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The 1977 VanDamme Rally Rabbit "Official Thread"

26K views 64 replies 22 participants last post by  DanielSL 
#1 · (Edited)
i figured i might as well make the official thread for my 1977 Vandamme Rally car (Ret.)

Well, i finnaly pulled it out of the junkyard and brought it back to my camp.
it was sitting in the yard for about 5 years...






Now we begin the planning/tear down stage...

These pics are after we towed it to my camp, and my "team" and i were fast at work tearing into it, and cleaning.




The main problem with the car is in the fuel system, we had the car running by spraying starting fluid in the intake.

our plans for this car are to thrash all summer and have it done by the LSPR POR rally in october.

heres my questions...
What class is this gonna run in?
What are the updates that i need to do?
What are the requirments for this car to run in october?

What do i need to do to myself, personally to be able to drive this car in the rally?

alright, so theres the intro, we will be towing the car home soon to really start on it.

Now, we need help and guidance!
Keep in mind that we're a group of 16yr old gear heads with mechanical and some fabricating abbilities, and little money.
so, any and all help with be greatly appreciated!
We're located in Marquette Mi, so if there are any rally guys that could help us up here, please give me a shout!

Thank You!:)
 
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#43 ·
Starting going through brakes on the car today, plus drained the gas tank.
now, to pull the gas tank out, do you have to drop that rear beam to pull the tank?

Look at that varnished gas!
isnt it a pretty color?



 
#44 ·
I don't think the rear beam has to come out. The exhaust might have to be dropped, though.

If you wanted you could pull the fuel level sending unit first; that should give you enough of an opening to inspect the inside of the tank with a mirror and decide whether you really need to drop it. The sending unit is accessible from a removable plate under the rear seat. (Well, in the rear seat area; I'm guessing this car doesn't have the actual seat anymore!) It's a good idea anyway because the intake and pre-pump (if equipped) are also attached to the sending unit, and the hose connections and prefilter in there are prone to deteriorate over time.
 
#45 ·
got the gas tank dropped, gonna be going through the brakes tmrw.
we did need to drop the beam to get the tank out though...

anyone know where to find a good in line electric fuel pump that will put out enough psi for the FI rabbit?

and do they make fuel cells that fit into the spare tire spot?
i heard the diesel rabbit use to have one there
 
#46 ·
anyone know where to find a good in line electric fuel pump that will put out enough psi for the FI rabbit?
One of the problems is that this is a CIS car. CIS is a semi-mechanical Fi system that runs at a higher pressure than a typical EFI. Airtex does make some inline pumps that are supposed to have the correct CIS pressure. 1988- 19901 Audi 80/90 4/5 cylinder cars would work. Audi 4000 pump are also external to the tank and would work. Sourcing fittings can be an issue though.
Having said that, I did have problems making a 20 valve Audi run correctly with an Airtex pump. A swap to an OE Bosch pump fixed the problems.
 
#50 ·
alright, sounds good.

the car (what year is it?) issue is still a mystery.

i ran the vin number, thats tagged on the dash..
its 177335714

heres the place where i ran the vin..
http://www.dubnetworks.net/vw-vin-decoder.htm

but doesnt it have an 80's ass end on it?
i didnt think they had gti's in 77?

any info would be great, thanks.
 
#51 ·
alright, sounds good.
the vin number, thats tagged on the dash..
its 177335714
Yes, that's a 1977 VIN. 17x indicates Rabbit/Golf and XX7 (1977). VINs changed to the 11 digit format in 1981. Back half of the car appears to be a Westmoreland,PA. produced car. GTIs did not come to the USA until the 1983 model year. GTI badged round headlight cars were available in Canada before then. Mostly a trim package, no real performance parts. Definitely not the "hot hatch" GTI available in Europe although it looked like it. A GTI badge is just held on by tape so it can go anywhere. It was common in the time to make your car look like a "real" GTI as possible.
Remember that you have a rally car. It could have been "reshelled" after an accident. It could have recieved the "identity" of a donor car after being built out of pieces from many cars. After all, the windshield VIN usually just pop-riveted in place. Cars usually have the VIN in more than one place as an anti-theft measure. I'd try to find a VIN in one of those "secret" locations to determine the identity of the shell.
Your real job is not the "real" year but to figure what year most of the parts came off and write a list. Perhaps the VanDammes remember where the parts came from. You need a VW person to look and point at a part and say "This came from".
 
#53 ·
oh yeah, there's a thread on the car on vortex, but they either..

ripped on the car because it was cut up into a race car
thought i would never get it running
thought i didnt even own the car
or just some other negative comment.

so im done on there
 
#55 ·
oh hell yeah, i'll be there, so will my autos teacher...

dropped rear beam completley, gonna paint it, started removing fenders for rust repair...

Rabbit parts!


Under the think dust and grime, the engine dont look to bad. you can see a sneak peak here...
 
#58 ·
my first rally car was the best of three rabbit
the shell i bought from the local vw guy for $50.00 with a good title chrome stick on stuff around the bottom no interior and power train it reecked of cocobutter
the engine and trans came from a diesel rabbit convert with no floors anf the cage and other bits from bob campbells groupe a rabbit that had died years before on stage in a head on with a large tree

bob and i are not small people and it was tight in side that car
i had one guage the engine temp
at tech the guy rev it to 4 grand for a sound check
i replyed "i can set the clock at 4"
i drove the car to the ohio valley forest rally (i think) rallyed all night then drove the 2 hrs back to charleston wv

one more car i miss from time to time

keep up the posts

there are some good folks on vertex but most are posers
 
#59 ·
here's some pic's...
(rear hatch tray area, back trunk area)





You guys on vortex are gonna kill me, but we're running a keg gas tank in the car.
yeah. i know... fumes, leaks, cabin smelling like gas, why would you do that to an mk1, blah blah blah...:thumbdown:

thats what were gonna be doing, unless somone can hook me up on a killer deal on a fuel cell...

scored some junk yard subie seats for 20 bucks... gotta rig up a system for installing them now.:facepalm:

good news... the engine is cleaning up nicely.. pics of that tmrw.[/QUOTE]
 
#60 ·
...You guys on vortex are gonna kill me, but we're running a keg gas tank in the car.
yeah. i know... fumes, leaks, cabin smelling like gas, why would you do that to an mk1, blah blah blah...:thumbdown:

thats what were gonna be doing, unless somone can hook me up on a killer deal on a fuel cell...

scored some junk yard subie seats for 20 bucks... gotta rig up a system for installing them now.
Do you intend to Rally this car? Or just spectate with it?

If you want to enter this car in a Rally America event, it either has to have the OEM tank or a fuel cell. And it has to have one piece seats.
 
#61 ·
Ive heard from one of my buddy's that Kyle Sarasin says:

This car had a big article in the Marquette Mining Journal

The Car was rolled over several times into a river, than re-skinned and rallyed again... explaing the vin thing maybe?

And that this car was the first rally car that kyle's dad ever rode in.

Truth? whoi knows, but its intresting.
 
#64 ·
#65 ·
I just found this thread when you updated it Dante. How depressing that he had such a great start to the thread, and then it just dissapeared. It looked lie it was definitely going in the right direction. How disappointing.
 
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