# 1.8t 5 speed Eurovan swap



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Ive never done a build thread before because I'm not one to stop and take pictures, but I'll try my best to document this since there are only a handful of 1.8t swapped t4s. I'm not sure how many have been completed in the US, if any. I'll try not to make this a novel...Also, all of this will be done on my iPhone so nothing is going to look too fancy. There is DIY on putting a 1.8t into a t4 which I've read through a few times so I know what the difficult parts will be. I have swapped a 1.8t into my Mk1 GTI and the most difficult part was the wiring, which I found to be quite simple.



I will keep track of all my expenses and post it up when I'm a bit further along. The parts I sell to get money back in my pocket will be documented as well. You are all in for a treat. _Spoiler alert: It cost me $70 out of pocket to convert my Mk1 to 1.8t_

The EV: I picked it up off Craigslist as a non runner. I figured if it was in too bad of shape I could use it for parts for my 2000 VR6 EV. Turned out to be incredibly straight with very little rust. I removed some of the factory decals (more on this later) and buffed it to reveal some shine in the paint. 118,000 miles on the clock. The 5cyl had been "rebuilt from the rings up" but the majority of the parts were in the trunk. Since I know 1.8t's and the wiring it just made sense.


The donor: 1.8t Jetta Auto with nearly the same mileage as the EV. It is a running and driving car in its current condition. AWW engine code, 150hp, k03s turbo, wideband ecu, VVT. It will need the VVT replaced and will get refreshed with common failure parts, belts, sensors and anything else that needs attention. I will source an ecu from a manual transmission AWP engine to bring the hp up to 180. I plan on picking up the car this week. 


Money involved:
-$400 Eurovan
-$268 title & fees
-$300 Jetta (donor)
+$65 Jetta-Seat belt/AC Compressor sold
+$120 Eurovan ECU sold
+$75 Jetta-bumper/grille sold
-$6 Breather pipe
-$13 Oil pan banjo 
-$59 Intercooler 
-$126 Timing belt kit, coolant flanges, T-stat, seals, orings, gaskets, water pump, bolts, sensor 
-$24 Fuel rail, cam tensioner
-$16 Wiring supplies/fuse holder 
-$19 Turn signals 
-$92 Intercooler piping, silicone couplers, exhaust pipe, v-band, O2 bungs, air filter
-$50 Injector hats
-$32 Headlight
-$15 Motor mount metal
-$2 Passenger tie rod assembly
+$8 Air filter refund
-$2 Intercooler hardware
-$5 Downpipe gasket
-$11 Shift bushing
-$30 Slim fans
-$7 PS tie rod
-$9 Mk4 grille
-$3 Exhaust gasket
-$5 Epoxy
-$6 Paint
+$180 Exhaust manifold sold
-$50 Wheels
-$32 Speakers
+$375 Jetta- Automatic Transmission sold
+$1600 EV-engine sold
-$141 Custom power steering/AC hoses
-$28 Power steering fluid
-$35 Rear speakers
-$86 Rear TV monitor
-$4 Check valve
-$47 CV shaft
-$24 E36 convertible rear springs 
-$277 set of 4 235/45/17 tires
-$100 tire mount/balance and alignment
-$12 Ignition switch
-$102 Battery
-$72 In dash DVD player
-$53 120A alternator and rear view mirror
-$3 Rear view mirror mount/adhesive
-$66 5% window tint
-$65 MSD8920 tach converter
-$49 Fuel pump/sending unit
-$20 Keyless entry/key blanks/key cutting
-$99 2.5” exhaust pipe kit
-$64 Muffler/flex pipe
-$49 Transmission mount
-$100 Clear headlight lenses
-$47 H1 HID kit/projectors with shrouds
-$100 Recaro seats
-$164 5th gear .658
-$23 Rear wheel cylinder
-$65 LED turn signal bulbs/coolant flush/75w90
+$20 Returned LED bulbs 


Total *expense*= $984+
Labor & Research = Priceless


Most current "after" picture I have of the van:


UPDATE- This van did make the trip back to the Midwest (2600+ miles) without issue, even with an oil leak and slight power steering leak. As I did not drive it myself, I was told it’s average speed while on the road was between 78-90 mph and it didn’t miss a beat. I have recently discovered the catalytic converter is at the end of its life, likely due to the poor placement of the oxygen sensors. I planned on having a tune that would have gotten rid of the rear 02, but that didn’t happen. Even with the stock tune and failing cat, the van averaged 21.7 mpg. That number could have been higher with a little more planning on my end, but it made the trip nonetheless. 

My life has had some pretty major changes lately but in a few months I should know what my future holds. That will determine if I will be able to do a few more of these swaps or not. Right now it’s not a possibility due to the fact that I live in California. Really hoping the future takes me elsewhere.


----------



## xinnar (Feb 12, 2002)

I'm guessing you've seen this thread?

http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=408537

Are you planning to use a T4 transmission or something else? Planning to keep the motor at the Eurovan's froward-tilt, or straight it out?


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Yes, I have read through that thread a few times. 

I'll be using the EV's 5 speed transmission (02B) and possibly adding a longer 5th gear for highway cruising but I'll figure that out once it's running/driving. I'll keep the engine at a forward tilt since that's the easiest way to stuff it in there. There really aren't any downsides to the tilt aside from a few extra modifications. 

Nap time lasted longer than expected and I was able to remove the engine from the van. It'll be sold along with everything else I'm not using.


----------



## xinnar (Feb 12, 2002)

Sounds like a good plan. That motor looks pretty clean indeed.

I'm guessing you plan to do a K04 upgrade and/or some other mods to the 1.8T?


----------



## KBATTPO (Jan 15, 2001)

Yes, K04 would make a lot of sense while the engine is out. Will be monitoring this thread with great interest.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

AAF 2.5- 110hp 140tq 
AWP 1.8t-177hp 173tq 
24v VR6- 201hp 181tq

So with a k03s and factory programming (no chip), the 1.8t will have a little less horsepower/torque than the most powerful engine offered in the EV, the 24v. After a chip and a few modifications to the 1.8t that are necessary to complete the swap, I will have around 200hp and 220tq. The k04 doesn't really flow much more than a k03s (which is a k03/k04 hybrid). The k04 is a good turbo to replace a blown stock turbo with but for the money it costs, the gain in power won't really be worthwhile. 

If the swap lacks in power at all, I have a k04 on my mk1 that I would happily trade with the k03s from the EV (my mk1 is plenty fast) so no k04 on the drawing board at this time.


----------



## marshy (Aug 7, 2012)

Don't forget it's not about peak power, it's all about the curve. 
Peak HP doesn't occur until after 5,252 rpm. Torque is what's important for regular driving and those turbo motors bring it on early in the revs and hold it out for a nice long curve.
That's one thing I really loved about my GLI.
The VR6 is quite impressive though, for it's early torque curve.


----------



## KBATTPO (Jan 15, 2001)

Not only that but the reliability issue comes into play as well. Overloading that tiny K03 swirl by chipping the ECU is a bit adventurous IMO.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

The chipped AWP motors make torque early and hold it until around 5k rpm which should fine for daily driving. Of the few 1.8t swapped t4's out there, most of the people are running stock turbos with chipped ecu's and brag about the performance :laugh:. I understand the Eurovan packed with passengers will be a lot of weight to lug around for the 1.8t, but the Passat Wagon weighs in around 3,700lbs and the EV at 4,300lbs (maybe a little less with the lighter motor).

Another reason I am not too concerned about the final setup is that I've never gone for a ride in a 1.8t Eurovan. Once I can feel the motor and determine if it's struggling to do its job I can make changes necessary to make it a good driver. Two of the first few 1.8t t4's ever built had bent/broken rods within the first few hundred miles. The other handful have logged thousands of abused miles without any issues so it's unknown if weight was putting too much load on the engine, or if the engines were in poor condition to begin with. 

My primary concern is getting the EV moving with a 1.8t power plant. If the turbo needs to be bigger, it'll get a bigger turbo. If I bend a rod, a new block with stronger rods will be installed. If there are any weak points they will be exposed, then upgraded. The best way to know how it'll do is to find out for myself and I will document everything as it happens. 

After this project is up and running, it will be driven 2,300 miles across the country in 2 days. That should be a nice shakedown run to expose it's flaws.


----------



## KBATTPO (Jan 15, 2001)

You are two states West of me, so 2 days to CA is reasonable. I often visit mom in LA by car: my best time from PHL to LA to date has been 3 days with just me behind the wheel. That was in the S6 though. In all other cars that I had driven there I couldn't do better than 3.5 days.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

I'll actually be heading from California to Indiana. When I lived in Las Vegas I made the trip back and forth to Indiana a total of 11 times and always made the journey in under 40 hrs. My fastest trip was 2,270 miles in just under 28 hours with an average speed of around 85mph. This was after a panic call from my mother who, crying, told me my father was headed to the hospital and things weren't looking good and they didn't know what was wrong with him. I took about 5 minutes to pack and hit the road only stopping when I needed gas. About 3 hours before I was set to arrive, I got a call from my mother telling me it was just a kidney stone, no big deal.


----------



## KBATTPO (Jan 15, 2001)

Averaging 85mph is damn good. Horrible occasion tho, glad in the end it went well for your dad. 

I noticed that I average the best time when I don't sleep or eat. I mean, no stopping for a motel or for a food joint. That quickly throws your average down the tubes. Just driving. Every 6 hours or so I would pull into a truck stop alongside the big trucks, recline the seat and nap for ~20-30 minutes, day or night. I would stock up on high energy food like nuts and juices so the only stops that need to be done are for the bathroom. Coke makes for an excellent stay-awake drink - don't laugh. I picked that up from Russian professional drivers that delivered grey market imports from Finland into mainland Russia covering huge expanses of land on sh!tty roads on tight schedule - cars needed to clear the Customs at the point of registration within 9 days of the ship's docking - those guys were tough.

Regardless of schedule in every cross-countly run I always make a pilgrimage to Flagstaff. Grand Canyon is by far my most favourite place in the US. I've seen it at dawn and sunset, in blaring sun and at night during an amateur astronomer convention. Hopefully one day I'll move to Arizona - love that state.


----------



## Itsamoto (May 1, 2014)

Excellent thread -- I can't wait to see what you do with it. :thumbup:

And it's nice to see this happen on this side of the pond. 1.8t's are a dime a dozen these days - the cost effectiveness of this swap has probably never been better.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

When I drive long distances alone, I don't eat (makes you tired), sleep (makes you tired), or drink. When I'm trying to make good time on the road I ONLY stop if I need fuel. Drinking would probably make me have to stop twice as much for bathroom breaks. I still drink, but very small amounts. On one of my cross country trips I had a 24oz refreshment with me and when I arrived at my destination there was half left. I pretty much shut my body down and drive. I have made the journey cross country 2 times without a radio too, just road noise. 



Itsamoto said:


> Excellent thread -- I can't wait to see what you do with it. :thumbup:
> 
> And it's nice to see this happen on this side of the pond. 1.8t's are a dime a dozen these days - the cost effectiveness of this swap has probably never been better.


I assume it hasn't been done here because there aren't as many T4's here. It may be a fuel economy thing? I'm not sure. I will be happy with anything in the 20mpg+ range. The premium fuel aspect of it doesn't really bother me. An extra $5-6 per tank would come out to be an extra $130 a year in fuel over regular unleaded. If I gain a few mpg's over any engine offered in a Eurovan I'll consider it a win. I also like the fact that this engine is newer technology and should be much easier to work on. 

So back to the "removing factory decals" part...
As you can see in the picture of the EV in my first post, someone at some point decided that all of the black decals on the van should be pea green, along with the front grilles. That's what I like to call a "no Bueno". The green paint was laid on thick and whoever did it didn't do a good job. I solved this problem by using plastidip inbetween the windows and on the slider rail. On the hood, the green paint was flaking off in pieces and plastidip wouldn't be able to conceal it, so I removed the decals on the hood and in front of the mirrors. Success, no more green. The white paint was extremely oxidized and looked really chalky so I used what I had lying around to try to get some shine out of it. I'm no detailer...a wool pad and some TR3 on the buffer and it started cleaning up quite nicely. 



You can also see my tight working quarters. A standard 2 car garage with my mk1 next to it. I also have my mk1's stock engine and transmission, a complete mk4 Jetta interior (with the exception of the dash), 6 storage tubs, a 33gal air compressor, a bucket seat from my other EV, a pile of camping gear and a wall lined with toys. For now I can only access the passenger side of the van and I have 15" between the front bumper and the garage door. The trunk is being used to store parts and the hatch just barely clears my mk1s stock engine to open. 

The front bumper rebar has had plates welded to it so a towing apparatus can be attached. The front bumper cover won't fit over these plates that are welded on. I'm not sure if I should leave the plates on and cut holes in the bumper cover to accommodate the plates, or grind the plates off. I keep telling myself that they might be handy to have some day.

Random Sidenote: I missed out on this deal by 2 hours...


----------



## wildenbeast (Jul 25, 2008)

I can't wait to see the outcome of this. When you do the cross-country drive, will you also be coming through CO or somewhere else that has high mountain passes? I am really interested to see how this 1.8T pulls a Eurovan above 10,000' elevation. Vail Pass and Eisenhower Tunnel on I70 was my testing ground for a Vanagon diesel engine conversion. Those two places are where I had the most problems.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

I'm not sure of the terrain because I typically take the southern route. Depending on weather conditions and time of year I may opt to take that route again. I don't have a timeline for this build but as long as I have all the parts I need it should maybe take a month or so. Even after I complete the build, it may be a month or two before I head east. 

I've gone through Colorado in my mk4 1.8t that was packed full when I moved from Vegas back to Indiana. The car was probably loaded up to around 3,900 lbs and while I was "in boost" a lot, it drove fine at elevation. I know I'll have a few more pounds with me and aerodynamics working against me this time around.


----------



## KBATTPO (Jan 15, 2001)

Forced induction is king at elevation. My S6 zipped through Colorado like a go cart whereas mom's Corolla and a rental Focus would run out of breath. In the Eurovan I only took Rt.40 (your "southern" route) so don't know how it would've behaved at elevation but given its atmospheric engine I wouldn't expect it to have kept up with the S6 despite the displacement advantage. 

Be careful in OK. Highway police in that state are said to have turned into medieval highway robbers (under the "noble" pretense, of course) - do read up on this if you haven't already. It appears that the very concept of "presumption of innocence" has been flushed down the toilet in that state. I made a resolution to avoid OK like a plague in my future trips.


----------



## jjvincent (Dec 8, 2003)

The real problem with the southern route is when you stop at the Big Texan in Amarillo. When you eat that 72oz steak in an hour (you can't miss it because there are a million signs on the highway) that extra weight will slow you down on your way into Albuquerque. You are better off to stop in Tucumcari and let that steak pass through your system.

As for going on I-70 up to the Eisenhower tunnel, back in 1980 we did it in a 1968 Bus with 8 of us in it and full of luggage. Never under 80 mph. It did have a Porsche 911 engine in it, so that might have made the difference.

If you really want a test, just go to the top of Pikes Peak. Even my Audi 5000 Turbo was struggling to get to the top.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

The signs let your mouth water for the 100 miles before you actually get to Amarillo. No matter how American you are, by the time you get there you realize you don't want that much meat in your body. 

EV news- Got the title put in my name this afternoon. With back fees, tax and title fees, that little piece of paper cost me almost as much as the van did in the first place. Since all of this is taking place in California I will not get my registration here which means no new stickers. Before I make my trip I will obtain a "one day moving permit" where I will legally be able to drive the van on expired plates for that day. I will make the remainder of the trip on the expired plates. Once in Indiana I can have an out of state VIN verification done and register it there. I am doing this so I don't get caught up in the California cash grab aka CA DMV. No smog, no BAR process for the motor swap, no inflated fees or taxes. 

Environmentalists fear not, the 1.8t is a ULEV motor and will likely create less emissions than the motor that was removed.


----------



## wildenbeast (Jul 25, 2008)

This conversion is smog legal in CA for Vanagons. I am not sure what you would need to do to also make it legal for your Eurovan. Would probably not be worth the trouble, but here's the document:
http://arb.ca.gov/msprog/aftermkt/devices/eo/D-712.pdf


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

I looked at that a few months back and did a little research on the topic. I nearly went out and bought a Vanagon just to do a 1.8t swap then sell. I was shocked to discover the 1.8t conversion for those is... Twenty thousand dollars (spelled out so nobody would think I added an extra zero).

From what I've researched, the Eurovan will require more customization to make this motor work. For the most part Vanagons just need the transmission adapter plate, engine mounts, downpipe/exhaust and some factory components to be cleverly relocated. Their harness could be simplified much more than it is too. Eurovans will require an engine mount, a transmission brace, power steering relocated, customized oil pan, customized oil return line, custom downpipe, dbw pedal bracket, custom oil pickup tube, and a clearanced transmission flange (at least that what's on my "to do" list). Now I'm not saying a Vanagon swap would be a walk in the park, but...well, I'll just say my swap won't cost me anywhere near $20k


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Nothing too exciting happened today. I'm running out of things to do until the donor Jetta gets here. 
I did make a small interior upgrade though. After a decade of owning this Nardi steering wheel, I finally got to install it! I had never owned a non-airbag car that would match a grey and black steering wheel until now. The grey matches better than it looks in the picture...


Speaking of steering, does anybody know what purpose the power steering pressure sensor serves?


----------



## KBATTPO (Jan 15, 2001)

Are you sure the pressure sensor is for the steering?

For example in the C4 S6 brake booster is hydraulic thus the brakes and the steering share the circuit: pump, rack, Nitrogen filled bomb, brake booster - all tied up together. Those cars have two brake sensors, three actually: brake pad wear limit, brake fluid level, and power brake/power steering hydraulic pressure. On a cold winter morning this light can stay lit for a few minutes after engine start-up.


----------



## gti_matt (Oct 9, 1999)

04VWGTITURBO said:


> Speaking of steering, does anybody know what purpose the power steering pressure sensor serves?


Signals ECU to alter idle speed so you don't stall.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Ok thanks! Same function as the 1.8t switch but I got a little confused since the EV sensor is tucked back by the rack and not in the pump itself. I'll leave the EV switch in place and utilize the mk4 switch in the pump.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Got the donor Jetta home today. I took a friend with me to have an extra set of hands and he told me one of his friends has been searching for a replacement auto transmission for his mk4 1.8t. Since this donor runs and drives, I'm going to wait a few days before taking it apart to give this guy an opportunity to test drive the transmission. 

I'll be updating my first post with the financial details soon


----------



## bigfatgeek (Feb 5, 2005)

Great thread, I look forward to watching your progress.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

bigfatgeek said:


> Great thread, I look forward to watching your progress.


