Passat GL5 & GL Saloon - Rust Fettlin

[Grundig]

Hi all, I've been on here for a few months now but have not officially said hello, so ..... Hello       

 

I have two shite cars lowering the tone of the neighbourhood in my care, though only one is fit for the road at the mo. The one in use is a 1986 VW Passat GL5 Hatchback (b2) . I bought it about three years ago off ebay when it had failed to attract any bids (under the influence of 1 or 2 Sunday beers I sent the seller a cheeky bid via ebay message) a few days later saw me heading off down the M6, a bit of horse trading, tyre kicking swapping paperwork & money later, saw me  heading up the M6 staring at the temp gauge & praying to the old car God "please make it home pls pls pls"  anyway we made it home & next day had a good look over it. - The Passat had been owned by lad over on the blue forum(here is his for sale thread) http://retrorides.proboards.com/thread/92634 As you can see by the RR link, it had come very close to being pineapple'd ! fortunately the seller had ran out of money/enthusiasm.

 

As bought 

 

The drivers seat looks dirty but it's not it's just because they are velour.

 

No - the interior was filthy - removed the seats, stripped them down & (when Mrs Grundig went to work) washed the seat material in the bath, they came up a treat & feel much better 

Beige & Brown interior 

Being a GL5 it has the 5cyl 10v engine 

I have been doing bits & bobs to it over the years, 1st off was to repair the electric drivers window, refitt the original springs (it had been lowered) & put it back on steelies (185/70 - 13's) The header tank that had split was replaced & the rusty water coolant was overdue a flush change. 

 

Cheers B

[RobT]

Beige interiors are always a WIN, welcome!

[eddyramrod]

All the right moves there, and, finally: welcome!

[Junkman]

Can I haz pics on steelies and 13"ers, plz?

[Grundig]

Can I haz pics on steelies and 13"ers, plz?

 

Yez m8 

 

 

[Shep Shepherd]

Welcome!

[Lankytim]

I've always really liked these Passats, it's bloody impossible to get one in good nick and at the right rice nowadays though! I managed to scratch my itch with an Audi 100 however.

[HMC]

Nice passat, Refreshing when having the springs done means that on on old VW!

[Grundig]

Can I haz pics on steelies and 13"ers, plz?

 

 

In '86' all the Passats in the range had the same wheels (except sport)  just the wheel trims changed as you went up the specification levels

[Angrydicky]

Excellent to see it put back to original condition

[Asimo]

Nice to see a Passat that isn't an estate, good colour too.

Is the rust finished cam cover a throwback to the car's brush with the scene or has the paint just honestly fallen off?

[Guest Breadvan72]

Coolio!  Those alloys on it when bought were goptastic!

[rml2345]

A (belated) welcome! Congrats on the Passat, it looks about 800 times better returned to standard.

[dollywobbler]

Fantastic. Think I remember seeing this for sale. Very glad it's been un-modified!

[Guest Breadvan72]

I looked at the RR thread.  Yikes!  How to buy a lovely old car from a nice old giffer, and turn it into a Mongmobile in no time at all.  Well done for saving it, Grundig!

[Grundig]

Thanks for all the comments & the interest guys

 

Is the rust finished cam cover a throwback to the car's brush with the scene or has the paint just honestly fallen off?

 

I think it was natural rusting on the cam cover - whenever I carry out any maintainance, the parts that get removed are given a bit of a refurb, cleaned, painted etc, so when the cam cover gasket was replaced the cover got a tidy up 

 

Grubby - Rusty

Tidy - Painted

 

 

I've always really liked these Passats, it's bloody impossible to get one in good nick and at the right rice nowadays though!

...   lol   Chinese ones  

[mercrocker]

Good save - Mrs R. had a Pisshat like this and forever tells me how  good it was.   Its all happening up the wrong end for  me but still very pleasing to see one back from the brink....

[lisbon_road]

Great car and good work done.  I pressure wash seats in the garden to clean them up with some upholstery cleaner.  (Or once on a particularly manky 306 just washed 'em in the car). 

