Drive in, drive out conversions?

[Dan_GTi8v]

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 

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

[Rhyso]

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 

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. 

Bought the donor vehicle for £1500 (turbo was 3 weeks old from VW  ) 

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 

[VW BUSH]

No? I think you'll find I do. 

You must have one! 

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 mind blowing stuff
They all said they could not do what I do though, which made me feel better

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
Just because you use a garage you dont remove the same risks you get putting in a second hand engine yourself.

[danny_p]

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   

[lewis1641]

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

[clipperjay]

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 

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? 

[Dan_GTi8v]

would definitely be cheaper if you did it yourself, but not £1500 cheap 

[F17BAD]

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

[craig180]

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

[F17BAD]

Ahh mate your half way their already

Go for it