Thanks, I look forward to watching your progress as well :beer: 

Well, here's my list:
Make motor mount
Make transmission bracket
Mate DP to exhaust
Intercooler piping with map flange
Extend/modify turbo oil return
Move/relocate PS pump
Serp belt (size?)
Custom PS lines
Custom AC lines?
Modify oil pickup tube
Oil pan-weld pockets for transmission and axle extension, add new drain plug
Clearance crossmember for TB
DBW pedal bracket
Drain fuel tank& swap fuel pump (and fuel) 
Passat/A4 fuel rail
Tighten ball joints/tie rods, axles, brakes
Passenger door seals x2 
Timing belt, tensioner, roller
T-stat, housing, oring
Coolant flange
Metal water pump
Valve cover gasket
SAI block off 
Re-grease acc. tensioner bearing
Plug TB
Oil change/filter
Fuel filter
Fuel pump relay (67)
Cruise control stalk wiring (test donor signals) 
TOB
TIP/ intake/DV?
7 slot fuse holder
Intercooler
Immo defeat (chip?) on AWP MT ecu
New shifter "ball"?
Crank breather pipe
Cam Chain Tensioner/ gaskets
Mk3 coolant temp sensor
Headlights? Side markers
Ignition switch
Wheels/tires
Tint
G12 x2
Radio Antenna
Lowering springs
Stock 02j flywheel (for weight), PP
Heavy duty clutch disc


I will be adding to the list as I make progress but that should be the majority of it minus a few gaskets/seals. Feel free to ask questions (or question my intentions). Some items on the list are random but the last thing I want to do is forget about something while I'm placing an order or out at the junkyard. Basically it's my list of thoughts. 
Disclaimer, I used to be a VW parts guy so I know where to find quality parts at good prices and I can get oem VW parts at 10% over cost. I should be able to get the parts I need at very reasonable prices. I also have a small stash of 1.8t parts back in Indiana that I plan to scavenge when I'm there next week. When I start buying parts I'll keep updating my first post to keep track of money spent. If items don't appear on the list by the time I'm finished that means I either had the part lying around or it didn't cost me anything.


----------



## KBATTPO (Jan 15, 2001)

Wow. I pride myself in being a reasonably versatile fabricator but some of the above listed items are clearly outside my comfort zone.

I would suggest creating a spreadsheet with headings like ITEM | P/N | QTY | COST | NOTES etc. I live by Excel spreadsheets, they are invaluable in making random data manageable.

You can build in formulas, embed pictures into cells and upload everything to the cloud with read only rights for the rest of us and update it as the project progresses.


----------



## swimrr (Jan 8, 2009)

Great thread, add me to the list of those watching with keen interest.


----------



## xinnar (Feb 12, 2002)

KBATTPO said:


> Wow. I pride myself in being a reasonably versatile fabricator but some of the above listed items are clearly outside my comfort zone.


I think it's made a little bit easier knowing someone else has done it. If you can get photos of other installs, all the better. If you can get hard info on problems solved, then it becomes a much, much easier task. Being the first one to do swaps like this is definitely the hard part. Paving the way for the next guys is the best part about the internet when it comes to car enthusiasts.

If this thread has great documentation then the next 1.8T EV swap will be greatly helped!


----------



## KBATTPO (Jan 15, 2001)

With the hurdles outlined above I can't help but wonder if fabricating a custom bell housing adapter to clock a regular VR6 transmission 15° back could be an easier option. Despite my preference for small displacement/high output forced induction engines.


----------



## xinnar (Feb 12, 2002)

KBATTPO said:


> With the hurdles outlined above I can't help but wonder if fabricating a custom bell housing adapter to clock a regular VR6 transmission 15° back could be an easier option. Despite my preference for small displacement/high output forced induction engines.


Something I've definitely considered. Running a 6 speed 02M out of any number of VWs would be a great option. But there's a lot of value in a 1.8T swap - even if I don't care for the motor myself. The more enthusiasts and projects we get in the platform, the more information there is. Which will bring more folks, etc. So it's a cool time to be a Eurovan owner.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Having other people point out the issues and document their solutions has been helpful. To be honest I wouldn't even be attempting this if I didn't have proof it would work. I've attempted swaps that didn't work out before, that's no fun. I am prepared for unexpected issues just due to the fact that this is a US spec van. I'll do my best to document so the next guy knows what they're getting themselves into. 

After doing a few things in the engine bay tonight I finally felt comfortable with everything as it sits. The EV's hoses all make sense and the wiring was all very clear. I decided the bay is ready for the swap. Unlike the way everyone else does it, I'm going to try to leave the transmission in the van. I have a busted 1.8t oil pan I will cut up and use to allow the engine/trans to be mated up. 

The plan is for me to get all of the parts replaced on the motor, put it in the van, then take it to a friends shop to finish the "custom" parts. I think I'll ratchet strap the engine to its engine mount to hold everything in place or maybe build a 4x4 wood support. I do not have a welder in my garage so this will make it easier on me. I also have done very little welding with thin aluminum, so I will leave the oil pan fabrication up to him. 

In my past, anytime I have an engine out I make sure to clean EVERYHING until it's spotless, paint things that need paint, detail things people will never see, polish bare metal, clean up wires....basically I go all out so the engine looks new again (or you could say OCD). I'm not going to do that this time. I will clean off dirt/grease/grime/oil until the engine is "dry". I don't want to make it too pretty to drive. _Good enough for who it's for_


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Got the engine and trans out of the Jetta today. I was trying to hurry and get it done in a few hours so my mk1 wouldn't have to sit out all day and night. It took me a little over 4 hours to get it pulled. In the past it has usually taken me around 2.5 hrs to pull and engine/trans. I'd like to blame it on the heat (it was 93 out), but I think it's just me getting old. After about 3 hours working on it, my wife came out into the garage and said "Is everything ok? What's taking you so long". Oh well, I can take my time from here on out.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

In my spare time over the last few days I have been removing things from the 1.8t that I will not be using. Most of the emissions equipment is problematic and will introduce oil back into the combustion chamber. By removing these emissions items, the engine will be cleaner but it will be at the cost of higher emissions. I still believe with these removed that the 1.8t will run cleaner than the 5 cyl. 

I think I am going to make a second set of all of the custom fabricated parts I will need to complete this. In the future if I find another good deal on a 5speed EV I will already have the oil pan, mounts and brackets needed to complete this swap again. If I don't end up doing another swap in the future, I will have spares in case anything fails. 

I am headed to Indiana until September and while I am there I'll search for parts I may need that are in storage. When I return I'll snap some pics of the progress, and what the engine looks like in its "stripped" form. I also think I am going to see if the flywheel from the 5 cyl will bolt to the 1.8t because it is 228mm (vr6 size) clutch as opposed to the 220mm flywheel (stock 1.8t) that I had planned on using.


----------



## d-9 (Apr 24, 2012)

04VWGTITURBO said:


> AAF 2.5- 110hp 140tq
> If the swap lacks in power at all, I have a k04 on my mk1 that I would happily trade with the k03s from the EV (my mk1 is plenty fast) so no k04 on the drawing board at this time.


Its a pita changing K03 to K04 at a later date because the downpipe is different. I agree there is no need for the extra power from a K04, but from the pictures Ive seen of K04 vans, it clears the bulkhead better than a K03.




marshy said:


> Don't forget it's not about peak power, it's all about the curve.
> Peak HP doesn't occur until after 5,252 rpm. Torque is what's important for regular driving and those turbo motors bring it on early in the revs and hold it out for a nice long curve.
> That's one thing I really loved about my GLI.
> The VR6 is quite impressive though, for it's early torque curve.


Here is the curve for my 1.8t EV:









The circle shows where torque intervention is happening, its triggering a protection mechanism in the computer, not had time to work out why yet. It drives a lot better than the detuned 140bhp 12v vr6 we get in the UK, Ive not tried a 24v eurovan, but imagine its reasonably similar. Unfortunately the majority of the eurovans in the UK are the woeful 1.9td ABL which makes 100ft/lb and 67bhp, so the 1.8t makes a lot more sense here. The best part is that its really fun easy performance, pulling hard until almost 8000rpm if you want, or you can trickle round with the cruise on getting 30mpg. Plus it runs a 16.69 1/4.




04VWGTITURBO said:


> From what I've researched, the Eurovan will require more customization to make this motor work. For the most part Vanagons just need the transmission adapter plate, engine mounts, downpipe/exhaust and some factory components to be cleverly relocated. Their harness could be simplified much more than it is too. Eurovans will require an engine mount, a transmission brace, power steering relocated, customized oil pan, customized oil return line, custom downpipe, dbw pedal bracket, custom oil pickup tube, and a clearanced transmission flange (at least that what's on my "to do" list). Now I'm not saying a Vanagon swap would be a walk in the park, but...well, I'll just say my swap won't cost me anywhere near $20k


That sounds about right. You will need to decide what you are doing with clocks - I decided to use clocks from the donor car so I had the external temperature gauge, and you might want to add cruise control. 




04VWGTITURBO said:


> Unlike the way everyone else does it, I'm going to try to leave the transmission in the van. I have a busted 1.8t oil pan I will cut up and use to allow the engine/trans to be mated up.
> 
> The plan is for me to get all of the parts replaced on the motor, put it in the van, then take it to a friends shop to finish the "custom" parts. I think I'll ratchet strap the engine to its engine mount to hold everything in place or maybe build a 4x4 wood support. I do not have a welder in my garage so this will make it easier on me. I also have done very little welding with thin aluminum, so I will leave the oil pan fabrication up to him.


Leaving the trans in the van is a pita, I tried that initially. Make sure you support the transmisison on a jack or something or you will destroy the rubber bush in the torque-reaction lin (lower gearbox mount). Getting the engine and box to mate up with the trans in the car is a pita because the 1.8t wants to hang vertically, not lent forwards like it needs to go in the van. It may be easier now thou, because you know how much needs to be modifed, whereas I was working it out as I went.

Take a look at the engine mount thread on the other forum, it will show you the bracket you need to get made up, or at least something close to it. The big metal plate will just need cutting out and bending with some gas, but you will have to work out the spacing between the top of that and the mount on your van, because they are different between early and late vans (my mount is spec'd for a late van and an early rubber, somewhat illogical, which will get fixed next time the engine comes out).


----------



## vw2.8tjetta (May 28, 2003)

It's me, 04VWGTITURBO. Having some issues with that username and logging in...

Anyways, back from Indiana! Awaiting a few small parts I dug up to arrive in the mail. Couldn't find most of the parts I was looking for, oh well. It was nice to get my mk4 out of storage and let my kids enjoy riding around in a car for a change. 



Put about 1,100 miles on it in 13 days. My kids (2 and 4) really enjoyed the acceleration and handling. Both kept saying "faster, faster, go, go!" and "make it loud please" referring to engine noise. I've pretty much decided if this EV doesn't plaster smiles on their faces under full throttle, it's going to get a big turbo. Small price to pay to keep the kids happy. At least that's what I'm telling the wife. I never imagined I would be using my kids as leverage in a big turbo guilt trip.



d-9 said:


> ... Plus it runs a 16.69 1/4.
> 
> ... You will need to decide what you are doing with clocks - I decided to use clocks from the donor car so I had the external temperature gauge, and you might want to add cruise control.
> 
> ...


16 second 1/4 mile isn't bad for a stock turbo. The only info I can find on 1993 EV performance figures is 15.5 seconds 0-60. Going from that to a 16.69 1/4 would probably make it feel like a rocket ship. That explains a lot from what I'm seeing on the t4 sites. My mk4's best time is a 12.9 quarter mile. I would probably need 400 hp or so to achieve that in the EV with a few passengers. If I build up the engine I'll have to add a pop top to it as well. License plate will read "SLEEPER" 

For the clocks- I'll be keeping the EV instrumentation. The speedo is gear driven in the trans. Inside the cluster there is a converted VSS signal I will tap into for the ecu to see. If the ecu doesn't see a speed signal it will cut revs to 5250 rpm. Fuel level signal should read the same with the 1.8t fuel pump installed. The only reason I am swapping the fuel pumps is because I know the 1.8t pumps works and I know its limits (and its several years newer). The oil warning light in the dash will be triggered by the EVs original oil pressure switch which will be installed in place of the mk4 oil pressure switch. The low coolant light will remain in the coolant resivoir just as it was. The alternator excitor wire will trigger the battery light. The coolant temp gauge will be run off the mk3 temp sensor. I will have to change a few wires around on the plug but the 4 pin sensor sends signals to the ecu just like mk4 sensor and the gauge signal works well with early clusters. For tach I will be giving an MSD 8920 a try. My safe fault, should none of the gauges be within the ranges I am hoping for (or work at all) will be an "ultragauge" that gets its information straight from the ecu via the diagnostic port. If you don't know what an ultragauge is, look it up, they're quite handy. I highly recommend using one on every engine swap. 

If leaving the trans in doesn't work out I can always pull it out. I'd rather mess around mating the engine/trans for a few minutes than spend the extra time pulling the trans then figuring out how to get everything back in place (working with 2 floor jacks and one me)


I'm going to get started making 2 plug and play harnesses soon (one for spare) and ordering most of the parts I need this weekend. I'm hoping for some Labor Day sales...


----------



## vw2.8tjetta (May 28, 2003)

Wiring sorted and labeled. Need to pick up a few more supplies and lengthen some wires but the "hard" part is done. I will simplify everything down to 4 wires to run the engine and the other 7 are for gauges and a few things to make the ecu happy (but aren't completely necessary).


----------



## d-9 (Apr 24, 2012)

vw2.8tjetta said:


> 16 second 1/4 mile isn't bad for a stock turbo. The only info I can find on 1993 EV performance figures is 15.5 seconds 0-60. Going from that to a 16.69 1/4 would probably make it feel like a rocket ship. That explains a lot from what I'm seeing on the t4 sites. My mk4's best time is a 12.9 quarter mile. I would probably need 400 hp or so to achieve that in the EV with a few passengers. If I build up the engine I'll have to add a pop top to it as well. License plate will read "SLEEPER"



I'm pretty pleased with it, I only went along for a joke (never tried drag racing, think its a bit silly, so took the least appropriate vehicle Ive got). Since then, we've somehow started a van drag racing club http://t17.club/ and T17Club on facebook. Quickest T4 has got an AUQ with K04 that ran 15.2 and the current fastest van is a T5 with a RS4 v8 quattro conversion thats in the 14s. With AUQ and bilstein/eibach sport suspension with big torsion bars, the T4 drives like an overgrown mk4 GTi, its never going to be the last word in handling or performance, but its very usable.




vw2.8tjetta said:


> For the clocks- I'll be keeping the EV instrumentation. .... Fuel level signal should read the same with the 1.8t fuel pump installed. The only reason I am swapping the fuel pumps is because I know the 1.8t pumps works and I know its limits (and its several years newer).


Fuel gauge will probably read upside down with 1.8t sender and EV clocks. Mine reads upside down with mk4 clocks and EV sender/pump.


----------



## vw2.8tjetta (May 28, 2003)

Low 15s could be even more fun. I'll be sure to take it down the strip once everything is in and working. 

As for the fuel gauge reading backwards, I'll check resistance on the sending unit on empty and full on both pumps. Rotating the sender 180 degrees (to read full when empty) may be an easy solution. I'll dig into that soon.

No exciting updates really. I am waiting for parts to show up before I can move forward. After the parts come in I should be able to get everything back together the same day. At that point the engine will be ready to mate to the transmission and I can start figuring out how I will support the engine in the bay for transport to my friends shop. 








I was able to test fit the Passat fuel rail and discovered I will need injector spacers to make it work. The reason I was going to use this rail is to move the fuel lines to the driver side instead of the passenger side like in a mk4. I tried fitting the mk4 rail backwards for the same effect but then my issue would be trying to secure the rail to the intake manifold as the mounting points would no longer match up. I may order the spacers down the road but for right now I will just keep the mk4 rail in original orientation and run big long fuel lines across the engine bay (like most do).


While I was at the junkyard for the fuel rail I grabbed some recaros out of a mk2. Ended up letting my friend (who has the shop) have them but if he doesn't end up using them, I'll have them recovered and use them in my EV. 



I will also update my expenses when the moderators get back in contact with me about my password for my other username...


----------



## Itsamoto (May 1, 2014)

Awesome thread! :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

Just a thought, but have you looked into a fuel rail from an Audi or a B5.5 running a 1.8t? Those would have the engine mounted inline -- possibly reversing the fuel rail direction?

Always a nice score to find some Trophy Recaros! I think you should keep them and put them in your van! :thumbup:


----------



## vw2.8tjetta (May 28, 2003)

Yes, that's the rail that I tried. It would work perfect with the injector spacers but I don't want to add any "custom" problems to the engine should I run into fueling issues down the road. After everything is in and running I'll do the spacers and run the driver side rail. The only downside to the mk4 rail is fuel lines crossing back over the engine, so that'll do for now.

The recaros were a score for sure but definitely need some love. I decided to pass on them for the time being as to not go too crazy on things I don't necessarily need. Plus my friend has been very helpful to me in the short time I've known him and am happy to pass on a deal to support other people's builds. I always hear people say "I've been working on my _____ with a ____ swap for ___ years and have spent close to $___k and it's not even close to being finished". That's a good reminder for me not to go overboard sometimes. 

Got some parts in today. Got the cam back in with the chain tensioner and everything associated put back together. Water pump with metal impeller, crankcase vent tube, cam tensioner/gasket, valve cover gasket, spark plugs and coils now installed. Patiently awaiting my timing belt kit so I can get the clutch/pp/flywheel torqued down. Once that is done I will put the engine in. I'll be able to install everything else while its in the van. 

Talked to my local ecu guru and learned that my 150hp aww/auto ecu can be programmed into a 180hp awp/manual ecu. I'll be handing my ecu over to him this weekend. Sold a few more parts off the donor Jetta that will fund the ecu.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

So the parts I am waiting on are apparently coming on horseback. I am considering installing the old timing belt/tensioner setup in order to put the clutch/fw/pp in so I can put the motor in the van. After my parts arrive I can remove the old belt and install the new belt/tensioner setup. The sooner I get it in, the sooner I can order my next batch of parts (Intercooler plumbing, exhaust parts, etc). It will also be easier for me to finish up some little things I can't do until it's in. The "to do" list is quickly shrinking. 

I bent the oil dipstick tube towards the engine so the dipstick sticks out between the intake manifold runners. It wouldn't have been accessible in its stock location. I also fit the EV's A/C compressor to the 1.8t accessory bracket and it was a direct fit. I shouldn't need to have custom A/C lines made after all. Longer bolts with nuts will be necessary to secure it in place. I'll need to dig through my hardware to see if the EV nuts/bolts will work. There are also mounting points on the back side of the compressor which will be where the power steering pump gets mounted. At least that's the plan...


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Ok, maintenance parts came in and are installed. The only things special about the engine at this point is that I have a cut up oil pan installed to clear the transmission. With the exception of the emissions bits, everything is as it came from the factory. As you can see from the dirt line on my garage floor, most of the work gets done with the garage door shut:laugh: 



I can finally walk around the front of the van without stepping over the engine! I jacked the van up and slid the motor under, then lifted the motor onto my jack and raised it into place. That's as far as I got today. The engine and trans are not mated in this picture. The engine still has to move towards the driver side about 2-3". 



It looks like it will be easier to work on the engine in this compared to a mk4. Anything above the intake manifold gets worked on in the engine bay, anything below the manifold gets worked on from underneath the van. When I get more time I will begin to secure the engine in the bay and start chipping away at connecting hoses and routing various lines/wiring.


