Top 3 Engine Conversion Donor Car For A MK2 Golf? 

It looks like our 3.5 convertible is going to be used for parts for a number of the cars in the workshop

@@BarnClubCars it's such a good crossover platform. And usually 20x less rusty than the mk2 or even mk3 stuff.

And their is plenty of cheap ones with torn roofs out there.

I would like to see 1.6 16v from Lupo GTI in mk1 or mk2

@@samueljvolf over a 2.0?

Good work. It’s a great swap 👍🏻

You can change the bracket on the back of the block to the mk2 one.

I looked into this. Involves a lot of fab and weld work but possible.. Have a look at a few threads for haldex conversions

They’ve got the 01m transmission which is a 4 speed auto. It’s a good swap and not to hard to do 👍🏻

The 1.8t side of things is pretty straight forward. The 4wd conversion is quite involved. It’s been done but it’s a huge amount of work

More or less

Fitting the engine is quite a straightforward job. The gearbox is another matter though. Most people use a 5 speed from a 2.3 v5 mk4 golf. Fitting the 4wd is possible but a lot of fabrication work.

Great choice 👍🏻

I'd guess they would have the same geaarbox codes on the USA and Japan. Google the gearbox code and you'll find compatible ones.

Yes you can just bolt up the subframe from the Ibiza in to the mk2 golf. The Ibiza steering knuckle is different so you’ll need to swap it with a power steering one from a mk2 but it’s a really easy conversion. There are plenty of wiring guides online or you can just send your loom off to a company and have it converted to plug in to a mk2 golf fuse box 👍🏻

when we are talking about modern VAG cars, everything is very simple, they are mostly the same platform with the same engine family with some exceptions. so mechanically just pick the engine and gearbox you want and it will most likely just bolt in, maybe need to experiment with some mounts to see what fits but nothing big, the boring part will most likely be getting the electrical stuff to work.

@@soapmcsoapface1787 yeah that's the only issue that im trying to figure out electrical stuff in vag cars are complicated

@@djalilderr2831 yeah it is probably the stage where most people would get stuck. Because everything is just connected to eachother and there is so much to think about when it comes to the electrical side. First of all would be make sure you get the ECM from the donor car, then engine loom depends, they are different depending on what gearbox you run, that is the easy electrical part. After that comes the issue of getting it talking to the car which means going trough and checking where all the wires should go to because it may not be the same layoutin the connectors, you may need stuff like the gauge cluster to get it to work. For sure you would need to get a hold of the wiring diagram for both cars to compare.

I have a red jetta mk2 1990 model... it was 1.8 csi/cli 8v kjetronic, i have now fitted 40 weber carbs with a 288 cam will be starting her up this coming morning wish me luck

That sounds like a great set up for your Jetta 👍🏻

@@forexemilio1785 so, how did it go?

@@AutumnWind92 hm myb he is not eith us anymore 😂

The Ibiza is good as it all swaps over, subframe,280mm brakes, rear disk setup and so on. The Audi TT or the MK1 Skoda Octavia VRS have a 1.8t which you can use but then lots of good bits to sell on to fund your project. They both have 5x100 312mm front brakes and vented rears (VRS and 225 TT) Or MK4 Ibiza cupras have brembo front brakes and other bits that sell well. But the MK3 Ibiza Cupra was the perfect parts bin special to swap in to your MK2.

@@BarnClubCars thanks for the insight, keep up the great work.

Hi Jason. Yeah it’s a pretty straightforward swap. If the mk2 is a later one with ce2 wiring then the mk3 loom plugs in to the mk2 fuse box. Mk3 vr6’s are getting expensive now but if you can get a rotten one then you could be on to a winner 👍🏻

@@BarnClubCars thanks for the response. I have a 90' gli and a 99 gti vr6 that I'd like to swap. I'm a mk2 fan. Great videos, btw.

@@jasonhamilton560 I am finishing up my 2.8 vr6 conversion and planning on posting the footage on RU-vid at some point (probably under a different profile). In addition to having a mk3 2.8 donor you will need the front cross member (motor mount half and radiator mount half) from a b3/b4 vr6 passat. I believe you can use the radiator half from the mk2 but the passat works well (so far) with the mk3 radiator.

Yes all the bits are interchangeable 👍🏻

It’s a great conversation and very easy to do as the wiring is ce2. You’d need to raise the transmission tunnel and the boot floor. The donor cars are hard to come by but it’s a mk3 so it will be full of rust so a perfect donor if you can find one 👍🏻

@@BarnClubCars That's awesome, thankfully i wasnt wrong that it wont be as hard as i thought. And because i live in lithuania, there's actually plentyfull of mk3 vr6's, they are quite popular here. I'll be sure to make a video on it.:)

It’s a good option. There are some bits that are t a direct swap but there’s been plenty of swaps done so someone will know the differences

Thankyou I appreciate it looking to get my project up and running and wanting a bit more than the 1.3 it came with

The 2.0 tank is ok. The mk3 tank has the larger hole in the tank so you can fit mk4 in tank fuel pumps from 1.8t’s or r32’s

@@BarnClubCars wow thanks buddy . Jetta or golf mk3 tank witch one should I use??

@@BarnClubCars how about the mk3 cabriolet??

Yeah that works. I’ll be using the one from the convertible we just bought for a 1.8t conversion

@@BarnClubCars thanks I'll be watching your videos

Yeah it’s a great one. We’ve done that a few times over the years

We got the cross flow in the final year of the 3.5 convertible. We’ve got one in ours. The Touareg and the Porsche Cayenne 3.2 V6 engines are the same yeah. I always think it would be good to buy a cheap Cayenne and drive it till something goes wrong with it and then drop the engine on a mk2 👍🏻

@@BarnClubCars Did not know that about the cross flow making it into the last year. I assumed with RHD it would be cramped with the brake components. Very jealous of your variety of donor car options.

It’s exactly the same 👍🏻

I can’t wait to see yours back on the road Danny 👍🏻

@@BarnClubCars have ya seen mine ?

It’s different strokes for different folks man. Yes a standard gti or g60 will always pull more money than a modified one. But some people are building a car they want to drive and not keeping a car nice for the next owner. If you’ve got an auto driver with a tidy body and you want to make it quicker then why not drop something else in. You can always change it back later, that’s the beauty of a mk2, they’re so simple to work on.