Wife's Project: 86 Golf NA (maybe TD?)

[lord_verminaard]

Hehe, went home for lunch and found a big box on the porch... turbo came today! 

Brendan

[Rabbit on Roids]

lucky...
im so jealous.

[lord_verminaard]

More updates to keep this out of the archives. 

We are really close now, engine is together, tranny is attached, just ordered about $500 worth of stuff to finish everything up.  Here's what's been going on over the past few weeks:

First, worked on the turbo oil system some.

Drilled and tapped oil flange:


Various oil lines for feed and drain- cheap ebay kit. 


Steel -AN fitting I got at a local hydraulic store- I filed it down so it would enter the pan at a bit of an angle.


Drilled the spot on the pan and got it ready to weld.


No pics of the welding, it was HOT that day.  By the way, non-auto darkening welding helmets suck.  I should have spent the extra $20 on an auto version.   :banghead:

Later, I figured out the maddening puzzle that was some crazy German's wet dream, the accessory drive belt system.  :what: Got it, I think!!!


Oil pump, gasket/windage tray, and drilled pan, cleaned up, welded fitting, and a fresh coat of paint:


Tossed the tranny on there while I was at it:


So close now!!!


The oil flange is a busy place now.  Shown here, in back, the feed line for the turbo, which fits in the drilled/tapped 1/8 NPT spot, I put an angled fitting on there for clearance.  In front, an M10 "T", so I can run the factory oil temp sensor, and the dual-post VDO sender from 42DD to run a pressure gauge and have a terminal for the factory low pressure warning light.


Dipstick in too!  That's when you KNOW you are almost finished.  :thumbup:


Coming in the mail soon:
-bunch of mandrel bends and exhaust tubing and a muffler so I can build an exhaust system,
-EGT gauge and probe, which I just found out is backordered :banghead:
-Ebay intercooler pipe kit

Still left to do:
-Wire up relays for headlights
-"pimp" the glowplug system.  (yes, more relays!)
-Add electric diesel lift pump and wiring for that
-Need new Power steering pressure hose
-Need new A/C o-rings and such
-Intake tube/air filter
-Wire in all gauges, which include:  Oil pressure, temp, volts, boost, EGT.  Also need to figure out where to put them. 
-Clean up the starter and hope it works, it's FUGLY.
-De-grease alternator and AC compressor, they look pretty nasty compared to everything else
-Turbo Drama....

About the turbo, the Mercedes T3 '45' trim came in damaged.  The compressor wheel had some really weird damage, all of the high fins were bent over backwards.  How that happened without the turbo grenading is beyond me.  Bummed, I took it to my machine shop guy yesterday, he happened to have a spare Volvo T3 laying around that has the same .42 compressor housing, so voila, new compressor wheel.    He also had a rebuild kit for it so I don't need to order that either.  So that should be done next week.  Hopefully that EGT gauge comes in soon, I need to drill and tap the turbo manifold but I don't know what size!!

Oh yeah, I happened to "stumble upon" about a gallon of white Dupont Imron paint, so this project won't be done until she comes out with a new paintjob.    Can we finish it before winter?  Stay tuned!

Brendan

[lord_verminaard]

Wow, been a long time, with sadly, not a lot of updates.  My Wife and I are probably in some of the worst possible financial trouble we have been in, after the state board of Unemployment made her pay back six months worth of unemployment benefits.  Then my check card number got stolen and my account drained.  Now we are trying to sell Laura's house, and she's upside-down on it so we will have to come up with the money just to be rid of it.  We are working through it, but it's really taken a hit on what we can do with this project.

First, a BIG box from Summit with the last batch of parts ordered about a month ago:


Also not shown, an ATP turbine outlet flange for a T-3, and a 2"-2 1/2" silicone elbow.

Drilled and taped the EGT port on the manifold- that was a ***, since the runners would interfere with the T-handle wrench I was using on the tap- I had to inch it about an 1/8th of a turn, reposition the wrench, do another 1/8th of a turn, then carefully use a pipe wrench about 1/4 of a turn, then back to the T-handle again.  Took forever.


I've been farting around with manifolds too, and I won't be able to use the gasser intake, it just won't fit.  Since I have a TDI manifold here, I'm going to use that.  Of course, the head has round intake ports and the manifold has D-shaped ports, so I have to fix that.  Here's a pic, though from the angle you can hardly tell I did anything.


I stuffed some rags in the ports, and used a shop-vac while I was porting, kept all of the shavings out.

Here's the turbo installed, painted, and ready to go. 



I have NO IDEA if it will fit.  I've read some bad things on the A2 board on VWVortex that the ATP manifolds will not clear the firewall.  I guess it depends on the turbo, this T3 is a little on the small side but bigger than the stock T3, so who knows.  I've taken some measurements, I can't tell where it's gonna be but if it clears, it will be close. 

EGT and block heater wires can be tucked away together.


Oil drain line, which is more than likely going to interfere with the axle.  Might have to find a 90* -AN fitting from the oil pan then run the line to that.  Won't know until it's all bolted up though.  Looks pretty I guess. 


My oil cooler, FINALLY, after buying from three different people online, someone finally actually sends me one.    It was a mess, I cleaned it up good before taking this picture:


Installed:


The lines probably aren't going to work, depends on where I will mount the cooler I guess.  I'll cross that bridge when I get there. 