----------



## gti_matt (Oct 9, 1999)

While you have the bumper cover off like that, question if I may...

I know the bumper crossmember is attached to the headlamp towers on each side. Are the headlamp towers bolted to the bumper crossmember or welded to it?

(My bumper crossmember is dented (previous owner) and I'm not sure if I can replace just the crossmember or if I need the whole freakin' front end kinda sorta...wondering how complicated is it to replace just the crossmember.)


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

There's a reason I didn't remove mine. The front bumper and headlight plates look to be connected. I didn't feel it would be worth it to spend the time removing everything when I didn't absolutely have to. I would plan a few hours to swap one out. 
I may end up cutting the North American part of the bumper rebar off to fit a Euro bumper when the project gets closer to getting finished. If you look at the sides of the bumper in my picture (by the two bolts on the end), they basically welded on an extension to the rebar for use in the United States. I absolutely hate the "park bench" look of the NA front bumpers. You could always go that route depending on where your damage is.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Had a little time this afternoon to mate the engine and trans up. Is was only 103 out so it seemed like the perfect time to crawl around on the garage floor. The metal coolant pipe that goes under the plastic coolant flange had to be unbolted from the block near the turbo and carefully bent upwards. That pipe is now only held in place by the bolt under the intake manifold, which should be enough to secure it. The only other thing I did was to remove the sleeves that help line up the engine/trans (that are attached to the engine). Due to the unusual angle the engine enters the trans, it's much easier to get all of the holes to line up with them removed. 

Temporary engine mount:


After leveling the engine and hooking up the shift linkage, I jumped in the driver seat to make racecar noises and decided the shifter throw is a bit long. A quick search revealed a thread on the t4 site that explains how to make a shorter throw by simply drilling a hole in the relay lever on the linkage. That will get done once the van is up on the lift.


----------



## gti_matt (Oct 9, 1999)

04VWGTITURBO said:


> There's a reason I didn't remove mine. The front bumper and headlight plates look to be connected. I didn't feel it would be worth it to spend the time removing everything when I didn't absolutely have to. I would plan a few hours to swap one out.
> I may end up cutting the North American part of the bumper rebar off to fit a Euro bumper when the project gets closer to getting finished. If you look at the sides of the bumper in my picture (by the two bolts on the end), they basically welded on an extension to the rebar for use in the United States. I absolutely hate the "park bench" look of the NA front bumpers. You could always go that route depending on where your damage is.


Mine is dented right next to one of the two bolts that you use to attach the cover in front and the bolt hole is part of the dent in the bumper, so bolting on the cover actually pulls the cover inwards and accentuates the dent.:banghead: I wish VW had just used the Euro rebar and instead stuffed a styrofoam absorber in there under the larger cover instead (heck, my bumper might not have even dented if that was the case!). I did shove a chunk of foam in there between the two front bolts from an Omaha Steaks shipment:laugh:which pushed out the dent's appearance on the cover a little bit but it's not ideal.

I'm considering one day if I paint the van to switch to black bumpers (for practical reasons) but a new US/Canada cover is NLA but Euro covers are.

Sounds like it's a PITA to cut off that extra support or swap to a Euro rebar. Maybe I'll just stuff more foam in mine to straighten the appearance out and when I have it painted I'll see if they can just strip it down to black unpainted.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Got tired of hitting my knees on the welded on tow bar plates so today I got the grinder out and removed them. This it probably the first time this bumper has been mounted in a long while. I also notched out the bumper by the throttle body to make some room there. Got the heater core hoses hooked up, pretty straightforward. I hope to get a lot accomplished over the next few days while the temps will be tolerable.


----------



## d-9 (Apr 24, 2012)

Front end unbolts fairly easily, iirc there are two 17mm bolts above/below the frame rails on each side at the front and two 13mm bolts on the top panel above the headlights. I dont think you need to take the headlights out or take the slam panel off. On early vans the front crossmember is seperate from the headlamp surrounds, on the later van this is part of a single panel. Anything long nose will have a single panel. Once its off, it will look like this:


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Correct ^, not a difficult task, just time consuming having to remove all of the wiring connected to what is essentially the front clip. 

Broke the $1000 mark today. I'm thinking another $400ish in parts/supplies plus wheels/tires should finish the project. I will also be listing some of the leftover parts on eBay to try to recoup some of the money I've spent. I'll update my first post with that info as it happens. 

The mk4 air box wouldn't fit between the headlight and battery like I hoped it would so I ordered a generic air filter.
Mocked up some Intercooler pipes I had after I put the Intercooler in place. It hangs down 1/2" below the front bumper so I may make a few holes in the bumper and try to lift it up an inch. I ordered couplers and pipes to hopefully get everything plumbed. 

I have also decided to run the Passat fuel rail after all. Turns out the injector spacers I need are going to cost just as much as 7' of the fuel line I would need, so I might as well do it the "right" way the first time. 

I'll throw some more pictures up when there are things important enough to take pictures of


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Received the injector hats today. I ordered them from 034 motorsports since they're a little over an hour away. They weren't as plug and play as I would have liked. They were supposed to be made to work with oem injector clips but I had to bend my clips to make them work. I even called them to make sure they had them in stock and they verified over the phone that they are made to use with Mk4 injectors and an AEB fuel rail. They were a few mm too long, so I had to add a few washers in between the manifold and where the rail bolts in place. I guess I was expecting a little better product for $50 but I made them work. 

Before-mk4 fuel rail with EV fuel lines where the white towel is


After-AEB rail connected to EV fuel lines


Pictures also show my brake booster pipe. With the help of a propane torch, I was able to make the pipe I needed by joining the mk4 and EV pipes together. You can see where I clearanced the bumper for the throttle body as well.

Got my driver side headlight in. It arrived broken but I managed to steal an adjuster off my bad headlight to fix It. I am expecting another batch of parts Monday. Tuesday or Wednesday I plan to take it over to my friends shop to finish it up.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Turn signals came in today so I installed those and loosely fitted the grille in preparation for transport to the shop. That may be happening tomorrow. 

After it looked like a van again, it was pretty obvious the passenger side was sitting a few inches higher than the driver side. I adjusted the torsion bar to lower the passenger side to even things up a bit. Just from moving the 5 cyl and 1.8t around in my garage, I can say that the 5 cyl was noticeably heavier. 

Here's the "Mercedes" 


I still need to pick up some touch up paint, exhaust flex pipe, battery, a few check valves and an AC o-ring kit.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Little bit of progress. After getting the van to the shop I have been able to finish up about 90% of the wiring. I also got the engine mount finished. It took most of the day, but I started by making a motor mount out of thin sheet metal. Once I had the bend I needed and the dimensions, I took it down to a fab shop and asked for it to be made out of 1/4" steel. 2 hours and $15 later I had the piece back. A triangular brace was added underneath to keep the angle of the mount. I wasn't happy with where the engine sat on the first test fit so I moved the engine up and drilled a few more holes. It's not the prettiest hunk of metal I've ever created but it's strong and that's what matters. 
Engine mount:

Transmission mount that bolts to rear of block:



I will make the 3 mile drive back to my house in it as soon as it can move under its own power. After its back I can work out everything else. Right now it's just going to get the essentials to make the short trip. 

Before I can get it home it needs:
Downpipe made
Oil pan pocket welded, drain plug added
Turbo oil return line routed to the OE oil drain location which is now a banjo
Oil pickup tube extended
Transmission brace
Intercooler installed & map flange made
Radiator installed 
Alternator with belt installed
3 wires plugged in
Battery installed

On the trip back to my house I will make notes of anything else that needs attention and make a final parts order. Brakes, wheel bearing, suspension and steering components will all be paid close attention to.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Almost forgot, I got the DBW pedal bracket made and everything mounted. I didn't take any pictures of the bracket but basically I made a steel plate that bolted to the DBW pedal. The Eurovan's gas pedal was held in by a pin with a clip on it. I bent a piece of steel and wrapped it around where the pin would have fit and welded that to the steel plate the DBW pedal mounts to. Then a nut and bolt went in place of the pin. 

Next I removed one of the bolts on the firewall that held the Eurovan's entire pedal cluster in place (through the engine bay). From inside the van, I threaded a longer bolt in place to allow me to adjust the angle of the pedal. A nut was used to fix the bolt in place once I had the pedal where I wanted it. 

I'll try to remember to snap a picture of that next time I get over to work on it...

Edit: getting a picture of the bracket is nearly impossible once installed. Here's a bad picture of the pedal installed and my ultragauge


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

The oil pan was cut and welded today/yesterday to clearance the transmission. A new oil drain bung was welded to the bottom of the pan as well. The oil pan I am using had a stripped oil drain bolt, which I didn't know until I tried to thread the banjo bolt in place so I will have to figure out what to do to make the oil return drain into the pan. 

Oil pickup tube was cut, rotated and welded. The cut up pan that was on the engine during transport was essentially cut in half to see where the pickup tube would sit.





Also finished the downpipe towards the end of the day. I had planned on doing a full 2.5" downpipe but ended up using most of the EV's downpipe. If it's too restrictive I will probably remove it and have a shop duplicate it in 2.5". There are a lot of bends that are needed and not a whole lot of room to work.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Had an hour the other day to get the intercooler mounted to the bumper. The intercooler has 2 large threaded tabs on the top of it that was prohibiting it from being completely hidden behind the bumper cover. I made 2 holes underneath the bumper so it can be tucked up higher. I drilled 2 holes on top of the bumper that I will put longer bolts through to thread into the intercooler's tabs. I picked up longer bolts this morning to finish the install up. 

I also picked up a downpipe gasket so I can get that piece installed and checked off the list. Hoping to get back over there today to make a map sensor flange and finish up the intercooler piping. I also hope to come up with a solution on the oil return issuue. 

After that's all finished, I'll get to the radiator, adding fluids, alternator with belt, and final wiring before I attempt to fire the engine. For the time being I will borrow the battery from my Mk1 in order to finish wiring and make the trip home. I'm hoping to have it running by Wednesday since I'll be on vacation for about a week. If anyone would like specific pictures of anything or has any questions feel free to ask. Not much action in here lately but from the view count I suppose you are still checking in.

Edit: more bad pictures...sorry. This picture shows the bolts that are holding the intercooler in. The picture is taken from the (clear coat peeling) front bumper down. The shiny bolts/washers can be seen between the bumper and radiator.


----------



## KBATTPO (Jan 15, 2001)

Yes, some of us are following this thread with great interest. Just not saying much because have nothing to contribute.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

That's what I figured. I think when I get it back home I'll take more pictures of things I made and edit some previous posts with pictures in case anyone needs them in the future. 

I didn't have as much time as I thought I would today. Got the intercooler mounted and 80% of the piping figured out. I need to weld a few pieces of pipe together and still make and weld my map flange. Hopefully next trip out I will be able to wrap that all up. 

I used some teflon tape to wrap the banjo bolt and it felt like it bit into the mostly stripped oil drain hole. I still need to get some silicone hose to connect the oil return to the banjo before I can find out if that temporary fix will work. I will take the pan somewhere and have the threads repaired the right way after I change the oil. Since the pan has had a hole in it for a long time and the bottom end has been exposed to the elements, I will probably change the oil after I get it back home.


----------



## MByler1 (Dec 15, 2000)

I'm not following the thread. I don't want to know how things work out. I'm not impressed. And I definitely don't want one for myself. 

Sheesh...



P.s. Can't wait to see this thing someday.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Let me know when you are ready to 1.8t swap the Boxter. I'm sure you are aware it will bolt to your stock trans... I'll even mail you a harness. :wave:


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Downpipe/O2 sensors-installed
Wiring-hooked up
Oil return-I hate you, done for now but will need higher temp hose eventually
Oil-added
Intercooler piping (without map flange made yet)-mocked up but not done


Attempted to start it up but failed. I couldn't hear the fuel pump make any noise when it should have primed at position one on the key. Pulled a fuel line and jumped the fuel pump relay, no fuel. Ran out of time before I could dig into the fuel pump issue. It's still the original fuel pump so I'll put the 1.8t pump in if I have to dig that far into it. 

I ended up tapping my stripped oil drain hole to accept a brass pipe fitting. A 90* fitting with a barbed end. Not much room between the trans and the oil pan to slip a hose and hose clamp over the barbed end. Didn't end up using the banjo setup after all. 

I'll have some time to work on it again next week. Radiator, IC piping, MAP flange, alternator/belt install, fuel delivery issue


----------



## KBATTPO (Jan 15, 2001)

IIRC the fuel pump does not see power applied unless the starter is cranked. This was also the case with my wife's Audi Allroad.

I've built a quick contraption (essentially a couple of long wires with male spade connectors, one of which is fused + a large momentary push button switch that I had on hand) to provide power to the fuel pump directly from the fuse box w/o having to crank the engine.


----------



## d-9 (Apr 24, 2012)

+1, my AGU and AUQ 1.8t's dont power the fuel pump until you crank. May vary between ECUs/engine codes.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Dug a little deeper into my no fuel issue today. I decided to test the pump directly so I pulled out the front seats and removed the carpet. Turns put the pump was bad. It was getting power/ground but was completely dead. I removed the pump and found the big rubber gasket had melted into a silicone sealant like consistency, big mess. The mk4 pump connector was wired in and fuel lines connected. *Engine fired right up.* My ECU does signal the pump to prime at position one of the key. Still no coolant in the system so I didn't run it long, but did drive it across the small parking lot and back it into its parking spot (instead of pushing it).

I decided I'd leave the front carpet out to clean and to leave myself access to the pump. The big plastic nut that secures the pump can be deceiving. I'd hate to button everything up just to learn it wasn't actually sealed. After I get all of my gauges wired up I'll see if my fuel gauge reads backwards and modify it as needed (thanks for the heads up d-9). 

I got the OK to leave the van at the shop for another week or so. I'll be buttoning things up as time permits. I'm in the process of clearing out space on my phone to take more pictures too. 

Radiator 
Alternator
Finish IC piping
Possibly mess with AC and Power steering before I bring it home.


----------



## KBATTPO (Jan 15, 2001)

Congratulations on the maiden voyage under own power! As luck would have it I am replacing the stock 43mm original fuel pump in the S6 with the high performance 60mm Bosch 044 pump literally as we speak. Garage stinks like a gas station.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Thank you! I knew it would fire up but it's always a relief when it actually does. You are lucky you got to deal with fresh gas instead of the old gas smell I was dealing with. Headache for about 5 hours afterwards. 

Map flange finished and welded to intercooler piping in front of the throttle body. I need to dig around for a few more hose clamps but other than that, piping is finished. I installed the alternator today and wired it up. I have a temporary serpentine belt (6k370 which is a 957mm belt) that will only turn the alternator. After I get the AC compressor installed and power steering figured out I will buy a belt that fits the new setup. 

The front carpet cleaned up nicely too. The rear carpet will get the same treatment when I can unload all the parts currently being stored in the van. I can't wait until this thing is finished so I can sell/throw away all the "bonus parts".

Edit: clean front carpet vs. rear dirty carpet


Tomorrow I've got 2 goals. Connect up the radiator/cooling system and bolt the downpipe to the exhaust system to quiet it down a bit. It's ok to have a loud exhaust on a car or something that could be "fast", it is NOT ok to have a loud exhaust on a van. Any van, ever, for any reason. 

I also have to make an appointment at the Apple Store to get a replacement phone because the camera on my current phone isn't working. So again, no pictures....


----------



## MByler1 (Dec 15, 2000)

Sure no pictures....


----------



## KBATTPO (Jan 15, 2001)

Need to ask this admittedly rhetorical question. What does telephone have to do with taking pictures? 

I use this:


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Page 1, Post 1, Paragraph 1 :laugh:


04VWGTITURBO said:


> Ive never done a build thread before because I'm *not one to stop and take pictures*, but I'll *try my best* to document this since there are only a handful of 1.8t swapped t4s. I'm not sure how many have been completed in the US, if any. I'll try not to make this a novel...Also, *all of this will be done on my iPhone* so nothing is going to look too fancy...





MByler1 said:


> Sure no pictures....


I have all the pictures, I just don't want you to see them, stalker.

Generally speaking, I hate electronics because they never seem to work correctly. User error? Maybe I don't use a computer unless I have to. I also don't have the time to upload pictures from a camera to computer nor do I have the time (or patience) to set anything up for it to happen wirelessly. I have a hard enough time remembering to bring certain tools with me, shoes I can get dirty, a change of clothes I can get dirty, something to drink, the keys...grabbing a camera would slip my mind every time. When my camera on my phone did work, I struggled to remember to remove it from my pocket to snap a picture. I also wouldn't want to have to wash my hands in between projects to handle camera equipment. Freshly washed, soft hands get cut up easier too. 

I've owned cars that I have forgotten to take any pictures of. I don't use twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, snap chat, MySpace, instagram, or any other social media outlet, so taking pictures of things isn't naturally on my mind like it is with 90% of the population. I have always preferred to live my life in "first person" rather than capture moments from a screen or lens. Photographing progress is always an afterthought for me. I'm the guy that forgets to take the "before" picture which probably doesn't make the "after" picture seem very special. Oh well.

I typically rush out the door after my kids go down for a nap and get summoned to come home at random. I never know how long I'll have to work on things, so I try to get as much done as I can before I get _the call_. My average time working on it, since it's been at the shop, has been about 2 hours each day the opportunity arises. Each time I work on the van, 30 minutes is usually dedicated to cleaning up and maneuvering vehicles around to get the van where I need it to be to work on it, just to put everything back. Its been nearly 3 months since I started this thread but I really haven't spent much time working on the van. I've been on vacations totaling just over 3 weeks in the last 3 months and heading to Hawaii for 12 days the first week of November too. If I worked at a shop from 8-5 and this was a customers project van, this would probably be day 4 or 5 as far as progress goes.

So, the short answer is: I have the technological competence of an 80 year old and I've got too much going on to fiddle with an actual camera :laugh:. My hat is off to those that have the time and patience for it though.


----------



## KBATTPO (Jan 15, 2001)

I hear you. Being a pedantic perfectionist I am I do nonetheless realise that we are all different, and actually this is great.

Ditto on "twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, snap chat, MySpace, instagram". Although I do have rudimentary accounts on Facebook and LinkedIn, they only contain one mug shot of me so that my classmates scattered all over the world could reconnect with me if so desired. The very purpose in life of twitter, instagram and the like completely escapes me.

I do like electronics, though. It's the most reliable part of any vehicle since it contains no moving parts. Can't imagine working, even with text, much less with images, not at a real computer. Once in a few months I do make an honest effort to read email or look something up on the internet on my cellphone (Dell Venue Pro with Amoled display and all) but inevitably give up in frustration. Just don't see a reason to subject my eyes and fingers to such a torture when a Thinkstation with a real keyboard, a mouse and dual 30" monitors is only a few meters away.

Having said that I do appreciate the time and effort you put into this write-up. Please keep posting the progress of this great project.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Automotive electronics have never given me any issues. My computer, printer, smart tv, roku, wireless blu-ray, firestick, cable box, router, kindle, iPad, you name it....devices always seem to have problems working when I need them. My iPhone has been good to me for the most part but I have cut and burnt my pointer finger so many times that it doesn't always work on a touch screen. It's the simplest way for me to use the internet/media and it's always in my pocket. 

I got about 3 hours in on the van today. Coolant system is all hooked up now. I didn't get a chance to fill the system with water to check for leaks though. Ran out the door without my alternator belt. After that belt is on and the coolant system is tested for leaks, it'll make the drive. I plan to let it get up to temp (which I'll monitor with my OBD2 ultragauge) to make sure the fans function before I get on the road. I have yet to cut a hole in the front bumper to allow some air flow past the intercooler, so I'll keep a close eye on my intake temps too. That engine bay filled up very fast with hoses...luckily everything worked out and had just enough room to be clear of any other hoses or parts. I may need to run a slim fan on the passenger side of the radiator to gain some clearance. I believe the thickness of the fan is causing the radiator not to sit in it's intended location. I'll figure all that out later though.


----------



## Itsamoto (May 1, 2014)

Any chance you made more of your custom brackets and mounts? I sort think sometime if its worth making one, its probably worth making 5 more. More 1.8T swaps!

Awesome work - BTW.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Thank you! Initially my intentions were to make 2 of everything but due to my limited time I get to work on this it would have drug the project out longer than I wanted it to. My friend has been nice enough to let it sit around at his shop for as long as it has. I did make a spare plug and play harness but I may be putting that to use on a friends mk2.

If there are a few people interested I would entertain the idea of making a bolt on "kit". They would be duplicates of what I have already made, but with more attention to detail and craftsmanship :laugh:. I know what I have made and posted pictures of isn't pretty, but it is strong and good enough for me. You would have to be pretty committed* to doing the swap, but if anyone is interested feel free to PM me. I'm pretty sure the 1.8t oil pan is dimensionally the same as a TDI oil pan, which would mean said kit could be used for a 1.8t or TDI swap (with exception of the downpipe). I can dig into that if there's enough interest and start a thread in the classifieds, per forum rules.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Got some water in it today and fixed the one hose that had a leak. Got the serpentine belt on so I can run the engine up to temp without draining the battery. Bolted the exhaust onto the downpipe. It's got a few leaks in the exhaust system (I'm missing a gasket) but it's quiet enough for my short drive. The engine doesn't seem to have much, if any, movement when I revved it up. There were some vibrations inside but nothing crazy. It almost felt like a mk4 with a stage 1 or 2 polyurethane dogbone mount. 

I wasn't expecting to be able to work on it today and ran out the door without my ultragauge, so I wasn't able to monitor anything the engine was doing. Only spent about 45 minutes working on it. Next time I'll remember my gauge, see what codes pop up and make sure there are no issues before I finally get it home. I can't wait to have it back here.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

*Made it home!* I didn't give it much throttle since my goal was to make it home but it drove nice. I took it up to 4500 rpm one time and it was smooth. I decided against getting it up to temp before my drive because it has a small oil leak. Hotter thinner oil would leak faster. It was fun to drive though. I did have all my attention focused on my ultragauge and trying to see past the layer of dust on the windshield while driving into direct sunlight. I'm sure not having any carpet/insulation down didn't help, but it almost sounded like a diesel with all the turbo noise. 

Just under 3 miles, about 10 minutes, it was 81 degrees outside. Intake temps stayed under 100 degrees which isn't bad considering I have a completely blocked intercooler. Coolant temp never got over 165* and I never heard or felt the fans kick on. I don't have one of the coolant temp sensors from the EV installed, and I don't know what it controls, so if the fans don't come on I will make a spot for that sensor. Worst case scenario I'll build a stand alone fan harness. 14.3 volts to the diagnostic port during the drive. Had 3 emission related codes, I expected to have at least 5. A larger downpipe and exhaust may be on the wish list. As others with this swap have stated, the stock exhaust does seem to choke the turbo. 

Now to fix all my loose ends and make everything function properly. I'd say I'm about 70% done with the van at this point and 85% done with the swap. I may get my 10 year old digital camera out to take some pictures and update the thread, no promises though.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

So apparently the EV's coolant temp sensors are each pretty important in their own ways and I didn't have any plugged in. My van came with brand new sensors, so I may just integrate all 3 EV sensors into the system and leave the 1.8t's sensor there as well. 


Tried to mess with the fuel sending unit and the cluster cooperated for about 30 seconds. With the sending arm all the way up, the fuel gauge began to climb to full on the gauge. I believe I have a faulty cluster so it will need to be removed to repair. When that's happening I will be able to wire in the remainder of my gauges as well. 

Link taken from a different thread on cluster issues:
http://bambergvr6.freeservers.com/EV_instrument.htm


----------



## d-9 (Apr 24, 2012)

04VWGTITURBO said:


> So apparently the EV's coolant temp sensors are each pretty important in their own ways and I didn't have any plugged in. My van came with brand new sensors, so I may just integrate all 3 EV sensors into the system and leave the 1.8t's sensor there as well.


The three sensors are cluster/gauge, ECU, radiator fans. Im fairly sure Im just running the standard fan control temperature sensor and fan loom because its totally separate to the rest of the van wiring.

The cluster and ECU temp sensors might be a single sensor with 4 pins, or they might be a pair of regular 2 pin sensors, depending on age. I would make sure you use the correct ECU temp sensor for the ECU you are using, not the one from the EV in case they are calibrated differently.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Here's some information I have gathered about the EV's temp sensors:
Blue 2 pin- For EV ECU
Blue 4 pin- 2 wires for temp gauge and 2 wires for the after run coolant pump which operates between 217-219 degrees
Green 4 pin- 2 wires kick on the high speed fan at 226-234 degrees and 2 wires disable the AC clutch between 234-248 degrees

The 3 pin switch in the radiator runs the fans on low speed at 169-192 degrees and medium speed at 180-203 degrees

The mk3 coolant temp sensor I plan to install uses the same ECU signals as the 1.8t sensor and works well with older temp gauges. I will use my ultragauge to verify the gauges accuracy after install. 


1.8t engines typically run between 192-208 degrees in normal circumstances. I will probably only run the green 4 pin on the EV's wiring, install the mk3 switch, have 2 wires go to my ECU and hook up the other 2 wires from the blue 4 pin EV sensor that go to the gauge. 

Edit: EVs green 4 pin sensor with EV flange installed in the lower radiator hose (brown connector)


The complete AC system will be 100% from the EV so I won't have to do anything special with that system and the high temp AC shutdown will work just like it's supposed to.
Edit: EV lines that run to the compressor won't clear the oil filter/cooler. Mk4 compressor will be used along with hybrid EV/Mk4 lines that I will have custom made.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

So things have been going slow lately. I wasn't able to get much accomplished because I needed to order a few things and was headed on yet another vacation. I didn't want any parts sitting on my doorstep for the two weeks I was gone so I'll place my order when I return. 

I was able to determine where my oil leak was coming from. Since I knew I would be dropping the oil pan to replace the oil return line with something able to handle extreme heat, I forgot that I intentionally didn't install the hard to reach oil pan bolts by the transmission. I have started the motor 4-5 times and let it warm up to 160-170 degrees before shutting it off. I also tightened up my exhaust/downpipe connection which was previously leaking. It is extremely quiet now and nothing makes me happier. I am using the EVs catalytic converter at this point too.

My rental is a 2015 Dodge Grand Caravan.....I will NEVER be without a Eurovan. Not much passenger room, no trunk space, 16mpg, I've seen one weekender on the island (Kauai) and was extremely jealous. Whoever owned that had life figured out. Im fairly certain they were living out of it, but it doesn't get any more economical than that. The house we are staying in doesn't have AC or central air-windows open and a breeze is all you need to be comfortable. I'll be back next week and update the thread with more pictures.


----------



## KBATTPO (Jan 15, 2001)

04VWGTITURBO, 

what's up with the sig line?


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Election inspired- I found it hilarious that tag line was at the bottom of nearly every news article mentioning DT. 
Some wild times we are living in. I guess I can bin the signature now that it's "over"


----------



## KBATTPO (Jan 15, 2001)

That's what I thought. :thumbup:

I also might pull down a few posts on FB now that it's over.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

So, I've crawled under the van a handful of times to try to figure out my plan of attack on a few things. I am going to try to come up with another solution for my oil return. The return line gets restricted down where it enters the oil pan and I feel it needs to be bigger to prolong the life of the turbo. With my current setup there just isn't enough room to make it any larger than it is. I may have to do some more welding on the pan to address this. 

While under the van, I also inspected the shift bushing that rests in the shifter cage on the transmission. It had a crack in the bushing so I ordered and installed a new one. 

The bulky radiator fan was making contact with the intake manifold so I ordered 2 slim fans to free up space. I will also be able to easily remove the oil dipstick to check the oil without having to take anything apart. I installed the 4 pin coolant sensor from the old engine into the radiator hose. I left the AC condenser off because the threads on one of the lines was stripped. I'll be ordering one of those too along with an AC o-ring kit.

Edit: difference in thicknesss of the the new slim fan vs. the oem fans/shroud


Power steering- I haven't messed with this at all. After the AC compressor is mounted (need to pick up some hardware) I will try to mount the PS pump "in between" the alternator and compressor. The plan is to attach a 1/4" steel bracket to the compressor that will hold the PS pump. While I'm making a template for the bracket I will see if the pressure line will be long enough. I may have to route the belt a little differently, but if all goes according to plan, the bellypan should still fit and I will have the same amount of clearance to the ground. 

I will be getting a Mk4 Golf lower grille in the mail today too. I'll use it to dress up the hole in I'll cut in the front bumper to allow air to pass through the intercooler. 

Driver side tie rod has been ordered since it felt a little sloppy. I already replaced the passenger tie rod. This should tighten up the steering feel. I've sourced a set of wheels, just need to pick them up. I'll adjust the suspension and get an alignment before installing new tires.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

The EVs AC compressor lines will not clear the oil cooler/oil filter with the original compressor installed. Since the location of the compressor has now changed from the old motor, if the AC lines did fit, they would be too short. I will need to have custom hoses either way. Since this is now the case, I will be using the Mk4 compressor that was designed to fit the motor. I won't have any clearance issues and they AC compressor is several years newer and I have verified it does work. 

My mock up of the power steering pump also revealed that the line going to the rack will need to be extended as welll. I will take my ends to Napa and see what they will charge to make everything.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

I made some edits to a couple previous posts and added a couple pictures as well, nothing mind blowing...

In an attempt to make some progress, I worked on the van in all my spare time yesterday. I got the fan install finished up. Plenty of clearance to remove dipstick and overall more room to work on the engine with the slim fans in place. As seen in a previous picture I posted, the slim fan is less that half the thickness of the EV setup. After I put some miles on the van I'll learn if a shroud is necessary or not. 

After that I decided to fit my Mk4 golf/gti center grille. I had to heat it up to flatten it a little bit. The Mk4 bumper it's designed to fit in is smaller and has more of a curve to it where the EV number is mostly flat. I got my dremel out and cut a hole slightly smaller that what I needed. I somehow managed to break the remainder of the cutting discs I had on hand, 4 total. I had about 3" of trimming left to do and decided I would finish it up that evening. Hours later, after I sat my kids down for dinner, I decided I could escape out to the garage for 3-4 minutes to make my final trim. I grabbed a razor knife and went to town. All was going well until the blade snapped in half and the pressure I was applying to cut through the thick plastic sent the cut end of the blade through the tip of my pinkie finger. 

My wife is a third shift ER nurse so I got to visit her at work. After some stitches and an X-ray, it was confirmed that my bone stopped the blade from completely severing the last 1/2" of my finger. They were surprised at how well I was doing with the pain until I told them it wasn't the first time I had attempted to cut a finger off, through various methods. I've had cuts requiring stitches to the tips of my fingers in the past, this was by far the worst, deepest, cut yet. I won't post any pictures, but I'll just say my "meat" was sticking out from the cut. I even made sure I positioned my body/hands in a way that I wouldn't be injured if the blade slipped out of the plastic, but didn't prepare for the blade snapping in half. So, I'll be limited on the amount of work I can do that will require two functional hands for a couple days. This will go in the expense category.


----------



## KBATTPO (Jan 15, 2001)

Oh, man. Fingers' traumas are always terribly painful due to the myriad of nerve endings in the finger tips. 

That's why I never rush, never try to squeeze a tiny bit of work in-between other activities and under no circumstances would sip even an ounce of alcohol (even beer) while working.

I wish you the speediest recovery.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Thanks! I try not to rush anything that I'm doing but could never have imagined the razor would break like it did. I think I'll just stock up on cutting disks now :laugh:. I am guilty of constantly squeezing garage time in between other activities though. Working on a project "5 minutes here, 10 minutes there" is the only way I can have time out in the garage. My days of working nonstop on a project until it's finished are long gone. My 2&4 year old kids prevent me from getting much accomplished but I'm thankful for the time I do get. I have had too many friends sell off their cars and put the hobby on hold after they have kids.

It was hard on my brain when I was doing the wiring on my 1.8t swap in my mk1. Remembering what I was doing last and what to do next, no time for cleaning up after myself until the kids were asleep meant I was always working in a mess. Here's a picture...this was one of those days where I got to go into the garage 20 different times for about 5 minutes each time. That swap started on the first try too, with the wiring lying in the bay just like this:

_Hello friendly razor blade_

I did spend some time in the garage last night doing some Mickey Mouse stuff as to not irritate my finger. I made a "1.8T" badge for the front grille and installed it. Today I plan to finish installing the VW emblem from the Mk4 grille into the EVs grille. The Mk4 emblem is much larger and will get rid of the mercedes emblem. Crappy pic to follow...


Intercooler was offset a few inches to make piping easier.


----------



## KBATTPO (Jan 15, 2001)

Where did you get the 5-position fuse holder? I only see the 4- and the 6-position ones. Need to put 5 fuses inline with the 5 coil wires in my S6 so that a shorted coil would not take out the main ECU fuse (this is a well documented bug in the Audi C4 chassis wiring). I can use a 6-position one but this would be less than perfect.

It's amazing how much time the kids take when they are little. Mine are 23 years apart so I had it more or less easy.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

I got the fuse block from O'Reilly Auto Parts, Littelfuse is the brand. I don't see any part numbers on my spare but it has make spade ends on the bottom. I want to say it was right around $10. They make installs clean and tidy. Using one on a engine swap makes everything easier since you don't need to try to tie anything into the existing fuse panel.


----------



## KBATTPO (Jan 15, 2001)

Thanks! There are no O'Reily in PA. Found it in Digi-Key:

http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/littelfuse-inc/03500418Z/F4922-ND/2517535/2517535


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

So here's what the front end will look like. The grille isn't fastened into place so it looks a little crooked but when it's in place everything should be symmetrical. Eventually I think I'll add fog lights but overall I think it looks pretty good. 



I am going to try to grab a set of wheels in the upcoming days as well. There's not much else I can do until I am healed. I may try to remove the old window tint with a 409/black trash bag trick I found on the internet. 

New list:
Remove/clean rear carpet
Order AC condenser
Install AC compressor 
Have custom AC lines made
Have custom power steering line made
Make and install power steering bracket
Measure for serpentine belt and order
Wheels/tires/level suspension/alignment
Weld larger oil return line bung onto oil pan
Buy new battery


----------



## xinnar (Feb 12, 2002)

Awesome updates! Do you think the long nose vans would make this swap any easier or different? Especially with regards to some of the fan and clearance stuff?


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

A long nose wouldn't be as ugly :laugh:. I don't think it would be any harder to do the swap. Apparently the engine mounts have different heights on the long nose vs short. My mount was just a bent piece of steel so it was pretty simple. Notching the bumper to clearance the throttle body and having to buy the slim fans were really the only clearance issues I had. I wouldn't choose one over the other just because of those two changes that had to be made (both modifications took less than 30 mins total to accomplish). The only reason I would choose a short nose over long would be because the short noses were offered in manual transmission. Not having to mess with shift linkages and adding a clutch pedal and hydro system (and cost of a manual trans and finding parts) would make it slightly less appealing to me. If you have a long nose and you want to do the swap I wouldn't sell it for a short nose by any means. 

Most of my difficulties have come from the oil pan clearancing the transmission to be honest, nothing really to do with the vehicle it's in. When I get my pan finished up to where I'm happy with it, I'll be sure to take some measurements and a few pictures of it before final install. If I had known then what I know now, I would have started off with a 2.0 Mk4 oil pan or an all steel TDI oil pan. I have an all steel on order for my mk1 1.8t but starting out with that could have made life a lot easier for me. Another tricky part was the downpipe. To anyone who does this swap in the future, take the van to an exhaust shop and have them build you a downpipe in 2.5". Let it be their problem, it's what they do. There's not much room to work and there's not much room for error. Other than that everything has been very straightforward.


----------



## d-9 (Apr 24, 2012)

The difference in engine mount on the frame is between early and late vans, not long/short nose. The long nose panels bolt straight on to the short nose and vice versa. In theory the long nose is slightly better because you *shouldnt* need to trim the front crossmember (bumper bar) to clear the inlet manifold.

Totally agree about getting an exhaust made at an exhast shop, I lashed something together so I could drive mine for its annual inspection, then got my exhaust guy to build a custom system for it which made a huge difference to performance.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

d-9 thanks for the info. I recalled reading there was some difference, just wasn't positive on the specifics. 

I looked everywhere for the AC compressor and couldn't find it. I forgot that I had sold it the day I pulled the motor out. Luckily I had the AC compressor that came off the engine on my mk1 swap. I still plan on installing AC on my mk1 but I don't drive it very often so it can wait. I attempted to fit the compressor with my strong hand but couldn't get it completely bolted up. It's in place enough for me to make a cardboard template of the bracket I will need to hold the PS pump. 

Instead of ordering some new taillights I decided to try to fancy up the ones I have. The colors aren't a perfect match but they match better than the picture makes it appear. I think losing the orange was a big improvement. I'll decide if I like the look once it comes out of the garage.


----------



## Kwabena (Mar 29, 2002)

Enjoying the build thread!

Curious about your fog light comment.
Have you done any research as to what you want to get?

I've been kicking around the idea of buying these
http://www.ebay.com/itm/331738883575?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
But after a local guy bought some B4 Passat fogs that melted and presumably weren't OEM spec, I'm a bit hesitant.

I'd rather not buy something off the shelf that doesn't fit the whole well!

Open to you or anyone else's thoughts...


----------



## gti_matt (Oct 9, 1999)

Kwabena said:


> Enjoying the build thread!
> 
> Curious about your fog light comment.
> Have you done any research as to what you want to get?
> ...


Back in the day I had a Mk2 GTI with fogs of a similar design to that (ellipsoid reflector behind a fluted lens):









They eventually got a little melty despite being OEM Hella.

I would instead recommend going period-correct and just getting a good pair of Hella or Cibie rectangular lamps and sticking them in front of the foglamp spot. Might have to dremel-out the current blocked areas though if the depth of the lamp requires it.

