98 tdi jetta swap into a 98 tdi glx

[fuslit]

The heater core, coolant and power steering fluid showed up today and started putting wiring back in the fuse block



Chatted with the guy who's helping me fabricate the intake and downpipe and ordered a couple more silicone bits that are going to be needed to make the intake tubing work with things. I did chat with another friend about trying to find a reducer pipe instead of a reducer coupler, but in terms of 'quickness' I opted to go with two couplers, one for the intake of the turbo (2.5" -> 2.25") and one for the inlet of the intake manifold (2" -> 3") the outlet of the turbo is 2" and the silicone couplers that came with the intercooler kit fit right on, so I lucked out there.

I need to figure out the oil supply/drain lines for the turbo as well, I might be able to use the turbo diesel oil supply line that I have (we'll see) Going to need a custom drain line for for the turbo I think.

I'm attempting to line things up to get this swap stated/finished this weekend (we'll see how that goes fingers crossed.)

-T

[fuslit]

Caught up with the guy who's been helping out with this project tonight, he started tig weldeing on the end cap! A huge thanks to him for helping me out on this project! I really really appreciate it.

in progress shot


I only have crappy cell phone pics of how it is turning out, this is the best one I got but I think it's going to be pretty nice all said and done..



Also worked on figuring out what needs to happen next to mock up the turbo to figure out how things will sit (with the intake) as well as oil drain lines, so I'll work on that tomorrow.

but I'm beat, have been up since 4 am so right now I'm going to bed.

-T

[fuslit]

Started the swap (for real there won't be many pictures as my camera's battery died and I need to figure out where the charger is.)

So, started mocking things up, the 1.6 td intake will not work with the d64 manifold.

so, I took the adapter plate I had, and adapted it for the tdi exhaust manifold

Basically milled out spots for studs to be welded in and had a neighbor who welds much better than I can weld them in.

This is a prototype... probably won't work... we shall see.

crappy cell pics before welding:



I didn't take any of it finished. but, here's one mostly finished.



Also pulled, the dash last night so that's out and I'm trying to guesstimate what I can get done today.

-T

[fuslit]

egr blockoff & turbo drain flanges are made.

quick cell pic


lunch and then back at it.

-T

[fuslit]

I managed to get alot done today the biggest milestone, the motor is out!



Also, I got a majority of the harness labeled, I will pull the engine bay harness tomorrow and work on getting things moved around to get ready to put the motor into the other car.

Trying to work as fast as I dare without breaking alot of things.

A large amount done and alot left todo.

-T

[fuslit]

it's pouring buckets outside today, so before I head over (and hope the rain stops) I made up the exhaust manifold->turbo gaskets out of some copper flashing I have

the material



In progress




finished.


looks like the rain's not gonna let up though so I'll have to brave the storm.

Still have to anneal the gaskets before I put them together and do some minor adjustment to the turbo to get a bolt to work correctly.

-T

[fuslit]

Made quite a bit of progress today. Got the harness out



Also ran it in the other car, all the wiring has been hooked back into the fuse block.

The heater core is replaced, the one I got was made in china, I am not happy at all about the fitment, materials and craftsmanship of it... ah well,  if it fails I'll try and find a better option made somewhere else I guess.

Anyway, the new (very dirty) jetta is near the lift


Also, pulled the old intake and turbo/exhaust/egr cooler


when I pulled the exhaust manifold (I left everything attached since i'll be swapping it out) I think I found where it was leaking, the flex pipe seems to have daylight shine through when I look at it (I didnt' look super close though)

it'll be easy to put the motor back in, there won't be a down pipe *grin*

Anyway, tomorrow morning Cate's going to carpool so I'll be able to run some errands to get a few last bits needed (and hit the DMV up to get this on the road)

The guy who's helping me weld up the intake ran out of gas today when he was working on the intake so he is going finish up the manifold tomorrow and swing out this way with it we'll be able to test fit it.

There is a ton left to do but I'm getting closer

-T

[fuslit]

a huge thanks to Ryan for swinging out today, he helped out more than he even knows!


turbo and exhaust are together:


Because it hit the transmission mounting bracket I busted out a cut off wheel and got it mounted with the modified transmission bracket... this will need beefing up... or a new one built, I'm not sure which is easier...



we got the gas tank out and new one in and made a short drain line that took more time than I care to admit to get in... (but it is)



at that point I tested starting and it did!

so I started working on mocking up the intercooler piping, but since I have to get up at 5:30 tomorrrow I'm going to bed.



-T

[theman53]

This is awesome. I will use some of your ideas when I run into problems with my 1.6.

[fuslit]

This is awesome. I will use some of your ideas when I run into problems with my 1.6.

I'm glad that it's somewhat of a help *Grin* was wondering if anyone was reading.

I made some major progress yesterday final fitment of the IC piping, my buddy came out to help (a huge help) and we got downpipe fabricated, and last night I was able to test start the car check around for leaks. (I need to get the intake manifold drilled and tapped for a hose barb, I got the incorrect fitting for the tap I have :-/) Should do that this morning.

downpipe tacked up but not welded yet.


front end, I put painters tape on the fenders as I stupidly put the bumper rebar in and managed to ding the drivers side...



here's the air box, I able to route things through the bottom of it (which means I get to keep the oem air cleaner, one less thing to try to find/fabricate...) I had to modify the bottom of the airbox but it seems to at least at the moment work ok. The only other note I have on the IC piping that came with the ebay kit is there are not enough silicone couplers so, if your looking at this kit, buy a couple 90 degree and more t-bolt clamps. I'm planning on having my buddy tig up the piping so there are less coupler's to blow off, but for the moment it should work for testing.



