The Official VR6 Engine Swap (Page 1/73)
bmwguru DEC 16, 01:38 PM
Hi all,
I might be a little premature for this, but I have officially started the physical part of the VR6 engine swap. The last three months were the research portion. What I have found is the pre 1999 manual transmissions have high failure rate. The 24v VR6 from 2003-newer are four times the price to make power with. So, i have settled on a AFP engine from a 2000 VW Jetta with a five speed transmission. These engines aren't cheap. Most wrecking yards want over $2000. for just the engine. I picked up a smashed up Jetta for a little over $2500.00 on ebay....not including $200.00 in gas and tolls to transport it back home.
I do have some concerns that I will address as the swap goes on. I had to wait until we were finished with a 1967 Mercedes 250SL that had been at my shop since March and it finally was done a few days ago. Now I have the extra room needed to do this project. If this project goes well, a TDI swap will be next.
For those of you that don't know what a VR6 is, here is a generic picture of one with the head off.

and here are the teaser pics of the donor car.....



More to come this week.
Dave

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1987 GT (my toy-see above), 1987 GT (wife's toy), 1986 SE soon to be VR6, certified master technician/shop owner
www.njautobahn.com

[This message has been edited by bmwguru (edited 12-16-2007).]

Blacktree DEC 16, 01:51 PM
ALRIGHT!!!
AutoTech DEC 16, 01:57 PM
Eh, its a 2.8l and makes 174hp - are planning to mod it or?
WisconsinGT DEC 16, 03:23 PM
Right on!!!!
Mr.PBody DEC 16, 03:34 PM
Well in other threads hes saying 9 seconds in the 1/4... So yeah, it'll be modded, alot... I'll be watching this one dave, thanks for posting the head-off pic, I always wondered what they looked like, its listed as a V6, but the header looks like like an I-6 as does the intake, but the spark plugs are offset. What it is that, like a 15* V?
bmwguru DEC 16, 04:28 PM

quote
Originally posted by Mr.PBody:

Well in other threads hes saying 9 seconds in the 1/4... So yeah, it'll be modded, alot... I'll be watching this one dave, thanks for posting the head-off pic, I always wondered what they looked like, its listed as a V6, but the header looks like like an I-6 as does the intake, but the spark plugs are offset. What it is that, like a 15* V?



The head intake runner is longer on three cylinders, so in the intake manifold, the runners are two different lengths to compensate for that. Check out wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vr6
Also, the engine is initially going in stock to work out the bugs and ensure that I can get it running like a factory car. The only mods are: port and polish and upgraded software. This was actually done on the donor car prior to my purchase. I will tear down and inspect to be sure it was done and done right, but the shop that did it is well known in the New England area for VW mods.
I figure the hardest parts are going to be the fly by wire throttle, axle adaptation (I'm using the VW trans), and shifter.
After this is done, I am starting the turbo VR6 project to go into this car. I want to make sure that it wil work properly in the stock form before I add 300hp.
Dave
m0sh_man DEC 16, 04:59 PM
looks like you will have plenty of parts to sell, infact arent the rims from those the same bolt pattern as the fiero?

id love to have a spare set of 16" rims for either my fiero or my subaru.

matthew
Formula88 DEC 16, 05:19 PM
Cool! This will be a fun swap to watch. You've also got me intrigued by the TDI swap. A TDI Fiero could be a seriously fun little commuter with insane mileage.
sc2m6 DEC 16, 05:27 PM
yeah id like a tdi fiero that will do great in raleigh traffic
bmwguru DEC 16, 06:08 PM

quote
Originally posted by m0sh_man:

looks like you will have plenty of parts to sell, infact arent the rims from those the same bolt pattern as the fiero?

id love to have a spare set of 16" rims for either my fiero or my subaru.

matthew


Yeah, Hopefully, I'll make my money back and then some on the extra parts.
I'm not 100% sure, but I think the Jetta is a 5x112. The Beetle and Audi TT are 5x100. I was thinking of trying to adapt Audi TT brakes on my Fiero, but that is later.
Dave

[This message has been edited by bmwguru (edited 12-16-2007).]