VW Vortex - Volkswagen Forum banner

My life and my car :By gettajetta13

67K views 215 replies 18 participants last post by  02vwgolf 
#1 ·
Hey guys! I've been on the B5 forum for a little over 2 years now and figured I should share what I've been working on. I bought my Passat on September 07, 2013. Being the 4th owner of it, there were a few things that needed changing and fixing on the car. I purchased the car in fair condition with some cuts and bruises. None the less, it seemed like a good starting platform.

don't drive to work and i wanted to sell my MK4 Jetta VR6 before digging into the new project so I didn't actually start work on the car till December of 2013..I don't really have any goals with this car besides #1. paying for it (auto loan) as soon as possible (which took me a little over a year and got me to near perfect credit score rating as intended!) & #2. Doing things as cost effectively as possible without sparing quality.

Here's a snap shot of my "as is" purchase

2000 Passat estate 30v V6. 5 speed, 106k miles.

- 18x9 Lorinser RSK-3 wheels with 225/40 Falken 512s
- 12mm H&R spacers in the rear
- Raceland coilovers (should be listed as a con..not pro)
- All new lower control arms with freshly rebuilt CPP adjustable upper control arms
- New tie rod ends
- Newer axles
- APR snub mount
- Sony CD/MP3/iPOD/USB deck
- Newer windshield
- Depo headlights with OEM Audi S4 projector retrofit and DDM 35w ballasts and 5k bulbs
- New orange sidemarkers/corner lights from '98 model
- Window regulators replaced in both front doors
- Newer rear brakes
- OEM all-weather floor mats and Weathertech floor liner for the rear hatch area
-Suitecase delete w/ magnaflow muffler
-100k maintenance…..
-water pump
-timing belt

Here she is after getting her home.


Tan leather interior w/ faux woodgrain in pretty good condition.


And a shot with my Jetta…ah the drive way looked so good!


And all three of the projects together.


Before I get started…I was a little bummed coming from the MK4 forum. With the MK4 Jetta/Golf platforms so popular there was on over abundance of DIY's and information. With that in mind, I've been creating my own DIY's and library of B5 information as I learn. All of my created DIY's, as well as other DIY's I have found useful can be found here.

My DIY's
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthre...hread-By-gettajetta13&p=90071009#post90071009

First things first.

I'm not into big stickers and crazy crap hanging from my rear view. But.. I have started a collection, one for each VW I've owned.
- Green leaf air freshener (not a pot leaf) came with the very first car i bought at 18 yrs old: 1986 jetta GL 1.8, small bumper, loved that thing.
- Small bracelet with tow hook tag on it: 1996 Jetta GL 2.0
- Orange tree air freshener: 1997 Jetta GL 2.0
- Long beaded neckless: 2001 Jetta GLX VR6
- And now the new addition for the Passat…The indian looking pouch, my old GF got for me in a street market in Paris.

To kick things off I swap out the antenna for a stubby and sealed the parameters.



A few days after driving it home I found a full OEM ski rack on CL for $20. I took a ferry on my lunch and bought it on a whim..turns out it was for a sedan (I knew nothing at this point). So I sold all of it (save for the snowboard attachments) for enough cash to pay for the correct set for my estate, which I had found on CL too. The new full Votex set came with keys, bars, and basket. at this point I now had everything for the roof that I wanted, and all at the tune of $20 + my ferry ticket!



A few days after that I found a Votex dog partition on CL for a good deal and bought that too since I have a black dog. So this keeps the monster contained, and the car came with a tan rubber cargo liner as well so the trunk is pretty outfitted.



Next I changed my oil for the first time and wrote a DIY for it..as can be seen here.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?6880358-DIY-oil-change-for-b5-Passat-30v-V6



After that i fixed the little crack in my windshield so it wouldn't grow. It looked like this to begin with..kind of hard to see but you can see the crack has a few legs coming off it.



I bought this repair kit from Harbor Freight. (you can also find one at O'Reily's)



Put it to use.


And ended up with this. From the inside you can hardly see the crack. it worked great. (2 years later and the crack hasn't spread)



Then I decided to clean up the rear hatch. I deleted the rear wiper, plugged and sealed the hole, dipped the plate frame black so it wasn't as flashy (the frame came with the car..not on there by choice really), dipped the "VW" emblem to simplify things, and added 3m adhesive foam tape to the rear side of the plate so it has a nice solid sound and no rattle when the hatch is being closed. The PO had already de badged all other adhered emblems on the trunk. Sorry…no pics but it wasn't anything impressive.

Next I had to suit the car for winter so I bought these MKV "classix" wheels locally for $120. A week later I found low pro 205/40/17 blizzak ws60's in mint condition and got them delivered to my work for only $220. Then had Dave Meister put everything together for me before I took a christmas trip to leavenworth with my ,then GF, and pup. Heres what the car looked like so far.



Once I got home from the trip I sold some of my Jetta parts and still had the notchless bra left that I had made. Since no one bought it I decided to recycle it.

From the Jetta hood.



To the Passat.





Underside fitment of the bra



Finished the evening with breakfast for dinner….on the roof.



