# new member and new to me 87 quantum wagon



## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

Hi everybody! Glad I found this forum, searching around for info on my new toy as I try and make it usable.

Just grabbed a pretty beat quantum wagon from a guy off craigslist. Don't know if he was a member or not, but apparently he was sitting on it for several years intending to fix it 

Its an 87 Gl-5 with the 5-speed. The car has no rust, but it has suffered a little cosmetically, it has some damage to the left rear from a hit and run, and a little more damage on the front bumper, which looks pushed up, and finally a couple of door dents on either side. Left rear is pretty bad, I will post some pics tomorrow of the car when I finish grabbing it

Mechanically it seems to run just fine, it needs a muffler, an exhaust manifold or something to do with the exhaust up front, and there is a major problem with something on the right front, feels like the wheel is about to fall off. 

I have several basic questions about this car-

First, how trustworthy is the GL-5 engine and this interesting quasi transaxle gearbox? are these engines and transmissions that generally last? It has about 130k on it.

second, I am buying this to replace my dying of rust 85 diesel jetta, and I was struck by the idea of moving the entire front end, transmission, drive axles, radiator, ect, over into this quantum eventually. Is this something thats been done on the forum? are there any threads where thats happened? The drivetrain from my jetta is extremely solid, and the engine bays look similar. 

First I want to get it reliable rolling, but this idea is something id like to consider, as id like to keep my trusty 1.6.


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## Aw614 (May 9, 2001)

5 cylinder is fairly reliable, lucky you found a fwd 5spd wagon, they seem quite rare since it seems a lot of the fwd wagons are auto

there should be a lot of info in the syncronized yahoo group
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/syncronized/


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## bimrpwr (Jun 9, 2008)

nice find adn welcome aboard. I am in the process of bringing a 85 wagon back to life and converting it to Manual from a dieing autotragic. The car is pretty much ready for the road now except the radiator and engine mounts. Its been a good learning experience with this swap and it will be a fun car to drive come next year.


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

Aw614 said:


> 5 cylinder is fairly reliable, lucky you found a fwd 5spd wagon, they seem quite rare since it seems a lot of the fwd wagons are auto
> 
> there should be a lot of info in the syncronized yahoo group
> http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/syncronized/


 Thanks for the link!


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

here are some pics of the wagon- 










Here is the bad side- 










Close up of the damage- Guy across the street tells me he can fix this nice nice for about 800 bucks if I want to spend that kind of money. Considering the level of damage, that might be a decent deal, he will have to do some major work to get the light to fit just right again 










Here is whats going on with the front bumper, looks bent up on driver side, will have to see how bad this is too. Anyone have any bumpers for these cars they would like to sell? I definitely need a rear bumper, maybe a front 










Interior is almost mint, only problem is the headliner around the sun roof, and a few plastic cracks in the trunk area. I love the 5 tape dispenser in the center console


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

question, I have it up in the air, and the front end is completely tight, however, there is a drag/growl/vibration coming from the front right. So bad that it shakes the steering wheel, feels like that tire is about to fall off. 

In my manual, its telling me these are press in bearings into the knuckle? could they be completely bad and not produce a loose tire?


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## bimrpwr (Jun 9, 2008)

tinworm said:


> question, I have it up in the air, and the front end is completely tight, however, there is a drag/growl/vibration coming from the front right. So bad that it shakes the steering wheel, feels like that tire is about to fall off.
> 
> In my manual, its telling me these are press in bearings into the knuckle? could they be completely bad and not produce a loose tire?


 Well i will ask this question as it has happend to some Projekt German guys going to DIV. Wheel vibrating bad and so on.. Come to find out they only had one lug on the wheel and almost flew off on the interstate and well if they were smoking pot for the whole flipping trip (5hrs) they would have noticed it alot sooner.. 

Seriously though. i would check wheel bearings, axles bolts, and make sure your lugs are tight or arent missing.


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

bimrpwr said:


> Well i will ask this question as it has happend to some Projekt German guys going to DIV. Wheel vibrating bad and so on.. Come to find out they only had one lug on the wheel and almost flew off on the interstate and well if they were smoking pot for the whole flipping trip (5hrs) they would have noticed it alot sooner..
> 
> Seriously though. i would check wheel bearings, axles bolts, and make sure your lugs are tight or arent missing.


 I hadn't pulled the hubcaps yet, so first thing I did after reading this was make sure.  All there and tight, however, I did just find a smoking gun of sorts that might be the cause, or related to the cause. I will see after a test drive and after repairing the exhaust so I can try and hear locations better. 

The rear mount for the transmission is only attached by one bolt, instead of three. The whole thing is pivoting on the bolt instead of resting on the motor mount, so I need to immediately fix this. 

I had a close look for any location where the axle might have been touching the body because of this, but it doesn't look like it did. Ill see what if feels like after a test drive


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

heres the mount and missing bolts. last one is just loose- 










This might also be contributing, this exhaust bracket is trashed-


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

ok, fixed the exhaust so I could actually hear this thing and put some bolts in that bracket. 

Couple of rattles are gone from that bracket, and the front end is definitely a RF wheel bearing, goes away when you load the left, and gets super loud when you load the right. Strange there is no looseness to the wheel, sounds like it will fall off. maybe its just dried out 

Where do you all order parts from? Im going to get some parts on order. 

Also, the ride is pretty splashy over bumps, honestly, its worse than my unrestored 1974 MB. 

