91 Golf GTI VR6 conversion 'KTF'

[MK2VR6]

I tried to start a thread for my VR ages back, but never added any real detail. I'm probably going to move it on in the none-too-distant future, but thought I'd slap a few photos up for others to enjoy, and for me to reflect on my choices.

They say cats have 9 lives...

Mine was an accountant rep-mobile for the first four years of its life.

Then, as the years went on, and as with many aging performance cars, it got used a little too excitedly.
A gentle tap on the nose led to all the original 90 spec detail being stripped, skirts an' all. Looking decidedly dowdy after 11 years of 'performing'





Fast forward a couple more years and a couple more owners. As a 13 year old, it's good to see correct bumpers and period alloys, although the 'abused look' is definitely in now. Cue a small engine fire and things get worse.



The late-teen years are a little hazy, with previous owner tales of trying another engine, it failing, and being pushed around from pillar to post generally.



Fortunately someone with an ounce of sense eventually steps in, just before ideas of the old girl (now aged about 19) becoming a donor car comes to fruition, I'd imagine.

He then spends a healthy £1600 on fitting a low-mileage VR6 setup professionally, before another new owner steps in.

This owner sorts the ride height and has some appropriate wheels fabricated.

Then I step in and enjoy. Fortunately the teenage spots and unhealthy looks have generally gone, with just some light scars to show the 22 year journey.

[ChasR]

What is the story with the wheels and engine swap? It certainly looks promising!

[MK2VR6]

Nov 11, 2013 0:02:33 GMT ChasR said:

What is the story with the wheels and engine swap? It certainly looks promising!

Lots done, but brief synopsis:
60,000 mile VR6 was sourced and fitted. Properly.
Custom Jetex stainless decat exhaust setup.
Widetrack 5 stud conversion.
Vibra-Technics front mount.
VR6 288's up front.


As for the wheels, they're 9x16 banded VW steels. The PO, who had them done, reckoned they were from a Touran, but I'm not convinced, as they're not 5x100 iirc. Whatever the case, the tyres have a healthy stretch to fit under the arches. More photos to follow in a bit.

[MK2VR6]

First things first, I had to sort out the unhappy running, which appeared after a few too many short journeys.
Throttle body looked like this when I stripped it off:



Damn good clean up and this was the result:



Better, but still not 100%, and as the damp weather came in recently, running got worse to the point it was only running on 5. Quick look in the dark and I could see the spark literally flying around one of the coilpack terminals. Coilpack duly ripped out and it looked original. And buggered. Sorry, but no photos of this! Cue fit a brand new shiny one and she purrs like a kitten once again.

Catching up with a shiny young member of the family:



And various shiny shots...

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Oh, and the 2.8...

Like
A
Glove



One to finish. If you've never owned a V6 in a light bodied car, I thoroughly recommend it. I'll definitely have to try and get a youtube link on here at some point.

[madmatttcustoms]

looks awesome mate makes me miss my old 2 mk2's are thos 15" or 16" wheels?

i've promised myself i'd never get another mk2 but i think i could manage it if it was a mk2 with a vr6 conversion

love the black on black

matt

[slot]

The best offset crank sound around

[MK2VR6]

Sure is, slot
madmatttcustoms Thanks, glad someone else can appreciate what a stunner she is
The banded steels are 9x16. Fitment is perfect, although there's no chance that non-stretched tyres would have fitted. It's running 195/45's at the moment; nothing too extreme, but means virtually no scrubbing. Result

[racerjames]

what ever happened to the jag wheels I fitted to this wonderful car?

when you say moving on... what exactly does one mean?

james

[Ian]

They do make a great noise! Surely they are banded beetle wheels? My old Leon cupra had a 16" steel spare in 5x100

[MK2VR6]

Nov 14, 2013 21:31:56 GMT racerjames said:

what ever happened to the jag wheels I fitted to this wonderful car?

when you say moving on... what exactly does one mean?

james

Beg your parsnips?! Another ex-owner? I've been in contact with a couple and the car has a great story for sure. When did you own it?
Tell me more about the Jag wheels...

[MK2VR6]

Nov 14, 2013 21:48:30 GMT Ian said:

They do make a great noise! Surely they are banded beetle wheels? My old Leon cupra had a 16" steel spare in 5x100

Reckon you've hit the nail on the head. Cheers! I was told Touran, but I'm pretty sure they're 5x112 and look to have slightly ovalised holes.


