vw engine swap

[blackhatch99]

I want to put a vr6 engine in a 1994 volkwagen golf. What parts do I need so I can do the swap I know Honda need axles mounts wiring harness ecu and linkage but what about volkswagen thanks for your help

[terrytowe22]

i used to have a 96 jetta vr6 in we swapp the motor in to a 85 jetta we had to cut into the firewall but i dont know about ur year model though i thinku have enough clearance also i would believe u would` need to change the ecu in all that wiring in stuff cause ur going froma 4cly to 6cyl

[blackhatch99]

okay that makes sense but what about mounts and my tranny is a cable right now is re vr6 tranny cable or hydro and I heard some vr6 came five speed and some came six speed what car did the six speed come in also I'm in Germany and I know some vr6 where a 2.8 and some where a 3.0 what did the 3.0 come in.

[Total_Blender]

OH Noes!!11!

The US only has 2 VR6 displacements that I'm aware of... the 2.8 and the 3.2

The 3.2 is in the MkIV (and V?) R32's and the 2.8 is in everything else.

The 2.8 came with 12v and 24v heads. The 24v's came out in 1999 on some of the MkIV's and have better top end but theres not a whole lot of difference between them otherwise. All the 3.2's are 24v engines

If you had to cut the firewall to install a VR into a MkII you were doing it wrong. A lot of guys will cut off the rain tray on top of the firewall, but thats just for looks, the VR6 fit a MkII without cutting the firewall. You sure it wasn't a MkI you are talking about?

The clearance is really close for the pullies on the passenger side framerail, so most people beat the frame rail in a little there to make room.

Other than that, if you plan on keeping the car 4lug you probably won't need to change the axles. Some of the early cars came with 90mm cv's and the later ones had 100mm cv's. As long as you have 100mm cv's you're good.

What you need for the swap will really depend a lot on what car you use as a donor. If you have a Corrado SLC as a donor you will have everything you need. If you have a B3 or B4 Passat as a donor you will need to find some parts from other models.

MkIII or Corrado SLC K-frame is needed for the rear mount (can be from a 4cyl or VR6 MkIII)

Corrado SLC radiator and fans are preferred (under the hood a Corrado SLC is basically a VR6 swapped MkII). You can probably rig the stock radiator and fans up to work but it won't be pretty or work as well.

From the donor car you'll also need the engine, belt-driven accessories, flywheel/clutch, transmission, starter, shifter and cables, the pedal cluster, the clutch master cyl. the instrument cluster, the engine wiring harness, and exhaust downpipe.

While you have the engine out of the car you should probably replace the timing chains as they are on the rear of the motor and you have to take the transmission off to get to them.

As far as the wiring goes, if your car is '90 or up it has the CE-2 wiring so its mostly plug and play. If your car does not have CE-2 you'll have a lot more work. Probably better just to swap to a CE-2 harness or just find another shell with CE-2.

[terrytowe22]

x2 yea i thats what we cut out also i see ur wantin to but a mk2 i ahve one asking 1200 obo it needs a lot of tlc but has brand new front in in stock 1.8 lmk>


OH Noes!!11!

The US only has 2 VR6 displacements that I'm aware of... the 2.8 and the 3.2

The 3.2 is in the MkIV (and V?) R32's and the 2.8 is in everything else.

The 2.8 came with 12v and 24v heads. The 24v's came out in 1999 on some of the MkIV's and have better top end but theres not a whole lot of difference between them otherwise. All the 3.2's are 24v engines

If you had to cut the firewall to install a VR into a MkII you were doing it wrong. A lot of guys will cut off the rain tray on top of the firewall, but thats just for looks, the VR6 fit a MkII without cutting the firewall. You sure it wasn't a MkI you are talking about?

The clearance is really close for the pullies on the passenger side framerail, so most people beat the frame rail in a little there to make room.

Other than that, if you plan on keeping the car 4lug you probably won't need to change the axles. Some of the early cars came with 90mm cv's and the later ones had 100mm cv's. As long as you have 100mm cv's you're good.

What you need for the swap will really depend a lot on what car you use as a donor. If you have a Corrado SLC as a donor you will have everything you need. If you have a B3 or B4 Passat as a donor you will need to find some parts from other models.

MkIII or Corrado SLC K-frame is needed for the rear mount (can be from a 4cyl or VR6 MkIII)

Corrado SLC radiator and fans are preferred (under the hood a Corrado SLC is basically a VR6 swapped MkII). You can probably rig the stock radiator and fans up to work but it won't be pretty or work as well.

From the donor car you'll also need the engine, belt-driven accessories, flywheel/clutch, transmission, starter, shifter and cables, the pedal cluster, the clutch master cyl. the instrument cluster, the engine wiring harness, and exhaust downpipe.