The Cibie Airport 35 is very slim. According to this person, only 1-3/4" deep (and mounted on the back of a Vanagon :screwy:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=4181632


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Kwabena said:


> Enjoying the build thread!
> 
> Curious about your fog light comment.
> Have you done any research as to what you want to get?


Thanks! Sorry it's taking so long :laugh:

As for fogs, I clicked your link and turns out I'm actually currently "watching" that listing on eBay. Much like the Eurovan headlights, I'd prefer to have something that fits but is a little more updated than 1993 lighting technology. For now I am undecided. I may make a junkyard trip to hunt down some newer cars with similar shaped fogs so I can have a good fit and good light output. I'm not opposed to trying the eBay lights you posted. Aftermarket lights would be fine with me as long as they preform and don't look out of place. I guess I'll see what I end up doing with my headlights and go from there.

Picked up some wheels tonight, OEM Audi 17x7.5 et56. I may paint them silver to tone them down a bit but I'll decide after the van comes out of the garage. They may be too shiny for me ( <- I've never said that before, ever). I don't want this van to be too flashy. I'd like it to appear stock to the general public, yet be appreciated by those who know what they're looking at. The wheels need tires but for $50 I'm not complaining. I'll decide on what tire size to go with after its lowered a bit. 



I'm heading back to Indiana for the holidays and plan to visit my storage yet again. I believe that I have some 20mm wheel spacers that came off my mk4 a few years ago. They are hubcentric and drilled 5x100 and 5x112 so they should work fine on the EV. The rear wheels are very close to rubbing on the van and I doubt I'll gain any clearance after lowering the rear. With spacers they should sit close to flush with the fronts.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Back from Indiana...no progress on the imporaant stuff but minor updates. 

The spacers I planned on using turned out to not have two sets of lug patterns on them like I had thought. The bolts had the wrong seat as well so I'll end up selling or trading these for spacers that will work for me. 

I tracked down a rear view mirror in my storage (my EV's is missing) and it got me thinking. If I'm going to replace the mirror I might as well install a fancy one with a garage door opener or outside temp or even a compass. I'm putting that on my list of parts to hunt for next chance I get to roam around a junkyard. 

Santa brought me 3 sets of speakers for the van. Anything would be better than the deteriorating 23 year old paper coned speakers in it now. Got the "Amazon special" with mixmatched brands for a grand total of $32. -Pyle, Pyramid, and Kicker are the brands.

My finger still has no feeling in the tip, after the cut, and anytime I irritate or strain the finger I get a sharp stinging pain right before the cut. I doubt I'll gain back any feeling anytime soon (if at all) so I'll have to learn how to work around it. It's amazing how my "least important" finger on my non-dominant hand can cause me so many problems. 

I think my plans for the AC are going to wait until I need the AC. I will install the compressor and make sure everything is in order for when I get around to getting the lines made and ordering a new condenser. I will try to focus on getting the power steering finished up so the van can be driven.

Edit: This is the plan for PS pump placement and belt routing. Note: In the picture the tensioner is not under tension.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

I made a few brackets to hold the power steering pump in place. I need to weld a few spots on the brackets to sturdy it up. I used an OEM belt, double ribbed 1195mm (6dpk1195 is the replacement part number). I had the belt on hand luckily and that helped me decide the exact placement of the pump. It's almost in the exact place as the picture in my previous post. 

On to my custom power steering pressure line. I will leave it installed, cut the rubber portion in half, secure the banjo fitting onto the pump and then re-connect the hoses with an additional section of hose. Then I will be able to remove everything and take the hose to a hydraulic hose shop and tell them "make this".

Edit: I ended up needing to add 13" to the pressure line

I found a simple way to do the oil return line into the oil pan. More on that later...


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

After visiting 6 different local shops that advertised they could custom make automotive hoses, not one of them said they could put my power steering pressure line together. The nearest shop that can do the job is a little over an hour away (Parker hose and fitting). While I'm there I'll bring an AC line along to have made (and a fuel line for my mk1 that I want to have redone). The other AC line that will need modification doesn't appear to be removable. I will have to try to find somewhere that can put a new end on it while it's still in the van. After I get that power steering line made, I will get started on finishing the oil return line. 

After the oil return is done I believe the swap will be complete...until I find weak points or start upgrading things. Once it's roadworthy I'll also be removing the rear bench to build a bed platform. Two crib mattresses will go side by side in the back. I'll keep updating this thread when I do anything to the van and try to get more pictures up.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Sometimes when I have read other peoples build threads, I notice they skip over important parts that raise tons of questions on how and what was done. I imagine I've done this as well in this thread. Some things I did my best to explain and some things weren't able to be photographed to give a better idea of what was actually done. I know at this point I haven't mentioned my oil pan much and that's an important piece to this puzzle. Once I get it finished and have determined it functions as it should, I'll take pictures of it and post them up. If anyone wants pictures or an explaination of what was done, feel free to say something!

I will be updating my previous wiring post with how exactly I wire these engines. This should relieve a little stress from anyone considering doing this swap but is turned off by the thought of wiring. My wiring will work in any vehicle. There are companies that sell "swap harnesses" for $300+ but I figured I could share my knowledge with the community to save some people money (to put towards other modifications) and make it easier to understand. 

I've been thinking about turbos lately so here are some random thoughts of mine. My mk1 1.8t is a very quick car. It weighs in somewhere around 2,100lbs. It does have a k04 on it but that's really not much larger than a k03s, which this EV now has. Vehicle weight corresponds to engine load. Engine load corresponds to turbo spool. The less load on the engine, the less a turbo will spool. The more load the more spool. This is important because in a Mk4 with a 1.8t (3200lbs) the turbo spoils very quickly. My mk1 feels much more powerful than a Mk4 because the turbo takes longer to spool and gives me more midrange power. With the weight of the Eurovan, I'm expecting the turbo to be at full boost at a very low rpm which also means it won't have very much top end power. A big turbo (with more turbo lag) might provide a van with more drivability than it does on a car that's much lighter. Some seat time with my current setup will help me determine if it will be a more useful engine with a larger turbo. 

Slowly but surly, I am still selling a few leftover parts from both vehicles. Anyone checking out my 1st post will know I am out of the hole at this point. That means I now have a free 1.8t Eurovan. I've calculated a few costs I know I'll have (tires, battery, alignment,etc) and should be very close to coming out dead even. If I end up wanting to chip the ECU for more power I will also upgrade the clutch, flywheel, pressure plate, have a larger downpipe, exhaust, cat made and installed. Upgrading those items will put me in this project a total of $1k. If I decide I want more power after that I will install rods and a "frankenturbo" kit which will add another $2k and put me around 280whp.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Power steering line done and installed. If Air conditioning line I had made is somewhat installed as well. I need to buy a new AC condenser but will hold off until it gets a bit warmer out to worry about the AC system. There is still one line that appears to not be removable from the van that goes to the compressor so I'll have to track down a shop that can put my Mk4 compressor end on that line while it's still attached to the van. 

I ran the motor yesterday to get it up to temp my fans failed to turn on. I hotwired the temperature switch in the radiator and the fans kicked on. I'll test the switch next to see if that's the problem.

Next up is a drive back to my friends shop to get it on the lift and pull the oil pan one last time. The plan with the oil return is to use the factory location into the pan. I will cut the flange off the oil return line and drill out the hole in the flange so the cut off pipe can fit inside the flange. Once mounted I will be able to shove the cut off pipe inside the cut off flange until it clears the transmission. I will weld the pipes new location to the flange and cross my fingers that it works out.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Since it's so close to being roadworthy I figured it was a good idea to clean off the mildew/dirt on the roof. Here are my "once over" results.


I'll take it through the car wash a few times then hop back up and buff the roof. 

I also picked up some speakers to fit in the rear. I tried 5 1/4" speakers and they did physically fit in the rear speaker frames but they covered up the holes that the factory speaker cover uses to stay put. The magnets made contact with the side panel of the van when I attempted to put them in their holes, so they just wouldn't work for me. I ended up using 4" speakers. My factory speakers were held in by 3 spring clips so what I did is cut the cone and magnet out of the plastic speaker unit. That left me with a plastic ring with the spring clips attached. I screwed my 4" speakers into this ring and popped them back in like they came from the factory. I did the same thing on the door speakers. 

In more news unrelated to the engine swap, I got a good deal on a 10" monitor that attaches to my headrest posts. I'll wire it up to a rocker switch in the dash so I can turn it on/off for my kids on the fly. I still have to decide on a DVD head unit for up front but that will feed the rear monitor. 
Here's a (bad) picture of the monitor playing a movie from an SD card. It's a 1080p capable monitor, so it's my camera that's making the picture on the screen look horrible, but you get the idea.


All of my pictures lately have been very grainy because I'm using my "selfie" camera on my phone now. Better than nothing!


----------



## d-9 (Apr 24, 2012)

If anyone is looking at this swap, it looks like the AEB 1.8t is the same block as the 4-cylinder T4, so you could bolt a 1.8t in using the engine mount, sump and oil pickup from a 4-cylinder eurovan.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Good to know! 
That may make things more simple for some depending on how difficult it would be to source 4 cyl T4 engine mounts/pickup. 

AEB Pros: Big port head, steel oil pan, can use OEM mounts and OEM pickup, less modification for accelerator pedal...

AEB Cons: Typically higher mileage engines, external water pump, non-wideband (less tuning options unless converted), DBW is better than DBC, harder engines to find compared to Mk4 engines...

Using an AEB with DBW and maybe an AWP ECU and wiring with VVT/SAI coded out would probably be the best if you could find a lower mileage engine to begin with. You would still need a Mk4/TT intake manifold and I'm not sure if the AEB turbo would fit?


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Ok, finished welding the oil return line into its new position and put everything back together. I've put about 40 miles on the van (city miles) since then and I've still got a slight oil leak. It's hard to see, but it looks like the leak is coming from where the oil return is coming off the turbo. If that's not the source of the leak it's probably going to be the turbo seal itself. 

As I imagined the turbo spools up very quickly. I took a few cars by surprise after leaving red lights. 5th gear is incredibly short so I'll have to change that out before I plan any long distance trips. I'll probably go for the lowest geared 5th I can find since I should have enough power to move the vehicle. My thoughts after driving around...it really needs a chip. Some extra power will make it much more fun to drive. I'll hold off on any power adders until I determine the cause of my oil leak.

If it needs a turbo I may be upgrading.


----------



## UT87GTI (Jul 9, 2015)

Just stumbled on this build, love it. I also recognize a pic you sent me for wiring help. :thumbup:


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

I've put about 120 miles on it so far. I keep experimenting with different methods of tracking down my oil leak. It spills one drop every 45 seconds so it's a seep rather than a major leak but a leak none the less. It's hard to see where it's coming from so it may require some of that black light dye additive to the oil to find the source. 

I will say with confidence that a larger diameter full exhaust system is completely necessary. Techtonics Tuning sells a 2.5" Eurovan exhaust but it is a bit pricey. Cruising around town the exhaust is "ok" but it gives me the feeling that it's going to explode if I push it too hard. 

I picked up a cv shaft a few weeks ago because one of mine has two torn boots. After thats installed I definitely need an alignment. I replaced the tie rods and adjusted them the best I could but I can tell the van slows down very quickly when I coast and right now I'll blame that on the alignment. It will probably make the van seem faster as well. After looking at the van from a few feet away, it is very apparent I need bigger tires on it. 

Still chipping away at the little things...


----------



## KBATTPO (Jan 15, 2001)

How's the 1.8T driveability if compared with a 2.8 24v VR6? Does it have enough power to move the Eurovan? It was adequate in my wife's old B5 A4, but is it enough for our buses?

Also, in your honest opinion, is the 1.8T the best option to get a stick in the Eurovan or is the Vr6 + custom bell housing adapter/whatever is a cheaper/quicker way to get the 3rd pedal in there? The amount of custom work you have done is impressive and a bit intimidating. I am wondering if the latter option is more feasible.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

KBATTPO said:


> How's the 1.8T driveability if compared with a 2.8 24v VR6? Does it have enough power to move the Eurovan? It was adequate in my wife's old B5 A4, but is it enough for our buses?
> 
> Also, in your honest opinion, is the 1.8T the best option to get a stick in the Eurovan or is the Vr6 + custom bell housing adapter/whatever is a cheaper/quicker way to get the 3rd pedal in there? The amount of custom work you have done is impressive and a bit intimidating. I am wondering if the latter option is more feasible.


I can't compare it to the 24v because I have never driven one more than around the block. I could compare it to my 12v VR but it's kind of difficult to explain the feeling. Its comparing an automatic VR6 with a manual transmission 4 cyl turbo so there are going to be different driving characteristics and preferences of each. They both have early torque but with the 1.8t the turbo keeps "sucking" you down the road. The manual transmission shifts when I want it to shift, into the gear I want it to shift into...no relying on the auto. With the 180hp (non chipped) ECU in and a stock (restrictive) exhaust, it still has plenty of power to pull out in front of traffic and pass safely. I have not taken it above 5500rpm so that makes 1st gear pretty short. The engine does pull the van around just fine though. I would prefer the 1.8t van to drive because the engine is newer and has been gone through and the transmission makes it more fun to drive. I don't have to worry about typical VR/Auto problems that would leave me stranded somewhere. Stock for stock, transmissions aside, I would slightly favor the 1.8t. Its fun to drive now and there's so much more easily obtainable power to be unleashed. 

As for the best way to get a stick in a Eurovan...that's a tough question. The VR would probably be easier but quite a bit more expensive. Not to mention it would probably be smart to refresh the VR because if you are swapping it to manual for reliability, why would you leave the engine untouched? If you don't have time or space (for a donor) to do the 1.8t swap, adding a manual to the VR would be the way to go. It doesn't take 6 months to do the 1.8t swap like I've made it seem. I believe 034motorsports sells an Audi 5cyl to VR adapter plate but you would still have to track down a pedal or pedal cluster, transmission, linkage/shifter, hydraulics...

That being said, if you already needed to source a manual trans and convert a van to manual then it would be whatever engine you preferred. At that point it would be price of a 1.8t swap vs adapter plate and VR refresh. Also, the 5th gear would need to be swapped out for something longer no matter which engine you choose. Since I started with a manual doing a 1.8t made sense to me. If the auto in my VR ever dies I would swap it to manual but I would also have to ask myself how much longer the VR was going to last and how expensive it would be for a rebuild compared to what I know I can do a 1.8t swap for. 

Of the work I have done, what seems to be intimidating to you?


----------



## KBATTPO (Jan 15, 2001)

04VWGTITURBO said:


> Of the work I have done, what seems to be intimidating to you?


Mixing and matching various parts, but most importantly, welding custom brackets and such. I posses neither the skill nor the equipment for welding. I consider myself a reasonably good fabricator but my weapon of choice is soldering pencil, not MIG welder. Only once did I try welding, during a summer job at a construction site after my first year of college some 40 years ago. To make matters worse it was an arc welder, not wire welder, so the rod would either stick to the metal and weld itself solid or I would pull in too high up and the arc would go out. The result that I produced is best described as "sh!tting" - the semiofficial term used by professional welders in the part of the world I grew up in to describe such a horrible sloppy job because that's how those globs of steel looked like.


----------



## jjvincent (Dec 8, 2003)

If you can solder, then a wire feed MIG welder is child's play. I learned when I was about 10 years old on a big industrial MIG welder. As of today, I bought a Hobart Handler 135 that was a refurb for $300 back in 2000. I have welded so many things with that welder it's not even funny. I've built pit carts, tire racks, fuel carts, countless exhaust systems, cracked chassis', brackets for things around the house, etc.. That thing has never let me down. Add into that a DeWalt chop saw, Dewalt Angle grinder, Quality hood shield, good welding jacket and tig gloves. Then from harbor freight, wire, wire brushes, nozzles, magnet angles, soap stones, flapper wheels, clamps and other various cheap things that are consumables, you are set.

Once you have the stuff you'll be looking for things to weld. Best thing to do is get a bunch of scrap steel and go at it. After a week of running beads, you'll get it figured out.

Right now I'm on my 2nd version of a hitch mounted, swing away cargo box/cooking station that will now incorporate a bike rack. This thing is going to be cool when I get it done because it'll fit perfect for the EV.


----------



## swimrr (Jan 8, 2009)

jjvincent said:


> If you can solder, then a wire feed MIG welder is child's play. I learned when I was about 10 years old on a big industrial MIG welder. As of today, I bought a Hobart Handler 135 that was a refurb for $300 back in 2000. I have welded so many things with that welder it's not even funny. I've built pit carts, tire racks, fuel carts, countless exhaust systems, cracked chassis', brackets for things around the house, etc.. That thing has never let me down. Add into that a DeWalt chop saw, Dewalt Angle grinder, Quality hood shield, good welding jacket and tig gloves. Then from harbor freight, wire, wire brushes, nozzles, magnet angles, soap stones, flapper wheels, clamps and other various cheap things that are consumables, you are set.
> 
> Once you have the stuff you'll be looking for things to weld. Best thing to do is get a bunch of scrap steel and go at it. After a week of running beads, you'll get it figured out.
> 
> Right now I'm on my 2nd version of a hitch mounted, swing away cargo box/cooking station that will now incorporate a bike rack. This thing is going to be cool when I get it done because it'll fit perfect for the EV.


I'd like to learn how to weld so thanks for this info. Your cargo box/cooking station/bike rack sound awesome - can't wait to see it (and hopefully plans so maybe one day I could tackle a project like that).


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Everyone I've known has always referred to those as "poop welds" or "poopy welds". I'm sure the terminology differs from state to state. I will say that the welding part shouldn't discourage you. I've got some time behind a welder but I'm not going to walk up to your welder and claim to be better than you at using your own stuff. For that reason, I left the more important welds to the man who owned the welder. He welded my aluminum oil pan, pickup tube and motor mount brace. Could I have handled that? Sure, but he knew the behavior of his welder, settings on his particular welder and he knew how to use his welder. It wouldn't have made sense for me to waste time trying to learn his machine better than him, so he did it. While he was welding, I kept working on the van. For example, his wire feeder didn't work below a certain speed and that's something I would have adjusted then spent time trying to figure out what was going wrong. 

If you can find a friend with a welder and tell them what you need, let them do it for you. I'm not saying you shouldn't learn to weld, just saying that shouldn't be the thing that turns you away from this swap. I got my motor mount metal bent up for $15 and I'm sure they wouldn't have charged me much more to weld the support on the bottom of that piece. Find a metal fab shop and have them do the work. Make up the part you need out of thin, easy to work with sheet metal and take that to the fab shop and have them make it out of thicker stuff. 

When it comes to the aluminum oil pan, I would spend the extra $100 on a full steel oil pan if I did this again. That would make welding easier. You could probably clearance the transmission with a hammer instead of all the cutting/welding I did. Don't quote me on that but steel is much easier to work with than aluminum. 

As far as the mixing and matching parts...that's what the Internet is here for! Feel free to ask me for advice or what to use where. For example-there are two different styles of coolant flanges that match up to the side of the head, depending on which head you have. Of those two styles you can get a flange with either one or two holes for sensors. Of the one or two sensor styles, you can also get flanges with one or two additional water outlet ports on the bottom of the flange. If I did this again, I would have used the flange that matched my head, with two coolant sensor holes (instead of one) and two lower ports. I could have put the oem EV temp sensor in the extra hole and not had to worry about needing a mk3 temp sensor and re-wiring anything to get the EV gauge to read my temp.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Oh, and I think I've determined the cause of my oil leak to be the oil feed line on top of the turbo. It may have worked itself loose from it being moved around so much.. That banjo feed line is sandwiched inbetween the manifold and the turbo, so I will have to remove the downpipe and turbo (from the manifold) to hopefully swing the turbo back and tighten the feed line. 

Instead of driving this thing back to Indiana for a proper shake down, I may have to drive down to Vegas and back, 1,008 miles round trip, to pick up a bumper for my Mk4 that's back in Indiana. Before that happens I'll have to fix the oil leak, put the new axle in, alignment, tires and will probably end up swapping in a taller 5th gear so I'm able to travel at 80mph. 
I think that's the speed limit, right?


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Edit: picture before suspension/tires


Picked up BMW E36 springs off of the rear of a convertible at the junk yard. Apparently the convertible springs are beefier than the standard e36 springs and can handle more weight. Installed they lowered the rear of the van about 1.5". The rear of the van currently sits 1" higher than the front which is fine with me. Took a few laps around the block and found them to be just as comfortable as the stock EV springs. It looks much better...I'll share a picture when I get a chance


----------



## Kwabena (Mar 29, 2002)

^^^ Looking forward to pics.
That's a very easily obtained and cost effective way of lowering!

What's the spring thickness in mm?
I had some R32 springs I was going to use on my van, but they were 2mm smaller than stock... 
Decided against it in the end.


----------



## Kwabena (Mar 29, 2002)

I just happened to be at a local salvage yard today that had an 01 EV and an E36 convertible.
Pulled the E36 rear springs and compared them to the EV's.
Approximately 2mm smaller, like the R32 springs I had.

Left them there, but still intrigued by this mod...


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Ok here's the shorter version of how the last few weeks have gone. 
Rented a car to take to Vegas. Stuck $60 in the slots and it spit out $1,000 which paid every single expense of my 3 day trip including the bumper I traveled there for (yay for me).

Got tires ordered 235/45/17 and installed. Alignment done. No pictures yet because the van came out of the garage for the tires and alignment, drove 1 mile round trip to get that stuff taken care of then went right back in the garage. Slow oil leak and battery drain were the reasons it has been sitting in the garage.

I pulled my 12v vr6 EV apart again and replaced 4 more injectors. It drives great now. Do not ever buy cheap Chinese injectors. The O-rings were nearly desenigrated and the manifold was clean in one spot which told me the injector was spraying a stream of fuel off to the side. 

Tested a few things to find my battery drain and found it didn't always drain down immediately. It showed 14+ volts while running. Replaced the ignition switch for good measure. Same results. Pulled fuses one at a time to find the problem, pulled relays...no change. Still a random battery drain that would kill a battery in 2 hours or less. I purchased a new battery to eliminate that as being an issue. Disconnected every lead on the positive battery cable until I was left with only starter/alternator cable. Turned out to be the alternator. It showed continuity between the positive cable and ground. I had replaced the voltage regulator on the alternator before I swapped the engine in. I put the original voltage regulator back on and no change. I suspect the diodes in the alternator are toast. 

I will be upgrading from the 90a alternator to a 120a unit as soon as I can track one down. I was going to try to take the van to a meet near the Bay Area this weekend but won't have time to get a replacement alternator installed in time. After its replaced I'll head over to my buddy's shop and attempt to find this oil leak once and for all. I may use a UV oil dye kit to help me pinpoint the leak. 

I also realize I need to write up my swap wiring still, just haven't had much time to sit down and go through it. I will eventually though. I'll get pics of the van and how it sits with the tires/springs next time it comes out of the garage.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

*-1.8t swap wiring into any vehicle-*

Feel free to do things differently, this is just how I do it...use at your own risk, I will not be responsible for damages

As far as I know this "guide" should work on any DBW drive by wire 1.8t engine. My wiring has been confirmed on AWD, AWW and AWP with manual transmission harness. If you have an automatic harness there is information out there on how to change a few wires around to turn the auto harness into a manual harness. There are 6 plugs that connect the 1.8t engine harness to the vehicle. On the donor vehicle (mk4) these plugs are located in the rain tray on the driver side. You can unplug the engine harness from the car and then cut the pigtails off of the car's set of plugs. You will be wiring these pigtails to the recipient vehicle so that the engine harness can be unplugged from the car, like it would be from the factory. The other plug on a Mk4 is located under the battery and is referred to as "T14a". Typically the T14a pigtail (the donor vehicles end) wires will need to be lengthened due to the placement of the connector on the engine harness. 

Instead of listing the color of the wires are what location it needs to go in the fuse box, I will list the PIN number of each connector and what it needs to be connected to. I'll try to be thorough so there won't need to be any questions. Also, be sure to ground the ground wires coming off the engines harness. 

When swapping a 1.8t in, I will use the car's radiator fan wiring and also the oil pressure sensor that feeds a dash light. I also use the vehicles starter signal wire and alternator excitor wire (and a/c if needed).

Blue connector
Connects to accelerator pedal harness

Black connector
For cruise control-I haven't had time to figure these out yet but I plan to in the future

White connector
Pin 2-CAN High gets wired to Pin 6 on diagnostic "OBD2" port
Pin 3-CAN Low gets wired to Pin 14 on diagnostic "OBD2" port
Pin 8- Check engine light can be wired to illuminate a check engine light

Orange connector
Pin 1- "K line" gets wired to Pin 7 on diagnostic "OBD2" port
Pin 6- vehicle speed sender signal gets wired to a VSS source (from the car) for the ECU
Pin 9- engine RPM signal gets wired to tachometer in cluster (or tach converter)

*The following two connectors that have pins marked with a * are necessary to run the engine*

Brown connector
*Pin 1- needs a 15a fuse- then wired to a switched power source
*Pin 2- Fuel pump ground trigger gets wired to post 85 on Fuel pump relay
*Pin 4- ECU memory -needs 20a fuse- then wired to constant power source
*Pin 5- needs a 10a fuse- then wired to a switched power source

T14a connector
Pin 1- Oil pressure switch signal to dash- I install the oil pressure switch original to the car on the engine and put whatever end on this wire that will connect to the sensor (on the engine harnesss). This pin 1, which is the other end of the wire, wires to the oil light in the dash. I basically "borrow" this wire
Pin 4- coolant temperature signal goes to the cluster for coolant temp gauge
*Pin 5- needs a 10a fuse- then wired to a switched power source
*Pin 6- needs a 10a fuse- then wired to a switched power source
*Pin 7- GROUND
*Pin 8- needs a 15a fuse- then wired to a switched power source
*Pin 9- GROUND

OBD2 Diagnostic port
Pin 1- gets wired to switched power source
Pin 4- GROUND
Pin 5- GROUND
Pin 6- CAN High- gets wired to White connector Pin 2
Pin 7- "k line"- gets wired to Orange connector Pin 1
Pin 14- CAN Low- gets wired to White connector Pin 3
Pin 16- gets wired to constant 12v power source


Fuel Pump Relay number 67 or 167
Post 85- ECU trigger- wired to Brown connector Pin 2
Post 86- wired to switched power "ignition live"
Post 87- goes to the fuel pump
Post 30- power

If you already have a 67 or 167 fuel pump relay then you will simply connect post 85 to brown 2 and leave everything else alone. If you have some other fuel pump relay then move wires around on the back of the fuse box until they are where they're supposed to be. 

Coolant temp sensor
I have not verified this on a Eurovan yet and will update this info after I do
A mk3 ECT sensor will be used because it sends the correct signal to the 1.8t ECU and the signal typically required for "older" VW clusters to read accurately. The wiring is a little different so you can either choose the mk3 sensor and re-wiring way OR you could put a coolant flange on the side of your 1.8t head that has an additional sensor port and run the 1.8t's original ECT and also the Eurovan sensor for the cluster gauge. If you choose the mk3 sensor route, note that a mk3 ECT pigtail and connector is necessary. Mk3 sensor 357919501A with its pigtail (connector # 357919754) must be spliced in place of the Mk4 sensor/connector. They cannot be repinned because the wire ends are different. You'll also need N90316802 seal for the sensor. 

Mk4 sensor pins:
1-Dash feed
2-Dash ground
3-ECU feed
4-ECU ground

Mk3 sensor pins:
1-ECU ground
2-Dash ground
3-ECU feed
4-Dash feed

So you'll connect #1 pin from the Mk4 sensor to #4 wire on mk3 pigtail and so on

You will need to have the 1.8t's ECU immobilizer defeated before it will run your engine for more than about 2 seconds.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

E36 convertible springs, no spring shims, 235/45/17, no rear bench installed, empty trunk


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Had a successful trip to the junkyard today. Picked up a 120A alternator to replace my battery draining 90A alternator and grabbed a rear view mirror. 
This came out of a 2006 Hyundai Sonata. It has Auto-dim, compass and homelink garage opener. I believe it's the same unit as a Gentex-536.


I also picked up an inexpensive in dash DVD player with a 3.5" screen. This feeds my rear monitor and allows me to play movies on both screens at the same time. I will also be able to use the screens independently using different sources if I need to. The head unit is a "power acoustik" brand that I bought for $72. I had to send back two different styles of defective "Boss" units so I decided to try out another cheap brand. I wanted to keep the audio/video stuff on the cheaper side of things so I won't be upset if one of my kids accidentally breaks something or anything gets stolen, I won't be out much money. 

...Which leads me to privacy glass! After wasting a lot of material tinting the front windows on my other van, I decided to remove the front glass on this van for tinting. I used some tint I had leftover from my other van. I had a roll of 35% and a roll of 20%. I was going to use the 35 for the front on this van but after I was finished with the job I realized I must have put the rolls back into the wrong boxes. Whoops. I'll leave it for now. I think I'm going to order some 5% for the entire rear of the van but not 100% sure yet.

I removed the old faded and peeling tint off the passenger side rear windows. The slider windows tint came off in one piece, which was amazing. About 80% of the back windows tint came off in one piece. The method I used to remove it was to spray 409 cleaner all over the tint then quickly cover it up with a garbage bag. The bag needs to go over the tint with as few air bubbles ls as possible. Let it sit in the sun for 20 minutes then peel it off slowly. I couldn't believe it worked as well as it did.


----------



## KBATTPO (Jan 15, 2001)

A great idea with the mirror. I wonder if it is hitting the top edge of the glass. It came from a sedan with a more slanted windshield so its neck should be shorter than that of the original Eurovan mirror. I am mentioning this because I had toyed with exactly the same idea, only my mirror came from an Audi A6 sedan.

I also installed a triple Homelink garage opener into my van only mine came from an Audi TT. Since I have an aftermarket wide angle panoramic mirror in my Eurovan I had to mount the Homelink on the door panel.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

I considered just running a homelink unit in the visor or somewhere else but stumbled upon this. My van came without any mounting on the windshield so I picked up a mounting button this morning. Ill have to wait 24 hours before I can install the mirror but it's very adjustable, plenty long to put it where I need it. I think the Gentex mirrors are probably about as universal as they can be. I was just happy I saved about $180 off retail and my mirror looks new after I cleaned it up. 

It had 4 wires (constant power, ground, switched power and reverse signal) but I opted to not mess with the reverse signal wire. Tapped my ground and constant power from the dome light and ran the switched power down the A-pillar by the fusebox. I'll program it and calibrate the compass once it's mounted and my alternator is installed, hopefully later today. 

I can post a side view of it installed when I get it in.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Well that didn't go as planned. A surprise 4 day trip out of town ate up most of the time I was planning on working on the van. Of course nothing ever goes as planned so even though I installed the alternator and mounted the mirror, I still need to install the alternator and mount the mirror...

I had to switch the pulley from the old alternator to the new. The 120a alternator is "in" but it's slightly larger than the one it replaced. The mounting brackets for the old alt didn't allow any adjustment so now I'm having clearance issues. I'll have to tweak my PS brackets for the new alt. Right now it's all together but it has put the PS pulley at a bit of an angle and squeaks when running. The good news is that my battery drain is now gone.

As for the mirror, the mount I purchased with the adhesive already on the back of the mount fell off after being installed according to the instructions. I should have gone with my gut that it wasn't going to work but gave it a try anyway. Luckily I purchased another mount and the glue at the same time, with hopes I would return what I didn't need.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Finished up tint. For anyone planning to tackle tint themselves, you can only shrink the "factory edge". I tinted my other van without knowing this and didnt have any issues. I wasted about 10' of tint this time around.:banghead:


----------



## KBATTPO (Jan 15, 2001)

What's "factory edge"?

Tried shrinking various tint on various cars. Never managed to do it right. Tinting flat or cylindrical glass is easy, just not the spherical type. Eventually gave up on tinting entirely.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

On the roll of tint, the top or bottom of the roll is the factory edge. So youll cut a piece of tint but you cant shrink towards the side you cut. The slider and middle window on the other side required no shrinking at all. I also removed the front windows a while ago to tint and dont recall having to shrink those either. 

I ordered from Express Window Film and used a tint that most shops use as the "better" tint in a good, better, best sales model. Best is typically ceramic and also on the expensive side. I was quoted $300 for everything but the front windows using "good" tint but did it myself for $66.


----------



## KBATTPO (Jan 15, 2001)

Your dark tint on the white van looks good; mine looked terrible because the van itself is black. My van came tinted pitch black from the B-pillars back while the front windows were not tinted at all. Definitely not my cup of tea. Removed all of the aftermarket black tint and discovered the beautiful (in the eye of the beholder, of course) moderate factory green tint in the back. Tinted the front windows with matching green tint. Very pleased with the result.


----------



## oneBUS (May 26, 2017)

*Fabricated Parts*

I would be interested in getting some parts fabricated for a 1.8t install in a 93 Eurovan.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Thanks KBATTPO! 

PM sent oneBUS

I haven't had much time to work on this van lately as I've been preparing my other van for a 1000 mile road trip to Disneyland/San Diego. That van got a bit of a lift, which included a new torsion but/bolt and will be getting oversized tires installed before we leave. I'll hit 210k in that tomorrow. I may go ahead and give it a much needed paint job if I can find time in between road trips and vacations. 

I put a new turbo on my friends mk4 1.8t and in return he is buying an AC hose crimp tool that I will use to finish up the AC on the white van. Still waiting to see if the AC condensor I ordered 8 days ago will ever ship out, but aside from that I should only need a $6 AC hose splice crimped into place and a charge to be able to have fully functioning AC finally. Needless to say I haven't been driving the white van much without AC, so this should allow me to drive it more often. 

I also plan to figure out my cruise control wiring by using my friends mk4 to test which wires control what. That should be fun to finally figure out. I'll add that to my wiring post on page 5 when it happens.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

I haven't been driving the van much, still haven't gotten around to the AC. I have been tinkering with it here and there though. The MSD 8920 tach converter works to make the cluster read the engines RPMs, but they are 500 rpm lower on the cluster than they should be. I plan on swapping over a b3/b4/Corrado gauge face to correct the problem. 

The new mk4 coolant temp sensor has somehow already failed, so before I drive the van again I will install are wire up the mk3 switch. I'm 90% sure this will give me an accurate reading on the gauge. I will use a mk3 fuel pump and sending unit to make the fuel gauge read correctly. I've done reasearch on the cruise control wiring and will be digging into that soon as well. Once I can confirm wiring on everything, I'll add it to the wiring write up I did on page 5 so all the information is in one place (I may move it to the first post as well).

I will try to get a few of the more important pictures re-hosted and posted up in place of the failed Photobucket pictures. I finally got around to cleaning my rear carpet. I cleaned and painted the seat hardware with epoxy paint to prevent any future rusting. Probably the only good thing about it being 100 degrees and sunny everyday, my carpet was completely dry after about two days sitting outside. The carpet looks new now. Hot temperatures have been the reason I haven't done much with this van lately though.




And also, I feel it's worth mentioning....my lowered van handles like it's on rails. I drove the 1.8t van this morning for about 30 miles. Came home, jumped in my recently lifted van with oversized tires (and bilsteins) and felt like I was going to tip over every time I turned. Night and day difference around the turns yet both comfortable on the straights.


----------



## KBATTPO (Jan 15, 2001)

Impressive cleaning results. Pressure washer?

When I did mine I hung the carpet over the deck balustrade. Water was seeping down for hours but by the next morning the carpet was bone dry.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Just a hose, a Bissel carpet cleaner and a few different chemicals worked in with a scrub brush. I really wish I had my pressure washer out here with me. The carpet was dry to the touch after a day in the sun but when I squeezed the foam near the edge there was a small amount of water that came out. I am very happy with the results.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Got engine mount pictures re-hosted for an interested party and have a small update on van progress. I'll try to keep chipping away at getting pictures put up, even the less important ones. 

I got the mk3 coolant temp sensor installed. The 2 wires for the ecu got wired into the 1.8t harness and the gauge wires were spliced into the remains of the EV harness in the engine bay. I used the wires from the EVs coolant temp sensor with the yellow connector, and used the yellow/red wire (signal) and brown (ground) to trigger the cluster. I'll update page 5 wiring with more details when I get back from vacation. 

As far as the cluster is concerned, everything is working properly except the fuel gauge, and now my speedometer. 

I got the cruise control wired in and went out for a drive to test it...the speedometer cable off the cluster broke. No VSS means no cruise control. I'll have to find a replacement before I can test and verify the wiring. I'll get that added to page 5 after testing.

Up over 13k views so somebody must be reading this thread- feel free to ask questions if you have any


----------



## KBATTPO (Jan 15, 2001)

Yes, some of us are following this thread with great interest 

It has just occurred to me that Audi TT quattro had the same transverse mounted engine + Haldex center differential so AWD is doable with this layout. Were you ever tempted to go there?


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

I haven't given it too much thought because I wouldn't really be able to put the AWD to good use where I live in California, especially considering the extra cost involved. I can only think of 3 reasons I would add AWD:
1-If I was bringing this van to the Midwest where it rains and snows 
2-If we were a 2 car household and needed one vehicle to do "everything" 
3-If I made enough power to have traction problems 

I think the transmission would have to come from a syncro due to the engines tilt. If a TT transmission was used there would be an extremely long passenger CV shaft and the driveshaft may not line up with the tunnel in the EV. Every time I get under the EV and look at the rear hubs I do wonder which US sourced axles would fit back there. It looks like there's plenty of room to work with between the rear suspension too. 

Right now if I needed to go off-road or planned on driving in poor road conditions I would hop in my other EV (with a lift and bigger tires) or our extremely capable Land Rover.


----------



## Phae Phae (Apr 22, 2008)

KBATTPO said:


> Yes, some of us are following this thread with great interest
> 
> It has just occurred to me that Audi TT quattro had the same transverse mounted engine + Haldex center differential so AWD is doable with this layout. Were you ever tempted to go there?


Would it be possible to have the AXK VR6 mated to a similar transmission?


