# Quantum Coupe Questions



## Armchair67 (Apr 5, 2019)

I have owned and still own a number of air cooled VWs (currently: 67 Cal Look 2332cc sunroof sedan, '70 Fastback, '73 Super Beetle) as well as a daily driven MK7 GTI, but I recently picked up my first "early-ish" VW-a 1982 Quantum Coupe. I have only seen one other, when I was a kid. My neighbor's friend bought a new, metallic green coupe. This car is in pretty good shape overall-it needs some body work and some interior work, but it runs well, everything seems to work and it has records and manuals going back to the day it was sold new. 

A few things: I know coupes were only sold in the USA for a short time, from 1982 and part of 1983, but can anyone confirm this? I have also been told that only 1,700 were sold here, which seems believable given the low sales numbers of the Sedan and Wagon. Anyone have exact numbers? I cannot imagine that many survive today. 

One other question is about my car itself. The drivers side window has a crank window, but the passenger side is power. The previous owner-who was the second owner-said he thinks the original owner did not want to spend the money to have the power window motor replaced when it quit, so he replaced it with a manual window regulator and crank. That made the most sense to me too, except that it almost seems that it came this way. The passenger side power window switch is in the center console, next to several block outs. I would assume the drivers side power window switch would have been on the left side of the console, in the opposite position-but there is none. It is not missing-it has the plastic blanking plate over the space I would assume it went, and it matches the brown interior. It would be funny that VW would put one crank window, and one power, although I suppose they could have made the passenger one power since it is out of reach from the drivers seat. Seems an odd place to cut costs, but then let's remember that even a new top line Golf R has a manual passenger seat, and in the mid 1970s VW eliminated the oil drain plug on Type 1's and 3's, so it is possible. Can anyone tell me if my car should have a power drivers window, or if it did indeed come like this?


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## B1-16V (Aug 5, 2002)

Very cool car, and very interesting story about the windows.
I've always liked these cars, but thought a set of euro bumpers and headlights would be the way to go. Along with getting rid of the tweed brown interior they all seemed to have.

Have you tried taking out the blanking plate to see if there is a harness just dangling behind it? I think that will tell the story. No on in their right mind would go through the trouble of removing the harness if they went to manual.


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## Armchair67 (Apr 5, 2019)

Thank you. I have not done that yet, but I am going to. The car came with a bunch of new parts. I am currently replacing the rear brakes, and should be done over the weekend. The body has some rust, nothing major but it is there, so in another week-two I am having the body work done and a complete repaint. Some regular and preventative maintenance (timing belt for example), replacing the tiny and cheap front muffler with the correct one, and very complete detailing and some minor interior work and it should be a nice car again. It came with all of the original manuals and books. I managed to contact the original owner through facebook-she bought it new in her early 20s and sold it to her dad after five years of daily driving. He had it until about 4 years ago. I am used to a large community of air cooled VW enthusiasts-there is almost no one that appreciates the B2 Passat/Quantum in the USA it seems, so it should be an interesting car at the VW events.


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## B1-16V (Aug 5, 2002)

Absolutely, it will be a very cool car to see at events. 
I am restoring a Dasher, and just like the Quantum, you never ever see them. So I'm really looking forward to when it's done. Good luck with your car, as you probably already know, you can get quite a few parts for it, just not any glass or sheet metal.


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## Armchair67 (Apr 5, 2019)

Good luck with your car as well. I have not seen a Dasher in several years. Yes, it is very difficult to find trim parts for. I am searching for a few trim items (lenses, rear window seal, window scrapers, etc) as well as power window motors and regulators, and so far, it has been a real uphill battle. I would think that some items such as the power window motors would be shared with other VW models of the time, but that does not seem to be the case. Mechanical bits seem to be available and pretty inexpensive, however.


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## Armchair67 (Apr 5, 2019)

There is definitely some tumbleweed blowing through the VW scene when it comes to the Quantum! Since I've had my car I had it taken down to the metal, all of the rust cut out and new metal welded in, and had it repainted in the original Sand Metallic. I also added a set of 15 inch BBS wheels. I'll see if I can figure out how to post pics here. Still on the look out for the trim parts I mentioned. Also looking for seat upholstery or one good used seat if I have to. Looking forward to continuing the restoration work on this car.


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## B1-16V (Aug 5, 2002)

This is great news, very happy you're working on it. 

I made an account with Imgur. So far very happy with it. Easy to use.


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## turbinepowered (Mar 19, 2007)

Hi fellow coupe owner!

My coupe has power windows on both sides, so I would imagine that in your case a replacement was made and then either the switch was popped out and replaced with the blanking plate for some reason. 

My own coupe is thankfully relatively rust free, good for me as I'm not confident in my welding skills enough to even dream of trying to tack on new metal to that body, be interested in seeing your pics though!


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## Armchair67 (Apr 5, 2019)

turbinepowered said:


> Hi fellow coupe owner!
> 
> My coupe has power windows on both sides, so I would imagine that in your case a replacement was made and then either the switch was popped out and replaced with the blanking plate for some reason.
> 
> My own coupe is thankfully relatively rust free, good for me as I'm not confident in my welding skills enough to even dream of trying to tack on new metal to that body, be interested in seeing your pics though!


There are not many of us are there? What year is your car? Color? You are correct-my car is supposed to have power windows on both sides. I have found a power window motor and regulator online, but am not sure if the Coupe set up is the same as a sedan or wagon. I may have to give it a shot and hope the parts are correct. The passenger side works, but is slow-I may pull that one apart and see if I can get it working more quickly. I am going to try to get some pics up, and would love to see yours also.


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## B1-16V (Aug 5, 2002)

How's the progress coming along?


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