Category: Blog

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2023 Grayson’s Ladder Raffle Car – 1996 Harlequin 24v Swap

Here we go! A car that I think screams fun and is always a favorite at any event it attends.  That’s why I think it is a perfect car for Grayson’s Ladder.. Grayson is such a great kid, anytime you see him you will have smile on your face.

I built this car in 2016, and sold it to a lady in 2017, you can read about “part one” here – VRLAQUIN

Fast forward to 2022 and Katherine needs to sell Polly so she can move from AZ and start her dog rescue in GA, Polly had been in daily service for several years, and with Katherines new family the harlequin was not the most ideal ride for car seats, strollers, and all the accessories one needs with an infant.  I see her post a feeler and immediately sent her a message to secure the car.  She made a more than reasonable deal on the car, and I had it shipped from AZ.

First thing to do was to give it a once over and sort out its mechanical issues.  New AC, fixed some power steering issues, couple small electrical gremlins, and I was driving the car to lunch a couple days a week with AC and power steering.. very rare for me as my usual lunch vehicle has neither..

I made a new intake to get some cooler air into the motor, reworked the battery mount to suit the new intake,  and started a list of small parts that I needed to collect for trim out.  Frank (corrado alley) hooked me up with some trunk trim, wiring section, and a couple other misc items.  A couple guys off the mk3 boards got some speaker grills for me, Dave (TDCshop) had a rear parcel tray for me.  With these items the car was feeling a bit more ready for its raffle date.  I found a set of Ecode smoked lights, and a new lower valance for the eurobumper.

 

 

This is a great car for whatever you want to do with it.. it shows well, even though it is not built like a :show car: I love driving it, it has a few creature comforts so if you want to cruise it around town you can do so in any weather.

Most importantly is that it is being raffled to raise money to END Alexanders Disease.  Thanks for participating in this raffle. 2023 Grayson’s Ladder Raffle Page

 

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Mk1 07k Swap Install Notes

So you’ve decided to jump on this 5cyl train? Great idea.. here is how I go about installing one into a mk1, some of this will carry to other chassis, some of this is NOT REQUIRED but rather how I like to do things.. I will try to differentiate that when I come across it.

 

Starting with a stock 07k I picked up –

I am going to tear this motor down and do a headgasket (installing headstuds – not required) timing chains, water pump, thermostat housing, oil filter housing (stock will fit the mk1 with some gentle hammering on the core support to clear the cover), oil pan (adding a reinforced plates to the steel pan)  .  This is the timing kit I use for locking the Cam and crank down, there are several options but you are going to need one.

 

 

Now that the ARP headstuds are install ( you will have to take the cam ladder off to do this) seal the ladder back with an anaerobic sealer and finish the timing chain install.

 

 

 

Time to clean the block up and prep for paint, thankfully I had steam cleaned this motor before I brought it in and it was pretty clean, just some spots behind things like the accessory bracket and other hidden pockets of dirt to clean up.

With the block cleaned, and taped, I set a couple “dummy” parts to make it less of a hassle to mask, a spare valve cover (or if you know you are going aftermarket), a 3d printed oil filter housing I had for testing, etc.. TIME FOR PAINT!!

 

 

 

Using a ceramic based paint is a huge advantage in making it lay flat, and it has great oil/gas/heat resistance.. I have brushed ceramic paint on and it will lay down to the point you cant see the brush strokes.. EASTWOOD has a nice selection of colors..

 

 

 

Onto the REQUIRED transmission modification – only takes a couple minutes with a flap disc on a grinder.

The transmission (020, 02a/j) case will hit the timing case on near the bolt hole at the “front edge” of the block

 You can see here that the case has a bit of an edge on it, and that the trasmission case is not even sitting down to the lip on the case


This picture on the right shows the timing case and trans case are touching where as the pic on the left shows a gap after we have ground the trans case down. 

 

 

 

 

This last picture shows how much we took off of the top edge of the case ( its not alot but that top casting was symmetrical when we started). You will be moving most of the material from above the bolt hole but continue smoothly past the timing inspection hole on the trans case.

