Golf mk2 GTI 8v to 1.8t AGU, mk4 dash and wiring Updated 13/02/11

Where to start? Quick intro won't hurt.

I bought this golf GTI in September to serve as a 'holiday horse'. Basically I want to do a little tour of Europe in the summer and got wound up with airlines losing my baggage, cancelling flights and giving me crap connections where I had to wait for hours for my next flight.

Anyhoo, got my GTI 8v over ebay and went to collect. Admittedly the pics on ebay (shown below) made the car look amazing. Upon closer inspection the bumpers and arches had been brush painted, the number plate was cracked, brakes were excessively worn and the rear seatbelt clip was broken. Not good considering this car 'passed' it's MOT a week before I got it





My daily 'run around'



This is the car the day it headed for the garage:




The car in the garage



In 'da hood'




I managed to borrow an engine lift from someone at a local microlight club



The engine...



The threads on the back of the turbo/manifold are bent. I'm sure they'll be ok but is it
possible to change them without having to weld new ones on?




The dash...



Heater matrix unit...

 

Gearbox out of a Golf mk3 16v GTI...



for when I get frustrated



Does anyone have a clue what these are for?



They seem to slot together nicely...still haven't a sausage what they're for.



Work commences...



Dash removed...Didn't realise there are two bolts that need to be undone from under the bonnet. I couldn't see them when I had a look but after the Haynes manual confirmed they were there, I had a good feel around and found the bassas.





I found what was causing the annoying noise behind the dash...



Trial fit of the Mk4 dash...a fair bit of trimming required methinks...




After removing the airbox, I noticed this rubber bung is red. Not significant but might be evidence of a spray job?



Any idea what this is? It's just below where the airbox sits...didn't see anything like it in my friend's 8v



Gmax lowered suspension and painted calipers/disc...and braided hoses I fitted a couple of months ago.



I'm not happy with my jack...it doesn't lift the car high enough to even get the axle stands to the first notch. I put one axle stand under the chassis beam and another under this jack point just in case. When I lifted the opposite side, the car ended up sitting on this axle stand (slightly higher). I'm not too sure if this is a good place for it to be...what do you guys reckon?




I want to take the front bumper and crossmember off. I've got this stand under the gearbox (the only bit it'll reach is the bit where the bolt goes through. Is that an ok place to support the engine? I need to get me a better jack.




More updates to come soon...

 

due to your massive workspace, parts you've acquired and work that you've already done I can only see this ending in complete success


oh and who the heck uses 56k internet anymore anyway

 

Scrappy?

 

Thanks Ben I certainly hope so. The wiring is going to be interesting but it's all good fun. I must say, I'm very thankful to be in that garage. A friend of mine is letting me move into it until the car is done. I guess I'll be there for the next year or so

Thanks Sparrow. I can try the scrappy for some of the bits but will need to get new engine mounts and driveshafts and such items but would like to avoid stealership prices

So far I've managed to get most of the bits for reasonable money. I think for now this car will be built for go and not for show. Once I've got everything working then I'll see about getting fancy piping and shiny bits.

A few more bits arrived today:

MAF Sensor

Bora vents...got these for 20 from a scrappy. What a steal!

Cup holder

Single din tray

Still waiting on my air con radiator, flywheel, mk3 shifter mechanism and glovebox to arrive. These bits were all supposed to be with me last week

 

as for parts I reccomend Stevens VW Dismantlers

I've ordered a few bits from them over the phone and they've arrived in good condition, in quick time

look at their gallery to notice the difference between a dismantler and a scrappy

parts all shelved as opposed to "yea mate try that one over there thats flooded with 4 cars piled on top of it covered in sh*t"

 

those pipes you ask about look to be brake vacum pipes , the grommet with over spray on id prob from the factory 2 of mine were like that . put that other but that was by the airbox i have no ideas

 

nice one mate, your soo lucky to have a garage, wish i had one at home!

you might be able to get a stud remover on the exhaust manifold, but do it before the engine is in the car, it will be a barsteward to get to them

 

Thanks folks. I'll give Stevens a ring to see if they have anything I need

I've got all the stud extractor kits known to man lol. I suffer from rusty nuts I'll give them a bash...so you're sure they unscrew? I'm planning on putting all the bits together before I get the engine inside the car just to make sure I haven't missed anything...then it should all just go in bit by bit (fingers crossed)

 

That thing on the chassis legs something to do with the lights, it can be got rid of I think, and I should think they are studs in the turbo so could double nut them to remove.

Good luck

 

responding to above, the thing on the chassy leg is for the headlights, basically when you turn your sidelights on, this taves the 12v feed and cuts it down a bit then takes it to the headlights, making your headlights glow dimly so then both your sidelights and headlights are on on side light setting. its not important and i dont think its a legal requirment so can be removed, basically it will mean that when you switch your sidelights on, just your sidelights will work.

 

with the bent stud, could replace the manifold and go for a k03s turbo while your there? straight swap..

