1.6L TD in a Dodge Caravan

[arb]

If you didn't already why not put in a block heater? I always love having one even if it isn't needed it is nice to have a warm vehicle.

Hey, thanks for reminding me of the wire !!!  I am lucky this has a block heater, but the wire is on my bench. I also have an extra percolator (coffee pot style) block heater, but one is enough.

AND HAPPY THANKS GIVING !!!

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Spent a few hours Friday and Sunday trying to find 1/16" rod, but none was to be had...  My welding supply shops here were closed from Wednesday until today.

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Got a little closer last night now that I have my welding rod back in stock.

Here is the dry fit of the second shaft.

First I welded the rod to the end, just like the first shaft, but with 1/16" rod. The weld was a little messy as I did not clean it well.

Here the rod is rapped around the shaft to act as a uniform shim of the correct thickness so when they are telescoped before welding solid, it will be perfectly centered.

Here the second rod is welded on near where the joint will be when they are joined.

Here's the second rap before cleaning.

Now I need to clean up the welds as when I tried to telescope them, it was a little too tight.

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The final hurtles have been passed. Tomorrow, my half shafts will be fitted to the vehicle. Here are the photos of the final shaft being fitted...

This is my Chrysler shaft almost fitting into the VW shaft.

Next I sanded it a little bit so it would fit


This allowed it to fit, so I painted it with anti-rust paint and had to heat the parts so the Michigan winter did not prevent the drying.

Here the two half shafts are telescoped ready to be fitted to the car and spot welded and trued with my dial-indicator prior to final welding. I tested the movement of the two shafts, and they are solid. So, tomorrow in the car if there is some run-out more than 0.005" then it will take some serious hammer blows to align the shafts.


In the background you can see the various parts for my super duper glow plug setup... I worked on this a little while the paint was drying.

[arb]

I reach a major milestone last night in the frozen winter... The only part of the conversion I had concerns about was the drive shafts because the inter and outer ends were from 2 different cars and I do not yet have a lathe. Here's what I was faced with when I stepped outside yesterday"

After digging it out want getting the front half into my crowded garage, I took a final look at the engine layout. Once the shafts are welded, that is that. The question was, could I move the passenger engine mount forward and inch ?

Nope, I see for certain that will move the in/out gear shifter cable into contact with the steering column. OK, on to welding.

I followed the advice of 914turboford and used a dial indicator to get the run-out as close to zero as possible. It was 0.039" and would not budge with many blows from my 2 pound hammer. The 2 shafts are very tightly telescoped. If I get vibration, I'll remove it and have a pro shop spin balance it.

I decided to TIG weld them for max strength.

Here is the passenger side after welding and paint. It was harder to weld as I had to be laying on my side to weld it, and it is too close to the boot to be welded all at once. I could only weld about 1/2" at a time, and that was with a wet towel rapped around the shaft at the boot - with the boot compressed as much as possible.

Passenger side with paint - Job done !!

The real up shot is I now no longer need a 2x4 under the wheels to keep it from rolling into my garage door !!  Next, the anti-torq engine mount completion.

[arb]

Yeah, I didn't hit them more than a couple of times. 914 turbo said that's how he did his. Time will tell now. They feel smooth and the driver's side I didn't touch a hammer to.

[arb]

Yeah, I'm glad you did... since I found no change in wacking it, I wish I had not...

I already have new wheel hub assemblies because I want to switch to the 15" aluminum rims I have from the stock 14" steel on it now. They have a different bolt pattern.

[arb]

Freezing rain here the past two days, so not so much progress. I started the instrument layout. I'm thinking temporary location will be on top of the dash something like this:

An aluminum face plate and cover. The switches for the super GP system, the lights showing GP power, IP fuel solenoid, etc will be about the smaller gauges.
Here more the layout I'm thinking until I find a VW speedo to replace the in-dash instrument cluster.


I also am thinking about changing my anti-torque mounting location. I'm thinking it is too many foot pounds for the mount I integrated with the alternator bracket. So, maybe several bars connected to the bell housing and this alternator bracket.

[arb]

Last night I started to fabricate the instrument cluster housing. I'm using 1/2" Styrofoam to form a male mold. I'll put 3 - 4 layers of fiberglass boat cloth and epoxy resin from my experimental aircraft project. This will give me a quick and more shapely housing than sheet aluminum. When the matrix is cured with the aid of a blow-dryer under a bag, I'll use gas or carb cleaner to dissolve the foam.

[arb]

Where's your EGT gauge?

Andrew

Thanks Andrew - I have not ordered it from Aircraft Spruce yet as I work at one of the big 3 - but, I certainly should mold a spot for it. The manifold has the tapped hole waiting for it - plugged at the moment. I want the EGT next to the boost gauge.

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Lazy rainy weekend here. I am ready to spread resin on my instrument pod tonight. The frozen resin pump is in the house thawing out. http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/cmpages/epoxypump.php The male plug is ready with about 5 layers of glass for the front and 2 - 3 on the sides. Here are the pics:

This is the frame work. Cheap (free) polystyrene that will dissolve with gasoline when the epoxy is cured.

Up to this point I used hot glue to keep the frame, but it melts too much of the foam.

Starting to take shape.

Now I used 5 minute epoxy gel to hold the pieces. The Stanly surform works great at shaping, but make a lot of mess with statically charged white balls. I can't believe my wife didn't freak as I did this at the dining room table.

Finished mold.

Glass ready to bond.

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I mixed epoxy last night at the dinning room table !!  Wow, my wife is one in a million. But, I'm getting ahead of the story. I decided to use the rule - measure twice, cut once. So I dry fit the cluster housing in the car. Remember, its "temporary" until its hot out and I can redo the full cluster.

Here is my resin pump I was given. I think the epoxy has been in the tubs for more than 10 years as my buddy finished his plane at least that long ago. I was afraid it would not cure as the hardener - the dark colored stuff was like honey in a refrigerator and even had granules in it from freezing in the past. The pump would not move this stuff, so I got some wax free paper cups to scoop the stuff out and measure in 44:100 ratio.

Here is the first layup. Man, did it smell.

Almost done.

When I finished I removed my gloves and blasted it with a blow dryer to get it hot so the polymerization could start. Then I covered it with a plastic bag so the smell would be less. It was quite warm to the touch. Good news. And, when I woke up to the winter storm this morning, it was fully cured and hard as a rock.

[witoke]

Acetone dissolves polystyrene faster than gas and IMHO is a bit less offensive to work with. If you are working with epoxy you probably have acetone anyway?

The other thing is that if epoxy has crystalized warm it up in a hot water bath, stir a bit and it should all dissolve out. Those pumps are sold by West Systems but actually made by a different company (forget the name but I got mine direct from them). You can buy re-build kits for all the o-rings, pistons etc quite cheaply.

[arb]

Acetone dissolves polystyrene faster than gas and IMHO is a bit less offensive to work with. If you are working with epoxy you probably have acetone anyway?

Thanks for the heads up. Yes, I have at least a gallon of it and my wife and I were talking about that very thing last night. She was concerned the gas would leave a smell in the car. I said I'd try acetone but I did not know if it would dissolve the polystyrene.

Good to hear it will !!  THANKS !

[arb]

Working slow in the snow these days... The instrument cluster was easy to trim on the bench belt sander...

I tried some Rustolenu Hammer-Tone paint to hide some of the rough surfaces. I used it in the garage at 20 degrees even though the can says 50 degrees minimum. I started with the face, using a very heavy coat and allowing it to dry over night pointing up.

The next day I painted the top and back sides.

Not perfect, but this is only for temporary use.