GolfGTIforum.co.uk
General => General discussion => Topic started by: craig180 on 28 May 2012, 11:28
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Does anyone know of anywhere in the North that offers a drive in, drive out service on a mk1 GTi to 20vT conversion?
I have the knowledge and tools to do it myself on the driveway but have very little spare time to do it myself, therefore I'd like someone with good knowledge and experience to do it for me!
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Contact F17BAD on here, he's doing some great conversions.
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Ah, spoke to him by PM a short while ago about his. Does he do this for a living?
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Does he do this for a living?
No. He's a superstar DJ, as eny fule kno.
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:grin:
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Does he do this for a living?
No. He's a superstar DJ, as eny fule kno.
Srs? I don't know you guys well enough to know how your level of wit and sarcasm sits on the sliding scale
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It's all sarcasm - don't take anything personally.
F17BAD is a DJ
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It's all sarcasm - don't take anything personally.
No it's not - I don't think little Brad has any qualifications relating to working as a mechanic.
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Not your post.
A lot of the forum is sarcasm, so the OP shouldn't take anything personally.
Is what I meant in my head.
If I was after high high end conversions, I wouldn't limit my search to the area I live in, but understand the hassle of driving halfway across the country. If you WERE up for it give Roy at Autobarn a shout, but he is in Basingstoke so south of london.
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It's all sarcasm - don't take anything personally.
No it's not - I don't think little Brad has any qualifications relating to working as a mechanic.
Why would you need qualifications to work with nuts and bolts? :undecided: I don't really call C&G a quailification :rolleyes:
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I understand both sides tbh, I'm sure Brad would do a very good job, but if something goes wrong, as it invariably does at some point, he doesn't have the insurances to deal with such a problem. And the fact that you've been recommended a bloke who does it on his drive, that you've never met, by people that you've never met, over the tinterweb, would certainly not fill me with confidence. Bear in mind that Brad has done a few conversions now, but I certainly wouldn't class him as an expert either. No offence to anyone intended. :wink:
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If you want an 'expert', pay expert money. I wouldn't class dealers as experts, They only read from a book! Past experience tells me I would do a better job.
Question is. Whats the Budget?
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Exactly, Brad was only an off the cuff suggestion. How much are you willing to pay for the conversion at the end of the day?
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I understand both sides tbh, I'm sure Brad would do a very good job, but if something goes wrong, as it invariably does at some point, he doesn't have the insurances to deal with such a problem. And the fact that you've been recommended a bloke who does it on his drive, that you've never met, by people that you've never met, over the tinterweb, would certainly not fill me with confidence. Bear in mind that Brad has done a few conversions now, but I certainly wouldn't class him as an expert either. No offence to anyone intended. :wink:
No I'm not a expert but who is ? Some guy you have never met who works in a garage ?
Quality of our work speaks for itself at more than competitive prices
And as for insurance, no I can't offer that at the moment but if said customer wanted to supply his own parts then I would happily fit it all using OEM looms, ECU and Mount points
At the end of the day it's up to him. But paying more wont get u a better job.. That's why I started doing this
I like things to be perfect and my idea of perfection is very different to many company's
Also worth mentioning not to listen to idiots who hate for no reason on here ( not aimed at you )
:-)
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Lol I wasn't taking anything personally ;)
Budget? Who knows.... From zero to too much, somewhere I between would be nice.
I'd like to do it myself then I'll know every nut and bolt like the back of my hand and will know to look out for anything else that might need attention, but the simple fact is I just don't have a spare weekend to do it myself!
Cheers for jumping ont thread Brad. I'd certainly bear you in mind over and above a dealer. If I took it to a dealer with a Bam lump and said make that fit, most wouldn't have a clue where to start as the chassis number wouldn't correspond with any of their part numbers and charts!
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And as for insurance, no I can't offer that at the moment but if said customer wanted to supply his own parts then I would happily fit it all using OEM looms, ECU and Mount points
Oh right, so if something goes horribly wrong on a customer's car you'll just pay any damages out of your own pocket, will you?
Also worth mentioning not to listen to idiots who hate for no reason on here ( not aimed at you )
I don't think anyone's hating here, you're very quick to think people hate you, aren't you, little guy. It's important that people understand unlike a professional outfit you lack certain things.