 

Steve B, that makes sense. It's been ripped out now either way, but it was baffling me since I got the golf.

Timbutjack, won't I have to get my ECU remapped? I'll be running on OEM ECU etc. What are you doing regarding the exhaust? You gonna use the 1.8t manifold and chop it or going custom?

Here's a quick update of what I managed to get done in the two hours I worked on it yesterday evening before it got so cold I ended up just staring at it lol.

All I did was get the bumper, crossmember and radiator off. I didn't get a chance to drain the coolant before I parked the car up so had to improvise...




Does anyone know what this is? It was fixed to the bulkhead above the gearbox. It's a genuine VW siren of some sort. Is it the original horn? An alarm siren?




If it's a horn, then it's the 4th one I've found on the car. There's one in the wheel arch behind the bumper, one fixed to the rad cross member and another put in recently to pass MOT.... if only my gf was that horny

More to come this weekend

 

its an alam siren. nice dub mate . more pics please

 

Thanks mate

I'm going to get stuck in over the weekend and will get the 8v engine out along with the shifter mechanism and downpipe. I bought the 1.8t downpipe today and it slid over the bent studs without any problems so I'll leave them as they are. Just hoping the downpipe will fit without too much hassle.

Unfortunately I still haven't received my intercooler, mk3 flywheel or shifter mechanism, so looks like the 1.8t will have to wait till the new year before I can get it in

At least it'll give me time to get started on the wiring loom Loads more pics tomorrow hopefully!

 

Quick update....I've not been so productive over the weekend/xmas period but got cracking today. Here's some pics...

Got the rest of the crap out of the dash...the heater matrix unit had to go in order to make way for the mk4 unit with air con connectors etc.



I disconnected all the wiring in the engine bay and put it over the side...looks a bit tidier now.



I couldn't find anything to plug the fuel hose from the engine...didn't want petrol everywhere so used a bolt...did the trick

....and a latex glove/cable tie jobby for the petrol feed pipe.



Time to disconnect the driveshaft, track rod end and steering UJ from inside.



Time to lift the engine. The plan was to have the engine hoist take the weight then undo the subframe and take the lot out. It was too tight to undo the engine mounting bolts so this was the easiest way.



With the subframe loose, the engine was ready to come out....perhaps I should have taken the gearbox off first




A loose engine mounting bolt (I didn't loosen this one)...



...and finally, the car with the engine removed...



I've removed the power steering pump and need to mount it to the 20v engine. The plan with the subframe, antiroll bar and the front crossmember is to take them to get powder coated in the same colour as the car. I want to do the wheel bearing housing too but not sure if the wheel bearing would have to come out? Will ring the company tomorrow and see.

In the mean time...I'm still waiting for my cable shift parts and flywheel...can't get the engine in before I get these bits. Gotta chase the guy tomorrow. In the mean time...I've gotta angle grind a part of the bulkhead to get the air con bit through.

I've still got a lot of part sourcing to do and I need to figure out how I'm going to do the hydraulic clutch.

 

Excellent work there matey

Going to respary the engine bay to get it mint ? Would look great

The sub-frame, ARB and Cross Member will look great when powder coated. I have just painted my Sub-frame, ARB, wishbones, tie rods and ball joints the same colour as my car and they look superb

Love the engine coming out with sub-frame et al. still attached !

Keep the good work up !

 

Cheers mate

The powder coating places were all shut today...prob won't be open till the new year [:^(]

I spent the day dismantling a bora, trying to get the dashboard mounting bar out along with the steering column. Really fiddly job...gotta go back tomorrow morning and finish it. Damn the winter for having such short days!

I think I've got my head round the whole clutch pedal thing after looking at the Bora's setup. Still waiting on flywheel and shifter to arrive...just spoke to the guy and he's starting to sound like he's not gonna send it to me Wants me to wait another couple of weeks and then he 'might' get it out

I'm getting so goddamn frustrated with people messing me about over ebay. It's a joke! I've had to chase almost everyone that I've bought bits off. The work itself is fine but getting bits off people is proving to be a nightmare! I can't even get the engine in till I've got the shifter/flywheel. Anyone know of these bits going cheap anywhere? I think I'm just wasting my time with this guy.

 

Right...after my little strop last time I've made some progress. The time over the xmas hols was spent at the scrappy getting all the various bits and pieces. Getting the shifter mechanism out of a corrado was a laugh...they rolled the car onto it's side so that I could cut the exhaust and get it out from underneath

Anyway...sent a few bits off to be powder coated...




Gearbox mount...the one above is an example of how it looked before it was painted.


Had the starter motor done too



The gearbox brackets and end cover fitted...


My bolts were pretty badly corroded so ordered a whole load of new ones from VW. Nearly 80 on flippin bolts!


I've sourced a flywheel so I'll have to fit that and the clutch next then I can join the gearbox and engine. I'll do a trial fit of the engine to make sure everything goes together as it should then I'll take it all out for the front end to be sprayed. There's a nasty bit of rust on the chassis leg which will need welding.