Mk2 Caddy VR5 Build

[Al]

I can get you one, but delivery will be about 1 week

http://www.retrofication.co.uk/495.html

I have put them in stock as special order if you need one

[Sammo]

I can get you one, but delivery will be about 1 week

http://www.retrofication.co.uk/495.html

I have put them in stock as special order if you need one

Thanks for that Al. I'm going to have to wait until payday now though.

[Sammo]

My modified ECU arrived back today

Annoyingly I haven't had a chance this week to work on the van. I've been getting to work at 7.30am and not leaving until 7pm by which time the light has rapidly faded. I'm hoping to leave work earlier tomorrow and get the subframe bolted back on!

[Sammo]

Just been out working on the van for a bit. I was looking at the gear shifter and I'm not sure which one I need to use. The original was a rod shifter but obviously the new one will be cable change. I'm using a VR6 gearbox and I have been advised to remove the tower from the V5 box because it's better. I assumed I would need a gear shifter from a Mk4 Golf but the mounts are completely different to what's on the van. Can anyone advise me what shifter I need to buy? For now if it means having to stick with the VR6 shift tower then that's fine.

[fuus]

Any chance of some pictures Sammo? (:

[Sammo]

Of course

This is what's in the transmission tunnel.



These are the two shifters next to each other.

[Sammo]

All four bolt holes (I'm counting the two front studs as bolt holes as they can be removed) are narrower than the original.

[fuus]

I think this guide should be just the ticket for you http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...A-lots-of-pics

[Sammo]

I think this guide should be just the ticket for you http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...A-lots-of-pics

That's exactly what I was after

[jordanw]

Loving where this van is going.

[Sammo]

Got a bit more done today. I didn't have my Daughter this weekend because she's got tonsillitis and didn't want to leave her Mum

Saturday was a lovely sunny day. Perfect for getting plenty done to the van. Unfortunately I woke up with a migraine which wouldn't shift all day so I spent most of the day sat in a dark room. Such a waste of the day!

Today wasn't quite as sunny, however I was feeling fit and healthy so once I'd watched the Grand Prix it was time to get out there and get some work done.

I started off getting the subframe back on. This meant fitting the Powerflex bushes to the ARB and then bolting it all back up. This is a surprisingly difficult thing to do by yourself but I managed it eventually While I was working in that area I replaced the track rods as well. The old track rod ends are seized solid so it was easier just to replace the rod and end instead.

This is the ARB after a quick going over with the wire brush and then slotting the poly bushes on.



Fitted



Once that was all back on I wanted to get the cable shifter fitted. Originally the van had a rod shifter fitted which obviously wasn't any good for the new gearbox. I'm using a VR6 gearbox with the VR5 gearbox shift tower (apparently it's much better than the VR6 shift tower) which means I needed to use the cables and shifter from a Mk4 Golf or similar. Annoyingly the designs had changed quite considerably over the years which meant the new shifter wasn't going to bolt straight on.

I lined the two shifters up next to eachother to get an idea of how different they were. Pretty different I'm sure you'll agree.



Fuus very kindly pointed me in the direction of a build thread for someone who had fitted this shifter to a Corrado. It all looked pretty similar so I decided to follow those instructions and hope for the best

I started off with "modifying" the transmission tunnel. This is what I started with.



After getting busy with the Dremel I was left with a bit more space.



Once that was done I needed to elongate the rear bolt holes on the shifter. This would allow me to use the original rear shifter bracket for the old shifter.

I marked up the bolt holes where they needed a trim up.




The Dremel then came back out and using a carbide attachment I ground away the metal that wasn't required



I then replaced the two front studs with some longer ones I picked up from B&Q. These would be long enough to reach all the way into the van (once I'd drilled some holes in the transmission tunnel).



All that was left to do now was work out where to drill the holes, drill them and then bolt the shifter in! At this point it started spitting so I forgot to take photos and just got on with getting it fitted. It all went pretty smoothly and from the top it almost looks like it was meant to be there.




That was it for the day because it started to chuck it down This week is meant to be nice so I'm hoping to get the van back on its wheels and ready to slot the engine in

[tontoe]

Noooooo you could have used a tdi / Ibiza shifter!!!!!!

[Sammo]

Noooooo you could have used a tdi / Ibiza shifter!!!!!!

Time is against me and this shifter was available immediately for next to nothing. It wasn't particularly hard to get it to fit so I didn't mind

[tontoe]

No why is time against you!!!! been there so many times and made so many bad decisions!!!! Then spent more time fixing previous fuckups

[tontoe]

Whats the plans for the engine mounts? Vr6 ones?

[Sammo]

Got a little more done today. I took the lower arms into work and got one of the techs to push in the Powerflex bushes before he left after work I managed to get out early today and was home before 6pm so I set to work getting the arms fitted.



It's been quite a few years since I last fitted arms with poly bushes fitted and I think I must of blocked the previous experience out! What an utter pain in the arse to fit! I ended up having to loosen off the subframe to be able to get the first arm to fit. That whole process took me at least an hour! To fit one bloody arm!!!!!



That was enough for this evening. I didn't have the patience to try the other side so I'm saving that bit of excitement for tomorrow night!

[Sammo]

Whats the plans for the engine mounts? Vr6 ones?

Im using the VR6 gearbox and front mounts but the rear engine mount is completely different on the V5 engine. I've got a fabricator friend who is going to knock something up for me.