I just picked up a 1987 Cabriolet. Auto trans. Seems to run and shift well. What suggestions for a new owner? What kind of MPG's? Is regular gas OK? I tend to be a maintenence by the book fanatic. There were no books and records. What is a good idea to look at right away. It will sit in the driveway except for testing and safety inspection to make it legal. Then when the important intervels are done, it will start being driven.
I had been wanting a top down vehicle that did not cost a fortune to buy and run, and could be used for trips. How is club support?
thanks,
John Gregg
New 87 Cabriolet owner
Moderators: kamzcab86, CalAltaDubber
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kuklaki
- Admin Type Person
- Posts: 1253
- Joined: Thu Aug 29, 2002 4:11 pm
- What year is your cabby?: 1989
- Location: Cartersville, Ga
- Contact:
Hi John. First and foremost....WELCOME and congrats on the new Cabby 
You can get a complete writeup of what to go over on http://www.cabbyinfo.com
Much easier than typing it all here. But should you have any specific questions, we'll do the best we can on answering them. Oh, and be sure to pick up the Cabriolet Bible...aka Bentley manual. You'll be glad you did.
You can get a complete writeup of what to go over on http://www.cabbyinfo.comMuch easier than typing it all here. But should you have any specific questions, we'll do the best we can on answering them. Oh, and be sure to pick up the Cabriolet Bible...aka Bentley manual. You'll be glad you did.
2nd 89 Cabriolet 8v (Crabby Cabby)
01 Jetta GLX (bun warmer)
87 Scirocco 16v (TWINS!)
71 Karmann Ghia (air sucker)
03 New Beetle turbo S (black widow)
01 Suzuki SV650 (go nekkid)
01 Jetta GLX (bun warmer)
87 Scirocco 16v (TWINS!)
71 Karmann Ghia (air sucker)
03 New Beetle turbo S (black widow)
01 Suzuki SV650 (go nekkid)
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CalAltaDubber
- Frozen Guy in the Northern Country
- Posts: 2012
- Joined: Thu Aug 12, 2004 11:10 pm
- What year is your cabby?: 1987
- Do you own a Cabriolet?: Yes
- Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
- Contact:
Hi John,
Welcome to TRF!
Hope you enjoy driving your Bunny. Mine is an '87 as well. Still a great car to drive.
When you get a chance, you should post a picture of the car in the 1st Annual Topless Meet viewtopic.php?t=1231. I'd love to see it.
Welcome to TRF!
Hope you enjoy driving your Bunny. Mine is an '87 as well. Still a great car to drive.
When you get a chance, you should post a picture of the car in the 1st Annual Topless Meet viewtopic.php?t=1231. I'd love to see it.
Phil
'87 Cabriolet, "Topless Bunny"
'88 Cabriolet, "Posh Bunny"
'04 Golf
'12 Golf Wagon TDI
'69 Manx type Dune Buggy (New Toy)
'87 Cabriolet, "Topless Bunny"
'88 Cabriolet, "Posh Bunny"
'04 Golf
'12 Golf Wagon TDI
'69 Manx type Dune Buggy (New Toy)
Thanks for the helpful advice. This certainly going to be a fun car.
There are alot of rabbits in the local salvage yards. It looks like a timing belt kit and motor mounts to start. The car has a little over 100K miles. Then get the rest of the intervals up to date. Any favorite suppliers on the net?
thanks,
John Gregg
There are alot of rabbits in the local salvage yards. It looks like a timing belt kit and motor mounts to start. The car has a little over 100K miles. Then get the rest of the intervals up to date. Any favorite suppliers on the net?
thanks,
John Gregg
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thingmon
- Posts: 68
- Joined: Fri Mar 17, 2006 11:30 am
- Do you own a Cabriolet?: Yes
- Location: Houston
- Contact:
Welcome aboard. Autos seem to be prone to hot start issues. May be the ignition switch or may need a relay installed. I'll add links...
Probably obvious to you, but if it sat for a while, a good cooling system flush may be in order and possibly a gas tank cleanout as well.
