Hey guys, my name is Gaets, I’ve lurked TDI club for years with the hopes of some day doing a TDI swap. Things had finally come together to make that happen. Back in August I bought a 92 Jetta with the idea of making it a road trip car. I have a 91 GTI with a 24v VR6 swap, shaved engine bay and lots of other work done to it. I’ve taken it on plenty of 1500+ mile road trips to shows all up and down the east coast but with all the work done to it it’s gotten to be more stressful than fun. My plan is to put together a reliable mk2 that I can take on long road trips and still have fun with at shows.
So more about the Jetta, its a 1992 GL with 128k on it. I’m the third owner and got it with the original window sticker along with most of the service history. The body panels are pretty straight but the paint is pretty much gone. Almost no rust on it, all the trim is where it’s supposed to be. The interior is pretty clean for its age except for a cracked dash and sagging headliner. It’s one of the most complete mk2 I’ve come across. When I bought it, it hadn’t run or driven in over a year and a half.
On the way home with the car I got the wild idea to drive it 1650 miles round trip to Treffensouth in Atlanta which was 2 weeks away. It didn’t need too much to get it back into driving shape, new radiator, belts, and a basic tune up.
The original plan when I first picked up the car was to swap an ABA in it and drive it like that for a while. While on the road trip home from Atlanta I kept thinking how awesome it would be with a TDI. As soon as I got home I was on craigslist and within minutes found a MK3 TDI that would be the perfect donor car. Ended up picking up it later that week.
So like I said, plans for the Jetta is to make it a comfortable reliable driver I can take on long trips. Cruise control and A/C and a necessity on this car (unlike my GTI which is all show). I want to make the swap as close to a factory install as possible. I’m going to keep the body as is, I think the original patina look is cool. It came with coilovers on it’s slightly lowered, at some point I’ll probably put some wheels on it but that’s going to be the extent of exterior modifications.
This past weekend I finally got some time to get started by pulling the TDI out of the mk3. I’m hoping with the long weekend coming up I can get the engine out of the mk2 and possibly set the TDI in place.
I plan on updating this as I go along. I look forward to getting to know and learn from the TDI club community in the process.
Here’s a few pictures of my 1991 GTI in case anyone is interested.
So more about the Jetta, its a 1992 GL with 128k on it. I’m the third owner and got it with the original window sticker along with most of the service history. The body panels are pretty straight but the paint is pretty much gone. Almost no rust on it, all the trim is where it’s supposed to be. The interior is pretty clean for its age except for a cracked dash and sagging headliner. It’s one of the most complete mk2 I’ve come across. When I bought it, it hadn’t run or driven in over a year and a half.
On the way home with the car I got the wild idea to drive it 1650 miles round trip to Treffensouth in Atlanta which was 2 weeks away. It didn’t need too much to get it back into driving shape, new radiator, belts, and a basic tune up.
The original plan when I first picked up the car was to swap an ABA in it and drive it like that for a while. While on the road trip home from Atlanta I kept thinking how awesome it would be with a TDI. As soon as I got home I was on craigslist and within minutes found a MK3 TDI that would be the perfect donor car. Ended up picking up it later that week.
So like I said, plans for the Jetta is to make it a comfortable reliable driver I can take on long trips. Cruise control and A/C and a necessity on this car (unlike my GTI which is all show). I want to make the swap as close to a factory install as possible. I’m going to keep the body as is, I think the original patina look is cool. It came with coilovers on it’s slightly lowered, at some point I’ll probably put some wheels on it but that’s going to be the extent of exterior modifications.
This past weekend I finally got some time to get started by pulling the TDI out of the mk3. I’m hoping with the long weekend coming up I can get the engine out of the mk2 and possibly set the TDI in place.
I plan on updating this as I go along. I look forward to getting to know and learn from the TDI club community in the process.
Here’s a few pictures of my 1991 GTI in case anyone is interested.
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