ahu from mk3 to B3

Steve Addy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Location
Iowa
TDI
97 Mk3
Interior is getting closer to being done. Couple doors left to finish and then some seat cleaning and install and it should be there on the inside. I still have some other wiring to do but can't finish that stuff because I don't have the pyro gauge yet and nor do I have a pod to put it in.

I'm not happy with the cleanliness of the headliner, but it wasn't like I had choices. Also, it doesn't really clean very well either so I'll have to live with it for now.

Got the new rear plastics all cleaned and installed. The new cargo cover looks nice and will work well. A few little trim pieces that I'd like to replace are most likley NLA now. One is a kind of grip / handle on the cover itself, the second is a little flip up cover on the slot the cover rides in at the end near the tailgate. I've queried the part numbers and it doesn't look like promising.

I also have to transfer the seat upholstery / cushions for the back lower seats from the sedan frames to the wagon frames, which really shouldn't be too tough.



Steve
 

GTiTDi

TDIClub Enthusiast, Macht Schnell! Vendor , w/Busi
Joined
Oct 18, 2010
Location
3 Spruce st Wareham, gateway to Cape Cod Massachus
TDI
'91 GTI CJAA swap,'02 Jetta wagon ALH swap, '03 GTI 1.8T rally car, '03 Sprinter 3500
why not rewrap the headliner? Seems like a logical thing to do considering the time you've already invested in everything else...It's fairly easy to do, will really set it all off! Threads discussing this process are out there, damn near every scene kid with a lowered mk4 has redone his headliner..and most haven't done nearly as much in depth as you have so far...
 

Steve Addy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Location
Iowa
TDI
97 Mk3
why not rewrap the headliner? Seems like a logical thing to do considering the time you've already invested in everything else...It's fairly easy to do, will really set it all off! Threads discussing this process are out there, damn near every scene kid with a lowered mk4 has redone his headliner..and most haven't done nearly as much in depth as you have so far...
I've thought about it several times, and maybe I will in the future but just not right now. I need this car on the road, the Jetta needs some down time for maint and I need the wagon road ready and buttoned up in a week.

Perhaps when I go back to address some of the deficiencies in the sound system later in the fall I'll take time to do this.

Steve
 

Steve Addy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Location
Iowa
TDI
97 Mk3
At least it's a wagon, far less effort needed to get the headliner out
Yes, wagon has a much easier time getting it out, sedan is a bit more of a pita.

Small update, interior reinstall wrapping up, finished repainting rockers and some patching welds in the floor, I think it's about as done as it will be for a few years. This car will eventually need rockers if it stays in the mid-west, I just didn't feel like getting involved in that at the moment. Maybe in 12-18 months I'll feel differently about it.

A few things remain on the inside to finish up but I did take the car on a little freeway trip tonight. I believe that my suspicion about the bad passenger wheel bearing was right, about half way through the trip (62 mile round trip) I started getting some rumbling. I'm not sure I mentioned it before but I had replaced these at the beginning but forgot to install outer cv cups and I ended up moving the car back and forth a couple times, which I suspected toasted the right side bearing. I'm not sure whether the left side also got wrecked or not.

At any rate, I have two more bearings that I can install if they both got messed up, I'll be checking these tomorrow and replacing them both if necessary, one will get done at least.

Other than the rumbling the car drove nicely. I'm not accustomed to it so there was a bit of weirdness but it shouldn't be a big deal to get used to it. Also it was dirty, I need to head to the car wash tomorrow too.

I'm heading to NE Iowa on Monday for several days to visit family (spring visit) so I'll take this car since it needs to be road tested anyway. Once I get back I'll be taking it in for PDR for that driver side fender dent and then to a detailer friend who does great work.

Also I still have the front bumper cover to finish up. It needs some reinforcement and a repaint. I need to pickup some extruded aluminum flat bars at the hardware to do a little reinforcement work but the paint is already mixed for it. I also need to attend to a couple spots of rust on the tailgate where the name plate goes.

Steve
 

Steve Addy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Location
Iowa
TDI
97 Mk3
Rumble turned out to be crappy tires. I've run across this before but never at highway speeds, only on inner city streets going about 30mph.

