# My Golf R Sportwagen 4motion Swap story and lots of pics



## 20vTa4 (Jun 21, 2001)

So, back in April I bought a wrecked 22,000 mile 2012 Golf R from an auction in Texas. The car looked pretty bad in the pics, but I had no idea how bad until I got it. I paid for the car and arranged transportation and when it finally arrived, i was pretty shocked at how much damage it actually had. To make matters worse, the car clearly had a key included and somewhere between Texas and NJ it disappeared. The towing company was no help so basically I was s.o.l. The car had apparently taken a high hit that pushed the engine back into the fire wall, destroying the turbo, axles, and countless other parts. So now I had this Golf R paperweight with no key and way too damaged to be worth fixing sitting in my driveway. 










As I was looking through the car, I found an invoice for a flat tire repair with the original owner's name and number. I decided to take a chance and text to see if they might have an extra key, no response. Two weeks later, I get a text from the owner, we chat for a bit, and he overnights me another key for free! Unbelievable. He also sent me this pic from the accident.










At that point, I decided that I would either fix and use the drivetrain for a swap or sell it off. The first step was to remove the engine/trans to figure out exactly what would need to be replaced. 










Lots of damage besides the turbo which was in two pieces, but the worst was something hit the water pump shearing off the pulley and making the engine jump timing resulting in 8 bent exhaust valves. I fixed that first and put the engine all back together.



















Luckily, I was able to buy most of the brackets and misc crap used, here it is mostly back together minus the turbo.










The next step was to strip the interior to be able to get the dash and full harness out all in one piece.










All panels out, wiring unclipped and pulled forward to yank the dash.










In order to pull the engine bay harness through the firewall the ABS module plug and large fuse box plug had to be de-pinned to fit through the hole. 










Dash and complete harness in a heap waiting for a new home.











The next step was to find a suitable car for the swap. I'm a big fan of wagons and the sportwagen was the only car that made sense to me. I started looking around for a cheap mk6 sportwagen but it was a dilemma because I didn't want a diesel and my biggest requirement was non sunroof, which really narrowed things down. I couldn't find anything cheap enough to make the swap worthwhile. A friend from work who follows the auctions closely sent me links to a few at auction. I wanted nothing to do auctions anymore, but then one came up semi locally in MA with no body damage. It was a recovered theft with just a few scratches, nothing missing it even came with both keys. I bid and won and had it shipped down to me, besides some scratches and a few dents, the car was perfect. I had it cleaned up and drove it for a few weeks, it drove so well that i actually felt bad that I was about to strip it down.

My new to me 2011 Jetta Sportwagen S automatic








After a quick detail









And apart it came...










Next up, interior and wiring again.










Next up, install pedals and throw the R dash and wiring in.










Engine bay powerwashed and R harness in, looks good as new.










Subframe, exhaust, suspension removed, everything but the fuel lines came out










Laying in the harness, it basically drops right into place up to the fuel pumps, from there back the wagon harness had to spliced in to make everything in the back work, this took some time to figure out, especially the tail lights and the hatch wiring. In all I think it was somewhere around 50 splices but it all works as it should. It was all routed like factory, the only difference is that I used 3M super 33 tape instead of the cloth stuff.










Dash lit up for the first time as I was integrating the door harnesses. 









I kept the jetta door harnesses because the R doors are different. I untaped all 4 door harnesses and added the wiring for the KESSY handles and the Dynaudio amp. This was a ton of work. I also installed the Dynaudio speakers, they were a direct swap in the rear doors, but required home made adapter rings using the old jetta speakers cut up.










Next I dropped the fuel tank and rear subframe/suspension out of the R. 










Pumping the fuel out of the tank to make it easier to handle









Cut out the access hole for the saddle pump









Test fit the rear subframe in the wagon, like a glove...









There are a total of 3 brackets and 1 nut that need to be welded in. Two prop-shaft carrier brackets in the tunnel, one small bracket in the rear to accept a gas tank strap and a captive nut under the leading edge of the back seat, also for the tank. I left this to somebody that welds all the time, my buddy Keith came over and tigged it up perfectly.










Once the brackets were welded, in went the rear suframe, shifter box, heat shields and the prop-shaft.










I finished buying the rest of the engine parts including a new K04 (that was painful) and got the engine and trans ready to drop in, and in it went.










