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

[GoLfMan]

glad to hear that you have progress

[AlexRO]

good to hear !

[velly_16v_cab]

epic build fella...glad you got it sorted in the end!

[Stan]

thanks velly, you have reminded me that i need to get on with more pics and the rest of the story....

---------- Post added at 10:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:47 PM ----------

OK time for some more.
At last pic session we had just got out the original engine.
Out the front and lowered onto a wooden trolley and wheeled away.

Braking circuit and AC was left in. The AC rad is right in front , so I had to try and pull it all to one side to get the 1.6 out and the 1.8T in. Here you can see the AC setup dangling down - all this was simply pulled to one side and wired out of the way.



Then easy peasy out it all comes:



This is the point you realise that you have pretty much reached the point of no return and if it goes pear-shaped from here, your car is worth nothing and nobody in their right minds will tackle a half finished project and bail you out...

Didnt want to , but the bonnet had to come of to get nice vertical alignment to lift in the new engine.

OK so the block and tackle is attached to the new engine, which is also on a trolley - wheel it into place, lift it up and do up the 4 main subframe bolts. A bit of wiggling, fiddling and watching where wiring and plumbing is getting pinched etc. I had most stuff bundled up out of the way before the engine was lifted in. This part was actually pretty quick and within an hour of the old one out - the new was in, well basically. Fat bloke with silly smile is me.

[Stan]

To divert my attention for a while, i decided to sort the suspension.
Lowered pedders springs from a forum member, GTI shocks, and new springs in the rear.
New on the left, old on the right - no they are not going into the lawn mower...



Rear spring in the background.

Simple job to remove the bolts from the rear shock bases, drop the rear subframe (partially) and simply insert the rear springs. And they are red - it was meant to be. They still had a part number sticker on them, so I rang Pedders to confirm - VW Golf MK4 lowered, ok for GTI - cool, good to go in.



Is that a Whiteline rear anti sway bar in the background . ..adjustable, same source as my TT brakes, what a great forum







It so happens the the rear disk size is the same for the 1.6, GTI and Audi TT mk1, so these dont have to be changed.
However, the fronts do. I have a set from an Audi TT with 312mm disks - so big fronts going in. Initially I had all the bits except for the carriers, so I did the front shocks and springs and put the originals back on - they will still stop the car , but it will be under braked for spirited driving - oh, and it's not compliant without the upgrade either....
Seb and Courney (Bugracer and white vr6) are sorting the carriers, expecting them very soon...

Original brakes, new (well used A3 1.8T) shocks and (newish aftermarket) springs



Rear antisway bar goes on next:

U bolts go over the rear sub frame (instructions are on their site in PDF)



Droplinks mount to a spacer block at the base of the rear shocks





Select a hole for stiffness - towards the end has more flex, so second stiffest setting here:

[Stan]

The plumbing was very straight forward, most of it was already in place. Line for the clutch in and that was nearly it.

The wiring was another matter, as you have seen from the saga earlier in the thread and a specific thread on it in the mk4 section.
There are 3 main looms if you like.
The base loom that stays in the car - your lights, fuses, relay panel and fuse panel etc...
then there is the ECU, which has 2 big plugs on it and each has a wire bundle. These bundles plug into the existing loom and onto stuff like your sensors, coil packs, starter, AC compressor, and you name it.

ECU change over:



From the ECU left bundle to main car loom - look similar, but plugs are not compatible:



that was because it's a 2000 model car and the engine was from a 1999 car, also from VW to Audi. Wires were essentially the same.

tried this to test, haha :



Ended up doing this, multipin plug kit from Jaycar:







This join lives inside the covered wiring channel that comes from the plenum chamber / rain tray (where the ECU lives).

The right bundle mostly stays in the plenum chamber and terminates in three plugs - orange, brown and green. My original were orange brown and white. That means green plug goes into the white socket, after a bit of modding to make it fit, as the plugs and sockets are keyed.



So here is where they live:



These plugs turned out to be the source of my non starting woes - more later

A couple of the other plugs were different as well, but the wiring was the same, so splice and dice the plugs (AC compressor, alternator...)









these were soldered properly and the dodgy tape is replaced.

[Stan]

Intercooler on - mounting points were already there - love the Germans





Ordered a new pollen filter, easy fit with all the trim off. ECU is on the left. Bits still had my name on them as labelled by Matt at Camden GTI before sending them down, haha :



Engine and wiring esentially done. Exhaust mounted up etc. On cranking the car cranked but wouldnt fire. Pump could be hotwired to work, but wouldnt otherwise. Pump tested fine and so did the wiring from it. This saga went on for weeks, crank no fire.
Everything got blamed, bad earth, fuel pump relay, base wiring, ECU, you name it - And it was all checking out OK. No fuel, yes spark.
Wiring diagrams, phone calls and some great help from Matt, Gav and Jmac got it all down to a single f*&king wire. A model year change over thing, swap from brown to orange plug, bullet connectors and ta da , it fired first try. It goes via the relay panel to the fuel pump, hence all the error issues that a dud fuel pump relay would produce (yes I did try swapping it as well...)

My diagram of the 3 main plugs - ECU, to the 3 plugs to the fuse panel in the car. It shows original sockets, original plugs, new plugs and wire colours. i made a few diagrams like this to help me sort out where stuff went as I was fault finding:



---------- Post added at 11:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:15 PM ----------

The airbox from the Audi goes in the same place, but it has a MAF sensor and stuff on it, that isnt on the base car. It's pretty specific, so i had to use this airbox. However its air intake is different and doesnt fit on in my car. Solution: pull it off and cut another hole as well to let air in:



While i was there I got out the trusty dremmel and cut out all the baffles and bits that impede airflow, and cleaned up the bottom of the box:





Front bits back on and finish off the reassembly:





Windscreen was cracked at some stage, so out with the old,:



And in with the new, well done to O'Briens