I also noticed the rear driver side window pin was broken when I bought the car so I made this DIY for y'all and this is how I fixed it.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?6883958-DIY-b5-amp-b5-5-rear-window-pin-fix-replacement

Heres a mid fix pic of the work



Then I got sidetracked for a few. My family dog passed. I walked into a tattoo shop asking if they could tattoo my dogs name on my finger. They said "no prob…its $70 min and we can do it in two weeks". That was not the answer I was looking for. So I walked out and purchased my own tattoo machines and proceeded to give myself the tattoo that night. Ooops thats too easy…this was the next weekend…



Word quickly got around and my buddies formed a line.





Then I took a day off….only to work on the girls car. sigh…so we ordered these guys. for her 2004.5 volvo s40.



Installed the springs and had these adapters machined for us…so we test fitted them. 5x108 to 5x5 and of course center bore rearranging.



Her wheels aren't done but we thought we'd get a general idea of the fitment…aprox 1" poke…wide much?..gotta scale it down.



So now we gotta get tires and such to finish her car…mean while, my window pin broke again so i fixed that. This time i said screw the plastic window pin and replaced it with a standard capped nut and bolt..worked like a charm

Then I bought and ordered a few toys for projects to come.



Next I decided to address the major rips in the driver seat of the car. I bought the car with the seat in terrible condition looking like this…

Image uploading. Refresh page to view


Bought this one from a yard. it came out of a b5.5 Passat sedan.

Image uploading. Refresh page to view


So i decided to make my own DIY for the fairly simple swap of b5.5 seats into b5.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?6896359-DIY-b5-5-seats-into-b5-(minimal-rewiring-required)

And ended up with a final installed seat now looking like this

Image uploading. Refresh page to view


While replacing the seat I noticed one of the rail slide covers was cracked..so that got plastic welded.

before:



after:



I was in the garage the following weekend working on a helmet for an art show…



Once I finished it I decided to work on some Votex mud flaps I had. They were from a previous mk4 Golf. The early flaps are nice, soft, and flexible for being low. So I "debadged" them, if you will, cleaned them up. and adjusted them to fit the Passat.

These are the rear flaps off a mk4 golf I started with. The white "VW" emblems had fallen off somewhere along the way.



Using a combination of a plastic welder/ angle grinder/ sand paper I was able to get them to a cleaner look. Heres a pic in progress. The one on the right was just melted. The left one had just started sanding on.



A shot before I hit them with Plastidip



Next day in the garage was spent on some of my wheels. I like my Lorinsers but the previous owner did a **** maintenance job so I had to give them some love as can be seen in this thread.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthre...-latest-garage-work-(pic-heavy-wheel-revival)

if you don't care to click the link here is the quick version.





















AND TODAY WE ARE 6 MONTHS IN OWNERSHIP MARK!

(added mileage is aprox 4k on the clock. = avg 23 miles per day it sees the road..pretty good i think)

A few days later I found a cheap Momo hub on CL. The seller also happened to have a "Hella" branded steering wheel that suited the car well so I picked them both up for an amazing deal.

out with the old..



in with the new..



The seller had this in a mk2 Jetta, supposedly owned and imported by a soldier from Germany. It was also stated the wheel originally came off an Alfa Romeo over there…not sure if it was stock for the Alfa or not. So I rode it with the Momo hub and airbag light on for a little bit, knowing that i would soon upgrade.

Then I found a nice town home with an attached garage (for me), and a walk in closet (for her). So I packed up all my things and we boogied.

Down stairs of the new joint…I'm happy with it.



Good thing I had the wagon for the move. one car load dedicated to wheels.





We got settled into the new house….my tools all in place…her closet organi….wait…sorta organized..and it was time to get ready for summer.

First summer owning the wagon so I had some choices to make….



Went with the Miro's, don't care that they are fake splits…I own real splits too…these i just happen to love the look of.



And got the ride height dialed for summer…until i broke of some reflectors switching lanes on the freeway and decided a few threads up never hurt anybody.



Took the next weekend to lay more ink.



Shortly after that I got a text from a nice gent in Vancouver WA. He wanted to make a trade.

So i traded him the wheels I recently refurb'd...



for some of these..



and we both had a great day.

By this time its now the beginning of may..summer is arriving and its time to travel and take a break from the car.

So the following weekend my brother and I and our girls went to Austin Texas for a great 3 day modern Woodstock called Psychfest..great food, great people, great music, great time..



camped with a ton of friendly people at Carson Creek Ranch for the festival.



Went to Barton Springs to get away from the heat. Natural swimming hole in Austin thats really cool.



Had to visit the Cathedral of Junk created by Vince Hanneman in his own back yard..any gear head would appreciate his work of art..cool dude to talk to..he said he's been building for 25 years.





Top story of the Cathedral



Also went to the Longhorn Caverns in Longhorn Cavern state park there in Texas.



The Caverns used to be used as a speakeasy during the prohibition.





Also went to The Salt Lick..another Great BBQ spot you have to hit in Austin area…get great food and you bring your own beer cooler in the restaurant..

Then we made it back to the Festival for the last night of music and and…and adult juice…oh and rallied this lil rental golf there to ha.



Austin City before we left on Cinco De Mayo.



Just about now i had my guest bedroom setup into my new study/art studio/project lab.



