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A Desert Swallowtail flies East. 1974 Rabbit project from Nevada to PA.

18K views 46 replies 36 participants last post by  35i 2000 
#1 · (Edited)


Some of the mk1 community will know that I've wanted a Swallowtail properly in my life for a while. Okay, for a long time. My wish list included:


  • 2 Door only
  • Not bodily molested. OEM+ okay.
  • 1st Choice - Lofoton Green
  • 2nd Choice - ..Orange..
  • 3rd Choice - Any other colour.


So long story short, while we were driving out to the Wuste show in Las Vegas, NV this summer I planned a additional 400 mile detour on to the furthest part of the trip to check out / collect a early Swallowtail there. It had recently been pulled out of the north Nevada desert by a couple of decent guys out there, where it has supposedly sat for the last decade or two. Other than that, I didn't know much, other than unfortunately the windshield and hood were both trashed and some pieces had gone missing. Still, I was pretty excited about a West Coast swallow..

Long story short, (and for the slightly longer but still abridged and raw version of my notes, check out the November issue of PVW for a couple of pages about the journey), we hooked the car up to the back of the Sprinter with the A-Frame that I imported from Europe, bought a couple of new tires at Walmart for it, and towed it just under 3,000 miles back home.

On the way we stopped by the Bonneville Salt Flats, but it was too wet to make a top speed run unfortunately. We then gave the Swallowtail it's first wash in years shortly afterwards, to remove the salt we'd collected and some of the grime that it had collected over the years..








So now that the show season is pretty much over and some of my other cars are doing okay, I'm trying to get the car sorted out a bit. At least get it all locked down for the winter and do some of the easier and fun stuff.

The Rabbit was made in 11/74 (of course sold as a 1975 model year) and the last five of the VIN are 09259. It's mostly all there, and a lot of the parts that are trashed I have in my hoard of parts (although I'm still missing some key pieces).

Everything on the inside or outside that could be affected by the heat has been. Again and again. The windows on the inside are coated in a gross coat of thick dirt. For some reason the headliner etc hasn't been touched and looks perfect.

Most of this dirt is on the inside:



At some point, I guess a long time ago, someone tried to seal up the heat cracked seals with caulk of some kind. It didn't work very well, but it did leave a nice mess...



There's a decent amount of dents/dings, and the car or large sections had a repaint with a surprisingly matching coat. I think this was done a long time ago as it's patina and wear is pretty substantial. Overspray on the bumper shocks..



Barely a wash, and no corrosion marks under the hatch at all.



Where the paint was scratched/dented/smashed off, it's starting to get a thin layer of rust. Now that it's on the East Coast I want to stop this ASAP obviously..



Starting to peel away the horribly cracked and dried windshield seal. I have never seen a seal split so badly. There's gap almost an inch big at several points where it's shrunk that badly.



Windshield removed. The trade off for a nice body out of the desert is that everything else is destroyed. I'd almost like to keep the dashboard in the car (but I'm not going to). I think it's likely going to turn to dust when I go to remove it..









:heart:
 
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#24 ·
I love my Nevada Rabbit (76), and wish you luck with yours. A great project!
Ian
Do you have a super hi-res photo of this? The yellow on yellow lights is just relaxing. Like looking at that rabbit!
 
#20 ·
Thanks everyone!

No updates currently as I'm working in Europe right now but I'll be back soon and plan to get cracking on the project over the quieter winter months. I've got a ton of cool and rare bits waiting to go the car, which I'm happy to add survived Hurricane Sandy just fine.

For some more coverage on the car in the meantime there's a fun little two page feature in this months PVW which talks about the car and it's journey. :)

I'll update more when I'm back and working on it!
 
#21 ·
Now that I'm back home and it's cold outside, there's a chance to work on the engine and the gathered parts for the Swallowtail..

The engine that I want to use is a 20 valve engine, but the factory non-turbo version. Just like a normal 1.8T swap, we started with removing the stock tensioner to get to the mounting points, and replaced with it a 16v setup.

I then got a engine mount from Josh at Nothing Leaves Stock which is for a standard 1.8T/TDI etc into a mk1, but it didn't quite line up to the European market engine..



The top edge needed to be taken down a few millimetres and the bolt holes massaged slightly.. I do like the construction method used for welding up the mount - I could have made it in-house, but not that neatly for sure, and the price is pretty decent too.



Into which will be slid some very nice and not-officially-released-(yet?) motor mounts from BFI. I'm super stoked to try them, with how perfectly and easily they fit, and most of all about the super subtle colour. Seriously, I love the inserts and the guys down there too.



There's a lot to remove or shave on the motor, so Joe who works with me cut/smoothed/welded up a couple of points on the coolant distribution pipe that won't be needed (he's been helping a ton) :



and also on the only bracket that's going to be used.. No P/S, A/C, etc of course, but more on this later as there's some more fabrication to be done before it'll all be about to mount up:



Test fitting various parts, and using Instagram (xjamiexoe):



More Instagrams - the exhaust manifold for a 20V without a turbo..:



That's it on the engine so far, lots more to be done..:wave:
 
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