I was going to include this work in our build thread in the Members Gallery, which is called Little Red Ryder (hood), but decided that, having done many searches to try and find a definitive “how to”, to create its own thread. The intention is to include as many pictures as possible and as much information as possible as to how to do this job. We have done one engine conversion, from a 1.3 to a MK3 2.0 8v AGG so this is similar but with extra stuff. We bought BHE engine in July 2022 and have steadily collected parts and gathered knowledge. At this point I would like to thank all those who have assisted so far in answering questions in other threads with extra special thanks to Dave @dodgy who has been instrumental in sourcing parts and offering huge dollops of advice and know how. Also, special thanks to @Toyotec who has sorted the ECU (more on this later) and offered lots of advice. One more person to mention at this point is James E Looms who, although not on this forum, has been great adapting the TT loom to fit the MK2.
This is how the engine arrived. Bought from a chap who was going to put it in his Mk4 Golf track car but life got in the way. It turned over freely and was complete with all of the loom, all ancillaries and even a spare ECU which had been de-immobilised. The seller threw in the engine stand and sold us his crane as well. He even delivered it for us in his works van We wanted to check the condition of the bores and so bought an endoscope. This revealed what may have been a little bore score so we took the decision to remove the head and take a proper look. Thankfully all was very good. We had a reputable engine builder, Aaron at HT Racing at Brands Hatch, put it back together for us with new head bolts, head gasket, timing chains and ramps. The head was skimmed to make sure it was good and flat. All stuff that should be done for peace of mind. In fact Aaron was very pleased with the condition of the engine.
In the meantime we decided that with 250hp the gearbox needed an LSD. The gearbox is a MK3 Golf VR6 CCM item sourced by @dodgy. I spoke to a couple of gearbox guys and the decision was the same - Quaife LSD, fit and forget. I ordered one. I then had to decide who to do the job. I liked the idea of getting Hotgolf to do it but he was unavailable at the time and Wales is just a bit too far for logistics so I went with Helical Gearboxes in Brockley (south London). Paul had done work for me before and was quick and honest and has very good reviews. I booked it in, took the gearbox over and the job was done in a day. In no particular order. Ralph then painted the gearbox.
Buying parts. I’ll keep this post updated with a list of all the different parts we have decided necessary or are necessary to complete the job. Pictures will be added. One of the best resources I found for identifying parts and numbers is LLL Parts. The diagrams on the site are very clear and the site is easy to navigate. I have found it better than EKTA/7ZAP. Engine. New seals. Main bearing, since the timing chain covers were off this was a bit mullered anyway. Part number 021103051C Two small seals in the upper timing chain cover, replaced for peace of mind. Part number 066109091A Rocker box cover spark plug hole seals, these were missing anyway. Part number 022103484F Small triangular water seal between upper timing chain cover and the head, this was well past it’s sell by date and had clearly been leaking a bit. Part number 02212119A Rocker box gasket seal, no brainer. Part number 022103483E Clips that hold the fuel rail to the injectors part number 06A133047A Flywheel - this is the VW VR6 version and requires 10 M10x1mm 19mm bolts. We got ours from VW. Flywheel bolt torque is 60Nm followed by a 90 degree turn. The bolts are M10 triple square or XZN bits, make sure you get a wood quality tool for this job. Timing chain ramp tensioner bolt 40Nm. Coolant pump bolts to block (ours were knackered) N10526802 M6x18 Coolant pipe (on the outside of the block) o rings N10139201 34.5 x 3.55 Thermostat. We have both the Golf VR6 housing and the TT housing. The thermostats are different part numbers but there does not seem to be any difference between the two. VW 075121113D Audi 022121113 Thermostat housing seal to head 021121119A Thermostat housing sensor hole blanks (same for VW and Audi) 357121140 Coolant switch 059919501A Coolant pump pulley bolts N90544203 M8 x 11 We found that the R32 oil cooler would not fit due to the engine mount. Some have found that a thinner cooler from a diesel or something like that works but you still need to cut and weld the mount. We didn’t want to do this so we went with a Mocal oil cooler kit which includes the take off plate, pipes, fittings and radiator. In hindsight I would have had the engine mount professionally modified and welded to accommodate the original oil cooler, it would have been less hassle and cheaper. Since we were not fitting AC we needed a shorter poly belt. This is 1264mm long. As the gearbox is electronic speedo a new cable is needed. This needs to be the mk2 1.3 version with the screw on cap at the gearbox. Lambda sensors. Two are needed. As it turns out they are the same but there are a great many part numbers that apply. The ones we have are 022906262AK, 022906262CG, 022906262CH Gearbox Quaife LSD Flywheel, this is the standard Golf MK3 VR6, part number 021105273H Flywheel bolts, should always be replaced when the flywheel is removed, 10 are needed. Clutch bolts to secure the clutch pressure plate to the flywheel, six are needed M7x26x15 Starter motor - standard VR6, 10 teeth, two mounting holes. The gearbox requires a cover plate which covers the area below the engine where the flywheel is exposed. They are not available any longer but the part number is 02A301157C, good luck finding one. Gearshift - a cable shift is needed from a MK3, suitable for 02A gearbox. We have one from a Passat B3 I believe. Clutch. This is the standard VR6 228mm clutch After some deliberation we decided to go with a hydraulic clutch conversion. This was primarily