Hey Guys, I have been doing a PD TDI conversion in my MK2 over the last 6 months or so. I know this is not new (used Scruffydubbers sticky many times amongst others) but I did use the 6 speed 02M gearbox out of the 2003 Golf PD TDI. A few people have suggested I write up my build and I am happy to do this if it helps others with their own builds! I am happy to receive any comments and suggestions, This was my first TDI conversion, please be gentle and keep all comments constructive or positive please? Where to start......My car was a 1989 G plate Golf GTI 16V. Clean base but it did have a big dent on one side and needed some tlc. First of all I removed the engine and did a standard 20VT AUM conversion (we don't need to know about these do we). Clutch Pedal I mounted the factory donor clutch pedal out of the A3 on to the bulkhead on the golf, cut a bell shaped hole for the clutch master cylinder to protrude and bolt in place. Just position it so the pedal sits at the right height for the brake pedal, use this for a datum height. You can adjust this with packing on the top bolt which sits back from the rest. I hear a lot of people looking for complete pedal boxes and people selling them for a lot of money. This pedal idea works well for me, we have now used this design many times without issue. CLUTCH DONE Accelerator pedal I then cut the plate out of the donor for the accelerator pedal to mount to, you drill 6 spot welds (i think?) and the nice mounting plate comes out. This was mounted on the bulkhead also to mount the DBW pedal. Note, these are the same shape for all models petrol, diesel R32 etc, different part numbers. Again, I hear a lot of people talking about this and I prefer this method and DBW installs. Take the pedal loom up to the fusebox and into the main loom, factory should be long enough. ACCELERATOR DONE Gearchange I took the complete shifter tower from the donor car, 4 13mm bolts, two from top, two from bottom. I cut the metalwork out of the tunnel on my mk2, offered the tower into place, drill as required for 4 off fixings. I noted here from Scruffydubbers post that this is a source of cabin noise (thank you), I will add lots of sound deadening to create a gasket in this area. The centre console will need a little mod but its only plastic so chop as required. GEARCHANGE DONE Engine Mountings Right, a big one. Lots of different reports here. All I can do is report what I found, what I did. Gearbox mount, I used the std Dutchbuild style one, mounts to gearbox and back to subframe cup. The subframe cup will need to be cut off and rewelded in the correct position. This is to mate to the mount, and to clear the 108mm drive shaft. Its easy if you cut off while the engine is out, offer it in bolted to the mount, tack it, then remove the engine again. Front mount, I used the std GTI metal front mount and cut it to modify it. This allowed me to use the std position fixings. I also removed the gearbox, drilled out the tapped holes in the block (clearance on M12) and welded captive nuts to the back of my mount. This is similar to the MK2 original but you will find the mk2 used M10 nuts. Cut off, drill out, re-weld M12. I have attached a picture of that. Rear mount, I made one of these from scratch. I made up a reverse jig and used strips of 3mm plate to make a mount back to the fixture. Quite a bit of work and TBH it is still close to the turbo actuator but its on and it fits. I may remove and remake this once the car has a few miles under its belt. I have attached a pic but its not the best im afraid. With that, the engine was mounted and in, MOUNTINGS DONE. Driveshafts This is the big one and the one that caused me the most hassle and expense. If I could do it again, I would do it differently but I will lay that out at the end. I used a standard Fabia VRS long drive shaft. This fits if you run wide track so I did wide track using mk3 bottom arms, track rods, track rod ends, hubs, carriers, bottom ball joints, anti-roll bar, discs and callipers. You must use later hubs for the spline shape. I wanted to keep 4 stud 4X100 so I had the hubs modified and drilled the discs to suit. NS short shaft I used a MK4 Golf six speed std short shaft (ended up being the one from the donor that I didnt keep!) but Audi A3 works too (this was the one I brought) basically, any 02M six speed should work. 1J0 407 271 GC was the part number I used and worked WITH WIDE TRACK. Now I have written that down, it sounds easy but that took me months and cost a fortune as the only way I knew if something worked was to but it. I brought loads of parts for this conclusion. If I were to start this again, I would just keep everything standard and get some custom drive shafts made. I was quoted 200 each for these from J and R CV Joints in Birmingham (www.jandrcvjoints.co.uk) very helpful and good quality) but I thought I could piece it up cheaper. Maybe if you read this and copy, you can? I didn't manage to. I am still not happy I have wide track as I didn't really want it but I've swapped my Eibach ARB for a mk3 one now so its staying! DRIVE SHAFTS DONE. Brakes I just used the usual Ibiza stubby master cylinder here, make sure your reservoir has the