[r.welfare]

These cars have the best engine note ever (I owned a 2144cc Audi). Lovely Passat.

[fordperv]

Well done for saving it from pineapple hell

[pandamonium]

I like it. I loved my dad's one, a 1.6 auto estate, a bit older DHV850V IIRC.

 

Like this but blue

 

[Grundig]

As mentioned before the Passat had been hit with a lowering stick by the previous owner, however he'd kept the old springs & included them with the sale. I dont like the way it looks or rides on lowered springs so, set about refitting the old springs, putting it back the way the VW plant in Emden intended.

 

 

I ran it like this for a while but I still wasn't too happy with the way the rear end sat, (still seemed to sit low - like the boot was loaded) my local factor supplied new KYB springs & the internet turned up a pair of LIP shockabsorbers at a good price.

Replacement starts with removing luggage area trim

 

 

 

That is fastened using these funny 10mm nuts/clips 

 

 

With that removed it allows access to the top mount nut (17mm) which was loosened off

 

 

Car jacked up, wheel off & bottom mount bolt removed (17mm) ( I place a small bottle jack under the axle/arm to take the weight) Remove top nut & bottom bolt, lower the bottle jack & remove the shock/spring Assembly

 

 

 

The old & new - the old spring was shorter by about 1-2"  

 

 

The turret / spring seat looks solid up there - no corrosion

The spring seats & rubber top mounts were all as new so reused - refitting is in reversal as they say

 

 

Cheers B

[michael t]

Quality stuff, good to see an 80s VW that hasn't been brutally molested by the pineapple brigade

[vulgalour]

Unmodifying a VW is about as Autoshite as it gets.  Bonus points for interesting model and engine.  Bonus-extra points for that interior.

[Split_Pin]

Welcome along. I love the mega fruity exhaust note of these, a classmates mum had a silver estate version. Beautifully corrosion free in the strut mounts too, would put most other cars to shame.

[fordperv]

Excellent, you are an antiscene warrior good on you for hitting it with the raising stick

[Grundig]

Whilst the trim in the boot was out I was able to remove these side trims from around the side glass (two x-head screws & push fit clips) for cleaning.

 

 

This isn't a pic of two crows sharing a four finger Kit Kat, it's to show the grubbiness that beige trim attracts in 28 years

 

 

A quick scrub in soapy water (washing up liquid is my weapon of choice) had them looking like new 

 

 

All the trim refitted & back to looking like a car again 

 

[Junkman]

OMG how clean and tidy you work. When I do something like this, the area looks like an oil tanker was torpedoed.

[Bren]

This reminds me - I have new e post covers and speaker covers that need fitting to my SD1.

 

My mother in law did an expert job of recovering the e post covers - what them tear the first time I open the tailgate.

[Grundig]

 

These are the Volkswagen Audi dealer plates on my Passat, they match the tax disc holder, "Edwards of Tamworth" - 'ON' is a Birmingham registration - The address for Edwards is Coleshill Road, Fazeley, does anyone remember them ??

 

 

The Passat came to me with an old tin (AA) full of receipts, now although I think the car was bought new from Edwards, all the dealer service history is by a VAG dealer in Nuneaton, which fits in with the original owners home address  

 

 

This VAG dealer - Riversley Garage, Edward St, Nuneaton (which I think is now a vets clinic "PAWS") https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=edward+st+nuneaton&ll=52.516364,-1.46867&spn=0.007665,0.020428&client=opera&oe=utf-8&channel=suggest&hnear=Edward+St&gl=uk&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=52.516193,-1.468496&panoid=a2S3jBDa--xOefDgWevTNQ&cbp=12,225,,0,0

carried out all the servicing, that is until Mr Godfrey received this mail shot from an ex employee who was starting up on his own - Nuneaton Volkswagen Services, all the receipts from then on are from this new enterprise

 

 

 

The AA membership tin also had these AA leaflets & a Christmas card