1993 Volkswagen B3 Passat GLX VR6

[7vchvry]

Posted at Shukai with the Wagonsteez camp:

[7vchvry]

This was probably the first public photo anyone saw:

[7vchvry]

Another yard find...couldn't believe it. Had to take the morning off work to hit the yard and grab this:





This little lady and her sack of eggs were living in my car for that whole day. Luckily I saw her move before I blindly stuck my hand through the fog lights while I was unloading. The things I do for this car...

[7vchvry]

Line replaced, back at home...celebration was in order:



Clean up day and shout out to the fam:

[7vchvry]

I drove her for a grand total of one day before this happened:



Somehow the front leader line came undone and the brake bracket on the back of the strut rubbed through my braided stainless line and left me stranded. Luckily I was close to home and it was an easy fix. The hardest part of it all was getting it on the truck. With the front aired down the lip couldn't clear the texture on the bed...those little lines for grip...yeah those:













The homie Henry, my savior for the day:

[7vchvry]

While the shop was helping me sort out the details, I was hunting for black seats to finish the interior swap. They are not easy to find in passable condition and it seemed like the run of junkyard B3s that was showing up steady had dried up. I got a notification the day before I was supposed to pick the wagon up that a GLX sedan had been dropped at a yard right by the shop. Sedans are risky because they have lockable back seats which may or may not be locked, but I figured it was worth a check on my way to the shop. I pulled up to the yard about 20 min from closing and literally ran to the back to find the car. I saw a black leather headrest peaking at me under the dust and the rest is history:



Last minute brake adjustments and seat swap:





A little subtle branding:



Milestone beer:



At home for the first time in 6 months!

[7vchvry]

The honeymoon phase didn't last long as we had to trouble shoot a bunch of issues with the wheels. The faces weren't masked properly before paint and the studs had to be forced through. Even though we spec-ed the brake clearance before the faces were produced, we had to add a 5mm spacer to make them clear. This threw the already aggressive fitment on all four corners completely off. To top that off, the rear hub bearing caps hadn't been accounted for and the center caps didn't fit. We brainstormed a bunch of ideas to get them to fit, but only settled on a temporary solution of trimming down the hub bearing cap and spacing the center cap slightly. It doesn't sit flush, it rattles, and it kills me!!! More on that later.

[7vchvry]

About 9 months into this project and my vision really started to shape up. I don't think anyone understood until these pictures were taken!

[7vchvry]

Lots of ups and downs, but my rims finally showed up. Insanely over deadline, but Christmas still came early this year:







Unfortunately, the powder coat on the centers and faces does not match and there was some tool marks and imperfections in the lip finish. I didn't have the heart or patience to send them back after waiting for over 6 months so we kept pushing forward.

[7vchvry]

Final finishes done. Teak references the Nardi, silver tanks match the rim centers, and polished lines match the rim lips and hardware. I constantly get asked if I'm doing more to this...nope. Clean and considered all day:

[7vchvry]

Sophisticated bend angle spec:



Hardline time:

[7vchvry]

More testing after the straps came back from paint:









Bolted down, no turning back!

[7vchvry]

Test layouts with some more hardware for placement:

[7vchvry]

The initial idea for the trunk setup was to hide most of the hardline work:





Turns out, we couldn't drill through the floor where I wanted to so we needed to adjust:

[7vchvry]

Black interior swap done, manual B4 belts done:



Hatch and rear bumper installed from the same donor as the interior to avoid later bodywork before paint: