# 1.8t MK2 swap



## 1dvs1.8t (Apr 25, 2010)

Hi guys I am started my first attempt of a swap .. I have done lots of research I going with a AWP 1.8t and a g60 transmission so any input would be great.
I will have lots of questions


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## SpacedOutStar (Aug 23, 2013)

What year is your car? Do you have CE2 for wiring? If you do have CE2 then you can buy an adapter harness so it is almost plug and play for the wiring. You will need to do an immo defeat for the ECM but there have been a lot of people have done this so getting information will not be hard. Should be a fun project, I really like my 1.8T which goes well but that in a car that weighed 600 plus pounds less would be a riot.


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## 1dvs1.8t (Apr 25, 2010)

What is the ce2 wiring ? My car is a 1992 Gti has anyone have any experience using the jumper harness from a company call stance dub ?


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## austinweisVR (Feb 21, 2006)

I'm also interested in any info anyone has; mostly first hand experience at this point. I've done quite a bit of research myself and this is not my first swap, but it is my first 1.8t swap. i'm confident I can do it, I just haven't decided which route to go...there are so many options on the market at this time.

BFI has their distributor kit, but that involves swapping to mk3 obd2 wiring and ecu. this is not my first choice for a few reasons; 1) being the distributor(there's better technology than this primitive alternative. 2) mk3 wiring, most likely you'll have to pull it from a junkyard car or maybe you can get it when someone is parting one out, but you don't know for sure if that harness and ecu have any issues. and you have to wire all this into the ce2 fusebox, basically an aba wiring swap and but with a 1.8t

stock wiring from a 1.8t using the factory 1.8t ecu. there are 2 ways to go about this. 1) get the entire wiring harness, ecu, fusebox, steering column, cluster and keys. and completely swapping everything. or 2)get early 1.8t wiring from an AEB motor and follow the wiring diagram here http://myweb.whitman.syr.edu/srotblat/swap/
this is the best guide ive found so far.

then there is a company out of the UK called Quantum Performance Engineering, and they make a plug and play wiring harness with a standalone ecu that's fully programmable. they take a stock 1.8t harness and customize it to work with the standalone made by MBE. this is supposed to plug right into the ce2 harness for power and you can have the car running (in less than an hour)with your stock ce2 mk2 gauge cluster, fully functional. 

ive looked at stancedubs page a few times and I don't trust them for the most part or until I hear good things, the price is soo low and some of there information seems to be a bit off as far as drive by wire stuff goes, you don't have to have drive by wire in the mk2 if you have immo defeat for it, AEB wiring/ecu, or standalone. but not to mention with a name like "stancedubs" I CANNOT take them seriously. 

lugtronics is also a good standalone solution.


and ce2 wiring is what came in all cars 89 and up, some cars pre-89 had ce2 but not many. it makes swaps a lot easier if you plan on using the factory wiring and ecu.


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## SpacedOutStar (Aug 23, 2013)

1dvs1.8t said:


> What is the ce2 wiring ? My car is a 1992 Gti has anyone have any experience using the jumper harness from a company call stance dub ?


I have never touched one of those harnesses but everyone who has bought one has nothing but good things to say about it. Your car does have CE2 so a lot of the wiring but not all will be plug and play.


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## SilverTrek12v (Dec 28, 2005)

austinweisVR said:


> ive looked at stancedubs page a few times and I don't trust them for the most part or until I hear good things, the price is soo low and some of there information seems to be a bit off as far as drive by wire stuff goes, you don't have to have drive by wire in the mk2 if you have immo defeat for it, AEB wiring/ecu, or standalone.


The stancedubs swap harness is not made for the passat/a4 motors/wiring. They are made for the Mk4 and Audi TT motor,ecu and wiring which are dbw, except early 2.0.
The swap harness plugs in between the mk4/TT harness and the ce2 fuse box with the stock cluster functional.
There are other companies that convert to dbc but you have to run their software. 
With the stancedubs harness the motor runs like original, like vvt ,wideband o2... depending on motor, and you can use any software you'd like ,United, apr, Uni, 1.8t BT, vr6t...


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## austinweisVR (Feb 21, 2006)

yeah I get that. but that means you have to make the dbw pedal work in the a2 car, some people like me, would like to keep the cable.


