Author Topic: abf conversion in norfolk  (Read 2149 times)

Offline drivebycar

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abf conversion in norfolk
« on: 02 September 2008, 22:36 »
Hi,

I am thinking about getting an abf engine for my mk2 gti 8v. Along with the engine will be all the ancilliaries and gearbox etc needed to get it running.

As I am not technically minded enough to carry this out alone, I was looking to find somewhre in the norfolk area that could possibly do it for me?

Any help appreciated

Thanks  :smiley:
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Offline Jay

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Re: abf conversion in norfolk
« Reply #1 on: 02 September 2008, 22:46 »
Oh OK, you don't want someone to help you, you want them to just come do it for you while you sit and watch with a cuppa in your hand?  :grin:
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Offline danny_p

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Re: abf conversion in norfolk
« Reply #2 on: 02 September 2008, 23:46 »
could do it  but the amount of beer required to tempt me that far would mean nothing would actually get done.
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Offline drivebycar

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Re: abf conversion in norfolk
« Reply #3 on: 03 September 2008, 09:01 »
I was talking more along the lines of a garage, but someone off here would be even better  :smiley:

Im more than happy to wade in as well, just my technical knowledge is a bit lacking  :laugh:

I got plenty of beer!!
Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for - in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it.

Offline drivebycar

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Re: abf conversion in norfolk
« Reply #4 on: 03 September 2008, 09:01 »
+ I could give you a bit of money as well!
Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for - in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it.

Offline drivebycar

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Re: abf conversion in norfolk
« Reply #5 on: 03 September 2008, 12:46 »
I have been doign alot of reading up on this and seems that the wiring loom is the hardest bit. My car is a post 90 digifant so not as difficult as it could be but none the less I don't think I could do this on my own yet!!

Are there any main points to watch out for etc? And does anyone want to give me a hand? I promise lots of beer, some food, some money as well.

 :cool:
Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for - in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it.

Offline bundy

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Re: abf conversion in norfolk
« Reply #6 on: 03 September 2008, 13:45 »
Theres a place in Beccles (not sure if you know it) called Henstead Motorsport, its on Ella industrial estate, they quoted me between £350 and £500 to do that conversion on my 8v. Might be worth a look for you  :smiley:

Offline drivebycar

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Re: abf conversion in norfolk
« Reply #7 on: 03 September 2008, 13:58 »
was that including the engine? Because I basically can get everything needed to do the swap, just need someone with technical knowledge to actually do it for me.

The shame  :undecided:
Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for - in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it.

Offline rubjonny

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Re: abf conversion in norfolk
« Reply #8 on: 03 September 2008, 14:02 »
The ABF loom will need some tweaks to plug straight into a MK2 and have everything working, to start with bin all the MK3 lighting loom and keep the MK2 one in there, the lighting and engine looms are seperate so thats no problem.  Then on the engine loom some things like the radiator fan, MFA & coil plugs differ slightly.

Since I'm quite anal about these things I wanted it to be as close to how VW would have done it with as few cut wires as possible.  It takes more effort this way, but the end result is worth it!
What I did was to lay out a CE2 16v loom (8v loom is just as good, just more bits to remove) next to ABF loom & unwrapped it all. Tip: every foot or so put a single bit of tape round it to keep it roughly in the right shape!
Then I binned all the ABF bits that wern't for the engine, and all the bits from the MK2 loom that WERE for the engine. Then check out the fusebox plugs you have left, you'll end up with 2 of some of them, compare these and see how many wires are in each.  Choose the one with the fewest pins in and swap all the wires to the other one!
Also make sure you keep the MK2 firewall rubber grommet so you know it fits, I cantr remember if the ABF grommet was the right size?  Poping pins out of fusebox plugs is fiddly, ideally you want a proper tool but you can do it with a thin watchmaker screwdriver.

You may be left with a couple wires that need to go in the same socket, in this case what I did was to trim the insulation back on the wires in the plug you'll keep (dont cut the wire, just trim the insulation to expose the wire) then wrap the end of the other wire round the 1st wire, solder and cover with electrical tape.

Finally you are left with an awesome MK2 ABF loom, but its all unwrapped and looks like arse!  What you need is some of this stuff:

Its called Twistwrap sleeving, its awesome.
However the largest size they do isnt quite wide enough for engine looms, you could split it into 2 smaller looms, or do what I did and put a twist to it, I turned it in my hands till it covered the wires, then taped up the loose ends with loom tape.  I really took my time over this part and the end result was very nice, for all the bits where the loom splits off I tried to get the loom wrap inside the main body of the harness, and taped round the join.  God knows why I bothered though as it wasn't even my car :grin:

It all sounds very complicated I know, its easier to actually do it than it is to expain over t' internet :)
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Offline bundy

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Re: abf conversion in norfolk
« Reply #9 on: 03 September 2008, 14:07 »
that was with me supplying all the bits to do the conversion, just with none of the hard work  :grin:

i know if i tried to do it i'd f**k it right up!!