My 2025 Cannonball Entry 1975 Volkwagen Golf

[oldcarfan]

This is the start of my 2025 Cannonball entry. I'm using an old ESCI Golf Rally kit that I got from a now closed hobby shop.

Just an FYI, it seems this is the same kit that was released by AMT a few years back.

 

When I opened the box, it seems I had painted it gray and then put it back in the box. The paint was smooth but cracked so I polished it a couple weeks ago. I've been sick for two weeks now with something that isn't COVID, but won't go away.

Anyway, today I pulled out the last can of Model Master Go Mango that hasn't sprung a leak on the bottom. It went on nicely, and I so wish Testor's would get their act straight and reintroduce their Model Master line!

With the body painted, I won't be quite so tied to the weather so maybe I can get started on the engine.

[espo]

13 hours ago, oldcarfan said:

This is the start of my 2025 Cannonball entry. I'm using an old ESCI Golf Rally kit that I got from a now closed hobby shop.

Just an FYI, it seems this is the same kit that was released by AMT a few years back.

 

When I opened the box, it seems I had painted it gray and then put it back in the box. The paint was smooth but cracked so I polished it a couple weeks ago. I've been sick for two weeks now with something that isn't COVID, but won't go away.

Anyway, today I pulled out the last can of Model Master Go Mango that hasn't sprung a leak on the bottom. It went on nicely, and I so wish Testor's would get their act straight and reintroduce their Model Master line!

With the body painted, I won't be quite so tied to the weather so maybe I can get started on the engine.

Send Rustoliumn a heated letter about their product line since taking over Testor's.  

[slusher]

 Go Maago looks Terrific!   Do what i do don’t buy Testors spray paint until you need it within a month…

[oldcarfan]

'Tis but a scratch. I have news and it's not the best. I was working in the shop and decided to come into the house for a minute. Absentmindedly I brought my Golf with me. I set it on the kitchen counter and went into the other room. When I came back the Golf was missing. After a few minutes of wondering if I was losing my mind, I looked for suspects. I narrowed the search to Fia, the cat and then searched some more. I found it in the backyard in this condition. I now have a scenario where Fia knocked it off the counter and our Corgi puppy took it out and chewed it up. Both suspects say they have alibis, so the investigation continues.

It kind of wrecked my day, but I've pulled the AMT Rabbit kit off the shelf which is a reissue of the ESCI kit. I may have to find another can of Go Mango paint, though. Tomorrow I'll start prepping the second body.

In trying to make something good of a bad situation, I just ordered the VW Caddy pickup conversion kit from Hiroboy. Should have it in a couple weeks and I'll try to use it with the leftover part from the second Golf kit.

 

 

 

[rickcaps55]

14 hours ago, oldcarfan said:

'Tis but a scratch. I have news and it's not the best. I was working in the shop and decided to come into the house for a minute. Absentmindedly I brought my Golf with me. I set it on the kitchen counter and went into the other room. When I came back the Golf was missing. After a few minutes of wondering if I was losing my mind, I looked for suspects. I narrowed the search to Fia, the cat and then searched some more. I found it in the backyard in this condition. I now have a scenario where Fia knocked it off the counter and our Corgi puppy took it out and chewed it up. Both suspects say they have alibis, so the investigation continues.

It kind of wrecked my day, but I've pulled the AMT Rabbit kit off the shelf which is a reissue of the ESCI kit. I may have to find another can of Go Mango paint, though. Tomorrow I'll start prepping the second body.

In trying to make something good of a bad situation, I just ordered the VW Caddy pickup conversion kit from Hiroboy. Should have it in a couple weeks and I'll try to use it with the leftover part from the second Golf kit.

 

 

 

You can make a rally car crash you have the body work done.! I feel for you that happen to me about 12 years ago my cat got up on the work bench and grabbed it it was a first run MPC 72 Vega he bit through the cowl and broke both windshield post i thought ok i can fix that i put it in the tank to strip it i grabbed the wrong bottle and when i came back to check o it it was goo at the bottom of the tank.

[slusher]

15 hours ago, oldcarfan said:

'Tis but a scratch. I have news and it's not the best. I was working in the shop and decided to come into the house for a minute. Absentmindedly I brought my Golf with me. I set it on the kitchen counter and went into the other room. When I came back the Golf was missing. After a few minutes of wondering if I was losing my mind, I looked for suspects. I narrowed the search to Fia, the cat and then searched some more. I found it in the backyard in this condition. I now have a scenario where Fia knocked it off the counter and our Corgi puppy took it out and chewed it up. Both suspects say they have alibis, so the investigation continues.

It kind of wrecked my day, but I've pulled the AMT Rabbit kit off the shelf which is a reissue of the ESCI kit. I may have to find another can of Go Mango paint, though. Tomorrow I'll start prepping the second body.

In trying to make something good of a bad situation, I just ordered the VW Caddy pickup conversion kit from Hiroboy. Should have it in a couple weeks and I'll try to use it with the leftover part from the second Golf kit.

 

 

 

Great way to look at things!