Like any protection for your customers.
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So before we go through the usual on here with you two love birds....
Back to the original question, if you consider Stoke as 'oop norf' enough, then http://www.psituning.com/ are pretty legendary at pro engine swaps.
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So before we go through the usual on here with you two love birds....
:kiss:
I should hate to think anything on here got taken too seriously. :grin:
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Is this where the love haters thing comes from in the VW scene??!
Cheers for that link dude. Not a million miles away but still further than I'd like
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Is this where the love haters thing comes from in the VW scene??!
Cheers for that link dude. Not a million miles away but still further than I'd like
To be completely honest if you are going to pay a reputable tuning company to complete a Mk1 GTI to 20vt you are going to be paying around £8000. Maybe more.
The car will be with them for a month at least.
So in the grand scheme of things, how far it is from where you live is nothing to worry about as its worth it for a proper job.
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£8000... :shocked:
Just take 4 weeks off work and DIY!
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Is this where the love haters thing comes from in the VW scene??!
Cheers for that link dude. Not a million miles away but still further than I'd like
To be completely honest if you are going to pay a reputable tuning company to complete a Mk1 GTI to 20vt you are going to be paying around £8000. Maybe more.
The car will be with them for a month at least.
So in the grand scheme of things, how far it is from where you live is nothing to worry about as its worth it for a proper job.
Not sure where you've been going for your work but that's a bit of an exaggeration.
I could do the conversion on my drive, with basic tools in a weekend, so how it would take a "reputable" tuning company a month I have no idea!
And 8 grand? Gold plated rockers and a diamond encrusted ECU? ;)
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Is this where the love haters thing comes from in the VW scene??!
Cheers for that link dude. Not a million miles away but still further than I'd like
To be completely honest if you are going to pay a reputable tuning company to complete a Mk1 GTI to 20vt you are going to be paying around £8000. Maybe more.
The car will be with them for a month at least.
So in the grand scheme of things, how far it is from where you live is nothing to worry about as its worth it for a proper job.
Not sure where you've been going for your work but that's a bit of an exaggeration.
I could do the conversion on my drive, with basic tools in a weekend, so how it would take a "reputable" tuning company a month I have no idea!
And 8 grand? Gold plated rockers and a diamond encrusted ECU? ;)
I know i know i know....
A few years ago the rough price was £5k for a 20vt into a Mk3.
I would email a few of the companies and see what prices you get. You may be suprised....
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Is this where the love haters thing comes from in the VW scene??!
Cheers for that link dude. Not a million miles away but still further than I'd like
Mate just ignore all that diamond hell says.. 90% of people know what sort of person he is
Anyhow later this year we do hope to have premises and offer public liability too
But to answer that idiot, if things did go wrong with anything we did then of course we would rectify it. I'm not sure what kind of warrant people think they get with second hand engines but it's not great
Anyhow good luck with the project :wink:
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Is this where the love haters thing comes from in the VW scene??!
Cheers for that link dude. Not a million miles away but still further than I'd like
Mate just ignore all that diamond hell says.. 90% of people know what sort of person he is
Anyhow later this year we do hope to have premises and offer public liability too
But to answer that idiot, if things did go wrong with anything we did then of course we would rectify it. I'm not sure what kind of warrant people think they get with second hand engines but it's not great
Anyhow good luck with the project :wink:
Cheers man, appreciate the input.
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£8000!!!! f**k that, id rather buy a better car.
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£8000!!!! f**k that, id rather buy a better car.
Whichever way you look at it, it won't cost 8 gs!
I'll either do it myself, all in for under £1500 or pay someone local up to a grand and supply all the bits.
There is no way it's going to cost more than £50/hr so 3 working days max
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£8000!!!! f**k that, id rather buy a better car.
Whichever way you look at it, it won't cost 8 gs!
I'll either do it myself, all in for under £1500 or pay someone local up to a grand and supply all the bits.
There is no way it's going to cost more than £50/hr so 3 working days max
This all day long mate
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£8000!!!! f**k that, id rather buy a better car.
Whichever way you look at it, it won't cost 8 gs!