And lets not forget the reason I am here. A top my desk sits one of my fathers many Boeing patents. He has worked on the many aircrafts aside from the 787 Dreamliner. Most of his engineering and patents help create machines to essentially weave a one piece commercial airline fuselage.. This is one of many patents he has.. i was given this one for christmas last year. In his spare time my father has helped us kids create skateboard presses to fab composite skateboard decks, built a shifter cart in a few hours with a frame and engine from an RM80, and installed his own ecothermal HVAC unit for his house.. My pops is the man.



Any way.. here's the first little project to come from the new project lab.. wrapped the recently purchased steering wheel in some perforated leather so it would be more comfortable & match not only the other faux woodgrain..but now the exterior front hood bra and other little things i had yet to create with the same material.





Yes I know my work is subpar at best. I had the extra material, never tried it before, and had a lil free time so I decided to see what i could create.



After that I few to Utah with the rest of the Fam to see my little sister get married. Ventured up to Park City too for some fun.



Never a break…A day or so later I was driving and my driver side mirror just decided to fall off on me. luckily it was just the mirror glass coming unglued and I was able to catch it.



So i fixed it with some epoxy and made a DIY for it for the hell of it.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?6979589-DIY-Side-mirror-amp-heating-element-replacement&p=85633277#post85633277



and done on this guy for the day..reinstalled..I know..exciting stuff!



The next weekend I found myself at Home Depot grabbing some things for the house. I remembered seeing the garage door lip so i thought i would give it a shot. its cheap and if I scrape it off in a few days driving then oh well.

so bought supplies and went from this.



to this



And Here's the DIY I made for the job.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?6986801-DIY-Fupra-lip&p=85715712#post85715712

I went on vacations for the next 4 weekends so I didn't get much done.
1. Whidbey Island WA.
2. dirt biking in Moses Lake WA sand dunes for fathers day trip
3. Whistler Canada for my birthday
4. Mason Lake WA for the fourth of July.

Goofing off in Whistler.





So i did some playing and now its time for some work and the rear hatch was bugging me long enough.

Bought all the supplies, put my trusty dent hammers to use, then started in with the body work.

All damages on the rear were done by previous owner :(


the bumper.


the plan.


might as well shave the emblem.


progress.


emblem after second coat of fiber. no glaze putty or filler yet.


getting rid of the bod lines




just bout ready for primer.



First primer.



Ready for paint/wrap (which will be the last thing done on the car.)




I had also bought more things I don't need when I picked up the body repair supplies. Picked up a Jetta hood and bumper for a good price. figured I'd shave and sell them to pay for body work supplies just purchased and hopefully paint for the Passat hatch/bumper.

picked these up 10am saturday morn. then had everything gutted/welded/sanded/first coat on by noon.

the jetta hood


welded hood.


first coat on the hood.


the trunk lid.


Finished trunk lid…you get the idea...


Took a day off of working to say goodbye to a project with a smile and a tear..then headed to the river for some fun in the sun.



Then bought some new tires for the fronts, a plastic welder for the next project, and cargo straps..I don't know..I just wanted them ok.



That weekend the gang went to the race track for a car show and some 1/4 miles. Pups came too!

 
See less See more
99
#77 ·
Congrats on your new job with Blue Origin! I am a "rocket scientist" with NASA here in Cleveland. The work and accomplishments of the commercial companies such as SpaceX and Blue Origin are amazing and inspiring. Good luck with New Glenn! Enjoy your Amazon discount!
 
#78 ·
Thanks man! I really enjoy it here. The industry is like nothing else. I haven't even scratched the surface but i'll have to google what goes on in your Cleveland branch. I'll PM you to get your address and send you some cool little "blue origin / remove before flight" tags.
 
#79 ·
Fresh fluids at 150,404 miles on Dec 15th 2018.



custom lil 337gram shift weight. far heavier than that expensive BFI bs. Not pictured but I refreshed the shift box and changed the geometry of the throw for a slightly reduced length during shifts. I'd estimate a 25% reduction. Nothing crazy but its solid and tight.



New interior light harness rigged up when i did the headliner and interior. LEDs at each door really brighten it up. Think I'll be doing nice puddle lights, fogs, and rear hatch lights here soon.

 
#80 ·
I wish I had the energy to do all of that work on my car. The trans a motor swap was enough to put me off working on it for quite while.
 
#82 ·
I am past it now, but I am also selling the car in a few months. We had issues on our October road trip to Utah. I had replaced the prop-shaft center bearing, but the U-joint failed and caused a constant vibration. Pulling out of a gas station, I hit the gas hard and thought the driveshaft was falling out. I could not drive the car on the washboard dirt/gravel roads as the stiff RS6 rear sway bar made the car handle like it was in ice, constantly sliding. I also had a CEL for the cat. Since my commute to work was short, it had not come on but now comes on after about 10-15 miles. I have a ton of performance parts to install now that I am retired, but my wife no longer trusts the car and we will be buying a new Tiguan as we expect to take more road trips now. If I was still working, I would keep the car for my commuting, but now it would just sit in the driveway. The Tiguan is nearly the same size as the Passat, but it has much more room inside and gets better mpg.
 
#83 ·
Man that's a bummer but I completely understand where you come from. I'm a bit tired of playing with the car myself. Wife has prompted me to keep the mk2 as the toy and mature my daily car. I too am thinking of the Tiguan or the new Alltrack. I may have to pick you brain about the Tiguan in a few weeks.

