# 91 jetta/mk2 vr6 swap



## dEVILman76 (Dec 27, 2009)

i need to know what car to buy with what motor and what else i need to do a vr6 swap i have been looking and looking in this forum and im just lost know so i thought i would just ask. i want the biggest motor but the easist swap, not really want to do alot of rewire. what all parts do i need. what sub frame do i need. all help is appreciated. is there someone that can just sell me what i need. and i also want to upgrade the hubs for the disc brakes can i use the mk3 on a mk2 to update to 4 wheel disc brakes.. 
this is going in a 91 jetta gl. i have a point to prove to these ricers in my neighborhood.


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## silverstoned83 (Feb 16, 2009)

*Re: 91 jetta/mk2 vr6 swap (dEVILman76)*

You're about to meet Mr. Rictus.. Maybe try the hybrid/swap forum.


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## bonesaw (Aug 8, 2004)

*Re: 91 jetta/mk2 vr6 swap (silverstoned83)*

read the a2 vr6 faq at the top of this page.


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## stealthmk1 (Aug 17, 2001)

*Re: 91 jetta/mk2 vr6 swap (dEVILman76)*


_Quote, originally posted by *dEVILman76* »_ i have a point to prove to these ricers in my neighborhood. 

go tiger!


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## steveo27 (Aug 2, 2005)

*FV-QR*

read the A2VR6 FAQ thread.
you plan on showing the so called ricers how slow a 12v is too?


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## vr2jetta (Dec 16, 2007)

*Re: FV-QR (steveo27)*


_Quote, originally posted by *steveo27* »_
you plan on showing the so called ricers how slow a 12v is too?

Seriously?! My slow a$$ 12v beats up ever NA ***** out there, and some even FI! My moms 1.8t is the only 1.8t that is faster than my 12v, and its mostly stock!
I started a writeup on this a while back but havent finished it yet. Here it is....un finished. Most of the important info is there.
So you have a VR6 motor and tranny and you want to put it in your car? Well, it is very possible with a little help, some willingness to work and a few more parts. I am designing this thread for the not-so-mechanically inclined person who still wants to have a rad car. After reading this thread, if you are still clueless as to *exactly* what needs to be done to put a VR6 in an MK2, you should forever give up your dream of doing you own swap.
PARTS LIST:
1. Engine and tranny:
You can get you motor and tranny from any corrado, B3-B4 passat, GTI or Jetta, whichever comes cheapest. However a corrado will be your best bet. Be sure when you get the motor that all the motor mount brackets are there, you will need them! Try to get as many coolant hoses as you can too. Dont forget the MAF housing for the intake!!
2. Subframe:
It is not possible to use the passat subframe, the bolts do not line up! You will need a GTI, jetta or corrado subframe. Why? The rear motor mount is setup differently. You 'can' use your MK2 subframe but it will require cutting the old mount bracket off and welding the donor one on. Ive done it both ways. If you dont have a welder, just source out a new subframe. 
3. Front cross brace:
Use your MK2 brace, there nothing wrong with it. I would highly recommend welding the old MK2 mount solid or just getting a solid front mount from a reputable source. 
4. Wiring:
Look in the engine bay of the car you are getting the VR6 from. On the drivers side you will see where the main engine harness goes through the firewall to the fuse panel. Pull all that through and take it. Some of it goes to the lighting harness (headlights, turn signals, fog lights, etc..) but take it too because you can use it. Be sure to get all the wiring in the rain tray too, thats where the ecu is. Dont worry, the wiper motors share the same plug so the mk3 plug will work with your mk2 motor. Anything under the dash that is not plugged into the fuse panel should be marked. The plugs for the fuse panel are ALL different so they can only go in one place.
5. Fuse panel:
This is where it gets kinda tricky. If you have a 90'-92' Golf/Jetta your fuse panel will be fine. Even late 89' model cars can have the correct fuse panel, but that was the transition year so you have a 50/50 chance of having the right one. The *correct* fuse panel should look like this on the back:









If yours does not look like this on the back (You will be able to tell the difference, they are completely different) Then you need to source out a new fuse panel. Take the one from the VR6 donor or go find a fuse panel from a 90'-98' golf, jetta, passat......whatever, they are all the same.
6. Shifter box and cables:
Your old crappy MK2 has a clutch cable and shift linkage. Your new VR6 has shifter cables and a hydrolic clutch. You will need to drop the entire shifter box from the donor and remove the cables from the tranny. Take it as an assembly. Be very careful with these cables, they are *NOT* cheap! Again, you can use golf, jetta, passat or corrado cables and box.
7. Brake booster bracket
Due to the new hydrolic clutch you will be installing, you will need this bracket. It holds the clutch master cylinder in place. You will need to drill a hole in the firewall to allow access for the clutch master cylinder but I will get into that a little later. If you are running abs, you will need a *VR6* abs brake booster bracket. If its non-abs, you will need a *VR6*non-abs brake booster bracket. Non-abs brackets are kinda hard to find, they normally can be found on Corrados. This is what it looks like.








