85 Mk1 Full ABA swap Build Thread by Exton_Dubs

12 minute(s) of a 25 minute read

85 Mk1 Full ABA swap Build Thread

Complements of Exton_Dubs @ VWVortex

December 08, 2010

I haven't been in here for a minute but the cabrio is currently off the road and undergoing a heart transplant. I will start posting some pics soon but for starters I have some some stuff to get rid of and wanted to give everyone here first dibs.

#1 is the original 87K JH motor complete with alternator and A/C compressor in excellent working condition with a complete CIS system. It was just tuned up and ran like a champ all summer, but I will no longer be needing its services. The one part I will be needing however is the distributor.

$250.00

#2 is my set of 4 polished P-Slots I put together over the summer. I remember when I posted pics when they were finished ther was some interest, so now is your chance.

Sorry to start a build thread with stuff for sale and no pics but I will be finished with rad school for the semester soon and will start uploading my progress. Right now the motor is stripped down to bare metal and awaiting me to have a few minutes to paint it. Many, many upgraded parts have been ordered and it should start coming together quickly after Christmas.

Thanks for reading and I will post some pics ASAP! 

December 10, 2010

So here is a link to the flickr account where all the build pics reside from the very beginning. I will be working on the motor a little this weekend after I get the rear brakes on the Passat finished and will update the link with some new higher res shots as well.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/veedubg...7625568763988/

December 11, 2010

block is stripped and ready for paint, and all the paint finally arrived yesterday. Just updated the flickr site with some pics of a 16 year old 2.0 stripped down to bare metal.

Also if you are considering doing this here is where you should start:

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...K1-info-thread

December 14, 2010

Well the semester is about to end and this will be updating on a more regular basis. Keep an eye on the flickr for new pics. Only news today is that I have decided to ditch my plans for rewiring the car and going CE2 for side draft carbs. More specifically 4 40mm R1 race bike carbs. Slightly more expensive, a little more power, no rewiring the entire car! Time to go fire up the heat in the shed and fire up the roto-zip.

December 16, 2010

Well just got back in form the work shop and did some more work prepping the engine for paint. I think at this point it is as good as its going to get. Here are a few pics from today and they are also on the Flickr page as well.

December 16, 2010

So I got the oil pan and valve cover cleaned, stripped, and painted this afternoon.

December 18, 2010

Have a VR6 water pump pulley inbound. Today took the new water pump out of the box and painted it and cleaned and painted the old intermediate gear. Christmas can not get here soon enough so I can start ordering the rest of the parts to finish this! Need to bring the head in and start cleaning and prepping that next week. Need the block off plate so that I can paint the block and start putting this thing back together. I was thinking of just soaking the head in mineral spirits, any thoughts or suggestions?

December 20, 2010

Look mom, no valves! Well it took two trips to find a valve compression tool that will work on an 8V head, but once I got the right equipment the thing came apart pretty darn easy. Hopefully it will go back together that way! Right now the head is soaking in 18 liters of Coca-Cola making all sorts of strange popping sounds. I could see all the grime and deposits melting off as I poured it in. Next will be a thorough wash in the dishwasher, a fine detailing with the Shark steamer, and them paint. Things are moving along quite nicely today!

December 22, 2010

A glimpse into the future. Cleaning the valves today while they are out, then re-seating everything and hoping Santa brought me my 270 cam.

January 07, 2011

I have been on vacation so not much progress. Came home to some parts though so I need to get painting and reassembling this weekend. Still need to get a cam and finish pulling apart the exhaust manifold, then I am ready to start putting everything back together.

Updates to come shortly and Happy New Year! 

January 10, 2011

So the block is finally painted and believe it or not reassembly has begun. Painted all the pulleys and the adjustable cam gear yesterday. Today installed the oil pump, water pump, thermostat, VR6 water pump pulley, and the lightweight underdrive pulley. Just need to start ordering parts and button the motor up. Then the real fun begins as the actual swap takes place...

Here are two photo's from today, check out the flickr for more.