So that's it for now.  The goal is to have it running now, by the end of the month.  Most of what is left is little crap- not a lot to buy really.  I'll probably have to forget about having a tach right now, and I'll probably only have the vital gauges hooked up, I need the sockets for the OEM Audi gauges but they are $8 each not including bulbs, almost $25 just for gauge lighting is nuts. 

It seems the suspension is in good shape, I have rack boots to replace and a power steering line, which I will do while the engine is still out.  I know the rear wheel bearings are toast, but at least those are cheap and easy.  If all goes well, the engine will be in the car this weekend, that of course depends on what sort of chores I'll end up getting suckered in to between now and then. 

The next update should be with the engine in the car getting ready for it's first fire up.

Brendan

[drrtybyl]

Everything looks very fancy -- sorry to hear about your setbacks.

[lord_verminaard]

The Eagle has landed.  Pics coming soon. 

Brendan

[gilligan5000]

c'mon.........work is draggin and I really need some movitation!

[lord_verminaard]

Ok, as promised, here are the pics from this weekend.  Took a day off on Sunday to work on the car so I got a lot done.

Saturday:
Fitting the TDI intake manifold, and getting ready to drop the engine in.  I managed to pop out to the Porsche shop last week and fab up a "race pipe" for the manifold- my intercooler tubing is 2.5" and the inlet of the TDI manifold is roughly 2", so to use a 2.5" to 2.25" reducer, I had to open up the TDI inlet a bit more.  So that was first:


And the "race pipe":


Low and behold, the TDI manifold also DID NOT FIT so I had to once again file away at the flange side so it would slide into place.  Counter-flow VW heads are a PITA.

Anywho, that done, I installed a new pressure hose for the power steering, which was not quite as bad as I thought it would be.  Also loosely dropped on a new front mount. (which I later learned you should attach to the engine, not the subframe first)


And popped on the new speedo gear for the ACN tranny:


Finally, the rest of the 4-crawler bushing/linkage kit:


(also learned that it's better to leave that upper linkage arm OFF while lowering the engine into place  :rolleyes: )

All systems go!




(yeah, I had to loose the silicone connectors too)

On Sunday, it started with me replacing the rack boots.  HOLY HELL what a pain.  Of course, both tie-rod ends were seized to gorilla-tight proportions, and reaching the drivers side boot to put it in place, while trying to carefully feed the invisible vent tube, was about enough to try my patience to the end.  Thankfully I managed to get it done.  If I have to do it again, I'm dropping the whole damn subframe.

IT FITS!!!


It's close...


Really close....


Like.. super-OMGWTF close....


Gonna be fun getting the downpipe around all that junk...


Also gonna be fun getting the inlet hose in there.... Probably will require another piece of expensive silicone. 


One major epic fail:


Shouldn't be hard finding another one, but the question is, will it be clean enough that I can actually remove the receiver dryer without twisting the lines off like this?

And, to finish it all off, a final shot of the day, I loosely put the grille and headlights in and it all lines up pretty good.  Still gotta paint the lower trim strip.


So, punch list looks like this right now:
-Need both upper radiator supports, mine are MIA.
-Find good used condenser.
-Route the wiring where it's supposed to go, run additional wires.
-Fabricate downpipe/exhaust.
-Fit the intercooler.
-Fit the air/oil cooler, possibly fab new lines.
-Fit the boost tubing.
-Install electric lift pump.
-Install additional relays for headlights and glowplugs.
-Buy new coolant distribution pipe
-Need a new coolant hose or two and clamps
-Coolant
-Oil
-Battery
-Prime oil and fuel
-FIRE IT UP!

Wife and I are going over money issues tonight, we might dip into our emergency savings to finish this up.....

Stay tuned.  If I don't keep getting swamped with side-work and misc. errand running every day this week like I have been for the past month, I might get started on the downpipe.  I've already got everything I need to do that.


Brendan

[lord_verminaard]

Wow, I guess nobody cares anymore. 

Brendan

[theman53]

I had the exact fail on my a/c. I decided to wait until next spring to deal with that.
Did you get copper nuts for the downpipe? If so tell me about that as they would probably take heat better than my stainless ones.

[lord_verminaard]

Yep, same nuts that are used on the exhaust manifold.  Long story, but I ended up not using studs/nuts on the exhaust manifold since I couldn't find the right studs, so I had a bunch of left-over nuts.  (I think 2 or three sets I've come upon in the years) I could in-fact use the incorrect studs I bought to replace the studs on the turbo so that's what I did.    Nothing is going to waste in this build. 

Brendan

[booneylander]

In for more pics and updates!

[clarkrep]

I've got rad mounts and the ac components you need if you want them. IM me.
Aaron

[lord_verminaard]

Aaron- thanks for that, I may have a local source, if not, I'll hit you up. 

-Built my first turbo downpipe this weekend.  It turned out GOOD!  I'll post pictures soon.

Brendan

[lord_verminaard]

...And here they are.

I didn't get much time to work on the car this weekend, and when I did finally get some time on Sunday, I spent about three hours looking for crap and about 2 hours of actual work, followed by about an hour of fixing my welder.   :banghead:   But here it is, this is the first real welding project I have done, having probably a total of about 20 minutes of welding experience under my belt before I started.  Only made one real small mistake, (and thankfully, it was about halfway done when I realized it too!) on the first bend I didn't allow enough of the bend in the first cut, so the shifter arm hit the downpipe going in 5th.  I cut it and added a small slice, fits perfect after that.  I'll let the pics do the talking.







Under the car:




Miles of room!


How's it look?

Brendan