[oldcarfan]

Has anyone used Etsy for kits and parts? I did some online shopping last night for period correct 1975 Cannonball items and they had some pretty good prices on 3D printed stuff. I ordered a Stanley thermos, some binoculars, a camera, cassette recorder, flashlight, and some other things in 1/24th scale to use for interior details.

In the meantime, I managed to draw out what looks like a viable turbo intercooler setup for the engine. I need to start searching the parts pile for pieces to get it done.

[oldcarfan]

4 hours ago, slusher said:

Great way to look at things!

I guess this was the prompt I needed to order as I've thought about building a VW pickup. I ordered from Hiroboy, but has anyone ordered from C1 before? They sometimes have some pretty cool stuff in stock.

[jaymcminn]

1 hour ago, oldcarfan said:

I guess this was the prompt I needed to order as I've thought about building a VW pickup. I ordered from Hiroboy, but has anyone ordered from C1 before? They sometimes have some pretty cool stuff in stock.

I've ordered a few things from C1. The quality is first rate and they do have some really great stuff.

[oldcarfan]

One step forward after a big fall back. When I was looking for an entry, I pulled the three Golf kits I had. In retrospect, it's lucky I had something to fall back on. The Revell kit is its own tool, and a much more advanced kit. As you can see, the AMT Rabbit is a repop of the original 1970s ESCI kit. The AMT rerelease shows it's age a little. Where the original ESCI body was smooth with no sink marks, the newer release has a sink mark on each corner and some rough patches on the rear hatch that look like maybe the mold had some rust? Anyway, I did some filling and sanding and shot a coat of Duplicolor Sandable primer so we'll see how it goes. As the temperatures are in the 40s, it's going to take some time to dry.

Edited January 28 by oldcarfan

[slusher]

Really good that you had a spare..

[oldcarfan]

9 hours ago, slusher said:

Really good that you had a spare..

When we lived in Austin, Texas a few years ago, there were four hobby shops and many Hobby Lobbys in the area so I bought a lot of clearance kits when I had the money. Now they are coming in handy.

[oldcarfan]

Hopefully back on track! I prepped and primed the new bodyshell Tuesday when it was 45 outside so the primer took a while to dry. Today we hit 64 with sun so I warmed up the paint and went to work. I had just enough of the Model Masters Go Mango to do the new body shell. I'll have be careful not to burn through the paint when polishing. It went pretty smooth, so fingers crossed!

[oldcarfan]

I got paint on the replacement body shell a few days go and it's dry! I used the last of the Go Mango, but it came out pretty nice. 

I also built a round fuel cell to fit the spare tire well. It's based one from a 70's SCCA racer. I planned to use the kit's roll bar, but went a different way. The new one has a lot more detail and looks better to me.

[oldcarfan]

      It's been a week since I posted any progress, as we had the grandbaby for 5 days. The weather was great the whole time but this week it's showing it's range. We went from mid 80s to 50 in one day, and now we're looking at below freezing and possible sleet by the weekend. Whatever, I'm glad I insulated my workshop before finishing the interior. I can keep it warm with just a small electric heater.

As for progress, the new body's paint is dry. If you remember, the original body became a casualty of domestic doggie terrorism.  I replaced that body with one from the AMT release of the ESCI kit which is molded in yellow plastic. I did the usual prep, washing, and sanding before priming. I primed with the usual Duplicolor grey sandable and sanded that. I had just enough Go Mango to respray and it looks nice. 

Now for the bad: I'm not sure what the issue is, but the yellow plastic doesn't seem to like paint. I'm having to be extra careful because I can chip the paint and primer with even a fingernail. I prepped the body the same way I did the ESCI white molded parts and those turned out fine, so I'm wondering if it's something in the yellow plastic. If anyone has built the AMT release, and wants to chime in, I'm curious. I think I can work around it with caution, so fingers crossed. 

In other news, I made progress with the interior. The roll bar is in place and looks good. It's a combination of kit parts and some stuff I had left over from another project. I bought a pack of textured foil on Amazon last year. It came in a bag of 20 sheets about 1 1/2 x 3 inches each. It's the same thickness as BareMetal foil and looks like the stuff used in cigarette packs. If painted black it would probably look like vinyl roof material. Not sure why I got it originally, but it works as heat/noise insulation used in old race cars. I applied it with white glue but something more sticky might work better. Still on the fence if I like the look or not. Chime in if you have any ideas.

Just got the fire extinguisher done and in place and I'm working on the dash. I found a CB radio in the parts stash and a few other 70s pieces. Now I just need a tiny Fuzzbuster!

 

Edited February 12 by oldcarfan

[oldcarfan]

I'm not great at small details, but I finally buckled down. With help from some Dollar Store reading glasses I started working on the console and dash. Since the car is Golf, it just had to have a golf ball shifter knob. Looks like I still need to clean up the paint details but it's taking shape. I now have a CB radio and added some switches to the passenger side dash. Since every self respecting speeder in the 70s needed a radar detector, I'm building a Fuzzbuster based on a 1975 Car & Driver ad.

