Finally found a donor car for the Jetta

[thegreatfnr]

So after 4 months of waiting patiently on finding a donor car one finally fell into my lap for a good price. Car was in a rearend accident and caught on fire in the rear but the whole front clip should be good.

Im going to go pick it up from the guy this weekend and am extremely excited about it. I also went ahead and ordered a set of patec coilovers for it. Then the seats should be here earily next week.

So if everything goes as planned in less than a month I should have my Jetta Coupe VR completed. Then it will be time to go in for some dent removal and a new paint job.

Pics of the Donor





Lee

[Sammich]

c00 man, when you gona start

[thegreatfnr]

c00 man, when you gona start

Im actually not doing the swap myself. I could but i dont have the time or the place. The shop Im getting it done at said they can get started working on it a week from this upcoming monday and should take a week or two. After I get all that said and done I might have a few other goodies going on like a small shot of nitrous and some other things

Should make for a quick lil ride

Lee

[GermanMuscle]

i love your car it already looks sweet and with that vr it will be sick

how come everyone gets the vr6 passat as a donor car?

[thegreatfnr]

i love your car it already looks sweet and with that vr it will be sick

Thanks man I appreciate it. It has a couple things different now from the pic in my sig as its got smoked E-codes now and a rear Gli spoiler.

how come everyone gets the vr6 passat as a donor car?

Really its any car with a VR6 and a 5 speed as long as its not the drive by wire 2001+ i think. With the swap out of a passat I think you just get a lil bit taller gearing than with a gti or jetta VR donor.

The absolute best option for a donor would really be a corrado SLC as that is actually a A2 chasis and frame they are just hard to find

Lee

[4dmin]

hell ya man i can't wait to see it rolling! thats a pretty clean looking motor

[thegreatfnr]

hell ya man i can't wait to see it rolling! thats a pretty clean looking motor

Thanks Im just hoping the motor runs as good as it looks. The current owner hasnt seen it run yet. He bought it from a JY and the fuel line from the tank was melted or something so he hasnt tried starting it yet. So im gonna ride out there and make sure it runs solid first but it should.

He said it had paperwork of some work done on it back in august so I assume it ran then and that the only reason it was totalled was for the fire.

Lee

[Codeman1407]

lol the donor car is like the definition of heaven and hell... lol.. nice though, the jetta should be kickin now...

[GermanMuscle]

The absolute best option for a donor would really be a corrado SLC as that is actually a A2 chasis and frame they are just hard to find

yea they are hard to find and if a SLC is repairable it really shoudl be repaired, they are really nice cars

[thegreatfnr]

Well me and a friend of mine drove 3 and half hours to and from Huntsville AL to pick the car up.

The car looked really nice but we didnt end up getting it started but it did turn over. We didnt really try too hard since it was raining freakin cats and dogs on us all day. Things are coming together quickly.

Lee

[thegreatfnr]

**** UPDATE ****

We got it running today. It was a little ghetto rigged but it worked to just make sure it ran good. The motor sounded great especially since it was basically straight piped withthe muffler falling off.

It kinda chattered a little but i think all I need to do is change the Timing Chains and it will solve that issue. Hopefully Ill be dropping off the donor to the shop tomorrow or thursday then my car is suppose to go in monday for the actual swap.

[GermanMuscle]

which shop are you taking it too?

[thegreatfnr]

Barry Palmer Auto

Mikey does awesome work. It is argueably one of the best VW shops in the metro area.

lil update looks like im dropping the donor off tomorow and have everything ready for the swap except for the AC components but Im sourcing those out today.

Lee

[4dmin]

awesome!

[thegreatfnr]

awesome!

..::UPDATE::..

So my set of Patec coilovers just came in for the Coupe.

Im prolly gonna install them tomorrow when I have some time. I also ordered my Lightweight Flywheel today from autotech. This car is gonna be pretty sweet when its all said and done.



Lee

[rollininstyle2004]

NICE...cant wait to see it all VR powered sitting on the ground

[exjnv]

verrrrry nice man. ive got a mk3 vr gti.. let me know if you need any AC parts, ive got everything off my car in great condition

[thegreatfnr]

verrrrry nice man. ive got a mk3 vr gti.. let me know if you need any AC parts, ive got everything off my car in great condition

Thanks for the offer but I think I found everything I need. I sourced my AC stuff off of a corrado.

****Update****
So this weekend I tried to go ahead and install the coilovers. What a mess that was. So aparently the nut holding the suspension in place is so locked into place we wernt able to break it loose.

Not even with a freaking impact gun. Pissed me off so much. We are going to try and attack it again this afternoon and hopefully I wont have to bend the strut mounts up to get the old suspension out.








Lee

[vinayak]

i think we need one of these

[thegreatfnr]

i think we need one of these

LOL I know you wished we coulda just cut that bastard out.

Thanks bud, btw thanks again for all your help on the car. Mabye we can get that suspension done today.

If you guys notice in the pics above that is vinayak using the airgun. Hes been the biggest help with this project. Hell he even went with me to Alabama to get the donor with me.

Lee

[4dmin]

nice keep the updates and pix coming

[Jecht]

..::UPDATE::..

So my set of Patec coilovers just came in for the Coupe.

