kaputtwagen 1982 rabbit AAZ swap/build

[Syncroincity]

   Holy crap. I'm wondering what's in there holding mine together now.

[jack's lack]

On a happier note I have a more upgrade related bit of work to report.

I was not happy with the performance of the oil cooler set up I had so I made a few modifications.


I grabbed a second Spal 4" puller fan off of ebay for a good price, and I built a shroud to hold both of the fans out of a piece of galvanized sheet metal I had lying around. I then hit it with the BBQ black. I am pleased with how it turned out. It fits the Volvo air/oil radiator like a glove.


Here is the quick schematic I drew up. I love working stuff out on paper and then building it.


This is from the drivers side looking up from the ground.


From below.


And a close up of the tee with the sender. It turns the fans on at 195ºF and off at 180ºF.

I have driven it on the highway at 70+mph on 90º+ days and the worst I have seen is 220ºF which is still a little higher than I would like, but a substantial improvement over the previous set up.

[SR Heer]

Good idea with the forth IP bracket hole to help secure - I will keep an eye on mine for GP
Between the Volvo air/oil cooler - which BTW is another good idea - and FMIC
which one had the greatest effect in helping keep eng tems down?
Where did you get your dual cone air filter - thats the one in the eng bay now?

[SR Heer]

You mentioned taller gearing for the AAZ which HP peaks early compaired to 1.6Ds -
what about putting a 3.67 R&P from very available 2Y trans into a late FF - which came with
3.89 R&P but .71 fith gear??? I was wondering if anyone had tried this for the AAZ - would it
be very difficult to accomplish and what about practicality or viability in useage of such with AAZ?
If it is not too hard to swap out it may be a nice application to try - any coments?

[stewardc]

You mentioned taller gearing for the AAZ which HP peaks early compaired to 1.6Ds -
what about putting a 3.67 R&P from very available 2Y trans into a late FF - which came with
3.89 R&P but .71 fith gear??? I was wondering if anyone had tried this for the AAZ - would it
be very difficult to accomplish and what about practicality or viability in useage of such with AAZ?
If it is not too hard to swap out it may be a nice application to try - any coments?

I simply swapped in the 020 transmission that came with that engine in a Mk 3. It has a 3.67 final drive and a .71 5th gear. It works like a charm.

[SR Heer]

Ok - thanks for good idea - what specific tranmission code did you use and what specific engine did it come mated with because here in the US we were more limited to what was shipped and all the Mk3s here came with TDIs/CTN trans - so yes - if you can clue me in as to what and where I could purchase that would be great but I will need to know what to look for! - thanks - OK - I just checked and VW did not make an 020 trans having 3.67 R&P and .71 5th gear? that is why I was thinking maybe they swaped a .71 fith in there - I could tell by know the tranny code - thanks

[stewardc]

D'OH, sorry but it's a .75 5th. Code is DFP, but there are lots here http://scirocco.org/gears/

[GEE-BEE]

peloquin LSD and 16v  Internal's

3.67 chd with a .71 from a FF trans

100 mm axles

All bolts arp 12pt and powdercoated trans

If I do it again I will do a 3.42 R&P for 800.00

Vwtransaxles.com did the build

[shorttimer]

Amazing project. Hard to believe this thread died. There's so much good info for those of us that plan on an AAZ to Mk1 switch. Several dozen things were pointed out that I didn't realize. After reading parts of it through, several times, I'm still not quite sure how to address the clutch conversion to the 020 tranny. The differences of the flywheel /pressure plate/disc.

[8v-of-fury]

I'm still not quite sure how to address the clutch conversion to the 020 tranny. The differences of the flywheel /pressure plate/disc.

Does not compute? What are you meaning? The stock AAZ clutch will fit in ANY of the previous years 020 transmission. Or vice versa if you have a good clutch on your 1.5,1.6,1.7,1.8,1.9 or 2.0 engine the whole kit and kaboodle will swap over. With regards to 16v stuff, they use a different spline transmission main shaft.. but that too could be remedied with a 16v clutch disk.

[shorttimer]

That's good to know. I'm a newb & couldn't find a definitive answer. Thanks

[TonyTDTruck]

Thanks. My glib answer to school, time, and money would be coffee and Visa , but the next two paragraphs offer a more detailed explanation, because I fear I may have come off as someone who I am not.

