As most of my build threads star t......There i was late at night drunk on Ebay. I'd been looking for a Project car, as my current project car is taking too long, I wanted something small but had to be 4wd. Ideally a Mazda 323 Gtr. I then found a Lada Niva with a Fiat Twin Cam but the wife saw that. Then out of nowhere i spotted a Mk2 Golf that had been fitted with an S3 running gear on Ebay. So i did what any idiot would do, i bid on it thinking it would go for twice my bid. 3 days later i won it..... Being an honest Ebayer i picked it up today and here starts my journey to get it finished So the car started life as a Mk2 J reg 1300cc Golf Van. Now i am told these are rare and i should not convert it to a car. Anyway, the complete S3 has been fitted to the car. Front and Rear subframes, ABS, aircon, steering column, Complete loom(s), suspension, Awd etc. Its also fitted with the Std 6sp gearbox, complete with gear stick already in the car. I need help on the wiring front if anyone knows of anyone who can help, OBD Works have been mentioned but i cant get hold of them. The rear subframe is also fitted, but this is where the issue is. Looking at it today, after i bought it and got it home, the rears have a shed load of camber. Good news is they are both facing in the same direction, bad news is its not straight ahead. This will no doubt be a simple fix, ahem. Plan is to make it 300bhp / tonne car, so engine may need to come out and have some rods but we will see what it weighs. Engine is std other than a TD04S, of unknown origin, a dodgy FMIC and some amazing inlet pipework Dodgy photo after collecting it today, i will get more photos up over the weekend...... And discuss
Got the car home and had some time to take a look at my purchase......... I had bought some Team Dynamics 17" wheels from a friend on the weekend and wanted to fit them today. So i took the front wheel off (only 2 bolts holding it on) and the hub fell off the coil over and the wheel sat on the floor Better still the wheels were 112mm pcd not 100mm (just assumed Audi's would all be the same) Anyway they looked good, and are now on Ebay for sale ffs So with the front wheel i had a look around, all the ABS wires have been chopped, luckily with flying leads. But the Anti Roll bar is just sat floating so look like i will need to link this up with the body / Chassis. I didnt take a photo but the Aircon unit (which i want to use) is touching the font chassis rail. Looks like it is just the piping so hoping its just a re-route. No fan belt on but signs of a recent cambelt (apparently done 2 years ago) So after the front i jacked up the rear to take a look see Rear subframe is in with all the haldex, but again sensor is cut. Mounting points look to have been done well, cut out from the S3 and welded to the Mk2 body, a bit of surface rust as its been stood for a while since being done. Will take a better look Rear of the subframe, the rear mounting bar looks ok Issue with the shock Mounting, it doesnt look strong enough to me so will re-look at this Jacking the rear up the rear spring popped out of the holder, so if i went over a bump the spring could come out, may need to look at this But the biggest issue is the rear wheels, they just dont sit right at the ride height. When i say dont sit right i mean they are wrong, the camber is massive on both sides, and one wheel toes in (left) and the other toes out (er, right). Jacking the car up about 6" seems to rectify this. Thinking is the rear diff is too low in the car. Pushing the bottom away and pulling the top in, so a double whammy. Great if i want a euro look low rider, not so great for the back road blast. Its tough to show on the photos, ground isnt flat either but here goes Car at ride height Car jacked up to where wheel looks ok, which is too high to run (springs are about 2" away from the body So looks like the rear will need a good look at from a geo point of view, ideally the diff needs to be higher but i may need to raise the floor. I am told this has been done before so i'll take a look and see whats been done (EDIT: ive seen on the S3 forums that lowering the rear of the car too much causes this issue and adjustable arms are available......) I need to find someone to wire the car up first though, any ideas on the south coast would be appreciated, i was given the name of James at OBD-Works but cant get hold of them. Then i can start the engine and see if that runs, and the car drives. Then the geo. Then get it sprayed inside and out, then the interior, cage and exhaust etc
Also give this guy a message on eBay. https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-A3-Engi...174310?hash=item1a4dd85aa6:g:OzQAAOxyFPNSKO-M
Thanks, seems Google Plus is a bit crap when sharing but worked it out Have sent that guy and email, although he is in up in Scotland. Thanks for the link
He is but you'd just post up the looms you have unless you're trying to avoid doing any messing at all with the looms? Rubjonny has a long waiting list and James E Looms on Facebook is supposed to be good. Looks like this could be a monster!
Many thanks how big is a big list The guy i bought it off has just fitted the S3 loom, this is fine the dash turns on, and engine turns (doesnt fire). I have no idea on wiring but what i would like to do is use as much of the S3 loom / electronics as possible and splice this into the Mark 2 lights, heated wndow, windscreen wipers and fit central locking so it all works off the S3 blipper. Car has the S3 dash, steering coloumn, abs and haldex system etc.
very, 8-12 months maybe longer! I did basically that for a mate who put a mk4 r32 with syncro system including full dash in his mk1 caddy, was a case of split the loom tape off to pull out all the stuff he wasnt using then crimp the right pins on the wire ends for the mk1 lights front and back. you have an advantage over the mk1 in that the bulkhead is very similar to mk4/s3, you can remove the blankign plate on the driver side for the LHD blower intake and run the big ecu loom as per factory with the matchign bulkhead seal plate, all you need to do is fab up some studs/bolts to allow you to bolt it down tight (you'll see what I mean) then for the main loom section thru bulkhead you can change the hole so the s3 rubber seal fits or strip the loom and split it so it will fit thru the 2 holes in the mk2 bulkhead whatever works best for you Central locking shouldnt be a problem either, I beleive they are vacuum operated and all the clever stuff is done by the central lockign pump control unit. may even be able to hook it up to standard mk2 vacuum motors? If you need it ASAP as I say can transport it over to Darren @ vw enterprises then drive it home again
Damn! Everything is fixable. That car does need a planning meeting to determine how to tackle it though.
Spoke to owner at length yesterday. After looking at all these pictures, I have to say that car is never gonna drive correctly. MK4 running gear is wider than MK2, but they are still trying to use narrow shell to mount top of suspension and rear axle. Front is way off and rear will tear the axle away as it's not mounted securely, rear spring mounts are in total wrong place. Front struts have incorrect rake also. It's not had much thought put into it and is absolutely the wrong way to AWD a MK2. It's doable but is deffo a mountain of work and some of the wants for this car are unrealistic because of the execution of conversion by previous builders.
Darren was good to talk to you yesterday and appreciate the advice and comments above. Ive had it next to my brothers A3 quattro today and the problems with the install are even clearer. With this and the electronics issue the only way forward is to break the car. Shame they ruined a solid VW Golf in the process, hoping someone may need a re-shell So rule no 1 is don't bid on car when drunk on ebay
Is it too much work to swap over to a mk2 4wd system? Or have they ruined your chances now they've hacked away at it all?
No, shell looks like it could be put back to normal. But it's sourcing the bits, taking the S3 off and putting them back Car would be easy to make a 2wd BAM engined van and be put back to mk2 bits. The shell is surprisingly solid But its not for me, and the work vs rewards is not worth it for me. Ive always wanted a 4wd hatch back so I could get my bikes in the back. So technically I've ticked that box off
I think you are right. I'd be tempted to put this back to stock. Just get a breaker of a mk2 and Rob all the bits off it. If you're looking to part it out I may be interested in the engine. Pm me if that's any use to you.
Car is back on Ebay, with an honest listing saying it needs a re-think If it doesnt sell i will break it, PM if you want any bits
