VW Caddy pickup mk1 restoration project

Hello everybody, good evening,

My name is Marios and I am in the middle of a restoration process of a VW Caddy Mk1 pickup. The car has been fitted with a VW Golf GTi convertible MK1 petrol 1.8 engine (previously/originally equipped with a 1.6 diesel engine) and has been under some further modifications. Now we are stuck cause I cannot find wheel spacers as well as a number of other spares that we need. I have tried many sellers on ebay as well as companies like vwheritage, retrofication.uk, rexbo.eu, autohausaz.com (usa) etc. I really love this car ( its my heritage from my grandfather) as I have some of my best childhood memories with it, but I reached my limits, both financially and psychologically. I was advised that there is a company in the USA that produces genuine VW Caddy (Rabbit they call it) pickup parts and forwards all over the world. Does anybody know which this company is? Does anybody know of any other company (preferably in the UK) that could assist me with this project?
Many thanks in advance for your assistance,

Marios  

Welcome along Marios.

Have you tried Just Caddies?

I believe Mark at Classic VW also carries some parts for Caddies as well.

My brother in law is also doing a caddy restoration at the moment.

Whatcha needing?

Ian

Hi Ian, thanks for your reply, I need specific wheel spacers as this will be a high-boy, and also things like tailgate, glove compartment, sender unit, cannot find the correct size inner drive shaft boot etc etc.

Marios

In the U.S. it was called a VW Pickup.  
The Grille was "Westy" based.
Being squarish with square headlights, and turns built into the Grille, as the fenders have cut outs for the turn signals.

Yes, you are right, are they exactly the same as the european mk1 caddys? could I use spare parts from the US?

Wow

When you say 'high boy' do you mean you're lifting it?

What size spacers are you after? I have a friend who is a machinist and might be able to make what you need to your specs.

Tailgates are ridiculously expensive. join some of the face book groups and keep your eyes open. Is it missing or damaged?

Glove compartment? the lid or the whole thing? Again facebook is a lifesaver or stick a wanted add in the Forum. Keep your eyes open in the for sale sections too.

Hmmmm, sender unit. Hmmmmm. Dunno about that one tbh. I had trouble finding one for a tin top and ended up using the old one, but it was a bit more servicable than that one!

Drive shaft boots should be the same as tin tops and cabbies. As long as you know whether it's a 90mm or a 100mm drive shaft they should be easy enough to find.

Try Veedubmachine  http://www.veedubmachine.co.uk/

Speak to either Les or John, tel them I told you to call them and help you out. They can normally find stuff like driveshaft boots, steering rack gaitors etc etc. They also deal with VW direct and can get VW genuine steering rack gaitors for example.

Ian

Yes, we are lifting the car cause it will be used mostly in an off-road environment. Spacers needed are as below:

- wheel spacers 4 x 114.3, (not adaptors).
- Centre hole = 57.8mm (a 57.6mm will also fit but will be a much tighter fit).
- Hub side. Stud pattern = 114.3
- Wheel side. Stud pattern = 114.3
- Studs we need fitted = 1.5 x 12mm
- Outside diameter of spacer = 135mm.
- Thickness of spacer = 30mm.

I ve searched everywhere in e-bay.uk/.de/.au/.com,,,,, nothing at all. Have contacted Demon Tweeks, Direnza, Properformance uk, some other australian chaps, nobody can make these customized spacers. Can u check with this friend of yours if the above specs can be met and let me know please.
The tailgate on my Caddy was completely damaged, almost nothing left after the sandblasting.  Found one at vwheritage but by the time I came back home from work it disappeared…!!!!! Will keep my eyes open everywhere till something else comes up.

How's your project going?

Not sure about spacers but on the spare parts stuff you might be cheaper buying a second parts caddy and robbing everything you need off that.

For the spacers, I would recommend finding an engineering company local to you to make them up to your exact specifications.