Need some shocks too I guess, same question on ordering, is there any on line supplier that I should avoid, or that would be recommended?


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## bimrpwr (Jun 9, 2008)

cool that you figured the problem out. There are lots of different suppliers out there. I just use my neighbor for parts as he owns his own euro repair shop.


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

bimrpwr said:


> nice find adn welcome aboard. I am in the process of bringing a 85 wagon back to life and converting it to Manual from a dieing autotragic. The car is pretty much ready for the road now except the radiator and engine mounts. Its been a good learning experience with this swap and it will be a fun car to drive come next year.


 From bombing around the neighborhood even with a bad wheel bearing, your project is going to be a blast once its done! 
Could be that im so used to my slow and tired work van, that this 5-speed is just lots of fun just cause its a manual, but I can't wait to get this car up and running.


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

bimrpwr said:


> cool that you figured the problem out. There are lots of different suppliers out there. I just use my neighbor for parts as he owns his own euro repair shop.


 Just ordered the stuff from auto hauz. Parts are pretty cheap! Im surprised, I threw in some front brake rotors and pads as well so it will pass inspection hopefully


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

got the parts in, question-

Looking at the procedure here, it looks like the only way to replace the wheel bearing is to pull the entire strut and hub assembly, and press it off using a bench press? Is this for real? You can't do it with a slide hammer? 

Thats a pretty amazing amount of stuff that has to come off to simply replace the bearing, what a PITA, no wonder the PO sat on the car for years, would be a fortune to have this done at a shop

Ive got it broken down as far as being able to look at the bearing, its definitely loose, didn't expect that much extra work though. If I go that far I might as well replace the front shocks

Does the front spring/shock assembly come off just like a macpherson strut? or do you have to reduce it to components and compress the spring?


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

new brakes, wheel bearing, and shes up and running! drove it around for the first time today, love the note of this 5cyl. Experiencing some brake drag, initially it was a sticking caliper slide, but ive taken care of that, and im thinking its more likely the brake hose is collapsing. During the insanity of the wheel bearing, i put some unnatural movement on the hose, and its original. The caliper slides easily, and the caliper piston goes in and out, but its dragging enough to heat up the rim pretty well.

Im thinking that the hose is delaminating on the inside and acting as a one way check valve possibly, not letting the fluid move back easily. We will see when I have the parts. Worst case scenario the wagon gets new calipers as well. 

Have new hoses coming in the mail, and some tune up parts. Lent the car to a friend who is having clutch issues to drive for the week, he only drives about 2 miles to and from work. Brakes should be ok for a little bit until the parts are here


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

so F-ed up on re bolting the strut to the shock tower, managed to cross thread it, but was also able to tighten it almost all the way down. lots of popping noises, has about 1/4 inch of travel.

Ordered new front shock inserts, strut bearing, bump stops and will just replace all that stuff since all the shocks are bad anyway.


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

so today received 4 new shocks to do something about the ride, a driver side outer CV boot to repair that rip, a bunch of other little parts. Also made arrangements to start the body work tomorrow. My neighbor across the street is going to take care of the damaged rear quarter, dented out driver rear door, and small rust issue on the driver door, as well as putting in my new door handle for that door also so I can actually lock this thing. 

Pretty excited, should look pretty good after that, but I am striking out on bumpers. We are both looking, and I need front and rear.

In a total shocker to me, it passed state safety and emissions inspection! :what:


Few little issues I need to start chasing down with the cold. I get heat out of the side vents on the dash, but the center vent blows nothing but cold air. Also I don't seem to be able to redirect to defrost, which is a major problem with winter on its way. 
Any ideas?


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

here she is right before paint-

This guy has managed to do an awesome job, by removing the brake light, he could get nearly 100% access to the back of the damaged panel, and meticulously rebuilt and tapped out the various dents/tears. He demonstrated that a fridge magnet will still stick to it and it has a minimum of body filler, so im pretty psyched to see it finished. 










Got sprayed yesterday, so it should be ready end of the week. They had to cut the mangled rear bumper off, so im looking for a set of front and rear. I may slowly go around the whole car and repaint depending on how nice this looks compared to the original paint.


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

here it is painted. The body shop guy and I noticed some little issues with his rebuilt rear quarter, its still slightly off. Once I find a bumper, will make a world of difference probably. 

Still extremely satisfied with the job, Ill touch up some scratches on the rest of the paint, and give it a wash and a wax to see how the new and old paint compares


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## borellsoffun (May 26, 2004)

Looks much better! :thumbup:
Getting my 87 QW ready for paint too!


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

heres some progress on the front end repair. Cross threading that top bolt was a real bone headed move. I had to drill out the top of the shock bolt all the way through the threads. Ill have to replace that nut, unless a new one comes with the new shocks (probably)










Took out both strut assemblies for the new shocks, driver side will now get the matching new rotor. Someone like me had already been in there and tore up the phillips head screw that holds the rotor to the hub. Drilled this out as well, and filed down the rest of the screw to make a little nub. I don't really need that screw, a nub will locate the rotor just fine










heres the blown CV joint, I figure I can reboot this right on the vehicle with the strut and hub removed. Fortunately, I think I caught this in time, no clicking or problems with it yet.


