based on a VW Rabbit didn't catch on.

 

[MA_PE]

I rememeber the Rabbit based pickup. Anyone remember the VW "Thing". I guess these days it would be called the "Thang"

 

[Capt Worley PE]

It had the same front end as the Cabriolet, just on a longer frame with a small truck bed. It was in line with the Subaru Brat...

Technically, it has front sheetmetal unique to it and the American made Rabbit GTi. The fenders, sidemarker lights, etc bring mucho dinero to the Rabbit GTi guys.

And, believe it or not, the US got long bed models only. There was a short bed available everywhere but here, and it looks a lot better.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

I rememeber the Rabbit based pickup. Anyone remember the VW "Thing". I guess these days it would be called the "Thang"

Also known as the Type 181 and Safari elsewhere. They only sold it here in 1973 and 1974.

My neighbor had one. It shamed Jeeps of the day off road.

 

[Flyer_PE]

There are a couple of restored Things I see driving around here during the Summer months. In a frontal collision, I think it turns into a bunch of really sharp edges all aimed at dismembering the occupants of the front seat.

 

[snickerd3]

The "2-yr" free maintance package that came with my car when I bought it dec 2011 was completely over after my last vist...so now I have to pay the whole bill. They really need to make the mileage part of that perk a little more visible as it was a bit misleading. it amounted to 4 oil changes and 2 tire rotations...not really 2 yrs. Even with the milage restiction... with the synthetic oil in most new hondas it last long enough that it is tire rotation and oil change every time it lights up, not every other time. so the last two times I had to pay the rotation part.

so now that the free part is over i am taking it to the honda dealer in my work city. A synthetic oil change at the jiffy lube type place in town for my car would be $70-80. Looks like it will be $39 for the oil change and $16 for the rotation.

 

[Supe]

Well, the car is now on the trailer and ready to head to E-Speed for a rear diff swap. I am PRAYING that my suspension comes in sometime this week, or no later than Monday, as this car needs to be finished and on the trailer next Wednesday night. This is going to be CLOSE.

Also, after wading through the rule book, and doing some soul-searching, I've decided that I am going to build this car as a Pike's Peak legal climber in hopes that I can drive up the mountain in a few years. This will entail a full cage, fire suppression system, new pedal box, full containment seat, and a plethora of other "add ons", but they are all doable, and would also make me eligible for any Level IV SCCA hill climbs in the area (Pike's Peak follows USAC rules, but there's enough overlap to satisfy both.)

Here are some shots before she was trailer-bound:

 

[Capt Worley PE]

Looks good, Supe.

I still think you need a set of boss aluminum slots or Appliance turbine mags on it.

Oh, and sidepipes.

 

[Supe]

I want a set of the old BBS vented wheels that were made for Audi:

 

[Capt Worley PE]

Those old gold BBS crosslace mags were all the rage on the amped up subcompacts in the 80s.

Truly wicked 1200s and Corllas from the 70s, even 2nd gen Celicas were big back then.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

this thing keeps returning to the local dealer for resale. There has to be a story.

http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail.jsp?tracktype=usedcc&csDlId=&csDgId=&listingId=117072025&listingRecNum=4&criteria=sf1Dir%3DDESC%26mkId%3D20018%26stkTyp%3DU%26mdId%3D21258%26rd%3D50%26crSrtFlds%3DstkTypId-feedSegId-mkId-mdId%26zc%3D29033%26rn%3D0%26PMmt%3D1-1-0%26stkTypId%3D28881%26sf2Dir%3DASC%26sf1Nm%3Dprice%26sf2Nm%3Dmiles%26isDealerGrouping%3Dfalse%26rpp%3D50%26feedSegId%3D28705&aff=national&listType=1

H3 w/5spd.

 

[Supe]

Probably one of the ones with valvetrain issues. My coworker at the last plant I worked at had a grey one. They replaced the cylinder head on it three times for valve/rocker problems before finally replacing the entire motor. Spent more time in the service bay than he did driving it.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

^I remember the early I-5s had head gasket issues, but thought the H3 came after all that mess was cleared up.

Haven't heard of valvetrain issues, but never was a giant fan of the Atlas engine family.

 

[Supe]

Just ordered an in-dash DVD player from Crutchfield for my truck (DVD player was as cheap as a decent head unit).

The CD player finally died, and I only use the truck for towing the racecar to the middle of nowhere, so an operating radio is a must-have. I'm leaving Thursday morning, and this thing is estimated to be due in on Tuesday, so I hope I have enough time.

I have servo motors that are supposed to show up on Monday to fix the instrument cluster (apparently defective in 03 through 06 GM trucks), so it's going to get interesting. Will start dissecting the truck this weekend so its ready to go. Going to cheat on the install and wire the DVD player to a toggle switch so I can operate it while its on to keep junior entertained when we go somewhere together.