There are so many great cars out there. No matter what your automotive itch, chances are there's a vehicle to scratch it. So for those of us with older cars, what's the appeal? An older car won't be as reliable, it'll need money spent on it and will probably be at least a little beat-up, not to mention a lot slower than 90% of the newer cars out there. So when a once-reliable daily driver starts giving you headaches, many of us just ditch it for a new ride.
Brent Brooks was faced with a similar conundrum. His wife's '90 Jetta GL had been his daily transport for three years. So when it started giving him trouble, he wasn't sure what route to take. But a discussion with Thip Ngonevolalath at TKO Motorwerks in Auburn, WA gave Brent a few ideas. "We were sitting there one night and I was complaining about my car not running right. Then he told me there was a VR sitting in the shop, how about we do a swap?" And so the story begins.
The idea appealed to Brent. After all, the car wasn't running right, so it made sense. That the motor was from Thip's personal Corrado, unfortunately wrecked earlier, made the deal even more enticing. "I told the wife, its either a newer car or we rebuild this one. She asked what a motor swap would cost and I told her a little number. She still reminds me that the cost wasn't what a new car would have been," he chuckled.
What he did was essentially rebuild the humble Alpine white Jetta GL from the ground up. Every nut, bolt, hose and bearing is brand new OEM or equal. After all, once the engine was out it only made sense to have the paint freshened, maybe some new wheels and you know how it goes from there... "It just snow-balled," Brent confirmed.
The car was stripped and delivered to Dreamwerks Custom Paint & Restoration to bring the beauty out of the old beast. The first things to go were the side moldings, badges, rear seams and extraneous lighting. The engine bay was then smoothed and prepared for the narrow-angle 2.8 VR6.
The rear fenders were cut, seamed and sealed before G60 arches were installed in place of the stock units, along with the required '90-up side skirts. Big bumpers followed and a European plate tub was grafted into the trunk.
A fresh coat of the original Alpine white was applied before 7" round crosshair lamps, a badgeless grille, OEM signals and French-style yellow fogs completed the exterior.
It's an effective look, possessing a certain je ne sais quoi that over-baked exteriors don't have. The OEM+ approach was carried to the interior and it's just how Brent wanted it. "I had the chance to install electric windows and mirrors but opted not to. Less is more, that's how I feel. It's clean and simple. I don't need all that fancy stuff."
Clean and simple doesn't have to mean boring though, and inside Brent has the best of the best. A full Recaro velour interior was installed, and he tapped good friend Sam Walker to dress some panels in suede. This includes the headliner, pillars, parcel shelf and an adapted Mk3 center console.
Suede-trimmed sub box and...
Suede-trimmed sub box and recessed amp draw enough power to stall the motor
Sam also installed the stereo. Nestled in that console is an Alpine head unit. Then there are Diamond subs, mids and Alpine tweeters. It's all powered by a Rockford Fosgate Power 1000 amp, which was dropped below the trunk floor and placed under Plexiglass.
"The stereo's so loud it's ridiculous," Brent said. "The other day I was at a stoplight and had everything to the max. It was idling and when the bass hit it shut the engine off!" (you need an alternator upgrade - et 5/08 - Ed)
The interior's crowning glory is the Corrado SLC dash swap: something we used to see more often than we do these days, but a mod that compliments the Mk2 perfectly. It's capped off with a Corrado steering wheel and, as Brent mentioned, it's the only thing on the car with a VW badge!