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## DubbinChris (Dec 15, 2005)

tinworm said:


> here it is painted. The body shop guy and I noticed some little issues with his rebuilt rear quarter, its still slightly off. Once I find a bumper, will make a world of difference probably.
> 
> Still extremely satisfied with the job, Ill touch up some scratches on the rest of the paint, and give it a wash and a wax to see how the new and old paint compares


WOW  That's pretty impressive work. Did he end up charging you the full $800 for that work?


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## dasherinoz (May 19, 2011)

What an amazing transformation! I hope you find the bumper for this lovely beastie.


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## TheWolfsburg (Sep 22, 2007)

Great job w the q man, it would seem you and i have the same Q... Or the same as mine started out:laugh: mine has gone through a transformation of sorts but you should know as it sit, your car is a beast. A wonderful reliable work horse! I paid barely nothing for mine and it has such a reliable car... Ridiculous!


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## applen (Sep 27, 2005)

tinworm said:


> I get heat out of the side vents on the dash, but the center vent blows nothing but cold air. Also I don't seem to be able to redirect to defrost, which is a major problem with winter on its way.
> Any ideas?


Heat only comes out of the footwells, defroster and the side vents. No heat out of the center vent :thumbup:


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## applen (Sep 27, 2005)

applen said:


> No heat out of the center vent :thumbup:


but don't take my word for it:


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

DubbinChris said:


> WOW  That's pretty impressive work. Did he end up charging you the full $800 for that work?


Turned out to be about 890 in all, he also repaired rust on the driver front door, and a big dent on the driver rear door, and painted both doors, quarter, and part of the hatch (where he repaired a dent). I thought it ended up being pretty reasonable, he was not totally satisfied with how it turned out, but I decided its fine for now. he wants to find a quarter, cut it out, and completely replace the light mounting point. I may think about that down the line depending on how long I keep this car


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

dasherinoz said:


> What an amazing transformation! I hope you find the bumper for this lovely beastie.


I am very close to getting my hands on a pair! hopefully ill know if they are mine in a week or so!


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

TheWolfsburg said:


> Great job w the q man, it would seem you and i have the same Q... Or the same as mine started out:laugh: mine has gone through a transformation of sorts but you should know as it sit, your car is a beast. A wonderful reliable work horse! I paid barely nothing for mine and it has such a reliable car... Ridiculous!


Im pretty amazed that its started every time so far too! Im waiting for a major mechanical failure, but its seems to run great. Need to complete the tune up and do something about a major power steering leak thats started suddenly. Also need an exhaust manifold, mine has a hairline crack in it, heats up and sounds great, but first start up sounds terrible. 

Do you have a thread on yours?


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

applen said:


> but don't take my word for it:


Thanks for these pics! I must have some sort of problem with lever B re-directing to vents 1 and defrost. Nothing seems to make that work.

How does the redirecting work? is it cable operated, vacuum operated? ect? 


Some progress on the front suspension, though I continue to have a stubborn brake drag on the passenger front which I haven't eliminated yet. Not sure what it could be at this point, unless my new caliper is improperly rebuilt (which is possible, I had to re do the external piston boot because of how poorly done it was, maybe the square cut gasket is twisted or something) 

New shocks in the replace the originals- heres a few pics of the replacement cartridge vs the original setup. 










cartridge installed in the original shock tube-










During reassembly, I sanded down, then rubbercoated everything. Couple thick coats of nice rubber will keep the corrosion levels down, paint was flaking off this entire unit-










Here is the passenger side after full re-installation, since I was taking everything apart, I figured what the hell, so for both sides, new strut bearings, shocks, rotors, pads, semi loaded calipers, rubber brake lines, and a new axle boot on this side-










I learned how to properly, or easily reinstall that strut nut up top. Its WAY easier if you hand thread it as much as you can loose up in the air, then connect everything and put the tire back on, then load the strut by putting it partially back on the ground, THEN tighten that nut. Easy as pie and almost impossible to cross thread that way. 

Car is ALMOST ready to drive, but that damn brake drag is killing me, have to figure out what the problem is, maybe it goes back to the master? 

I don't think its the new caliper, it was pretty hard to draw fluid down the brake line, could be a blockage further up in the system somewhere


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

last weekend I found a suitable body for my 85 Jetta drivetrain to move into, and while I was there, I scored a nice looking set of rims from the guy. They came with 1.5 inch spacers, and he said stuck out way to far on a MK2. I figured they might work on the wider quantum-

Here are some pics- 
They actually almost seem to fit without spacers, so I will try them again. I think they don't look just right, I need them further in, and with a larger tires, but I love the 5 spokes. They are pretty corroded, so first need to be refinished, and no center caps either. 

rims-









Mounted-


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## DubbinChris (Dec 15, 2005)

The new wheels look pretty good IMO. Great to see someone saving a Quantum.

I wish I could get that kind of body work done around here for that kind of money.


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## TheWolfsburg (Sep 22, 2007)

tinworm said:


> Im pretty amazed that its started every time so far too! Im waiting for a major mechanical failure, but its seems to run great. Need to complete the tune up and do something about a major power steering leak thats started suddenly. Also need an exhaust manifold, mine has a hairline crack in it, heats up and sounds great, but first start up sounds terrible.
> 
> Do you have a thread on yours?


nah, no thread... i could email you some fun pics on the restoration and what it came out to now... I had fun with it. I think I have total in repairs, resto, and the car price itself, the same as you paid for that panel repair..lol.