I've been working on a back story for my entry. I've been doing some research on early Golfs and it seems a couple of early production cars were taken to be made into racers. So in my story, a couple of Volkswagen engineers obtained one straight off the assembly line in April of 1974. They then started experimenting with tuning. Borrowing some bits from VW's siblings, Audi and Porsche, they set about building a car capable of competing in America's last great open road race.

In my parts stash I have some Porsche 911 and 914 parts so I may add some of those. I want to add a turbo, so that's on the to-do list soon.

[dust collectors]

Good on you for keeping this project moving after the "terrorist attack" it's really shaping up. Looking forward to following along.

 

[oldcarfan]

10 hours ago, dust collectors said:

Good on you for keeping this project moving after the "terrorist attack" it's really shaping up. Looking forward to following along.

 

The prime suspect remains unrepentant!

[slusher]

Coming along nicely, dog looks innocent…

[oldcarfan]

I think I mentioned how the paint isn't sticking well to the AMT yellow plastic. I touched the wheel well today and the paint flaked off. Still don't understand why. The prep was done the same as the original ESCI with washing, scuffing the shell, and priming and sanding. I'll try decanting the last of the Go Mango paint and should be able to do some touchups. 

Also got the seats painted and finished the Fuzzbuster.

Here they are put together. I originally planned to use some leftover Porsche seats, but I kind of like the kit supplied ones. They needed some jazzing up so here they are with plaid inserts. Also the Fuzzbuster is mounted to the dash now and the gauges are in place. The gauges are from the OG ESCI decal sheet and a few from an unknown Porsche sheet. They went on with no issues which is surprising considering they were printed in the 80s. I also made a set of 9 inch Marchal rally lights for the front end. They look pretty good for being home made.

And somewhere in Stuttgart, a Porsche is missing its floor mats. In keeping with the theme, I'm going to be adding some Porsche bits and pieces here and there. I think the mats kind of break up the silver heat shielding.

 

[Rescued customs]

41 minutes ago, oldcarfan said:

I think I mentioned how the paint isn't sticking well to the AMT yellow plastic. I touched the wheel well today and the paint flaked off. Still don't understand why. The prep was done the same as the original ESCI with washing, scuffing the shell, and priming and sanding. I'll try decanting the last of the Go Mango paint and should be able to do some touchups. 

Also got the seats painted and finished the Fuzzbuster.

Here they are put together. I originally planned to use some leftover Porsche seats, but I kind of like the kit supplied ones. They needed some jazzing up so here they are with plaid inserts. Also the Fuzzbuster is mounted to the dash now and the gauges are in place. The gauges are from the OG ESCI decal sheet and a few from an unknown Porsche sheet. They went on with no issues which is surprising considering they were printed in the 80s. I also made a set of 9 inch Marchal rally lights for the front end. They look pretty good for being home made.

And somewhere in Stuttgart, a Porsche is missing its floor mats. In keeping with the theme, I'm going to be adding some Porsche bits and pieces here and there. I think the mats kind of break up the silver heat shielding.

 

It’s telling you to do berg cup style flares lol that’s why paint chipped …… it’s crazy I have a 80 rabbit I’m building a hill climb/autox car out of that’s also mango orange 

[oldcarfan]

I'm actually thinking of painting the flares that way. For the original color I went back and forth between The Go Mango which is pretty close to Porsche's Signal Orange and the Green Go which is pretty close to Porsche Lime Green. But my can of Green Go has the typical Testor's leak at the bottom.  I had just enouigh of the Go Mango so I went with that. As luck would have it, a hobby shop I went to recently had a good can of the Green Go, and I grabbed that, but I'm not changing colors now!

  

 

 

[Can-Con]

20 hours ago, oldcarfan said:

I'm actually thinking of painting the flares that way. For the original color I went back and forth between The Go Mango which is pretty close to Porsche's Signal Orange and the Green Go which is pretty close to Porsche Lime Green. But my can of Green Go has the typical Testor's leak at the bottom.  I had just enouigh of the Go Mango so I went with that. As luck would have it, a hobby shop I went to recently had a good can of the Green Go, and I grabbed that, but I'm not changing colors now!

  

 

 

I have a can of the Testors "green go" that I've been saving for the right car. I sprayed my '71 Demon with it but it came out much darker then it should be. Guess I got a bad can.

[oldcarfan]

1 hour ago, Can-Con said:

I have a can of the Testors "green go" that I've been saving for the right car. I sprayed my '71 Demon with it but it came out much darker then it should be. Guess I got a bad can.

Testor's did two Chrysler high impact colors, Green Go and Sublime. The Green Go is definitely darker. Here is a picture of a Porsche I painted in SubLime over white Duplicolor sandable primer. You can find it sometimes on eBay, this color really pops! I really wish someone would pick up the mantle and release all these colors again in packaging you could buy anywhere.

[NOBLNG]

On 2/17/2025 at 5:38 PM, oldcarfan said:

The prime suspect remains unrepentant!

Not his fault…the cat put him up to it….they are such instigators.🙄