Jessie the tdi mk1 jetta (haldex conversion begining...) 12/09/17 update!

Hi all, here's Jessie, my mk1 jetta, very straight and original, only mods are coilovers and series 1 dash conversion, the Renault wheels didn't come with the car but I didn't like them anyway!

once we got it  home the transplant could begin, the engine came out on Saturday, the engine bay was steam cleaned today and I must say has come up very clean indeed! (Pic was taken before being washed!!!)


Conversion parts at the ready, mounts from the just caddy and a hydro clutch conversion column from just caddys too.
the donor vehicle, a bora pd130 highline, bought from a friend that got T-boned at a junction,


oh and my 22mm master cylinder and 9 inch servo too,

plans for this week are:
Drill out and move engine mount to big block setup
swap column and brake linkage setup for 9inch setup
make up new brake pipes
mount clutch fluid pot and run line inside car to gearbox area
send off bora wiring loom and ecu to vagtronics for immobiliser decode and loom slim down!
thwt should keep me busy for a bit! Waiting formy clutch to arrive so I can mate the engine and gearbox together and I can get the Cambelt kit and waterpump on and conversion mounts fitted,

Nice car buddy. Good luck with the engine conversion.  

Your cab was one of the reasons I got involved on this site  with my Mk1 mate, subscribed!

Interested to see where this goes!

Ok so I had abit more spare time than expected today so got a few bits done on Jessie,
swapped the steering column for the hydro clutch version
old one removed

New one installed

managed to get the small block mount removed, only to find that the one I bought a few weeks ago turns out to be a gearbox mount not an engine mount!! Might just spin the old one over and use that,

going to get the engine bay stripped and cleaned again, get the engine mounted in place, and tack the engine mount in, then remove the engine again and weld fully, then going to stone chip the lower half of the bay and then paint under the bonnet to freshen it up a bit,
got the Water pump and Cambelt kit fitted this afternoon too, also got the covers cut and conversion mount trial fitted, need to get some shorter Allan key bolts to fit the mount properly.

Bit more progress today guys, dug the gearbox out from under the bench, gave it a good steam clean, then a couple of coats of satin black

Clutch kit and flywheel bolts arrived today,

heres a picture of the part number for future reference ( golf mk3 2.8 vr6 clutch kit)

Clutch fitted, just waiting for the gearbox to dry and I will mate the two together forever!

got a little bored while I was waiting for paint to dry and did a bit of colouring in!


started stripping the brake servo and brake bar out tonight, disconnected the brake lines and got the master off, ordered my clutch flexi hose and fittings today too, 6mm pipe for the clutch pipe, with a pressure switch along the way somewhere (cruise control cutoff switch) probably hide it under the dash somewhere, also got to fit 2 T pieces in the brake lines one for the lights and the other for the cruise control cut off.

next plan of action is
strip engine bay of all wiring and brake setup
trial fit engine and weld in Cambelt chassis mount,
offer up clutch flexi and make bracket for chassis leg
remove everything from within the bay and degrease
Stone-chip lower half of engine bay
paint entire bay before refit 

COming along nicely now. How did you find the anti theft bolts when removing the steering column.

Had a go at mine the other week as I am going hydro and 2 hours later they're still in place. Any tips?

smudger said

COming along nicely now. How did you find the anti theft bolts when removing the steering column.

Had a go at mine the other week as I am going hydro and 2 hours later they're still in place. Any tips?

Dremel or Angle grinder if you have a steady hand mate, I did mine, took a while but if your careful its not too hard…

Got at them with a chisel and hammer to make a nick in them and get them spinning but they just weren't having it    

Which Dremel did you use/do you own Joe?

Fair play Jamie youve got stuck in straight away! Best way really, lost interest in mine since i got that valver off you, but been thinkin i need to get crackin before i lose the garage space!

I have also been thinking about a PD… so will deffo be keeping an eye on this one!

Good luck mate, love mk1 jets, look forward to seeing it finished!  

smudger said

COming along nicely now. How did you find the anti theft bolts when removing the steering column.

Had a go at mine the other week as I am going hydro and 2 hours later they're still in place. Any tips?