Updates though...we have a Mrs.Gettajetta13 !

Shes 5' 4" , 110lbs of fury and emotion, and am amazing set of teeth haha. And yes we hired an artist to create cardboard cutouts of our dogs so they could be at the destination wedding.



My brother and his girl also cemented our immortality in this Simpsons rendering of us, our dogs, and of course the 5th family member..the Passat.

 
#84 ·
Congrats and best wishes.

It's only in the last 5 years that I really started to tire of working on cars. It started with injuries, then the engine and trans swap really put me off. The fact that my car is also my daily made it that much more difficult to do what I wanted to with the car. Now that I have the time, I don't have the need for the car. As much as I like it, It's hard to justify putting more work and money into it and then not use it more than once a week.
 
#86 ·
Hey guys....

Some bitter sweet to post...

SWEET: First of all, for those that have followed the personal aspects on this blog, here's a link to a lil wedding video I filmed on my phone and edited in iMovie. Cinematography is meh but we are happy we have it to reflect back on. Hope any of you enjoy it!
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-tJhfX36HM

BITTER Now for some sad news.. I made it official last weekend and have started tearing down the Passat. It was a fun build, I learned a lot, and hopefully left some good info and inspiration behind with this one. I'm still in love with the car and its a tad painful to tear her down but it is what it is. She's getting fully dis-assembled and part out threads will be popping up here shortly on the classifieds. If any one has particular interest in anything you've seen on the car you're welcome to PM me ahead of time. This things gotten me through my mid 20's and took my pup everywhere in it, been through some girlfriends, made some house moves, and has seen me off into our first home purchase and of course into married life. She was loved.



SWEET: But, I can't go out just like that can I?!! Nope. The ol' blue will get me a good jump on the next build!! Thinking this time around I need 4 wheels spinning! That being said, 3 weeks ago i brought home a 2002 4mo ATQ GLX that I'm starting a relationship with. Not sure what my plans are with this thing other than to speed up the process and build it all by the end of summer 2019. I've got lots of parts coming in and some good work in progress. Once I hit the 1 month mark and have notable work done I'll post an update.



So lets get some feed back!!
-do I start a new build log or just keep this one going?
-what about aesthetics and mods for this thing? who wants to see what?
 
#87 ·
Wish you were closer, I would take that complete beige interior from you.

As for the new one, 6sp manual swap. It really wakes up the V6 as you already know and it's quite rare. The Tip/V6/4Mo combo just feels dead off the line. The pedal, hydraulics and clutch can all be swapped over. You can also keep all of the control arms (they changed in 03). Everything on the engine should swap over, I think the PVC was updated either in 02 or 03.

For coils, PSS9 and KW V2 or V3 are great. For handling, you want rear springs 40-50% stiffer than the fronts. A6 rear suspension parts fit, I am running H+R Race springs from an A6Q on Koni shocks with coilover sleeves for a custom 1.5" drop. If you want to go lower, you need coilovers to clear the rear axle.

I did the 6sp swap on mine, but I ended up doing a 1.8T swap as well (long story). It's actually quicker 0-60 with the stock 150hp AUG 1.8T than it was with the V6/Tip combo. After 60, the V6 is better, it's also much smoother. Not sure if I will keep mine, but if I do, I have a built 2.0T block sitting in the garage with a Frankenturbo, high flow cat and new TT cat back exhaust.
https://www.passatworld.com/forums/...431530-6sp-manual-trans-1-8t-engine-swap.html
 
#88 · (Edited)
#1 Wish you were closer, I would take that complete beige interior from you.

#2 As for the new one, 6sp manual swap. It really wakes up the V6 as you already know and it's quite rare. The Tip/V6/4Mo combo just feels dead off the line. The pedal, hydraulics and clutch can all be swapped over. You can also keep all of the control arms (they changed in 03). Everything on the engine should swap over, I think the PVC was updated either in 02 or 03.

#3For coils, PSS9 and KW V2 or V3 are great. For handling, you want rear springs 40-50% stiffer than the fronts. A6 rear suspension parts fit, I am running H+R Race springs from an A6Q on Koni shocks with coilover sleeves for a custom 1.5" drop. If you want to go lower, you need coilovers to clear the rear axle.

#4I did the 6sp swap on mine, but I ended up doing a 1.8T swap as well (long story). It's actually quicker 0-60 with the stock 150hp AUG 1.8T than it was with the V6/Tip combo. After 60, the V6 is better, it's also much smoother. Not sure if I will keep mine, but if I do, I have a built 2.0T block sitting in the garage with a Frankenturbo, high flow cat and new TT cat back exhaust.
https://www.passatworld.com/forums/...431530-6sp-manual-trans-1-8t-engine-swap.html
ooo..you've got some good info. I'm going to check out your PW link towards the end of the day after work.

#1. I'll be stripping the car to bare bones and will hold onto the interior for a bit should you find the resources to acquire it haha. I'd rather not see it rot in a yard. Even if it means I hold onto it for a bit and let someone else revive their car with it.

#2. Could you share some basics on the 6spd manual (I'll read through your PW link later today) do you source pedal from the b5/5.5 or do you pull those from the same 6spd doner car. I'd love to keep the 4mo and turn it to manual. Would all this just be sourced from an A6? I just refreshed the transmission,front/rear diffs so I'l at least let those ride for the next year while i source parts.