I'll either do it myself, all in for under £1500 or pay someone local up to a grand and supply all the bits.
There is no way it's going to cost more than £50/hr so 3 working days max
This all day long mate
I agree. I would do work myself all day long rather than pay a garage. When i owned golfs i used to post all the work up on here.
However, unfortunately, the "tuners" that specialise in the VW scene are able to charge these prices to people who have the money and not the ability to do it themselves. Not to say they don't do a brilliant job and they do know what they are doing.
The major factor here, which i think Brad will agree with when it comes to money, is the quality and attention to detail that you want with the conversion.
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Much more realistic, I'm in the same boat really (awaits mk3 digs) As its probably something I could do given the time and space but unfortunately they are two things I have very little of at my new home and with a 10 month old daughter.
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Where are you located and what kind of radius are you willing to travel? Up North is pretty vague....
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Where are you located and what kind of radius are you willing to travel? Up North is pretty vague....
Good question as anywhere past bristol is up north for me :laugh:
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I'm in Leeds, do pretty central North.
I'll travel anywhere within about an hour or so, bit what I don't want to do is travel for the time it would just take me to do the conversion myself on my driveway!
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I don't really call C&G a quailification :rolleyes:
You haven't got a clue then.
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No? I think you'll find I do. :nerd:
You must have one! :evil:
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Is this where the love haters thing comes from in the VW scene??!
Cheers for that link dude. Not a million miles away but still further than I'd like
Mate just ignore all that diamond hell says.. 90% of people know what sort of person he is
Anyhow later this year we do hope to have premises and offer public liability too
But to answer that idiot, if things did go wrong with anything we did then of course we would rectify it. I'm not sure what kind of warrant people think they get with second hand engines but it's not great
Anyhow good luck with the project :wink:
+1
Small island boy - small mind.
You've done a cracking job on your car mate.
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No? I think you'll find I do. :nerd:
I know I'll find you don't.
The London Institute of City and Guilds qualifications are qualifications.
Stop talking tripe. I've met people like you before when I did my HND, all think they're above the land for going better than C&G. I kept my mind in the real world what ever level of qualification.
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I think you find you've met no one like me. :wink:
Well done you have a HND. How did I know you was gonna blow your own trumpet. :grin:
C&G is a route for some, that I was forced to skip. It usually happens when you have better grades at school.
But my point was before you decided to get on your pony, was qualifications mean nothing in this context.
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I'm in Leeds, do pretty central North.
I'll travel anywhere within about an hour or so, bit what I don't want to do is travel for the time it would just take me to do the conversion myself on my driveway!
Try Matt and OnlyChargedDubs:
https://www.facebook.com/onlychargeddubs (https://www.facebook.com/onlychargeddubs)
Based in Doncaster :wink:
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If you go purely on quality of workmanship and knowledge gained by doing a job many times over then i'd happily pay Brad to do a conversion on mine but i can also see the point made about insurance in case something does go wrong because you've got to cover yourself against being sued to death these days... but then how many so called reputable garages have done work and charged proper money for seriously substandard repairs.
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Anyhow later this year we do hope to have premises and offer public liability too
You don't need premises to offer insurance for the work you're so confident about.
But to answer that idiot, if things did go wrong with anything we did then of course we would rectify it. I'm not sure what kind of warrant people think they get with second hand engines but it's not great
Derp you've rather missed the point of public liability insurance. It's not to cover your work over breaking it's to cover your work against breaking and flying off and hurting people, or the owner getting hurt as a result of you doing something incorrectly.
Even you in your real world, with your superstar DJ skilz will struggle to heal people, or bring back the dead.
Small Island small mind, eh?
All this chat about qualifications is funny:
HND: Have No Degree.
I did my BSc in Reading, which is on a small island. :grin:
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If you're in Leeds mate. Go and speak to Brad. Don't make a judgement on someone that people "think" they know. find out for yourself!
If you went with him. I don't think you'd be disappointed. If I ever needed someone to do a job like that, I think I'd like someone with OCD to do my motor. Least I'd know the jobs would be done over, and over, and over until it's done right, again and again. :laugh: :laugh:
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http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/cgi-bin/shropshire/con1item.cgi?file=*ADV0046-1011.txt
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Grow a pair and plan it out, take time off do it yourself.