I hate to list all the stuff I've replaced over the last few years...
top, exhaust manifold, fuel pumps (there are two), injectors, injector lines, struts, CV shafts, muffler, timing belt, A/C compressor...
Geez, no wonder I haven't had any $$ left over for a "build up"!
Enjoy.
Probably obvious to you, but if it sat for a while, a good cooling system flush may be in order and possibly a gas tank cleanout as well.
I hate to list all the stuff I've replaced over the last few years...
top, exhaust manifold, fuel pumps (there are two), injectors, injector lines, struts, CV shafts, muffler, timing belt, A/C compressor...
Geez, no wonder I haven't had any $$ left over for a "build up"!
Enjoy.
Last edited by thingmon on Sun Jun 18, 2006 9:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
It is amzing what sometimes comes out of a coolant flush. More often then not quite abit of rust and dirt. I definately plan to flush the the 87 Cabriolet. We recently flushed my daughter's 84 Saab 900 Turbo she bought without records. It was the first flush we had done to a newly bought car that came our clean. So another 3 years for that one.
As far many kinds of parts, I never expected to grow up and have "Pick and Pull" be a favorite place to go and be known as a regular customer.
Dallas has quite a few water cooled VW's in some of the local yards.
It does not look like thier much aggressive competition for the parts.
I need to check if thier is an active local club. I have been a Mercedes club member for a long time. When we went to the local auction we after a 1992 Mercedes that looked good from 50 feet, but not so nice up close and turned out to have an undesirable engine. Then we saw the 87 Cabriolet in the area where the auction expects little interest. looking at it carefully suggested it would be a good car, and had been cared for; but needed some parts hunting and repairs. It looks like an over the road and club level car without breaking the bank or taking extreme amounts of time.
John
As far many kinds of parts, I never expected to grow up and have "Pick and Pull" be a favorite place to go and be known as a regular customer.
Dallas has quite a few water cooled VW's in some of the local yards.
It does not look like thier much aggressive competition for the parts.
I need to check if thier is an active local club. I have been a Mercedes club member for a long time. When we went to the local auction we after a 1992 Mercedes that looked good from 50 feet, but not so nice up close and turned out to have an undesirable engine. Then we saw the 87 Cabriolet in the area where the auction expects little interest. looking at it carefully suggested it would be a good car, and had been cared for; but needed some parts hunting and repairs. It looks like an over the road and club level car without breaking the bank or taking extreme amounts of time.
John
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thingmon
- Posts: 68
- Joined: Fri Mar 17, 2006 11:30 am
- Do you own a Cabriolet?: Yes
- Location: Houston
- Contact:
The Cabby owner is a rare breed down here. Mk1's are few and far between. There are 5 or 6 among the various Houston Clubs.
As I mentioned, http://www.europeanag.com may be a good bet for local watercooled info. Although they tend to lean more towards Mk3 & 4's (and Houston/Austin). For Dallas - http://www.vdubaddiction.com may be better (doesn't seem to be working at the moment). Also, there is a Dallas GTG site on the http://www.vwvortex.com: http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=1904905
The Dallas Aircoolers (http://www.dallasaircoolers.com) have the occasional post too.
Almost forgot, I had a battery blow up too... That was fun
As I mentioned, http://www.europeanag.com may be a good bet for local watercooled info. Although they tend to lean more towards Mk3 & 4's (and Houston/Austin). For Dallas - http://www.vdubaddiction.com may be better (doesn't seem to be working at the moment). Also, there is a Dallas GTG site on the http://www.vwvortex.com: http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=1904905
The Dallas Aircoolers (http://www.dallasaircoolers.com) have the occasional post too.
Almost forgot, I had a battery blow up too... That was fun
thanks Dave,
Those are some incredible links. I hope you did not see the batter blow up? Acid is mean stuff. I sometimes use it on HVAC condensate drains. But learned the hard way to clear the drain using other means, then sometimes put the acid in after it is already flowing again. How did the battery blow up.
John
1987 Cabriolet
Those are some incredible links. I hope you did not see the batter blow up? Acid is mean stuff. I sometimes use it on HVAC condensate drains. But learned the hard way to clear the drain using other means, then sometimes put the acid in after it is already flowing again. How did the battery blow up.
