No, this is not a build. I want it gone.

Hooray!!  Perseverance paid off.  Much better than my hack idea.  But then, when I'm peeved, and don't care, anything goes.   I sometimes learn from my mistakes.  Now, Sir, onto the next "installment".

nice job. So ya gonna loctite RED this one so the next guy REALLY has a hard time? Or no loctite and put this thing on CL.....Why did they loctite these at all? Wouldn't a lock washer have worked?

Agent98 said:

Questions:

1.Isn't this a rebodied Golf? Then why doesn't the golf have the same bad rep?

 

My 03 Golf has been in my hands for over 6 years. It`s a 2.0L with a 5 spd and the worst issue I had was the failure of a Camshaft Position sensor.

I wouldn`t touch a 1.8T engined one.

Get a VW specific code reader and do your maintenance and they can be great little cars. 

It's all back together and on the road again. It took a lot longer than it should have because it was hard to get motivated. On a day off, I planned to start in the morning and have it done by afternoon. That turned in to starting on it around 3:00 in the afternoon and only getting a little bit done before thinking of somewhere else that I wanted to be. Over the course of a week, it came back together.

While it sat in the garage, I noticed a definite coolant leak. I tracked it down to an o-ring on a metal tube by the thermostat. I couldn't find a fat enough o-ring in my collection, but Advance Auto had one in stock that fit. It was a fairly tedious job to replace, but made much easier by the fact that I had the airbox and battery already removed. I found this blog post which had a pretty good description of how to do it: https://volkswagen-polo-highline.blogspot.com/2015/12/leaking-metal-coolant-pipe.html

Putting the car back together, I didn't run into any more major problems. There were some scrapes and a small crack in the oil pan, so I replaced it again while I had the car on jack stands. Now I need to clean the car up and list it for sale. Two more issues I may or may not deal with: ABS warning light and Check engine light for secondary O2 sensor. I think I'll keep busy enough with other cars instead.

this has convinced me I dont need a stinking beetle lol...I am so glad you finally got it fixed. I know what its like to have a project stalled and your garage tied up and to not be able to do anything because of it...its a pain. Going through that right now with my old subie with a nasty electrical problem I cant seem to isolate. Been 6 months of chasing my tail on this one...so I feel your pain.

Epilogue.

I sold the car to Sam, about 20 years old and needing basic transportation. I didn't state that there was a warranty or any guarantee that the car would last, but offered to help out with tools and advice if he had any troubles. Just about every month since then I've heard from Sam and done some work on his car. A new coil pack, oil change, breather tube and seals; lots of minor stuff that, to him seemed like a major disaster, but was easily fixed with a little guidance. He loved the car and kept telling me about how in March, he was going to receive a large sum of money and make the car really nice. The last time he was over in mid-December to deal with a bad window regulator, I told him that I was glad to help him, but hoped that I wouldn't hear from him again 'till next year.

I got a call from Sam this morning, New Years Day. There was a lot of noise in the background and he sounded a little out of breath.

Sam: "I flipped it."

Me: "..?  You sold your car?"

Sam: "No, It rolled over. I think it's totaled."

- Short story about hairpin turn, blown tire, and car about to be towed to impound, with occasional interruptions as he also speaks to a sheriff's deputy in the background. -

He isn't sure what he's going to do next, but offered to give me the car back for parts. For a moment, my mind thinks ~ There's a good transmission with an almost new clutch and flywheel that I could probably use in the Scirocco. In a fraction of a second it snaps back to the memory of that one bolt and how I never want to touch that transmission again.

Me: "Get your stuff out and let them scrap it Sam. There are plenty more good cars out there. We can let this one go."

You are a good dude.

But Then...

I wish that I could say that was the end of it. That I held firm. No means no.

Like an ex-girlfriend that keeps showing up at the door at 1 am. I know it's a bad idea. I know I should say, "Thanks for the memories, but it's really over this time." ...but I have been thinking about a Gambler 500 car https://www.facebook.com/events/172066503207119/. Maybe just have it dropped off and look it over. No commitment. no...

Shortly after posting, I got another call from Sam. He didn't want the car impounded due to fees and access. Could he please have them just tow it to my house? I can have it free, he just doesn't want any more charges or complications.

Me: "Are you sure? The car isn't going to be worth fixing and I don't need the parts."

Sam: "They are already on the way. If you just pay the towing fee, I'll give you my gaming computer. I don't have the money and want to keep this off my insurance..."

Me: "Fine, I'll take the car. I don't want your stuff. We can sort it all out later. Just take care of yourself today."

Wow. At least he's OK.  

The flat bed has "We buy junk cars" on the side...  Hmm?

Well E36 M3.

Sometimes they just never leave......

My dad had one of these cars, it was a giant pain in the ass every step of the way. They purchased a new Kia and the vw shot part of a rod out of the block on the way home from the dealer. It was the first time a blown engine made me happy

I just want to chime in:  This is a great story, you sound like a great dad and guy.  You also need to start a new thread that ends with this car doing the gambler 500.  You also need to wire this car with a self destruct system.  At the next failure you could film an epic demise.  Or just make this the volkswagen version of "christine."

Anyway, thanks for this post, it ticked all the boxes of a great story.  

I’d personally pay them the tow fee just to keep on driving past your place with it. 

In reply to AAZCD :

It's like the little lost puppy that keeps showing up at your door.  You have to take it in.

...will not buff out

SWMBO is not happy, but she has a bad cold and wasn't happy to begin with today. It is not allowed into the compound yet. Currently it sits outside the fence on the cul de sac in quarantine until ...some time I'm going to have to move it.

Pluses: It still runs and drives, the frame appears to be straight, it has a clear title, I have a very similar VW Jetta (for parts) that runs and drives, but has no title.

Minuses: It's a VW New Beetle and its wrecked. A variety of fluids have pooled underneath, but it may just be from obvious radiator damage and oils that drained from prolonged inversion.

This is Oklahoma and there are no safety inspections. With some judiciously applied duct tape and a little StopLeak, I could probably get it back to Sam as a daily driver.

There are Gambler 500 groups in Ok, Ar, Mo, and Ks that all look like a reasonable distance to travel for an event. If I can make it marginally legal and semi-roadworthy without spending money this could be fun. At this point, it has nothing left to lose. It's going to have to sit for a while while I do seven days of 12 hour shifts. If the trashman doesn't haul it away I may have an update and a new thread to start next week. No promises.

That's some ugly distortion at the top of the passenger windshield.  Sunroof too. 

How big of tires do you think you can fit if you take off the fenders?

In reply to John Welsh :

I think a floor jack and a 2x4 will pop those right out.

You’re a good man. It sure seems like Sam needed you, and he appreciates you. 

Speedster time?

Pete Gossett said:

Speedster time?

+eleventeen

Today I met with Sam and had the title signed over. The car is now officially mine again. yay

What do I want to do with it now? Kill it. Kill it with Fire. But first, I'm going to have to make it roadworthy enough to run in a Gambler. The car owes me that much.

Should I start a new thread or just keep running-on here, post-epilogue?

Edit: I'm gonna need an Interstellar Sledgehammer sticker for the window.  ...If it has windows.

I have taken on some desperate cases, but this has even me smiling and shaking my head. Glad I'm not you, I guess.

This is the perfect place to continue logging it. "This is not a build thread," followed by build thread. Yay.

Here seems most appropriate to post the build. What's the plan? Install large mud terrains and trim accordingly?