1.6TD turbo chargers?

[Bugsy_malone 666]

Ok so for a couple of years now I been running a plain old 1.6TD in my camper, its got got 150k on it and I dont use it a massive amount but have been wondering about the turbo a little.

Basically I am building a turbo petrol motor for my beetle and bought a 1.9TD turbo as I want the boost to come in low down like a super charger, the 1.9Turbo is a KKK K03 and it looks fairly small compared to the KKK on my 1.6td. I kind of recall someone once mentioning about how the 1.6TD KKK actually doesnt get to full boost until 4000rpm or something? does the 1.9 K03come in earlier?

The K03 turbo needs new bearings as it seems to have a fair bit of spindle play (lets hope its not touched anything yet) but I was wondering if it might be a good turbo to stick on my 1.6TD? would the Turbo from the 1.6TD be better suited to a petrol engine?

The idea would be to change the bearings in the K03 from the 1.9td first so its reconditioned a bit then stick that on my 1.6TD, the 1.6TD when I had it off the engine 2 years ago had no play, which was impressive for a 150k mile engine!

Is there anything I would need to do or look out for if I do change?

[RabbitJockey]

K03 will give u faster spool up. What gas engine are you building?  Can't say how well a k24 or k14 will work with out knowing that.

[Bugsy_malone 666]

Basically 8v 2.0 2E golf motor,1.8GTi head and currently digifant. Its kind of evolved as a 'on a budget' project. I guess for my camper I could do with faster spool up to make it go a bit better, I want the petrol golf motor to get going sooner than a conventional factory petrol turbo engine normally would as its going to be in a car that gets light to light dragging, I do think boost straight away would be a pain.

So realistically the swap over is a good idea for a better diesel solution and a better suited petrol solution too?

[RabbitJockey]

Check out Shawn b on vwvortex he built a stealth fighter rabbit a while back it had an aba with the k24 on it.  Do not expect much peak power or top end power tho. The k24 And t3 that came on our cars are still really small I think Shawn's car made 190hp which is surprising IMO.

[vdubspeed]

I run a k03 from a 1.9 on my NA 1.6. I would DARE put it anywhere near a damn gas engine. Hell...I think it's to small for my 1.6.

t25 or a small t3 would be much better suited.

[guy plain]

 have you ever thought of going to smaller tires or lower gears? what speeds are you looking at? highway speeds or lots of stop and go? a bit of regearing can really help and smaler tires will help with lots of stop and go...for light to light or in town driving....just a thought...alot easyer to do than a turbo i would think...and could be a cheaper way to go as well

[Bugsy_malone 666]

Check out Shawn b on vwvortex he built a stealth fighter rabbit a while back it had an aba with the k24 on it.  Do not expect much peak power or top end power tho. The k24 And t3 that came on our cars are still really small I think Shawn's car made 190hp which is surprising IMO.

Well 190bhp is a healthy amount!

My aim with the petrol engine is 150bhp tops as the gearbox its bolting too wont take a whole lot beyond that.

Basically I have 2 golf engines in 2 aircooled vehicles.

I have a 1972 Baywindow Campervan, which using Vanagon parts I fitted a 1600cc TD from a mk2 golf CL, importantly that goes ok but the gearbox is fairly limiting as the van gearboxes are quite low geared. So basically to do 60-70mph means reving the nuts off the diesel and then the fuel economy goes down to zip. So to counteract this I put some huge profile tyres on the back (and now my van looks like a hotrod lol) while it still goes alot better than when it was petrol and it still does 10-20mpg more I guess I could do with more low down grunt rather than having to get the revs up to get it going. I have also just started fitting a towbar with the aim to be able to tow a small trailer at some point in the future (like 12 months when I move house) so could do with more low down power for that too.