Im prolly gonna install them tomorrow when I have some time. I also ordered my Lightweight Flywheel today from autotech. This car is gonna be pretty sweet when its all said and done.



Lee

I've got Patec Holeshots on my Jetta too, they are nice. They are a little noisy though. Oh yeah, are you using a plus suspension setup? It will sag a lot more with the VR6.

[exjnv]

your supposed to put an allen key on that lol

[thegreatfnr]

I've got Patec Holeshots on my Jetta too, they are nice. They are a little noisy though. Oh yeah, are you using a plus suspension setup? It will sag a lot more with the VR6.

Do you have Holeshot 3 or Holeshot 4s?

Ive heard of people complaining about noise on the threes but not so much on the fours. Anyways Im not going + suspension.

Lee

[thegreatfnr]

your supposed to put an allen key on that lol

If your talkin about the pic where we were trying to get the nut loose with the air gun its because it ended up stripping out. That thing was the biggest pain in the ass. I still havnt gotten it broken loose.

Lee

[Jecht]

If your talkin about the pic where we were trying to get the nut loose with the air gun its because it ended up stripping out. That thing was the biggest pain in the ass. I still havnt gotten it broken loose.

Lee

Yeah, I have the series 4 coilovers. My front passenger strut is noisy. Oh, and the only way you are going to get that nut loose is that air gun because I bent three allen wrenches doing mine. The back struts are MUCH easier to install!

[thegreatfnr]

Yeah, I have the series 4 coilovers. My front passenger strut is noisy. Oh, and the only way you are going to get that nut loose is that air gun because I bent three allen wrenches doing mine. The back struts are MUCH easier to install!

***Update***

Got the nuts off today with a fuckin 3ft pipe wrech and a big ratchet. We needed something to hold the thing still cause the air gun would just move the whole thing.

So we got the fronts installed with a couple minor hiccups like having to raise them once you realize your car is sitting on the damn tire. We are gonna do the rears tomorrow cause we ran outta daylight plus my buddies place we were at had his son inside so I didnt wanna tie him up too much.

Overall they feel great but Im getting alot of rub on the driverside on right hand turns. Ill figure that out tomorrow.




Old Suspension

New Suspension


Lee

[Jecht]

For the rub, check to see if the tire is really close to the suspension. I don't have camber bolts on mine and the wheels rub against the suspension if I corner hard enough. If its at the stock camber setting it won't do that though.

[thegreatfnr]

Update

We got the rears on yesterday with no real problems other than me accidentally putting the rubber peice on top of the shock upside down

Well I only took a couple pics with the cell phone so sorry bout the crappy pics.



With the back jacked way up I took a pic of my car where it looked like it was dumped on the ground.



So now the car will sit at my dad's until I can get it into the shop for the swap since I dont wanna get an allignment now and then after the swap when I readjust the coilovers. That means Im cruising in a lifted jeep for the time being. Well Ill post more updates once the car gets to the shop and we start. Till then Im waiting on my lightweight flywheel to show up.

Lee

[GermanMuscle]

are you getting the autotech flywheel for the vr6?

[thegreatfnr]

are you getting the autotech flywheel for the vr6?

Yup, not the 9pound aluminum one though I got the 10pound steel one.

It actually did come in today when I wasnt really expecting it till tomorrow. Ill snap a pic of it once i get back to the office.



I just got a call from Barry Palmer and aparently he got the motor running in the passat today but two cylinders wernt firing. Aparently the plug wires and coil pack were bad so swapped that and only one cylinder now isnt firing.

It has compression and spark so he is gonna change out the injector there and see if it can run good. Also have an issue with the wiring to the Inst. cluster. Anyways these are the joys of an engine swap

Lee

[GermanMuscle]

sounds like you have a good about of problems with the engine. But you'll love the the flywheel, thats the one i had on my vr6.

[thegreatfnr]

****UPDATE****

So I talked to the shop again and they got the motor running really good on all cylinders and got everything working just right on the donor. Which means they are finishing up today on pulling the motor and tranny. Sounds like I will be dropping my car off sometime during the middle of this week. When I do Ill make sure to take some pics of the engine while its out as well as the brake set up.

Lee

[exjnv]

good to hear all is going well so far!

[thegreatfnr]

good to hear all is going well so far!

Careful now dont jinx it we all know something is gonna go wrong eventually hopefully its something small.

Lee

[thegreatfnr]

Careful now dont jinx it we all know something is gonna go wrong eventually hopefully its something small.

Lee

FUCK I knew this was going way to smooth. The shop im fuckin working with came to me today with a huge number on parts to complete the swap before the labor costs and lets just say they were 3 times what I and anyone else would have expected. Can you say 3400 for parts on a VR swap not including the engine.

Im so pissed I am this close to going and picking up my motor and going to find another shop that will do it at a reasonable price. If only I had a garage and different daily and Id do the damn swap myself.

/end rant

Lee

[Kyle]

Definately go to a different shop. That is ridiculous.

[thegreatfnr]

Definately go to a different shop. That is ridiculous.

yea Im thinking scott at assist motorsports might be my next option. Im not sure what im gonna do though

[Kyle]

I think the shop is taking advantage of you because they already have the motor and they know you don't have that many choices.

[GermanMuscle]

for that much you can go and buy a mk3 vr6 and with the other costs like the engine you could boost that bitch