Beetle steels however...


And banded:

[Ian]

Tourane 100% are 5x112 as you said, I was tempted with steels like this on my mk3 vr, BT got a good deal on some Audi TT comps, so had to go with them! Miss my vw's more than any other cars. Well and miss driving my BMW

[MatsudaJakku]

Is it bad that I recognise where all those pictures are taken?

[davievtec]

my fav shape of golf looks mint and love vr6 engines looks mint

[racerjames]

Nov 14, 2013 21:48:45 GMT MK2VR6 said:

Nov 14, 2013 21:31:56 GMT racerjames said:

what ever happened to the jag wheels I fitted to this wonderful car?

when you say moving on... what exactly does one mean?

james

Beg your parsnips?! Another ex-owner? I've been in contact with a couple and the car has a great story for sure. When did you own it?
Tell me more about the Jag wheels...

yes, for my sins I fell in love with this car....I had it from mid 2010 to mid 2011! it had the vr6 then and a rather awful alfa romeo interior...I fitted the crosshair headlamps, the mk4 steering wheel and gearknob and did the widetrack 5 stud conversion and then fitted a set of jag xj6 rims...however the niggles soon got the better of me and I got fed up but regretted it ever since

[MK2VR6]

Nov 16, 2013 21:57:33 GMT racerjames said:

Nov 14, 2013 21:48:45 GMT MK2VR6 said:

Beg your parsnips?! Another ex-owner? I've been in contact with a couple and the car has a great story for sure. When did you own it?
Tell me more about the Jag wheels...

yes, for my sins I fell in love with this car....I had it from mid 2010 to mid 2011! it had the vr6 then and a rather awful alfa romeo interior...I fitted the crosshair headlamps, the mk4 steering wheel and gearknob and did the widetrack 5 stud conversion and then fitted a set of jag xj6 rims...however the niggles soon got the better of me and I got fed up but regretted it ever since

Any photos?

[MK2VR6]

Small update. I bought an old A4 Avant back in the summer as a daily dog wagon/dump wagon, with the intention of playing with the mk2 in my spare time. Working in education, that full-time has been seriously lacking and after leaving the mk2 sitting on the drive for waay too long unused, I thought I'd fire it up last weekend and see how she's running. Inevitably, after months of sitting and being connected, the battery was fully dead. I've since charged it up hoping that there's some life left in it.

Today I've given it the first wash in months and rolled it from it's mossy space on the drive.

I feel really guilty just how much the paint has started to oxidise with being left, not to mention general crud layer all over it. Polishing has commenced and will be completed in the morning (when daylight returns). Seeing my brother with his project car(s) earlier has given me the kick up the a*se that I needed. Insurance policy being started on Monday, followed by a damn good run to see how she fares. I've also trawled ebay and sourced a tidy looking steering wheel, which should be a much improvement on the out-of-place looking mk4 item which is currently fitted.

Next step after? Some paintwork, get some air in her lungs on a regular basis and possibly move her on in the summer. Time will tell

[Robinxr4i]

I do love a VR6 lump in a mk2 seems to suit the car much better than the 20vt conversion IMO, I think it's that lovely engine note and the fat chunk of low down torque that appeals to me. With the days getting long and the warm it's a good excuse to get out and enjoy it

[MK2VR6]

Mar 2, 2014 0:28:14 GMT Robinxr4i said:

I do love a VR6 lump in a mk2 seems to suit the car much better than the 20vt conversion IMO, I think it's that lovely engine note and the fat chunk of low down torque that appeals to me. With the days getting long and the warm it's a good excuse to get out and enjoy it

I'd be very interested in driving a mk2 with a 20vt - I'd imagine the torque steer is crazy!
The joy of the VR is that it fits in the engine bay with decent room to spare (aside from the notching out a small area of the chassis leg) and the sound.
There is a distributor road about a mile from the house, all uphill, with 3 long stretches between. The last time I 'did' the road, two teens who were walking up the road on the pavement looked as though they were about to break their necks, the speed their heads turned around. The VR6 is a proper 'smiles per mile' lump. for sure

[MK2VR6]