And dont be amazed anymore...there will be no major mechanical malfuntion, and it will start everytime 

Oddly enough, I had very similar front bumper damage, my passenger caliper did drag sometimes (worked itself out after lubing the piston a bit and driving it plenty), gonna need a bit of suspension resto soon too, expect im going a much lower route:thumbup:


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## applen (Sep 27, 2005)

TheWolfsburg said:


> gonna need a bit of suspension resto soon too, expect im going a much lower route:thumbup:


pics and details of that... yes please! :beer:


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## TheWolfsburg (Sep 22, 2007)

applen said:


> pics and details of that... yes please! :beer:


Oh heck... I dont wanna hijack tinworms thread here... Ill see if I can get up my motivation to make a thread and I will post the link up here.:beer:opcorn:


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

TheWolfsburg said:


> Oh heck... I dont wanna hijack tinworms thread here... Ill see if I can get up my motivation to make a thread and I will post the link up here.:beer:opcorn:


definitely need to start another thread, this forum is sluggish, more quantum owners need to post! 

Would love to see what you have done, and definitely how it turns out lowered. 


Follow up on the brake issue-

Pretty convinced its related to the master cylinder.
Took the passenger caliper apart, reassembled, it appears to be working properly, removed the line from the master and checked for blockages or pinches in the line between the caliper and master, no problems there.
new master came in the mail, need to bleed it and install


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## TheWolfsburg (Sep 22, 2007)

Bah, I guess i will toss a thread up... for now this is it stock hieght, and then with a 2" drop... going to have to do some welding fabrication on a new set of coilovers to get them to work on this car and to get as low as I want to go... Mind you this thing started out looking exactly like your Q... color and all:thumbup:

Before drop and tint:









Quality tint job 5%, 18%, 35% and a 2" drop:


















Let me know how it acts after the new master... Mine still drags eeeeeevery once in a while but lets go with a good hard pump on the pedal:laugh:


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## applen (Sep 27, 2005)

i'm liking the pain job :thumbup:

what did you use?


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## TheWolfsburg (Sep 22, 2007)

a fine grit truck bed liner


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

looks pretty good lowered! First pic looks almost like a synchro, not the 2wd version. The tires on mine were much bigger, so I didn't have that lifted look. 

how is the ride lowered? Did you just cut a coil or two out of the spring? or use a different spring?


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

TheWolfsburg said:


> Let me know how it acts after the new master... Mine still drags eeeeeevery once in a while but lets go with a good hard pump on the pedal:laugh:


new master installed, the brake problem is FINALLY resolved. Put the first real miles on the car today which were great!

I also put a pair of new tires on the front to resolve a slight vibration from the original pair, which had some uneven wear. 

2nd improvement is I also ordered some new hatch struts that came with the master, I think thats been one of the greatest improvements so far. 

Heres a pic of how I bled the master, I had a couple of those premade brake lines kicking around that fit, so I cut them in half, fully installed the master, and routed them back into the reservoir. Worked pretty well, I thought less messy than a standard bench bleed. Took about 150 pumps of the brake pedal to bleed it.


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## gravityjunkie (Sep 4, 2010)

i have a 87 quantum syncro qsw, just hit 506,k on the 2.2 inline 5 5speed, it has been great for me. keep up the work, not many of these cars left


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## TheWolfsburg (Sep 22, 2007)

tinworm said:


> Took about 150 pumps of the brake pedal to bleed it.


LMAO:laugh:

Glad to hear your up and cruising again... I might go ahead do the master too... good trick too:thumbup:


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

TheWolfsburg said:


> LMAO:laugh:
> 
> Glad to hear your up and cruising again... I might go ahead do the master too... good trick too:thumbup:



haha, this is an ideal chore for a helper.  In this circumstance I told my friend to just start pumping the brake pedal, then went across the street and ordered us a pizza. 

Ive decided that this car is too high.  This is the last thing you would ever hear from a guy like me, who loves high ground clearance, but the tires I have on this car are oversize, and I think it looks goofy. Ill take a pic, might have to do with the bent up front bumper and lack of rear bumper, looks like a boat.


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

gravityjunkie said:


> i have a 87 quantum syncro qsw, just hit 506,k on the 2.2 inline 5 5speed, it has been great for me. keep up the work, not many of these cars left


506K ? 

Wow, how does the timing work on the 2.2? is it a chain or belt? have you ever had to change it?


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## TheWolfsburg (Sep 22, 2007)

timing is a belt drive, right up front and easy to work on... even has a little peeking hole to light the timing belt when setting it, just drop the front bumper and good to go.:thumbup:

And Im glad to hear the too high comment... I was hoping to inspire a little low around here

(and I think somebody asked, but I used bolt on spring clamps to compress three coils on each spring... no cutting... drives like a ferrari:laugh


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## applen (Sep 27, 2005)

what exactly do these clamps look like???

This: http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/d...apwcid=P1135867996W43b3f85c7ab9e&apwidN7nWg1H

or something a bit simpler?


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

applen said:


> what exactly do these clamps look like???
> 
> This: http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/d...apwcid=P1135867996W43b3f85c7ab9e&apwidN7nWg1H
> 
> or something a bit simpler?


x2. Id be interested in knowing what he is using for compressing the coils permanently. 

