Should I drop R36 power plant in a MK3? I think so!

[Robby K]

So the story goes, my CC 3.6 has been written off by my insurance company due to vandals and I have salvage rights to the car, so Ive found myself in a situation where I have a perfectly good 3.6l engine waiting patiently in a car that can't be used on the road anymore to be transplanted into my MK3 VR6....

****ty way for it all to come about as a really nice car has needlessly been destroyed, but as they say when opportunity knocks you should open the door right!

So I suppose this would be a good time to ask has anybody done this conversion or have any info on doing the conversion?

This was never planned so I haven't really researched much as yet but Im thinking full stand alone ECU (hopefully there's something that can support direct injection?) , and using the 02A box. engine will be coming out in a couple of days and from there we will just see how it all comes together. Any advise ideas or suggestions welcome... Fire away and educate me peeps

[tinto]

I wouldn't have thought standalone ecu would be necessary (or worth it), just get the immobiliser parts removed from the OEM one with a reflash.

Mounting points on the engines are different, but all the brackets currently on the mk3 should bolt onto the 3.6 block to make it compatible with your engine bay - I'm assuming the passenger side rear bracket holes are there as they were in my mk4 motor.

Nice that you've already got a vr6 gearbox to work with too!

So physically it should be straightforward, but I'm not sure about the electrics.
You'll be going to a drive by wire throttle, but it is so good that you've got the Passat there to plunder parts from.

Which gearbox was in the Passat?

[Robby K]

Stand alone ECU will be used anticipating future engine mods and tuneability

I have 2 working MK3 VR6' s one is a good car already with lots of good bits the other is a donor car which is my current daily work hack (body rough but mechanically all good) which is being retired in a few hours when I pick up a new car, so I have pretty much 2 of everything to play with.

Donor 3.6l car is an 09 CC so gearbox in 6 speed DSG

[Lucas_R]

Do the 3.6's have direct injection? I would stick with the stokc ECU if it was my car as the ECU's are very good and can be flashed to support just about anything whether you stick with N/A and get cams etc or go forced induction. Ok if you go for individual throttle bodies etc you might go beyond the capabilities of the stock ECU but more mainstream stuff will be ok.

[HaydEn]

There's no ecu's that support DI at the moment.

So you will need a custom intake manifold with port injection. Like so


As stated, put 12v mounts and thermo bits onto the 3.6 block, use an 02a from your vr6

[Robby K]

Pretty sure Motec M1 can handle direct injection..

[HaydEn]

Pretty sure Motec M1 can handle direct injection..

At 5k it seems a bit ridiculous.

[Robby K]

Some might say the same about putting a 3.6 into a mk3 in the first place All good though I appreciate the financial advice but I'll be OK

[Robby K]

Engine out of the CC tomorrow, let the games begin.

[KKK VR6]

Wow nice, about time someone had the opportunity to do one of these in Aus
Especially when u get a instant 200+kw atw. (Use 02a gbox, get a tdi 5th for it, when it gets pulled apart for the lsd)
I remember there's a couple standalones out there for DI. I personally think it's best to have a seperate control for the fuel system (mind is blank now :|)

If u want the most out of your money an effort with minimal hassles & issues, I'd get everything bolted in the car properly, gbox an all sorted (get the billet cv's from The Driveshaft Shop, and use chromoly shafts. All that stage 3,4,5 driveshaft kits are bull****, if a 2000hp burnout car uses moly shafts, I'm sure it's good enough for anything less lol), tow it to a exhaust shop for a set of extractors (importing some is more $$) and a 3.5" system to match.
Then tow it to a haltech/motec tuner who is well known for there work, an fork out on the $5/6k there'll want, to give u a supply/fit/tune package.

As Hayden mentioned, some 12v bits will work on it, other bits u can get from a 24v bora. Lightweight pulleys are nice, but I wouldn't touch the stock dampener while it's NA.
Also r8 coils are a nice energy upgrade for na, but they look wonky, kinda out of place on 24v vr6 motors.

Put some pics up 👍

[Robby K]

Everything will be getting done properly, although maybe not so pretty

Ive taken a bit of a turn in the planning stage and we've decided we are going to gear towards a track based car that will see some road use at least initially anyway, so it will be all about handling getting power to the ground, stopping and weight so don't expect too much on the pretty parts side as this will be a function over form project with a bare minimum interior (stripped).
Ive been speaking with a couple of tuners in regards to stand alone and direct injection, still not 100% settled on anything yet other than we will most likely run Motec but obviously need to settle on engine configuration/mods so stay tuned for that.
All the bolting up and fab work where possible will be done by me (I am far too tight to pay someone else for that)
Cheers for the advise on driveshafts, that is a definite must have, researching box/gearsets/diff options now so well see where we end up, Im lucky enough to have 2 of everything 2 play with at least.

Pics to come as we make progress. Haven't taken the 3.6 out yet, work always getting in the way of the fun stuff but next weekend the fun starts. Even putting up a new shed just for the golf

[KKK VR6]

When u say track, are u going to drag it, or use it on a circuit ? Or both?
As this is where u base yourself off, with how your gonna set it up/determine what to buy.

Everything will be getting done properly, although maybe not so pretty

Pics to come as we make progress. Haven't taken the 3.6 out yet, work always getting in the way of the fun stuff but next weekend the fun starts. Even putting up a new shed just for the golf

Yeh I've learnt that if your too picky with aesthetics, you won't get stuff done, best to just finish it, then clean things after.

Wow mad, I guess u work hard, u play hard 😎

[Robby K]

Circuit mate, not interested in dragging it.

Im usually someone who likes things looking mint, but this build will be all bout making it work on a reasonable budget so the way it looks will be down the list. Having said that its not going to be a bitza multi coloured rusty turd either, just not spending a lot to make it look good.

[tinto]

New shed!

Why motec over haltech (I haven't researched either in depth in relation to DI.)?

[Notso Swift]

DI isn't an issue for a good standalone
MoTeC is a full generation ahead of Haltech with their M1, up there with other world standard motorsport ECU's Life (Syvecs), and to a lesser extent MBE, Pectel (but I don't know much about them) that sort of thing.
DI injectors require something like 60amp to trigger them and multiple times in a stroke, so it is a specialist product, and even with the new Elite Haltech don't have one at the moment

Support is going to be the biggest thing. MoTeC have that covered better than anyone else in AU, (Haltech are also good for this)
I see you are in SA - there is a Syvecs dealer in SA but they pretty much fobbed me as they are into V35 GTR's/Evo10/STi and selling packages. There is a dealer in Brisbane that do Golf stuff, BPS
LIFE the guy who is closest is in NZ... probably better to deal with than the SA guys!