Buttoned everything up and started it up for the first time, ran great, just needed the exhaust sorted out. Called the welder back over and ended up with a temp solution for now. It's nice and quiet at idle but drones a bit on the highway, so in the spring I'll have to figure something else out. The setup for now is a SPM 3" catted downpipe and midpipe to a section of the 2.5" R exhaust mated to the factory wagon rear muffler. 










My only issue with the exhaust was that the shifter cables were laying on the downpipe and ended up ruining the cables. I had to replace them and came up with this Home Depot Motorsport bracket made from some aluminum stock.










The mechanicals were pretty much done and it was time to start putting the interior back together.










I chose to just stick with the jetta cloth interior for now, because the R lower back seat doesn't work in the wagon. In the spring I'll probably make the R seats work. While everything was apart, I ordered some black oem-ish fabric and wrapped the headliner black, I like the way it turned out and I hated the white factory color.










So now the car was all together and running, I take it over to a friend's shop to get an APR stage 2+ flash and do an Autotech hpfp insert. I had just re-used the stock R clutch mainly to save some money but also because it only had 22,000 miles and I figured it was okay. I soon realized that it couldn't handle the power and was slipping. Down the trans came again and I ended up doing the "RSR" clutch and have been happy ever since.










I was really happy that I could change the display pic to a wagon using vagcom










Added mk7 style climatronic controls










I've been driving it for a few months now and am really happy, lots of power, and traction. I accomplished my goal of using as much of the Golf R as possible and I'm pretty happy with the outcome. I have no idea if it was all worth it, but I enjoyed doing it and I have a car that probably no one else has and it still only cost a little more than half of what a clean used mk6 R is selling for.










The end of the R, cut up and going to the scrap yard


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## fouckhest (May 22, 2003)

cool build! :thumbup::thumbup::beer:


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## dubjager (Dec 9, 2004)

*FV-QR*

I've been seeing bits of your car on instagram, happy to finally see a whole build!! Great work and the final product looks amazing! 

The red 964 is also a very nice stable mate.


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## Bicycle019 (Mar 30, 2001)

Rad build, thanks for sharing.:beer:


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## VRPISSED (Jan 7, 2005)

Waaaait. What did or are you going to do about your DEQ Emissions testing? Or does your state not care about the ECU matching the VIN number when they scan your door bar code?


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## KentGTiKR (Apr 17, 2008)

I really like idea of building R wagon :thumbup:


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## 20vTa4 (Jun 21, 2001)

fouckhest said:


> cool build! :thumbup::thumbup::beer:





dubjager said:


> I've been seeing bits of your car on instagram, happy to finally see a whole build!! Great work and the final product looks amazing!
> 
> The red 964 is also a very nice stable mate.





Bicycle019 said:


> Rad build, thanks for sharing.:beer:





KentGTiKR said:


> I really like idea of building R wagon :thumbup:


Thanks guys, it's a really fun car and was an experience to build. I would definitely do it again.



VRPISSED said:


> Waaaait. What did or are you going to do about your DEQ Emissions testing? Or does your state not care about the ECU matching the VIN number when they scan your door bar code?


I honestly didn't give it much thought, it was inspected right before I started, so I'm good for almost 2 years. I'm not sure if that's the case in NJ yet. The car is completely emissions legal though, in fact the swap is newer than the car, so I should be okay. 


More pics, from this weekend playing in the snow.


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## oidoglr (Jan 26, 2009)

Fantastic build. Going to put a Golf R body kit on it, or leave it totally sleeper status?


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## Aonarch (Dec 4, 2006)

Epic


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## JMURiz (Jan 17, 2008)

You win!

I wish VW would actually make an R wagon, but yours is a sleeper and even better because of it :thumbup:


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## benjaminobscene (Aug 24, 2008)

not all heros wear capes


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## TBomb (Sep 23, 2009)

This is one of the greatest things I've ever seen, and gives me hope that my dreams of doing a modern powertrain swap are not completely impossible. Amazing work :thumbup:


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## rallyedude (Feb 22, 2003)

Dammit ! You beat me to the punch !
I bought a smashed R early 2016 . And picked up a 2011 golf wagon 2.5 auto with panoroof in April 2016 . 
I've been building a ute , and work has been in the way . So far the only R parts that have made it in my wagon are the radio and the front "ash tray". I'll post a thread once I get going on it. Great build ! I might bug you if I run into any weirdness .


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## rallyedude (Feb 22, 2003)

I see I run the same black/yellow storage containers as you . My ute, my diesel westy , various harnesses , and transmission parts are in those type of containers . Love 'em!


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## 20vTa4 (Jun 21, 2001)

rallyedude said:


> I see I run the same black/yellow storage containers as you . My ute, my diesel westy , various harnesses , and transmission parts are in those type of containers . Love 'em!


Nice, good luck with the swap. If you have any questions, I'd be glad to help. By the way, the storage bins are on sale at Costco right now.


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## rallyedude (Feb 22, 2003)

20vTa4 said:


> Nice, good luck with the swap. If you have any questions, I'd be glad to help. By the way, the storage bins are on sale at Costco right now.


That where I bought them ! 11$cdn or 3$ American!


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## rallyedude (Feb 22, 2003)

what's the story on MK7 controls? plug and play ? Or more intricate? 
Did you check out R door panel fitment to wagon? Pipe dream? The power window location on the wagon kind of bugs me. I'd rather the R's location. Plus the panels are cooler.


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## 20vTa4 (Jun 21, 2001)

rallyedude said:


> what's the story on MK7 controls? plug and play ? Or more intricate?
> Did you check out R door panel fitment to wagon? Pipe dream? The power window location on the wagon kind of bugs me. I'd rather the R's location. Plus the panels are cooler.


Yeah controls are plug and play, you might just have to do some coding with vagcom. Mine was out of a CC. The trim panel is euro only, I think it's from a mk6 cabrio, 5K0 858 069 Q 1QB, I got it from these guys, it was cheap and came in less than 2 weeks. https://www.bks-tuning.com/blende-814210.html

In my head before I started the swap, I had every intention of using the R door panels. I figured the dash is the same, the panels must be too, was really bummed to find that they're completely different. I guess with enough fabrication, they might work, but I just wanted to keep things as factory and rattle free as possible. You'll see the difference when you have everything apart.


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## [email protected] (Oct 12, 2011)

This is amazing. Great job.


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## Pyotr (Nov 15, 2014)

You're the first person to actually document what needs to change on the wagon body to do an AWD swap. Going to save this thread for when I AWD swap my wagon!

Tons of work into this, with a pretty awesome result! I think you should have kept the 5cyl and boosted it for maximum fun (and lack of carbon cleaning or timing belt jobs every 60k lol)


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## rallyedude (Feb 22, 2003)

How close was your headliner match relative to oem? Where did you get it? I guess it's headliner and rear c pillar trims that need to be wrapped. Otherwise i'm assuming a+b pillars are reusable from R to fit in wagon?
I have to spend time on rear bench work as well. That stock wagon interior has to go! As well as solution for door cards.... Half tempted to bolt the R front doors onto my wagon , if they'd fit??? Probably wouldn't be that simple....... But it would make door panel install a breeze and window switches would be in the spot i want them in. Plus no wiring mod for front doors !


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## 20vTa4 (Jun 21, 2001)

rallyedude said:


> How close was your headliner match relative to oem? Where did you get it? I guess it's headliner and rear c pillar trims that need to be wrapped. Otherwise i'm assuming a+b pillars are reusable from R to fit in wagon?
> I have to spend time on rear bench work as well. That stock wagon interior has to go! As well as solution for door cards.... Half tempted to bolt the R front doors onto my wagon , if they'd fit??? Probably wouldn't be that simple....... But it would make door panel install a breeze and window switches would be in the spot i want them in. Plus no wiring mod for front doors !


The material is darker than oem, more black than grey. The golf A and B pillars are different and I wasn't able to use them. I ended up spraying the A,B,C and D pillars with black cloth paint and it came out pretty decent. Wrapping them would be a nicer solution, I just didn't have the time, eventually I'll probably do that. The door cards might be doable, but not without some work, let me know how it goes. Also if you plan on using the R seats, keep in mind that the lower part of the rear seat is different and you'll have to come up with a custom solution or use a grey pleather seat from a wagon, it almost matches.

I used Headliner Magic brand material from ebay, I''l look for the exact link later.


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## 20vTa4 (Jun 21, 2001)

Finally had some time today to do some "upholstery" to make the R rear seat fit. This involved making the jetta seat frames fit the R foam. One day this week I'll install the front seats and I'll have a full R interior.