Im thinking if I go this route ill either cut or replace with shorter springs. The bolt on spring clamp sounds potentially dangerous if it ever lets go


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

Bumpers should be here monday!! :thumbup::thumbup:

Shipped all the way from the west coast, whats the secret to the side tab clip things? do you pull the bumper out straight and the clips slide out? How is it set up so I can remove it without destroying everything


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## TheWolfsburg (Sep 22, 2007)

using these...









except I used my spring compressor to compress everything, and then I fit three coils in there instead of the two... and no worries about the safe thing... if they evergave way, all they would do is expand in place... effective raising the car. Being wrapped around the strut, they aint going anywhere. And you can change the height to your taste, all revesable too, as opposed to cutting springs.


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

TheWolfsburg said:


> using these...
> 
> 
> except I used my spring compressor to compress everything, and then I fit three coils in there instead of the two... and no worries about the safe thing... if they evergave way, all they would do is expand in place... effective raising the car. Being wrapped around the strut, they aint going anywhere. And you can change the height to your taste, all revesable too, as opposed to cutting springs.


Those are pretty interesting, would be a great way to test different compressions even if you were intending to eventually cut, I might try em! where did you get those?

update on a few issues that the car has-

So today, the lack of a working radio was really becoming annoying, so I took a CD deck out of my parts car and started to move it into the quantum. I was unable to find a working 12v key on source, so I started to pull the knee panel to access some other wiring, and this is some of what I found-

this is a bad picture unfortunately-

EDIT- they won't let me put it up cause I labelled the pic Mouse$hit.jpg, and the vortex forum edits it out! 

So while ive been driving the car, there has been a low grade mousy smell, well the knee panel was full of mouse **** and nesting materials, and the lower foam/chipboard panel above the pedals was totally soaked in mouse piss. That had to be thrown out, but I was able to clean and trim all the nastiness, including a petrified mouse body out of the knee panel. 

However, this might be an indication as to whats going on with defrost. Ive been thinking about how its possible that its a manual cable operated redirect to the defrost vent, and how could it be broken? Far more likely its blocked with more mouse nesting crap. That should be fun to dig out. 

Also, here is the current ride height, bumpers should be here on monday so it should be less pronounced, but its super high. I have it on a set of 4 185/70 R14s. Needs to come down some, maybe in the spring. I love the above highway pic of the black quantum, that might be just about right


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## hussdog426 (Nov 20, 2011)

:thumbup:


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## TheWolfsburg (Sep 22, 2007)

got those spring compressors... im sorry to say.... at Autozone. I am sure they are at other parts stores, they just werent when I was looking for them and im not too terribly patient to wait for an internet order. I typically wouldnt set foot in the there, but....


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

TheWolfsburg said:


> got those spring compressors... im sorry to say.... at Autozone. I am sure they are at other parts stores, they just werent when I was looking for them and im not too terribly patient to wait for an internet order. I typically wouldnt set foot in the there, but....


hahaha I personally prefer advance auto. My biggest complaint about autozone is that its a rare day that they arent total a-holes to me in there. Unfortunately for me, autozone is closest to my shop. I actually had a guy in there tell me that they didn't sell pre-flared brake line in there, you know the super common lengths of generic brake line with fittings in different lengths that ALL auto parts stores sell? 
Guy was too lazy to even check, so he decided to tell me a preposterous lie.


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

YES they are finally here! get to install today.


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

well, pulling off that front bumper was like opening the lid of pandora's box. 

I uncovered some pretty hard to easily repair body damage. First, it turns out that the external bumper is actually already a replacement bumper that was hacked on. Once I had it removed, it popped back straight, so I can probably put that right back on at the end of the day. 

Unfortunately, the square tunnel that the bumper mounts into is totally torqued out of shape. This car must have fallen off something directly onto the bumper, or have been jerked up by the front bumper, not absolutely sure how this could have happened. There is above external damage on the hood, the tunnel is bent on the inside up, and the interior panel is pushed in about 1-2 inches.

here is how it looked from the front-










once I got the bumper off, here is the inner damage-










close up of the damaged side, and below of the good side to give you an idea of how its supposed to look-


















im not going to be able to afford to repair this properly at this time, but I would also like it to look correct from the outside until I can, so my plan is to drill lower holes in the tunnel, and trim the driver side bumper bracket to fit, so that the driver side sits level on the bent section. I might be able to pull out the big inner dent with a slide hammer though, ill give it a try.

I also need to replace the grill, and plastic trim under the headlights. Anyone know where I can get this stuff aftermarket? the grill has no remaining tabs, when I got the bumper off, it was wedged between the bumper and headlight all this time, and just fell off. The other trim piece is just shattered


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

moving to the rear of the car, the bumper installation is proceeding without too many horrible surprises!  

For some reason, the body shop guy had cut off the old bumper with a torch instead of simply unbolting it. I think he underquoted me, and was cutting some corners on speed to get it done for cheap, because it took me all of 10 minutes to unbolt those bracket ends that were left, which were pretty irreplaceable. Irritated by that, he does a nice paint job, but from now on, Im not going to let him install any body parts, just paint and sand what ive put in. Easier for both of us.

There is some rust damage around the rear, here it is wire wheeled-










and PORed.










once the anti-rust epoxy dries, the entire area will receive several coats of heavy undercoated, then the bumper will go on. 
The bumper itself will take a little work, some of the tabs that hold the skin on the steel have pulled out on the driver side, and the tabs will have to be trimmed to get it to sit properly


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

heres how far in the damage to the driver side goes, its buckled right in front of the A/C condenser. hahha, I was wondering why the receiver dryer was contacting the condenser, now I know, it was bashed into it. 

