Turbo? Maybe?

[jbm2k6]

I'm sure this has been answered before, but I'm not quite sure how to go about looking for the right answers. So with that said, let me give a little background info.  I have a 1985 Jetta diesel that I'm fixing up. It runs, but I know somethings need attention. I already have a bentley manual, I have a new timing belt on the way, along with the other parts needed to do the job. I know the car could use rings, which I'm going to work on getting. I'm interested in putting a turbo on it, and I was wondering if anybody could put me in the right direction as to the parts I need, a turbo that would work, etc. I'm not looking to make it into a race car, but I would like some help getting over the hills. I am aware the motor doesn't have the oilers, and that's a bad thing when pushing a lot of boost? At least I believe I've read that somewhere. Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

[jtanguay]

before you go all out on a turbo, consider opening up the intake/exhaust and gain a few ponies that way, and then increase the fueling to take advantage of the extra air  :wink:

sourcing all the right parts to turbo your N/A can be a pain, and sometimes cost quite a bit.  i'd say ballpark $600 or so for a good complete used setup.

Tyler's golf with a Giles pump has made some very good power with just the pump.  considering your pump probably needs a rebuild anyway, you could probably just get a performance pump and be happy with the extra ponies.

many different things to consider.  whereabouts are you from?

[Rabbit TD]

You should definately do a complete rebuild on the engine first before considering a turbo.  You didn't mention how many miles are on it and that isn't always a good guide to go by but if it is over 200,000 it surely needs it, probably even a rebore.  The head should be pressure checked, and a valve job done at a minimum.  The rings will help some if the bores aren't too far out of round but it's hard to check without a bore guage.  I would definately get it in good N/A condition before going to the T/D stage because you will be spending money on things with a dissapointing result almost guaranteed.  Something as simple as a valve job on a high mileage engine will give just as much if not more power than a turbo on an engine that needs rebuilt and cheaper too.  Whatever the engine needs now it will need twice as much with a turbo on it.

[jtanguay]

i forgot to add that since you have an '85, you could probably gain a few ponies by just adjusting the valves if they've never been done in a while.  i've heard stories of people selling their old diesels because they just 'stopped running'.  some mechanic picks them up for a song, and then adjusts the valves and voila!  runs like a champ, and makes a good profit or has a nice running vehicle.   :lol:

[jbm2k6]

I'm from Northern VA, close to West Virginia. I can't believe I forgot to even mention... the car has 132k miles on the clock, and the area it's from is mainly highway. I was aware of the valves needing adjusted on this particular year engine, but haven't looked into that, either.

Opening up the intake/exhaust and gain a few ponies? Do you mean a port and polish? If that's what you're referring to, I don't know of anybody around here that does that kind of work. We don't really have machine shops here that I'm aware of. As for the giles pump, I've heard about it, but I haven't done any research, other than so reading here and there on this site.

In the case that it could need a rebuild, what would be my best route? Also, what kind of money should I expect to put into that? Do we have any ballpark figures? Does anybody make a kit with all of the appropriate bits to rebuild the motor, aside from the machine shop work it could possibly need? Machine work is a problem, as I've mentioned above, as I don't know of anyone that does that kind of work, as most of those places closed up here in the past few years in this area.

Thanks for the advice, I appreciate the responses so far. :-)

[subsonic]

132k is not that many.  Do you know anything about the previous owner, like did he change the oil when he was supposed to?  If the car has had regular oil changes with good oil, I would wait on the rings until you did some other testing.  A compression check is a good one to start with.
When you say you think it will need rings, is that because it is blowing smoke?  If so, what does the smoke color look like?  Is it hard to start?

At 132k you are at the point that, if the engine is still solid, you can still get 100k plus out it for good daily driving.  If you are planning to turbo it up, and it's a n/a, you might want to consider just going ahead and pulling the engine to get it rebuilt so it's ready for what you want to throw at it.

I think as stated above, it may be good for you to get everything up to spec as a n/a, and then improve it from there as a n/a.    Doing the turbo bit is quite duable, but it is a bit of work.  If you have an original 85 engine, you are going to need to learn to set timing, fix oil leaks, lock your cam, adjust valves, clutch cables,  rebuild your injectors, improving intake and exhaust flow,  making sure you dont burn your 5th gear and get pop out, find out about flywheel and clutch size, intermediate bearings, alt belt tension, triple square bits etc.  All of which has a learning curve.  
Getting the Bently is a good call.  Always good to have solid reference material.  Read here.  Learn how to use the search function.  Spend 5 times the amount you work on your car reading on this forum.  Go slow before you go fast.  All is well

[jbm2k6]

From what I know, the previous owner took pretty good care of it, and was very good about changing the oil. He got rid of it because it's leaking around the valve cover, which I have a new gasket for, and he didn't want to do another timing belt. It's blowing blue smoke and oil is disappearing, but it seems to smoke worse when it's warm and stopped at say, a stop sign. It's never given me trouble starting, especially with this cold winter we had. I went out and got in it to take it to work on a 10F morning and it surprised me when it started almost instantly. It has new injectors on it.

[arb]

From what I know, the previous owner took pretty good care of it, and was very good about changing the oil. He got rid of it because it's leaking around the valve cover, which I have a new gasket for, and he didn't want to do another timing belt. It's blowing blue smoke and oil is disappearing, but it seems to smoke worse when it's warm and stopped at say, a stop sign. It's never given me trouble starting, especially with this cold winter we had. I went out and got in it to take it to work on a 10F morning and it surprised me when it started almost instantly. It has new injectors on it.

Sounds like its just broken-in ;-)  You should be good for another 100K miles w/o touching it. On the turbo, if you intercool it well and don't get carried away on the narcotics of high boost, you will not miss the oilers. They primarily cool the pistons. An oil cooler is usually installed with the turbo too.  Use a good 100% synthetic oil and you will be OK. IMHO.