Ronnie the 5 Door

GTI_Jim said

Cant wait to see this,   what size rims will you be running?

Well for a short while it will be sitting on my winter wheels, until I can pick up some 3 piece splits. The winter wheels are 15x7 and 15x8. If they sit right with the bags I'll probably play it safe and stick to the same setup, but that could change over time!  

Strong work. Really good choice on the colour. Suits the lines of the car well.

Looks better in the new colour and I like the single headlight grill much better than the twin spots grill

heartagram said

Strong work. Really good choice on the colour. Suits the lines of the car well.

keekster said

Looks better in the new colour and I like the single headlight grill much better than the twin spots grill

Cheers lads! Glad you like the colour choice, it was a big decision to make, and a tricky one with it being a 5 door. Wanted to avoid anything too bright, and lean more towards class with some subtlety.

I do like the gx model but the choice of colours they came in were so dreary. I think you nailed it, it's a colour vw should have offered. 😁

looking good, cant wait to see the finished work!

air ride on yet???  

browner01 said

air ride on yet???  

it is! hahaha. I know, it needs a notch! sits tight on the rear now ive put the rear wheels on, but the fronts sat firmly on the driveshafts. Be sat as low as yours soon hopefully!

Ill be posting an update soon, when ive finally finished fitting the interior. Going to finish getting the front seats in today, and hopefully make a start on the rears!  

Hello again!

Figured i'd pop back in and update this thread. A lot has happened in a year!

First of all, the notch was completed just weeks after its return to the road.



And with a little camber adjustment on the topmounts, it sat down at the front.



Paid a visit to Three Sisters Race Circuit.. im sure you agree; it blends right in 

Ronnie made it back onto the road for all of 3 sunny months before winter kicked in and I started having issues with starting. A lot of fettlin' occurred before the decision was made to just rip the engine out and do what I should have done in the first place.









Then I decided that the engine bay should be a lot shinier and a lot smoother. So I stripped it back and began filling in a load of holes.





Was nice to get rid of some of the excess sealant spill they threw all over it in the 80's and really clean it up. Got rid of the brake servo and any other unnecessary brackets that were cluttering the bay. Then threw some primer on.



Then to keep with the initial theme, threw some piano black gloss over it along with a few coats of lacquer. All paint and primer were applied with a gravity fed gun, no rattle cans. It was however my first go at serious filler work, prep and body-spraying.





Eventually it was time to source an engine and gearbox. After struggling to source an ABF, I decided to take the 1.8T route. With massive help of the mk1 owners forum, I knew where to look and what to buy.

Sooner or later an AGU arrived. Was pricier than some of the stock AGU's available but was claimed to have only seen 76k miles. This seemed low in comparison to others available, especially for an engine of 1998.



As for the gearbox, the 02A CTN seemed a nice box to go for, just very hard to get hold of. Again more expensive than a typical gearbox.

When it arrived it looked like it had been dragged through a swamp, so Im looking forward to seeing what happens 

So as usual.. clean, brush, sand, prime, paint…





Then came the time to give the AGU some TLC. Paint, Clutch and Flywheel. Obviously went for the common VR6/G60 combo.





Once the engine was cleaned up, it was time to consider brake and clutch power. Since im no longer running a servo and the gearbox runs a hydraulic clutch, I decided to run a bias setup. I first considered floor mounting a Compbrake pedal box, but ended up returning the part as I was feeling a more OEM look inside, with it being a more-door. I got in touch with Martyn Phillips who sorted me a top-mounted converted mk1 golf pedal box for a very fair price and the finished product was exactly what was expected. He also offers a lot of support with fitting instruction and assistance.





This meant I had to re-do the brake lines to make it a true front-to-rear bias setup. To get the brake lines through the bulkhead in any tidy manor, I decided to use a male fitting through the bulkhead to join up the two sections on each line. The bends arent perfect as all lines have been done by hand tools, but since the engine will hide most of it, I didnt let it bother me… too much. (Please excuse the orange-peel)






It all didn't stop at the brake lines though, I then had to source some bigger discs. I first attempted to complete a 256mm conversion, but this seemed more work than getting the more common 280mm G60 swap using Epytec conversion parts.





I also picked up a rear disc swap.. as expected.