The new holes will have to be lower, and further forward from the original holes, im going to make a template and try and duplicate the good side.


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

tinworm said:


> im not going to be able to afford to repair this properly at this time, but I would also like it to look correct from the outside until I can, so my plan is to drill lower holes in the tunnel, and trim the driver side bumper bracket to fit, so that the driver side sits level on the bent section. I might be able to pull out the big inner dent with a slide hammer though, ill give it a try.


Well, I am happy to say that this scheme worked perfectly! 
here is a before and after-


















So from the center over to the passenger side is fairly un-twisted, and the driver side fender is unaffected, so I made a cardboard template of the passenger side shape, and flipped it over to the driver side. I also made a small template of the bolt holes in relation to the first template, and marked them in the damaged frame tunnel. They were way off. 

here are the holes that had to be drilled-










and I had to modify the bumper bracket so it could sit in this lower position-










From the side, looks totally correct, once I get another grill and that between bumper and light trim piece, should not even be noticable except for the dent in the hood











Im pretty pleased that this worked out so far, I also undercoated all regions behind these bumpers


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

rear bumper installed, now for paint later











question-

is this the fuel pump underneath? I have found no wires going to this component, so I don't know how it could be the fuel pump unless it was some kind of regulator. If the pump is in the tank, what is this?


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## TheWolfsburg (Sep 22, 2007)

tinworm said:


> I also need to replace the grill, and plastic trim under the headlights. *Anyone know where I can get this stuff aftermarket?* the grill has no remaining tabs, when I got the bumper off, it was wedged between the bumper and headlight all this time, and just fell off. The other trim piece is just shattered


sorry bud... your not gonna have too much luck there... buy on off someone else used basically... I had to sow up several broken slats in the back, fab on some new tabs, attach w some zip ties, and respray the whole thing in plasti dip. came out great and durable. if you notice, I have a Type 1 Volkswagen badge next to the VW emblem on mine... that was placed in there mostly to cover up a broken slat area.


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## TheWolfsburg (Sep 22, 2007)

Ill have to double ck, but I am pretty positive this is the fuel set up:



In tank fuel pump (main pump) to-
Helper pump (secondary pump used to push, and is loceted underneath where you are pointing) to-
Fuel filter to-
Engine


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## TheWolfsburg (Sep 22, 2007)

oh, and damn good progress man, let me know when your ready to cruise it over to TX:beer::thumbup:opcorn:


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

TheWolfsburg said:


> sorry bud... your not gonna have too much luck there... buy on off someone else used basically... I had to sow up several broken slats in the back, fab on some new tabs, attach w some zip ties, and respray the whole thing in plasti dip. came out great and durable. if you notice, I have a Type 1 Volkswagen badge next to the VW emblem on mine... that was placed in there mostly to cover up a broken slat area.


the front clip on this car is so jacked, im not sure I want to put the stock grill back now.  

heres a downward look that displays more of the problem-










The problem is one of centering, the new bumper is not centered on the car, and needs to be tweaked over to the driver side a hair, which means I have to bend or more likely cut and weld both brackets out of stock position if I want to get it in just the right place, but in the meantime, the VW emblem and license plate do not line up centered. There are also fog lights holes in this new bumper, which means Im gonna have to throw some fogs off my old rabbit caddy diesel in there since I have them , but that only makes the centering problem on the front worse in appearance. 

If I redrill the fog holes, and put in an emblemless grill, its not immediately obvious, so thats what I might do. I might be able to make something out of a truck grill or something.

Also finished my heat gun trim work! What a gratifying thing to do, does this also work on the bumper plastic?










I have a ripple problem in the rear bumper plastic, which was preventing me from opening the rear hatch, so for now I screwed down a piece of house sliding door floor roller trim, which I think actually does not look too bad. Im going to see if I can find something in the yard that would do the same thing and not be so blocky looking, but it does totally get rid of that annoying ripple


















Lastly, heres what im going to do with the rims, this is a test paint, but im going to get it done properly for all 4. Should look pretty cool, especially now that I think these rims look appropriate on the car with the wider look of the bumpers


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

latest improvement project to the car was to try and do something about the exhaust manifold leak, which was getting worse.

This is turning into the biggest PITA i have yet experienced with the quantum, its been stuck for a week because of rusted, corroded fastners. The manifold is missing 3 lower studs, causing the leak, but another 5 are unidentifiable rusted nubbins, and so are the 3 nuts holding the manifold to the downpipe. 

Most of the fastners will have to be torched off. Just wasted a couple hours trying to carefully cut a nut off the downpipe. any idea of where I can get new studs? or would it be a common VW exhaust manifold stud?


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

tinworm said:


> latest improvement project to the car was to try and do something about the exhaust manifold leak, which was getting worse.
> 
> This is turning into the biggest PITA i have yet experienced with the quantum, its been stuck for a week because of rusted, corroded fastners. The manifold is missing 3 lower studs, causing the leak, but another 5 are unidentifiable rusted nubbins, and so are the 3 nuts holding the manifold to the downpipe.
> 
> Most of the fastners will have to be torched off. Just wasted a couple hours trying to carefully cut a nut off the downpipe. any idea of where I can get new studs? or would it be a common VW exhaust manifold stud?