As for time, I did most of work between academic quarters when i was out on break. The bulk of the work was done in the summer and the remainder was done during fall break between the thanksgiving and xmas holidays. I have since graduated and received a Professional Master of Architecture with a cumulative GPA of 4.0 which also works out to about the average number of hours I slept per night during the term. So trust me my thesis did not suffer because I was fooling around with my car.

As far as the money. I do not have a car loan. I do most of my getting around on foot or on a bicycle which means I buy a tank of diesel once every other month or so. I am not married, and I don't have kids. I own an old duplex and rent out half which pays most of my mortgage. I paid for school with loans. I worked at a firm part time all through school so I had some discretionary income which I chose to spend on my car.

Regarding the turbo, you are spot on. The K14 is way too small. If I am just getting around the city it is no big deal because I am only making boost when I am accelerating from a stop. Granted I am making 15-20 psi on every shift, but it is not sustained for any length of time. On the highway however once I get over 65mph this little hairdryer starts making over 10psi and it gets hot. EGT's at this point are about 600ºF. We are seeing temps over 90ºF here for most of the day this time of year so ambient air temp over the black asphalt on the highway has got to be in the triple digits. My oil temp climbs up to about 250ºF and just stays there and water temp is about 1.5 ticks from the orange on the old VDO temp gauge in the cluster. It all feels a bit too much like a time-bomb to me.

I am thinking if I go to the trouble and expense of changing turbos I am going to switch to a VNT17/22 hybrid and rig up a mechanical vane control borrowing heavily from Andrew Libby's setup. This will no doubt cost me a couple grand, and I just don't have the coin at this point.

For now I am going to trade the oil/water cooler for an oil/air cooler, and see where that gets me. I am also going to try to rig up a two-speed fan and a lower temp fan switch for my radiator. I am also still toying with the idea of building a transmission with a taller ring and pinion and a big 5th gear giving me ostensibly a 1-4 + 6  setup

I will of course document whatever it is I end up doing.

Cheers

Hey Jack,

I installed a oil cooler but I located the thermal switch at the sandwich plate. This will trigger the fans sooner when the temps go up.
Another thing I discovered was the temp on my gauge was also high. 250 when pulling a bit hard on a cool day. I bought a infrared thermal heat gun and pointed the gun to the fitting at the sandwich plate where the thermal switch is located. The temps were much lower. 195. I have come to believe that the gauge is just not accurate,
I'm also thinking about the VNT for my AAZ. But witch one? VNT15 or 17? And what exhaust manifold is used with that turbo?
Great job on this build. You should post up some results now that you have been driving it a bit.

Tony

http://www.instrumart.com/products/2270/raytek-raynger-st20-infrared-thermometer

[CrazyAndy]

The VNT 15/17 both have their turbine housings integrated into their exhaust manifolds, so the turbo and manifold are one unit.  As far as choices, both are good turbos, but the 15 is smaller than the 17 and spools a little faster, but doesn't put out as much boost as a 17 can.  The big daddy that folks like to use in higher performance VNT builds is the 17/22 hybrid, a vnt 22 cold side on a 17's hot side.  The boost of the 22, the response time of the 17.  For a daily, the 15 will be good, but a 17 would be a little better for pushing around the big doka you have.

And unfortunately Jack's last post on this thread is the last he posted on these forums.  Haven't heard anything else from his alt account on the vortex, so I assume he's built his car and moved on to other things.  Too bad, though; this thread accounts for about 80% of my own build choices for my AAZ too.

Good advice on the mounting of the fan thermocouple, I'll remember that when I set mine up.

[libbydiesel]

Tony, I just looked at this and remembered that you sent me an e-mail that I meant to reply to.  Anyway, I would recommend the 17.  The response difference is very slight and the turbo is a fair amount less labored running anything above 15psi or so.  On my VNT vanagon builds I have sourced the euro non-integral manifold VNT turbos and then created an adapter to go between the stock K14 AAZ manifold and the VNT.   I actually made a jig for the adapters which allows the turbo to be mounted without any interference with anything.  Most notably, it doesn't interfere with the stock mounting bracket.  I also made it so that the turbo is rotated so the supply and drain are vertical and the turbo is rotated so the exhaust is to the rear of the engine compartment and the intake to the front for easy exhaust routing.   

[TonyTDTruck]

Thank you CrazyAndy and Libbydiesel. I'll look into the VNT 17. When it comes time to do the adapter, I'll check back in if I have any problems.
No worries about responding to my email Libby.
Thanks
Tony