deejaaa
Veteran Member
i thought it was a great build. can't imagine where his remark came from.
Project Phoenix: The Wagon Rising.
- Thread starter Smalls
- Start date
tongsli
Top Post Dawg
I met Matt because of his wagon build and the forum. He's a good guy and I'd help him with anything that he needed.I don't feel it was a waste of time at all. If you want to put a cost on labor hours, then yes, I'm not a millionaire. I did however meet and interact with some fantastic people along the way. Enjoyed seeing the car develop and was excited to meet the new owners and hear that they are happy as well.
The car was destined for a scrap yard and now it'll hopefully see many more years amd miles on the road. I don't regret a thing
HeirKnopf
Member
I feel like I am feeding a troll by responding at all....
This waste of time has resulted in saving one of the most sought after TDI models, made my wife SUPER happy that she finally found the TDI she has been looking for for 5 years, allowed us to meet another awesome TDI enthusiast, and resulted in Smalls taking back a very nice TDI Sedan with a brand new paint job for him to trick out and play with. If this was a waste of time then we all need to be wasting more time, more often!
Smalls, I fixed the door and cigarette lighter...we are 100% fully functional and the wife is 100% Mega Happy!
This waste of time has resulted in saving one of the most sought after TDI models, made my wife SUPER happy that she finally found the TDI she has been looking for for 5 years, allowed us to meet another awesome TDI enthusiast, and resulted in Smalls taking back a very nice TDI Sedan with a brand new paint job for him to trick out and play with. If this was a waste of time then we all need to be wasting more time, more often!
Smalls, I fixed the door and cigarette lighter...we are 100% fully functional and the wife is 100% Mega Happy!
ssaric1.9TDI
Veteran Member
Time to bring this old tread back to life after over 4 years of no posts related to this car. My name is Sam and I recently bought this gem from John "HeirKnopf" here in Georgia. I remember reading this tread a while back and was very impressed with the work that was done to it without knowing that one day I'll be buying this car and revisit this tread again.
I came accross this car on Facebook, I accidentally stumbled upon a post by John where the car has died on him due to the lifter and cam damage and it was for sale. It was a perfect match for me since I also had a 2003 Wagon that was involved in an accident and insurance totaled it but I opted to keep it since it only had 110k miles on it and a lot of new stuff. I reached out to John and the rest is history. I got the car and started my project.
Little bit about the car. Its 03 ALH GLS with 356k miles. Served John and his family really well in the past 4-5 years however it was for sale and thats where I come in to save it. I bought the car in the end of October towed it home and few weeks later started doing the swap. Never done the swap before but I was confident enough that with a help from a friend we could do it.
Here is the picture towing it back home.
After about 3 weeks I was able to source cherry picker and work could finally start.
Here they are next to each other. Busted engine, busted car, now I have to combine the two.
Let the work begin.
Once out.
Another one out all in the same day.
Engine bay before and after. Some heavy degreaser and pressure wash it came out good.
Put the engine back in and start it up. No xmas tree lights no CEL no airbag so far so good
I also did the complete sub frame swap together with steering rack and suspension parts and rotors brakes. I dont have pictures but it came out great. I figured 110k miles steering rack vs 356k miles one well the choice was obvious plus I had lowering suspension on wrecked one and new rotors and pads so it was a logic thing to do. While I was there I transferred complete shift linkage and flex pipe as well.
Last night I drove the car for about 20 miles and it drove great without any issues so far. The car already came with STG 1 tune from Malon with deleted EGR so that was a huge plus for my engine since I had deleted the EGR and it was basically stock so there was no CEL at all. Huge success.
I still have a lot of work to do on little bits and pieces. I had passenger side window drop down on me so I am assuming window regulator is out, I will be taking that from the wrecked one. Also plan on removing the interior and give it a proper clean, also clean the sunroof drains as I noticed the passenger side is wet but it could also be from cleaning the engine bay. Wont know until I take it a part. Also plan on changing the roof rails, maybe headliner and some other trim pieces that need attention. I will be posting my journey on this tread and I hope that OP owner wont get mad for hijacking this tread. Project Phoenix is still rising.
Thank you
SAM
I came accross this car on Facebook, I accidentally stumbled upon a post by John where the car has died on him due to the lifter and cam damage and it was for sale. It was a perfect match for me since I also had a 2003 Wagon that was involved in an accident and insurance totaled it but I opted to keep it since it only had 110k miles on it and a lot of new stuff. I reached out to John and the rest is history. I got the car and started my project.
