1987 VW Cabriolet Karmann?

Current owner says head gasket or head busted. Body is rust free, Interior maybe 4 of 10. My experience is with old GM products or British Iron. VW is cheap enough to turn into a planter but solid enough to drive. How much money would I have to shovel into this hole to fill it up?

TRoglodyte wrote: Current owner says head gasket or head busted. Body is rust free, Interior maybe 4 of 10. My experience is with old GM products or British Iron. VW is cheap enough to turn into a planter but solid enough to drive. How much money would I have to shovel into this hole to fill it up?

Older VW's like an 87 are actually pretty reliable. My wife had an 88 Cabriolet and it was a great car. Get a new 2.0L drop it in. The interior might be a little tougher. I assume that you need Rabbit parts. They would be tough due to age.

Head gasket's about $20, bolts another 20-30, and if the head is scrap, they're generally very inexpensive (like $100-150 inexpensive).

If the body is indeed solid, do it!

Knurled wrote: Head gasket's about $20, bolts another 20-30, and if the head is scrap, they're generally very inexpensive (like $100-150 inexpensive). If the body is indeed solid, do it!

Are heads plenteous, or hard to find? Current owner drove car to location at pawn shop. VWorst case scenario?

There are tons of those heads in every junkyard you go in (at least here). You will need some special tools (timing belt tensioner, triple square bits, etc) to replace the head or the gasket. And, whatever you do, dont use auto parts store junk parts, there are places online that sell OEM stuff cheap, or get it at the dealer. If you want a car you can shop at napa/autozone/kragens etc for parts, dont buy a vw.

I buy stuff for my VW's here: http://www.autohausaz.com/

is the Karmann a more desirable/collectible model? car has 167,000 miles.

All Cabriolet bodies were made by Karmann, so it's pretty much the same as any other Cabriolet, just some had more Karmann badges than others.

What he said ^.

As others have indicated, the mechanicals are easy-peasy, cheap and plentiful. The soft parts - not so much. Replacing the top can get pricy fast. Carpets, rear door cards, rear seats are Cabriolet specific. Window scrapers are unobtanium, as far as I know.

Check the floors. Like most ragtops, leaky tops result in water pooling under the carpets.

yes.. the early mk1 and mk2 vws were dead stone reliable.. the Cabriolet counts as a Mk1

For what it's worth - I was finding reman heads on eBay for $100-150, not used.

Thanks very much for the info, What else should be done while the head is off ? Timing belt, etc?

if you are going through all the work to pull the head.. I would definaly NOT reuse the old timing belt. Spend the few bucks it takes to get a new one.

I would look into replacing any and all hoses you can find that would ordinarily be hidden beneath the intake

One important fact. The tops seals for rabbit convertibles have been NLA since about 1993 when production of the car stopped.

These cars leak and there is no good way to stop it. You can always identify the cabriolet drivers by their wet left knees.

86 and 87 were very good years for the convertible. JH motor, front and rear sway bars. Pretty much a rabbit GTI without a roof.

TRoglodyte wrote: Thanks very much for the info, What else should be done while the head is off ? Timing belt, etc?

Spend the $10 for the timing belt and $15 for the water pump while you have the head off...

Make sure to check part numbers when ordering from autohausaz. Their application lookup listings have many mistakes and they aren't willing to fix it. Returns are a big hassle there, so just save yourself the trouble and check part numbers in etka (as in at the dealer) before you order.