My partner has a 1983 2 door GLF5. It has a 5 speed manual gearbox, IRS and it's front wheel drive.

 

I would like to either convert it to rear wheel drive or AWD.

 

Does anybody here know what I might be in for and if I'm going to need to make and major modifications (cutting and welding etc)?

 

I'm reasonably competent when it comes to car maintenance and swapping parts that are just a straight swap but I don't really know where to start when it comes to major modifications like this.

 

I did notice that one member actually has the name AWDGLF5 but he hasn't been on here since 2006.

All you really need to do is get a complete donor car. Get a 4WD car and take the whole rear crossmember, diff, axles etc and bolt it up into place. You probably need to drill out the holes. But it's the same body as a 4WD car just doesn't have the running gear. You will also need the 4WD gas tank as well. Then after it's all bolted up, hook up the drive shaft/center bearing, and rear struts. It's a fair amount of work but it can and has been done lots of times!

Donor car would be best. You will need everything aft of the engine as well as the exhaust and fuel tank. Swap the parts over and hit the road.

 

There will be some clearance issues with the transmissions tunnel and the shifter hole in the floor-pan. You will have to either cut out a section and weld a patch in to enlarge it or bash it out with a big hammer.

 

GD