Time for an overdue update. Since the mk2 is a plaything/weekend car, it doesn't need to work daily for its keep. I use it at least once every couple of weeks, although I reckon it probably sat for a good couple of months last winter, with no use at all. I realised with horror that the footwells were sopping wet with water. Turns out the door membranes were shot. So, May 2014 I replaced them properly. Cleaned all the old goop right off, bought the proper black stuff and threw a load of waxoil into the doors at the same time. Doors now watertight







While I was on a roll, I decided to fit the spare tailgate I bought about 12 months earlier. My original had the usual Golf rot around the lock area, and the replacement cost me <£20, so swap was a no-brainer, really. I also fitted the standard GTi tailgate spoiler and removed the custom deep thing which was fitted to the original. It was a bit marmite, but when I ebayed it, I had massive interest and saw the good side of £50 for it when the auction ended. Turns out the custom boys love custom parts for their mk2's.






About a month later, after being away on a residential with a group of kids I teach, I fired up the old girl on my return for a quick blast to drop off a parcel at the post office. The car was properly stinking of petrol for the whole journey (about a 5 minute drive), and I foolishly ignored it. It was only when I pulled up outside the PO and walked around the front, I realised that jungle juice was freely dripping from pretty much everywhere under the front end.



Turns out that one of the old fuel lines running along the head had collapsed, and was gaily spraying fuel pretty much everywhere, including towards the exhaust manifold. It was just starting to smoke, but hadn't ignited as the engine was still pretty cold. Thank god. Luckily a good mate works at a garage over the road from the PO and he sorted me out with replacement fuel line there and then. The ironic thing is that a previous owner told me that the car had an engine fire years ago, but it lived to survive another day, much the same as with me. It really does seem like it has feline tendencies...

Fast forward to November 2014, I gave it a damn good clean and polish after a few months of driving and enjoying. The cat had been looking for a good excuse to check the 2.8 V6 for fitment.



Later in the month we headed to Glasto carnival as we do most years. This float with actual cars dotted all over it really caught my eye. Eat your heart out Spielberg.








Roll onto early January 2015 and I bit the bullet to get the offside rear quarter and drivers door painted. The rear quarter had always looked a bit shabby - it looked as though it had been given a quick flick of paint in places when I bought it two and a half year ago, and the paint on the quarter had continued to look more curse word as time went on. I delivered it to the paintshop on a chilly Saturday morning, caked in a layer of salt. Lucky it's not an old Vauxhall.




Late January 2015, I continued to work on the car. I binned the mk3.5 steering wheel which had always been fitted during my ownership and always looked badly out of place.


I replaced it with a Nardi, but buggered up the horn push whilst fitting it, hence the current Momo replacement. Confused but looks a millionty times better than the previous carbunkle. Nardi hornpush will be fitted asap.



I also repaired and fitted an old Sony Xplod CDX M800 'black panel' stereo which I'd had kicking around for years. Looks perfect in the mk2.



Whilst on a roll, I ordered a pair of new back tyres to the banded steels and visited a 'stretch friendly' tyre fitter who was very impressed with the quality of the banding. The finish inside the rim is immaculate and the tyres needed virtually no weights added as they run so true. Good to know. I was more concerned with the fact that one of the tyres he pulled off the back end was 15 years old! Didn't look it and the perishing only recently appeared. Just as well, really!

Last weekend I took it to the SWDubs megameet in Exeter and then Budleigh Salterton. After owning the car for so long, I thought it was time to get it out at a show. It was sods law that it started to play silly buggers with starting a couple of days before the big day. I decided to bite the bullet anyway, as I knew that it started fine off a bump if needed. Turns out I shouldn't have worried - it behaved impeccably for the whole journey - there and back.

When I parked up at the venue, and as soon as popped the bonnet, it gained a load of interest - it is amazing just how well the VR lump fits into the mk2engine bay, still with plenty of room around it.


I papped a few shots of it at both locations. In all, it drove amazingly, still made me smile constantly, and behaved perfectly over almost 200 miles of driving in one day. Not bad for a 24 year old Volkswagen which sits around half the time.





With my brother's T5 (and his best mate's T5 in the background


I guess my next aim should be to get a few other little niggles sorted out, and drag it along to the gathering this summer. It would be my first and I need an excuse to go. Let's see what happens...