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## 20vTa4 (Jun 21, 2001)

Front seats are in, the transformation is complete.


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## rallyedude (Feb 22, 2003)

This is very cool . Time for leather wagon door cards next!


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## 20vTa4 (Jun 21, 2001)

Updates are cut and paste from another forum...



So a friend mentions that he needs a cheap wagon for commuting/hauling crap and asks me to find him a deal like I got on my wagon. I start searching craigslist and find a local one at a decent price and go check it out. The car is a mint white 5 speed 2010 that's way cleaner than mine. Immediately the wheels start turning and long story short, I work out a deal to sell my blue one to my buddy and I buy the white one. Here's where it gets really stupid, I'm now in the middle of a two-way swap. The R swap is coming out of the blue into the white one and the blue one will be a stock 5 speed (previously automatic). I've done many swaps but never from car to car, so this should be interesting. It's also funny that this will be the first and second Golf R swapped sportwagen in the world, I think. 

I'll post a a bunch of pics as I go along, for anyone interested in my stupidity.
I'm also keeping track of all my time just to get an idea of how much time I'm wasting.

Here it is in it's minty glory

























Fresh 2 year inspection sticker









In the garage just hours after inspection









Engine out a few hours later


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## 20vTa4 (Jun 21, 2001)

Some updates, I've got the white car completely stripped and the blue car has the 2.5 dash, wiring, engine/trans, and front suspension back in. I'm concentrating on getting the blue car done first and off to it's new owner. It should be done early next week. So far, I've got about 40 hours into this. 

Here's a bunch of pics...

2.0 back out


















2.5 back in









Engine bay cleaned up nicely









New prop shaft carrier brackets mocked up waiting for welding









Interior all stripped out









Shell all ready to go









Keeping everything bagged and organized









ABS and fuse box connectors de-pinned

























2.5 dash and wiring


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## 20vTa4 (Jun 21, 2001)

I haven't posted in a while, but today I finished the white car and drove it for the first time. For those interested in how much time it took, I'm at around 90 hours total to take both cars apart and put them back together. 
I think a gti front bumper and fenders is next at some point this year.

Some more progress pics...

Wiring going back in









My "custom" shifter cable bracket









2.0 going back in









Tank bracket welded in and extra pump hole cut out









Back in the garage to wrap things up

















De-badged and re-badged









Installing oem rear view camera









First drive today in the rain


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## Pyotr (Nov 15, 2014)

You're crazy man! 
What did you do for the prop shaft hanger and the fuel tank on the white shell since you didn't have an R to cut them from? 

Sent from my XT1635-02 using Tapatalk


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## 20vTa4 (Jun 21, 2001)

Pyotr said:


> You're crazy man!
> What did you do for the prop shaft hanger and the fuel tank on the white shell since you didn't have an R to cut them from?
> 
> Sent from my XT1635-02 using Tapatalk


I just bought 3 new brackets from the dealer, was under $100


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## Pyotr (Nov 15, 2014)

20vTa4 said:


> I just bought 3 new brackets from the dealer, was under $100


Oh snap. Didn't know they even sold them. 
You got some part numbers? 
Nearly done gathering parts for my 4mo wagon swap. 

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## 20vTa4 (Jun 21, 2001)

pyotr said:


> oh snap. Didn't know they even sold them.
> You got some part numbers?
> Nearly done gathering parts for my 4mo wagon swap.
> 
> Sent from my xt1635-02 using tapatalk


1k0 802 231

1k0 804 331

1k0 804 332


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## NYdubberNY (May 16, 2017)

I was following your blue build over on the other page...glad I found it made it's way here. A little sad to see the blue one gone (I offered to buy it!!!) but glad you worked something out and managed to do it...AGAIN.


Offer still on the table for this white one...if down the road you ever plan to sell. Hit. Me. Up. :wave:

Until then...I'll be watching to see whatever else you have in store. opcorn::laugh:


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## rallyedude (Feb 22, 2003)

So are you going to go through all the wagon colours ? Hahaha ! 
I put R ft struts/brakes on mine ( cause I sold the rf corner) Still no 4mo swap yet . Did trade to highline leather though . 
I feel so low next to your level ! At least I got a Lupo on the road ! And saved an a3 fsi from the crusher ! I'll update whenever I pull mine off the road . Good work !