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## vwdirector (Jan 31, 2006)

Don't buy that pre-made harness it's a waste of your money, the wiring is really easy, these people on vortex are all cry babies. I did my entire wiring from this thread. 

http://www.clubgti.com/showthread.php?205887-OEM-management-wiring-1-8T-gt-Mk2-harness-install-FAQ

I would suggest gonzo tuning for the immo defeat. It's around $80. 
If you're resourceful you can pull this swap off for under $1500.

If you have any questions PM me I'll help you out


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## 1dvs1.8t (Apr 25, 2010)

Thanks for all the input guys I haven't got to the wiring part of the swap I have started to assembly the subframe and installing all new bushing and arms ..


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## rstolz (Jun 16, 2009)

did my swap in a mk1. AMU 1.8T in '84 Rabbit Convertible. G60 02A trans.

I've done my wiring 4 different ways:
1. engine harness only with home made loom to merge the engine harness with teh mk1's stock wiring. wire throttle
2. complete Mk4 wiring harness, engine and in-car. Mk4 cluster. wire throttle
3. complete mk4 wiring, stripped down. mk1 cluster. wire throttle
4. full standalone management with custom wiring. in-car mk1 wiring and engine/ecu wiring routed through mk4 fuse box. cable throttle. My standalone kit is from Quantum Performance. They are great. The software is tricky, but their stock tunes are pretty darn good anyway. You could do a wicked MS3 standalone build for about the same price or cheaper, but you'll want to find someone to work with on the tuning.

I ended up at full standalone for a little extra power, minimal wiring, and expandability. The ME7 is great, and I would have kept it if I didn't keep having electrical gremlins pop up. The standalone has been dead reliable.


cable throttle is overrated. DBW is extremenly easy to set up. If you're using an AWP, it'll be easiest to use DBW throttle. The AEB used cable throttle but also ran on an earlier ME version, and won't support VVT or wideband that the AWP is equipped with; which also means your tuning options are more limited. AEB also used a smaller turbo and differetn head design, as well as different sensors.

Running AEB software on an AWP, I believe works, but not great.

All that said:
Use the AWP engine, engine harness, and ECU (from a manual car), and just set the car up for DBW. you'll be happier. 

you're using the 02A trans:
1. Definitely upgrade that box with 02J shift box/cables/tower. the shift feel in an 02A is junk, even if you rebuild it, it's sloppy. 
2. get yourself a lightweight singlemass flywheel and mk3 VR6 clutch.
3. you can run either cable or hydro clutch. if you run hydro, stick to mk3 components. they're stronger.
4. cable clutch components for the 02A come from the Eurovan.
5. An LSD or at least a diff bolt kit is highly reccomended. 02A/J are susceptible to catastrophic diff failure.

The information on that Whitman site, linked earlier, is extremely dated, and not very accurate. There are many more, and better, ways to manage the wiring. VWdirector is right on that; managing the wiring is not nearly as complicated as the earliest build threads make it out to be.


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## 8716v (Sep 10, 2006)

photos are no longer available on that gti forum thread


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## Vegeta Gti (Feb 13, 2003)

i manned up and figured it out with a buddy.

03 20th with tdi 02j into 84 gli....BT....8 years ago. if you had researched you would know your car has CE2..because it's a late model A2....which dude who asked if it was should've known. being that it is, stance dubs has an awesome plug and play harness for you. but you will need immo defeat and some other goodies to get that thing going smoothly.


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## TATTS MKII (May 12, 2002)

I am also in the midst of collecting various parts for a 1.8t MK2 swap. It has been difficult to find some clear answers about what parts and wiring are needed. Within in the last couple years links, threads, pictures, and site have been hard to come across. So if anyone has a great resource for accurate swap info that would be awesome! 

Also so I would like to add that the Stance tuning wire harness is of excellent quality. I had the opportunity to visit the shop to pick mine up this time last year. Great guys, great product.


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## 1dvs1.8t (Apr 25, 2010)

*Work has started*

Hey guys so I started the build so far I put the engine on a stand and change the timing belt and painted the block. I sent out the valve cover and intake to be polished. I did a slight shave on the engine bay and painted it I gloss black. I also cleaned up subframe and installed new arms and bushings. 
Pic will come soon


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