Driveaxle Tools and Turbo

87KarmannCab · Post by **87KarmannCab** » Mon Aug 30, 2004 8:35 am

My 87 Cabriolet has been in storage for two years. This past weekend I finally had the chance to pull it out and start rebuilding the engine to address the oi leaks that put it in storage in the first place. I ended up having to drop the engine to the floor and raise the car over the engine to get the engine out because I couldn't get one of the axles off of the driveaxle. Where can I get the 21 point bit socket that fits into those bolts??? I've tried a number of places online but haven't had any luck.

Also, since I have the engine out, I am thinking of putting a turbo on. Is this something I can do without a pro? Do you have any suggestions on which is the best deal? Also, what kind of performance increase could I expect? Are there any downfalls?

Sorry for the list of questions, but I really want to get the car back into shape. Any answers, advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

sixsracing · Post by **sixsracing** » Mon Aug 30, 2004 9:30 am

The tool is available at just about any parts store or Sears. The help just doesn't know what it is. It is an 8mm serrated wrench. You can get them in allen wrench form shaped like an "L" or in 3/8" socket form. I suggest the latter. Mine came from MAC tool but I have bought them at Advance Auto Parts and Auto Zone also. You may as well pick up a 13mm as well, you are going to need it to get the head off. The turbo question is a little sticky, I don't know your technical level so it's hard to judge the D.I.Y. probability. If you do an Internet search on "turbo cabriolet" you will come up with quite a few informative articles. From my research I have not come up with a "best solution" for turbo installation. It seems everybody has an opinion and method and a lot of them seem to work. Balance your need for speed with your need to eat and match the cost with what's left over. I will most likely be doing a turbo in the next two years or so, but mines a digifant injection and won't help you much. Good luck.

87KarmannCab · Post by **87KarmannCab** » Fri Sep 24, 2004 11:21 pm

I got the serrated wrenches from Snap-on. Thanks! After waiting for 3 weeks, the parts finally came in to reassemble the engine. Do not deal with expressautoparts.com!! It took three weeks to receive the shipment and I payed $50 extra for express delivery. The company is completely uncontactable. They do not have a phone number and they don't reply to emails. Express my ass!!

I am scrapping the turbo idea for now. It's more expensive than I thought, and I think it would be advantageous to swap engines in the future instead of turboing this one.

Be prepared for more questions as we try to get this engine back together this weekend. It's been so long see we took it apart, I'm sure we'll forget some things.

Also, I want to get seats that are lower so I can fit my 6'4" body in there a little better. Any suggestions?

PDX Cabby · Post by **PDX Cabby** » Fri Sep 24, 2004 11:54 pm

as far as seats go, any "height adjustable" seat is what you're looking for

cars that came with these seats (and bolt right up in just minutes:
-16v Scirocco
-16v GTI/GLI (87-92)

the most popular are the ones from 89 GLIs and 90-02 GTIs/GLIs
these are Recaro seats with large bolsters to hold you in the turns. The 90-92s are grey velour and the 89 GLIs are often refered to as "trophy recaros" with black bolsters and a grey insert

the rest (sciroccos and early 16v A2s) have larger than stock bolsters (thought not as large as the recaros) and are height adjustable...

I found that with my stock seats my head would just barely touch the headliner (i'm 6' even). I have 1987 16v GTI seats right now, and a swear someone 7' tall could sit in the drivers seat easily when i've got the seat fully lowered.

Good Luck!!

edit: as far as the turbo project goes, lemme know. I've been planning on going with boost for almost a year now. Once i get started i plan on doing the whole deal for approx. $1200 with all new parts (asside from the intercooler)

Post by **kuklaki** » Sat Sep 25, 2004 12:35 am

It's a convertible, man...just drop the top and you'll never have to worry about no headroom.

Just kidding!
I agree on the recommended seats. The Scirocco seats would be great, Calimus found a *mint* set of leather rocco seats in the junkyard for a shamefully low price (about $50). I mean, not a crack or a tear anywhere, and very little wear on the drivers side.
Meanwhile, his old cloth seats are sitting in our garage. I really wanted to put them in my car but will not be doing so for two reasons:
1. I am short so I will have the opposite problem as you guys-look like a little kid driving and wont be able reach anything
2. Trying to keep the Cabby as stock as possible, with only subtle upgrades. Changing out the seats is a bit obvious.

