i have an 1981 ea81 hatch that's blue w/gray interior . i want to paint it o.d.green and switch to a tan interior. i found a 1986 hatch with a flawless tan interior on craigslist . the odd thing is... it's my old hatch !! i called the guy and after awhile i realized that i recocognized the voice and jokingly told him to gimme my car back . he said gimme my $600 back and it's yours. anyway , i dont intend on using anything off of the grill but the fenders would be nice . i have the single round headlight , this has the four squares. is the fender the same ? would the doors bolt right on ? mine have rust holes all the way thru . would the interior swap directly over ? i read somewhere on here that hatches and brats stayed ea81 thru the years even tho everything else changed . i basically want to make one good one out of two . what say ye ?

What year is your old hatch? The exterior parts are the same, but over the years a few mounting points and brackets along the chassis (mostly in the engine bay) changed to accomodate new equipment. The fenders and doors will bolt on, no problem. The interior should all swap over, but I think the 81 had the cool red guages?

 

Anyway what are your plans for the grey interior parts? Are they in good shape? Im 40 minutes up the road in Toppenish, and I could use the grey parts if you dont need them, I have a few tan parts if you need any... As well as a lot of mechanical parts

 

-Bill

Actually the marker light cutout area of the fenders is different. And the antenna is on the wrong side.

 

GD

forgot about the antenna...

 

I had early EA81 fenders on my 86 Hatch, I remember now the antenna was on the opposite side, though it mattered not because I had no radio... I never got around to installing the corner lights cuz I didnt want to break my 3rd and last pair, so I guess I overlooked that issue.... But they did bolt on with no problems

 

-Bill

There's really 3 different EA81 fender's out there - 80/81, 82, and 83+. They changed the marker light cutout in '82 but kept the DS antenna, then in '83 moved the antenna to the PS.

 

GD