Review: S&P Automotive MK1 02A and 02J swap kit.

What is one of the hardest parts of swapping a newer motor into the A1 chassis (Mk1 Jetta/Rabbit, Scirocco 1, Scirocco 2, and Cabriolet)? Making Stuff bolt up that wasn’t designed to. The second hardest part I would say is wiring, but thats an article for another time. This is where some of the products from S&P Automotive come in handy. Sal Robertson at S&P was nice enough to send me a full 02A swap kit for an upcoming TDI swapped Caddy project that I want to build to show you just how easy it can be to do a TDI swap into an A1 chassis vehicle. So I wanted to share how cool the kit is before I start on the swap. The guys at S&P were also nice enough to give everyone at VWDiesel a discount code to save on any of their products. If you use the code ‘vwdieselnet’ at checkout it will take 10% off your order.

For starters here is a video of me reviewing the kit the day I got it in the mail. I was actually so excited to get it I called up or small post office and ran and picked it up before it got on the truck.

From the moment you open the box and lay all the parts out on the table you can tell how much time and effort has been put into designing this kit. All of the mounts are laser cut and TIG welded. They are cadmium coated to resist corrosion and look good over they years. This cadmium is a big deal too if you live in the northern parts of the US or other places where they use salt on the roads in the winter time. I got the full swap kit for the caddy. This includes an Eurovan cable clutch conversion and a cable shift to rod shift conversion making the swap to a hydraulic transmission a truly bolt in thing. My setup came without a motor mount installed but they will be happy to install one for you, you just have to contact them about it.

The mounts that I got were the heavy duty ones because I don’t quite yet know what route I wanted to take the caddy yet. The standard 02A mounts run $185 and the 02J ones are $195 for a set

Here is where a lot of the magic happens. The Eurovan Cable clutch conversion is nice. I have a MK1 GTI right now the the previous owner put MK4 motor mounts in way before this kit was available and it has a cable clutch 02J and I like it. This setup is also nice in MK2s so you don’t have to swap pedal clusters with a Corrado or B4 Passat one to get a hydro clutch mount. The Cable clutch conversion kit is $265.

This is the part that I’m really excited to try out. The cable to rod shift conversion kit. I am not a super huge fan of cable shift transmissions. I like a freshly rebuilt rod shift 020, but maybe I’m a little weird. Ok, there is no maybe to it. I’m probably nuts. But that’s ok, there is a good chance that if you are reading this, you might be too. Join the club, its called VWDiesel 😉

The rod shift kit is also made very nicely with heim joints and nylock nuts. It comes with new bushings to make everything that isn’t replaced all freshened up. You still need to provide the shifter box parts though. I would recommend rebuilding the shift box too while you are at it. The rod shift kit is $185.

They offer a MK4 passenger side motor mount if you are dropping an internal water pump 1.8t, ALH, or the like into an A1 chassis vehicle, but I didn’t need it since I will be using an AHU and have a 16v motor mount sitting around somewhere. I didn’t have one to take a picture of so I just borrowed the one from their site. This little piece of awesome is $95.

I can hear some of you out there saying something to the tune of ‘I make all my own stuff, I wouldn’t ever buy this’, or ‘I can find it on eBay cheaper’, or ‘Oh, look a squirrel’. I know there are other kits out there that are cheaper, not just in price but in quality and service too. And yes a lot of guys make their own parts, but sometimes their parts don’t look half as good as these do and are no where near as safe. But for my time and money I would rather spend it on a quality part with a company that will stand behind it, give good customer support, and be there on the off chance that something ever goes wrong. Good luck with eBay on that one. Plus if you use the discount code they provided you can save not just time on your project but some money too. Take the extra and buy your wife or girlfriend something nice. She deserves it for putting up with your VW habit (Ladies if you are using it for your project car, just spend it on yourself or but a VWD sticker 😉

I hope that this post has helped you out. Leave a comment below if you have any questions or suggestions. Also check out our Facebook Group where you can hang out with other like minded diesel addicts.