*newbie* MK III CL-5 Golf (96-98)

[voskisoor]

Hey Guys,

New to the forums so HAIIII!!!!

got an old 96 MK III (5 door) need some solid advice. From Sydney Aus so primarily where to go and if certain things are possible.

1. Is the 2.9/2.8 VR6 an extreme rarity in AUS if not where can i pick one up for are there certain places people recommend going engine shopping?

2. Whats the wheelbase requirements on this model, is there a certain size which can fit without major modification.

3. I cannot find the handbook for my car for the life of me. Checked everywhere online the naming convention of my car is not specific enough (or am i missing something).

4. Any body kits out there to consider? i dont want an overly cheap look im going for the european angle. Keeping it classy.

Thanks for your help guys!

Hope to update you soon with pics of what i have done.

[Ben J]

Hey, welcome. The 2.8 vr6 isn't overly rare, but we never got the 2.9 here so those are very rare, there is a couple kicking around though. Golf loon on here may be able to get you one, probably around $1500. Not really worth doing the swape though when you can buy a vr6 golf anyway.

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[Ben J]

Oh and there definitely is a manual online,.but I dont have tge link on my phone.

Please dont put a body kit on it.

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[DubSteve]

I have one for sale that has had everything done to it ready to go.

[voskisoor]

I have one for sale that has had everything done to it ready to go.

Just the engine? what have you done to it?

This really is going to be my hobby car so i don't know if i want something worked already it kinda defeats the purpose. I want to start fresh.

[Mk3 AAA]

Just the engine? what have you done to it?

This really is going to be my hobby car so i don't know if i want something worked already it kinda defeats the purpose. I want to start fresh.

If you're going to do a conversion, do it to a 2 door, at least it will make something more unique, if you spend all this time and effort on a car that you can buy i.e. 5 door VR6, it's not really going to be worth it.

Do some solid reading about these cars/engine before committing to a build. There are workshops that will do the lot for you, but it's going to be big money (big hours).

To do the 5 door conversion you're looking towards Bora 4motion money for a car you can already buy for much less, and yours being a converted one will be less desirable than a factory VR6, the 2 door may be more sought after as you can't buy them here.

It's not a simple engine swap, all the VR6 components involved makes for a comprehensive build... you're basically taking the car down to a shell and rebuilding. That's if you want the full kit, and if you don't, then that's going to compromise the equipment you end up with.

Consider just trading in for a VR6 and then doing some tasteful mods to it with the money.

[dark]

yeah not really worth converting a 4 door mk3 as you can just buy one thats already a vr6 for less money and do that up. Trust me there will still be plenty to keep you busy if you are looking for a project! If you are set on converting your car you have - maybe look at a more interesting conversion? Say an r32 or check this out:





If your exploring engine swaps VWvortex.com is your go to source for this stuff as if theres an engine swap to be done someone on this forum has done it! Turboing whats in the car now might be an option as well?

As sortofbigbj kinda mentioned - bodykits are not cool in the mk3 scene. Basically cause they all look ****ty.

When you get on the vortex check out the mk3 picture thread for an idea of what can be done to these little cars in an oem euro style. There is seriously sooooo much you can do to them!

[Ben J]

To elaborate on my quick phone posts earlier when I was already late to get back to work from my lunch break...

By the time you have all the necessary parts to do a proper (and legal) vr6 swap, you could easily have sold the cl and bought a vr6, not to mention the vr6 came with a heap of nicer features then the cl that you wouldnt get with the swap anyway. Its probably easier and cheaper to buy an entire vr6 wreck from one of the auction places that sell them then it would be to get all the individual parts. Still, if you want something to do, then noone can stop you. Could always buy a 3 door and swap it into that (thats what I'm doing after having a tyre blow out on my old vr6, sending the car into a pole and writing it off. I managed to buy the wreck back after jumping through all sorts of hoops)

As dark said, body kits really do look awful on mk3s. There are things you can do to the body to make it unique and nice, there are some side skirts you can get which look pretty decent. Front and rear bumps can be shaved (as in the indicators, lower duct things etc) and those look 300x better then any after market ones.

Something I didnt try to answer earlier was about wheels. Wheels you can run up to probably 17's diametre wise without major issues, maybe even 18s but they will look awful. A lot of people will say 16s are the sweet spot for the mk3. 17s can be done if you're nice and low with the right tyres and offset. 15s can be done nicely too. With just a gaurd roll and maybe a little camber you can run up to 9 inches wide in the rear with an offset around 15 without too many problems I think, and up front, something like 8 inches wide with and offset around 20 (that one I guessed, ofcourse measure things up before you buy wheels to see what size you think you can run)

Ofcourse looks is a personal thing, and what I consider looks good is probably very different to you. At the end of the day its your car, so do your own thing if thats what you want to do

Definitely do take a look through the stickied appreciation thread in this forum and the mk3 picture thread on vwvortex though if you havent already to get an idea of what can be done to these cars and what you think looks good, and go from there