Have a mate who knows or has done one before, but just do it
£8K rightito :grin:
Insurance is a must, if anyone dies under your car he can't pay you for the new red paint you didnt want :lipsrsealed:
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I did my conversion with almost zero experience of engine mechanics, but I did spent a load of time researching as much as I possibly could and asking lots of questions on here, clubgti, and a few other forums
Do some research on what's involved it really isn't a difficult conversion to do and if you do do it yourself you will learn a lot about the engine and how it works and will be a lot more capable than whe you started to deal with any future problems you may have (and save a load of garage fees!)
Having a second car is also handy when it all goes over schedule :grin:
as for the £8k, I could quite easily see a garage charging that if you don't supply any parts
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Cheers for the sensible replies guys and sorry to have caused a bit of a b!tchfest!
Jay, I would happily do it but it would either mean taking valuable time off work to do or on a weekend. Either way I have a 7 year old and a 4 year old as well as a wife that will all want my attention just as I'm at a critical part of the conversion!
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as for the £8k, I could quite easily see a garage charging that if you don't supply any parts
Thank you! I thought i was the only person in tune with the obSCENE prices the garages charge to do a conversion.
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Not such an easy conversion to do on a mk1 however you should be able to do it for a lot less than £8k.
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Cheers for the sensible replies guys and sorry to have caused a bit of a b!tchfest!
Jay, I would happily do it but it would either mean taking valuable time off work to do or on a weekend. Either way I have a 7 year old and a 4 year old as well as a wife that will all want my attention just as I'm at a critical part of the conversion!
It's a ongoing love affair.. :grin:
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Not such an easy conversion to do on a mk1 however you should be able to do it for a lot less than £8k.
ah yes sorry I forgot about the mk1 part mine was into a mk3, I'd still say it was relatively easy compared to other swaps though. Its a pretty easy engine to work with :)
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i think you could do it cheaper than 8 grand.
I also think there's no way you could do it in a weekend for £1500. not properly anyway.
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To clarify. If you done it yourself you could do it for less than 8 grand. The original thread was about a walk in walk out conversion at a tuners. A tuners would charge you 8 grand or there abouts.
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THANKS FOR CLEARING THAT UP MIKE. IF YOU EXPECT EVERYONE TO STAY ON TOPIC ALL OF THE TIME THEN YOU'RE ON THE WRONG FORUM!
AND LAST TIME I CHECKED NOBODY "WALKED" THEIR CAR INTO A GARAGE.
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I've walked mine in before, though a better term would be pushed :grin:
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Pardon?
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I also think there's no way you could do it in a weekend for £1500. not properly anyway.
Well you could get a Leon Cupra or Octavia vRS donor cheap enough (less than £2k) drive it around for a few days and make sure all is ok, break it for the parts you need then sell the rest
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Although you'll still need other parts like a custom downpipe and donor parts from mk3 16v to sought out the clutch and engine mounts etc.
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Although you'll still need other parts like a custom downpipe and donor parts from mk3 16v to sought out the clutch and engine mounts etc.
Yes but if I was ever looking to do the conversion it is the way I would go, as I said at least you can drive it and make sure all is well.
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Of course, definitely what i'd do as well as you'd have almost everything to hand then so no need to faff about trying to acquire missing bits from the lump.
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Looks like the challenge has been set: 20vT conversion. On my drive. In a weekend. For under £1500.
Watch this space...
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Garage labour in these parts is at least 60-70 quid an hour, a tuner will charge more.
Mikester is right, it would cost a fortune.
So in answer to OP, if you can't find it cheap enough then DIY.
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THANKS FOR CLEARING THAT UP MIKE. IF YOU EXPECT EVERYONE TO STAY ON TOPIC ALL OF THE TIME THEN YOU'RE ON THE WRONG FORUM!
AND LAST TIME I CHECKED NOBODY "WALKED" THEIR CAR INTO A GARAGE.
Fully aware of the forum thanks, been on it a few weeks now so in the flow of it :) Do apologise for my mistake!