Then there is the other vehicle. A 1972 1302s Beetle which I have spent years customising(and not finished yet). originally I was going to build a turbo aircooled motor for it and in recent times I almost thought about a diesel, but a couple of years ago I picked up several parts to build a 2litre 2E petrol engine, including an adaptor plate. I havent got mega bucks so its all been junkyard type parts really. I started out with the idea of just a turned up N/A engine then I figured after seeing the results a turbo can do to a diesel, I want a similar improvement to a petrol, with power coming in low down, turbo whistle and get going quicker. So I was on another forum and a guy has a turbo that needs a rebuild with exhaust manifold for 35 notes, I thought to be honest a rebuild kit is about 25 notes and I need something to do a mock up.

When it arrived it was a K03 from a 1.9td (possibly the T4 vans) and it looked fairly small compared to the Turbo on the 1.6TD that I had put in my van a few years earlier. I had a bit of a look early as I was using the van and the old turbo is noticeably bigger, with a 2" inlet and outlet where as the K03 seems to be very similar to a Garret T15 turbo with a 45mm inlet and 36mm outlet(its something small and odd like that anyway).

So that brings another turbo into the mix that I have kicking about.

I have a garrett T15 turbo from a 1.7 Turbo diesel Vauxhaul van (probably could do with a rebuild) Looks very similar in size and the 3 bolt mounting pattern of the K03.

Turbos are a bit of a grey area for me, even though I spent some time reading some books I still havent totally got all of it, sometimes it can be down to peoples experience that means more.

So basically I have a T15 Garrett, a K03 KKK and a K24(I cant find the plate as its dark and hard to get to?) KKK. I want to use one for my petrol engine and one for my diesel with the same sort of idea, power at the lower end and not looking for something that eats tyres exactly.

[Blocksmith]

I can't speak to the gasser, but if you're looking for power down low (torque), you definitely want the k03 to go on the diesel. Just make sure the wastegate is working properly, as the k03 is only happy making about 15 psi or so.

[RabbitJockey]

U want the k24 on the gasser it's not an ideal turbo but with such a lower power goal it should be fine. Also I think he had 190hp at the wheels

[Bugsy_malone 666]

Thanks guys, that pretty much settles things then. Just need to save some pennies, clear my work bench, rebuild the K03 and then build a new exhaust for my van (from full stainless this time) and then its job done. What sort of PSI does the K24 kick out?

Cheers

[RabbitJockey]

It depends on what car ur using it on as to what boost level is safe. But I would guess u would need very low boost like 5-10 psi for your goal. Stock k24 waste gate is set around ten. Otherwise at higher rpms you will be severely over spinning the turbo and creating lots of heat and back pressure

[Bugsy_malone 666]

Something I am not 100% on is the waste gate on the K24, since you mentioned it, I dont understand how they work? When I say I dont understand, I mean I get the conventional type which is a little drum, a rod and a boost pipe, but the K24 seems to have something thats bolted directly into the housing and is kind of finned?

Basically as part of the design of the turbo setup on the gas engine I want to have a wastegate I can set to open so I dont get boost, ideally for use on motorways where I want economy rather than the engine to be drinking away under boost, with the K03 and T15 turbos because of the external can that operates the exhaust bypass valve its fairly simple to rig something up, but the integrated nature of the K26 has me a little baffled, or am I just missing something?

[rallydiesel]

You can treat it the same as any other internal wastegate. The boost line metal tubing can be cut, flared and a MBC spliced in.

[RabbitJockey]

The k24 waste gate works on thE same principle but the boost goes to the opposite side of the diaphragm and the valve opens in towards the exhaust manifold instead of out towards the down pipe like most other waste gates. This is why they often get stuck because the stem of the valve gets all sooted and gunked up and hot then can't slide In to the finned part anymore

[vanbcguy]

The K24 VW wastegate isn't really adjustable per say, like the other folks mentioned it opens at about 10PSI.  You might be able to adjust that +/- 2 PSI  but if that's not what you're shooting for then you're going to have to do something fancier.  For the diesel crowd, we're mostly increasing the pressure.  If you're running in a gasser application, you might be wanting to go the other way.  That's a bit harder with a K24. 

MBC works great for cranking it up - I run mine at 20 PSI.  But trying to limit to 5 PSI with the diesel wastegate would be a challenge.