MK1 ABA swap, A1 ABA swap, Rabbit ABA swap, Rabbit 2.0 swap, 2.0 into A1, 2.0 into MK1, info thread

[Cynical 1]

thanks.

last question -

having an issue with the car not starting. using an automatic wire harness from the fuse block to the engine.

coil is getting power and ground, but not switched ground to fire. also fuel pump is not running...

could this plug need to be jumped to make it work, as in doing an auto to manual swap? seems like the park/neutral switch is not "engaged" and allowing the ecu to engage all needed to start...





or this one by the firewall? i know the 2 wire is reverse light.



or these? i'm guessing these are simply emissions related, as they are over by the maf.




and yes, the fusebox is wired in as per your instructions.



and i have one of these, just cannot find the info i need to save my life...




thanks for the help. this car is just kicking my but, as it was a hacked up wiring harness that someone else did, and i had to re-wire...

[mk1dz]

all right another ? so if i do it the #2 way I just splice the rabbit harness into the new one with the list of wires you us in that diagram to show right

[Cynical 1]

ok, what year is the rabbit? i mentioned previously that some rabbits have the fuel pump grounded while other years run the ground up to the fuse block. i'd double check that.

honestly it sounds like you have it all hooked up per my instructions and quite possibly something is going on with the aba harness or quite possibly the ecu. you said the wiring was rather hacked so i'm curious if something got cut out or isn't hooked backup.

i'll still get you photos and whatnot this evening to help you begin to run down the issue(s)


damn shame i'm not in phatlanta anymore as i would simply just come over and assist right now it's be like an 8 hour drive for me

you are correct in your guess - ecu was fried. bad chip job and all, coil driver was cooked....

installed "tester" ecu, now it runs fabulously...

wire harness was a "new" one, as the old one was so hacked and mangled...

thanks for the help.




and for the record, assist motorsport in ATL screwed this job up... had the car for 2 years and did not do it correctly... avoid at all costs.

[mk1dz]

so when i do it the number 2 way what do i do with the rabbit fuse box with the extra wires in it.
i suck at this wiring stuff?

[B166eR - VW]

Very nice... I'm not sure how much of this I can use, since I plan to swap ALL wiring from a MK3, but, its motivating, at the very least.

I plan on doing this into a MK1 Coupe that is void of all wiring. Can anyone think of any issues I may have swapping over everything? Should I use a MK1 dash or a MK3?

[mk1dz]

all right thank that makes this a lot easier

[jga]

I don't think that's completely right. If you look on the pic the intake touch the hood on the left side. Same think happen on my Cabby, the hood close right but when the motor start moving it touch the hood. I'm planning to hammer it a little bit to see what happen.



Mine

[B166eR - VW]

Is it possible to lower motor at all?

[veedubtek]

I don't think that's completely right. If you look on the pic the intake touch the hood on the left side. Same think happen on my Cabby, the hood close right but when the motor start moving it touch the hood. I'm planning to hammer it a little bit to see what happen.



Mine

If you're referring to my pic, the intake did hit the hood just a bit with the mk4 intake. I'm running the mk3 throttle body flipped, and had to cut that extra boss off the bottom (now top) that just barely hit...also the #1 intake runner just barely was rubbing on the hood (even with all new BFI mid-level mounts). It was a small raised portion of the hood structure, I simply trimmed that down a bit.

~1000 miles on my swap now, and couldn't be happier. Just ordered some projector headlights so I can actually see @ night, and looking for a 268 cam/chip now.

[kap0ne]

exhaust. you can run the stock MK1 dual manifold and down pipe with a simple spacer available from BFI and other suppliers

stupid question but if i get the spacer i can just run the complete exhuast set up i have right now on the rabbit and where does the spacer go beyween mani and head right?, i ahven't seen what the spacers look like yet but i plan on ordering them withina few weeks

[watchxmexdie]

im pretty sure this is how this thread started^
uhm doing some 5th gear searchin hope you don't mind i snagged a pic while i was there

[pgaks2]

A1 thanks for the thread pots of good info that will be very useful.