Then many months later I squeezed a big thing into a small hole..









Engine was fitted with Epytec mounts. Very well made, great service and fast delivery. Due to the lack of turbo's available, I read up that plenty have used the Chinese K03-052's, so I picked up one of them. Managed to also source a QPENG downpipe for half the price of retail, so had one of them sent out.





Then looked into getting breathing bits fitted so made a start fitting a universal intercooler, buying hoses at a time and guessing as I went along. Still more to do on that front.



I think this is where I will wrap it up. Most of the parts I got off ebay and advice was always found on this forum. Huge thanks to anyone who has ever posted information about 20v conversions into mk1s, whether it be how-to's or past experiences with certain components, its always useful stuff. Ill round up some stuff below.

Engine Code: AGU
Gearbox Case Code: 02A
Gearbox Internal Code: CTN

Silicon hoses: Creation Motorsport
Intercooler: eBay (Universal)
Downpipe: QPENG
Loom/ECU: Vagtronics / AGU Factory ECU
Brake Conversion Brackets: Epytec
Conversion Engine Mounts: Epytec
Stainless Gear Linkage Rods for 02A: Epytec
Factory Converted Bias Pedal Box: Martyn Phillips

Below is pretty much how the car stands to this day. Still quite a way to go yet with a few bits to finish, but the car has come a long way!



I also picked up some new wheels! Can you guess what they are?



Thanks for catching up. Any questions, ask!

Dan

Brilliant work, great photos to boot!    

Golf Cabrio said

Brilliant work, great photos to boot!    

Cheers mate! 

Excellent work, there's clearly been a lot of love put into that car, hope you're planning to keep it!

Colour is great

What are the wheels then? Never seen them before

Morgie said

Excellent work, there's clearly been a lot of love put into that car, hope you're planning to keep it!

Colour is great

What are the wheels then? Never seen them before

All the usual stuff; love, hate, swearing, money and time!  

Yeah i'll be keeping it for as many years as I can, as I likely wont get back anywhere near what I now have in it.

The wheels are Cromodora Abarth splits, with Gotti barrels and hardware I believe  

Mk1_Dan said

All the usual stuff; love, hate, swearing, money and time!  

Yeah i'll be keeping it for as many years as I can, as I likely wont get back anywhere near what I now have in it.

The wheels are Cromodora Abarth splits, with Gotti barrels and hardware I believe  

 Ah of course, should have guessed haha

What are the specs going to be?

Morgie said

Mk1_Dan said

All the usual stuff; love, hate, swearing, money and time!  

Yeah i'll be keeping it for as many years as I can, as I likely wont get back anywhere near what I now have in it.

The wheels are Cromodora Abarth splits, with Gotti barrels and hardware I believe  

 Ah of course, should have guessed haha

What are the specs going to be?

   As in wheel specs? 

Top work Dan, more door love

GTI_Jim said

Top work Dan, more door love

Cheers Jim!

Just a quick update. Spent the entire weekend working on the daily driver, so a mate of mine (Mike) came round and tinkered with Ronnies wiring for me on the Saturday. Two Golfs: One weekend! Game on.

In between fitting suspension to the daily I fitted a new tensioner and belt to the mk1, fitted like a dream, as expected.



Im trying to keep the bay as tidy as possible but remain practical. As much as I love a smooth bay with a major wire tuck, it must create some serious issues! Ive done a partial wire tuck under the wing but the bulk of the loom runs through the bulk head from the ECU. So.. starter motor, lights, fans, alternator.. all that sort of stuff is just tucked and tidied away under the wing.

After Mike had made more sense of the wiring we made a list of some of the sensors that Im missing. We also fitted and tidied the boost pipework. I require some more clips and something to support the pipe, but its all noted.



Over the next few weeks I'll get done what I can with the parts/funds I do have, but the next big update may be in the new year once the parts list has been purchased. The list is quite long but each individual job shouldn't take too long so I think were getting close to launch date.

Dan 

Lovely colour Dan, This is a great looking car! 

Dan 

Bidder87 said

Lovely colour Dan, This is a great looking car! 

Dan 

Cheers Dan! Unfortunately it's not as tidy as it once was with being in the garage again for yet another 12 months. Hopefully I can have it back looking fresh again once the heart is beating.

Dan