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

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

Post by theholycow »

pmacutay wrote:You have no idea how excited I am.
I do. :D
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Re: Phil's '95 VW Golf Sport (Update: First Real Setback...)

Post by pmacutay »

5-18-12
T-Minus 13 days to car show

Our buddy rolled thru with the trailer at 3:45pm. We rolled the Passat shell onto the trailer, and started ripping the wheels and hubs off while I called Ecology Auto Recycling to see what time they closed.

"You close at 5pm, right?"
"4:45, sir."
"...f*ck."

I end the call and run over "alright, we basically have 45 minutes to pull all 4 wheels and hubs AND get to Ecology before they close." Cue frantic, NASCAR pit-stop status wrenching.

"Done! Drop the car, we need to go!"
"The widowmaker jack is still stuck under the car!"
"I don't give a f**k, I'll pull it out at the scrapyard; we need to go!!"
"Alright, you guys just go, I'll clean the garage and everything else, just go, you got like 15 minutes!"

We jump in the truck, I punch up the address on GPS: "ETA: 11 minutes" it reads, as the F-250's giant turbo spools.

4 minutes into our journey, we hit traffic on the freeway. We weren't gonna make it. The trailer was only rented for a day, we can't exactly put the car anywhere because it has no wheels...

"Uhh...call Pick-A-Part? I mean, you won't get any money for the shell but at least it'll be gone and out of sight, out of mind..."

I do so, and we change our route to our local junkyard. Once we got there, it was a bit of relief; they were fine with taking the shell off our hands. Only problem I could think of was...how do you get a wheel-less shell off a trailer?

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Apparently, that's how. Those dudes tag-teamed the shell with two forklifts and it was off the trailer and on the junkyard floor in under 40 seconds. We applauded.

Once we got to the office, got a bit of good news: they'd pay $50 for the shell. Not bad, that was $50 more than we were expecting (though Ecology would probably have given us $100, or so they say...), so I went and bought my buddies more beer and some food.

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7am tomorrow is when we're putting her in. It's been a hectic week, but there's light at the end of the tunnel.

Here's to a smooth operation tomorrow! :D
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Re: Phil's '95 VW Golf Sport (Update: First Real Setback...)

Post by pmacutay »

5-19-12
T-Minus 12 days to car show

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Pulling the 2.0 out went smoothly.

Then, we ran into another obstacle: the clutch master cylinder didn't fit into the pedal! Turns out, passat master cylinders are different than the mk3 ones. Cue a hurried trip down to the local junkyard.

While the junkyard team went down to see if they could find a mk3 VR and pull the clutch master out of it, me and the rest of my buddies noticed another problem: unlike what our friend said, the passat's rad support & radiator would not fit the mk3 crossmember.

On top of that, to run the 5-lug hubs from the passat, we needed to have a mk3 VR subframe + control arms. However, this wasn't too bad of a problem: you can make hybrid axles that bolt up to the VR6 transmission and also have the splines for the 4-lug hubs. A bit of a shame, because 5x100 has better wheel selection than 4x100...but hey, she'll be a sleeper, since everyone will think she's a 2.0 until you hear that rumble.

And then...more bad news: the junkyard closed before our buddies could pull the master cylinder.

We had no choice: she wouldn't drive today. Called it a day, got some rest so we could tackle the project head-on the next day.

5-20-12
T-Minus 11 days to car show

I got up at 7:30am and headed down to the junkyard to see the car for myself and see if I couldn't get the clutch master out.

A friend met me down there and we checked the car out: it was a gold mine. mk3 Jetta VR6, motor and tranny still in it, all the interior and everything still in.

We got to work: pulled the accelerator cable (which was different between all 3 cars, passat vr6, mk3 2.0, and mk3 vr6), pulled the clutch master and slave, verified that the pedal clusters were the same between the mk3 2.0 and mk3 vr6's, pulled good fuel lines (the passat's fuel lines were shot and leaking fuel).

Got a call from another buddy who had a rad for us for cheap, so we decided to not worry about the one at the junkyard.

While we were about to leave, the secondary water pump* caught my eye, so I five-finger-discounted it and saved $100 on buying a new one.

We got the parts to my friend's house, cleaned up the garage, and are now going to take a bit of a break, rest, let me catch up on some work stuff, and tackle the car at 6pm when this summer weather isn't beating down on us.

With a little luck, she might just drive out of that garage tonight.

* = VR6's have a secondary, electric-powered waterpump in addition to the main, belt-powered water pump. It circulates coolant through the engine block after you shut the car off, so that the block cools down evenly, preventing warped heads. The one on the passat wasn't working, which isn't really a big deal, but it's nice to tie up loose ends whenever possible.
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Re: Phil's '95 VW Golf Sport (Update: First Real Setback...)

Post by theholycow »

Why didn't you keep your old clutch master cylinder?

That secondary water pump sounds pretty cool. I wonder why regular water pumps aren't electric...it would seem that demand for circulation is not always proportional to RPM, plus there's a slight amount of power and efficiency to recover when it's doing unnecessary work (though, of course, there's efficiency wasted converting the energy back and forth for an electric pump).

