Phil's '95 VW Golf Sport VR6 (Update: exhaust clip!)

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pmacutay
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Re: Phil's '95 VW Golf Sport (Update: Motor out! Halfway the

Post by pmacutay »

Squint wrote:That is a valid point. Have to do anything else besides fluid changes? Timing belt, etc.. that is more of a hassle normally?
Short of a radiator, I am replacing the entire cooling system with either OEM or billet CNC'd upgrade parts: hoses, water pump, "crackpipe", oil cooler, fan belt, temp sensors, t-stat housing, etc.

Along with that I'm fixing all oil leaks on the engine: valve cover gasket, oil pressure & temp sensors, and oil filter housing/engine block gasket, and replacing the shitty Fram filter with an OEM one + 5.8 quarts of Mobil1 10w-40. ...oh, and finding a new dipstick, the other one was broken. Or maybe I'll glue something dumb like an angry bird on top of the dipstick so it has a makeshift handle, lol.

In addition, I'm doing the timing chains and chain guides, which require the transmission to be pulled from the engine were we to have done that while the motor was in the car. An enormous pain in the ass, so it's the perfect time. Well, that, and timing is slightly important, I don't feel like my brand new swap grenading itself 5000 miles down the line.

Furthermore, I'm replacing all the spark plugs and wires with new OEM equipment & replacing the worn serpentine belt.

On top of that, I'm painting the intake manifold runners matte black and putting two small horizontal stripes: teal and pink, across the manifold runners. (it's me and my friends' "crew" colors, hella random but hey it'll look cool cuz no one's done it) I've went across all engine trim and cleaned and used back-to-black on what we had, and sourced what trim pieces we were missing from the classifieds. (I want this shit looking as "OEM+" as possible) Going to paint the valve cover plastic piece matte black to match the runners, and the "VR6-DOHC" emblem red to match the new spark plug wires.

Finally, I'm gonna get my exhaust welded up to the VR cat and re-weld the exhaust hanger that broke off. I cannot wait for that. Magnaflow + VR6 = heaven.
(That's going to be a fun ride to the exhaust shop, straight-piped VR6. I'll be sure to have someone film it...)

Basically, everything you can do to an engine short of a rebuild, lol.
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Re: Phil's '95 VW Golf Sport (Update: Motor out! Halfway the

Post by theholycow »

Squint wrote:This. I would NOT even consider attempting what you're doing without people who have done it before helping me out. And nice you have a buyer. The engines are just progressing down the food chain of cars. Passat to Jetta, Jetta to Rabbit. He's going to have to sell his engine to a Smartcar owner or something...
I would have felt the same way some years ago. The right situation can provide all the necessary variables. When I did the transmission in the Buick I knew I was going to want a car in another year, I had a substantially good car that was effectively worthless (therefore, little financial risk), I had good transportation that wasn't the Buick, I had my own yard where I could do what I want, and I had virtual friends (especially Rope-Pusher and watkins) who helped me figure everything out.

At this point I feel confident enough that I could do an engine transplant if I needed to, but I won't until that day comes.
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Re: Phil's '95 VW Golf Sport (Update: Motor out! Halfway the

Post by pmacutay »

theholycow wrote:
Squint wrote:I would have felt the same way some years ago. The right situation can provide all the necessary variables.
That, and honestly I think the most fun variable about this whole project is the deadline being the big euro car GTG in Las Vegas on the first of June.

Pressure is motivating! But I'm not really freaking out as much as I was before, because we have our game plan down and have all the parts we need. The biggest challenge right now is getting the passat's shell out of the garage and to the scrap yard without it having any wheel hubs. I think we're probably just going to brute-force it: call as many of our friends over as we can, everyone grab a piece of the car and just physically toss it onto the trailer. Once we get to the scrapyard, they don't care, they have forklifts and electromagnets on cranes and stuff. Should be...an interesting experience, to say the least. :lol:

But yeah a shell shouldn't weigh too much; we're gonna drop the subframes and stuff just to lighten it up as much as possible.
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Re: Phil's '95 VW Golf Sport (Update: Motor out! Halfway the

Post by theholycow »

The multi-friended heave-ho should work fine. Otherwise you could just winch it on (causing drag marks on the driveway), or further disassemble/cut it up and put the parts on the trailer. Removal from the trailer, if no equipment is available, may be as simple as backing up and stopping hard or chaining it to something immobile. The latter technique is how I removed the Schlitz truck body from the trailer when it became my shed. The only casualty was a bent foot on a ramp; I should have removed the fold-up ramps instead of laying them down.
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Re: Phil's '95 VW Golf Sport (Update: Motor out! Halfway the

Post by pmacutay »

theholycow wrote:The multi-friended heave-ho should work fine.
We figured out a new plan of attack: the day of the swap, swap my old 4-lug hubs & wheels onto the passat, roll it onto the trailer, bring it to the scrapyard, and then get it off the trailer there, put it on jackstands, and pull the wheels off and throw it back into the truck.

Then the people at the scrapyard will forklift it onto the weighing scale and we're golden.

5-15-12
T-Minus 16 days to car show

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Finished all the little things: fixed the rad fan belt, pulled the hydraulic clutch actuator assembly & shift linkage off the donor, and pulled the downpipe/cat that were rusted together. Gauge Cluster MFA (multi-function display) harness came in the mail as well; tossed it into the wiring pile. Prepped the intake manifold for paint...