decided because of the availability of a kit for the job. We got ours from Retrofication as it was the best value. Fly by wire accelerator pedal from a Mk4 Golf. This requires a new mount to be either fabbed up or can be bought from Retrofication ready made, this is what we bought. Below is the accelerator pedal bracket and the brackets for the above kit having been painted. ECU - this needed to be de-immobilised an had other sensors and the rear Lambda removed from the software. All done by @Toyotec Loom - electrics are not our favourite thing and so we decided to go plug and play and have the loom adapted by James E Looms. James can be found on Facebook. Steering - we will be fitting PAS from a MK3 Golf and to do this we needed to buy new track rods to fit as we still had the original 1.3 jobbies. Engine Mounts - these need to be changed and/or adapted. The rear one is a VR6 mount part number 357199354J Exhaust - new stainless downpipe loveliness from Trackslag Exhaust manifold to head gaskets part numbers 022253039E and 022253050C Exhaust manifold to downpipe gaskets part number 021253115
And so we have started to put the engine back together. These sensor housings had some rust on them and I don’t fancy sliding new seals over them so a good clean and paint was in order. The timing chain covers had a very good clean inside and out. Some ultrasonic cleaning. In fact Ralph insisted on spending a very long time cleaning, sanding and polishing the visible areas. All the mating surfaces were carefully cleaned. In this picture you can see where the new “triangular” seal part number 022121119A sits in the top cover Cam position sensors given a good clean. Back on the engine. Torque for the M6 bolts is 10Nm and for the M8 it’s 23Nm. We used Hylomar Blue sealant on all the mating surfaces.
Hey @PhilRyder did you do the rocker cover gasket or is it on your to do list? As I'm pretty sure I have a new genuine VAG gasket for one of these
Some jobs today. New seals in. One of the jobs that needs doing, in conjunction with deleting the SAI this valve needs to go. To do this you can buy a blanking plate which simply replaces the whole lot. It’s a nice neat solution but they are expensive for what they are. I decided to make a blank which just covers the valve hole. 30 minute job, many pounds saved And back on the engine. Also, gratuitous picture of the lovely clean head.
Very nice write up Phil. If you don't mind me asking, how much was the wiring harness and what was the turn around time?
The loom was £270 and done within 3 weeks. It’s very nicely done and James was happy to give updates and pictures as he went along. I will post some pics in due course
Not such a good day today. Firstly we could not find the flywheel bolts anywhere. We searched several boxes several times until I looked in a box that just shouldn’t have had them but sure enough there they were. So we decided to fit the flywheel. I made a brace to stop the flywheel turning. We then proceeded to tighten the bolts. I was a little concerned as my 10mm 12 point bit was not a great fit, a little loose. The bolts need to be 60Nm and then another quarter turn. I remembered when we did the AGG I simply couldn’t get a quarter turn on the bolts so I was expecting similar here. That was not the issue though, my doubts about the bit proved correct. This was the first bolt we tried to quarter turn - mullered. Now, I don’t know if the bolts were of a poor quality, (they did not come with any make or provenence from EBay), or if it was solely down to the poor fit of the bit. I suspect a little of the first and a lot of the second. Anyway, we decided not to push our luck and stopped fitting them. This then necessitated a trip to VW to order new bolts (not cheap). The guy was very helpful and confirmed that the fitting is indeed 12 point 10mm spline. The bolts will be in on Thursday and then we will see how my spline bit fits. If it is no good then I will be on the hunt for one that is a perfect fit. Wish me luck In other news the rocker cover is off for blasting as it was in a sorry state and Ralph wants to paint it, even though most of it is not seen
Well what a difference the right tools and quality parts make! I know that’s obvious but……. Firstly the bolts from VW do actually look better quality. I ordered a new set of triple square/XZN bits from Amazon of a reputable make and they came this morning. A big difference in the quality of this set to my old set, they are called US Pro. The diameter of the M10 bit is at least 0.5mm bigger than the old one!. So we set about removing the old bolts and fitting the new ones, finger tight, 40Nm, 60Nm and then a quarter turn with the breaker bar. All went very smoothly, thank goodness. Of interest the flywheel can only go on in one position because the bolt holes are offset # who knew
Bit of a step backwards unfortunately. I took the injectors out and took them for checking and cleaning. Would you believe they were all no good It seems they had had water in them at some point and they would not flow at all. It’s a bit incredible that they were all no good but TT Spares came to the rescue and I now have another 6 being checked and cleaned, fingers crossed. The new manifold gaskets took an age to arrive but they arrived yesterday, so…. You will note the block has been cleaned and painted. Manifolds on.
Now for some questions. What is this bracket? We have noted that it is not retained in any of the conversions we have seen. Get rid? Is this the supplementary water pump, item 15 in the below diagram? Seems it’s not needed? Now, how many of the items in the following diagrams are no longer needed. Please give a part number, what it is and why it’s not needed. I’ll add as I figure them out. If anyone has a diagram of how the coolant system plumbs in for the conversion it would be really helpful. Should I use this diagram which is for a Golf VR6? In which case the supplementary pump is shown.
On your first question, the bracket is for the chassis mounted engine mount on the original car. Not used on a mk2.