Little bit about the car. Its 03 ALH GLS with 356k miles. Served John and his family really well in the past 4-5 years however it was for sale and thats where I come in to save it. I bought the car in the end of October towed it home and few weeks later started doing the swap. Never done the swap before but I was confident enough that with a help from a friend we could do it.
Here is the picture towing it back home.
After about 3 weeks I was able to source cherry picker and work could finally start.
Here they are next to each other. Busted engine, busted car, now I have to combine the two.
Let the work begin.
Once out.
Another one out all in the same day.
Engine bay before and after. Some heavy degreaser and pressure wash it came out good.
Put the engine back in and start it up. No xmas tree lights no CEL no airbag so far so good
I also did the complete sub frame swap together with steering rack and suspension parts and rotors brakes. I dont have pictures but it came out great. I figured 110k miles steering rack vs 356k miles one well the choice was obvious plus I had lowering suspension on wrecked one and new rotors and pads so it was a logic thing to do. While I was there I transferred complete shift linkage and flex pipe as well.
Last night I drove the car for about 20 miles and it drove great without any issues so far. The car already came with STG 1 tune from Malon with deleted EGR so that was a huge plus for my engine since I had deleted the EGR and it was basically stock so there was no CEL at all. Huge success.
I still have a lot of work to do on little bits and pieces. I had passenger side window drop down on me so I am assuming window regulator is out, I will be taking that from the wrecked one. Also plan on removing the interior and give it a proper clean, also clean the sunroof drains as I noticed the passenger side is wet but it could also be from cleaning the engine bay. Wont know until I take it a part. Also plan on changing the roof rails, maybe headliner and some other trim pieces that need attention. I will be posting my journey on this tread and I hope that OP owner wont get mad for hijacking this tread. Project Phoenix is still rising.
Thank you
SAM
Last edited:
jmodge
Top Post Dawg
- Joined
- Jun 18, 2015
- Location
- Greenville, MI
- TDI
- 2001 alh Jetta, RC2 w/.205's 5speed daily summer commuter and 2000 alh Jetta 5spd swap, 2" lift, hitch, stage 3 TDtuning w/.216's winter cruiser, 1996 Tacoma ALh
Just read this thread, what a story! The work Smalls accomplished, in that time and those conditions, is impressive.
Your window issue is probably the clamps that hold the glass, not the regulator. Pretty common. Updates were metal not plastic. carry the torch!
Your window issue is probably the clamps that hold the glass, not the regulator. Pretty common. Updates were metal not plastic. carry the torch!
ssaric1.9TDI
Veteran Member
Smalls did a ton of work on this car and I can just imagine winter conditions in PA and working on a car without a garage.
I havent looked at the window unit yet but will check everything to make sure the clamps are holding the glass before I tackle the regulator issue.
Hopefully with low mileage engine the torch will be carried for a long time. We shall see.
HeirKnopf
Member
Window Regulator
Sam,
The plastic clamp broke on the window. Not sure if you remember, I wedged a piece of PVC in there to hold it up until you could fix it...I guess it failed. It's so awesome to see you already have it up and running again! That car really drives like a dream and the Stage 1 tune makes it a little more fun! Please keep us updated!
John
Sam,
The plastic clamp broke on the window. Not sure if you remember, I wedged a piece of PVC in there to hold it up until you could fix it...I guess it failed. It's so awesome to see you already have it up and running again! That car really drives like a dream and the Stage 1 tune makes it a little more fun! Please keep us updated!
John
ssaric1.9TDI
Veteran Member
John,
Thnx I must of forgot about the window. I will fix it over the weekend amongst some other stuff that I have planned. It feels great driving it and stg1 tune is a nice addition to that stock engine specially in 2nd gear at WOT.
Thank you
SAM
Thnx I must of forgot about the window. I will fix it over the weekend amongst some other stuff that I have planned. It feels great driving it and stg1 tune is a nice addition to that stock engine specially in 2nd gear at WOT.
Thank you
SAM
Smalls
Veteran Member
This is wild.
As I infrequently visit tdiclub anymore, unless I’m troubleshooting a few issues or putting a car up for sale, but I happen to notice a few old posts were bumped.
Holy Cow Sam!
What a journey of enthusiasts this car has traveled through and the care it’s received. Great work.
As I infrequently visit tdiclub anymore, unless I’m troubleshooting a few issues or putting a car up for sale, but I happen to notice a few old posts were bumped.
Holy Cow Sam!
What a journey of enthusiasts this car has traveled through and the care it’s received. Great work.