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Here it is, after paint, mocked up with most of the the engine trim around it. I think it looks damn good. Gonna leave the engine cover matte black; was originally going to paint the "VR6-DOHC" lettering red, but I think I'll leave the whole thing matte black. Looks classier.

At this point, the only thing on the donor that remains are the 5-lug hubs. Tomorrow, my shipment of cooling, timing & oil overhaul parts arrives from the warehouse in Texas, and we're gonna do some real work.
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Re: Phil's '95 VW Golf Sport (Update: Motor out! Halfway the

Post by theholycow »

pmacutay wrote:Then the people at the scrapyard will forklift it onto the weighing scale and we're golden.
Most scrapyards weigh you on the way in then again on the way out, rather than weighing your load. You'll have to jack it off of the stands yourself. Might want to grab random debris to use for stands instead of using yours (but bring yours just in case).
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Re: Phil's '95 VW Golf Sport (Update: Motor out! Halfway the

Post by AHTOXA »

theholycow wrote:
pmacutay wrote:Then the people at the scrapyard will forklift it onto the weighing scale and we're golden.
Most scrapyards weigh you on the way in then again on the way out, rather than weighing your load. You'll have to jack it off of the stands yourself. Might want to grab random debris to use for stands instead of using yours (but bring yours just in case).
My immature sense of humor wants to take over and dissect this post.
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Re: Phil's '95 VW Golf Sport (Update: It's the little things

Post by pmacutay »

5-16-12
T-Minus 15 days to car show

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Tonight was a short night of work. Pulled the clutch off, pulled & cleaned the oil filter housing and replaced the leaking oil pressure sensors, replaced the oil cooler & some hoses, and assembled the new thermostat housing assembly & coolant sensors.

And then we hit our first real couple of setbacks during this project.

We were going to do the timing chains tonight and get them out of the way when we found out that MJM Autohaus had neglected to ship me 3 essential parts for the timing chain job, the guide rails for the chains. Really shitty, considering the guide rails are the parts that wear out, not really the chains.

Also, I'm still waiting on the CNC "crack pipe" (Coolant Distribution Pipe) that I ordered, and it's kind of essential to put the cooling system together...

We're gonna see if we can scramble our buddies at local parts shops to see if they'll give us those timing chain parts & a crack pipe that we need, and we can just give them the parts that I get back in the mail whenever they come in. Hopefully that works out and my buddies can get the timing job done while I'm out in LA filming tomorrow night.

We're hoping to put the motor in this Saturday, but as of right now the chances are looking slim...we'll see how it goes.

EDIT: 5-17-12
Our local buddies at FourSeasonTuning came through for us and saved the day: they're providing us with the timing parts we need; when the shipment from MJM Autohaus' warehouse comes in with the missing parts, I'll just give those to FourSeason.

Damn, it's good to have friends. I'm gonna buy everyone a grip of beer once this is all over.
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Re: Phil's '95 VW Golf Sport (Update: First Real Setback...)

Post by 94Corolla5Speed »

^ My friend had problems with MJM when he did his timing job on his VR6. I think they did the exact same thing they did to you.
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Re: Phil's '95 VW Golf Sport (Update: First Real Setback...)

Post by pmacutay »

94Corolla5Speed wrote:^ My friend had problems with MJM when he did his timing job on his VR6. I think they did the exact same thing they did to you.
f**k. I'm gonna shop at ECS & GermanAutoParts from now on if I have to get parts online, otherwise it's FourSeason all the way (even though they're like a 45min drive away from me) cuz they're a local shop who we're friends with. Always gotta "support the homies", haha
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Re: Phil's '95 VW Golf Sport (Update: First Real Setback...)

Post by Squint »

pmacutay wrote:f**k. I'm gonna shop at ECS & GermanAutoParts from now on if I have to get parts online, otherwise it's FourSeason all the way (even though they're like a 45min drive away from me) cuz they're a local shop who we're friends with. Always gotta "support the homies", haha
Yeah, sometimes it's better to pay slightly more and support the locals so they know you when you might need a favor. Besides, you don't have to wait most of the time.
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Re: Phil's '95 VW Golf Sport (Update: First Real Setback...)

Post by pmacutay »

The best part about him is that he actually gives stuff to me for cheaper than online distributors, because he's saving on shipping vs. me where i'm buying individual parts, so it's a win-win situation!

Can't believe I didn't know about them until now.
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Re: Phil's '95 VW Golf Sport (Update: First Real Setback...)

Post by Squint »

pmacutay wrote:The best part about him is that he actually gives stuff to me for cheaper than online distributors, because he's saving on shipping vs. me where i'm buying individual parts, so it's a win-win situation!

Can't believe I didn't know about them until now.
Seriously. If you have that going for you, never buy on the internet again! Totally worth the drive.

And Ahtoxa, I did the same thing. "on the way in then again on the way out... weighing your load. You'll have to jack it off... yourself. Might want to grab random debris to use...instead of using yours."
You're welcome. :lol: :lol:
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Re: Phil's '95 VW Golf Sport (Update: First Real Setback...)

Post by theholycow »

:twisted:
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Re: Phil's '95 VW Golf Sport (Update: First Real Setback...)

Post by pmacutay »

5-17-12
T-Minus 14 days to car show

I was out on a video shoot for work tonight, but I did receive one pic from a buddy:

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"Chains done! She's ready to go in"

:D

You have no idea how excited I am.
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