Does the secondary pump run while the engine is running if the primary pump is insufficient/fails?
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Re: Phil's '95 VW Golf Sport (Update: First Real Setback...)

Post by pmacutay »

theholycow wrote:Why didn't you keep your old clutch master cylinder?
2.0 transmission is cable clutch actuated.

5-20-12
T-Minus 11 days to car show

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

Post by theholycow »

Do you prefer hydraulic, or was the cable system not compatible?
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Re: Phil's '95 VW Golf Sport (Update: First Real Setback...)

Post by pmacutay »

theholycow wrote:Do you prefer hydraulic, or was the cable system not compatible?
VR6 transmission is a different transmission, and is hydro clutch. And having driven both, I prefer the hydro clutch.

It's actually heavier than my 2.0's clutch, so it's easier to modulate, and the actuation is very smooth and doesn't have that "stuff sliding against other stuff" feel that the cable clutch did.

5-21-12
T-Minus 10 days to car show

Damn. She is f*cken quick if I do say so myself. Estimating ~190hp at the crank with my mods...I get wheelspin from 4500rpm and upward in first. Torque steer is suddenly a thing now. Took a few friends for rides, a buddy with a mk4 Jetta VR6 just about shat his pants when I dropped the hammer in the middle of him talking, lol. The car pulls so hard that the low gas light comes on whenever I gun it, cuz all the fuel sloshes to the back of the tank and the fuel level sender is in the front :lol:

Engine doesn't leak a single drop of any fluid. Amazing. Just gotta iron out all the little kinks: rad fans not coming on (a big one, as the car overheats if it idles), speedo sensor being broken, seized rear brake caliper, central locking vacuum pump not working, etc. etc.

But as far as the powertrain, it is rock solid, I'm glad I upgraded to poly motor mounts before I went VR6, because there is no play. You plant your foot and the car takes off, no muss no fuss. I'm in love.

Oh, and the sound. Beautiful deep burble when cruising around town, exhaust pops during upshifts and rev-matched downshifts, and the CAI + exhaust turns into what can only be described as a roar when you get in the upper revs.

I have to keep tissues handy because my pants get wet every time I bang out DCHT's now. Ridiculous. I'm speechless.

Still can't believe it's my car. I get in, sit down, and stare at the same dash I've looked at for 4 years, in the same interior...and then I turn the key and hear that symphony of sound? Surreal.

Oh, and cams are already on the to-do list. Naturally.
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Re: Phil's '95 VW Golf Sport (Update: First Real Setback...)

Post by Squint »

pmacutay wrote:Still can't believe it's my car. I get in, sit down, and stare at the same dash I've looked at for 4 years, in the same interior...and then I turn the key and hear that symphony of sound? Surreal.
I feel like this would be the strangest part of the whole thing. Same looking car, suddenly different!
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Re: Phil's '95 VW Golf Sport (Update: First Real Setback...)

Post by potownrob »

this is awesomeness :) . any vids of driving it?? :D
ClutchFork wrote:...So I started carrying a stick of firewood with me and that became my parking brake.
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Re: Phil's '95 VW Golf Sport (Update: First Real Setback...)

Post by pmacutay »

potownrob wrote:this is awesomeness :) . any vids of driving it?? :D
Here's a quick exhaust sound video I did just now since more than a few people are curious.



2.25" crush-bent exhaust system is as follows:
Downpipe - Test Pipe w/ O2 sensor - Small Resonator - Magnaflow twin tip muffler

Yeah, yeah, I know, poor environment...but the cat off the donor car was a washington cat anyway, it's not like it'd pass smog. Eventually down the line I'm going to buy a high-flow CARB-legal cat and get the swap state ref'd so it's a fully legal swap. But for now, this made more sense.

Anyway, I am in love with how much the exhaust pops. It pops on nearly every upshift, every rev-match, every blip...it's amazing. And it's not really much louder than my old 2.0 exhaust note (2.0's are really loud for some reason compared to VR6's)

my old engine for comparison: :lol:
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Re: Phil's '95 VW Golf Sport (Update: First Real Setback...)

Post by watkins »

Just a slight difference.
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Re: Phil's '95 VW Golf Sport (Update: First Real Setback...)

Post by pmacutay »

watkins wrote:Just a slight difference.
:lol:
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Re: Phil's '95 VW Golf Sport VR6 (Update: exhaust clip!)

Post by pmacutay »

It's kind of funny, I spent a lot of effort trying to get the 2.0 to rev faster and have less rev-hang because that engine was so lethargic...

Now, with the VR6, the revs fall so fast that I don't have time to execute a relaxed shift. I either have to blip a bit to revmatch (an upshift, lol) or don't come completely off the gas to slow the revs dropping.
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Re: Phil's '95 VW Golf Sport VR6 (Update: exhaust clip!)

Post by potownrob »

sounds good. i'm not one to enjoy listening to louder exhausts, but the VR6 is one engine that sounds good exhaust or not :twisted:
ClutchFork wrote:...So I started carrying a stick of firewood with me and that became my parking brake.
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Re: Phil's '95 VW Golf Sport VR6 (Update: exhaust clip!)

Post by Squint »

One, did you get all the small stuff worked out? And two, how was the car show? Since you were doing a countdown until then, I expected an update :lol: :lol:
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