outlet for the clutch pipe and does not hit the servo, its always tight here. As mentioned, MK3 VR6/ GTI discs and calipers. These did not fit behind BBS RA wheels. They just about fit behind Estorils with a bit of grinding, maybe could have spaced them but I don't like spacers. BRAKES DONE. Wiring Anyone reading this will know and have read John Newmans wiring guides. This is all I use and followed it with guidance from John and Barry Venn (wired4dubs, thanks both) and fired first crack of the key. I did come across an issue. The MK4 golf has a rev limiter that will not allow you to rev it up while stationary above about 3K revs (few/ all new VAGS now do this). This is a signal that comes from the speed sensor on the gearbox, up to the clocks to give speedo reading, then on to the ECU. As the mk2 uses a cable, I was not sure what to do here. I ended up wiring the speedo sensor up (feed to it, in Johns guide) and taking the speed output wire straight to the ECU. This worked to remove the rev limiter. I did speak to my mapping guy who was confident he could have mapped this out of the ECU if needed. I will use MK3 VR6 clocks in the MK2, didn't want to but only other solution was the american converter thingy. Expensive! WIRING DONE. Intercooler and pipe work. This is really personal choice, I have used a smallish intercooler (550x140x65) mounted under the front bumper as mine is small bumper. I find these to be sufficient for my needs, they are good to mount too. I have painted it black to allow it to blend in with the valance, its there if you know what you are looking at. I used 57mm alu pipework and just cut and joined to shape. I went both in and out on the OS chassis leg which is tight but it works. I have added some pictures of the route. I have been suffering with pipe blowing off on early test runs (all I've done yet). I have bonded the pipe together using Tiger seal and a band clamp which is the same a Sikaflex, VERY strong stuff and used to be used to stick cars together. If this is still no good, I will bead the alu pipes by the joins, easy to make up a tool to do this or use a local company (I used to work at one!). INTERCOOLER DONE. Fuel and pipework. I kept the MK2 fuel tank, GTI 16v fuel pump and fuel lines. I connected these to the MK4 fuel filter which I mounted on the OS wing, looks good works great. I have yet to find issue with this, if I do, I will update on here. I did hear and read loads about using MK3 tank, etc but I don't yet see the need to. Watch this space??!!! FUEL DONE. Air intake and airbox. I have used std MK4 intake and airbox, moved my washer bottle to the boot. Fits fine. I will be making a support bracket to hold it. I read that Scruffydubber said that it was noisy without std airbox. I tried a few things and got the same result. Conclusion, use std stuff! INTAKE DONE. Suspension My car had 30mm lowering springs on. When I put the new engine and box in, the extra weight made it sat so low, it rubbed. I put the std back on and with Eiback ARBs front and rear, rides great. May upgrade to coilovers soon but they need to be good quality ones. Just remember the extra weight, its a damn heavy engine and box guys! That's about it really, still doing little bits and pieces, you never really finish a MK2 conversion. Im looking forward to putting some miles down in it over the summer, hope to attend a few shows and talk to people about it. I will keep updates coming if there is any interest. Cheers all, Leo Payne.
Nice write up Not sure why you had an issue with it not revving up fully in neutral though, mk4 tdi never had a neutral limiter It's a shame you have to use mk3 clocks because of the 02m speed sensor, that's possibly the only downside to 6 speed. You mentioned an american converter? is this something to do with 6 speed and mk2 clocks? Any more plans for the engine now its up and running?
for the rev limiter issue what you can do is run your ecu wire to W/1, all MK2 GTI and MK3 clocks have the required speedo pulse output for this. Its the factory way its done on the MK3 Golf as you say you can instead wire it direct to the speedo sender output instead if you are running one as its the same signal, digifz mk2 golf are wired this way. You can use a electronic to cable converter if you want to run mk2 clocks, they aint cheap though! http://www.vwsyncro.co.uk/data/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2308
mjj4, Mine def did, it would not rev up, wired this up as listed, did rev up. I have videos somewhere. Are you sure they did not? NO plans as yet really. I will just run it and sort it, make sure its reliable, maybe map it this year on the rollers. See what pops up, Im sure there will be many jobs! Cheers
in the image drop down box click on the url tap it should be as you did it last time if you have a problems uncheck the box below
I can see the pictures ok? some mk4 ecu may have this limiter some may not, they certainly can be odd. Andy927 found that he could not use the 67/80/167 type fuel relay with his r32 as it sent a pulsed trigger signal, so had to use a mk4 golf fuel relay instead. this is the only time ive ever heard of this so it must be a random thing on some ecu!