-Semi familiar with the PCV change. I plan to refresh that all in a similar fashion that the blue Passat got. Replace stock hose with 3/4" heater line. Thinking most of my new check valves etc. should transfer right over. I have yet to address the PCV since I'm tackling a climatronic --> manual dial/heatercore swap at the moment.

-did control arms really change in the b5/5.5 passat or was that just in reference to making a manual 6spd swap? I was under the impression that all b5/b5.5 manual/auto/fwd/4mo front suspension components were the same.

#3. I have a loose plan for suspension. I have brand new upper/lower control arms + end links I just put on the blue Passat. I intend to swap those over to the new wagon. As for suspension, I was thinking of sourcing c5 a6 rear air struts and going Airlift + V2 management. Thoughts on that? Should be a pretty painless install but I am new to the 4mo rear suspension. Heard I may need to make alterations to get the car sitting right with air ride struts. I'm going to start runnning the wire harness and airline next weekend hopefully. I've already go the ecu box prepped to let the harness for the manifold pass through as well as an AFR gauge harness. trying to be methodical here and hit things systematically.

#4. I think ultimately I will keep the v6 in the car. Planning on having Ian at Reflect do the TCM mod (havent even asked what it entails yet), and just supercharging the V6. I promised the wife this wouldnt turn into some 4yr long build lol.. I know the V6 has it whoas but the last one treated me well. It is very smooth and I hope to be hauling a small trailer this summer and would appreciate the V6 torq. None the less...a manual swap would be super ideal.
 
#89 ·
Gettajetta, please refresh my memory on why you've decided to part out your Blue Passat? Did something major fail on it?

I look forward to watching your wedding video.

Good luck with he new project! Still at Blue Origin, I assume?
 
#91 ·
Still at Blue Origin and loving it. I am networking a lot with some great people and hope I get to make some positive moves here once I get a little more grounded.

I decided to tear down the blue Passat for a conglomerate of reasons, the main being I started to develop low compression in cylinders 4,5,6 two days after installing the rebuilt supercharger and simply put..it was disappointing. I took several actions to diagnose and even went as far as taking it to my trusted shop of 15years+ to confirm my diagnosis. I battled the idea for a month before deciding. Weighing options of motor swaps etc, the best most cost effective and time saving I decided would be to get a doner car...and do the whole thing over again. This paired with not being in love with the new paint scheme, more of a want for AWD, and in general just something new made it final. The good news is I m well on my way and keeping things simpler this time around!

Mean while the trusty MK2 is an awesome daily :D. The blower motor was making noise so I decided to replace it, which lead to ordering blower motor resistor, annd heater core...and then 2hrs later I was rebuilding the hvac flaps and deleting the A.C. components :facepalm:
 
#93 ·
You would need to confirm your rear differential is a 4:11, I think the letter code is CUB.
The C5 A6 used the 4.11 rear differential with the 6sp manual, the Allroad had a 4.56 or something, so avoid them.. They were probably beat on less than the S4 6sp, but watch out for 1-2 shift issues as they had problems with shift collars. The S4 rear differentials do not fit.
 
#95 ·
Ok Boys (don’t think any girls follow this)…

This is the first post kicking off the new build. I think it’s most appropriate to keep this blog going since ya’ll know me from this thread. So here we go.
Today is March 11, 2019. I just made the first car payment on the newly acquired 2002 VW Passat. It’s a V6 (atq) 4motion with 140k on the clock. Earlier this year my pup tore her ACL and I’ve needed to make sure I’m in a position to financially support any vet bills, hence getting this car on a lil $2500 autoloan through my bank. I’ll make aggressive payments but just having the car on a loan gives me a lot of flexibility in case of emergencies with the pup.
As for the pup… Friday is 9 this year, going on 10. She ran after a squirrel and came back limping super bad. It didn’t go away after 2 days so we went in for $800 X-rays. Turns out she either has a moderate to complete ACL tear which is really sad. You bear a lot of guilt as her human which immediately led me to searching out the best surgeons. But, after some late night reading I found Tiggerpoz.c om that has some really amazing info on it. It’s a great hub for anyone going through what my pup and I are. Right now we are in week 6 of limited movement, daily CBD treatment (zero pain pills cause they mask the pain and let her think she is better off than she is). We have 3 more weeks of limited movement then we start swimming her. If she hasn’t started making notable progress by then, THEN surgery is the next avenue. We are basically treating her as if she had the surgery and she’s in post-op. This gives her body time to develop scar tissue that will ultimately hold her joint in place for the rest of her life and is the basic goal of surgeries. Most surgeries add a superficial ligament that either breaks after a few months or actually disappears. The superficial ligament isn’t like something humans would have as permanent. This ACL (TPLO) surgery is only to hold her joints in place so they can build the same scar tissue as we are building without going through surgery. I’ll keep her progress updated. She is very happy and making slight progress but patience is key. Sorry for the rant but wanted to share this info in case any of you ever find yourself in this position.

Back to car stuff! 2002 v6 4mo. I’m REALLY trying not to let this car consume me so I’m starting with some basics and fixing any components that need the help before we start driving.
First up, fluid changes!

Dropped the oil pan to check the oil pickup screen and clean it. Cleaned out the pan, resealed, new oil filter and oil.


