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Jan. 14, 2010 7:35 a.m. BradLTL New Reader
Good morning,

I've found a project car in a 1985 VW Scirocco. Most of my experience is with Porsche, newer water-cooled ones. While a good amount of VW experience seems to apply to Porsches, I'm not sure that works the other way around... not that I have a lot of either. So anyway, I need some help.

The car I've found, I'm not decided on the exact project. It might be a Rally-X, Auto-X and HPDE car, but I am getting it for LeMons money, so it might go down that path too. It really just depends on the condition of the car. The car appears to be in good condition visually, but is not running. The description from the buyer is:

"The car ran great but has been parked for a year and a half. Just my thinking which doesnt mean too much it may be the fuel filter or pump? Replaced battery and still didnt crank. So I think it has something to do with it sitting up."

Obviously whatever gas is in the car is bad and will need to be drained and flushed, but I've never looked at a car that wasn't in running condition and need some help.
1. What are things I can look at / inspect to get some idea of the condition of the car in it's non-running condition?
2. Any VW / Scirocco experts in the B'ham area want to come take a look at it with me and help inspect it (I'll buy lunch)?
I've asked for more pics, and should get those today, but here is what I have now:

Thanks! Brad
Jan. 14, 2010 8:31 a.m. mel_horn Dork

First question I would have is "replaced battery with what"? A new one or one that was sitting around? Or has the "new" one sat for awhile? Verify the battery condition, Follow the battery terminals...Are the connections OK? is there a good ground? Is the lead to the starter OK? Is there a parasitic drain that's flattening the battery? There may be any number of problems but you really have to do this first.
Jan. 14, 2010 9:21 a.m. ansonivan Reader

Both mk1 and mk2 Scirocco's are built on the same platform (A1) as mk1 golfs and jettas. Unless someone has been tinkering under the hood it will have bosch cis injection which will work poorly for a long time.

Take a fresh battery and a can of starting fluid or carb cleaner. Battery for ye oulde' cranking and the volatile fluid to eliminate fuel starvation as a cause of it's non starting.

Email me if you can't find anyone to go look it over with you and I'll walk you through it over the phone.
Jan. 14, 2010 9:35 a.m. ansonivan Reader

http://scirocco.org/ - some outdated info but lots of neat stuff

vortex scirocco forum

vortex A1 golf/jetta forum - probably has better tech info than the scirocco specific forum
Jan. 14, 2010 10:57 a.m. ditchdigger Reader

All sciroccos are just tarted up rabbits. The 2nd gen ones are much heavier as well.
Jan. 14, 2010 11:18 a.m. amg_rx7 Reader

I had an 84 Scirocco from 1988-93

I hated the way the pedals were canted toward the center of the car. Much harder to heel-toe than the Rabbit. Much more cramped inside than the Rabbit as well due to the lower roof line. IMO, I thought the Rabbit drove better but I can't remember exactly why (besides the better placement of the pedals).

Its basically the same mechanically as the Rabbit, GTi, Jetta of that period.
Jan. 14, 2010 11:30 a.m. bamalama Reader
BradLTL wrote:
1. Any VW / Scirocco experts in the B'ham area want to come take a look at it with me and help inspect it (I'll buy lunch)?
I'm no Scirocco expert, but I've been known to fix a car or two. I also have nothing better to do in the immediate future.

Where exactly is the car at?
Jan. 14, 2010 11:50 a.m. ZOO Dork

That's an 8-valve Scirocco -- probably about 90hp with a close-ratio five speed. As posted above, essentially a GTI, without the name. Sciroccos were assembled by Karmann, and seemed to be better built and rust-prooofed than the US built A1 Rabbits.
Jan. 14, 2010 1:17 p.m. BradLTL New Reader

bamalama wrote:

Where exactly is the car at?

Leeds... somewhere....

I may go take a look at it on Saturday.
Jan. 14, 2010 1:36 p.m. bamalama Reader

BradLTL wrote:

bamalama wrote:

Where exactly is the car at?

Leeds... somewhere....

I may go take a look at it on Saturday.

Going by that picture, I figured it was in Leeds. That kind of looks like Jim Connell's place.
Jan. 14, 2010 2:33 p.m. BradLTL New Reader

bamalama wrote:

Going by that picture, I figured it was in Leeds. That kind of looks like Jim Connell's place.

http://www.jimsaircooled.com/

That Jim?