John
1987 Cabriolet
I live in SW Dallas. Most of the yards are in SW Dallas county or South Dallas. We hit quite a few as I am an avid car collector, so have a lo9ng list of items to look for. The National Chain "Pick N Pull" has an outlet near West Davis and Loop 12, very good Euro car section, plenty of VW's.
Nice people will run. Nearby on West Jefferson there is Awesome, local owners great prices, lowest in town. Awesome will cut body parts for you too. Down the street is a yard owned by Bahia people, Really good stuff.
Reasonable prices, but ask before pulling. I was quoted $150 for a Mercedes 190D engine and trans late on a Sunday. Son and pal went to pull a few days later. Price had went up to $250. Son told them he was there when dad was offered $150. They started laughing and said OK, $150 is fine. Then pulled it. Al's two locations are good in SE Dallas, as far as product goes. but the people running it now are less then pleasant. But they still make the short list of yards based on product. "Pick and Pull" recently started an outlet in Fort Worth. We plan to visit. It should be nice. the lady that runs much of it knows us as a regular customer from the Dallas outlet. These are some of the best know yards in the area. From time to time someone tells me of other yards. I can usually find what we want at these. Feel free to email me at ajaguar@aol.com when you will be in the area. We shop often but still sometimes miss things like good Porsche 944 engines that are gone in a few days or hours. Our specialty is Mercedes diesels and gas sixes. Daughter recently bought a Saab 900 turbo, because we knew who gets Saabs. Knowing quite a few water cooled VWs are in the local yards was a factor in buying the 87 Cabriolet.
regards,
John
1987 Cabriolet
Nice people will run. Nearby on West Jefferson there is Awesome, local owners great prices, lowest in town. Awesome will cut body parts for you too. Down the street is a yard owned by Bahia people, Really good stuff.
Reasonable prices, but ask before pulling. I was quoted $150 for a Mercedes 190D engine and trans late on a Sunday. Son and pal went to pull a few days later. Price had went up to $250. Son told them he was there when dad was offered $150. They started laughing and said OK, $150 is fine. Then pulled it. Al's two locations are good in SE Dallas, as far as product goes. but the people running it now are less then pleasant. But they still make the short list of yards based on product. "Pick and Pull" recently started an outlet in Fort Worth. We plan to visit. It should be nice. the lady that runs much of it knows us as a regular customer from the Dallas outlet. These are some of the best know yards in the area. From time to time someone tells me of other yards. I can usually find what we want at these. Feel free to email me at ajaguar@aol.com when you will be in the area. We shop often but still sometimes miss things like good Porsche 944 engines that are gone in a few days or hours. Our specialty is Mercedes diesels and gas sixes. Daughter recently bought a Saab 900 turbo, because we knew who gets Saabs. Knowing quite a few water cooled VWs are in the local yards was a factor in buying the 87 Cabriolet.
regards,
John
1987 Cabriolet
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gull
- Posts: 817
- Joined: Sun Feb 19, 2006 6:30 pm
- What year is your cabby?: 1989
- Do you own a Cabriolet?: Yes
- Location: Auburn, WA
- Contact:
If it's got a lot of miles on it and it's never had motor mounts done, you'll be amazed at the difference. I sure was. I thought these cars were just buzzy by nature, but with new motor mounts all the dash rattles and mirror shake from engine vibration went away.
VW fan who fell to the Honda side of the force
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thingmon
- Posts: 68
- Joined: Fri Mar 17, 2006 11:30 am
- Do you own a Cabriolet?: Yes
- Location: Houston
- Contact:
Ah, a connoisseur of pick-a-pulls. Will definately look you up on my next visit. I'll probably be up there in July.
I think my motor mounts are going too. I replaced the injectors and that helped smooth the idle alot but now I have a clunking noise that rears its ugly head when I start off from a standing stop and the vibration (albeit milder) has returned.
Always something....
I think my motor mounts are going too. I replaced the injectors and that helped smooth the idle alot but now I have a clunking noise that rears its ugly head when I start off from a standing stop and the vibration (albeit milder) has returned.
Always something....