B4 interior parts interchangeability ?

smogmonster

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May 10, 2013
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I have a couple sedan donor cars a b3 passat and b4 passat
And I was wondering what interior parts will swap into a b4 wagon?
Was thinking of using the b3 leather interior door panels seats etc
I don't mind a bit of messing around if not a direct fit
Or should I just go with the b4 to b4 cloth and be done with it then sell the b3 stuff?
Also Will b3 passat windshield fit a b4 passat?
Just trying to get my tdi wagon uptogether nice
 

lisab4

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 20, 2013
Location
Belgium
TDI
1996 Passat B4 1.9 TDI
Seats will fit, b3 door cards do not fit B4. Windshield fits
 

Steve Addy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Location
Iowa
TDI
97 Mk3
The B3 windshield fits but the rear view mirror mounting is different on the B3 vs the B4. And IIRC the B3 rear view mirror is a tad smaller than the B4.

Also, for seats remember that the seat belts on the B3 are different than B4, you will want to swap over your B4 belts if you do decide to use the B3 leather seats. The dashboard and hvac housing / ducts are the same too.

There's some stuff that's shared on these but it's best to verify via the parts catalog to be sure. The B3 was born out of the Mk2 (A2) cars and although the B4 was just an extension of that the Mk3 (A3) VW cars contributed a lot to the B4, especially in the arena of the VR6 and suspension components etc.

Steve
 

ToddA1

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Joined
Aug 3, 2011
Location
NJ 08002
TDI
'96 B4V, '97 B4 (sold), '97 Jetta (scrapped)
I bought a wrecked car with heated leather B3 seats. When I installed them in my B4, they sat you higher, which I didn’t like.

I ended up swapping the lower foam and skin onto a B4 base and swapped the B3 back onto it. They’re still in my B4 sedan.

-Todd
 

Steve Addy

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Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Location
Iowa
TDI
97 Mk3
I bought a wrecked car with heated leather B3 seats. When I installed them in my B4, they sat you higher, which I didn’t like.

I ended up swapping the lower foam and skin onto a B4 base and swapped the B3 back onto it. They’re still in my B4 sedan.

-Todd
Thanks for that info, I had always wondered about that, the rear tilt mechanism is different between the B3 & B4 I think.

I continue to consider Mk3 sport seats for my B3V but my experience with those was that the tilt didn't drop as much and like your situation they sat you higher, which I didn't like. Also, finding Mk3 sport seats in cloth with heating option is a pain, basically only the Mk3 Golf K2 got those puppies and those cars are few and far between now.

Steve
 

smogmonster

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For the sake of being a bit " different" will a b3 vr6 front bumper assembly or even just the outer plastic shell fit in a b4?
Also do any other rear lights fit on a b4 wagon mine have cracks on the tailgate ones
 

smogmonster

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Also in the interests of upgrades and choice is it worth sapping over the vr6 5 lug stuff?
And are the vr6 sedan shocks etc front /rear an upgrade?
 

Steve Addy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Location
Iowa
TDI
97 Mk3
Also in the interests of upgrades and choice is it worth sapping over the vr6 5 lug stuff?
And are the vr6 sedan shocks etc front /rear an upgrade?
In Europe they sold a B4 TDI Passat with the 5 lug components, it had the 110 hp AFN engine. There are people on here who think the swap is worth it.

In the front you swap the spindles, axles (if MT) and the control arms and maybe the steering rack. In the rear you just switch to 5 lug rotors on the same beam.

Would like to know where you're located, if you have some B3 parts cars there might be a few bits I'd be interested in purchasing.

I too am looking for B4 seat bases also, just the metal stuff.

Steve
 

jhax

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 24, 2012
Location
Golden, CO
TDI
96 Passat B4V, ALH engine out of a 2002 Jetta, some IE Rods and ASV Pistons. Nothing drivable yet though
Are the rear hatch windows the same shape between the two?
 

Steve Addy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Location
Iowa
TDI
97 Mk3
Are the rear hatch windows the same shape between the two?
The differences between the B3 and B4 cars is all below the beltline (division between window glass (above) and the body (below). I.e. all the glass and roof structure are supposed to be the same between the two. That is except for changes to things like rear view mirror mount (B4 different from B3) or other minor things. The shapes and curvature of the glass is the same between the two.

However, in the case of the rear hatch there are two different shapes of glass mentioned in the parts book. One is like mine (very early 1990) which had a flat edge at the bottom with only a hole for the wiper mechanism and a later one that supposedly had a bump up where the wiper motor mechanism comes through. I never really looked at the differences between these two but I would guess for all but the earliest cars, like my 1990, they will be the same. Where the cutoff for this change occurred I can't say off hand.

Steve

EDIT: After glancing at the parts cat it looks like the flat bottomed glass was used from 80/89 to 09/90 production and discontinued after that, so I would guess that anything after that would have the correct shape. And in fact when I look at 1996 I see the later part number 333845499E, begun 10/90, as still being valid.
 

Steve Addy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Location
Iowa
TDI
97 Mk3
Thanks . Is it worth swapping shocks or anything from a vr6 b3 sedan to a tdi b4 wagon?
If the struts / shocks are old I would say no, but the VR6 lower control arms and spindles etc are worth keeping. Maybe we've already talked about that.

I would inspect the rear beam axle on the B4 and if it's marginal I'd keep the one on the B3 just in case. Sometimes they rust out badly back there and if you got rid of it then you'd have to find another one.

Steve
 
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