I stole the wheels / tires off the Jetta since the Jetta will be in the garage for a while getting maint work done to it. These aren't great but they'll be fine until I get the wheels I bought for the wagon repainted and the new tires mounted.

It's driving quite well, nothing weird or unusual although I still don't have the AC hooked up yet. I asked my neighbor across the street to help me with it and he said he didn't have time at the moment so I'm in a holding pattern until he does. All the components are in but I haven't connected the dryer yet and I won't until it's time to pull a vacuum on it.



Steve
 
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Steve Addy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Location
Iowa
TDI
97 Mk3
Did a small 410 mile trip over the course of the week, car performed very well, nothing out of sorts, no surprises. The weather wasn't great, driving into the wind and some periodic rain. The return trip was better but still plagued by cross winds.

Now that I'm back time to get back to finishing up the car. All that remains is to finish the interior assembly, get the exterior detailing done and get to fixing the front bumper cover.

I do think though that I'm losing the rear brake pressure regulator, I noticed the lever was moist when I was under the car last week, looks like I'll need to get one of those on order. I also noticed that it seems like there's a lot of pedal travel so it might be time to get a new MC here too. Might be opportunity to do the 25mm MC upgrade.

The European headlights are working fine, I'm using the French yellow bulbs that I've had for years now. I really need to find a nice flat parking lot with a white building wall so I can aim the headlights.

Steve
 

Steve Addy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Location
Iowa
TDI
97 Mk3
Your talents are amazing !
Haha, I don't know about that! I'm still waiting for an update on your conversion project, I don't envy you dealing with the quattro.

Small update, found the origin of the coolant leak, it was the brand new Gates water pump :mad: so I had to tear out the alt / AC comp and pull the whole housing. I was literally slack-jawed when I saw that the leak was coming from the pump driveshaft. At any rate I happened to have a bocar VW pump that I could substitute so the swap got done today.

I really hate draining coolant, there's never any easy way of doing it without just making a big mess.

Also, brake master went fully south late last week so I ordered up a new MC (actually two of them). I had decided a while back that I would go with the 25.4mm MC from the Audi with the Girling 60 dual pot calipers so last Sunday night I ordered that MC. However, by Tuesday I was having second thoughts after I'd read some differing views on the larger MC so I turned around and ordered a replacement 22.2mm MC like the original one. It will be here on Saturday I think. I haven't decided which one to install yet although the bigger one is here already...

Next week I have plans to get the car into a PDR place to remove that rather large dent in the driver fender, then later it'll go to a friend who does detailing (expensive detailing) so hopefully it'll look less chalky than it does now.

Also the front bumper and fog light frames are done but even after four days it seems like it's not dry. I used single stage urethane with catalyst so maybe it'll just take a while. I also fixed that rust spot on the rear hatch too.

Steve
 

Steve Addy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Location
Iowa
TDI
97 Mk3
So the brakes are finally fixed. Not sure if the MC was actually bad or not but in my haste to place blame I picked that since I knew it was the oldest component in the system, or at least I thought it was the oldest.

Ended up the problem was the rear brake force regulator. It must have been pressurizing when the pedal was pushed but then would allow air to enter the system when the pedal was released, hence the reason that it couldn't be bled properly. And since the regulator controls both circuits once the regulator failed both circuits failed.

Any rate it's fixed now and the rear bled properly and the only thing left to do on the brakes is to adjust regulator...which should be done with some type of pressure apparatus.



Glad to have the car back on the road. Maybe I can now get the front bumper cover completed and installed!

Steve
 

Steve Addy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Location
Iowa
TDI
97 Mk3
AC system button up evacuated and charged. Seems to be working very well. I had to adjust the lower dryer to condenser hose so it wouldn't interfere with the B3 bumper cover. Cooling fans (ala VR6) operate as they should

Still waiting on the bumper cover to dry. It's been over a month and it (and the fog surrounds) are still tacky.

I have complained to the shop that mixed the spray bomb and they've said they'll remake it but that does nothing for the labor effort. I'd rather find a good original alpine white cover but that's needle in haystack...

Not happy about paint work...

