PD150 6 speed into '94 Golf Sport

[vwmikel]

I've been holding off on starting this thread as I had quite a few other hurdles in front of me before I could get to work on this car. I'll spare you the details on the accessories and whatnot I bought for the car and just get down to the details of the swap.

First off, this is the car as it was when I found it on Craigslist:

You're probably wondering why I would use a car like this which was in rather sad shape. Basically, when I set out to find a car to house this engine I had my sites set on something a bit elusive; a black Golf with no sunroof and crank windows. The only option I really wanted was air conditioning. For a lowly sum of $550 and the exact options I was looking for it seemed like it had it's share of drawbacks but it was all things that could be dealt with.

The car was lightly wrecked in the front. The hood and core support took the brunt of the impact and all that was really needed was some new panels and some hammering and light welding to the inner fender.

I bought the engine from a place in California that most of you are familiar with - Quality German Auto Parts. It arrived at the loading dock in a monstrous crate:

Freed from its crate this is what I got:

Next post:

 

[vwmikel]

Mounting it in the car requires some modifications to the front MK3 engine mount and a new rear trans mount bracket which I got from dutchdub.com.

It's a nice peice and for $174 shipped it was a good deal considering how well it's constructed.

To fit it the mount in the car has to be moved:

I began fitting the engine the other day to find the differential was very close to the steering rack and if it didn't hit constantly it would when the engine rocked back under acceleration. This was a minor setback but I elected to change the manual trans engine mount brackets for those of an automatic MK3. The auto had the engine mounted 19mm further forward in order to make the giant automatic trans clear the subframe and steering rack. With those mount brackets installed I had ample clearance with the rack and only have to do some slight clearancing on the front crossmember to clear the banjo fitting on the power steering pump.

As of now the engine is in the car and everything looks good. When I get a chance I'll tack that mount in and pull the engine out so I can finish weld that mount.

I'll update this a bit later as I have time to work on it.

 

[HO'OLAKO]

I Pm you then I saw Dutchdub. You will have a sweet sleeper! good luck

 

[vwmikel]

I got my friend to come over and help me weld that rear motor mount bracket back on as he is a much better welder than I am.

The end result looks a lot better than if I'd welded it myself.

And here it is with the engine back in.

The shifter and cables I bought came from a 2004 GTI.

Installing it wasn't too difficult overall. The hole in tunnel is basically the right size but requires a bit of clearancing on the drivers side in order for reverse the engage. I drilled 2 new holes up front for the studs to come through and fabbed/tacked in a small plate behind the shifter to allow the bolts to go down into the shift box.

The way the tunnel is shaped underneath required that I space the front of the shifter down a bit (about 3/8") to prevent the cables from binding as they come out of the shifter box. If I'd just bolted it up it may have accelerated wear on the cables.

I found that the MK3 VR6 hubs share the same splines as the MK4 so I elected to use the VR6 hubs but I wanted to retain the 4 lug wheels so I had them redrilled to 4x100. The plan is to press them back into the 2L knuckles so I can retain my girling 60 dual piston calipers and use the larger 108mm (I think that's what it is) MK4 outer CV's.

 

[vwmikel]

One of my next projects will my trying to figure out how this turbo is going to fit.

As the tag says it's a GT2260V off of a European BMW X5. There is something like 10k miles on it so it's still nice and shiny. The current path to mount this is probably to use a 1.6TD exhaust manifold with an adapter plate as I don't really have the time to make a new manifold right now. If I decide to stick with this turbo I'll probably make a tubular 4 into 1 manifold later.

 

[mojogoes]

Very very nice............looks like your guna have a good 240+hp with this route

 

[ninedee_golf_tdi]

Now I know why you sold all of your turbo stuff and other goodies. Looking good. Innovation and flexability are the keys to success.

 

[vwmikel]

Thanks guys. I hope to make 13 seconds and 50 mpg

 

[caddytd]

Wow! Looks great. Do you know what the engine originally came out of? Did you get the wiring harness, etc? I'd be interested in seeing how the PD wiring differs in complexity from the older style TDI wiring.

 

[vwmikel]

The engine/trans came from a 2003 Bora. I got the engine side of the harness. Basically the ECU has 2 plugs, one goes to the engine, the other is the chassis side wiring. So, basically I just need to work out the chassis side wiring. I've mostly got the pinouts done and it looks like it's all pretty doable, but it's going to be time consuming.

 

[lagomorph]

about time you started this thing....=)

 

[G60ING]

How is it coming along?

 

[jsrmonster]

Hi,

Very cool project. I don't recommend the 4 lug hubs if you plan to pump up the torque. I just built an AFN110 - A3 Rotary pump monster with 350ftlbs and the lugs always loosen over time with oem alum wheels. 5 lug hubs are next on my list with 16" alum sport rims.

Jeff

 

[KROUT]

So do you have to have the cluster also to make it run or can that be elimenated with your tunner.

I am about to do the same in my 00 golf but I think mine will be alot easier.

 

[vwmikel]

Thanks guys, we'll see how the 4 lug hubs work out as I'm commited at least for the time being. I've been working on getting the turbo setup done lately. The BMW turbo has a ball and socket type outlet on it which looks to probably be more trouble than it's worth so we're probably going to end up either welding a V-band flange onto it or welding on a 90 degree weld el to point the exhaust downward. The second option seems more likely at the moment just due to space. I also finished the adapter for the turbo which fits very nicely now on the 1.6TD manifold. The material is also here for finishing the axles. That will need to fit the lathe first though and I may not end up finishing the axles until the coilovers get here so that the length will be appropriate for the ride height to avoid any binding issues. The MK4 cluster will not be necessary with my setup as I've deleted the immobilizer from the ECU firmware.