The front bumper on the tdi was cracked so I just saws-alled the crap out of it so it would fit and I could move forward with the testing.



I need to build a different pass side engine mount, I'm not anywhere close to confident in the one that is on there. I'll be buying some thick metal to do this (hopefully later today)

stand by for more crappy cell pics later on

Oh, and last but not least my wife's '00 tdi golf's pass side cv boot decided to put a hole in itself and spit its guts all over the wheel

-T

[fuslit]

I'm pretty tired at the moment.

But! it drives under it's own power! I need shocks and struts, the fronts are shot and the rear's aren't mine I'm thinking a cupkit or coil overs... I think the brakes are sticking as well (e-brake perhaps?)

no exhaust leaks (that I could tell) I welded shut the o2 sensor ports with some bolts last night (did I say that already?)

I ran out of space and deleted all the pics I hadn't d-loaded (pics of the engine mount, etc) oops ... so that sucks

But they're only crappy cell pics anyway.






I'll have to work on the bumper (not liking how the ic sits, but it'll work until I get a chance to reposition.)

anyway I have to run, will post more updates later.

-T

[fuslit]

Well, after a long weekend (including a wake) I managed to get time to work on this yesterday afternoon

I haven't gotten the suspension done, but last night I did get the front brake pads changed. The old front pads ebc green stuff had separated from the backing plate (is this normal, or only when being thrashed by a turbo vr6?)

Of course I've heard now that ebc aren't exactly getting stellar reviews after I bought and installed their red stuff pads. (hopefully they'll do ok for street driving.)

cleared the codes for the engine, and everything appears to be happy (no more flashing glow plug light!)

put the grill in and got the door panels in place. There are still a few pieces missing that I need to look for (or I need to get.)

Tightened down the front suspension nuts and took it for a 30-45mph run up the road to about 2k rpm. Since it was night, and I did get high-beamed when my low-beams were on, so they must need to be adjusted...


I checked again and the drainline is leaking so I will have to come up with a better solution. I'll either revisit how I've got things run there, or look into a pan based drain. I was thinking braided stainless might be what I need to go with. (basically something with more flex in a small amount of space)

And finally started running the wiring for the egt, boost and oil pressure gauges, hope to have the rest of the interior in tonight and will look at what it would take to swap over the front suspension as I won't have anything to roll the other shell around on if I remove the rear.

That said, I've let things start run and warm up and it sounds good, fairly quiet and no weird rattles. also, it needs an alignment badly (but until I get the suspension figured out it'll have to wait)

-T

[fuslit]

well, the wiring took longer than I expected, things but the dash is in place (good enough for testing anyway)

The probe works with the vdo egt gauge so I have an egt gauge now! (well one that works) it seems very responsive which is nice!





and a pic of the current front end.


side note: Man my cell phone's camera sucks

Now once I got things back together and usable I took it for a test spin, as I mentioned, the egt gauge seems very responsive, I'll have to do some research as what a good temp range is.

The one thing I noticed (and was not happy about) when I go to start out on the road that things kinda 'stalled' out for lack of a better term, I let off the gas and stepped on it again and it goes. Just seems to be the initial 'stumble' after it seems to push a decent amount of power, although the front shocks are kinda sucky so I'm not slamming on the gas. I managed to pop a boost tube. Got it back together, re-test drove.

Need to hook up the n75 valve so things will work as it should, I haven't gotten that far. (perhaps that would have helped avoid a blown boost tube oops. I let right off the gas once it happened and idled back to the driveway.

Still I'm fairly happy with the progress I've made so far, hope to finish up things tomorrow night interior-wise.

-T

[fuslit]

oil pressure sensor is in place and working & n75 valve is hooked up, took a quick run down the road, it was fairly dark so I was not able to tell how bad the smoke is behind me, today should be able to do so.

That said, it seems to pull hard and the n75 appears to bleed off boost around 10-12psi. On the handling front, the whole car feels 'squirrely' and i'm not sure if it's the sway bars, current suspension or something loose so I've got it back up on the lift to will try and figure out what's up with it today.

I scanned the car for codes and there were a couple, something related to some open wire, the other with a boost issue (which I imagine got thrown when I blew the boost tube) I've cleared them then my laptop died... so once I charge it we'll see if they have come back.

Also, I put the airbag in and for some reason the air bag light will not go out, (after I cleared the airbag codes) Now the light is on, but there are no codes ... strange.

last but not least, for some reason the rear cd changer will not spit out it's cartridge (maybe the radio I have isn't the right one that works with it) or perhaps it's just shot...

It's hot and nasty out, so getting this far last night was pretty decent.

-T

[fuslit]

So, after test driving the car and realizing how bad the suspension in it is, and based on the time I have. I've decided to order a new suspension setup. It will be easiest from my stand point as the parts car is no longer in the garage (nor do I have access to the lift, it's currently occupied) and I don't have a junk rear set of shocks/struts to put in to roll the other shell around on.

Any suggestions on a good setup, since it's my daily I'm concerned with ride quality. I'm budgeting ... I have no idea what I'm budgeting on the setup. suggestions welcome.

-T