Steve
 

Steve Addy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Location
Iowa
TDI
97 Mk3
I think this will be about the last post. Although there are a few things left to complete there's nothing big left to do really.

The car got a long voyage last weekend, it hauled me and my bike down to the Horsey Hundred century ride in Georgetown KY. The car never complained once, was a joy to drive and returned close to 50 mpg for the whole trip running 75+ with AC on too. All told it covered about 1350 miles and it was really a pleasure to drive.

The front bumper cover and fog light surrounds are installed but because the shop goofed on the paint and the spray bomb apparently didn't get any catalyst it's still not completely dry, even after a month and a half of sitting.

The paint will need to come off (not happy about it) or I'll need to find a good front bumper with factory paint. The people who mixed it know I'm not happy, they mixed me another one, but that does little to help with the labor side of the equation since I'll have to strip off the alpine white and the green beneath it. The stripper isn't good enough to distinguish where to stop. Basically I'll be starting over which isn't something I'm wanting to do.

I would prefer to just drive to a JY somewhere and pickup a good front bumper, I don't really have a lot of time to devote to this anymore, there's lots of other projects that I need to attend to on my house. I already devoted the time I had for this before and didn't anticipate having to dump a bunch more in because of idiots at the auto parts store paint counter.

Anyway, it looked nice before leaving, unfortunately now the soft paint has a ton of bugs embedded it it.



Steve
 

Steve Addy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Location
Iowa
TDI
97 Mk3
Over 3500 miles logged on the conversion so far. Can't say I've had any trouble to speak of yet although I'm rethinking my suspension setup in favor of Bilstein HD stuff.

Still putting small things back together and trying to locate a few missing things.

Steve
 

Steve Addy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Location
Iowa
TDI
97 Mk3
Installed Rocketchip RC2 a couple days ago. After futzing around trying to figure out why I was getting a 00575 code I realized the hoses to the N75 weren't on correctly. And then I realized they weren't on correctly again....

Well they're on right now and I'm getting no more codes.

Steve
 

GTiTDi

TDIClub Enthusiast, Macht Schnell! Vendor , w/Busi
Joined
Oct 18, 2010
Location
3 Spruce st Wareham, gateway to Cape Cod Massachus
TDI
'91 GTI CJAA swap,'02 Jetta wagon ALH swap, '03 GTI 1.8T rally car, '03 Sprinter 3500
Installed Rocketchip RC2 a couple days ago. After futzing around trying to figure out why I was getting a 00575 code I realized the hoses to the N75 weren't on correctly. And then I realized they weren't on correctly again....

Well they're on right now and I'm getting no more codes.

Steve
Practice makes perfect? :rolleyes:
 

Steve Addy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Location
Iowa
TDI
97 Mk3
Swapped axles today, the ones I installed originally came on a 1998 Mk3 2.0 MT car and although they were the correct length they weren't the part number originally specified on any B3 diesel or B4 tdi. I stumbled upon a 96 B4 GLS this past weekend and since it had the 2.0 with MT I decided to look and see if the axles were the same as those specified for the B4 tdi cars.

If the axles on that car were the same part number as those listed as being correct in VAGCAT then the numbers are different but VW lists them as analogous so I'm confident that they'll be good.

For the CV's I dismantled some axles from a 1991 GTI that I'd kept back for a while, they were in very good shape so I repacked them, installed new boots and then installed them on the opposite side.

So far logged a little over 7700 miles since the beginning of April and really nothing to complain about. I might have a water leak in the rear still, I noticed some moisture in the right side rear compartment that shouldn't have been there.

Also still a few pieces of trim I haven't installed yet. I finally got visors installed just about a week ago although they're not electrified yet. I also noticed that the fabric on the moonroof shade is starting to come off, so that'll have to be dealt with.

Also had new tires installed, the ones I had weren't that great and one of the front ones slipped a belt.

Steve
 

Steve Addy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Location
Iowa
TDI
97 Mk3
Almost 14,000 miles since this went on the road at the end of April 2016 and really nothing bad to report. Basically it's been problem free since it went on the road except for the tire with the slipped belt, which is good since I spend a lot of my time cycling and going to cycling events. We have spring training camp in early April and if I get the roof bars reinstalled I might drive it down there.