 

[G60ING]

have you gotten the mk3 tdi cluster to work yet?

 

[vwmikel]

have you gotten the mk3 tdi cluster to work yet?

I haven't gotten that far just yet. I'm trying to get the hard parts situation done with and then I will start on the wiring. I suppose the tach signal will be the biggest unknown but I would think it'd be ok. Plenty of people have done 02M swaps into MK3's and they all seem to be fine with the 02M VSS so the only unknown is simply if the signal is at all conditioned when it goes through the ECU. I don't think it actually went through the ECU in the MK3 so I figure in the event that it doesn't work I can always connect the speedometer directly to the VSS signal wire leaving the tach to be sorted out. I think I can make that happen pretty easily though.

 

[shortysclimbin]

Mike,

Do you have a link for the cluster/ Immobilizer removal process? Or info on who went about doing it for you? I am assuming you are using a mk3 tdi gauge cluster for this?

also, If you have a paper with the pinouts labeled on it can you post that up too? I am just wondering if I should buy the whole harness for a mk2 swap or not...

KEEP up the Good work!

 

[vwmikel]

There is no process available online that I know of. I did this immobilizer delete myself but there are people who would be quite angry if I were to post info about it.

Which pinout is it you're looking for? I still have some questions on mine so I will need to spend a bit more time on them.

 

[shortysclimbin]

ALL! pinouts for whatever you come up with will help.

 

[oldpoopie]

I cant wait to see this car in person!

 

[VeeRSixOh]

Bump for an awesome project. Any progress/more photos?

 

[vwmikel]

Soon grasshopper

 

[vwmikel]

This isn't an incredibly exciting update, but I made a new bracket for the VNT actuator. This will allow me to orient the compressor housing the right direction. The original bracket bolted to the front of the compressor housing on some tabs cast in specifically for it.

In addition I now have plenty of firewall clearance with the actuator in this position.

On to the next post due to picture limits....

 

[vwmikel]

I got the shifter in and hooked up and everything the other night.
Here is the new cable bracket on the right and the old cables in the old 5 speed bracket on the left.

The cables cross a bit when coming off the new bracket.

They bolt down on the trans fine but the weight on the linkage hits the motor mount bracket in reverse (blue circled spot) so I'll have to grind a notch in it.

The B&M shifter comes in this fancy vacuum sealed package.

I had to pry the bottom off the shift box to disconnect the cables but it was fairly easy to replace the stock shifter with the B&M.

Here it is back in the car with the console test fitted.

And of course in 6th gear.

(yes, I know that console is disgusting.... I have another sitting around which I may use as I'm sure it's cleaner than that one)

I also made a new and improved adapter plate for the turbo. It should allow better sealing as there was one spot which didn't have much sealing area.

I made the factory oil feed line fit the turbo....that required some serious bending. On order is a 2-3" silicone transition and a 90* 2.5" aluminum bend for the compressor discharge.

 

[oldpoopie]

terrific. When do you think you'll have it running?

 

[vwmikel]

Soon I hope. I've still got a lot to do but I'm trying to chip away at it. It's the fabrication that's time consuming. I'm also on one of those preorders for B&G coilovers from MJM and of course they're still not here and that is a bit frustrating. I was hoping to have the coilovers so I could set the ride height and determine the axle length. I don't want to have the axles too long and have to worry about them binding. The next thing on the agenda is probably to reinforce the front motor mount bracket and then install the radiator, core support, and bumper support so I can cut for the intercooler. After that I can determine what I'm going to need for charge piping. I just ordered a 2.5" weld el that will have to be welded to the turbine outlet with a flange at the bottom to hook to the downpipe. I don't have the other half of the ball/socket style connection that the turbo originally had so my options are either to find something off another car (not very likely), make a flange (which I wouldn't have a gasket for), or weld to it. I think welding is the best option and will yeild the best fit since I'm working in a rather cramped area.

 

[shortysclimbin]

mike when your done welding your flange make sure you have someone with a mill take off a little bit of metal to make sure its good and flat. The metal will warp ever so slightly when its welded. Good luck and keep us updated on the photos./ progress. And btw the little things count too

 

[vwmikel]

I'll be sure to check out that flange carefully

I spent quite a bit of time cutting up and grinding on the bumper support to make room for the intercooler. Let me tell you, MK3's aren't easy to cram a front mount into but I still don't regret it. An air/water would have been damn near impossible and drastically increased the cluster**** factor under the hood.

I started out by making a template of the intercooler and after some measuring I could figure out where I needed to cut.....which ended up being most of the bumper support.

I had to cut up higher than where the core support bolts on so with that in mind I drilled 2 new holes above the existing 2. When I have the core support off again I'll weld nuts to the back side.

Using a combination of a cut off wheel, electric angle grinder, sawzall, and jig saw I managed to cut out the area within the bumper.

The jig saw also made short work of the bumper cap which needed all of the center peices cut out.

After some more grinding I tacked up some brackets to hang the intercooler by.

It seems to fit pretty well with the bumper cover.

The cover is cut far enough forward that there is plenty of room for airflow to the front of the intercooler without having to cut a giant hole in the cover. It's a little more incognito this way.

Next on the agenda is welding some elbows onto the turbo and then figuring out what I need and ordering the parts for the charge pipes and downpipe.

 

[mr.mindless]

very sweet swap. clean work you're doing there.