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I'd say it will be almost undoable for £1500 especially in a weeken as tighter schedules usually mean paying more for the urgent parts you need that either forgot or didnt know you needed.
My advice is have at least a grand on the side for all those little extra bits :) I'd say I spent around £500 on parts during the conversion I didn't realise I needed or simply couldn't find at reasonable prices so had no choice but to bite the bullet and bend over :(
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I'd say it will be almost undoable for £1500 especially in a weeken as tighter schedules usually mean paying more for the urgent parts you need that either forgot or didnt know you needed.
My advice is have at least a grand on the side for all those little extra bits :) I'd say I spent around £500 on parts during the conversion I didn't realise I needed or simply couldn't find at reasonable prices so had no choice but to bite the bullet and bend over :(
Above is true.
From what i have read, its far less of a bolt in with a Mk1 than a Mk3. You need to weld new mounts in etc. Plus the suspension and brakes you cant get away with like on a mk3.
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I can buy all the bits then when I have a weekend get it all fitted.
Won't need to pay through the nose for anything. I can weld and bend pipes so that's not an issue
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that's what I thought
£500 and 3 weeks later it was still in my driveway :grin:
started first time though so it wasn't all bad :cool:
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Just make sure you're prepared to spend alot more time and money on it. Very much doubt it'll be done in a weekend.
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I see young kids, hard one that, went through simular thing, but planning and having all bits just sitting there you could do a few hours of an evening in a decent garage. Build it up even with manifold downpipes attached and one long weekend, engine crane drop it in and then electrics. But even then you should have planned everything and labeled plug and play? I just break things down into sections brakes, running gear, engine, electrics, interior etc. Use what weekends to work on each bit and finally and much cheaper you end up with conversion?
Garages can do it quicker as there is more than one person working on it and they have ramps and tools in fairness I can see a garage charge what they charge, but like most people have said it can be done on a budget!
A mate just bought a whole VR6 for £400, it went right into his Corrado in two weekends! I think he sold the rest and make a profit it, cost him nothing in the end :rolleyes:
Time management and having balls to do it fella! :wink:
Plus if anything goes wrong you know how to deal with it rather than trying to get the garage to fixing it?
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Just make sure you're prepared to spend alot more time and money on it. Very much doubt it'll be done in a weekend.
^^^ this as you'll have to factor in a lot of different components that get overlooked when doing a conversion
When I helped Dai Cymru do his 1.8T we thought that would be a simple swap seeing as the engine was going from one MK4 to another yet everything from drive shafts, to the anti-roll bar and coolant pips were different. If he didn't have a donor vehicle, then the costs would have been silly. As it was he made a few quid on the conversion mainly because he had time, space and he's a mechanic :grin:
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Just make sure you're prepared to spend alot more time and money on it. Very much doubt it'll be done in a weekend.
^^^ this as you'll have to factor in a lot of different components that get overlooked when doing a conversion
When I helped Dai Cymru do his 1.8T we thought that would be a simple swap seeing as the engine was going from one MK4 to another yet everything from drive shafts, to the anti-roll bar and coolant pips were different. If he didn't have a donor vehicle, then the costs would have been silly. As it was he made a few quid on the conversion mainly because he had time, space and he's a mechanic :grin:
My projected £1500 budget was almost doubled. All those forgotten things like nuts, bolts, clamps, tubes, pipes, silicone bits, wires, connectors etc........ all add up. :huh:
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A mate just bought a whole VR6 for £400, it went right into his Corrado in two weekends! I think he sold the rest and make a profit it, cost him nothing in the end :rolleyes:
I think a 1.8t into a mk1 will be a lot more work that a vr6 corrado though, lots of custom parts needed not like a corrado where a vr6 is already made to fit from standard
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Just make sure you're prepared to spend alot more time and money on it. Very much doubt it'll be done in a weekend.
