Mk1 Golf GTI to 20v 1.8t Conversion

A long time ago i purchased this silver mk1 to replace my old lhasa green mk1 which had been written off, in 2004 it got all the outside restored, new panels front and back, wings, bonnet and boot.
then I set about replacing the 8v engine which i broke later on in that year, so undertook cleaning up the engine bay which wasn't done at the time of the body work.

wasn't a bad bay to begin with, so i've just rubbed down the bad spots and had some paint made up in rattle cans and attacked it, nearly done, got the inner passenger wing to do, once i sort out the gash mess of some filler from previous past, then scuttle tray to paint up too, forgot my tools this afternoon so couldn't remove the fan cover on the scuttle tray.
then it all needs a coat of lacquer in there.

masked off what i could stuff that isn't masked off with be replaced or cleaned down with thinners at a later date. to bring it back up to scratch.





Awful bit of filler[xx(]

was rubbing that back today, not sure how to make it smooth and neat again[:s]

then the new paint on there











once thats sorted i can offer up the engine to work out mounts for it, then i have the fun job of new brake lines and fuel lines.

more tarting up to be done with calipers and rear brakes, all need cleaning and painting again to protect them.

farted arsed about for a very long time with bits and bobs of engines till I got a complete AUQ engine for a good price which had everything done for the conversion,
but then nothing much has happened, collection of parts, selling of parts, collection of more parts. I have a short attention span and plans change as do money needs.





so i thought i'd do the rear brakes, took one look at them and thought not for me, but then attacked them anyway and regretted it! specially as i found a part that needs replacing.

new front brakes



new vr6 clutch


engine and box finally sat in the bay as it should be, front end needs painting again.




i knew it was close, but i didn't realise just how close!




Now this is the part i need for the rear drum brakes



seems its been screwed up by the wheel bolts, must have happened when running wheel adapters for the porsche rims.

Nice pedal box from crazy quiffs for the hydro clutch.

so thats now fitted. just deciding on the route for the hose to take, inside or outside of the car to the gearbox.

Parents got me a new fuel pump and accumulator bracket, had fun this morning removing the old rusted on bolts that haven't been looked at for 27yrs, only one played up and decided to round off. those to paint and put on.

Holes have been drilled for the mounting of the throttle pedal, just need to whizz off the old throttle pedal mount.

some point last year I got a house with a proper double garage with power, so out of its tiny council garage into its new double garage. work starts tomorrow evening in earnest[] Made life so much easier for lots of jobs that needed doing. much easier in space with light and power

right out of the garage this evening for its first clean in several years, looks a lot better for it and lifted my spirits in knowing that most of the paint work is still sparkly. Its off on holiday tomorrow to get the intercooler pipework seen to and a few other bits. Fitted all bar one fuel line to the car now, some bits i'm happy with, others will need to be redone/rethought as i'm not happy with. such as the fuel pump, not happy with the fit of the feedline from the tank. Still haven't over come this problem, the pipe supplied from CQ was just not going to go on there, no matter how long it got soaked in warm water to soften up, plus the clips were nowhere big enough once connected up. going to source some 8mm and 10mm pipe and try again.

nearly there with some more engine bits, went on holiday earlier in the year to sub11motorsport and James there worked his magic on routing the IC and coolants pipes in a clean fashion in the engine bay as best you can with the K03s set up.

some bits and bobs that have been used


then some other bits got added




Just waiting for the loom to be completed by rubjonny and then brave firing her up

also had the rear axle blasted by hs blasting of bedford. top job. replaced all the bushes, what a bastard job some of those are. the fitting guide on here was really helpful in keeping my motivation up to get it done.

looking good, i have a soft spot for sliver mk1's….even softer with a 20vt lol!

Looks great mate. Keep the info coming and the inspiration going for me

Lovely project mate.. Keep it coming

Nice project mate,
Gonna be good one :wink:

having not done much with it for months, I now have my wiring loom back from rubjonny and scratching my head on how to best to fit it to make it neat and also work out where the hell everything goes.

As my old lower strut brace didn't fit  with my chosen gear box, i popped in one day to James at www.sub11motorsport.com who had just made a batch of these up. Perfect for the job of clearing the 02A and 02J gearboxes.

Hello bud nice bild can I ask did u use off the self mounts to fit the engine and box thanks Chris as I'm running my 1.8 dx engine for the last time this year

yep, engine mount from strictly dubs, as they were the only ones to sell them at the time, i've had it for a few years now.

gearbox mounts from vagobonds.

he sells them all now with bushes fitted.
or just caddys do them for a good price and well made.


i've massive respect for those who run hidden looms there is loads to tuck away.

i like all those braided lines. and that strut brace too. i want one!

golf1980 said

i like all those braided lines. and that strut brace too. i want one!

Give James a call at sub11

braided lines weren't to much money off ebay and smarten up the bay.

cheers mate. you are going to have a really nice mk1 when you are finished. do you have a dead line at all?
i find it is best not to really! lol

7yrs off the road so far, lol time rich money poor.

really want it running this year.

flip me! 7 years! there is me winging about 15 months!
if you get it done this year, i'll make you a key ring

Brill thank u very much well good luck with it what ecu you running on her and I must say too the strut brace is yummy