PDX Cabby · Post by **PDX Cabby** » Sat Sep 25, 2004 12:55 am

not to plant any ideas to make the man work more.. .but... you can use your existing upholstery to recover the scirocco seats you have laying around. Also, i do believe that my 87 16v seats sit a bit taller when all the way up then my old stock cabby seats did......

Post by **kuklaki** » Sat Sep 25, 2004 1:14 am

Once again, you have proven a wealth of information. I had no idea that the stock Cabby upholstry would fit the 16V seats.
Unfortunately for me, the driver side hip bolster is split and not repairable, according to my upholstry guy. He also said that he could not get the OEM fabric anymore.
Thus I have kept the seat covers on. It is a shame that there is the tear, since the fabric itself has most likely never been touched by a single butt. There is not a single stain or discoloration anywhere.
I was hoping to eventually score a find of the same seats somewhere-with at least the bolster being salvageable-either the driver side or passenger side to reverse and sew on.
Perhaps I will get lucky someday, or will break down and just reupholster in grey tweed.

PDX Cabby · Post by **PDX Cabby** » Sat Sep 25, 2004 1:21 am

tsk tsk

http://www.vwupholstery.com
http://www.jbugs.com
http://www.vwinteriorsandtops.com

VWUphostery dot com i've not heard anything good or bad about

jbugs everyone raves about

vwinteriors and tops... i've heard 1 review about. Said that communication was poor that the end product was PERFECT

don't tell me that the upholstery is unavailable

Post by **kuklaki** » Sat Sep 25, 2004 3:13 am

thanks for the links, yeah, the VW upholstry kits he uses, but the specific and original fabric is what he cannot get-they used so many, that all those crazy patterns are not available. So it will be the VW grey tweed that will be the replacement unless I get lucky enough to find my material on an exact set.
Eventually I will, and there is a source near here that has every seat ever offered, the thing is the guy who owns the place is a real jackass and I would rather not deal with him unless I am desperate.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Sep 26, 2004 12:27 am

Any specific ideas on where I can get some height adjustable seats? I've checked out ebay and some other sites with little success. I don't care too much about the condition as I will probably reupholster in leather.

Thanks

Post by **Calimus** » Sun Sep 26, 2004 1:16 am

Height adjustable seats came on 16v Scirocco's, "Botique" trim level 88-89 cabriolet's and in Corrado's. Your better off looking for the first two as I'm not sure how well a raddo seat would work in the cabby.

PDX Cabby · Post by **PDX Cabby** » Sun Sep 26, 2004 1:50 pm

oh, yeah, forgot a bout corrado seats
they'll work just fine

16v equipped vehicles should have height adjustable seats. these include 16v Sciroccos, Golf GTIs and Jetta GLIs. Passat 16v seats will not work without major modification. The Hot Tickets are later GTIs (90-92) and GLIs (89-92) with recaro bucket seats

fuzzie · Post by **fuzzie** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 7:26 pm

Some later year cabby's have them....driver side anyway. My mom's '92 has them.

Jeff

CalAltaDubber · Post by **CalAltaDubber** » Tue Sep 28, 2004 2:41 pm

fuzzie wrote:Some later year cabby's have them....driver side anyway. My mom's '92 has them.

Jeff

My '87 has one (was an option) driver side only.

87KarmannCabb · Post by **87KarmannCabb** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 9:13 am

Thank you all for your advice. I went with a pair of Scirocco seats from a vw junk yard in Harrisburg PA. I am picking them up on Friday and haven't seen them yet. He is only charging me $100 for the pair so it will be interesting to see how they look.

Otherwise, we got the engine back in the car on Saturday. When we added the radiator fluid we discovered that we forgot the thermostat o-ring and by that time it was too late to replace and I had to head back to Philadelphia. Hopefully, we will get everything running this weekend!

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