Stan's Epic Golf Build: 1.6se becomes 1.8T

[Stan]

I have a 1.6sr mk4 Golf MY2000, the car in my sig.
Actually a nice little car, but I wanted more zing.
I am a guy - so i decided to pull a perfectly working daily driver apart and make a project of it.

So at this annual leave I decided it was time. Parts were sourced mostly through Matt at Camden GTI - a nicer guy you won't find, and some invaluable advice as well - like "Dont build a car you can buy..."

Other bits like wheels and brakes sourced on the forum here.

I gave myself 2 weeks and so far it has been three, with wiring being the main issue (it could also be ECU related), and the car still not on the road...

Base car is an 2000 model AKL VW Golf Mk4. It is supposed to be a special edition, but really it means a rally with pretty seats. About 220K klms on the clock and a nice straight runner, with a nice body. Engine is fine, it's just that it is the 1.6

Engine is an AGU Audi A3 1.8 Turbo, stock.

I got the entire front subframe, engine, gearbox, driveshafts, ECU and Loom (well most of it), exhaust and ancilliaries except for the Aircond compressor- but I had one of those.

I actually left the AC and braking circuits in the car , undisturbed to do this.

AC became tricky to work around, but it worked.

This has step by step pics but here are a couple of teasers to start you off:





remember this was a working daily driver.

Build was commenced in a garage slightly bigger than a single car one.

Suffice to say, it's taking a while and Mrs Stan is not impressed anymore...

[GOLFBALLS]

Haha! Bloody classic. I like the "dont build a car you can buy" line, and the fact you ignored it!!
Good onya mate

[Stan]

Seemed cheaper than trading up to a GTI, but I dont think it will in the end....

[Jmac]

Ah well when its up and running reward yourself by tuning it. Whats the issue with wiring? I deal with these a fair bit.

cheers
Jmac

[Stan]

plugs from mains looms to connectors in plenum chamber have different wiring, slightly

Also wondering about my instrument cluster and the ECU, signals to fuel pump relay....car cranks but wont fire.

[Stan]

More pics

Start with a perfectly good car, a smallish garage and a couple of weeks leave...







Standard 1.6sr:





Engine cover off, take plenty of reference pics too (wont put all those here



This is what is going in: Audi A3 AGU 1.8T




What could possibly go wrong???

[Stan]

Easiest way to do it in may case was to pull the front out of the car, raise it up and pull out the whole front subframe, with engine, gearbox and driveshafts etc, all in one go:

Remove the bumber and grille (vortex had a good post on this)







I initially didnt want to remove the bonnet, but had to in the end to get the chain hoist nice and squre overhead.
White tape in pic is either labelling (you just cant do enough of it), sticking screws that come out near their holes, or to cover air intakes etc...

Front bar, front clip and headlights would have come off in just two complete pieces; however, i have airconditioning, so they have to come out in pieces to work around leaving the ac circuit fully intact.

AC cooler is in front of the radiator:

[Water Boy]

Good work Stan. I thought you werent around this forum since we meet at the photoshoot night. Huge props on doing the conversion.

[dylan8]

Will be watching this.
Have this in the back of my mind for when something major goes wrong with the bora.
Doing all the work yourself? Have you done a engine swap before?

[Stan]

I always look in, just not a big poster. When this is on the road again , i' will bring it along to a nightout. Met lots of nice guys there, and will catch up again soon

[Stan]

Dylan, the mechanicals arent too hard, it's getting all the wiring and computer sorted that is the biggest hassel.
I've mostly finished this, just catching up with the thread.
The car cranks but wont fire. Low voltage at the fuel pump is one issue, and I'll change the relay, but suspect that isnt it.

Engine and loom are from a 1999 car and the Golf is a 2000 - guess what - a changeover year....

I've changed engines in a Toyota Corona (mine), rebuilt a Datsun 260z motor (mine), Ford Escort (mine) and helped with a Merc Fintail (which was actually the easiest.)

i also have an Austin Healey Sprite ('60 Bugeye) the was a ground up rebuild over several years - It's now my daily car whilst the Golf is out of action.

[Stan]

Empty the radiator, unplug everything (and label it with tape), undo any hoses etc that attach to the body - heater hoses etc.
Remove the scuttle cover etc to get at the ECU -Unplug the cables from the ECU
Wiper mechanism is held by 3 bolts and the lot pulls out in one piece, motor and all (love those Germans) - undo the wire clip to the wiper motor. Then you can get to the fuse box wire junction and take off the lid and unplug the 3 plugs there:





While you are at it the plenum chamber will be full of leaves, dirt and crap - get it all out and clean it up, unplug the drain holes etc. Also the time to replace the pollen filter, it lives under here too on the passenger side

Unplug and label any other wiring that enters the car or attaches to the body
Undo the throttle cable at the firewall
Disconnect the steering column from inside the footwell - remove the footrest, and plastic shield and undo the 13mm bolt - easy



Undo the 30mm hub nut and slide off the whole hub and brake assembly, unplug the wear sensor and the ABS sensor cable.
Leave the front suspension hanging by the strut towers, but remove it from the axle spline - gentle tapping from behind should get you there
Undo the o2 sensor cable - juction is in the black plastic box under the floor at about the driver's seat
Undo the connection between the down pipe and the rest of the exhaust.



At this point I made a wheeled frame for the engine to by lowered onto - just 4 pieces of stout timber with a swivvel wheel on each corner - I used long screws so the screws held the wheels and the timber together.

The engine is now supprted with the chain hoist to take the weight for when the subframe bolts are undone and then the whole lot lowered onto the frame/dolly...

[jnrm3]

hey stan, this is coming along nicely.
we had a similar issue where the car was cranking but wouldn't run. long story short it ended up being a coded key/ecu not sure if the audi's had this feature. it looked like a black ring that sat around the ignition barrel which linked up to the ecu once it was hooked up and had the matching key it started first kick.
also have a gti and a 1.6 here both complete cars if you need to reference anything. i will hopefully be doing this conversion very soon.
cheers
steve

[Stan]

hey Steve, not sure how useful I am, but if I can help in any way at all let me know.

Yeah, it all needs coding up. I have the original key, ignition and cluster still in the car - so the immobiliser etc are not talking to each other. However I thought that it should still crank (which it does), then run for a few seconds (which it doesnt) and then stop....

thanks for the offer, may need to take you up on it

[Stan]

on with the show:

undo the sleeve that connects the down pipe to the rest of the exhaust:



The gear lever needs to be disconnected too.
Pull off the leather surround and the clip around its base, pull them up and you can get the knob off.
There are 4 bolts holding this on - 2 up front which you get at from inside (take out the astray as well, it just pulls out) and 2 from under the car.

To get at the under car ones you have to pull off the aluminium heat shielding from under the floor - the big panel at the front and the middle one...as seen on the above exhaust shot...



unbolt the engine mounts.

Now check again for all piping and wiring that may be connecting the engine to the car....