 

 

With the transmission dry fit we are ready to move onto the clutch and flywheel kit, and installing the trans to the motor.

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1980 Caddy – Grayson’s Ladder Charity Car

Let me start by saying if you haven’t been able to meet Grayson, please head over to https://graysonsladder.org/ and meet the man that spurred all of this.

I met Grayson shortly after my wife began working with his mother Laura in a Chattanooga heart surgeons office.  What always amazes me is even after being around him for several years, every time I see him, his laugh and smile are still just as infectious as the first time I met him.

I won’t spend alot of time covering what Alexanders Disease is, you can read all about that on the Grayson’s ladder site linked above.  I will just say that I love this family, and will continue to support them and their cause in anyway possible.

In 2021, We built and raffled the 1984 Rabbit GTI you can see here, the winner of the car picked it up and we get updates from Raf pretty often on the car via his Instagram page or a surprise text message with a picture of the car at an event or out on the town.

This year kind of caught me on my heels.  I planned to build a TDI swapped caddy, I love caddys and I love the TDI, so it seemed fitting.  However the shell I had planned on using needed paint, interior and everything that goes with it.  My painter fell ill and I have not located another, my interior guy has quit the business, so I was looking at a long list of things that I did not or could not do in house.  All of that to say, I wasn’t ready..  These builds take alot of time, and when they are for charity, by nature they do not bring profit into the shop, in fact they usually are a big RED mark in the ledger.

I had purchased a 1980 Caddy from a fellow VW member out of Oregon,  it had really nice original paint with just enough patina to look great but not worry about it rotting out from under me. The under side was solid, as were the rust prone structural areas. I bought it without a motor or trans, and it really needed some TLC on the bushings, bearings and brakes..

 

What I built was the first 07k swapped caddy (I think anyway.. best I can tell) .. This 07k swap came from a 2013 Jetta, CBTA motor code with just 67K miles on it, I mated it to a 1.8t transmission and used our exclusive  bolt in mk1 07k kit along with a pile of other parts you can find on the S&P site.

 

The motor received some coated timing covers, an IE intake manifold, and open element air filter.  With software from UM we are looking at over 215hp to the ground with this setup, and its smooth power so it cruises nice too.

Techtonics supplied the cat back exhaust system in stainless with a Borla muffler so it sings the 5 cylinder symphony so nice.

I added 16v brakes up front to slow the caddy down, refreshing the drums in the back with new shoes, drums, wheel cylinders and bearings.

 

 

Solowerks caddy coilovers and air shocks in the rear with drop plates set the caddys ride height, and you can haul plenty of weight with the air shocks bumped up to 80 PSI, when you’re done using it as a truck you can knock them back down to 30 to get that desired level ride look.

Gear changing is handled by the 02j shiftbox that matches the gearbox from the 1.8t donor.

Cooling is supplied by the S&P tucked radiator package (same one we use for the VR6 swaps) keeping the factory coolant reservoir on the strut tower makes for easy fill and level checks.

Inside the truck we have a set of Recaro LX seats on the S&P low profile seat bases to hold you in place while cruising in the caddy.

Woodgrain steering wheel gives the truck a bit of that early euro flavor, along with the minimalist interior.

 

 

 

 

 

Front and rear bumpers from smallbumpers are coated satin black to match the other trim.

H4 Headlight housings, with LED h4 bulbs keep the dark away.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the bed you will find a utility rack (it is removeable) made from SCH80 aluminum tubing, and coated in wrinkle black powder.  In the bed you see red oak bed strips sitting on the color matched Raptor bedliner.

 

 

 

 

A set of Ronal Turbos refinished by Top Notch Customs Powdercoating have just the right amount of Rootbeer Candy coating on the barrels and in the windows that touch off the browns found on the trucks exterior and interior.

