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View Full Version : Old VW watercooler; should I?


Hee_Haw
02-18-2008, 08:52 AM
I'm reading about everyone's cool rides, and being a minister now, doesn't bring in the kinds of paychecks that are directly conducive to excess spending for automobiles, or performance parts.

Sometime today, it hit me. Here's the situation, and I ask for your "experienced" opinions.

Back in 1981, my dad bought a brand new, used, 1981 Volkswagen Scirocco "S". If you recall them (if you're old enough to remember), these were special edition cars with all-black paint, red trim, and alloy wheels. I don't recall if the watercooled engines were warmed-over with performance parts, but the car with it's 5-speed transmission definitely had more "oomph" than my dad's previous Scirocco, which was a '75 base model with an automatic.

The car stopped running sometime in 1995, at which time he became the owner of a Mitsubishi Montero (which he gave to my big brother), and ended up with a Jeep Grand Cherokee which he bought second-hand in 1997, and has been driving and keeping cherry ever since.

That Scirocco has been sitting in my dad's garage for 13 years. I think it might have back taxes going back about 8 years or so. I don't have a clue what's wrong; I might go and visit him again and check out the car. They were once pretty decent and reliable cars, classics (my dad was a brief member of the Vintage VW Club of America), and I think some people even raced them in Solo II back when it was cool.

Here is a picture of what one looks like (my dad's car is a bit sadder than this... and has flat tires in the garage.

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/c/c7/250px-Cosmos7x.jpg

I don't know if it's worth fixing up as a "play car"; not as much a blistering performance monster as something to tool around town in, and to have an old classic VW waterpumper running the streets again.

Opinions are welcome; even those in the negative. I never even thought about it until yesterday. I still have my '90 Civic I can fix up as a "play car", but too many ricers have those.

ArchangelX
02-18-2008, 08:59 AM
A scirocco? I'd rock that, hell yeah! They look great when tuned up! In fact, they're one of those classic cars that alot of people just seem to love! DOOOO IT!

You don't have to have alotta money, just some time and willingness to make it look nice again! :D

MasterFunk
02-18-2008, 09:24 AM
Gotta be better than most cars on the road today. One of my friends used to run solo II with one all the time, but I never got the chance to drive it. I just remember the rear tire being about 3ft. off the ground for most of the track. :belokan:

Kreggae
02-18-2008, 09:24 AM
+1 for the Scirocco. When I was in college, my friend drove one just like that (silver) with a cam, exhaust, Hurst shifter, suspension, GTI wheels, sport seats... it was a fun, rowdy Tantalus car (back when Tantalus was only slightly less dangerous than it is today).

If your dad knows watercooled VWs, find out from him what he thinks it'll take to get it running again, and see if you can source parts over the internet. There's all kinds of goodies for this car, but quite honestly, a modest suspension drop over a set of 16" wheels, tint, and maybe a headlight/foglight upgrade and mild exhaust setup would be SO old-school cool! Definitely will stand out in the ever-burgeoning sea of Hondas.

If the paint/body is still in good condition, let me know. I might be misty-eyed enough to want to give the 'Rocco a complimentary machine polishing, lol!

Kreggae
02-18-2008, 09:41 AM
I just remember the rear tire being about 3ft. off the ground for most of the track. :belokan:

That's got to be the most entertaining thing about thrashing older FWD VWs...

ikeyballz
02-18-2008, 11:10 AM
hey man, isnt that the old drift car that people used to compete it with the hatchi's? or is that some other old vw im thinking of... looks pretty nice tho :P

Act162this
02-18-2008, 11:27 AM
+1 more for the scirocco. there used to be some nice ones running around. al from al's tinting, iirc, had a really nice one back in the day. i think some of the speed tek guys had some, too (in addition to their rabbits/golfs).

corytomo
02-18-2008, 08:15 PM
8v motors are cheap, the car is great! I love scirrocos...

kombi731
02-18-2008, 09:12 PM
+1 do it
I think I got beat by one at Auto X *sigh

corytomo
02-19-2008, 07:40 AM
+1 do it
I think I got beat by one at Auto X *sigh

don't feel too bad... earl with the old scirocco is a really good driver, on race tires. even being in the rain, he's pretty fast.

idiosyncratic
02-19-2008, 08:37 AM
+1 for the veedub! Those are decent cars! Find out what's wrong and see if it's within your means... it would be great to see it back on the road again. It's too bad I didn't have the mean$ to restore a VW that was sitting at my sister's in-laws place; I wonder if it's still there. :really:

kombi731
02-19-2008, 10:47 AM
don't feel too bad... earl with the old scirocco is a really good driver, on race tires. even being in the rain, he's pretty fast.
yeah it was stripped out modded and he's dasiled :)
I like those and have driven them before. I like the VR6 Corrado too. few of those on the road