Well, ive got big problems now. FINALLY got the exhaust manifold off, this required torching two of the studs out of the downpipe. (I melted a sensor down there, pic later, not sure what it does, its not CO2)

After struggling forever, source of the exhaust leak is all but one of the 5 lower exhaust manifold nuts was missing, and the top only had 4. Of those 5 remaining fastners, two broke off in the head when I tried to loosen them (did not apply lots of force, they were so weak they snapped off with light pressure), and combined with the 3 already broken off. So now, I have no less than FIVE manifold studs broken off in the head. 

Cylinder 1 and 5 both studs are snapped off, and cylinder 2 the top stud is broken off. 

This is kind of a huge disaster, not sure what direction im going to follow trying to repair this. I suppose I could helicoil all 5, but potentially it could be easier to pull the head and do all 5 on a bench. 

opinions?


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## TheWolfsburg (Sep 22, 2007)

tinworm said:


> Well, ive got big problems now. FINALLY got the exhaust manifold off, this required torching two of the studs out of the downpipe. (I melted a sensor down there, pic later, not sure what it does, its not CO2)
> 
> After struggling forever, source of the exhaust leak is all but one of the 5 lower exhaust manifold nuts was missing, and the top only had 4. Of those 5 remaining fastners, two broke off in the head when I tried to loosen them (did not apply lots of force, they were so weak they snapped off with light pressure), and combined with the 3 already broken off. So now, I have no less than FIVE manifold studs broken off in the head.
> 
> ...


If it will make you feel better... everything but the melting of the sensor is absolutely normal and to be expected. Thats why I have fixed my leak... or why most dont unless they pull the motor. Your doing well, just hang in there. Thats just what has to be done to fix it. PERFECTLY NORMAL:laugh:


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## TheWolfsburg (Sep 22, 2007)

oh, and my front bumper is in the same shape... just did some ghetto rigging and hid everything rather well if I do say so myself... lol


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

TheWolfsburg said:


> If it will make you feel better... everything but the melting of the sensor is absolutely normal and to be expected. Thats why I have fixed my leak... or why most dont unless they pull the motor. Your doing well, just hang in there. Thats just what has to be done to fix it. PERFECTLY NORMAL:laugh:


lol, this quantum more than any other VW I have ever owned has way more of those "well why the **** would they do it that way?" moments, mixed with a lot of "hey, thats clever" moments as well. 
For instance, it couldn't be easier to replace a lower ball joint, but for some reason, maybe to offset that, it couldn't be more involved to replace the wheel bearing. :laugh:

I guess it doesn't help that I have a late 80s chevy van for work, where most repairs are under an hour, 99% of it is logical from a simplicity maintenance standpoint, easy to work on, parts are everywhere and cheap, and its more reliable than all my euro toys, though less glamorous. 

I have been moving forward fixing this though, the head is repaired, and now im just waiting for my manual that will help me install it properly. Thing is taking forever to get here. Ordered all the parts a week after, and some of them will get here before than manual. 

Your bumper was twisted as well? was there any inner damage?


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## TheWolfsburg (Sep 22, 2007)

tinworm said:


> .
> 
> Your bumper was twisted as well? was there any inner damage?


yes and minor.

Hows it coming?


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

Completing construction on a mk2 jetta, then I can get this back together. Got all my parts in and a bentley manual. Actually decided to sell this car once I've reassembled it. Picked up a cheap ford to use as a winter car


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## TheWolfsburg (Sep 22, 2007)

? word


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

tinworm said:


> Completing construction on a mk2 jetta, then I can get this back together. Got all my parts in and a bentley manual. * Actually decided to sell this car once I've reassembled it.* Picked up a cheap ford to use as a winter car


That was then. 

Gonna keep it now, selling the cheap ford. Car is still not together, trying to move shop, have it under a tarp in my old shop. dust should settle in a few months

Ford was a Taurus SHO, and I reverted to a 17 year old ****head in that car, got me three speeding tickets in 3 weeks, so I will happily return to the quantum and sell the ford if I want to keep my license


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## TheWolfsburg (Sep 22, 2007)

tinworm said:


> That was then.
> 
> Gonna keep it now, selling the cheap ford. Car is still not together, trying to move shop, have it under a tarp in my old shop. dust should settle in a few months
> 
> Ford was a Taurus SHO, and I reverted to a 17 year old ****head in that car, got me three speeding tickets in 3 weeks, so I will happily return to the quantum and sell the ford if I want to keep my license


LMAO... funny how that works... glad to have ya back:beer::thumbup:


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

alright, flip flopping again. 

Im definitely selling this car now, as is with the head off for 500 bucks. PM if you are interested. 

The space its in is getting closed down, im moving to a smaller space, and i have two projects running at the same time, this quantum, and a 74 benz with a custom engine and transmission ive been tinkering with for 3 years. 

check the for sale section if you are interested


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## Snarkle (Jan 22, 2012)

Damn worm :what:TF.


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

Snarkle said:


> Damn worm :what:TF.


 here is the for sale ad-
Id even deliver it within maybe a 300 mile radius for gas and dolly rental reimbursement. If you live between RI and cape cod, or RI and NYC, and even RI and Rochester NY, that would be on one of my work travel routes, so fairly convenient for me to drop off

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?5629450-FS-87-Quantum-wagon-parts-car-complete-500-RI


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

YES found a place to stash it for super cheap! Just moved the car there yesterday. Now I can revisit this car later after the dust settles. 