 

 

I REALLY didn’t want to raffle this truck, for one I sunk alot of my own money into it, as this was to be my truck..  I knew I wasn’t going to have time to build another VW for this years raffle. I bit the bullet and just said that I will find another one another day..  It seems that fate smiled on that decision because not 2 weeks after I committed the truck to Grayson’s Ladder I got an interesting call..  Through a local VW enthusiast (thanks WILL ) Someone wanted to use my truck in an upcoming NBC show.  I told them that I could commit to the show as long as I would have the truck back in my possession by the first week of March.. That would give me enough time to install new door panels, carpet and dash before the truck was to be raffled off..  I signed the contract and sent the truck to Georgia to shoot “Candy” which should be out this MAY . It was used in several of the episodes, so keep an eye out when the show is launched. (Here is the official trailer link)

Your chance to own a “Hollywood” car and help out this great charity is one ticket away..

Raffle Official Rules 

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02J Case Modification for Mk1 Install

I am going to cover the install of the MK1 02j transmission mounts onto the transmission before you bolt it into the car.  The 02a installation is very similar except the shift tower, you also don’t have to drill out any case holes.

 

Here we start with a fresh mk4 TDI transmission, Code 02j, case is an EGR,

Remove the aluminum trans mount bracket if you haven’t already and the steel support bar that connects it to the case.

 

 

Next we remove the speed sensor, you will see that there is a 24mm nut under the plug of the sensor, you can remove just the top section of the speed sensor, this is what you want to do if you plan to use your mk1/2 cluster and one of our speedometer cables.

 

 

 

 

Now Remove the case bolts you see above, and replace them with the 3 bolts provided in your hardware kit, thread them until they are just starting to poke out the other side of the case,

 

 

 

 

 

Now slide the mount bracket and the half moon shim on until they are flush to the case of the transmission, once they are onto the bolts, you can thread the bolts all the way into the case,

 

 

 

 

Now start the tunnel nuts onto the threads of the bolts and run them down tight against the shim and bracket, then install the lock nut after, tighten it down against the tunnel nut.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

02J CASE MODIFICATION

If you have an 02a case you will find that these holes are not threaded, so no modification is necessary.  The 02j case however is threaded, we need to drill them out with a 25/64 bit, you can use a 3/8 and ream it or file it, but 25/64 will be the cleanest/easiest.. You are drilling threaded aluminum, so a bit of speed and very light pressure will help the bit from hanging on you.

 

DO NOT try to run this bolt into an 02j case without drilling it out first, you will crack your case and probably wreck it.. 

Ok so we’ve drilled the hole and haven’t broken our wrist.. great!  Now the bolt slides in no problem,

02A CASES, you will now install the shim in-between the upper mount and the trans case to take up the 1.5mm difference in width between the 2 cases. 

02j tower (can be used on either 02a or 02j case) , if you are running a hydraulic clutch you can keep your reverse switch, skip to tightening down the upper trans mount bolts.

If  you are running a cable clutch remove the reverse switch and install the provided delete plug, also grab the cable clutch mounting tab out of the hardware bag.

Slide the bolts from the 5th gear cover side through the mount, into the case and out the other side, if you have the cable tab slip it onto the bolts and then add the provided nuts.. tighten down, admire your work, get ready to put it onto your motor and into your mk1!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mount Brackets used in this kit HERE

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Prepping Your ALH/BEW For a MK1 Install

I get a lot of the same questions about how to prep your motor for a mk1 install:

  • What do I need to remove ?
    • You need to remove anything you plan on deleting from the motor management system,  this could be accessories like AC or powersteering, hardware like EGR/ASV systems (check with your local regulations before removing emissions items) or possibly sensors such as MAF, Coolant Glowplugs, 02 sensor, turbo position sensors etc (please discuss this with your tuner/harness builder before you toss them in the bin)

Below I will go through some steps on how to attach our mk1 tdi motor mount onto your block, please note I am not covering this as a step by step, but more to answer the most common questions.

Use common sense, ask questions before assuming, don’t eat yellow snow..

 

ALH Motor Timing Cover Modifications 


Starting with the motor mount, this is how your bushing should be oriented before you mount it to the motor.

 

Next we see an ALH with the injection pump and tensioner removed (the pump bolts need to be removed and the outer pump sprocket are going to need to come off.  Also remove the cam gear and idlers (if you don’t know how to do a timing service on a TDI look it up BEFORE you take this apart)

 

 

The reason for taking all of this off is to remove the rear timing cover so we can trim it to allow room for the new motor mount :

Need to trim this lower corner off, you can see how deep to cut it by holding the new mount up to the 3 threaded holes on the block where the original aluminum mount bracket was bolted.  Make small cuts, its waaaay easier to take alittle more off, vs adding material back.

