1974 B1 VW Passat LS Coupe - Banded Steelies Fitted!

[macca]

I ended up lopping a coil of the -30mm Golf MK2 springs so might have been better to source -40mm. Stance is still not right as its a touch lower at the back but it will do for now and its back in a driveable condition.





So this is pretty much how I envisaged the car to turn out all those years ago. It was to have Fuch wheels and Porsche seats with a mild Porsche theme running through. Seats really let the car down now though as the centres are ripped - anyone know a cheap trimmer in the south? Or I have been scouring eBay for some better or full leather Tombstones but anything reasonably priced is too far away.

Managed to coax it up to the VW Heritage Heretics evening meet on Thursday and it went down a storm. It was running a bit rich but didnt overheat and started first time, everytime.





So now this is nearly finished I have bought another Passat to tinker with. Its a damn ugly B2 and I will start a readers rides thread for it.

[macca]

Not used the Passat too much as I just cant trust it on a journey so the engine is coming out to be rebuilt or replaced. I have another 1.5 from a Golf which I think is good but might swap in a 1.8 as it is relatively straight forward.

I went to a local VW show last week and managed to buy a set of NOS mudflaps in the autojumble. They are MK1 Passat or Audi 80 fitment and have the lovely crest on the rears. I have only offered them up and if I can work out a way of attaching them without drilling any holes they will become a permanent feature.





Thats about it for now.

[79cord]

just glad to see the pictures of it again.
And the Wolfsburg crest is a nice touch, (needs black bolts!).

[doctorblack]

Lovely car.

[macca]

Aug 21, 2012 14:28:09 GMT 79cord said:

just glad to see the pictures of it again.
And the Wolfsburg crest is a nice touch, (needs black bolts!).

Yep I think you are right so as Namrick is just down the road from me I will get some black ones.

[coop]

Such a nice car, I nearly had a bid on a green one on eBay this week but it was no way near as nice as yours!

[macca]

Aug 31, 2012 15:31:44 GMT coop said:

Such a nice car, I nearly had a bid on a green one on eBay this week but it was no way near as nice as yours!

Ah yes its the third time its been on the bay now but it does need some work but find another at that price in the UK.

I liked your old 80 B1, that was spot on - did you get a good price for it?

Also check out the Facebook groop I started whilst drunk a few months ago, more pics there: www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=hp#!/pages/B1-Passat-Appreciation-Group/187982801279170

Daz

[coop]

This one? Yeah it made more than I thought it would, wish I'd never sold it, often wonder where it is and how it's coming on. The guy had big plans but never seen it anywhere. Making me regret not buying that green one now on eBay, damn it!!

[macca]

Well the Passat has been on holiday in Leicester over the summer and has only just got back to me as the show season ends. It has had the engine bay repainted and a replacement engine and gearbox fitted from a 1979 1.6 Passat. Original engine just didn't run right after changing everything so the good used one from funktopus got slotted in. At the same time my struts that have been modified to accept coilover springs were fitted but I still need to play about with the ride height and get it tracked. I also sourced some better Porsche Tombstones and had the seam repaired so whacked these in to tidy up the interior. It has a fresh MoT, Tax and Insurance so hopefully be able to drive it about on nice days now without fear of it overheating, chucking out smoke or just breaking down! Still need to detail the bay by cleaning, repainted and replacing some bits but it wont be a concourse car.



Even though I have done less than 100 miles on the Fooks I fancy a rim change, any ideas?

[wodge]

Lovely! Sadly I'm not sure you could improve on the Fuchs they look spot on. Maybe some low offset JDM rims, wing mirrors and front spoiler - not convinced though needs a potatochop and I'm no help there.

[grifterkid]

That is an unbelievably stunning vehicle...!!! I remember a chap down the road from me having that exact same car sitting on his driveway rotting away, I wish to goodness I'd stepped in and saved that motor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[macca]

Sept 24, 2013 6:07:05 GMT wodge said:

Lovely! Sadly I'm not sure you could improve on the Fuchs they look spot on. Maybe some low offset JDM rims, wing mirrors and front spoiler - not convinced though needs a potatochop and I'm no help there.