8. Hydrolic clutch pedal or complete pedal assembly:
Yet another piece for the hydrolic clutch. The hydrolic clutch pedal has a tab on it for the clutch master cylinder to connect. There is a clip just like the one used for the brake booster that holds it on. I have always swapped the entire pedal cluster. The pedal should look like this.








9. Brake fluid resevior:
The last thing you will need for the clutch is a new brake fluid resevior. You are going to need to feed the new clutch master cylinder with fluid and this is what will do it. Be sure to get a clutch master cylinder and the feed line too! Most MK3 2.0 or VR6 will work, as long as it has the provision for it. The 2.0's will usually have the provision but it will be crimped off at the end. Simply cut the crimp and you will get fluid through that. If you get a VR6 one, you will not need to cut it. I run non-abs so mine looks like this.








10. Gauge cluster
Any MK3 golf/jetta wire fed cluster should work. Earlier MK3 golfs/jettas run a cable for the speedo IIRC, but be sure there are no cables running to the cluster you buy. The MK3 cluster will fit into the MK2 dash quite well. You will need to remove some of the bracing in the dash of the MK2 to fit the MK3 cluster but it works. Want to run an MK3 dash? Find another thread, I cant help you.
11. Radiator 
Your VR6 will require the radiator water inlet/outlet to be on the drivers side. The golf/jetta radiator is too tall and does not fit correctly, but can be used if thats all you have. I used it for a while till I sourced the correct one. I have used the MK2 radiator also, I just flipped it upside down and extended the thermoswitch wires to reach the switch. Neither of these options I would recommend, just too much headache. The correct radiator will need to come from a Corrado. You can use a VR6 or G60 radiator. One is shorter than the other but they both work fine. 
12. Radiator fans
Get the dual fans! You can get them from almost anything MK3. Be sure the plug matches to the plug in your wiring harness. If you use the MK3 golf/jetta fans, you will need to trim the shroud at the bottom, but the rest bolt right up.
If your MK2 was running Digifant injection, this is essentially all you will NEED for a VR swap. My digifant fuel pumps run the VR6 just fine. The only problem I have encountered is the fuel gauge being off. When the tank is full it only reads 3/4. To remedy this problem you can swap your fuel tank with an MK3 one. If you do this you will need the VR6 fuel pump assembly too because the fuel pump assemblies are different from MK2-MK3. The MK3 fuel tank *will* fit into the MK2. Golf or Jetta.

Optional 5 lug conversion and 'plus suspension'
What is plus suspension? Plus suspension is the setup used in VR6 cars to give it a wider stance. Adding plus suspension will give you an extra 2"+- width on the front of the car. This is achieved by swapping control arms. 
Plus suspension:
13. Control arms:
Control arms are the only thing that widens the stance. They can be sourced from a VR6 passat, golf, jetta or corrado. You *cannot* use the Passat subframe but you *can* use the control arms! 
14. Tie rods:
If you widen your stance obviously you will need longer tie rods. I used Corrado tie rods. They have 2 different lengths, get the longer one. They thread right into the MK2 steering rack. *NOTE* If running an MK3 dash with an MK3 steering column you will need the MK3 steering rack. 
15. Sway bar:
Purely optional but highly recommended. Its beefier! Golf, jetta and corrado will work, passat will not. You *can* use the old MK2 sway bar with plus suspension, its just teenie.
16. Driveaxles:
This one is for both 5 lug and plus suspension. The driveaxle is both longer and it has a different spline count for the VR6 wheel hubs. You can source these from VR6 passats, golfs, jettas or corrados. *NOTE* It is possible to run a VR6 tranny with MK2 driveaxles, as long as you have 100mm axles in your MK2, and are *not* running plus suspension.

5 Lug conversion:
Front:
Spindles, calipers, carriers, rotors, brake lines. Basically everything, grab that suspension too if you like, the upper strut mounts are much better than MK2.
Rear:
If you allready have rear disc, you are in luck. All you will need is new rotors. Again, golf, jetta, passat, corrado VR6.
If you have rear drums you will need (again, basically everything) stub axles, calipers, carriers, rotors and brake lines. I changed to rear disc and did *not* change the proportioning valve and it works fine for me. I did however change to the MK3 rear beam, but it is not necessary. I do not believe the rear beam is any wider to match the front with the plus suspension.