In the picture above you can see how the new cutout allows for a flat mounting surface across the 3 mounting holes

 

With that you can mount your motor mount to the block and you are ready to re assemble the timing components * DO NOT INSTALL THE LOWER 1″ roller and stud, yes it will clear the engine block mount, but it will hit your mk1 frame rail, DO NOT INSTALL IT, install the belt like normal and tension the belt like normal, it will be fine, there is plenty of room in the tensioner for the additional slack.

 

 

 

 

BEW Timing Cover Modifications

 

Starting with the same mount and bushing as the ALH above, you can see where the mount needs to go, you need to remove all of the timing components to get the rear timing cover off,

 

 

 

Take note of the location of the holes and the area you need to cut to get the mount bracket flush on the block

 

 

Make your cut and test fit, the mount must sit flush on the block..

Tighten the mount down once the timing cover fits around the mount bracket.  Reinstall timing components leaving out the lower 1″ roller just like the ALH.

ALH and BEW OUTER COVER

You can see in the first picture the timing cover is very close to the mount bushing, which means it will hit the frame mount on your mk1, it needs to be trimmed flush with the belt (the second picture shows a slight over trimming honestly but it will still be ok, you will also need to trim the upper cover slightly on both the BEW and ALH..

Engine mount being used can be found here 

TDI Mk1 Swap kit can be found here

Again if you have questions on how something goes, shoot an email, watch a youtube video, something other than assuming..

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1984 GTI – Grayson’s Ladder Charity Car

Let me start by saying if you haven’t been able to meet Grayson, please head over to https://graysonsladder.org/ and meet the man that spurred all of this.

I met Grayson shortly after my wife began working with his mother Laura in a Chattanooga heart surgeons office.  What always amazes me is even after being around him for several years, every time I see him, his laugh and smile are still just as infectious as the first time I met him.

I won’t spend alot of time covering what Alexanders Disease is, you can read all about that on the Grayson’s ladder site linked above.  I will just say that I love this family, and will continue to support them and their cause in anyway possible.

On that note in 2019 I asked Laura if we could build a car to be raffled and the proceeds would go directly to their charity..  She gave me the ok, and we planned to have it ready for the 2020 Annual fundraiser…. see where this story is going.. 2020 didn’t allow an annual fundraiser, so the car got put on the back burner, which worked out ok.. we got a few more vendors involved, more unique items for the build etc.

What we built is a 1984 Rabbit GTI, fitted with a 1998 VR6 engine and transmission, and V9 supercharger for good measure.. Full build details are listed below…

We had a good shell that had a driver quality respray some time ago, we cut and buffed the exterior, resprayed some thin areas in the bay but really didn’t go nuts with shaving anything..

The most fun part for me was driveline assembly :

Techtonics 260/268 Cam Set with oversized valves and lightweight lifters, AFP engine management meant I would have port flashing ability, DBW throttle control, and a cleaner harness layout. 

All powdercoat and polish work was done by Top Notch Customs Powdercoating 

The VF9 Supercharger was a late edition that I came across, I added a headspacer from Schimmel, and the billet parts were polished by TopNotch, they also ceramic coated the exhaust manifolds to give them an OE gray look while keeping the heat down.

Motor component list:

  • Stock AAA Bottom end
  • TT 260/268 Cam set
  • TT 1mm oversized Valve Kit
  • 1.0 HG spacer
  • Mk5 R32 Oil pump
  • Eurowise Steel Pan
  • 42lb Bosch Green Giants
  • Mk4  AFP Management ME7.1
  • VF9 Supercharger, 8lb pulley

Mounting the motor and trans into the GTI I used the S&P 300 Plus VR6 Kit

With it in the car I could get started on a laundry list of things like Wiring, Brakes, Suspension, Exhaust, Fueling, Etc

(Right)I needed a way to get a clean maf reading and some fresh air into the charger.. when the fender is on you cant see a thing…

(Left) The Techtonics Stainless downpipe and the backbone of the mk1 Vr6 mount kit in their new home

(Left) Motor sport bumpers built in house just for this car are now available for your mk1 if you so desire.. These are lightweight aluminum with speed holes for better cooling.

