I have a line on a nice little Scirocco with a shot engine. Anyone know the feasibility of a TD (or better yet, TDI) swap into this chassis? What is it's sister vehicle? Is it a bunny or is this a one-off like the Passat?
The rooco enginebay is 99% identical to the Rabbit Mk1, so a 1.6TD can be dropped right in, the wiring harnass needs a bit of tinkering including the TD fusebox and wiring.
You'll need the TD gearbox (4S or 4T) too cause the gasboxes have different 1st and 2nd gears.. you can take off in 2nd with the TD
The scirocco is considered an A1 chassis like the rabbits, cabriolets, mk1 jettas and rabbit trucks.
It should be relatively easy to swap in a TD engine into one...especially since rabbits and Jetta's actually came with TD's in 83-84.
Not sure where you're from, but I don't think any scirocco's came as diesels in the US, so you'd be looking at a few modifications... adding the glow plug system wiring, modifying the fuel filler neck, changing fuel lines, adding mounts for the fuel filter, etc.... nothing too difficult. You might also consider changing transmissions to a longer ratio 5-speed to take advantage of the TD's rev range as well...
If I was going to convert a gas car, I'd probably want to find a donor diesel car for reference and any parts you might need.
As you might know, there really is no "brain" on the early TD's, so it's all basically controlled by the pump and a few other connections. FWIW, I just finished a TD swap into my caddy, but that was already a diesel. Definitely not that hard.
A TDI swap is another matter... The modern TDI's rely on quite a lot of electronics and wiring to do their thing. You might have to contend with some immobilizer issues (security built into the ECU / OEM instrument cluster) and issues related to the downpipe and manifolds as the TDI's never were an option in the earlier cars like your A1. The transmission might be a challenge as well. You could probably use an A1 transmission, but I'm not sure about adapting a cable shift TDI box into an A1. I think a few people have done it... It'd be an ambitious, but not impossible swap.
The other thing that throws some people like me off about the modern TDI swaps is the cost... a complete TDI engine swap is likely very pricey ($2000 or so?). That may not be a factor for some people...
Yeah, I was looking thru a thread on the Vortex about a TDI swap into a Caddy and it looks a little too involved for me. I want something that can be done in a couple of weeks max.
So now I have to find a TD block and injection pump with LDA. Good luck to me. I've looked over Jack's site and he wants a lot of dough for an engine. Guess I could get one out of a wrecked vehicle, but those engines are getting scarce.
Where are you located? I have a spare block / pump, but it would probably need a "going through"....
The other thing that throws some people like me off about the modern TDI swaps is the cost... a complete TDI engine swap is likely very pricey ($2000 or so?). That may not be a factor for some people...
Correct me if you know otherwise, but I think last time I looked a TDI engine was at leats $3,500 for a used one.
a used TDI 90/110hp engine with warranty goes from about €800-1200 depending mileage.. for $3500 you'd have a low mileage 130/150HP I think
'85... So I think that makes it a MKII, right?
Damn, that looks tight. Thanks for the links Jake.
For now, I'm just gonna get it running with the gas engine while I start building my dream diesel drivetrain.
