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Derk's Project B5 Wagon

3K views 13 replies 5 participants last post by  DERK.B5.Passat 
#1 · (Edited)
Like to start by thanking the people who have contributed so much to PassatWorld. I've been out of the VW world for a couple years and it feel great to be back. I used to post my projects on Fourtitude and VWVortex and I'm excited to be part of another forum.

This is going to be a thread dedicated to my new project, whether its new parts, installs, diy's and possible questions along the way.. etc etc...

My new project is a B5 (1998) Passat Wagon with a 5 speed AEB 1.8T. I purchased this car 3 weeks ago and hit the ground running. This is going to be a mild build, I'm very much into the OEM+ builds. I know we all love pictures so I will start out with the goodies. I didn't get many pics when I first picked up the car but I did flick this one...



Once home I grabbed my notepad and walked around the car listing any missing or broken pieces. As for factory parts I replaced the drivers side tail light, antenna mast, door lock internals so all doors unlock and open ( you all know the longevity of these locks :banghead: ), side view mirror and a few more misc. plastic pieces. Ive been doing all these small repairs in between waiting on parts shipments.

I bought the car as a "mechanics special" cause the car was not running. The previous owner started the car one day and it stalled out and he was never able to get it started again after throwing parts at it with no real diagnosis. The fuel pump wasn’t dead but it was on its way out and I was getting some low readings on pins 1 & 4. The previous owner had the car sitting for 8 months (no gas cap either) so I drained the tank and installed a new Bosch pump/sending unit.

So anyhow the car cranks but wont start and there are zero codes thrown by the ecu. I tested the crankshaft position sensor and it was reading below 400ohms when it should be 750-1000ohms and I also removed the sensor, cleaned it off and reinstalled. I tried started and it wanted to start more then it previously had. So I ordered a new OEM sensor and will be here in a couple days. So while I wait I have been going over the car and giving it a deep clean and replacing more small parts I've been picking up from the wrecking yard.

Here are some pics as it sits now after doing the things I mentioned before. Enjoy the pics :thumbup:







Spent a couple hours just cleaning the interior from the previous owner. It was pretty bad.







Went to the wrecking yard today and grabbed everything I need from a B5.5 for the double din conversion. Also couldn't take looking at the old crusty shift boot for more then a day, had to swap it out haha.





I vacuumed and spot cleaned the engine to see what would come up. Gonna wash the engine and bay this weekend.



Ive got a lot of parts on the way including all the parts to refresh the suspension minus the SPC adjustable control arms I need to order, so lots of work coming up :D:thumbup:

Looking forward to being a part of Passat World.
 
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#2 ·
Nice find! The only reason why mine wasn't a wagon when i bought it is because the ex was worried about looking like a grandma driving a wagon lol. 1.8T 5 speed is the way to go for sure, as well as OEM+ , definetly my style. Glad you ordered a OEM sensor, i had a bad experience with an aftermarket one on one of my VW, they do not like the aftermarket ones at all. Good luck on the resto.

Keep us updated on the progress, i would love to see where you take this one!
 
#3 ·
I will definitely post whenever I have the chance. Ive parted ways with social media but Id like to think these forums are more educational with a social twist. Is she your ex for the wagon blasphemy :lol:

I will grab OEM or german made whenever possible and I usually stroll the wrecking yards for backup spare parts. I actually got the sensor a couple day early, put it in and it started right up but I popped up with a p0302 misfire cylinder 2. All tests ruled out the coils and plugs but when I tested the ICM it was the culprit. I actually just grabbed a ATW valve cover, a wiring harness from the yard and ordered the 2.0 coil conversion kit from ECS and a ICM delete. So I can wait till all the parts come to fix the misfire. Everything at Pick N Pull was 50% off this weekend.



Its hard to wait for parts so I went to home depot and spent like $4 to try something out...
-A flat bungee cord
-Alan bolts
-Finishing washers....





I also got my wheels shipped so I did some test fitting today.



