Caddy barn find

Thought I'd share a project I've been working on for a while, basically we needed something cheap as a runaround to the tip and we could put muddy Labradors in without worrying too much obvious choice sprung to mind a Caddy !, always loved the look of the Caddy and simple to work on so the search began, been watching a few on ebay going for silly money and needed loads of welding etc but after a few months of searching just happened to be chatting to a local tyre dealer and he said he knew of one locally that had been sat in a barn and had been part restored so phoned the guy instantly and arranged to view straight away, it was only 2 miles up the road and couldn't believe my luck as it was in reasonable condition too, had been resprayed white just a shame all the dents weren't knocked out first but that didn't bother us too much as it was just a cheap runaround, just a bit of surface rust underneath so we struck a deal on the agreement he would get the 1.6D lump running sweet, week later seller phones back and says it won't run any sense so he said he'd halve the price but at £450 we were happy to gamble !, low mileage at 89k too, result.

How we found it









So towed him back home and set to work on getting it to run, new glow plugs and relay, new starter motor and spent ages priming, bleeding and force feeding the pump to get it to run, it would run from a coke bottle full of diesel suspended on the bonnet but wouldn't suck from the tank, checked all lines were clear and chucked a new filter on but still wouldn't play so in the had been reading the Diesel forums and found a bit about installing an electric pump so plumbed a low pressure 3-4psi pump in after the tank from an ignition live and it's been happy ever since, maybe the suction side of the pump has gummed up from sitting not being used, next step sort out an MOT, new Febi strut top mounts, brakes adjusted, 2 x steering rack boots and got all the lights to work (the looms had been cut off) put a bumper on and it passed MOT, checked the mileage on the database and you can see he hasn't been far in the last few years.





Next step bodywork, sourced a tailgate from ebay, not cheap at £200 but as you know they're hens teeth, this one wasn't bad just grubby and needed a paint, nice of the courier to drop it and dent the corner though !!!





Set the mrs to work rubbing it down, well it's her car after all !, fair play to her she did a good job



Got to work on priming up the tailgate after divising an ingenious method of supporting it lol



Unfortunately all the original mounts for the tailgate and the catces had long since rusted away so had to fab some new ones out of stainless after a lot of faffing with getting the alignment right.





Got the top coat done at the bodyshop as I wanted a decent job done



Managed to tidy up the load bed with 2 coats of stone chip and 3 coats of white on top for a bit more protection then ordered some check plate rubber sheet on a roll, looks tidy and stops stuff sliding around too much





So it was beginning to look the part but sat rediculously high so obvious next step was GET IT LOWER !, the net provided loads of info on axle flips as never done one before but was confident it could be done pretty easily, got it up in the air and set to work.





Ground off the mount plates and relocated opposite side then got mate to Mig them on with some longer locating bolts in case I wanted lowering blocks too.





Next was coilys for the front, found vmax to be a resonable price and build quality, a pair came in at £180 so not too bad



Now looking more like it, mrs was happy too.



After lowering the back end obviously needed shorter shocks found these Koni adjustables from just caddys, nice shocks but if anyone tells you they bolt straight on well "they don't", had to shim out the bolt holes, fair enough but also had to trim down the axle mounts with a grinder too as the base of the shock catches and you can't line up the bolt holes !!







So ride height and quality sorted time for rear bumpers, much as I like the uncluttered back end look, thought we'd better stick some protection there when reversing onto the drive !, had seen metal quarter bumpers on the net and gave me idea, had some stainless tube that had been in the garden since we moved in years ago, think it was off a boat mast or something, finally a use for it, 60mm diameter just the job, had to blag some stainless plates from work then designed the bumpers, cut the sections out and got em tig'd up at work, came up a treat on the bench polisher, got some plastic end caps on now to stop the crud getting in.







This gave me the opportunity to incorperate the number plate lights in to the bumpers, bought some white LED's with screw mounts and wired them into the rear light loom, yes they're bright !







Finally, put the RM's on that I used to run on the Golf and they finished the Caddy off nicely, it's funny but the Caddy gets more attention when we're out than my GTI and I spent months and big money on that, think people like the "cute little truck" look lol







With the other cars in our family on a mini photoshoot we did the other day, yes we like white cars !



So happy now as he's running sweet after sorting a few gremilns with lose wiring etc and a second Diesel pump as the last one finally gave up but anyhow the Caddy has been done on a small budget and the mrs loves driving it, happy days !
Cheers
Simon







 

Looks great Simon, perfect job mate! 

golfcabrio said

Looks great Simon, perfect job mate! 