I did have to put the car in the garage and reseal the IP this winter, December 10th was the weekend IIRC, it was the same weekend as a 5k run that my cycling race club "encouraged" members to run in, and also the same weekend when we got snow during the race.

I am starting to hear a clunk in front when turning so it's probably time to order up the Bilstein struts and the Meyle HD mounts. I don't remember what brand of mounts I ordered last time but the gap at the strut top has been growing so I think it's wise to deal with it. Also I wanted to do an alignment and I'm not doing that until the new stuff is installed. Also I'd like to replace the right inner tie rod since that was original and I'd like a new one there before alignment.

Also did the oil pan pad heater install, that went fine and it works good.



EDIT: I did find about 1/8 cup of oil in the intercooler today. Can't say I'm surprised but since it's almost 14k miles I'm thinking that's not really all that bad.

Steve
 

ToddA1

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 3, 2011
Location
NJ 08002
TDI
'96 B4V, '97 B4 (sold), '97 Jetta (scrapped)
I installed a set of the HD mounts on the B4V and they've opened up a bit. I wonder if poly would be a better option.

-Todd
 

G60ING

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 5, 2001
Location
MD
TDI
No TDIs Currently, I have an R36 Corrado. I've had an ALH Corrado swap, AHU Corrado swap and 2003 TDI Jetta
There are a number of options. The basic concept is easy to play with. I just changed my front tdi mount out for a hybrid hockey puck design for my 3.6 VR6 swap.

I used a hockey puck for the bottom, then two pucks and 1/3 of the rubber mount, to help with idle vibrations.

The transmission mount is easy to upgrade to a G60 Corrado mount that is solid rubber.

The rear mount you can go hybrid or poly. For now I'm keeping it stock tdi to help with vibrations.

When I first started my alh tdi swap it had poly mounts and I quickly yanked them because the vibrations were horrible.
 

Steve Addy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Location
Iowa
TDI
97 Mk3
I installed a set of the HD mounts on the B4V and they've opened up a bit. I wonder if poly would be a better option.

-Todd
I think some settling of the mount is probably natural, it's when it starts to get to be too much something needs to be done.

Even though these mounts are only at 14k miles I'm still going to install new ones of the HD variety since I'm going with new Bilsteins. Might keep the rear strut mounts though.

Steve
 

Steve Addy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Location
Iowa
TDI
97 Mk3
It's been just over a year since this car went on the road, couldn't be happier. Early April I made an 850 mile round trip down to Arkansas and back for cycling training camp, car performed great, had to run the AC for part of the trip back, worked fine. Car goes along well at 80-85 on good pavement.

Starting to think it's time to do the suspension refresh that I had planned for this year. The rear struts are probably fine but they weren't anything to write home about to begin with; clearance KYB GR-2 from RA for ~$20 ea just to get something installed and the fronts were used KYB GR-2 from a Mk3 that I put new mounts / bearings on. Time to get the Bilstein struts and some new mounts on order.

I recently noticed an excessive amount of air bubbles in the fuel line. It's hard to tell where they're coming from, pre-filter or filter itself. I have for a while suspected that the real culprit could be the lines at the rear from the sender to the nylon line. I have been wanting to replace them all but missed my opportunity when I filled the tank a few days ago. I did manage to get the first small section replaced on the supply from the sender to the check valve but the other I could not get to. I'll have to wait until the tank empties before I can get to the second chunk. For now though the short replacement seems to have reduced the air bubbles significantly so I might be on the right track.

Still haven't decided what to do about the front bumper. I had hoped that at some point I would find a white B3 with a good front bumper but so far that hasn't happened. There's still that JY out in CT with a good bumper but that's a looooong drive. I still need a good replacement hood but until I find a good one in factory while I'm sticking with mine. What's better, a perfect hood in a different color or a white one with several bruises?

Now if only the rear speakers were something besides 4x6. :-(

Steve
 

ToddA1

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 3, 2011
Location
NJ 08002
TDI
'96 B4V, '97 B4 (sold), '97 Jetta (scrapped)
Are those speakers in the doors or cargo area? If the doors, I'm wondering if you could use the B4 mount rings, to get you to a 6.5".