(Right) Making aluminum hardpipes to marry S&P Radiator the Vr6 Cooling system

Speedhut provided the instruments for the interior, and Copelands cut us out a grill emblem based on the Graysons Ladder logo Coolant lines and intake coated by TopNotch

 

 

 

 

 

Time to move on!

With the engine bay pretty much wrapped up we move inside..

Kip Love trimmed out a set of Recaro LS seats for us in a black and white hounds tooth and a heavy grain bolster vinyl to match the door cards (provided by Omar AKA Slov-Werks)

The TR Tower shifter is a MK4 version that we modified to fit our mk1 routing the cables under the car to the 02j VR trans

 

 

 

Avid Wheels provided a set of AV-8 wheels in 15×7,

Quick Everett provided a set of  195/45/15 Toyo Proxies, mounted and balanced them for us and knocked it into alignment for us.

 

We had the raffle on April 26 at the Golf Fore Grayson Event, held at the Ooltewah Club in Ooltewah, TN

 

The Car will be picked up by its new owner on or about the 26th of May.. Thank you to all who participated or supported in this event!! We were able to write a check to Graysons Ladder for $22,500 from the  ticket sales and a couple outside donations!

 

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Building a Wood Slat Mk1 Roof Rack

You’ve seen them. A vintage coke cooler on top of a wood slat roof rack, on the right car, its perfect..

 

I have made a few over the years ( I like them best on Jettas personally).  A few years ago I had some purpose built towers made to hold the roof rack as tight to the top of the car as possible, making it more aerodynamic (or aero-dramatic, same same)  
These are made from 304 Stainless, so you can run them in a raw finish, polish them, or have them coated, but you don’t have to worry about them rusting.

 

You can pick up a pair here  to start your rack project.

 

 

 

 

Now onto my Jetta and its new roof fixture.

 

I made my crossbars from some aluminum flat bar that I had bent to a 2.0″ ID and 1/2″ legs, but you could use some channel, or rectangle tube, even some hardwood like oak, teak, walnut etc..

I made the cross bars 40″ long, that keeps it from sticking out over the drip rails of the car and risking my clumsy ass from splitting my head open getting in and out..

You can see there is some room to make them alittle longer but this works out well for the spacing I wanted.

Off to homedepot for some cedar, 6-7 1x3x8 boards, my poor mk6 tdi has to be a truck sometimes.. 

Back at the shop I cut the boards down to 48″ and 2 to 41″

 

The next bit is to get the spacing you want, I ended up around 1.75″ between each slat giving me at total width of 41″ (that will overhang my crossbars by 1/2″ on each side, which helps to bury it where you cant see the bar ends, if you have a taller cross bar you may want to make your overhang greater than 1/2″ but I wouldn’t exceed about 1/3rd the width of your slat.

After your have the spacing you’re happy with, sand/prep your slats for stain/paint/sealer.  I rolled all the edges of mine with a palm sander to ease some of the sharp cut edges off and make them a bit more “weathered”

 

Now you are ready to glue and screw/nail/staple your boards to the wooden cross bar (if you’re not using a wooden top cross bar, you’re ready to stain/paint/seal your strips and attach them each individually to your tower cross bar) I glued mine and used a galvanized 1-1/4 crown staple to attach the slats to the wooden cross board. You also could use screws from the bottom side (so they are hidden).

 

 

 

Now I needed to stain my assembly (Staining after allows the glue to adhere to the wood and not to the sealer) I used a thompsons water based sealer for fences and decks, I had some left over from my summer deck project last year.

 

 

 

 

 

Last thing to do is to attach the unit to the cross bars, I counter sunk some M8 allen head screws, and tapped my cross bar for m8x1.25 in 4 places, drilling all the way through both layers of the roof rack.  Use a locking nut from the bottom for added security against the bolts backing out with vibration.

