1976 Sunshine Yellow Scirocco TS

[tassie_euro_mk1]

Looking great Tim! Really love the Mk1 siroccos and you have a fine example there. I like the direction of modifying you have chosen too. Twin carbs are awesome and addictive. Definitely my best and happiest purchase for all things VW. Keep it up

[Tim]

small update.
well the club reg thing was a bit of a dead end it seems. Since im a PIARC member I was going to get them to sign off on the car being "safe to drive" but it seems the guy they have in charge of inspecting the cars has retired and doesnt have access to a hoist anymore. They suggested I jsut get a roadworthy cert on the car which is the other option for getting club reg.... But if im doing that then maybe just full registration will be the go..

Anyways... off to the mechanic who had a heard attack at the weber dcoe carb hanging off the back of the engine so i did a mini rebuild on the old carb.. Its more driveable on the stock carby.. Just a bit more responsive down low. The stock Zenith 2B carb is a pretty complex little unit but its nice to now have an understanding of how it works.. The issue it had when I picked the car up was a failing accelerator pump. It doesnt have the standard diaphragm operated setup. It has a linkage operated valve that feeds from a secondary bowl. The main issue apart from a few vac leaks was the rear bowls float level was set so far out that it was completely dry! A quick adjustment of the float level and a tune has it running pretty nicely now with all the original stuff. (no doubt once the car is on the road this will change pretty quickly though )

Second challenge was the inspector had a second heart attack at the rust spot on the front guard. Non structural rust is not supposed to be a problem but I think vicroads have the inspectors so scared of losing their licences that he wasnt willing to budge. Anyways I have a guard in perfect condition that im going to throw on anyways so i decided to put that on.. Solves the rust issue..

Now whilst the guard is off i figured I might as well address a few of the common scirocco issues.. Due to the way the seam sealer is applied water tends to seep under the rubber bonnet supports and then they rust from the inside out.. I started digging around a little and indeed i found some rust starting to form under sections of the seam sealer that looked in perfect condition. Im in the process of slowly stripping it back but I guess ill bring it back bare just to make sure its all good.. Seal it with POR15 and then hit it with some new seam sealer.. Heres a couple of pics to give an idea.. Looks like ive caught it just in time.

[Tim]

at this stage im just going to put a stop to any further degradation of the car but its looking more like she will need a full respray in the not too distant future

[Jarred]

yay full respray!

[Tim]

Took the old girl in for a roadworthy inspection the other day. The old school mechanic that looked at the car fell in love. He was amazed at how well she goes for a little buzz box too.

Anyways the list was pretty short.

3 tyres are bald
one upper strut mount is collapsed and needs to be replaced
windscreen wiper blade needs replacing
windscreen washers not working
reverse lights not working
And the one thing I was not looking forward to The windscreen is pretty badly sand blasted and has some massive scratches from the wiper having a mind of its own.

Not bad for a 35 year old car. Although I have put countless hours into cleaning her up mechanically.

So yeah.. took me about 30 minutes to rectify all the problems except the windscreen. No-one in Australia is able to help out so I turned to Germany. Classic Parts Center are a pretty slick operation. They replied to my emails with a quote and are able to ship me a screen at an extremely competitive price so hopefully once she arrives ill be able to get her in and on the road!

Todays fun was removing the old windscreen. Given how hard they are to source I decided to make sure it come out in one piece using the old paddle pop stick method. Worked a treat. Ill be able to put it aside in case I ever need an emergency screen.

The old seal is a little hard on the outside but its still serviceable. I havent found anywhere that sells a replacement new one just yet so I might just reuse it for now. The screen will eventually have to come out again anyways in the not too distant future so ill look into replacing it then.

As with most of the rust ive found on the car so far it seems to be a case of catching it just in time before it becomes a real problem. Will just clean it up and reseal it for now so it doesnt get any worse.

[Jarred]

Great news Timmeh!

[roccodingo]

Got new seals here, with groove for trim or grooveless or you can get direct from my good friend Randy at VR.Your Source For Hard To Find VW Porsche & Datsun Z-Car Seals and Weather Stripping

[Golf Loon]

Car Looks OK Tim. I can get new screen in Oz, but you need to lie to the windscreen people and tell em its for a 1991-1993 Convertable
Then all is achieveable.
I also have a used Cabrio one here that is sweet as.
Good luck with the Mk1 disease.

[Tim]

Got new seals here, with groove for trim or grooveless or you can get direct from my good friend Randy at VR.Your Source For Hard To Find VW Porsche & Datsun Z-Car Seals and Weather Stripping

Thanks for the heads up. I had seen that vintage rubber site before. Most of the rubbers seem pretty good for the cars age but when I finally start thinking about paint no doubt some will need replacing.

Car Looks OK Tim. I can get new screen in Oz, but you need to lie to the windscreen people and tell em its for a 1991-1993 Convertable
Then all is achieveable.
I also have a used Cabrio one here that is sweet as.
Good luck with the Mk1 disease.

Thats interesting Matt. Are you saying the screens are the same or that you can dodgy up a cabriolet one into a mk1 rocco?
Its too late now anyways as ive already put in the order for the genuine screen. The price was pretty good anyways so im not really paying much of a premium even after shipping.

A few of my friends had mk1s back when we were young and stupid. I dont plan on growing old gracefully

[Water Boy]

When this is finished you owe me a drive of it Tim.