If the cargo area, I think there's plenty of room, under the plastic for a larger speaker. My B4V has the grills, but I don't think anything was ever there. There's no prewiring from the factory.

I don't do too much with rear fill. I used to be very into car audio, and either never ran rears or had the fader heavily biased to the front. You wouldn't go to a concert and sit with your back to the stage.

In both my B4s, the rears run 10db lower than the fronts, through old Diamond Audio Hex crossovers.

-Todd
 

Steve Addy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Location
Iowa
TDI
97 Mk3
The B3 rear doors don't have speakers, like the B4 cars. The space where the speakers are in the rear is kind of slim, I'm not sure whether I could get anything else in there or not but the cavity is not much wider than the speaker width.

What I have works ok and since I'm not excited about tearing into that stuff again I'll probably leave it alone but it would be nice to get a little more bass from back there.

It's too bad the B3's didn't use rear door speakers...

Steve
 

Steve Addy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Location
Iowa
TDI
97 Mk3
Sorry folks but all the pics are gone thanks to Pbucket. Seems like this happened a decade ago with some other photo hosting place. At any rate they aren't coming back, I'm not paying a fee to have them shown here. If you go to my Pbucket acct you can see anything you like, I'll keep it around for a while, but don't be surprised if I download all and close the acct, with this action Pbucket probably won't be around long anyway.

Steve A
 

Steve Addy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Location
Iowa
TDI
97 Mk3
Yesterday was the 20,000 mile anniversary of this project. IIRC the project started around September of 2014 and the car went on the road around the middle of May 2016. That's quite a while for what was supposed to be a quick swap.

Be that as it may, it's been a great 20k miles. There are still a few things to wrap up and / or change but for the most part it's been trouble free.

Recently found a missing piece that I'd been looking for / trying to acquire for quite some time. The left inner fender paneling from a VR6 B3 with the rear vent.

This car:


Still retained this item:


Which is now cleaned and installed on the B3V here. This covers the lower portion of the intercooler but still lets air pass through.

 

Windex

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 1, 2006
Location
Cambridge
TDI
05 B5V 01E FRF
Is that not one of the most satisfying things? Tying up a loose end like that with a hard-to-find part feels so good.

On my B4 it was finding and installing the 8.5L washer tank from a VR6 with the headlamp washers. I could go the whole winter with that tank. Miss that - the tank on the B5 is only 3.5L and there is no room for a larger one due to the intercooler.
 

ToddA1

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 3, 2011
Location
NJ 08002
TDI
'96 B4V, '97 B4 (sold), '97 Jetta (scrapped)
20k is a good shakedown. Out of curiosity, what was the vent for on a VR6?

-Todd
 

Steve Addy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Location
Iowa
TDI
97 Mk3
Is that not one of the most satisfying things? Tying up a loose end like that with a hard-to-find part feels so good.

On my B4 it was finding and installing the 8.5L washer tank from a VR6 with the headlamp washers. I could go the whole winter with that tank. Miss that - the tank on the B5 is only 3.5L and there is no room for a larger one due to the intercooler.
It is very satisfying to find something you've been wanting to find for a long time. I've had feelers out there for a while but it didn't turn up much. There was one fellow who stated he could get one but the bill was probably going to be a three digit number.

I would love to find the big washer tank but alas we don't get many Canadian cars down this way, better luck to find those out east or out west maybe. I recall someone offering me one about a year ago but for the price they wanted I had to pass.

Last Canadian VW I recall running into was a 1988 Jetta turbo diesel. I ended up with the engine from that car, a 1.6 hydro TD, which is somewhat rare in the US.

20k is a good shakedown. Out of curiosity, what was the vent for on a VR6?

-Todd
Agreed, I think it's going to end up being pretty stable.

As for the vent, I think it was unnecessary for the VR6 car but it was used because it was already being produced. I can't imagine why it was there, it serves no purpose and there isn't one in the other side so I think it has to be that they already had a bunch of these sitting around.

Steve
 
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