My MK2 VW GTI 20V 1.8T Projekt

Work just got crazy so I probably won't be making very good progress. I did take advantage of Harbor freights sales over the holidays and it has been a great help:


I got the compressor, 1/2 drive impact, and a 3/8 drive ratchet. I also found a set of OEM Recaros:



They need some work, but I plan to recover them to match the OEM Recaros in my GLI.

 

Today I topped it off with the Pentosin power steering fluid which is what the MKIV's and MINI's use. It foamed up and ran out of the top of the reservoir and the steering didn't turn smoothly or quietly. I'm guessing that the MK2 rack needs the old school fluid in order to run correctly. I did take it out for a real drive and ran it through all of the gears. It pulls insanely hard and was a lot of fun. No limp mode, my first clutch install worked great, and there doesn't seem to be any issues with not having ABS and wheel speed sensors. My speedometer didn't work so I have to see if the speed sensor on the trans is good or even hooked up.

 

Long time no update. Progress has been slow. I have been helping my two sons get their cars going along with work. I was at the point where I was going to put the dash in, but I couldn't identify three plugs. These two:



and this red/gray and yellow/gray plug:



Both came out from behind the cluster area and I had accounted for everything that needed to be plugged in so it really got me stumped. I took the panels under the steering wheel off of my MKIV GLI and was able to identify one of the mystery plugs:



It is the clutch switch. I didn't realize it because I thought that the gray switch was from the MK2 and i didn't know that there were two switches on the clutch. Now the car starts with the key which is a great relief. The other two mystery plugs turned out to be for the harness that goes to the dome lights and sunroof which evidently had been removed from my donor. I found one in a part out and it is on the way. Once it gets here the dash is finally going in. I also sourced a radio cage with all the trim from a a 20th AE GTI:



It won't be #1228, but it will complete the interior parts that I wanted from a 20th. I pulled the gray clutch switch and shoved a small 15amp fuse right into the connector to jump the wires and the car starts up with the key every time. I also wired up my Newsouth Indigo Gauges:



Welcome to the light show:

 

It was a beautiful day today. Almost 80 so I got a lot done . Finally put my dash in for good:

I am waiting on the 20th AE radio cage to be delivered and I am going to get a set of light up Jetta vents to finish it off. All of the vents work so once I charge the system, I should have AC. I also need to go through and screw all of the trim and glove box in. I hooked up my Monsoon amp and speakers and it actually has tunes now and I got the brake light issue resolved. The next thing I am working is on is trying to get the MKIV sunroof control to work. I got a tilt and slide sunroof and motor from a Quantum. I want to use the dome light and sunroof control from the 20th, but the gear is to big. Here is what i have to work with:



The black box is the control module from the MKIV. The two silver metal contacts are what the motor plugged into. I assumed that they would be for - and + so I hooked the corresponding leads on the Quantum motor there. I got power, but would not turn. I'm hoping someone out there has a wiring schematic for this or knows what to do.

 

The 20th AE radio cage came in so I got a lot of the interior in yesterday. I also installed the ebrake from the MKIV and it was a direct fit. Since I have a MKIV GLI, I pulled a sun visor to see if i could install it since i have all of the MKIV wiring in the car:


I had to cut out some of the metal to make it work and it is a little loose. I am going to make a template that fits around the base and then cut a metal piece to fit and weld it in. Should be good and I will have the light up sun visors. Here are some pics of the interior:


I still need to get a set of the light up Jetta vents, the rear of the center console with an arm rest, an ashtray insert, and the rubber trim around the ignition switch and the dash swap will be done. I got it insured and took it for a drive. It had no issues at all and it just roasts the tires in 1st through 3rd. It was too much fun. I am going to get it smogged tomorrow and then registered. I am still going to run it through the ref and get it certified as a legal swap, but I want to start driving it now. The next big issues to deal with are going to be getting the windows, mirrors, sunroof, and locks to work with the MK2 parts. I also need to figure out how to fit the door cards.

 

Thanks everybody. I am going to try and make hybrid door cards using parts from a MK2 and MKIV. I want to get all of the MKIV handles and switches in there some how. My goal is to mimic the interior that came with the 20th Anniversary Edition GTI's since that is what the engine came out of. They were limited to 5000 in the US and were numbered with a plate above the radio and other exclusive interior items. The seats will be recovered someday to mimic the ones that came in the limited editions. Basically what i am doing would be like putting a MINI GP engine and interior into a classic body. Here are some pics to show you what they look like and what I am basically trying to recreate:

 

I got the gray stitched boot and parking brake cover which is what the 20th AE came with. I also got the rear part of the center console, but the parking brake needs to go over towards the driver side about an inch in order for it to fit so I need to work that out. Yesterday it was aligned, smogged, registered and driven legally all over town. Anyway here it is. Just like the Millennium Falcon, It may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts:


It was raining so I put the wipers on with some new Bosch Icon blades and found out that they work backwards so I must have messed it up when I modified the MKIV motor to run the MK2 linkage. The blades still work, I just have to mount them in the up position. In order to put the front bumper skin on, I had to loosen the fog lights. Now that it is on, I can't tighten them back up so I will need to pull the whole bumper off to fix them. The red car in the background is going to donate the fenders and hood and then I will get the fenders rolled. It was rubbing way too much so I had to raise it up to drive it.

 

I have some cool ideas for the interior and that is the next phase. I pulled the wiper assembly and reversed an actuator and the wipers were fixed. I took it to its first GTG, a 100 mile round trip today and it ran great there and back. I was even cruising with cruise control. Took it up to a 100 mph and it felt nice and smooth.

 

Yesterday I got together with a friend. He brought out his welder to help me try and get the MKIV door latches installed:



Alot of stuff is controlled through this module. It turns the lights on and primes the fuel pump when you open the door. It will also allow me to use the factory lock features and alarm. The door latches on the MKIV are mounted on the inside of the door jamb while the MK2 has them mounted on the outside. The idea I had to do this was to swap out the area on the door jamb where the latches mount. First I went out the donor shell and cut out the area of the door jamb that the latch bolts into:


I cut out a lot to be sure we had enough to work with. Next we needed to cut the area on the MK2 door to fit the latch in the door. We traced it out and after several test fits we found that a lot had to be removed to clear the window track and allow it to fit:



We then attached the latch to the panel from the MKIV and test fitted it to see if it fit. After some trimming we ended up with this:


The the door jamb on the body of the car needed to be modified too and have the post from the MKIV added:



Once everything lined up, the panel was secured and the latch functions perfectly. We still need to clean it all up and mold in the panel so it looks clean. I also need to figure out to hook the door handle to the cable to open it from the outside, but it should be pretty simple.

 

Thanks for the comments everyone. The striker on the MK2 had no adjustability so there really isn't any difference as far as that goes. I was considering drilling holes for the striker and replacing it with another just because it would look better and allow me to remove it when I clean up the area in the door jamb. Right now the door actually closes and latches noticablly easier that it did before so hopefully the adjustability won't be needed.

 

I had a cat back exhaust fabricated. 2.5in with a magnaflow and resonator:



Now the tip is centered in the cut out and it has a little more flow. I also changed up the front grill:



I also have some crosshair headlights and red/clear tails on the way from TM Tuning. I took it out on a 300 mile road trip yesterday and was able to stop by the Vista Sonic GTG. dsm1983 took these shots there:







Tomorrow I go to LA to see eurocabi for some fender rolling and stance :thumbup: More pics to come.