 
#4 ·
I am glad you resurrected this car. Our B5 wagon is an absolute keeper, because I have never seen anything else from any manufacturer that can match its perfect size and configuration. You certainly know what you are doing and are thus well qualified to take on this project. :)
 
#6 ·
Thanks brother and I absolutely agree, although I haven't driven it much I did swing the block after I fixed the no start issue although I didnt want to take it on the main road/highway with cylinder #2 not firing. But just that short trip has got me smiling even more. Ive really missed owning a VW.

totally agree, and yes there is inherent flaws.....water ingress, undersize oil capacity/cooling,etc BUT as to everything else from an anthropometric/industrial design standpoint, 10's across the board, and they fly and handle great, why it was just yesterday that I blew the doors off a "sport" (spoiler,alloys,lowered) Prius, envious of of the 5 speed manual, found one outside of Buffalo ,low miles but inside of engine bay and interior ,trashed....... keep up the good work!!!!
Haha :lol: that's so true. I wouldn't mind punching a few Passat engineers like the one who designed the placement of the drivers side taillight. I wasn't about to remove half the interior to change the taillight so I took my dremel and cut an access window in the monsoon amp/6 disc changer mounting bracket and now have easy access. Then theres the access plugs to the strut mount, the rats nest of an air box and so on...But I wouldnt choose anything else as a project. Ive only owned MK2's and MK3's and always wanted a B3/B4 Passat Wagon. I have to say Ive never enjoyed driving anything more then a VW. BTW Ive seen some of those Prius' haul ass haha.


So I got a couple more goodies in the mail this week...



I also ordered all new rotors and everything to rebuild all 4 calipers so gonna wait till everything comes in but I did the fuel filter and this goodness came out of the old filter...



I know I might get flamed for this but I also got my Raceland coilovers. I came really close to buying the BC coilovers (BR's), I was actually entering in my card info but decided to think a bit more. Then I came just as close to buying the Suspension Techniques coilovers also. But I decided I could either get the BC's and thats it or I could buy all new mounts and bushings with the money I saved so thats the route I went, I had racelands on my MK3 Jetta (with the old mounts) and they felt great honestly and didn't make any noise....



This next week I will also be putting in an order for the SPC adjustable upper control arms, some Febi Bilstein lower control arms and Febi rear axle mounts. Does anyone have any experience with the SPC control arms?? Ive heard they are a better option for a daily driver then the 034 Motorsports ones with the heim joints instead of ball joints.

I also got alot of the AWP valve cover I grabbed from the junkyard cleaned up but was wondering if anyone had any ideas on how to get the rest of the buildup cleaned out of the breather port/baffled section of the valve cover. Im going to be throwing it in the media blasting cabinet but not sure if that will be able to get to it.

Thanks for everyone's feedback
 
#5 ·
totally agree, and yes there is inherent flaws.....water ingress, undersize oil capacity/cooling,etc BUT as to everything else from an anthropometric/industrial design standpoint, 10's across the board, and they fly and handle great, why it was just yesterday that I blew the doors off a "sport" (spoiler,alloys,lowered) Prius, envious of of the 5 speed manual, found one outside of Buffalo ,low miles but inside of engine bay and interior ,trashed....... keep up the good work!!!!
 
#7 ·
do NOT put in media blaster as you will never flush all of it out ,end up "honing" your engine from the inside out!!! ,In a plastic basin/tupperware,etc. then using drano "crystals" (safety glasses and do this DRY )this crap is dah stuff (caustic lye) will not only clean your pipes. Pour crystals in breather pipe ,plug with rubber stopper,oil cap on, flip over and fill til level with warm water, it will get HOT and eat that gunk rinse dry over night ,repeat, clean as a whistle, do same with all the PCV hard pipes especially vertical one coming up from elbow by back and under intake manifold, these cars (1.8s ) develop petroleum emphysema, as a sidebar that lye will clean aluminum cover to the point you can powder coat if that is your end game.
 
#8 · (Edited)
Awesome thanks for that very valuable piece of info. So the lye isnt caustic to aluminum then im guessing if I can leave it over night. I used to use simple green alot till i read alot about its interaction with aluminum. I got most of it cleaned with a brass brush and dawn soap soak.



Im not too worried about powder coating the cover, I was going to blast it because the valve cover has a weird casting defect where theres roughness on the surface like small sharp ridges (hard to explain).. I'm guessing they would be considered burrs. You can see in this picture....(Ill just tell people its chrome wrinkle <img src="http://www.passatworld.com/forums/../smilies/wink.gif" border="0" alt="" title="Wink" class="inlineimg" /> )





Looks like I will just be sanding by hand haha.

