MK4/Polo Shifter

[Sean_Jaymo 0]

Was that Charles Trent by any chance? I've been there twice and I've found them hit or miss on part prices. Maybe he charged you that because you e rendered a gearbox useless to them in their eyes?

 

Either way, it will be worth it in the end. I'm pretty chuffed with the conversion myself.

 

I drove mine back to back with Mics car and that has your short shift mod and found that the o2j shift mechanism was a bit heavier but just as nice to use. The throw was also quite short but that's because I had to cut a couple of inches from the gear stick it self.

 

Maybe a different tower weight will improve the heavier feel.

[steveo29 0]

i found mine was too far travel side to side

 

heres what i did to make it ajustable

 

grind off the weld so you can remove the pin

 

 

drill down the pin so you can tap threads into it

 

file a slot where the hole was- bingo ajustable side to side movement

 

 

[Sean_Jaymo 0]

You've done a neat job with that!

[daves16v 1]

Was that Charles Trent by any chance? I've been there twice and I've found them hit or miss on part prices. Maybe he charged you that because you e rendered a gearbox useless to them in their eyes?

 

Never heard of Charles Trent so Googled it and it's a bit far out. My nearest scrappy is 1 mile away in Stapleford so went there and yes you are right it rendered the gearbox useless.

[VEEDUBBED 0]

I'm also in the process of carrying out this mod but there are a few things that have cropped up and i think are

worthy of mention to help others planning on doing the same thing to their corrados.

The main issue concerns the polo tdi housing, or at least the version supplied to me from Vw here in Rome but

ordered in from Germany, P/N: 6NO 711 061A. My supplied version is different than the version photoed by Dave16v, The

first thing that differs is the size of the holes that secure the gear lever's plastic ball into the actual

housing, the two Torx bolts present on the golf 4 or Audi A3's gearshift housing with part number KO 711 061A won't fit as they are too big,

so you'll need smaller Torx bolts off something else, also the fixing plate, P/N: IKO 711 061A off the 2005 model Audi A3/Golf 4 is

also bigger so the holes don't align up when securing down the actual gear stick into the aluminium polo tdi's housing so you'll have to drill another hole on the bracket.

Ok, Nothing huge but still a bit of a ball ache, especially if you new polo housing's gear stick mounting holes aren't

even bloody well threaded!! Yep, brand new housing and they forgot to thread the holes..

Remember also that in order to separate and actually remove the gear stick your going to have to compress the spring and remove the securing collar

Again, not rocket science but fiddly.

Lastly, I noticed that, at least on the version supplied to me, there's a small aluminium ear or lug present which serves as a resting point for the

sideways movement spring, both ends of the spring rest on it, on the 2005 gearshift it's incorporated onto the fixing bracket along with a small rubber bung thing

that serves as the rest so in order to refit the relay lever P/N: 6n0 711 611 c first snap off the lug then fit the lever otherwise the lever won't sit flush

and it won't work.

Phew, sorry for the long post but i think that it should be pointed out that this mod isn't exactly 'Plug and Play' as other forums would make you believe..

All of my components, both new and used, were all made in 2005, as stamped on the Aluminium polo tdi housing, gearshift housing off a golf 4 etc.

[Wompa 0]

I bought everything and it fitted like a glove.

The only thing is 5th gear is a bit hard to get in.

 

That can be solved with bending the wire bracket on the gearbox.

[swiftkid 1]

Just doing the swap now, is there any reason why you need to use the mk4 shifter as opposed to just the whole polo housing/shifter with mk4 cables?

[swiftkid 1]

In addition to the above question, did anyone else find that the cables sat against the tunnel?

 

[Sean_Jaymo 0]

Nope?

[dan 0]

For anyone interested in the current price (Aug 13) for the parts to convert the base plate on a mk4 02J to the Polo setup, the prices are:

 

6n0 711 061 a – housing £50.51

6n0 711 090 a - base plate £7.38

6n0 711 611 c - selector arm £8.15

 

All prices plus VAT from TPS and take a week or so to arrive from Germany

 

I've searched for TPS and there's about 5 carpart companies called TPS! Does anyone have the contact information for this TPS please? 😀

[Dox 23]

I've searched for TPS and there's about 5 carpart companies called TPS! Does anyone have the contact information for this TPS please?

 

Trade Parts Supplies is VWs own all brand parts supply chain

[dan 0]

Trade Parts Supplies is VWs own all brand parts supply chain

Guys I think I have all the parts now and getting ready to get the car up on axle stands. I just wanted to ask one question before I start... Will the mk4 cable ends fit my o2a receivers?

 

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[Dox 23]

The whole point of this is to fit an 02J shift tower to the gearbox for a more precise change

[dan 0]

And will I just use the corrado shift weight that's on now?

 

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[dan 0]

Ok, feel a bit stupid now! Better check eBay for mk4 shifter tower then! Thanks for the reply Dox

 

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[Dox 23]

Ok, feel a bit stupid now! Better check eBay for mk4 shifter tower then! Thanks for the reply Dox

 

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

 

You're not stupid at all and the fact that you've raised the issue others have learned from your experience which is what this forum is all about.

[VEEDUBBED 0]

I'm still in the middle of doing this..

Make sure you get the matching end bits that slide onto the gearchange cables, two different types available, but both are interchangeable. The hardest bit to find is the actual gearshift tower, 99% of the time they aren't willing to sell it separately.

I now remember also That I had to also modify the aluminium polo housing to get the actual shifter to fit, I can't remember precisely what it was but I had to cut a bit off 'cos it interfered with the gearstick's throw, I also had to mod the housing were the small metal plate secures the gear stick's plastic ball in place, the fukkin holes in the housing weren't even threaded so there was no way of securing the gearstick into the housing..great fun threading those small holes..

Just a couple of things that may help you out mate.

I forgot to mention the shift weight, you can't use the 02A's version as the attachment is different, just use the hockey stick version fitted to the golf gti model.

Edited September 19, 2017 by VEEDUBBED

[stuarttaylor37 13]

Anyone who's done the conversion got any feedback? I've read some good reports but quite a few also say that the improvement is slight and not worth the hassle/money.

[swiftkid 1]

Yes, do it, no hesitation, one of the best mods I've done.

 

I went from standard to Daves short shift to mk4 and its night & day between all of them. Dave's short shifter is great and I'd advise that but the MK4 improves side to side as well plus makes everything nice and tight

[stuarttaylor37 13]

Thanks for the reply

[Geeba 0]

Could anyone list exactly all the parts required?

[Geeba 0]

Or does anyone have a picture of the finished conversion inside the car?

 

Does it look the same?

 

Just bought one of Daves shifters.... and my car is is a gazzillion bits at the moment...

[VEEDUBBED 0]

Later on i'll post up a couple of photos.

Your gonna have to modify trim were the litte locating studs locate, nothing drastic, the polo's housing's studs are slightly wider than the corrado ones.

The only other thing that springs to mind is shortening the gear knob shaft, not to difficult, i used a pipe cutter.

[Geeba 0]

Just another quick question... can you use the MK4 tower with the standard shifter setup?

[VEEDUBBED 0]

Nope, different end bits on the cables.