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## [email protected] (Nov 30, 1999)

And I thought page one was crazy, then I got to page two. :laugh:

Any thoughts on getting rid of the roof rails? I feel like it would look a lot cleaner without them.


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## LateAPXR (Jan 27, 2005)

Wait, besides the fact that this is facking amazing x2, how in the world did you change the car diagram on the display via vagcom???


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## rallyedude (Feb 22, 2003)

LateAPXR said:


> Wait, besides the fact that this is facking amazing x2, how in the world did you change the car diagram on the display via vagcom???


I have never done this . But with info from the original wagon full scan it should be relatively easy . But if I can't figure it out , I know who I'm contacting!!!!


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## 20vTa4 (Jun 21, 2001)

My car is for sale:

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?8980929-FS-2010-GolfR-Sportwagen-4motion


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## Teknojnky (Jun 1, 2002)

Do you think the awd swap is that simple on a mk6 jetta? Or would I need to swap floor pans like on previous gens?


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## 20vTa4 (Jun 21, 2001)

Teknojnky said:


> Do you think the awd swap is that simple on a mk6 jetta? Or would I need to swap floor pans like on previous gens?


You shouldn't have to touch the pan.


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## ArclitGold (Apr 21, 2009)

This thread is money


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## Teknojnky (Jun 1, 2002)

20vTa4 said:


> You shouldn't have to touch the pan.


If that's the case, I'm going to start looking for an a3, tt or an r for parts.


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## m.parker1970 (Aug 27, 2016)

Fantastic job!

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## CustomBuilder (Mar 7, 2017)

*WOWooser !*



20vTa4 said:


> Front seats are in, the transformation is complete.


Very Nice Work , and some of it Super Complicated , Dam , Man did You Grow up in a VW Factory ?


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## kyle_h (Aug 1, 2010)

I so want a 4mo wagon TDI. This is very inspiring... One day... one day..


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## Groundskeeper (Jul 24, 2001)

kyle_h said:


> I so want a 4mo wagon TDI. This is very inspiring... One day... one day..


Same. I got a 2015 MK7 Golf Sportwagen TDI SEL.

I hate that NA couldn't get it in 4motion (supposedly due to the use of a solid beam axle which was necessary due to the presence of the AdBlue equipment)

That said I've been every now and then trying to see what's available out there for swap potential.

I'm not 100% sure on the iteration of the 4motion system on the newer MK7 Sportwagens (such as the alltrack or 4motion sportwagen) and how different they are compared to something that's more readily available right now (such as a junked MK6 Golf R like in this thread) but I THINK they're roughly the same.

This said, I would think the BIGGEST challenge would be the find a 4motion setup that has the proper gearing to match a diesel engine.

I wonder how hard it would be to come across a Eurospec B8 Passat TDI 4motion and see what could be pulled for parts.


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## kyle_h (Aug 1, 2010)

Did you use the headliner fabric on the c-d pillars as well or did you find black ones?


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## beninnz (Apr 18, 2021)

20vTa4 said:


> There are a total of 3 brackets and 1 nut that need to be welded in. Two prop-shaft carrier brackets in the tunnel, one small bracket in the rear to accept a gas tank strap and a captive nut under the leading edge of the back seat, also for the tank. I left this to somebody that welds all the time, my buddy Keith came over and tigged it up perfectly.


Bringing this thread back from the dead sorry!

I'm in the midst of undertaking a similar conversion here in New Zealand. I've got a Skoda Octavia vRS Mk2 facelift that I'm converting to 4WD. If you're not familiar with it, the platform underneath is basically a Golf GTi Mk6. I've bought the rear subframe, Haldex, gearbox, transfer case etc from a wrecked Mk6 Golf R from Australia.

Unfortunately I didn't manage to get the whole donor car, so I can't use that as a reference.

I'm wondering how you knew where to place the prop shaft carrier brackets in the tunnel - did you measure off the donor car you had there or did you have to offer it up with the prop shaft in place? (and therefore with the rear subframe/haldex and engine/transfer case all in place).

I was hoping to do the prop shaft mounts while I had the engine/gearbox and rear subframe out of the car and everything in pieces, but if there's no obvious way to place the brackets correctly it sounds like I'll need to place them once the engine/box and subframe are in...

Thanks in advance 

Couple of pics for reference:


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