1980 MK1 Cab "ALF"

yeah thats what mine was.
is the chassi number stamped on the drivers front suspention turret? or the bulkhead under the plastic water tray?

volkswarren said

yeah thats what mine was.
is the chassi number stamped on the drivers front suspention turret? or the bulkhead under the plastic water tray?

 Its in the garage until tuesday but ill dig it out and let you know. Pretty sure the year of manufacture was stamped on the VIN plate though. Its definatly original, I think the dash has been changed along with the interior at some point though. Guy who I bought it from took it as part ex on an audi a3, didnt have a clue about VW oldies.

 Was located nr Newquay for a few years before that, surprised its survived the salt abuse to be honest!

its not a series one roof either they clip down differently, they didnt have the buttons on the sides of the rear seat, when you open the boot is there a little handle to the left hand side which u need to pull to allow the rear seats to fold down?

MaxCosmos said

 Being new to restoring cars just been hunting tools on ebay, managed to get a 40 piece snap on socket set for £32 used but great nick!

Sounds a bargain!!

Surprised you haven't found an interior yet, you'd think there'd be plenty about

volkswarren said

its not a series one roof either they clip down differently, they didnt have the buttons on the sides of the rear seat, when you open the boot is there a little handle to the left hand side which u need to pull to allow the rear seats to fold down?

 No handle as far as Im aware mate, never tried folding them down. Date of first registration is Jan 1980. Pretty hard to work out since I have no history for the car. Any suggestions?

Hairyarse said

MaxCosmos said

 Being new to restoring cars just been hunting tools on ebay, managed to get a 40 piece snap on socket set for £32 used but great nick!

Sounds a bargain!!

Surprised you haven't found an interior yet, you'd think there'd be plenty about

 There has been a few grey ones but they would look rubbish in a black car. Brown would be alright, theres one on ebay at the mo but no seats just carpet dash doorcards. Have enquired about a white one too. Might just have to get it all retrimmed!

well if it has no handle under the boot lid roughly where the vw badge is on the left and it has the chassi number stamped on the suspention turret its a series one but with all the series one stuff removed for later parts, that is either a good or bad thing depends on your point of view lol.

volkswarren said

well if it has no handle under the boot lid roughly where the vw badge is on the left and it has the chassi number stamped on the suspention turret its a series one but with all the series one stuff removed for later parts, that is either a good or bad thing depends on your point of view lol.

 Even the engine has been changed for a 1.8  
I like it how it is, however if a brown S1 interior were to crop up………..  

Further update:

 Just got the cabby back from the garage today, final list of work that was done.

- Two rear shock absorbers and offside top mount rear
-New nearside headlamp
-Earth problems in stalk causing indicators to be intermittent cleaned up
-Battery tray new bracket.
- Offside corroded brake pipe and brackets replaced.
-Few bulbs and fuses
-air/fuel mixture slightly adjusted to pass metering test for emissions
- MOT fee!


Came to £418 in the end, although if i wasnt so nervous and lazy i could have saved £180 on labour  Still nice to know its all done, next job will be to grind out treat and fill all the little bits of surface rust which I will be doing myself! Can anyone recommend a good filler?

All things considered that's not a bad price. Now you're sorted and on the road  

I think that may be a ringer, it has late style rear seatbelts with only 1 mounting in the middle, plus shallower spare rear recess!  the shallow spare wheel recess was 84 onwards as thats when the fuel tank etc changed, pre-84 they are deeper and wheel held in with straps. the rear belts were deffo after 84 too but not sure when. my 83 had deeper well and 2 seperate bolts for the seat buckles I know that for 100% definite

AFAIK the car was a different length in 1980 so the later roofs wont bolt on at all

Id look under the carpets very carefully, look for it being 2 halves welded together!

rubjonny said

I think that may be a ringer, it has late style rear seatbelts with only 1 mounting in the middle, plus shallower spare rear recess!  the shallow spare wheel recess was 84 onwards as thats when the fuel tank etc changed, pre-84 they are deeper and wheel held in with straps. the rear belts were deffo after 84 too but not sure when. my 83 had deeper well and 2 seperate bolts for the seat buckles I know that for 100% definite

AFAIK the car was a different length in 1980 so the later roofs wont bolt on at all


Id look under the carpets very carefully, look for it being 2 halves welded together!

I was kinda getting at that just trying to be a little kinder

Black wasn't an option either looking in the cab brochures on here.

 I hope If i ever sell the vehicle people wont notice that post Johnny! No weld marks under the carpet whatsoever, unless its been welded by a ghost. The boot has a few repair patches that have been done, perhaps the wheel well was done at the time? Also seatbelts, Having a S2 interior would this not have been done during a swapover?.

 I have a few documents relating to the car back to the late 90s. Its quite plausible that a previous owner wanted to go for a S2 look, the car has definately been looked after, the undersealing is definately aftermarket, has been protected in the boot and wings aftermarket too. Find it very hard to contemplate it being a cut n shut.

pm me the chassis number, then I can check it on ETKA to see when it was made.

if its not a cut n shut then something is wrong with the paperwork put it that way!

looking at the car everything looks right if it was made around 1984-5ish, interior, dash, hood, spare wheel well and seatbelt mount etc. look closely at the VIN plate on the scuttle, does it look to have been fiddled with?  there should also be a sticker on the crossbar in the boot between the turrets, that will have engine code and vin on it. if missing = suspicions

I would personally check the chassis number, as I said if it's a series one it will be on the drivers front suspension turret.  If it isn't it's most likely a series two. But a v plate is too early.
They have gone to a lot of trouble updating it. Wiring loom is a late one, and the loom holes were smaller , it has a later exhaust, mounting brackets different and as above the boot is the space saver, I would say that's at least an 85 which would match the body and trim
Doesn't mean it's a cut n shut, but it's not what it seems.

the vin should be visible thru a window in the plastic rain tray in scuttle, if no window take it out and have a look

volkswarren said

Black wasn't an option either looking in the cab brochures on here.

Just ran a HPI Check, Was changed from Bronze to black september 1999. Also Registration HDZ8485 Taken off and repalced by XUN653V on 13 Nov 2000. Will do a VIN check later. (Located on drivers side suspension turret Volkswarren)

 hope this info helps, any other iniation tasks I need to pass to be accepted? ha

Engine number accoding to HPI check is EG221237         However I know the engine has been changed in the past fr the 1.8 DX

boot floor would take a lot to change over for late style, as would the seatbelt mounting as there are 2 holes early and just the 1 in the middle on late. no easy way to add the middle hole believe me i wanted to as i had a full set of late belts to fit on my cab and found out about the hole difference the hard way

maybe it had a shunt up the back and had the floor replaced as part of tyhis relair, but it must have been pretty early on in its life for the insurance company to pay out for that!

as i say check for a vin number (or evidence of tampering!) under the plastic scuttle tray.