Thanks mate, thought you'd like the colour !

hubbadubba said

golfcabrio said

Looks great Simon, perfect job mate! 

Thanks mate, thought you'd like the colour !

So you've spotted the fact I do happen to like white then!

Wow what a bargain Simon!!

And a nice job you've both done of turning it around. I love the look of it overall, the load bay looks good and the rear bumpers are very ingenious and look spot-on.

What's the interior like?

Nice job looks well with side stripes.

Nice turn around! I'm a few weeks into doing one myself after dragging it out of a barn.

hubbadubba said

 been reading the Diesel forums and found a bit about installing an electric pump so plumbed a low pressure 3-4psi pump in after the tank from an ignition live and it's been happy ever since

Not seen this before, could you give a little more detail on this please?

Hairyarse said

Wow what a bargain Simon!!

And a nice job you've both done of turning it around. I love the look of it overall, the load bay looks good and the rear bumpers are very ingenious and look spot-on.

What's the interior like?

Haven't touched the interior yet hairy so it's pretty basic in their but kinda like it like that, the Golf I have is completely the opposite and people get moaned at if they get in with dirty shoes    but with this one it's meant for work and wet Labradors,  might stick a bench seat in one day though  

ivortheengine said

Nice job looks well with side stripes.

Yeah the stripes came with the truck, put them on as more of a laugh really, 54horsepower Diesel with GTI stripes but I guess they finish it off.

ew said

Nice turn around! I'm a few weeks into doing one myself after dragging it out of a barn.

hubbadubba said

 been reading the Diesel forums and found a bit about installing an electric pump so plumbed a low pressure 3-4psi pump in after the tank from an ignition live and it's been happy ever since

Not seen this before, could you give a little more detail on this please?

Thanks ew and good luck with yours, basically it wouldn't suck from the tank, all lines were clear and fuel flowed freely from the tank so no blockages, I was trawling the internet for 1.6D VW problems and a cpl of people in the states were running an inline electric pump saying that their old pumps were tired and wouldn't suck any sense, asked rubjonny on here for his view and he advised where to supply it from (ignition live), it was installed on the tank outlet with a separate inline plastic filter just before it, mounted the pump on a bracket and it got us by just fine for a few months before another pump was sourced (ours finally gave up), it was only a low pressure 3-4psi pump but it did the job, I think where the main pump had been sat for so long it probably needed a rebuild but this was a temporary fix and can't say it should be used indefinately

Dogs will love the wind in thire furry faces nice work on the rear bumper that pritty cool and Family photo of 2014 goes to you  

hubbadubba said

ew said

Nice turn around! I'm a few weeks into doing one myself after dragging it out of a barn.

hubbadubba said

 been reading the Diesel forums and found a bit about installing an electric pump so plumbed a low pressure 3-4psi pump in after the tank from an ignition live and it's been happy ever since

Not seen this before, could you give a little more detail on this please?

Thanks ew and good luck with yours, basically it wouldn't suck from the tank, all lines were clear and fuel flowed freely from the tank so no blockages, I was trawling the internet for 1.6D VW problems and a cpl of people in the states were running an inline electric pump saying that their old pumps were tired and wouldn't suck any sense, asked rubjonny on here for his view and he advised where to supply it from (ignition live), it was installed on the tank outlet with a separate inline plastic filter just before it, mounted the pump on a bracket and it got us by just fine for a few months before another pump was sourced (ours finally gave up), it was only a low pressure 3-4psi pump but it did the job, I think where the main pump had been sat for so long it probably needed a rebuild but this was a temporary fix and can't say it should be used indefinately

Good stuff, interesting to read, thanks.

Great find and really good work, another mk1 saved from the scrapyard in the sky! 
It's encouraging to see such finds are still out there! And two miles from home too. A definite worthwhile conversation with the tyre fitter chap.  looks great. 

Nice project. Love the look with the Gti stripes and bbs rims

caddy's looking incredible    your driveway looks like the most awesome vw forecourt ever  

matt

pazwaa said

caddy's looking incredible    your driveway looks like the most awesome vw forecourt ever  

matt

Cheers Matt, yep the neighbours love us  

Looks awesome!  Like you're have a go attitude

Really like this. Nice fabrication work and those custom bumpers really set it off!

Cheers Nos, yeah really pleased with the way it's turned out and it's our daily ride, for short distances anyway, hopefully got a 5 speed box coming soon so should be less tedious going any distance  

Awesome man….
Have you kept the orignal engine in the caddy or planning a swap ?