I used a grinder with a 1mm cutting disk to cut a slot in the bolts and then turned them with a screwdriver with a spanner attached to it! Was quite easy I must admit!

Ashlol said

Fair play Jamie youve got stuck in straight away! Best way really, lost interest in mine since i got that valver off you, but been thinkin i need to get crackin before i lose the garage space!

I have also been thinking about a PD… so will deffo be keeping an eye on this one!

Good luck mate, love mk1 jets, look forward to seeing it finished!  

No point hanging around is there! Had the engine and mounts ready for the mk1 I had, since sold that and bought Jessie so everything was there and almost ready to fit, wiring loom is being sent tomorrow to vagtronics to be converted and the immobiliser deleted, should make the wiring an easy job instead of a ball ache!!

Well bit of an update guys, I've had all my stuff back from the blasters for my brake bar setup, had most of it done black, got stainless fittings throughout, managed to get it all built today (didn't take any pics though) I knw have my brake fluid bottle and screen wash bottle soaking in cillit bang to make them clear again as they have gone yellow, so we will see how that goes.
My new chassis mount has arrived, that has been cut from the chassis leg it came attached too, need to grind the spot welds back abit then make sure that fits, might get the engine trail fitted this weekend, mock up the clutch hose and make the bracket for that, remove the old brake pipes and basically get it ready for painting. Oh oh I've also got myself a set of wheels coming! There going to be refurbished straight away with a little twist! Pics to follow tomorrow

Wel the engine bay looks bare now! Stripped everything out today and got busy with the grinder and welder! Managed to get some of the brackets on the firewall removed, stripped out the brake pipes, removed the old brake bar and servo, welded the new mount in and  filled the holes left from the small block mount, here's a few pics of today's efforts

the 4 way brake pipe tees make plumbing much easier, one switch for brake lights and one for cruise control cut off,



Then we got onto this slight issue with lining up the bolts to begin with but got it in eventually and got it tack welded, we then removed it and fully welded it all round


oh yeah engine went in for a trail fit too! Lower half all stone chipped after cleaning, should look good once painted

So I'm still waiting on my wiring loom, I've fitted my new pump to my lift pump assembly, just need to fit it, 100mm shafts have arrived and they fit my original hubs too! Result! Sorted my lower coolant hose worked it out if was from a Peugeot 3072.0 hdi top hose., need to buy a new radiator and sort an intercooler out, wheels have arrived and been sent straight to the blasters to be refurbed, they may be back before Xmas I think, got a new roll of 8mm copper pipe to make up new fuel lines, a new roll of brake pipe to make up new linesalso, can't do anything till the bay gets painted! Need to go see my painter this week, see if he can fit me in ASAP!

More soon………….

bens_cab this is the jetta I was telling u about

great project which i'll be watching with interest.

where are you getting your clutch line parts from and what bits are needed?

The clutch master conversion was done by just caddys, the fluid bottle I'm not to sure what I'm going to use yet, but the line to the slave cylinder is just standard 6mm copper nickel pipe, we did think about Running it in 3/16 but looked at the original from the bora and it was 6mm so opted to keep it the same size, fluid transfer will be quicker and pedal feel should be quite light,I'm not quite sure what the flexi hose I have for the slave is from, but it has m12 fittings on both ends so one end will screw straight into the slave cylinder and the other will be clipped to the chassis leg with the copper nickel pipe attached to it, as for the clutch switch I'm fitting, it's just a hydro brake light switch teed into the 6mm pipe, as the bora had cruise control the ecu needs to know that the brake/clutch has been pressed so it can cut the cruise off, the bora had switches on t&t he pedals but figured my idea would work too!!
Spent quite a bit of time yesterday working out brake pipe and clutch pipe routing, don't want it to looked cluttered with pipes but want it functional, I was thinking about a wire tuck while I was stripping it all out but decided against it, I'm not stripping the bay to bare just for looks, it needs to be functional and factory looking.

This is a incredible build!

Going to watching this one!

Cheers Richy_Rich
Ye it's guna be an epic street sleeper when finished, almost standard from the outside apart from the wheels and the coilovers, should be on the road late jan or early feb, run it for a bit and give it a shakedown, then head to long life in Oswestry for a custom stainless exhaust, nothing loud, watch this space!