^^^ this as you'll have to factor in a lot of different components that get overlooked when doing a conversion
When I helped Dai Cymru do his 1.8T we thought that would be a simple swap seeing as the engine was going from one MK4 to another yet everything from drive shafts, to the anti-roll bar and coolant pips were different. If he didn't have a donor vehicle, then the costs would have been silly. As it was he made a few quid on the conversion mainly because he had time, space and he's a mechanic :grin:
My projected £1500 budget was almost doubled. All those forgotten things like nuts, bolts, clamps, tubes, pipes, silicone bits, wires, connectors etc........ all add up. :huh:
Bought the donor vehicle for £1500 (turbo was 3 weeks old from VW :shocked:)
By the time he sold the interior (to me lol) his old engine, gearbox, brakes, weighed in the shell etc etc he made a few quid. Like I said, he's handy with the spanners, he had a mate handy with electrics and I was good at sourcing information for the swap; dab hand at removing Recaro seats too :grin: :grin:
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No? I think you'll find I do. :nerd:
You must have one! :evil:
I have loads a HNC and other stuff too, I thought I was pretty clever until I met a few Oxford professors last week who study Quantum mechanics and all things big bang :nerd: mind blowing stuff :shocked:
They all said they could not do what I do though, which made me feel better :grin:
on topic
Best thing to do is ask customers what they think, people who have actually paid for the service.
Take the time to go and see an example(s) of a vendors work. If your spending money do it wisely :wink:
Just because you use a garage you dont remove the same risks you get putting in a second hand engine yourself.
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occasionaly do the odd drive in drive conversion at work but vw stuff isn't really what we look for anymore.
to do a proper drive in drive out conversion it is actualy inpossible to price and do a proper job unless youve had the car up on the ramps before. the number of cars i've seen where owner's thought they had a sound car but when you lift it up you just discover its so ripe the whole lots about ready to fall apart.
but cost is entirly dictated by standard and wher the bits come from. you can do a 20vt swap for £500 in a weekend but it will have issues. we use all new / or recon parts, warranted for 30kmiles and curtosy car. costs more than 8k tho
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i thought i would do mine on a grand but i hae already spent hhat and it isnt in yet! still need a downpipe, intercooler and pipework, airbox, maf the list is long!
if the op is dropping a 20vt into a mk1, i have a set of the conversion mounts needed
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A mate just bought a whole VR6 for £400, it went right into his Corrado in two weekends! I think he sold the rest and make a profit it, cost him nothing in the end :rolleyes:
I think a 1.8t into a mk1 will be a lot more work that a vr6 corrado though, lots of custom parts needed not like a corrado where a vr6 is already made to fit from standard
True that one was a straight in jobbie TBF But my point still stands if you do it yourself it will be cheaper?
You could compromise and ask the garage if you can be apart of the build?
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would definitely be cheaper if you did it yourself, but not £1500 cheap :smiley:
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We have done a MK1 20vt swap
The owner spent close to 3.5k on parts alone in the end
This included brakes and suspension, and all service parts too
Mounts were expensive, they came to around £300 all in
Silicone pipes cost £250 and then theirs the clamps.. This is not a cheap game
Bit more involved than a mk3 swap.
Mk4 swaps are really easy to do and can be done in a few days easily
We have done Vr6 swaps into mk3s in a day, best way for these type is to have the donor car, did this with one of out mk4 to mk4 conversions
Be prepared for something always cause u a issue and hold u back as it does happen
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I've just realised how unclear my original post was after re-reading this entire theread. I already have the parts for the conversion - engine, box, shafts, ecu, ancillaries etc which I know are all good.
All I would need to do before the lump goes in is fabricate my own bracket for the engine mount. No problem; splice the looms, or buy a loom adaptor (readily available by all accounts); fabricate a suitable down pipe and
The 1500 would be the cost of any bits I don't already have, or materials for bits I can't make plus fluids etc. I can do it, I reckon ;)
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Ahh mate your half way their already
Go for it :cool:
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I've just realised how unclear my original post was after re-reading this entire theread. I already have the parts for the conversion - engine, box, shafts, ecu, ancillaries etc which I know are all good.
All I would need to do before the lump goes in is fabricate my own bracket for the engine mount. No problem; splice the looms, or buy a loom adaptor (readily available by all accounts); fabricate a suitable down pipe and
The 1500 would be the cost of any bits I don't already have, or materials for bits I can't make plus fluids etc. I can do it, I reckon ;)
go for it, you should be abel to do that with ease