Sheb

[mk1dz]

what timing belt tensioner do i use the mk3 or the mk1?

[mk1dz]

does any one make a spacer so you can use the mk3 manifold and downpipe

[wantacad]

does any one make a spacer so you can use the mk3 manifold and downpipe

mk3 downpipe won't work in any way shape or form.

[berg cup]

use the mk3 tensioner and no you have to use the JH manifold in order to run that spacer. if you decide to run the spacer be sure to call BFI first to make sure they have them in stock. i waited 4 weeks for mine.

[mk1dz]

alright just wondering thank you again for the info

[johnbmxinvasion]

i need help!!!!

ok so im doing a full mk3 swap into my 80(not that it matters year..) full 96 aba obd2 harness only thing cut on the harness was stuf running to the baxk of the car.. all wires are running into the engine bay... and everything is right. but one issue. im not getting power out of thr fuse block like i am not getting fuel with key on, nor am i getting a starter signal...

now does anyone know what i need to do with the whole alarm system... i think that is my issue... some help would be awesome!!!!!!!!

[johnbmxinvasion]

not to argue but i think its right so far?? ummm its werid there are a few fuses that are grounded actually, i cant remember wich ones but i think 4 of them are( im not home to list them)
i had my freind wich is basically a vw master tech and super good at wiring diagrams (jhines_06gli)

and also for my fuel..(pump operates) and there is all good circuits but im not getting power to the relay for the fuel pump... cant figure it out.

[johnbmxinvasion]

hahahaha

thank man. he didnt wire the stuff i did. but i get what ur saying andddd just to clear the air... i didnt post AFTER u responded.. i posted as soona s i posted in this thread.

thanks for the help.hoenstly.

[watchxmexdie]

i think its time we do a ABA in my rabbit i need to go to the junk yards and see what they have! but ill wait till the rabbits running.

[johnbmxinvasion]

can i put mk3 inner joints onto my mk1 axle.??? im using my mk3 trans.. and its already in soooi dont wanna switch it out..

[TheBurninator]

can i put mk3 inner joints onto my mk1 axle.??? im using my mk3 trans.. and its already in soooi dont wanna switch it out..

You can, but it requires modifying the axle.

Why don't you clearance your spindles or run late cabby/rocco spindles?

[IronTrap]

After someone mentioned that they had used a stock dual downpipe/manifold on a aba swap... I decided to test fit mine.. seems it may possibly work. Here are some pics I took from a quick test fit this morning..

I don't think if you left the stock triangle flange that it would clear... but I planned to cut that off and weld a flex joint/straight pipe to it anyways.. so it very well may work! Otherwise, adding a slip joint there or a ball-socket joint instead very well may allow it to fit. I tried to capture how it sat on the head in some pics below.. hopefully gives everyone a idea..







I'll probably cut the flange off of the downpipe tonight and properly tighten it down with the gaskets all attached to make sure it will clear without, another thought is adding possibly a 2nd gasket in between the manifold/DP to gain that extra tiny bit of clearance...

[johnbmxinvasion]

ive got my mk1 motor/trans so i can just pull the flranges off that one?? and swap with the mk3? i didnt feel like doing that bc its already in the car lol but if i need to i need to.

what modification does it take for the 100mm joint to fit onto the 90mm shaft??

[TheBurninator]

not recommended. unless being done by a machine shop, at which time it just makes more sense to source a set of cabby/rocco hubs

grinding the 100mm axles to fit or clearancing the spindles to accept 100mm axles by way of an angle grinder is not a good idea. you want everything to fit correctly so that you do not have anything misaligned that would affect wheel bearing life

I never said it was the correct way to do it.