Sounds like you know where it is
Jan. 14, 2010 3:02 p.m. bamalama Reader

I used to buy parts from him/annoy him when I was a teenager with an ACVW.
Jan. 14, 2010 3:27 p.m. lateapexer New Reader

Check your fuse panel, water runs down the windshield pillar and can collect and rust the area behind the fuse panel itself causing all sorts of electrical problems. I used to autocross one of these and have photos of the unloaded rear wheel a foot of the ground.
Jan. 14, 2010 4:09 p.m. plance1 HalfDork

In reply to BradLTL:

I'm confused by your post. You mention you're thinking about buying a "Scirocco" but your photograph appears to be of a flat black car of some sort. Everyone knows that all Scirocco's are faded orange, with dented front, driver-side fenders. I know these things because I had one, which makes me an expert. Are you sure that's a Scirocco?
Jan. 14, 2010 4:18 p.m. friedgreencorrado Dork

If you've been working on Porsches, you'll be able to work on an A1 VW in your sleep. Before their move "upmarket" in the mid 1990s, they were very simple cars (especially the 8v). Don't sink a lot of money into it unless you fall in love with it..even the guys who like the 2nd gen Roccos are looking for 16v cars.
Jan. 14, 2010 4:25 p.m. digdug18 Reader

A friend of mine went through engines in his 8v car, then did a VR6 swap and fixed that problem.

Andrew
Jan. 14, 2010 5:22 p.m. VWguyBruce HalfDork

ansonivan wrote:

it will have bosch cis injection which will work poorly for a long time.

I would disagree. Properly maintained CIS, of all varieties, works just fine.

There's a ton of aftermarket and online support for the Scirroco, offer a couple hundred bucks for it and take it home.
Jan. 14, 2010 7:15 p.m. BradLTL New Reader

As long as I'm asking, anyone have experience with one of these?

Rollcage
Jan. 14, 2010 7:18 p.m. maroon92 UberDork

I love MkII's, I have been looking for a cheap 8v for a while. 16v's are cool, but not cool enough for the added money people want for them...
Jan. 14, 2010 8:17 p.m. friedgreencorrado Dork

digdug18 wrote:

A friend of mine went through engines in his 8v car,

How? Holy cats, the one in my Golf's got about 236K on it, but it still pulls good. And the last time I had emissions, the test guy freaked that my hydrocarbons were so low. It may be a tractor, but with a little love, they never die.

digdug18 wrote: then did a VR6 swap and fixed that problem.

Andrew

I can think of a couple of "problems" the VR swap would cure.
Jan. 14, 2010 8:19 p.m. digdug18 Reader

friedgreencorrado wrote:

digdug18 wrote:

A friend of mine went through engines in his 8v car,

How? Holy cats, the one in my Golf's got about 236K on it, but it still pulls good. And the last time I had emissions, the test guy freaked that my hydrocarbons were so low. It may be a tractor, but with a little love, they never die.

digdug18 wrote: then did a VR6 swap and fixed that problem.

Andrew

The problem was that there was no aftermarket support for high boost outputs, the 8v engines that he was using wouldn't work well at 18psi. The VR6 worked fine, and sounded alot better as well.

Andrew

I can think of a couple of "problems" the VR swap would cure.
Jan. 14, 2010 8:29 p.m. friedgreencorrado Dork

digdug18 wrote:

The problem was that there was no aftermarket support for high boost outputs, the 8v engines that he was using wouldn't work well at 18psi. The VR6 worked fine, and sounded alot better as well.

Andrew

Oh, boosted. Even the low compression 8v for the G60s won't take very much real boost. The shop I raced out of made some good money swapping G60s with mild turbos for awhile though. That was around the time all the original G60 Corrados started grenading the things.
Jan. 14, 2010 8:36 p.m. digdug18 Reader

Yeah, I believe that he went through 8 or so of the 8v engines before the swap. We were getting the engines for free, so it was worth it, just a PITA of swapping engines every couple of weeks or months. Then again we got the VR6 for free as well...

Andrew
Jan. 14, 2010 8:40 p.m. friedgreencorrado Dork

BradLTL wrote:

As long as I'm asking, anyone have experience with one of these?

Rollcage

Hmmm. I haven't used one of their cages, and I notice on the website there's a "through dashboard" version for the same price. The pics are identical, so I think the photos are just stock pix of rollcages, and not a picture of the actual ones.

Price sure seems right for a LeMons car, tho, especially if you can weld it in (or have a buddy who can) yourself. Doesn't LeMons always use the short courses to keep the speeds down?
Jan. 15, 2010 1:18 a.m. jimbbski New Reader

BradLTL wrote:

As long as I'm asking, anyone have experience with one of these?

Rollcage

If what they sell is like the picture then this cage is not legal for any kind of "Road Racing" , open tracking would be OK with most groups but not all. This is a drag race cage. It could be "fixed" to be legal by going to DOM tubing instead of ERW, and by adding some missing required tubes. But their using tubing that is bigger and thicker then what SCCA requires. 1 1/2 X .095 DOM is the minimum and their using 1 5/8 X .134. DOM. It will be stronger of course, but heavier!

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