Time to throw some gear on top and cruise around, one of my favorite parts of a roof rack is opening the sunroof, you get the wind, and the open air feel, without being baked by the sun.

 

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Mk1 “Motorsport” Bumpers

Well, after looking at the options on the market for aftermarket Mk1 style bumpers, I couldn’t find what I was looking for. So I made what I needed. A lightweight bumper, all metal (aluminum) with welded end caps (nothing to break or fall off) with holes allowing air through the lower grills in the core support. Some of the smaller bumpers close this off with their fit to the body.

These bumpers are hand formed in house, from laser cut 10ga aluminum blanks, they are currently available for these MK1 models:  See them in the webstore

  • Rabbit – no turn signal cutouts
  • Cabby – no turn signal cutouts
  • Jetta – no turn signal cutouts

 

coming soon

Caddy

Scirocco

* these bumpers have not been certified to pass any DOT, NHSA, and probably cause cancer in California, – seriously though, they are sturdier than the plastic eurobumpers, and waaaay lighter than the original bumpers.

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Mk1 02a 02j Mk3 and MK4 Motor Swap Tips

I made a couple hardware overviews for our trans mounts, and engine swap kits, and I still have a few questions that I either didn’t address in one video or a tip I forgot, I am going to add a couple more videos soon, but this may make finding the info you’re looking for a little easier, if you have questions before during or after install please feel free to email me! Sal@s-pautomotive.com

 

General install Tips:

  • Press your bushings in before you mount the brackets onto the motor or chassis
  • If you have an 02j trans the upper trans mount holes are threaded, you need to drill them out to use the hardware provided
  • Grease the inner speedo cable with a silicone grease before installing!
  • I find it easier to set the radiator in the core support before I install the motor – but not bolt it down
  • For a cleaner install on a motor if you’re not using the AC/PS systems, (external WP motors ABA, HU, AEB cant be cut as much due to the waterpump) cut the bracket off just below the alternator mounting points to the block. (ALHs you will cut the PS off the top)
  • Always start all the bolts in a bracket, manifold,cover etc before tightening any of them down
  • If you are using the mk1 fuel lines, the best place to cut them I have found is just before the cross behind the steering knuckle, you can carefully hand bend them up toward the passenger strut tower and trim again to your desired length
  • Work the exhaust system from front to back, hang everything loose in the clamps and work each section into final placement front to back as well
  • If you’re using one of our harnesses the “Trigger” needs to have power in both the key positions START and RUN – this is often the problem for a no start, someone didn’t check that the wire they chose had power during the crank key cycle. A good source for this is your former coil power wire on gasoline cars, on diesels the injection pump power wire works well.

 

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Mk1 Vr6 Hardware Videos and Install Tips

I made a couple hardware overviews for our MK1 Vr6 kits, and I still have a few questions that I either didn’t address in one video or a tip I forgot, I am going to add a couple more videos soon, but this may make finding the info you’re looking for a little easier, if you have questions before during or after install please feel free to email me! Sal@s-pautomotive.com

 

General install Tips:

  • Press your bushings in before you mount the brackets onto the motor or chassis
  • If you have an 02j trans the upper trans mount holes are threaded, you need to drill them out to use the hardware provided
  • Grease the inner speedo cable with a silicone grease before installing!
  • I find it easier to set the radiator in the core support before I install the motor – but not bolt it down
  • For a cleaner install on a AAA motor if you’re not using the AC/PS systems cut the bracket off just below the alternator mounting points to the block.
  • Always start all the bolts in a bracket, manifold,cover etc before tightening any of them down
  • If you are using the mk1 fuel lines, the best place to cut them I have found is just before the cross behind the steering knuckle, you can carefully hand bend them up toward the passenger strut tower and trim again to your desired length
  • Work the exhaust system from front to back, hang everything loose in the clamps and work each section into final placement front to back as well
  • If you’re using one of our harnesses the “Trigger” needs to have power in both the key positions START and RUN – this is often the problem for a no start, someone didn’t check that the wire they chose had power during the crank key cycle. A good source for this is your former coil power wire on gasoline cars, on diesels the injection pump power wire works well.