While you have the engine out of the car you should probably replace the timing chains as they are on the rear of the motor and you have to take the transmission off to get to them.

As far as the wiring goes, if your car is '90 or up it has the CE-2 wiring so its mostly plug and play. If your car does not have CE-2 you'll have a lot more work. Probably better just to swap to a CE-2 harness or just find another shell with CE-2.

[Total_Blender]

x2 yea i thats what we cut out also i see ur wantin to but a mk2 i ahve one asking 1200 obo it needs a lot of tlc but has brand new front in in stock 1.8 lmk>

I need to change my sig... I already found a vehicle. Thanks for the offer though :goodjob:

[blackhatch99]

so since my car is a 1994/5 decoding the vin
I won't need a wiring harness just the ecu but why change the instrument cluster also what is a pedal cluster also I'm guessing that is gonna be kinds hard to change from a cable tranny to a hydro tranny also by the sounds of things if I can get a corrado front clip I will be pretty much set

What about tunning for a turbo what's a good program to use (hondata but is only good for hondas )

[Paul]

honestly if you don't know much about vw i wouldn't suggest your swap - vw are wiring nightmares if you don't know them :goodjob:

atleast do some research vwvortex.com ... turbo/supercharger you have multiple options

[blackhatch99]

there's only one way to learn how to do somethings

[Total_Blender]

so since my car is a 1994/5 decoding the vin
I won't need a wiring harness just the ecu but why change the instrument cluster also what is a pedal cluster also I'm guessing that is gonna be kinds hard to change from a cable tranny to a hydro tranny also by the sounds of things if I can get a corrado front clip I will be pretty much set


Oh snap... I got mixed up by the other guys comment and thought you were putting a VR6 into a Mk2. A 1994 is a Mk3. So you won't need to change the rear K-frame or anything and you will definitely have the 100mm CV's so you won't have to change the axles. I'm not sure about whether the 4cyl radiator will work but the solution to that is as easy as getting a radiator and fans from a VR6 Mk3.

Since Mk3's were offered with the VR6 from the factory everything from a VR6 Mk3 donor car will fit right in and the wiring will be just plug and play as long as you get the engine harness and ECU from the donor car.

As far as parts go, VW City should have everything you need (or be able to get it for you). They don't like answering the phone though (too busy in the shop I guess), so you'll probably have to show up in person. I'd post their number, but it wouldn't do you much good as they never answer their phone. :crazy:

But yeah, definitely check out the VW Vortex there's tons of info there. :goodjob:

[blackhatch99]

What would be a great donor car for the vr6 swap

[blackhatch99]

so wats a good donor car

[Total_Blender]

The best donor car for you will be the VR6 MkIII Golf or Jetta. That car will have everything you'll need. The B3 Passats are more common, and you can pick them up cheap, but you'll need some cooling hoses and stuff that are specific to the MkIII.

You'll still need to change the engine harness and the ECU because you're going from 4 cyl to 6. Same with the cluster, your tach is set up for a 4cyl... you'll need a 6cyl tach or it won't work.

Heres a link to the MkIII forum on the VW Vortex. The answers to all your questions can be found there :goodjob:

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3370991

But just something to think about... the MkIII came from the factory with a VR6. For all the time and work of swapping a VR6 into a 2.0 car, you would probably be better served by just trading up to a car that already has a VR6. The parts for the swap (motor, transmission, wiring/ecu, shifter, and hydro clutch) are a bargain at a grand. And if you have a shop install it you will probably total somewhere around $3-4k (just hope it doesn't burst into flames... Lee knows what I'm talkin bout :ninja: ).

[Jecht]

But just something to think about... the MkIII came from the factory with a VR6. For all the time and work of swapping a VR6 into a 2.0 car, you would probably be better served by just trading up to a car that already has a VR6. The parts for the swap (motor, transmission, wiring/ecu, shifter, and hydro clutch) are a bargain at a grand. And if you have a shop install it you will probably total somewhere around $3-4k (just hope it doesn't burst into flames... Lee knows what I'm talkin bout :ninja: ).

It really isn't worth it to swap to VR6 when you can find Mk3 VR6 cars for around $3000 all day long.

[Total_Blender]

It really isn't worth it to swap to VR6 when you can find Mk3 VR6 cars for around $3000 all day long.

That was basically the point I was trying to get across. :goodjob:

If you have your heart set on swapping the VR6, I'd go for one of the earlier platforms like a MkI or a MkII. The MkII, like I said above is a fairly straightforward swap.

I'm not sure what all is involved in getting a VR6 into a MkI (I'm sure it requires a little engineering), but I know it has been done at least a couple of times.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3023/2775337546_ce72b00306.jpg