Hello from Finland and thank you for this amazing forum. Have found ALOT of useful data for whole bunch of people around here ! To get started, im a 30 years old, fully VW holic from head to toe, so not my first project over the years, overall having now as i write one 95 MK3 VR6 turbo being rebuild and almost finished, hoping for first start in couple months or so, will see, many MK2´s over the years, two MK3 now, had a US spec VR6 Passat Wagon, etc. Also there is a T5 Doka being build by very good friend of mine, very special one, i could say that it will be true unicorn. Will be in Wörthersee also with us this year if everything goes to plan, its in paint as i write. A little 5000km trip... But latest purchace just today was a 85 MK2 shell. It had been going with KR, but all the wiring has been removed, and i really mean everything. Plan was as the previous owner said, to build a track car but he got to the point with stripped car, and then happend a child birth, buying a house, you name it so it stood to this day when i bought it. And the shell is actualy very good one ! Only rear axle, and front control arms, steering, front hubs etc you name it, left to keep it as a rolling car. In the interior, only the main dash is left, no clocks, any switches or so, steering wheel and gear linkage there. Now, i got one 95 MK3 16v, with good motor, whole donor car. Simply, put a key in and start, drive if wanted. But having that VR6T, my intrest having this motor in a MK3 is a no go, just doesnt bring up any intrest to me. And this is where that MK2 comes to the picture, as a so common swap, ABF to MK2...but with couple questions in my mind for you guys... Having a full MK3 donor car, with all the looms from front to back, and having basicly a full blank MK2 shell, whats the most reasonable approach to do ? Heres what i have come up with, correct if and when in wrong : - Swap all the wiring from MK3 16v donor to MK2 shell, but using the MK2 dash with MK2 switches etc, i dont want to use MK3 cluster etc, have to get it as OEM MK2 as possible. There will be major labor to get all working, but is is reasonable ? Im not afraid about the job have to be done, but say at loud atleast if im going ahead the hardest way if there is easier one... - What about getting from scrap CE2 MK2 looms, i mean all from tail lights to fuse box, dash, tail lights, front light etc you name it, and use only the engine loom from MK3 donor ? Mainly, first goal is to fix all the little nic and nacs here and there, paint the engine bay and floor, simply tidy up the shell first. This wont take long to do, so i want to build up a best plan to approach this when the body is ready to take in some parts, so little help needed. Those are what i have come up with myself. I am open to all suggestions and ideas, and i will appreciate all the effort and answers you provide ! Also sorry for rubbish english, also not my strongest area -Sami
if you wanted to use the complete mk3 loom you have a fair bit of modification to do, how much exactly depends how you want to go forward with it. for starters the rear loom and the section of loom on the slam panel needs modifications so they plug in where needed. dash side if you got yourself a mk2 ce2 column tube, ignition lock housing, fusebox hanger, stalks and cluster the stalk & ignition looms will plug right in, you may need to make a slight mod on the stalk loom if the donor has the dual chamber headlights. for the cluster you'll need to swap 1 wire for the indicator warnign lamp and remove some extra wires. then either add ignition live to e/2 for the cluster or swap the pin at the fusebox to the mk2 location so its fed by the mk2 fuse instead of e/2. the mid section of the dash harness will need modifications for the heated screen and fog switch, and the headlight switch is pretty different but you can make it work if you can find a donor headlight switch plug. alternatively if you can find a good ce2 headlight switch loom, main dash loom and rear loom that makes your life a little easier, switch the mk3 fuel pump loom over if you want to use the mk3 tank setup. mk2 headlight loom as well if you can find a decent one, if not may be easier to mod the mk3 loom rather than trying to repair a poor mk2 loom. on the engine loom side you may find the mk3 wiper motor loom isnt long enough, but not sure how the LHD looms are for mk2/3 on the wiper routing. if it doesnt reach a donor mk2 engine loom can be handy, especially if you wanted to convert back to use mk2 coil and ignition module rather than mk3 coil. finally if its a post-95 mk3 there will just be 1 large bulkhead hole for both the engine and lighting loom to go through, if oyu're uising a mk2 headlight loom split the mk3 stuff out and swap a mk2 engine loom grommet over. if you want to use both you can take the late toledo approach, leave the main loom all in one big lump but and split it just before it goes through the bulkhead and add 2 grommets
if you want to keep the ce1 clocks, ignition, stalks then you'll have to splice the ce1 plugs onto the ce2 mk3 wiring loom, or alternatively you coudl try and source a full ce1 harness front to back and just adapt the mk3 engine loom to suit: https://clubgti.com/forums/index.php?threads/ce1-abf-splicing-of-looms-help.249714/