Moved back to the transmission. Dropped the pan down, clean it out and rinsed of the magnets, replaced the trans fluild filter, then reinstalled with a new gasket. Topped off new fluids.





After that I moved onto the front diff. Drained the fluid and topped it off with the same Redline MT90. Also took a second to replace the rusty exhaust bolts while I was there.





After that I hit the rear diff and drained. Also filled it back up with Redline MT90.

Finished off the fluid check with brake and steering fluids. Coolant was nice and pink so that was left alone.



Then I started addressing all the random goodness like battery drains and cleaning.



Dropped in a new battery



Replaced the super worn out neg cable clamp.



Added the shortened A6 top strut bar.



Peeled off the cracked lower window tray and replaced it.



Last thing for that area, I replaced the cabin filter with new.



Also replaced the main intake filter.



For something a bit more visually appealing.. I pulled those ugly B5.5 taillights and created some brackets.



Did some wire reconfiguring..



And ended up mounting a pair of de-ambered b5 taillights that are way better looking IMO.



I like all the stock lighting so I’m keeping things simple. The fronts were a bit faded..



So they got buffed out..



Now that I got the warm-up round out of the way it was time for more aggravating tasks. Like pulling the heatercore! The climatronic was a bit dead and blowing cold air. First I pulled the glove box and removed the blend flapper servo, tried moving the flap manually but even change in flap didn’t yield any heat. Then I started researching all the BS there is with the Climatronic unit, head unit failure, the needs to re calibrate, and then to top it off I removed the heater core inlet hose to find this joy…



So you know me…



Made my own keys to remove the stereo..







Decided to rob my last build since I the manual dial box had about 20k miles on it since I rebuilt it all. So basically like doing two heater core jobs at once. So fun…



So at the end of the day I kept the manual dial hvac box harness, blower motor, and was able to get it all in to replace my b5.5 Climatronic unit. I know someone had asked about that swap like a month ago and well…guess it’s not too bad, and is possible.



This time around it was kind of a bit#h to bleed the system. I had to rev at 3k RPM for 2 x 5 min cycles to get all the burps out. I used the small breather hole on the heatercore line and it pissed all over the engine which will be fun to clean up. The system simply didn’t want to burp by raising the coolant res above the core. Hmm….
While the dash is out I cleaned up a lot of wiring, added the lower dash cup holder, and fitted the cleaner b5 ashtray into the b5.5 console. Last bit of detail was the gauge cluster. For some reason the shield was fractured by the previous owner so I simply removed it and added some trim around the exterior. Thinking I will see how this goes for a bit.



Now we are catchin up to this last weekend. I started really tearing down the old car…R.I.P.





I started robbing the air ride which lead to me gutting the whole car since I had tucked all the wires in the cabin.



I dropped the front air ride out of the blue Passat which also had my brand new upper control arms on. I bought a kit of lower control arms and end links to refresh the arm kit when installed on the 4mo.



Now I would have pulled my fresh inner/outer tie rods from the blue car but my modified harbor freight inner tie-rod puller was not up to the task. And especially since the 4mo tie rods are REALLY frozen in place… I’m going to outsource that job to Autosport Imports. Some things just aren’t worth killing yourself over. Considering I’ve done the heatercore (2 really) + the mk2 heatercore last month…thinking I deserve to give myself a tiny break.
Oh ya…added 10hp with new plate frames too.


On the plus side. The brakes and rotors are pretty dang new and judging by the new bolt on the axle I’d say its pretty new as well.

So now the garage is completely a wreck and I have a torn apart B5. Who needs a full tan interior? Black headliner with sunroof???

Thanks for the follows and input guys! Next few weeks will be a focus on the remaining tear down of the blue Passat and sending her off. After that I should be set to make some more moves and acquire more parts.

Up next:

Complete rain drain cleaning
PCV system refresh
Timing and CCT
Finish air ride install
Figure out what the hell I’m doing with the interior
and figure out something with the rear hatch..not a fan of the b5.5 rear latch/lock system.
 
#96 · (Edited)
Wow! You've been quite busy! Good work and thanks for all the great photos and progress reports on both Passats. I hope your dog recovers quickly and fully. I too have a 2002 Passat wagon with the ATQ V6 engine. Mine is not AWD. Just like you discovered on your new Passat, I too have a cracked heater core tube. On mine, it's the other tube that is cracked (the inlet to the heater core). I applaud you for tearing two dashes apart to replace 2 heater cores. I may do that on mine this summer. I like the technique I've seen of removing the entire dash rather than disassembling the dash like you did (twice!). I've been thinking about your blue Passat parts. I wish you had the black interior. I need a new black leather driver's seat or a new leather upholstery for it. The only part I might be interested in is your black retractable cargo cover, but you may want to keep that for your new wagon. Looks like your new Passat has a cracked wood grain shift knob. I have several used spares if you need one (pulled from salvage yard Passats), but not sure if AWD knob is different than my FWD shifter knob.

Keep up the good work!
 
#97 ·
What was that, a week for all of that work?

There are 3 differentials, you did the center and rear. The front has no drain, but it can be removed with an oil extractor.

I had the same mess of a garage as I pulled the entire dash harness from the donor and put it into mine when I did the manual swap. I like having it look like OEM wiring and I also did the heater core while the dash was out. Luckily, I had a GLS with the manual controls already. I've also changed out a heater core on another Passat by pulling the dash out as one piece and it is much faster. The shift handles are interchangeable.
 