January 12, 2011

January 17, 2011

Making several large purchases this week to finish out this build. Keep an eye out because next weekend will be an all out wrench-a-thon...

January 28, 2011

Quite a bit of progress lately. The parts have been rolling in but have just not had enough time to both put them on, and update this thread. So I got all new gasket sets for the top and bottom and refreshed the motor. New valve stem seals, front and rear main seals, intermediate shaft, etc, etc.

Rebuilt the head a second time with some heavy duty high lift springs, just waiting on my 270 cam to get here from NGP to finish that. Just got done bolting down the head to the block and putting on some of the aux parts. Still have a box of stuff in the basement I am going to start tackling tonight, and a bunch more on the way.

Here are some pics of where I am at right now:

January 30, 2011

I ordered a fresh ABA lower hose, and I still have the old JH motor with the metal housing so one way or another I will get it hooked up, but good looking out anyways. Spent some time today redoing the lower main seals and related gaskets, getting the oil pan back on, modifying the new BFI valve cover and painting a few things. It actually looks like a motor now!

February 02, 2011

Installed the new TT cam last night and the adjustable cam gear. Put the new valve coveron and buttoned up everything. Just waiting to get my carb intake manifold fabricated and sort out a few more miscellaneous parts.

Swap is going down the first weekend of march if anyone is interested.

The breather block off is if you are intending to run CIS or ditch fuel injection all together. If you do the hybrid ABA/JH swap and keep CIS you need the block off plate since that is where the warm up unit mounts. The breather on the block is part of the PVC/evap system and is only required for a full swap using an ABA fuel injection sysetem and ECU. Since I am going with carbs I decided to block off the breather and go with a catch can system with an integrated breather. That kills 2 birds with one stone since I also deleted the PCV system from the valve cover.

The BFI valve cover has 2 outlets that will run to the oil catch can can and breath through that system instead.

I am putting 4 40MM R1 Yamaha race bike carbs on a custom fabricated intake. My friend has it on his MK1 Jetta ABA swap and it is cheap easy big power. All the electrical stays in tact so no need to re wire or swap cluster/ECU/fuseblock.making it essentially a plug and play swap.

I need to move over the oil pressure and temp sensors which are the same on both engines, and then splice in the ABA temperature sensor into the MK1 wires. In theory all the stock gauges should work as they did originally, and the engine will just do its own thing after some tuning with the wide band O2 setup.

March 21, 2011

Intake manifold is back from the fabricator, ABF alternator bracket came in from the UK, got my 170 jets from the Yamaha dealer. Just waiting for a few free days and this puppy is going in the Cabby.

April 02, 2011

last of my carb parts arrived this morning. Going to try and find time next week to put them together. Today I need to ride down to WV and pick up new wheels. Anyone have some conical lugs laying around? 

April 13, 2011

This weekend may be sketchy unless I sell these tires today. Right now I am broke as a joke. Need to stop over the brothel and pick up my left over parts, do the external assembly of the carbs. Think when we do the engine swap I am going to pull the front end off again and realign it properly. Passenger side is fine, but I was rushing at 3AM and its a bit wonky. How is next weekend looking? I will be getting paid then and should have sold some more parts at that point. Need to stop by coovers as well and get some new drivers side seals for the top. It is fine when we get a little rain, but when we have several days of consecutive downpours my seat gets soaked.

new fenders and hood installed, new wheels, euro bumpers w/smoked turns, quad round conversion, and grill spoiler.

April 25, 2011

Before:

During:

After:

Still need to finish this, but we are close. Just need another day or two... 

May 08, 2011

May 15, 2011

Figured out what was wrong with the charging system over the weekend. Installed a mechanical water temp gauge and ordered the ultra low temp thermostat. Going to get a custom exhaust made on Friday and it will be ugly, but ready for daily driving duty. Will post pics soon.

June 08, 2011

Giving it a bath this afternoon and will finally take some pics now that the swap is 100% done. Check back later today for more updates!

Sorry I kind of flaked out on this build thread

June 14, 2011

I started taking more pictures, but the camera died. Will continue to upload later