Erik & Rupert: The Tale Of Two MK1s

[HuH]

Yeah it is/was. It's all still in there and has to be transferred.

[GeorgeMK1]

Would you take a few pics of all the tunnels and what not that was used to make it work mate? As mine had the conversion done, but all the piping etc for the heater was different for mk1/2. It would mean a lot

[HuH]

I will do my best, mate! I'm not 100% sure about what I have in there exactly. Maybe PM me and tell me precisely what you want shots of. I'll use a real camera and not this iPhone business.

[Jarred]

gear box has to be fully split to change diffs.

you're better off using the gearbox from the 16V and keeping it with the 16V.

[HuH]

Yeah I'm going to get a shop to look at them. I don't think the gearbox on the 16V is actually a 16V box. And according to the previous owner it's pretty flogged. Leaks oil like it's had a bullet put through it.

Got the motor out of the green car last night. It was a tough slog. Working after hours is starting to take its toll a bit. My mate Daniel and I have tallied up some seriously late nights so far. We didn't down tools yesterday until 1:30am, mostly because we couldn't call it a night with the motor still dangling in the air. I'm not working this weekend for the first time in almost two years, so I can't wait to get into it with some daylight behind me!



It took a good hour or so to get the motor ready to drop. We had to remove driveshafts, exhaust downpipe, some wiring, engine mounts and other odds and ends.



Got the crane ready to go.



I like using these straps. The length gets the motor on the ground way before the crane arm hits the radiator support. They're also good for maneuvering the motor while it's suspended.



We used the factory lifting point where the alternator bracket mounts, and made another one on the gearbox mount to get the best balance.



After working our way around the drivers side driveshaft and eventually pulling the LCA out to get it out of the way, we had the motor on the ground.



It was way too late at this stage to do anything else, so it's sitting on the garage floor like this. Tonight I'll jack the car up and pull the motor out from under it.

After that I need to take the gearboxes off and do a bunch of other stuff that I've forgotten right now. Need to find a coffee.

I spotted on the back of the 16V block a big '2.0', so it's not the original 16V block. Is there a way I can find out what it is? What's most likely? I understand that the head is called a KR head, and the block is either an ABF or a 9A. How do I tell which one and what are they exactly?

Trying my best to learn all the VW intricacies, but it's a little overwhelming. Haha.

[mikinoz]

Call Brian and explain what car you own and he will probably be able to tell you what is going on.

Most likely as you say a 2.0 block with KR head based on it being K-jet. I reckon you have a 1.8 8v k-jet set up on a 2.0 bottom end and KR head - but I am not an expert haha

[dubstar]

On the front of the engine, usually stamped on a flat piece between cylinders 3&4? Is the engine code. Also, on the bottom of the gearbox a code will be stamped near the bottom of the bell housing, this will give you gearbox code. Post them up and we will tell you what is what.

[HuH]

Call Brian and explain what car you own and he will probably be able to tell you what is going on.

Most likely as you say a 2.0 block with KR head based on it being K-jet. I reckon you have a 1.8 8v k-jet set up on a 2.0 bottom end and KR head - but I am not an expert haha

Yeah, I'll call Brian soon and get the scoop. I haven't done it yet because I'd prefer to drive it to him when it's in the yellow car and talk to him about it in person. I'm sure he'll be able to teach me a thing or seven.

On the front of the engine, usually stamped on a flat piece between cylinders 3&4? Is the engine code. Also, on the bottom of the gearbox a code will be stamped near the bottom of the bell housing, this will give you gearbox code. Post them up and we will tell you what is what.

The engine is stamped 3A 021 xxx, so this is an Audi block I believe? I found a bit of info comparing the 3A and ABA blocks and they both seem to be popular choices.

The rebuilt gearbox on the 8V is stamped with:

1
6Y 13124

The old gearbox on the 16V (with the LSD) is stamped with:

3
ACD19125

Can you decipher anything from those?

I made a bit more progress last night on Project Ümlaut.



Got the 16V out and about. Resting it an old tyre was actually inconvenient as I had get the crane around it again and lift it up to be able to get the gearbox off.



A welcome sight. We're at a pretty big milestone for the build now with both motors out.



Both 'boxes are off and currently in the back of my car. I'm taking them to Craft Differentials in Granville today to have the LSD in the old box (top) checked out to see if it's worth swapping.



Plenty of work to do on the birds nest of wiring. It has the potential to be so much neater.



I had a closer look at this last night and it says 1.9 on the back of the block which is confusing. I assumed it would be a 1.6.

A mate is coming over tonight to inspect the rust repair. Hopefully I can wrangle him into helping out.

[HuH]

So Craft just called me and apparently the diff in the green car was not an LSD at all.

I'm really confused by this. I was told that it was, so to test I jacked the car up, turned one front wheel and the other wheel turned in the same direction. I thought that was sweet and confirmed that it was an LSD. Apparently not. Is it possible for that to happen with an open diff?