#98 ·
what..another diff?? oh boy.. ok I'll need to read and get more MT90. damn it! I take it my syphon will function just fine as an extractor. It has pretty good push/pull. Where is this fill/drain hole located at? or are you just sending me on a wild "front diff" chase :p:p. Reminds me of those youtube videos, parents sending their kids into an auto store with money and tell em to purchase blinker fluid haha.

And yeah..that was about a week of work spread out. I've been distracted while I work lately. Usually I work alone so I can plan things in my head and just execute while I'm working on another thing. But, lately I've had a mk2 buddy over when I wrench which isn't typical. He's a transplant from Colorado and noticed my mk2 one day when I was in for parts at the auto store. He noticed me in there several times a week and he's a pretty good dude so I offer my driveway for him to use till he gets grounded here.

I'm glad I'm not the only one feeling the manual dials are superior to the climatronic. It just made sense to eliminate some potential headache and just do the swap. I should have things buttoned up this week. This evening I ran air ride harness and AFR wiring through the fire wall so its not such a pain with the dash on. I'll drop another update here at the end of the week. Do you have any build threads going?
 
#99 ·
On the Tip trans, the front Diff takes gear oil. The fill plug is just in front of the Passenger side axle flange. I did the original DIY on PassatWorld, but pics died with PB. I've did not bother changing it on my wagon, but I did top it off after replacing the flange seal. With the 6sp manual, the front and center share the gear oil with the trans.
 
#100 · (Edited)
PZ, I grabbed more Redline MT90 to hit that front diff but I've had other items on my plate. Not to worry. Car hasnt moved since I started logging the progress so I'll get the fluid swapped and maybe take it out.

Well its still a bit slow on the progress. Still managing my time between remaining tear down of the blue Passat and pushing progress on the new green one. I have more parts coming in and just need to replenish the stash before I can actually get work done.

I finish running all the wire harness under the carpet for the air ride. Checked out the CCM while I was in there and everything seemed to be pretty clean and dry.



I also finished running wires through the fire wall, up out the ECU box. The speaker wire is only ran in place so I could reinstall my dash. Later when I add the last wire harness for the AFR gauge I will simply tape it to the speaker wire in the cabin side and floss it on through the firewall.



Front airride with the new upper tie rods went in..



Started running all the air lines. I will reduce the slack once I have everything properly situated. And yes I purposfully removed the bulk head fittings where the lines pass through the body. Thats 8 less air joints to potentially leak.



Getting my placement down..



Little front preview..



Got this new Crux bluetooth unit to plug into the oem double din..I have to say...its a piece of ****. Dont bother with it. I will be returning it.



Added this bumper cover I fabbed up.



Then I cleaned up early and had the boyz over for some beers



Still in preps for more work to come. Bought inner/outer tie rods, metal thermostat housing, snub mount, and gathering anything else I need to address while the front end is off.



Still nothing exciting but getting there.
 
#102 ·
Time for updates over the last month. Just made second payment on this new Passat. I have a lot of projects this summer so I’m financing this thing just to relieve myself a tad.

Sad day to officially end the blue Passat life… She left bare naked on a tow truck 2 days ago. Rest easy.



But, this allows for me to allocate a bit more time into the new build!

Completed the lower control arms and end links for both front driver and passenger side.





Finished servicing the forward most Diff (located on the pass side front axle area about 2oclock)



Shop vac bit the dust so I bought a new guy! Man does it suck!!



So I started cleaning out the car. Removed the mats that came with the car…



And replaced them with some over better quality. Not to mention there is way too much Grey in this interior. The black mats help to break up color.



Moved to the roof where I broke out the previous owners roof crossbars. It didn’t come with keys so Id rather just replace than deal with it later.



Replaced the cross bars with some OEM units and the votex basket.



Then I jumped to the boot lid while I waited for parts to arrive. I picked up a hammer..



Isolated my problem spot and pealed back some sheet metal.



Heat’r up to save some paint..



And was able to turn this… (notice the mk2 windshield in the reflection)



Into this… (mk2 windshield in reflection now has a much truer sight.)



Then parts started showing up!

New fitting and check valve for main air supply line to the tank. Also added to main supply line.



Then started getting acquainted with rear suspension since I just came from a fwd b5.



Bushings and arms look ok, but I should replace my rotors within the year. Everything else checked out… I think, so I went ahead with installing the rest of the parts I ordered!



I’ll try to take some fun pics here in the next week and dedicate a short update to just some aesthetic shots once I get it all dialed in.

MAKE NOTE THAT MY WIFE ASKED ME TO HAVE 1 CAR GONE BY MAY 1 2019. I RESPECTED HER WISH AND GOT RID OF THE BLUE PASSAT A WEEK BEFORE DEADLINE!!
 
#103 · (Edited)
Hey all!
Back at it! Noticing I need to get a little more involved to keep the pace of the build and life blogging. Took the last few weeks of from working on the Passat. The wife and I went to Las Vegas with some friends to celebrate Cinco. Had a great time and spent plenty of $$ :/



Some exciting news in the work arean.. We completed NS 11 mission on May 2nd and are that much closer to promised human space flight in 2019! Bezos also unveiled some future plans for our company which was pretty exciting too!