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

I think if you could get an adaptor plate that would allow the engine to remain tilted forward and the transmission to remain level, an R32 or 3.2 Quattro TT manual transmission should work with the VR6. Although if there's an adaptor plate in there for the tilt, technically you could use any transmission you would want to. You would still have to deal with an extremely long front passenger side cv shaft (custom) and make sure there's room for the transmission itself. I know of one 1.8t T4 that's attempted to fit an 02M (mk4 6 speed trans) but I recall there not being enough room to make it work.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

As I jumped in the van to shuffle cars around in the driveway/garage the van didn't start. I noticed the fuel pump didn't prime when the key was in the accessory position. I checked fuses, jumped the fuel pump relay then tested the fuel pump signal coming out of the factory fuse box-all good. That told me my problem was either the wiring to the fuel pump or the pump itself. Got the seats out, carpet up, verified the wiring was good but my mk4 fuel pump had died. Perfect time to order the mk3 (which is the same as an EV apparently) fuel pump and sending unit and not only fix my failed fuel pump, but replace the incorrect sending unit as well. Got the new stuff installed, van fired right up and the gauge is now accurate!


----------



## KBATTPO (Jan 15, 2001)

Which fuel pump did you get?


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

It was a generic "OE replacement" fuel pump from Amazon, nothing fancy. From what I've read these can be hit or miss on reliability and I was willing to take the chance for $49 with next day shipping. If this ends up failing I will dissect it and replace just the pump with something known to be more reliable. It's got a one year warranty...if it fails, it'll likely be within a year anyways. 

The sending unit is a different setup than what originally came in the van but after a few measurements looks like it should work out. If the gauge ends up getting a distorted reading I will probably relocate the sending unit onto the pump (like the van was stock) instead of the lid (where it is now). As of right now it appears to be accurate. The mk4 pump I removed had a bolt on sending board that I'll swap onto the new pump housing if need be. The important part is that I now have the correct sending board to make my fuel gauge read correctly, or at least within range of the needle. 

I also did some research and found that the mk3 fuel pumps flow enough to support a moderately modified 1.8t engine, so it'll be sufficient for what I have planned. I'll also note that all of my fuel pump and sending unit woes have to do with my particular van and not with the 1.8t swap itself. If you have a working pump and sending unit prior to a 1.8t swap, you shouldn't have to mess with any of this.


----------



## Phae Phae (Apr 22, 2008)

04VWGTITURBO said:


> I think if you could get an adaptor plate that would allow the engine to remain tilted forward and the transmission to remain level, an R32 or 3.2 Quattro TT manual transmission should work with the VR6. Although if there's an adaptor plate in there for the tilt, technically you could use any transmission you would want to. You would still have to deal with an extremely long front passenger side cv shaft (custom) and make sure there's room for the transmission itself. I know of one 1.8t T4 that's attempted to fit an 02M (mk4 6 speed trans) but I recall there not being enough room to make it work.


I know there's a guy on TDIclub that is using a T5 transmission - plus his setup allowed for 6 gears.

So 04VWGTITURBO, do you think it'll be possible to get a Haldex AWD setup plus a manual swap for the AXK? It seems the 5 speed swap is straightforward, but to get to the next level (AWD) seems challenging. My problem with the 5 speed trans that fits the VR6 is - 1. its expensive 2. its hard to find (in the event it fails, etc), 3. it doesn't support AWD out of the box.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

I think it's possible, but it will cost you either way. 

If you just want to go auto to manual (FWD), I would say the easiest solution would be to grab parts from an early manual EV 5 cyl and buy an adaptor plate that will allow the 5 cyl trans to mate to the vr6. At that point everything should be bolt on. I've seen manual transmission EVs with body damage/engine trouble that would be good donors for sale for around $1k and an adaptor plate will run around $500.

If you want to go from auto to AWD, you are still going to have to source manual transmission parts and it would be cheaper to have a donor around for that instead of getting nickled and dimed for individual parts. After looking at an R32 transmission it doesn't like the prop shaft would line up with the EV tunnel. To avoid fitment issues I'd source the transmission that was made for the chassis. It will be expensive but adding AWD to any vehicle is obviously going to cost some money. I'd look for a syncro transmission and add whichever rear differential you want to work with. Bolt on parts will cost more money, custom parts will cost more time/fabrication.

A manual FWD to AWD swap is almost as much work as an auto FWD to AWD would be with the exception of the clutch pedal and shifter additions. If you have an auto and want AWD, I wouldn't consider a manual FWD a stepping stone. 

02D300011GX is $3100 to start with on ECS tuning. Used haldex differentials are around $700. I'd budget around $5k for an AWD setup for the VR. For just a manual FWD, it'd cost whatever you can get a donor EV for, plus the adaptor, and you can part out the remains. 

And now you've got me wondering how frugally I could pull off a conversion...


----------



## KBATTPO (Jan 15, 2001)

With two Audi quattros in the family, both with AWD, manual transmissions and riding on show rubber in the winter I guess I can leave the Eurovan as a FWD vehicle seeing occasional use.

What I am very very very much interested in is replacing the automatic transmission with a manual one. From what you are saying the only obstacle appears to be a custom adapter plate between the block and the bell housing? Is there a tried and proven vendor for those?


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

This should work since an 01A bolts to a 1.8t. 
https://store.034motorsport.com/adapter-plate-vr6-to-audi-quattro-trans.html
It's $260 now, I recall it being around $500 a year ago. I'm also just noticing that it's an OEM part. I don't have access to ETKA anymore but would love to know what it was used on, or a part number for that matter.

So technically $260 + donor manual EV = manual vr6 EV

I'm not sure if 12v and 24v share the same bolt patterns though.


----------



## xinnar (Feb 12, 2002)

I don't think that adapter plate will work. It's also not clocked correctly.

That plate is to mount a VR6 to a longitudinal transmission which has a different bolt pattern than the EV trans.

AFAIK no one has made an EV-specific adapter plate for the VR6 to allow anything to bolt up to it while clocked correctly to compensate for the angle of the EV's VR6.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

It doesn't need to be clocked as the 5cyl EV transmission is already clocked. All the adaptor is doing is changing the VR6's bolt pattern to act as if it's a 4 cyl. Since a 4cyl bolts to the EV manual, this means the VR6 will now bolt to the 4cyl manual.


----------



## xinnar (Feb 12, 2002)

Ah that's a decent point. But the 01E bolt pattern is not the same as the 5 cylinder Eurovan transmission.


----------



## Phae Phae (Apr 22, 2008)

http://www.qualitygermanautoparts.c...12710&navt=VW Auto to Standard Conversion kit

There was a Eurovan 02G-AFL conversion kit for sale there, it was priced at about $5100 w/new clutch kit. But even with that kit, there were issues getting the ESP working correctly. And basically no shop in my area wanted to touch the project except for one. I suspect that if I went for an even more exotic setup (Haldex, etc) it'd be impossible for me to find a mechanic willing to work on this.


----------



## Phae Phae (Apr 22, 2008)

http://www.qualitygermanautoparts.c...12710&navt=VW Auto to Standard Conversion kit

There was a Eurovan 02G-AFL conversion kit for sale there, it was priced at about $5100 w/new clutch kit. But even with that kit, there were issues getting the ESP working correctly. And basically no shop in my area wanted to touch the project except for one. I suspect that if I went for an even more exotic setup (Haldex, etc) it'd be impossible for me to find a mechanic willing to work on this.

In the TDIclub thread I linked earlier a thread from the T4 UK forums was linked where an 02M 4mo gearbox was used with a 1.8t (6 speeds as well!).

http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=371766


----------



## KBATTPO (Jan 15, 2001)

That's correct, the 01E was made for the longitudinal mounted engines. I have two of them in my cars. The 01E is rather long too. To give you an idea, here's an 01E that I am pulling out of the wife's Allroad. There is a Torsen differential bolted in the back that makes it even longer, which is not applicable to the Eurovan, but still...










Here's another view of the 01E. Disregard my notes - I drew them as a reminder for self in order not to confuse the transmission cooling lines' routing at the time of installation.










And here's a view of the bolt pattern for the the 01E bell housing.










No way a 01E could be installed into a Eurovan. It's just too large for the compact transverse engine compartment.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

In this case the adaptor would be mating the VR6 with an 02B. From what I've read the 01A will mate to a 1.8t (Audi A4). This adaptor converts a VR6 bolt pattern to an 01A bolt pattern. That means that the VR6 will get converted to a 1.8t pattern. Since the 02B fits a 1.8t, the VR6 with this adaptor should make it work with the 02B. That's my basis for saying this should work. 

The 01E transmission isnt in question, the bolt pattern is. Months ago I chatted with 034 and asked what else the adaptor might fit and they said it could possibly be used for other applications, but they weren't sure. They didn't seem to have too much knowledge about it. It is all very confusing to think about though.

If this is ruled out, you'd have to find someone to make an adaptor that changed the VR6 bolt pattern to a 5cyl (or 4cyl) so it would bolt to the 02B. That should be fairly easy to accomplish.


----------



## Phae Phae (Apr 22, 2008)

04VWGTITURBO said:


> In this case the adaptor would be mating the VR6 with an 02B. From what I've read the 01A will mate to a 1.8t (Audi A4). This adaptor converts a VR6 bolt pattern to an 01A bolt pattern. That means that the VR6 will get converted to a 1.8t pattern. Since the 02B fits a 1.8t, the VR6 with this adaptor should make it work with the 02B. That's my basis for saying this should work.
> 
> The 01E transmission isnt in question, the bolt pattern is. Months ago I chatted with 034 and asked what else the adaptor might fit and they said it could possibly be used for other applications, but they weren't sure. They didn't seem to have too much knowledge about it. It is all very confusing to think about though.
> 
> If this is ruled out, you'd have to find someone to make an adaptor that changed the VR6 bolt pattern to a 5cyl (or 4cyl) so it would bolt to the 02B. That should be fairly easy to accomplish.


Wouldn't the gearing be off with an 02B?


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Phae Phae said:


> Wouldn't the gearing be off with an 02B?


Sorry, I must have overlooked this question. I think the gearing would still work ok aside from the 5th gear which doesn't really allow for realistic highway speeds these days. A 5th gear swap is high on my priority list. Without it, road trips are really out of the question. I may go with a .62 but haven't decided 100% yet. 

A downpipe is another thing high on my list of things to do, along with a replacement diverter valve as I believe mine is bleeding boost off back through the intake. The downpipe is choking a lot of power out of the engine. I still had enough power to beat a new Passat in a "race" which was really funny. I was at a red light and he pulled up next to me, his lane ended about 1/8 mile ahead (and was well marked LANE ENDS) and he must have not wanted to get stuck behind an old slow minivan. Typical California move. He aggressively launched the Passat ahead of me about 1/2 a car length after the light turned green. I reeled him in and pulled ahead about a car length before I let off...didn't want to exceed the posted speed limit. I can't wait to add some more power.

In an attempt to modernize the van I ordered keyless entry modules with key fobs (one is mk4 style fob, the other Audi style) for each of the vans. I also ordered the correct AH style key blades to match the Eurovans key style. I'll have 3 sets of blanks leftover if anyone is interested. I wasn't about to pay $19 per blank and ended up sourcing 10 blanks for $6. I'll try to take some pictures when things arrive and get installed.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

About a month ago I started having intermittent problems with the throttle. The throttle body would just quit working suddenly. The pedal wouldn’t function at all, it would cut the engine to an idle. Everything would be back to normal with a restart. Sometimes these issues would start when I pressed the brakes too, very strange. I was also getting an unusual condition where my throttle position would sit around 50% at full throttle and as my RPMs would increase the throttle would open more and more, slowly. I also got a few throttle body and accelerator pedal check engine codes. 

Turns out my accelerator bracket placed the gas pedal wiring too close to the brake and the wires had chaffed against the brake pedal. I discovered the part that was shorting the wires was actually the clip that keeps the rod in place that secured the brake pedal to the pedal cluster. After removing my gas pedal setup to figure out how I would move it over, I came up with an easy solution. I removed the clip, removed the rod and inserted the rod in the other direction. This moved the clip to the other side, by the clutch pedal, and gave me 1/2” of clearance for my wires. Haven’t had any issues since and my throttle function has returned to normal. I did snap a picture of my pedal bracket for your viewing pleasure. 

The 1.8t pedal mounts to the studs and a nut/bolt goes through the holes to secure it to the van. 


Key blanks and fobs arrived. I fit the blanks into the fobs with some slight modification of the blanks. I have installed the keyless module into the 1.8t van and had the key cut. I am extremely pleased with the outcome and installation was a breeze. No more manually locking the doors!



I’ve been driving the van daily for the past 11 days since my 12v van developed a fuel leak. I’m averaging 21.1 mpg...very happy about that. I expect my fuel economy (and power) to increase once I get a properly sized exhaust on the car. I am in the process of collecting my last few items before I start putting a full 2.5” exhaust system on. I am aiming to make it as quiet as possible. 

While I was back in Indiana over the holidays, I met up with a friend who gave me a tach overlay from a Corrado. Swapping this in has corrected my RPMs in the cluster. You can see the difference in the picture below.

Corrado-installed 
EV-on my leg


I’ll also be putting a new diverter valve in tomorrow to replace my faulty OEM unit. I’ve got a few goodies coming from overseas that have yet to arrive. I’ll update when that stuff gets here.


----------



## xinnar (Feb 12, 2002)

Which keyless system did you go with?


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

One was from amazon and the other from eBay. I just searched for the key fobs I liked the best, the modules are all basically the same. They’re about as universal as they come. For $20 (per van) it was well worth it.

I’ll also note that they came without the VW emblems, I had a few tucked away from my days in the VW parts department.


----------



## 7om (Dec 3, 2016)

*1.8T > VR6/R32/V5 box adapter*

Hello,

Really enjoyed this thread. You guys seem to have a really good understanding and may be able to help me. I have a 1.8T converted T4 and I'm currently running on the standard 1.9TD 5 spd O2B gearbox.

I'd really like to use an 02M gearbox retaining the front wheel drive setup using a limited slip differential. The 02M comes in 4 cyl layout and the V6 layout as mentioned (lower driveshaft output height) 

So, my question is this, does anyone know of a plate that does the opposite of the VR6>O1E one linked earlier in this thread? I'd like a plate/kit so that i can bolt the 4cyl box to the 1.8T with a clocked angle or a conversion plate for the 1.8T>V6 box

I'm currently running 317bhp and I'll soon be running iro 380bhp and I know the standard O2B is going to end up in pieces on the floor very soon. 

Any advice on which box is best? I've read that the 2.8V6 box is strongest. Would those ratios suit?

My YouTube is www.youtube.com/speedingtube


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Got all of my exhaust stuff in, just waiting for a chance to get it all fitted and welded up. I also have a lead on an APR chipped ECU that I may be purchasing in the near future. I will wait until I have the exhaust and a larger turbo inlet pipe installed before pulling the trigger on the ECU. After that I’ll probably be in need of a beefier clutch and single mass lightweight flywheel. 

I was having a lot of trouble seeing at night lately. The headlights were dangerous at night over 40 mph. Upon inspection, I found one headlight had condensation in it. That wasn’t helping light up the road. Luckily my package from Russia had arrived the day before with my clear headlight lenses so I decided to go ahead and start my HID projector retrofit project. I have the same setup on my other van so I know what to expect performance-wise. Giant upgrade over stock for just under $150.

After I removed both glass lenses from my headlights, I was disappointed to find one housing was in rough shape while the other looked brand new. I had planned on keeping the housings original (reflective) and just add the projector to it, but I ended up having to paint the housings and shrouds because of the condition of the one housing. They didn’t turn out too bad considering what I had to work with. If I come across a nice set of housings I may redo them.

Finished product with clear lenses:


How I wanted them to look:


I also picked up a rear transmission mount to try to get rid of some vibrations I’m having at idle. I’ll hopefully get that installed tomorrow. Keeping my fingers crossed that it helps because I’ve been going crazy taking care of all the little rattles in the cabin. I guess that can be expected with a 25 year old VW but it drives me nuts.


----------



## KBATTPO (Jan 15, 2001)

Nicely done. What are those projectors, Morimoto? What's the colour temperature? Is the high/low beam switched by a solenoid moving a mask inside?


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

They are eBay mini H1 bi-xenon projectors which are actually just older versions of the morimoto mini H1 projector. These are the same projectors I have in my other van however I could tell these were higher quality. The projectors in my other van took quite a bit of time to tune the projectors so that they looked and functioned how they were supposed to. These were 95% perfect out of the box. It is thought that the mini H1’s that make it to eBay are either QC rejects from theretrofitsource.com or just old stock of the morimotos. My other vans projectors looked like morimoto v4.0 while these compare closer to v6.0 (the latest is v7.0 @ around $120/pair). Given the cost difference and the nearly identical performance, I decided these would serve their purpose with a budget in mind. 

There are pictures in this link:http://https://www.hidplanet.com/forums/forum/general-discussion/specific-questions/54292-morimoto-vs-ebay-bi-xenon-projectors-pictures

The high/low is operated by a solenoid mechanism that moves the cutoff shield out of the way. For the HIDs I chose Xentec 6000k H1 kit. I have used Xentec HiD kits in several of my cars for many years without issue. The clear lenses for this van (and my long nose) were purchased from eBay seller “jamhid”. Apparently he is the only one who offers clear lenses for the T4 platform. The first time I ordered from him, my lenses took 2 weeks to arrive from Russia. This time is was around 2 months. After finishing everything up this afternoon and going for an evening drive, I am quite pleased. 

Another improvement was the rear transmission mount. The old was was trashed. The bushing inside the mount could move freely 1/4” in any direction and the rubber was incredibly soft. After the new one went in I fired the engine and couldn’t even tell it was on at idle. $47 well spent.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

7om (or speedingtube as I know you), sorry I missed your post altogether! As far as transmission strength goes I have no idea which t4 unit would hold up the best. If you are wanting an 02M is your plan to run a really long CV shaft? I have a friend who just bought an industrial size CNC machine, let me talk to him and see if he could possibly make something and what it might cost. My biggest concern was always the CV shaft length. If he can do it reasonably priced then I could probably talk him into doing a VR6-manual trans plate for all of us deprived North Americans. 

Love what you’ve done with your T4 by the way, always look forward to seeing your new videos!


----------



## 7om (Dec 3, 2016)

04VWGTITURBO said:


> 7om (or speedingtube as I know you), sorry I missed your post altogether! As far as transmission strength goes I have no idea which t4 unit would hold up the best. If you are wanting an 02M is your plan to run a really long CV shaft? I have a friend who just bought an industrial size CNC machine, let me talk to him and see if he could possibly make something and what it might cost. My biggest concern was always the CV shaft length. If he can do it reasonably priced then I could probably talk him into doing a VR6-manual trans plate for all of us deprived North Americans.
> 
> Love what you’ve done with your T4 by the way, always look forward to seeing your new videos!