The problem I was having is that a majority of legit local self storage places demand that the vehicle be running to store it on their lot, OR, the location is so ****ty that the car will be destroyed by vandalism after 15 minutes.

I finally found a mix of both, a storage lot out in the boonies which accepts non running cars and is secure and very reasonable. 

Its outside storage, question on covering it, is it worth putting a car cover over it? or would I risk paint damage from flapping tarps in the wind and such?


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## TheWolfsburg (Sep 22, 2007)

worth a car cover but get an actual car cover. No tarps. the weather proof car covers are made not to scratch.


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## krautwhlz (May 10, 2010)

Audi/VW 5 cyl exhaust manifolds typically warped & popped the studs. When you get the studs replaced, have the machine shop mill the manifold surfaces flat also. Once 'flattened' they virtually never warp again. Great engines otherwise.


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## TheWolfsburg (Sep 22, 2007)

Hey tin, 

What did replace and where did you get your parts when you had a caliper dragging or wouldn't let go?


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

I ended up replacing everything sequentially. I thought at first it was a collapsing rubber brake line, so replaced that, then that didn't work, so replaced the caliper, and STILL had the dragging!

After that, inspected and made sure whole line was clear, and replaced the master cylinder. That ended up being the issue, worked great after that

I got most of my parts from autohaus az, and or partsgeek. Not a fan of partsgeek customer service though, id definitely use autohaus again, guys were very helpful


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## TheWolfsburg (Sep 22, 2007)

Super appreciate that! :beer:


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

ok, who wants this?

Im being given a couple cars, both running, randomly at the same time, and I need to trim down the herd. These new cars are a volvo, and another chevy. The volvo is actually a 5-speed 87 wagon, and I owned an 88 as a first car, so I love it, and my plans to get the quantum up and running have waned since it has very little internal volume compared to the volvo.

Ive spent a lot of money on this quantum, but not that much, and I am willing to GIVE the car to someone for free. You gotta deal with moving it. I can be hired to pull it with my van if you are interested, and im open to road trips, but you gotta pay gas, and dolly rental, and the road trips have to be completed in a weekend, IE, I can deliver the car anywhere I can get in a single day, leaving the next to get back. 

PM me if you want this car. Comes with all the goodies listed in the thread, and ill throw all the parts I have for it inside. Some work, you could put it back together. Or part it.


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## Snarkle (Jan 22, 2012)

:laugh:
Can you drive to Oregon in one day?
Ill make samwiches.


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

Snarkle said:


> :laugh:
> Can you drive to Oregon in one day?
> Ill make samwiches.


lol, I think the range I can make is about 500 miles realistically in one day towing. However, a samwich would be awesome. 

So let me adjust to within 500 miles from RI the car can be delivered. Fuel costs can be calculated at 16mpg towing, and 20mpg to get back. (what my van can do)

So if you want to estimate what you would have to pay me to deliver this car to lets say, Newark NJ, which is 190 miles away, that would take me about 22 gallons in fuel, and probably be about 80-90 bucks. Add renting a dolly, and add tolls. But thats the math, im not interested in gouging anyone, and I have an old van which is getting a new engine anyway, so I don't care about putting miles on it.


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## Snarkle (Jan 22, 2012)

TOO BAD I make yummy samwiches and I can acomodate any dietary requirements. You are too far away. Shall I mail you a samwhich anyways? lol. RI pffft!
I have visited there I liked it. have some pink granite i collected in the surf there.
hope it works out and some crazy quantum seeking fool hooks up with you!


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## DubbinChris (Dec 15, 2005)

Well if you're mailing samwiches out to Quantum owners.....I have no dietary restrictions.


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## Snarkle (Jan 22, 2012)

Dubbin...Hmmm lets see here...Ahhh you seem like a peanut butter, dill Pickle, with Tuna Fish kinda guy:laugh:
Dont laugh at me but I used to make those when I was in HS cross country. Coach said I need lots of protien:thumbup:


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## TheWolfsburg (Sep 22, 2007)

this is a tempting ordeal... but im in TX. I was just at SOWO in GA too... dang it


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

And its gone! On to an new home, delivered today.


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## TheWolfsburg (Sep 22, 2007)

Sad to hear but, im sure it's in good hands


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

TheWolfsburg said:


> Sad to hear but, im sure it's in good hands


 went on to a capable looking group of VW guys up in Maine. They are working on it to get it running, they may update the thread at some point seeing on how it turns out.


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## TheWolfsburg (Sep 22, 2007)

Still waiting on word....opcorn:


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

guys got it running, don't know more though.

He said its working.


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## shwak23 (Feb 28, 2009)

She is running strong and is currently being daily'd. More details later. Planning on re-blacking the trim later today.

Sent from my DROID X2


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## tinworm (Oct 2, 2011)

looks good! fkin awesome 

glad you got it running!  
Black looks good for under the bumpers, did you end up putting in some new speakers?  

glad you took it over, it would still be rotting away in storage down here 

wow, im surprised how fast the heat gun blacking of the trim faded, I only did that a couple months before you guys got it.


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## shwak23 (Feb 28, 2009)

Yeah I have heat gunned the trim on my mkii. It fades fast. We used bondo trim blackener or whatever and now it looks awesome. We also painted the rear bumper black and made the tail lights all red. More pics to come. 

Sent from my DROID X2


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## TheWolfsburg (Sep 22, 2007)

Good to see her up and daily'in


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