If you can get your hands on a whole donor car that is ideal. I have done 2 swaps, the first I pieced together and it took me months to finish, the second I had the entire car, which only took me about a week to complete, roughly 40 hours. How long it takes you will vary on your experiance, how thorough you are, how clean you want it, etc.... I took the time to clean and paint the engine bay, remove all un-necessary wiring and things like that.

First, strip your MK2.

Install the new subframe.
Line up the new brake booster bracket on the firewall. You will need to drill a hole for the new bracket to bolt in place. Once it is bolted to the firewall, you will see where the hole for the clutch master cylinder will need to be. Mark it and remove the bracket. Drill the hole used an air saw, hole saw or whatever you have at your disposal. It will need to be about 1" so a traditional drill bit will not work.
Next I would install the engine wiring and feed it all through the firewall. You could connect it all now or keep moving in the engine bay. 
Wiring is in. Time for some measurements. The unibody *WILL* need clearancing! I dont care what your friends say!! Measure from the rear motor mount hole (one the engine mount) to the center of the crank pulley. Transfer that measurement from the mount on the subframe to the unibody frame rail. This is where clearancing will need to be done. Take out your trusty BFH and hammer away at the framerail. Dont go crazy! Just enough to make room for the pulley. It will need to recess about 1/4"-1/2". If you can install the motor you will get a better idea of how much will need to do, but you have to remove the motor to do the work. You may want to do it this way to get an exact placement of where the clearancing will need done. You will need a minimum of 1/4" gap to allow room for the motor to shift under load. Lastly, before any clearancing is done, be sure to install the front cross brace to avoid spreading the framerails. You are trying to dent the framerail, not shift it.
Install the new shifter box and cables. The shifter box will not bolt up to the MK2 body. It will need some modifications. I simply put the shifter box in the desired location and put about 6-8 sheet metal screws in the bottom of the box to hold it in place. Its been 4 years and still holding strong. Easy fix.
Install the rest of the parts in the engine bay like the brake booster on the new bracket, with the clutch master cylinder, etc... The motor is the last thing that should go in, with the exception of the stuff in the front of the motor (radiator, cross brace, etc....)


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## steveo27 (Aug 2, 2005)

*FV-QR*


_Quote, originally posted by *vr2jetta* »_
Seriously?! My slow a$$ 12v beats up ever NA ***** out there, and some even FI! My moms 1.8t is the only 1.8t that is faster than my 12v, and its mostly stock!


only in florida








how old are you guys? seriously? worried about street racing the "ricers".... 


_Modified by steveo27 at 4:06 PM 1-3-2010_


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## vr2jetta (Dec 16, 2007)

*Re: FV-QR (steveo27)*


_Quote, originally posted by *steveo27* »_
only in florida








how old are you guys? seriously? worried about street racing the "ricers".... 

_Modified by steveo27 at 4:06 PM 1-3-2010_

I was just stating that my slow 12v will out run most japanese cars out there. Im not saying its fast, or I go out looking for races (ok, I do), but to be honest, the MK2 VR is my wifes car. I am quite pleased with how my E30 is performing right now.


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## m2008s (May 26, 2008)

*Re: FV-QR (vr2jetta)*

my n/a diesel would cloud them out so much their motorz would be liek omgz and die
actually follow vr2jetta. hes the man, has 2 builds plus multiple rebuilds under his belt with mk2 cars and vr's


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## ooz83ooz (Apr 29, 2010)

*Re: 91 jetta/mk2 vr6 swap (dEVILman76)*

I need to know i have a complete 1996 passat glx and a 1991 jetta i need to know if their are any additional parts i need or does the passat have everything i need???


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## dennismk2 (Sep 5, 2010)

*subframe?*

Does it have to be the vr6 subframe or could it be a g60 corrado subframe?


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## 87vr6 (Jan 17, 2002)

dennismk2 said:


> Does it have to be the vr6 subframe or could it be a g60 corrado subframe?


 If using a corrado, it must be a VR6 k-frame. If you get your hands on a MK3 k-frame, any will do.


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## Fizzo20 (Mar 29, 2010)

Nooo pics are gone! Can the OP please re-host? :wave:


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## Str8pipingti (Oct 10, 2010)

[No message]


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## jasonga30224 (Apr 26, 2012)

can i use 1997 passat vr6 axels for my mk2 vr6 swap,thanks


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