The same test was done on the yellow car and the opposite wheel turned backwards, which is what I thought open diffs were supposed to do.

Leaves me a bit disappointed. I'll have to just run with the rebuilt box as it is. Quite a mystery though, and I don't understand it.

In other news the rust work is being done tomorrow morning, plus I've bought new tie rods, new rack ends, new rack boots, new nolathane rear engine mount and new headlining in the last week. The CV boots are being done right now and we're pretty much set to put it back together in the yellow car.

[Peter Jones]

The ACD is a close ratio 5 speed from a MK2, it should have a 3.67 diff ratio and 100mm output flanges.

The 6Y might actually be a GY 4 speed I suspect. Show me a pic of the gear box mount on the end of the box and I can tell you if it's a 4 speed.

As to your diffs the 4 speeds have no preload on the diff and the flanges will turn in different directions.

the 5 speeds have preload and will turn in the same direction even though they're an open diff.

---------- Post added at 05:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:47 PM ----------

Oh and your 1.9 is possibly a 1900 SD motor from an Audi.

[HuH]

Peter, that's excellent info but it throws a spanner in the works!

I will check the code on the 6Y/GY tomorrow morning. Will it have 91mm flanges? If so that's even worse as I had the driveshafts for that gearbox reco'd with new boots and all that. But they'll be no good on the ACD box if I use it, right?

What are the main pros and cons of each gearbox? I assume the ACD is significantly better? It's being cleaned up and put back together with new carrier bearings this week, but I was hoping to put the 16V into the yellow car tomorrow, which I can't do now if I should be using that box and not the 6Y/GY or whatever it is.

I'll get a picture of the mount, but from memory they were identical to each other.

[HuH]

Here are the pictures you wanted of the gearbox mount. Are these helpful at all? I also took a picture of the markings on the bottom, and it looks unmistakably like a '6Y' to me.

I cannot find any mention of a 6Y 020 'box on the internet. Moving the selector into gear by hand seems to give six distinct positions, leading me to believe that it is a five-speed gearbox.







Also you were spot on about the Audi SD block. That means it's from a diesel motor?

[Peter Jones]

That's a five speed alright. The 6Y code is confusing I'll see what I can dig up.

The ACD would be a great box for the street, close ratio with a tall cruising diff.

The SD motor is still a petrol motor. It's the 1800 block with 2 litre 82.5mm pistons. A great fit into MK1s. You might find it's got an adaptor plate between the inlet manifold and head.

[HuH]

Update time. Lots of action over the weekend. Couldn't have done it without a little help from my friends.



Picked up just the one gearbox from Craft on Friday. They're still putting together the other one which didn't have the LSD in it. It's getting new carrier bearings and a cleanup. Anyway, we put the rebuilt box on the motor to get it ready to go.



The engine mount you see in the photo above needed to be replaced. I had a new on in the spares I picked up, but the old one had to be pulled out so it could be pressed. Getting to it meant removing everything in this photo.



On Saturday a mate came around to tackle the rust. Here's what the floor was looking like after a bit of scraping around.



The firewall sections weren't too bad. Much less than the previous work on the driver's side.



Here's one section cut out looking through from the front passenger wheel arch.



The man at work.



Welding the new steel in place.



The sections for the firewall cut out.



And new steel welded in.



Progress shot of the new floor piece.



And how it ended up looking



Single coat of etch primer on these spots.



We've left it masked up like this overnight so we can do another coat if necessary and put some black paint over that.



We also masked up and painted the radiator support in the engine bay as it had a bit of surface rust developing.



These arrived as well. New tie rods and rack ends. Boots are in the mail.



Does anyone know whether the little spade terminal in this shot is for oil pressure or oil temperature?

Other work we did which isn't shown was mostly on the engine itself. All the coolant hoses were replaced to get rid of the botched up stuff that was on there before. No more loose hoses and ugly plugs for things which are now unused. Everything is so much neater. The wiring will be next but there's no point doing that until we get the motor in the bay.

I've got three more nights to work on this before I go to Japan. I want the motor in, wiring done, heater and dash loom transferred, and the front end put back together so all four wheels are on the ground. I think that's achievable!

---------- Post added at 10:45 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:24 AM ----------

That's a five speed alright. The 6Y code is confusing I'll see what I can dig up.

The ACD would be a great box for the street, close ratio with a tall cruising diff.

The SD motor is still a petrol motor. It's the 1800 block with 2 litre 82.5mm pistons. A great fit into MK1s. You might find it's got an adaptor plate between the inlet manifold and head.

Would really appreciate anything you can dig up on the 6Y code. I've exhausted my Googling skills!

If I happen to get the ACD box back before the motor goes in, I may use that, but I'm happy with the 6Y just knowing that it is a five-speed. Who knows what its ratios are like.

I'm really keen to put this 1.9 8V into the green car now and drive it. Sounds like it will be an interesting thing to steer as well.

[Peter Jones]

That's a temp sender, probably suit a VDO gauge.