1980 B1 Passat Project

[Peter Jones]

Pictures from DOVW Vic.

[Peter Jones]

A car show popped up right on our doorstep today at the local ENZED shop where they were launching the Touring Car Masters.

We took the golf down and once that was dropped off Jodie went back for the Passat.

[sports racer]

Why is the radiator moved over to the side and what's that where a radiator would sit on a normal car?

I presume that's where VW put it and it obviously works but wouldn't it work better up front?

Cheers

Paul

[Peter Jones]

The B1 chassis is front wheel drive but has a north-south motor.

In some of the Audi models they fitted a 5 cylinder motor in there.

Basically they did it to keep the nose length as short as they could with the north-south motor configuration.

I managed to sneak a small oil cooler in front of the motor though, that's what you can see.

That's the stock location for the radiator. There should be a bunch of cardboard shrouds around it but I haven't gotten around to re-creating them yet.

[Peter Jones]

We decided to take Frank and Red to a car show today. They were both pretty dirty from driving the streets, especially on rainy days, so they got a wash on Saturday, and a touching up on black plastics.













On the other side of this bridge? Unmade, unsealed road. For kilometres. This did not show on Google Maps. By the time we got to the venue both cars were caked in dust. Dammit.

Oh well, we joined the rest of the cars there. It was a fundraiser and there was a mix of cars and marques from all eras. We spotted a couple Bay Window Kombis but that was it for other VWs.





















Gorgeous venue though, spectacular views, nestled in next to the Yarra Ranges. Was a lovely sunny day for it, too.

[Peter Jones]

Frank got new tyres today





And an alignment



Handles amazingly well now. Toyos + Konis = Magic

[tinto]

Haha what the hell?
Those aren't sensible shoes!
Now Frank will sound like he's being chased by a swarm of bees.

... love it.

[Peter Jones]

Been having some gauge issues of late. Turns out the voltage regulator was burnt out. Guess they only last 35 years or so!

I gutted the mechanical bits and rebuilt it with a 7810 solid state voltage regulator.

The gauges operate much better now.

[Peter Jones]

Another fluke find on Ebay for Frank:





NOS original B1 extractors!



Dropped them in for ceramic coating, soon to be installed in the old boy.

[Peter Jones]

Time to get some shiny new extractors into Frank.



The old, cast, manifold is ceramic coated as well, and still looks damned good (just a bit grotty).



Hoped that the manifold and downpipe would be all that were needed removing.



See? Hasn't changed colour since installation when the motor was rebuilt.



Downpipe is the same, just dirty. All you need is some dishwashing soap and water to wash ceramic coated stuff.



Old and new, lined up nicely.



Then discovered new would not go in without removing the Dellorto, so out it went.



New gaskets for Dellorto and extractors.

Took two of us a fair bit of fettling to get the extractors in, ended up cutting 3cm off the end of them to fit them into the exhaust. It's a fiddly job.



Finally in and bolted up.



Dellorto back in. Took Frank for a spin, could be my imagination or he's got a slight increase in power in second, hard to say. I'll need to drive him some more. Sounds pretty much the same as before, slightly different exhaust note but nothing major.



He also got a new washer pump. The original, 1979 one, died a while ago and he had a 2nd hand one for a while until I remembered to get a new Hella one from GAP.

[Peter Jones]

Two Car shows for Frank this weekend.

Saturday at Masters in Wantirna.





Sunday at The Manhattan in Ringwood.

[sports racer]

Looking good.

It still amazes me that such a little radiator works, even in Aussie weather.

Cheers

Paul

[Peter Jones]

It's bigger than the equivalent Golf radiator. It's very tall.

There should be a shroud on it. The original was made from cardboard like material and I haven't gotten around to making a new one.

[Peter Jones]

Today at DOVW sow, Yarra Glen.

[VWMAT5]

Hi Pete,

Where did you source the Lynx throttle cable bracket that bolts onto the head?

Cheers
Craig