Also food for thought. If something goes wrong and you have to replace a part do you want something that bolts right up or do you want to have to deal with modifying a brand new part to work.

ive got my mk1 motor/trans so i can just pull the flranges off that one?? and swap with the mk3? i didnt feel like doing that bc its already in the car lol but if i need to i need to.

what modification does it take for the 100mm joint to fit onto the 90mm shaft??

You need to grind a new groove (which again should be done on a lathe at a machine shop) into the end of the axel shaft to allow the jesus clip to go on the axel with the 100mm inner.

[kap0ne]

i plan on using my rabbit manifold , downpipe with bfi spacer and the techtonics exhaust i already have on the car and my buddy is telling me that he thinks the car will run like crap because the manifold is too small and won't breath right

any input?

[IronTrap]

i plan on using my rabbit manifold , downpipe with bfi spacer and the techtonics exhaust i already have on the car and my buddy is telling me that he thinks the car will run like crap because the manifold is too small and won't breath right

any input?

bench racing at it's finest. will it be the most optimum at 7500k RPMS at WOT vs. a flowed and port matched header? No. Will it run just fine if the swap is done correctly? yes. If you really cared about making amazing power you wouldn't be playing 4cyl VW engines..

[xcrament]

If you really cared about making amazing power you wouldn't be playing 4cyl VW engines..

was going to reply with this but was beaten to it

[kap0ne]

bench racing at it's finest. will it be the most optimum at 7500k RPMS at WOT vs. a flowed and port matched header? No. Will it run just fine if the swap is done correctly? yes. If you really cared about making amazing power you wouldn't be playing 4cyl VW engines..

thanks , if i planned on turboing it in the future i can just change the the manifold to a TT but i don't plan on it any time soon

[veedubtek]

After someone mentioned that they had used a stock dual downpipe/manifold on a aba swap... I decided to test fit mine.. seems it may possibly work. Here are some pics I took from a quick test fit this morning..

I don't think if you left the stock triangle flange that it would clear... but I planned to cut that off and weld a flex joint/straight pipe to it anyways.. so it very well may work! Otherwise, adding a slip joint there or a ball-socket joint instead very well may allow it to fit. I tried to capture how it sat on the head in some pics below.. hopefully gives everyone a idea..

I never tried the stock dual dp setup, but I did try my 8v 4-1 header. It fit, but would hit the rack on hard accel/decel, even with some clearancing work and new mounts. Ended up with the AEG manifold, and hacked off piece of rocco DP, with a custom 2-1 collector pipe. $80 into a nice budget 4-2-1 header, and I can put my upstream 02 in the manifold. Speaking of, I have a brand new BFI spacer I'd sell...

[kap0ne]

if you are going to turbo it you need a completely different exhaust manifold and then neither the TT manifold/dp or the stock dual outlet will be used.

as i stated before, the stock dual outlet is smaller than a stock MK3 setup (combined with the TT downpipe). would you notice any difference with a completely stock motor? no, probably not. but if you started getting into head work, cam, chip, etc... then yes you would notice a difference if you were retaining the smaller setup.

sorry i knew you needed a turbo manifold , i was just typing without thinking, i have a mildly built 1.8T

thanks for the info

[POKTROKT]

Someone mentioned the belt tensioner, not sure if they meant the timing belt tensioner but I have a question about the accessory belt tensioner.

I’m swapping an ABA from a MK1 into another MK1 and it looks like the previous owner pounded the side of the passenger side frame rail to clear the accessory belt tensioner (I’ll post pics later), is there a way around this? I don’t want to pound my new MK1 with a hammer.

[kap0ne]

do we use the fuel box set up under the right rear of the car as it sits there stock(83 gti)

[POKTROKT]

there is no need to pound or clearance anything on this swap (save for the exhaust).

if you install everything and find you are a bit close to the rail simply loosen up the motor mounts and shift the motor over....i've had to do this in the past on my other swaps and most recently on my 80'

there is no need to pound in a frame rail for clearance, it's not necessary.

Thanks!