Also you have any input on a good engine de-greaser? I used to wash my engine bays with simple green but stopped because of the reasons i mentioned earlier. Ive done alot of research but there was so much contradiction. I thought about trying Fantastik.
 
#11 ·
Thanks again brother for informing me of the media blasting problem. I wanted to switch to the AWP valve cover for the coil conversion and the breather port. But I found that the AEB covers large square holes get covered by the ECS conversion plate and the more I learn of our cars vacuum system the more I realize I need to do alot more research on what does exactly what with every check valve. Im not one of those people who wants to delete everything. Millions are spent on engineering a car and if something is there then its there for a reason. I more into extending and tucking. Also the valve cover has all the MHH Audi VW logos in the cast, Itd be interesting if it was an aftermarket cover.

"... the placement of the drivers side taillight. I wasn't about to remove half the interior to change the taillight so I took my dremel and cut an access window in the monsoon amp/6 disc changer mounting bracket and now have easy access"

Been there ... done that. I did something similar when I treated my wife's Passat wagon to new light assemblies on all four corners, which really freshened up its appearance.
So I finally got everything I needed to do the coil conversion..



I had a harness I pulled from a b5.5 passat I was going to use but when I started to pull it apart the wires were super brittle so I got a good deal on an aftermarket harness and ICM delete. So this weekend I will be able to get that done. I purchased a new diverter valve and was either going to relocate it to the cold side of the turbo or there is a FMIC kit I found for a good deal which has the diverter valve mount on the cold side already. Im going to upgrade to a K04 within the year but would you guys think it would be overkill to get the intercooler now?

Also got the tires mounted on the wheels (coilovers not installed yet)...



I went with 225/45-17 and I really am not a fan of stretch but i feel like 215's would help me clear better with the coilovers.
 
#10 ·
"... the placement of the drivers side taillight. I wasn't about to remove half the interior to change the taillight so I took my dremel and cut an access window in the monsoon amp/6 disc changer mounting bracket and now have easy access"

Been there ... done that. I did something similar when I treated my wife's Passat wagon to new light assemblies on all four corners, which really freshened up its appearance.
 
#12 ·
Got a decent amount of work done over the last month. Here is a few things Ive gotten done...

I went ahead and assembled the coilovers with the new mounts and slathered them in anti seize. I keep forgetting to order or make some coilover bags as well. My Bosch rotors and pads came in for the rear but I'm still waiting on some Bosch or Brembo rotors for the front.



I figured I'd post a pic of the rears installed cause I noticed on some forums people were wondering how the rears should be setup. Some people didn't know if the sleeves should face up or down and if the rubber perch mounts should be removed. So this is the way I did it.



I also did a mild "rebuild" of the calipers even though they weren't too bad.. I reused the hard plastic boots for the rear shocks and picked up some new bump-stops.



After I got everything installed It only took 2 adjustments to get my wagon to sit exactly where I wanted it to. Its not ignorantly low but its a little bit aggressive with the wheel/tire setup I chose. I was thinking if anything I might do 15mm hub-centric spacers in the rear.







So I've been driving the car daily for the past 3 weeks and it drives like a dream. Where the car sits I have plenty of travel and any bumps I encounter the car takes them like a champ. I have some new control arms on the way so that will make the car feel even better. There isn't anything wrong with the rear shocks but I'm looking to change them out for some Bilstein's in the next couple months.

As for engine progress I finished the conversion over to the 2.0 ignition coils. I bought a new harness for the coils so id have the 4 pin connectors and the old harness was getting a bit crispy from the heat anyways. I also installed the ICM delete harness. I was going to build the harnesses myself but after pricing out all the individual pieces it was going to cost just as much if not a little more then if I went with the pre-made harnesses.

I removed all the tape and boots to expose all the wires so id know exactly which ecu trigger wire went to each coil. A little daunting of a task but electrical work doesn't bother me. Once I labeled all the wires it was time to cut out the old harness. Ive never built a harness connector before and the w-style crimper I bought wasnt exactly a snap on tool but it went really well.







While I was in doing all this electrical work I also started to do some tucking in the bay. I'm not a fan of removing things that were engineered to be on the car just so it looks cooler. The EVAP was the first system to relocate/tuck. But with that I needed to extend the wiring harnesses for the MAF, EVAP and N75 valve.