Hi, 

Thanks bud, its been a fun project but the gearbox is the issue, I'm also really struggling when racing off the line as I need an LSD, its spinning the wheels up in 1/2/3rd. I'll also be running R888's on the front soon so the box is going to eat itself unless I can get a decent box on. We're seeing a loads of 1.8T T4's join the T17 page almost every month so the 02M kit demand is growing. I was thinking of a custom CV mount at the rear of the block on the timing belt side? &/or the V5/R32 boxes also have the propshaft diff housing that bolts onto the box, it could possibly be modified/blanked but retaining the housing and shaft. Could then just be a standard shaft length? I'm sending an email to Quafe regarding a plate but I'm happy to look at all options. 

In the UK the scrap yards are very funny about you moving stuff around, trying to swap bits here and there. As you will know from my video's everything is done on my driveway and looking at pictures online doesn't cut it with this kind of trial and error stuff, haha.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

7om- On vwt4forum.co.uk I believe users “tonic” and “vanhead” have both fitted 02M transmissions without an adaptor to clock the transmission. I remember reading up on their threads when I was researching my own swap. You may have the answers you need on that site, unless you prefer to have the trans clocked (which I would probably prefer personally). I have yet to talk to my friend about making a clocked 1.8t adapter plate. Once I get in contact with him I’ll have some numbers hopefully. 



I picked up another cheap set of mk2 Recaros I may try out in my van. I’m not sure if the large bolsters will be annoying to shift with and I’m not 100% sure I’m ready to give up my armrests just yet. One thing is for sure though, my factory Eurovan seats desperately need to be replaced. I’m still in the process of cleaning these up and I may need to have some bolster foam made. Pretty happy with the pair for $80, plus the $20 I gave to a friend to pick them up for me. 



I’ll post a picture once I get them installed, hopefully today or tomorrow.


----------



## 7om (Dec 3, 2016)

Hey bud,

Thanks, I've spoken to the garage vanhead used last week, just a 30 min drive away for me. The mechanic said that the driveshaft angles were still very steep and that van was running 260bhp. I'm not sure how long a driveshaft would last with 380-400bhp going through it. It may be my only option soon so we'll see. 

A clocked 4cyl 02M would be great, it can't be clocked that far though as the driveshaft would soon rotate into the rear leg on the block that the box locates onto. I've contacted the company that make the VR6>01E adapter and they said it's not something they would do. 

If you could look into an adapter for the VR6 box bolt pattern to bolt onto the 1.8T it would be epic as the angles are all very close. You also won't get any issues with the rear of the block as you can get it exactly where the 02B is. Once we have an 02M adapter, I can experiment with different gear ratios etc as everything is interchangeable  

Look forward to hearing your progress on the box front!


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

7om- Do you know roughly the degree you would want the vr6 pattern rotated backwards?


----------



## 7om (Dec 3, 2016)

Hey,

I'm thinking about 30 degrees further backwards to get the driveshaft angle in line with the 02B level. The driveshaft height angle difference between the 02B and 02M V6 is iro 30 degrees. 

The other option is to use the 4 cyl 02M box and rotate that backwards about 60 degrees to line up with the 02B driveshaft output level. I have a 1.8T spare with an O2M bolted on so I'll be able to see if the angles work with the 4cyl box next week as I'm stripping it apart. It may require going further than 60 degrees to get past the small arm on the rear of the block where the gearbox locator dowel is.

It's not an easy job either way. The V6 box will need the 4cyl gear sets for good ratios using the 1.8T, or I'll need to make a custom sump. Its worth doing though on a sunny day!

The plate will need to be as thin as possible, I've even considered a 10mm 316 Stainless plate (aluminium ones tend to be a minimum of 15mm) with countersunk studs. Then just getting the bell housing milled down by 8mm. Should be close enough. Have you or your friend done adaptor plates before? Any idea on thickness required? 

I'm well up for getting either 02M box on the 1.8T and having an LSD! My life will be complete! haha


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

7om-4 cyl 02M transmissions are much easier to come by over here and they share the same bolt pattern as the 02J, which are available at any junkyard for dirt cheap. He would prefer to make a plate that would appeal to as many people as possible. I think 4cyl to 4cyl pattern would be most desirable for 1.8t/TDI swap owners that would want 02M/02J transmissions that would match their engines gearing. I don’t think having the bell housing milled down or swapping out gear sets would be very desirable to very many owners as that’s quite a bit of time/money involved to make it work. 

Why do you say it needs to be as thin as possible? I was talking to him about potentially using .75” (~20mm) aluminum. I don’t think that would be too large to disturb anything in the engine bay. We spoke about steel but he said it would put more wear on his equipment and would have to factor that into the cost.

I have also not given any thought to shift linkage yet. Any ideas as to what may work? Would it be possible to make an 02B shift tower work?

If you wouldn’t mind doing some transmission tilting and measuring to see what degree would work best (and fit best) that would definitely help move this idea forward. My friend also said the VR6 to 02J/02M would be a nearly identical project. So, if this all works out and people are interested in the idea, he could potentially make both plates.


----------



## 7om (Dec 3, 2016)

Hey,

Sounds good to me, I just need to check that when clocked the cup clears the sump (and/or) how much would need to be removed for clearance. There's plenty of room physically for a 20mm alloy plate, but we'll then need a steel 20mm flywheel spacer which will push the cost up. It will however have the correct ratios and not need an AWD blanking plate so that's a plus. Pro's v cons!

I'll record some footage on Monday morning when I've got the block and box in front of me and post a YT link here "unlisted" for reference. Having a custom sump made is far cheaper than buying a new box when it blows up! :laugh:


----------



## 7om (Dec 3, 2016)

04VWGTITURBO said:


> I have also not given any thought to shift linkage yet. Any ideas as to what may work? Would it be possible to make an 02B shift tower work?


The T4's with 4cyl 02M's on already (steep driveshaft angles) have used the twin cable setup and ditched the lever mechanism.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

7om said:


> ...There's plenty of room physically for a 20mm alloy plate, but we'll then need a steel 20mm flywheel spacer which will push the cost up...


It shouldn’t drive the cost up aside from hardware expenses. I was told it wouldn’t take long to program on the computer and the piece of metal to make it would be used from scraps off the plate. 

A video/pictures with any measurements would be awesome


----------



## 7om (Dec 3, 2016)

04VWGTITURBO said:


> It shouldn’t drive the cost up aside from hardware expenses. I was told it wouldn’t take long to program on the computer and the piece of metal to make it would be used from scraps off the plate.
> 
> A video/pictures with any measurements would be awesome


Cool, I'll post a link up once I've put it up! I'm still trying to find a CAD file of the 02M bell housing online so I can try a 5mm steel plate, struggling!


----------



## filmshoot (Jan 7, 2015)

Nice work here!!
Do you have a YouTube video of 0to60mph?
I too wish I had a 02m adapter plate for my ahu tdi
My 02d is being rebuilt as we speak with a larger bearing that will hopefully help it a little but a 02m lsd with haldex would be my dream setup

...just tapped out with a thumb or 2, please don't mind the abbreviations and grammatical faults.


----------



## 7om (Dec 3, 2016)

filmshoot said:


> Nice work here!!
> Do you have a YouTube video of 0to60mph?
> I too wish I had a 02m adapter plate for my ahu tdi
> My 02d is being rebuilt as we speak with a larger bearing that will hopefully help it a little but a 02m lsd with haldex would be my dream setup
> ...


You can now do haldex if you are keen using the Audi TT setup and Quaife 02M adapter.


----------



## wildenbeast (Jul 25, 2008)

So when this swap is complete, will you be quitting your day job and offering the swap as a service to all of us that want one? I'd like to be first in line.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

The 1.8t swap? I’m not opposed to doing another one...


----------



## Phae Phae (Apr 22, 2008)

7om said:


> You can now do haldex if you are keen using the Audi TT setup and Quaife 02M adapter.


Is there a way to make all of this work with the 2.8L AXK motor?


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

wildenbeast said:


> So when this swap is complete, will you be quitting your day job and offering the swap as a service to all of us that want one? I'd like to be first in line.


Been giving this some more thought. In 6-8 months I may be in a position to offer this as a service, on a regular basis if there’s a demand for it. 

I’ve got a .658 5th gear due to arrive Monday. I hope to get it installed within a week of its arrival. I’ll be making a push to finish up some things here in the next few weeks since the weather is getting nicer.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

2.5” exhaust is done with new cat. It’s nice and quiet just how I wanted it. I did not do the downpipe yet but did come to realize that the downpipe I have on it now is actually 1/4” larger diameter than the stock 1.8t downpipe. When I get around to having a downpipe made (won’t be doing it myself) I’ll have a v-band clamp welded to either side of the exhaust for ease of removal. 

When it was in the air, I saw I had a wheel cylinder leaking. After the exhaust was finished I took it straight home and parked it until I can get a new cylinder here. Throttle response is much better, acceleration is much smoother and the van had a noticeable gain in power. My 5th gear is still on track to arrive in a few days, so unless there’s a delay on installing that, I should have that done before I get a replacement cylinder. So I won’t be able to tell if the exhaust helped with fuel economy since I’ll have the 5th gear to help economy too. Crossing my fingers for some good numbers though...


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

I got my replacement wheel cylinder installed. I have yet to adjust the brakes or bleed the lines. My 5th gear came in and I also picked up a gear puller I believe will work for the small gear. I’ll tackle the 5th gear, bleeding and adjusting of the brakes all at once. Last piece of the puzzle will be 75w90 gear oil which I’m sure needs to be replaced. I’ll post pictures up if I can remember to take them


----------



## filmshoot (Jan 7, 2015)

For the gearbox I've read good things about chevron delo 80w 90

...just tapped out with a thumb or 2, please don't mind the abbreviations and grammatical faults.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

I’ll probably stick with the 75w90 per VWs spec sheet. Since this will likely end up in the Midwest, I don’t want any issues at extremely cold temps.


----------



## filmshoot (Jan 7, 2015)

Red line mt90 might be better for ya

...just tapped out with a thumb or 2, please don't mind the abbreviations and grammatical faults.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

:thumbup: MT90 is my backup plan if my local parts store doesn’t have a 75w90 that’s GL4


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Just went over the $1,000 mark!

Things I have leftover that still can be sold:
AC compressor
14” steel wheels
Turn signals
Headlight glass lenses 


Things I still plan on purchasing:
AC condenser and drier
Downpipe
Chip
Silicone turbo inlet pipe
Single mass lightweight flywheel/upgraded clutch
Paint


Overall the van is pretty well sorted. I may have another $500 in expenses depending on how much I can get out of the items I have yet to sell. My labor, insurance and fuel have also never been factored into the build. I will eventually upgrade the brakes but will wait to find a donor (24v) van to get parts off of. After I take what I want from the donor, I’ll part out that van and hopefully offset the cost of this entire build. I think I am happy with the power this van makes and won’t need to do a turbo upgrade. Adding a weekender top to this will be a long term goal as I’ll have to wait for the perfect deal to come along. Syncro is another long term goal that will depend on how much this van gets used in the winter.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

.658 5th gear installed today. It was much easier to install than I anticipated. I used a $6 gear puller from O’Reilly Auto Parts on both gears and everything came apart nicely. I only got it up to 75mph on my text drive after install, but it’s going to run great on the highway now. Plenty of power at higher speeds and much lower rpms. The cabin was much quieter as well. The new trans fluid definitely made for some smooth shifts too. 

My friend ended up giving me a subwoofer (+mesh subwoofer grill/protector) and wiring to put in my van since I had helped him out a few times with his projects. I wired the amp to a switch in the dash for when my kids are riding with me, I can easily turn it off. All of the speakers in the van have been replaced but had always lacked bass due to their size. The addition of the sub makes for a very complete sound that’s not missing anything anymore.

I completely forgot to take pictures of the exhaust system but while the van was in the air, I clearanced some of the suspension components on the front end. The torsion arm had contacted the front shock mount once or twice so I got out a grinder and took off about 5mm of material. That allowed the suspension to move and not make contact when compressed, like when coming down after going over rough roailroad tracks. There is still plenty of structural material there, I’ve seen some people over do it.

Productive day overall! The van keeps getting more comfortable and more fun to drive. I can’t wait to put some more miles on it and get some new fuel economy figures. I’m planning a 3 hour round trip drive next Thursday to deliver some parts to a friend, so that will give me some time on the highway to really test out the new setup.


----------



## filmshoot (Jan 7, 2015)

Great progress here!
For the suspension...

I would recommend some bilstein hd shocks


...just tapped out with a thumb or 2, please don't mind the abbreviations and grammatical faults.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

So, with 60% highway and 40% city driving on my last fuel tank, I’m getting 23.9mpg. For comparison, the Mercedes Metris is rated at 24 mpg highway. All of the miles traveled on the highway were at about 80 mph. For half of the miles I was hauling a large engine hoist, a complete 4 cyl engine with all accessories, a large box full of metal car parts, 5 tires and a 6 drawer dresser. I’d say the 5th gear upgrade and 2.5” exhaust helped with fuel economy a little bit. I hope to get some more accurate, all highway, miles logged without the extra weight.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Another fuel economy update-

Drove 302 miles, 66 of which were driven hard through winding roads but the rest highway (@around 70mph) and I averaged 24.4 mpg. I probably had 200lbs of kids/items in the van so it was a fairly light load. I think a few more mpg could be squeezed out of it with the right conditions. I did pass over mountain ranges a total of 4 times on that trip. 

Other than that, nothing else to report because no other changes have been made. Everything is working great.


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

Well this is where the story comes to an end. I’ve been driving this van without issue since it was finished and never made any other changes to it because I didn’t really feel the need to. 

I’ve come to a point where life is more important than hoarding hobby cars and will be listing this van up for sale. I am back in Indiana for good now and would definitely do this swap for another Eurovan/Rialta owner of the opportunity ever presented itself. This is, without a doubt, the most practical vehicle I have ever owned. The space, seating capacity, power, fuel economy, car like handling, quickly being able to remove the seats and use it like a pickup truck, low maintenance, and most importantly being able to surprise people in so many different ways with it. 

Regrets and things I never got around to but wish I would have- connecting the 4 wires up to make cruise control work, not putting the finishing touches on getting the AC working (joining 2 hoses, 2 wires and an r134 charge)

The pop top, synchro, repaint, big turbo would have been extremely fun but I’ll leave that to the next owner. It’s been fun sharing my story and hope to continue helping keep these vans on the road as long as possible. I’m not on here too often these days but will keep checking my messages to help answer more questions for shops and DIY’ers about this swap when I have time.:wave:


----------



## hxgaser (Mar 22, 2011)

04VWGTITURBO, I thank you for the service that you provided, as this thread is the most informative/hands-on thread for the 1.8t conversion. I have been reading this over and over in hopes that I will do this one day, but the day job and the life in general are prohibiting the adventure. Sorry to see you do away with your van, but I know a car guy when I see one. You will be back with another project in a short while. 

Best of wishes to the sale of the van (I presume?).


----------



## Murso74 (Jul 31, 2018)

when you say syncro, do you mean swapping again to a diesel motor, or is there a syncro option for the 1.8T?


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

My pleasure! Yes I’ll be officially listing the van up sometime this week. I have considered another crazy Eurovan project but if I ever go through with it I would probably wait until it was completed before I spilled the beans on it. 

The syncro 02B setup will bolt you the 1.8t, I had hoped to add it for winter driving and help with power delivery if I ever went big turbo.


----------



## leeruns (Sep 3, 2019)

*not possible to do 02J with 1.8T?*

I read through (most) of the thread, and couldn't help but wonder...Could I do a 02j trans instead of 02b or 02g? Is there something I have missing? I have never laid eyes on a 02g or 02b, but i have a vr6 that is needing rebuild, and also have a 1.8T, and 02J in the rafters... So you got my gears turning. Would like to actually do 02j+Vr6 then run that until vr6 is about to bite the dust and switch to a 02j. 

Syncho would be ever better because i am in colorado, but I don't think I will be able to find one. Maybe I am wrong. Would love some input. Great thread..

Long live the vortex


----------



## OcelotPotPie (Aug 10, 2008)

The 02B/098/01P are at different angles than an 02J because the engines in the Eurovan sit forward at an angle to fit in the engine compartment.

Basically the 02J would bolt up to a VR6 but the axle flange would be rotated in the air from where it needs to be. It also would hit the crossmember and steering rack or the firewall so you wouldn't be able to install it all in the engine bay to see how high it is.

Some folks have talked about making an adapter/kit to fit an 02J but no one has done it.


----------



## gti_matt (Oct 9, 1999)

FYI found this thread...some good pics of the various transmissions, comparisons, etc.

http://www.cavevan.com/forum/index.php?topic=42.0


----------



## leeruns (Sep 3, 2019)

But still cannot find anyone who has done 1.8t with o2j swap into eurovan 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk


----------



## leeruns (Sep 3, 2019)

Or an o2a?

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk


----------



## OcelotPotPie (Aug 10, 2008)

Right, for the same reason I mentioned. They don't bolt right up, so an adapter plate needs to be made. Then you may need a custom starter, flywheel, clutch, axles, etc etc.

It's unfortunately a big undertaking. Maybe someday someone will make a kit, but right now AFAIK no one's done it.


----------



## leeruns (Sep 3, 2019)

OcelotPotPie said:


> The 02B/098/01P are at different angles than an 02J because the engines in the Eurovan sit forward at an angle to fit in the engine compartment.
> 
> Basically the 02J would bolt up to a VR6 but the axle flange would be rotated in the air from where it needs to be. It also would hit the crossmember and steering rack or the firewall so you wouldn't be able to install it all in the engine bay to see how high it is.
> 
> Some folks have talked about making an adapter/kit to fit an 02J but no one has done it.


This is really helpful thank you

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk


----------



## 04VWGTITURBO (Apr 14, 2004)

...there is a guy running an 02M 6 speed mk4 trans with a 1.8t. The engine and trans are clocked to sit “normally” like they would in a mk4 instead of the engine being tilted forward like with an 02B. He is on the T4 forums and from what I can remember it was a much more involved process to use the 02J/M. 

I kinda went MIA there for a while so apologies to everyone, especially the people that showed interest in purchasing the van, for my disappearance. The van had been transferred over to its new owner (a local to me) to pay a debt I had and shortly after they took possession the stock 02J clutch and dual mass flywheel bit the dust. I knew it was risky putting that combo in the van and had always planned on installing a better setup in the future. The flywheels internals broke and littered the clutch with debris eventually destroying the clutch and pressure plate on its way out.

The van has recently gotten a new lightweight Corrado G60 flywheel (11lbs), a stage 2 228mm Vr6 clutch and pressure plate good for around 350tq and of course a new TOB. While the trans was out, an old school ABD racing turbo inlet pipe was installed to let the turbo suck air a little easier too. 

The current owner is interested in selling to recoup the money from the debt I owed, so if anyone is interested, send me a PM. I will make a point to log on at least weekly to answer questions for anyone interested.


----------



## leeruns (Sep 3, 2019)

Just wanted to say thanks for responding. Also great build, if I go for it I will post. Going to see t4 forum and evaluate feasibility.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk


----------



## leeruns (Sep 3, 2019)

*2nd set of parts*

Hey there, i just noticed this. Have read through whole thing quickly before. Now doing a step by step plan to eval a similar setup for my ev camper.... Did you actually build a second set of parts?


----------

