Flash Red SE [OEM+]

[SoundillusioN]

Nice car, looks very clean.




No point doing a engine convertion, just buy a TDI............

 

True that, hell of a lot of work thinking about it.  Ideally you'll want to buy a donor car anyway as there are a lot of parts that yours will need from it. 

[BISSONE]

Worth doing a conversion as the mileage is super low and one would assume its rot free and mint everywere? But a TDI would be a ball ache without a donor, all the fuel pumps, pipes and the fact MK3 TDI's are drive by wire so would need pedal box and wiring etc. Just do the usual go ABF or 20v turbo. Good luck with her tho bud.

[FlashRedThree]

Looks very tidy. Seriously low miles! 

It'll be fun trying to find a worthy low mile tdi lump for it. 

Indeed, there are some out there, id be looking for a donor with around 80-90k miles with FSH, realistically speaking.

Joey the headlights and get a GTI grill on there.

Looks nice!

just needs a joey headlight mod to match the rest of the darkness! 

I considered it, but decided I'm not much of a fan of the joey headlights...gotta keep a bit of shine to coincide with the badges and alloys! And I actually prefer the 3 slat grill, more understated!

Nice car, looks very clean.

No point doing a engine convertion, just buy a TDI............

 

Dam you Mart! 

True that, hell of a lot of work thinking about it.  Ideally you'll want to buy a donor car anyway as there are a lot of parts that yours will need from it. 

Worth doing a conversion as the mileage is super low and one would assume its rot free and mint everywere? But a TDI would be a ball ache without a donor, all the fuel pumps, pipes and the fact MK3 TDI's are drive by wire so would need pedal box and wiring etc. Just do the usual go ABF or 20v turbo. Good luck with her tho bud.

I have indeed looked into it in some depth, and a donor car would of course be the best way to go. It is mint as you say bissone, it's not the kind of mk3 I could just swap out for something pre-built without cringing ferociously. An ABF was my first choice actually, due to it being reasonably straight forward compared to the TDI with significant gains, but the fact that there were no 3 door TDI's from factory, better yet no SE-TDI's, is what I find appealing. It would be one of a kind. The only other person I know to have done this conversion is Madmanmart, so it clearly is not something to be taken lightly if most find the very idea hard work. The tuning side of TDI engines is also something which interests me.

I shall have to reflect further before coming to a final decision, but right now I've got the hots for an AHU.
Thanks again for all comments so far.

Oh, I should probably post a pic of the car when I purchased it, so you can perhaps appreciate a little more the transformation:



Complete with go-faster stripes 

[SoundillusioN]

I preferred the ride height and wheels when you first got it! 

[BISSONE]

There are a couple of 3dr TDI's knockin around but rare as hens teeth, theres one on edition i think a guys bought to tart up as a daily.
Diesels are more tunable than petrol these days tbf, i had a MK3 golf van last year and was considering a TDI as it was diesel standard but got a new job with a company van so sold her. Fair play though.

[madmanmart]

You can get 3dr TDIs but they are seriously rare,

Get the conversion done, but as you have said you will need to buy a donor car. You will be basicly re-shelling the TDI donor.

Also you do not need to swap the pedal box, I did mine with the dash kept in the car.



With a few mods done to the engine like mine, it will be a nice nippy daily with the benifits of 50mpg  

[FlashRedThree]

There are a couple of 3dr TDI's knockin around but rare as hens teeth

You can get 3dr TDIs but they are seriously rare,

Then I stand corrected, the rarity of them lead me to believe they were just 3 door models that had been converted at some time in the past! For example I believe there is a green 3 door on ebay or autotrader atm that has been converted.

Get the conversion done, but as you have said you will need to buy a donor car. You will be basicly re-shelling the TDI donor.

Also you do not need to swap the pedal box, I did mine with the dash kept in the car.

With a few mods done to the engine like mine, it will be a nice nippy daily with the benifits of 50mpg  

Indeed, I graduate from uni in May so i'll have the summer free to sort it out, it's gonna be a sort of 'congratulations me' reward 
I have a couple of friends who are willing to help too but I can't say we've ever tackled anything like this. I'm hoping it's a case of 'unbolt this piece from the donor, and bolt it onto the red one' and just systematically go through it like that. And if there are any problems there's always this forum for answers! I just want some boost really 

[DanChave]

Tidy dub you got there mate!

[Seanl]

You seem to know what you want, so go for it. It's never going to be difficult to do, just a bit of a pain in the arse at points. As you said, very little fabrication is required so most of it will be bolt off, bolt on to red one with a donor. There are gentlemen on here or club gti who are more than happy to advise you get stuck, so good luck! 

[thai-wronghorse]

PD 150 ftw!