I also went ahead and changed out the stock diverter valve for a nice piston style Forge clone. Ive noticed that it definitely holds the boost much better, I just need to remember to service it every oil change and grease up the piston. While I did the DV install I changed out all the vacuum lines. The lines I put in are legit but I'm going to be replacing them again with some nice black silicone hoses. Also at the same time I installed a Bosch boost/vacuum gauge in the car. I went ahead and bought the NewSouth steering column gauge pod and it looks stock. Definitely a fan of OEM+







My most recent project is reupholstering the door inserts and changing out the door speakers. The old fabric is nice and saggy. So far Ive got the front passenger door done. I just got a new window switch trim for the drivers door so will get to crackin this weekend.



Removing all the old adhesive which is a horrible task...







For the pull handles on all the other doors I just sanded off all the old material and painted them with that DipYourCar removable paint. It actually looks and feels like the velvet material the OEM handle has.




This car feels great and the project has just begun so much more to come. Its a blast to drive on the freeway and the back roads around my county. Ive read a few places that the AEB is setup at 8psi, but Ive been boosting 10psi consistently, any thoughts?

Next up on the list is some head work plus some maintenance like all new belts and water pump etc.. Ive already started to stock up on a lot of those parts, but I need to do some research on some of the parts I should use for the head. I think I'm going to go with Ferrera and Supertech gear. Any feedback is always more then welcome here.

Sorry for the long winded post. Ive been doing alot more work then whats is in this post. I'm trying to include everything Ive worked on even the little stuff in case someone is trying to do the same and have any questions. I'm more then happy to help others. Another problem I had was having to fix the retractable rear cargo bay cover when it came unsprung and went limp. Did a lot of searching online to find a fix but it seems that most people who posted about it gave up. After 2 days of reverse engineering I was finally able to fix it haha.
 
#14 · (Edited)
thanks brother!! Ive got almost 200k on the clock. I did a compression test and all numbers look good. No cylinder read under 180. Still need to do a leak down test and I wish I should have sent off an oil sample for analysis when i first purchased the car. I dont plan to make over 250-300hp so thanks for the heads up. I'm just used to valve train parts being so cheap in the 8v scene so it was a win win haha. Id still like to pull apart the head and throw the springs on a compressor to see if tension is still in spec and bust out the micrometer and measure the cams, valve stems etc.

Im going to be replacing every single gasket on the engine and already have all of that and some extra goodies, so it makes sense to me while i have the head removed. But thanks to you I'm gonna be saving a lot of coin now. That saved money can now go towards a k04-001 :thumbup: Btw i heard that a 1.8mm restrictor in the oil feed line keeps the k04 from oil overflow that causes the infamous smoking, have you heard about this? sorry for all the questions. I'm a diesel mechanic and was originally going to swap a 1.9tdi so the 1.8t is new to me, but I fell in love with this platform so my diesel jollies will come from a Cummins 4BT swap into my Ranger.

Ok so for the EVAP Purge Valve relocation I just tucked it into the fender. In the pics it isnt fully tucked back yet and the other extended harnesses aren't fully in their final placement...but here are some pics. The wires inside the wire loom are also wrapped in heat shrink tubing. Also I might get flamed for my open filter but ive been designing a heat shield between the turbo and Ive run the stock ducting (the one between the hood and top of the grill) to the open filter and last 3 hour drive i took my IAT was only hitting 75 degrees F without the heat shield. The open filter was so I could get rid of the airbox that is the size of an 020 and to clean up alot of the lines to make working on anything under the hood much less of a headache and to move things farther away from the turbo/downpipe/manifold.



The EVAP is semi tucked now till everything else is done and i will tuck it completely into the fender. Also built a bracket for the intake to not only to make it solid but also brought it closer to the fender and air duct. After a 4 hour drive i stuck my hand in the pocket to the left of the filter and it feels cool.



This pic you can see where I ran the new line down to a T branching off to the EVAP Purge valve and the other off to a new check valve (its inside the heat sheathing on the frame rail) then to the TIP. The heat shield I'm making goes along the right side of that frame rail.



In these pics you can see how it looks when i bought the car and now to see how much it cleaned it up. I know people do much better detailed jobs. But it works great and after all the extensions and tucks no CEL/dash lights.





I have paperwork/receipts from the original owner who did a good job maintaining it. Luckily she only sold it less than 2 years ago and Ive had it for 4 months now so it wasnt neglected too long :thumbup:
 
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