1979 VW B1 Passat Estate - Ready for MOT

You can employ some tricks to visually lower without actually lowering it, the biggest one being eliminating vertical lines and emphasising horizontal ones. Simply painting the vertical section of the door frames and pillars dividing the windows satin black in line with the glass itself can have a dramatic effect. The illusion makes the glasshouse one long unbroken block then which in turn makes the A and D pillars look lighter and artificially lengthens the look of the roof. Keeping everything very clean will also help and putting the number plate under the bumper rather than offset will help at the front. Likewise the foglights, by sticking them high up in the grille you're visually narrowing it, dropping them under the bumper flanking the number plate is a better solution and adds visual weight to the bottom of the car.

Body colour sills will help as more car will be visible lower down where black sills will make it look higher, combined with a chrome trim strip along the top edge of the sill where it meets the door, you get a long straight line that catches the light and the eye at a low point.

Bigger wheels don't help, they actually hinder. The bigger the wheel, the lower you physically have to go to lower it the same amount, so sticking to the 13s is a better option. Going up to a 14" with a slightly lower profile tyre so the rolling radius is the same is a better option if you want a larger, more visible wheel. It's also much cheaper since you've a wide range of options at this size.

Tinted headlights and indicators to blend them into the grille will widen the front aspect of the car hugely, though do be careful about what tint you use on the headlights, most aren't suitable for this application.

If you can find a compatible spring that offers a modest drop of 30mm or so that should be enough really. It's not a car that needs to be slammed to the floor to look distinctive and just closing the arch gap a little can make quite a dramatic difference to how it looks while also not looking modified. Custom springs are generally easier to get made than anything else you might want to fit to lower the car and it's usually the cheapest solution since if it's only a small drop you can still use all the stock components without worry. It also means you can still use the car practically if you need to.

vulgalour Yeah i know what you mean on the yellow fog, its a little bit too 'scene' for me...

A simple JDM chin spoiler would help.





Or a MK3 Golf chin lip - they split in two in the centre so can easily be cut down to fit

I'd say some grinder action to the stock springs is the easiest and cheapest option? Or do these cars have some kind of exotic suspension set-up?

A little low and some nice (not black) wheels would look awesome.
Of center number plate is (in my worthless view) very wanna be and doesn't add nothing.
No emblem....is a "what ever" thing to me.
Don't go over board with finding a new look.
You have a great looking car, more is not always better.

Buuuuut it's your pride and joy!! You do what you wanna do and as you know opinions are like
ar@holes everyone has one....

Off-centered plate looks barry boy to me and so does the badge-less grille, it yells "Look everybody, I broke my original grille and I'm too tight to buy an original one, I bought this piece of chinese curse word instead"
There are -40 lowering springs for the front made by H+R, the number is 29543VA2. They were originally designed for the Audi 80 B1, which has more or less the same front suspension. But they are hard to find even in Germany, so good luck!

I like the blacked out pillars...for what it is worth. At that location I do not associate it wih covering rust at all.

If you do do a stripe at the bottom edge I'd suggest not using white for the lettering, but rather body colour... I think it's more subtle and suits the colour of your car.

Here's what I mean and did on mine...

Love that its still going! I've got a 77 pre facelift type 33 estate I'm building now. Hopefully we can get to some of the same shows next year be great to get next to another b1. As for wheels get some 13's or 14's of a period style they will look spot on. Me on the other hand, I'm going all out. Narrowing a rear beam and fitting air ride in order to be able to tuck 17" wheels and roll still. Full fabrication job but will be a real head turner once built. I'm already running custom front suspension! If your on Facebook get on the retro and historic car society, I'm a mod on the page. Loads of like minded people who love classics!

Hey dude loving the Passat
Glad your learning new skills
I must have the other Passat estate B1
I'm the second owner from new, honest 1 lady owner from new with 44000 on the clock, was used as daily driver but only a few miles here and there.
I just run it around, its no trailer queen, just keep it up together gets new things when it needs them sort of thing. paint looks great from 30 feet away as still in original paint. needs some love here and there I will get round to it some day.
Loving your build and the love on the car.
My car is known as poo car cause well its looks like a t**d in choc brown, was going to air ride it and add gold 15 bbs but got other projects so its never got there lol.