Hi folks!
Long time (2+ years) reader, 1st time poster.
It all started w/ an ACME swap to a Sidekick (still not done) which led me to a '85 Golf NA ('kick donor. Gravel and salt did a number on the body of a very well maintained farmers wife's car) and then a '86 native South Carolinian Jetta NA coupe I picked up during a consulting gig there a while ago. Cool looking, but I had no idea what a biscuit kitty it would be to get replacement parts like door cards, etc.
Both bone stock (Golf even still had the original insulated fender to intake piping).
So as is the bane of all 80's wassergassers (and oilers too it seems), the Jetta's odo died @199+K.
NOT the usual split gear on the shaft. In fact, when trying to take the gear off the shaft it pulled out the spindle?/shaft/thing that goes in the middle of the number wheels, it led to a few aggravating hours of training that will have me being a hot prospect for a used car lot if I'm willing to bear the felony.
So what's an intelligent dubber to do? Why swap CE2 clusters of course!
.....and it works!
With the boon of rejuvenating 40K of mi., but a few minor annoyances like losing 20MPH of speedo range on the dial, water temp having a 1/4 - 1/3 lower reading, and an occurrence that I happened to find out this eve.
I have no Hi beam notification in the cluster and I'm sure I didn't make too many friends finding out about it tonight. Not a big deal, but it bugs me as I live rurally and it's just an extra reminder to be decent to other drivers.
Both are CE2 2 plug clusters and visual check of the plug pinouts seem to correlate. The wiring color codes on the other hand.....Whew!......better get out the Bentley and a magnifying glass.
Now I've noticed subtle differences beside those noted above between the 2 yrs (mostly interior and very unnoticeable unless you like to wrench/restore) and I was wondering if within the vast realm of knowledge that is GTD forum if there were differences between the '85 and '86 cluster wiring that might account for this blue light lack.
Or is it that it's a "standard" A2 cluster, instead of one for a Wolfsburg Jetta and not the year difference?
Something as simple as a dead LED?
Just a shot in the dark as I DON'T want to dig into a cluster again quite yet.
There the question ends and a short intro begins. Quest onward at your own peril.
I've been an 80's MK2 oriented dubber for a decade and 1/2 of the Scirocco vein starting w/ a '84.5 8V w/ minor mods (16V rear end/disks, 16V TB, Fox intake, Rabbit 2 outlet exhaust manifold, TT downpipe to 2" exhaust, etc. I'm considering dropping a 1.6 HO into it) and an ending with an '87 16V that is collecting dust in a barn ATM (Wait....there is an '86 Golf [gasser] that I bought for the lowering springs it had til I figured out they wouldn't work in a 'Roc. Duh).
Now that I've gone sooty (2+ yr.) there are a few upgrades I have planned for the Jetta since it's so nicely rust-free.
MK3 Cabriolet front leather buckets with WORKING lifts for folding (got those, just have to complete the surgery of narrowing the the back rails). MK3 lift cabling is soooo much bettah!
EGT and non-obtrusively placed gauge because of either..........
The gov mod. I've been wanting to, but feared to do it while my reman pump was still under warranty. That expired last month.
or a turbo....don't know what type yet. I have the turbo/manifold/downpipe from an '83 TD that is plug-n-play and a good excuse to open the exhaust to 2"+, but Holset HE madness has started to tickle my ear and alcaid has a good price.
Decisions, decisions........
I will probably do both.
Yes, I know I SHOULDN'T turbo a NA, but where's the fun in that?
No insane boost.....7....maybe 10....perhaps 12# tops.(Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuure)
Ooooooo....just saw a stunning '81 Dasher for $700 on CL so that might lead to me being eligible for addiction therapy!
You can see why I always have lots of questions.
But I try, for the most part, to find the answers here/Vortex/vwdieselparts/myturbodiesel/Vince Waldon's site, etc. before I go around pulling on peoples coattails (Well, except for Vince's, as he gently nudged me in the correct direction to get registered here after a questioning him).
I've been very educated by the people and posts on this site and look forward to more.
Thanks folks!
Gov mod is a no brainer no matter what else you do.
There's quite a few turbo'd NAs running around here. They need EGTs to be kept a little lower and shouldn't be pushed as hard as a real turbo motor but they seem to last fine.
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