Yeah my vision was always for it to have Fuchs wheels so I might save up for originals. I have a Golf GTi MK1 large duckbill spoiler that I have had a go at trimming to fit but it needs more work than I expected. I am on the lookout for a genuine Audi 80 GTE front spoiler but cant find one for love nor money, can anyone help? It looks like this:

[wheeler]

I've always been partial to dish wheels myself, I like the ones on coop's ex-Audi a lot! (what are those?)

Car is looking healthy, congrats!

[macca]

Had a fairly successful maiden journey of 2014 to Wheels Day which is only 30 or so miles up the road cross country A and B road driving.

New engine is so much better and doesn't overheat or refuse to start for no reason. Plenty of small fiddly jobs have been done including the fitment of a new throttle cable from a later car which needed a small modification to the pedal end. Also found an original NOS manual choke conversion kit for the Solex carb as the car came back with the autochoke bypassed and hoses lost.

Last year I picked up some struts that had already been converted for MK1 Golf inserts and coilovers.


These were fitted up with the springs and top collars from some dead MK2 Golf coilovers. Now I knew they were B2 items but thought these would be ok on the B1 as looked fundamentally the same. It pretty much fitted ok except the wheels splayed out and it wouldn't track! Either these were built incorrectly as the arms go straight or more likely the B1 bends out towards the inside of the tyre allowing the longer rod if that makes sense? Anyway as it was all fitted a decision was made to remove 2" from each steering rod. This allowed it to track ok but all the Ackerman angles are screwed so it fights itself on anything but shallow turns.

I am going to revert back to stock suspension this week and put it back on the steels as I have acquired another rack with stock steering rods. I also bought another pair of B1 front hubs and will get these modified by an expert and not try to cut corners or save money this time.

[grifterkid]

I forgot how beautiful this car is...!!! What a real stunner...

[Tarka]

Well done for persevering mate. The suspension on these - as I found on my B1 Audi 80 seems to be unique and a massive ball ache to get right. Good news about the engine though - at least one headache sorted!

[macca]

I have actually been enjoying driving this around to a few local shows and it has been going well. I started to revert the suspension to standard but snapped a bolt in the hub so put that on the back burner. I am getting used to the rubbish turning circle and its just about ok if I plan where to park.



I picked up a new old stock Paddy Hopkirk boxed Thule roof rack at a car boot for a tenner. Well the box was getting in the way so I assembled it and mounted it carefully to see what it looked like. It looks ok, black and silver goes with the theme and I need the extra space as I plan to do the autojumble at BeachBuggin' in a few weeks. It wont stay on permanently as I prefer clean lines and not a cluttered look.



That's about it for now but it was great to see a pic of my car in last months Retro Cars mag from the Wheels Day write up!

[macca]

Looking through this thread from the beginning I cant believe I have had this car nearly 7 years! I don't think I have ever had any other car longer than two years, maybe I am getting old. I have had a few side projects to keep me occupied but despite a couple of good offers to sell I still have the car.

Well over the winter I have invested in new custom made coilover suspension units to replace the B2 ones. These are a work of art and use the original struts with VW Fox coilover units welded to them. Made by a great engineer who put a 1.8t engine in his B1 - Jay, your a legend!



I even managed to acquire my grail part which I had been trying to locate for years. It is a pair of front spoilers that you would find on the Audi 80 GTE and a pair popped up on eBay.de just before Christmas. Even though they are a little tatty I had to have them and paid over £150 including postage for them. I really feel they will balance the front out when fitted but I have just mocked them up here for the pics.




First run out this year for MoT and with new suspension, had loads of looks driving this on a cold January morning. That's about it other than getting it mot'd at the end of Jan so I am ready to hit all the shows this year, no excuses.

[The Jackeria]

gorgeous!

[macca]

Even though I think it looks great on the Fooks wheels I always thought it could look cooler on banded stock steels. A set turned up on eBay a few months ago with rubbish white paint and mismatched tyres but they were cheaper than getting a set made so a deal was done. Once they arrived I regretted my purchase and did nothing with them until a few weeks ago. I bit the bullet and after much deliberation ordered a set of 175/50/13 Nankangs, had them fitted and rattle canned the wheels silver. The wheels are 7" on the front and 8" at the rear. They fitted ok without any problems and then zoomed straight down the road to the Heritics VW meet where it was received well.



I really like the look and I think the next thing to do is get the bonnet wrapped matt black. I may even get the wheels powder coated so they look mint but the Fooks may go back on as I have no plans to sell them.