The MK2 needed some love the past few weeks. First it needed a new brake light switch, then the relays for the wiper and HVAC died. After that the turn signal stalk sh!t out on me. All is back to normal now but it was an annoying couple of weeks for things to be dying off left and right…



Finally found some time to dedicate to the 4mo. I had some Delrin spacers come in for the rear strut mount. They are 1.75” thick and help me gain the lift I wanted while allowing for plenty of low still. I think I’ll also be ordering a set of the 2.75” tall spacers as well.



I also had a Cupra R lip sitting in the garage so I decided to mount that up. And as promised. A fun pics…





I took the car for a quick drive around the block. It felt pretty solid.



And then it was right back to work. I pulled the front off and started on the timing and cooling. I am addressing the full timing system, full coolant system, valley pan, and taking care of some deletes along the way. I took a minute to drop in a cooler thermostat and a metal thermostat housing in place of the plastic unit. Also peeled off the old snub mount and upgraded that. The block sides have been scraped clean to this week I’ll install new timing components and also need to order a new lower crank bezel since the shop that used to work on this car tended to have a heavy hand and broke a few fragile items.

 
#104 ·
Hey all, back again. The build is picking up momentum finally. Getting some solid work done.

Motor started getting disassembled for inspection and maintenance.



First up, removed the front end replacing the oem snub mount with an aftermarket one. Replaced the thermostat with one that runs a tad bit cooler. Also kicked off the coolant system refresh by replacing the plastic thermostat housing with a fresh metal version.







Removed the valley pan and dropped in a new gasket.



Cleaned out the valley pan while it was off.



Next I removed the Y-pipe, EGR valves, and associated vac line. Those wont be going back on.



Backs of each head were then blocked off with these 034 plates.



With the EGR valves gone, there is a lot more working room behind the heads. I replaced all the coolant hardline o-rings.



Also dropped in a new coolant temp sensor.



Since I had already done the heatercore, the last bit was to pull hoses and replace the lower fittings and o-rings. One was leaking which prompted the refresh.





Then we took off to Portland for Memorial Day weekend. We hit Pacific City for a bit in the rain and had some fun with the wife’s 4matic on the beach!





After that we went into Portland for a night and crashed at Hotel Monaco with the pups. Also had the pleasure of meeting up with Big Gene on here. Awesome guy!!



Drove back on Sunday afternoon to get some things done around the house. I hopped back into the garage to finish some work.

Started rebuilding the PCV system.. Old…



New PCV with new check valves etc.



I’ll finish rebuilding the PCV systems as I make my way back to the top of the engine.

I hit the vac lines next. Old…



And the new rebuilt with new check valve and vac line delete off the green solenoid.



Deleted the SAI and plastic welded the inlet closed.



Cleaned the intake ports..



Finished up the timing with the new water pump, pulleys, and new belt of course.





After that I removed the valve covers to check on the chain tension. Things looked good.



Before closing them up I cleaned the covers and installed new gaskets.





More parts should be arriving this week. I'll need to button up timing, and get a little more house cleaning done. If anyone has input on anything else I should service please feel free to drop a comment. Hoping I can get most of the motor work done this and next week. We'll see what else I can add to the plate!!
 
#106 ·
Well I promised the wife I'd cool things down after I finished the blue Passat. But when that one committed suicide with the help of a supercharger, I promised her I'd build another in a few months to make my recovery and call it good :laugh:. Plus my pup is still recovering from the torn ACL and I really want to focus on swim rehab with her this summer and not car work.
 
#108 ·
I still have the mk2 and drive it every day! It's my trusty daily for now but did need some love the last few weeks. First the brake light switch went out. The following week all the HVAC and wipers went out which was awesome considering I just rebuild the HVAC box/heatercore. It ended up being a few bad relays. The following week the blinker stalk went out so I replaced that as well :facepalm: She's all good now. The wife really enjoys it so I think we will have it around for a while and decide on a motor swap once the Passat is finished. I'm thinking of secretly grabbing her a mk2 as well with an auto trans so we can keep low miles on the Mercedes. Lot of projects!
 
#109 ·
Hi Guys,

Check er out! She’s back in one piece, for a little bit! I wrapped up the engine work and she fired back to life! Topped off with g12, distilled water, and a proper system burp.



I had enough time on Sunday to get all the cosmetics on and wash er up, first wash. So as you can assume, I’m starting to spot the interior/exterior impurities. Some bother me, some don’t. I have some tree sap to remove so if any of you have method recommendations I am gladly accepting! There are a few dings here and there But other than that she’s pretty intact. I have a few more pieces coming in the mail and will begin to plan the next stage of building but here’s the short list

-inner/outer tie rods. (I’ve purchased the parts but they are so stuck I will need to have my shop take care of that)
-Alignment afterwards (will complete the suspension/driveline refresh)
-Button up small oddities on the engine if any
-Start addressing the interior and or exterior.

The interior is pretty clean but the grey leather easily shows dirty resting in the leather wrinkles. Thinking I will swap to black leather which means I’ll likely to some other leather wrapping etc of pillars and headliner. But anyway, ya’ll have patiently followed so here are some fun pics we took on Sunday 6/2/19! (Mileage is at 143,###)

















 
Top