Joe's collection of Westfalia bits

[JoeCanuck]

Good day.  I'm in the process of collecting the necessary pieces for a Westfalia project.  I have, (or will soon have), a 1985 Westy from the states, rigged for diesel, including the 50 degree setup, one recently rebuilt, (but now siezed), 1.6td, and pieces enough to build another. 

The more I thought about it, (and read about it), the more I thought I would probably be happier with a 1.9 of some ilk.  I was in the midst of a mental coin toss session between AAZ, eTDI and mTDI...when I stumbled upon an ad for a 1.9td...and not much more info.  I call the guy, and he has a 97 Jetta with lots of new bits, a rusy body, a dying trans and an AAZ with 20,000km on a rebuild....all for the lofty price of 500 bucks.  SOLD...says I, and today, I get a car dolly and pick up the car. 

It's pretty much as expected....started up instantly and ran smooth as glass.   He also included various filters, an alternator, extra starter, 8 injectors, 4 glow plugs and a trunk full of goodies.  I basically was getting out before he changed his mind when he mentioned that he also has a brand new, zero kilometers, never installed and still in it's plastic wrap, rebuilt AAZ for sale...for a whole thousand dollars.

So now I'm the owner of a Jetta, (which was originally planned to be a donor car for the Westy), and a fresh engine, (which he said he'll actually guarrantee), all for the price of 1500 bucks.  I am somewhat pleased.

The Westy comes with one siezed 1.6, (but filled with a complete rebuild kit), and random bits of another, a couple of turbos and piles of other stuff...for 1900....plus whatever it will cost to get it picked up....which is no biggie...I feel like a road trip.

That's my intro to this world so far....I'll have pics in a couple of weeks when I put the van on my trailer. 

What could possibly go wrong...?

[JoeCanuck]

I've been lurking on this site for a while now and have searched for a lot of answers but I'll still be picking brains for stuff like clarifying details about maximum boost on a stock engine, turning up the fuel...( because stock power is not an option), etc.

I have a 2000 Dodge Cummins and have done tons of work on it...and it's amazing how similar the VW diesel world is to the Cummins world...with almost the exact discussions about mechanical v. electronic controlled injection and many other issues.  

There are some big differences...besides size.  The Cummins injection system seems to be much simpler.  The only boost control is the amount of fuel being fed into the engine and where the wastegate is set.  Mine is basically similar to the TDI system, with an electronically controlled, mechanical VP44 Bosch injection pump, feeding 6 cylinders.  This is all pre common rail, which happened in 2003.

The folks making big power...like the drag and tractor pull folks, swap out the vp44 and go strictly mechanical.  It's more reliable and puts out more power.

I have my wastegate completely disabled, (the turbo is a Holset HX35),  and maximum boost is controlled by the defuelling program on my chip, (1300f pre turbo pyro/35psi boost).  I hit 30 all the time and it moves my 7000lb beast nicely along.

With no wastegate and higher boost, I can get surging if I back off too quickly after revving, but that's solved by being smoother on the release.

I'm looking forward to getting my hands dirty on my VWs.  

[JoeCanuck]

Double post

[Gizmoman]

Wpw. 1500 - what a deal.
Welcome!

[JoeCanuck]

I know....he was a great guy, ready to retire and tired of working on the car.  He did a ton of work to it then the teams started crapping out and he figured it was time to move on to something else....thus the fire sale.

This morning I was looking in the trunk and it seems he threw in, what looks like a perfectly good AAZ head as well.

I got crazy lucky with this deal.

[Syncroincity]

Great score on that lot!  If you have the budget, I'd highly recommend shipping one of the pumps off to Giles at Performance Diesel in Ontario.
The AAZ pump is non-enriching as it comes from the factory, so the performance gains from upping the boost are limited. He built mine with a turbo LDA so it pushes more fuel as boost rises. He will tune the pump according to the build specs you give him, such as planned intake and exhaust, intercooled, boost levels etc.

Here's a short vid of his shop and test benches;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxJqIRQD9SU

[JoeCanuck]

I may do that..but in the meantime, I'm going to use the Jetta as a test mule and beat it like a red headed stepchild, (it still has the collar on the smoke screw...or what I think is the smoke screw).  I want to learn the inner secrets of the beast first hand...not that I expect to become an expert, but I can generally tell the difference between a connecting rod and a unicorn 7 times out of 10.

Once I get the westy, I'll have the better part of 4 engines...2x1.9  andn 2x1.6...and quite a few extra bits on top of that. 

When I get everything in  one place, I'll keep what I need and offer good deals on what I can't use. 

[Syncroincity]

If it's a Jetta AAZ, you'll also need to either change turbos, or use a TDI-adapter left side engine mount, the "built-in" turbo wastegate interferes with the Vanagon mount on that side. The Passat AAZ has a Garrett T2 that does not interfere, separate wategate actuator. I have a T2 currently, which I'm going to run for a year or so, then go to a VNT...

Loking forward to seeing your progress!

[JoeCanuck]

I'm getting some turbos as well as part of the van deal.  I imagine I'll run into more than a few roadblocks...the turbo/mount thing being one of them. 

I have access to welders, (and people who will weld for free...well, beer), plasma cutters and lots of scrap metal.  I will probably get more than a little frustrated with the project but I am looking forward to it.

[Gizmoman]

Great find!
Before you do any changes to fueling, you'll want to add an EGT sensor in the manifold and gauge in the dash.

[JoeCanuck]

That was one of the first things I did to my Cummins and will be top of the list with the van.  The chip I used came with a gauge package that included pyro, boost, inlet air temp, trans temp and a bunch more parameters.

I plan on getting EGT and boost gauges first off, as soon as I decide which ones I like most.  I would not mod a diesel without them.  These are almost always monitored in big trucks because even those huge engines can be broken by overboost and high egt's.

They should be number one on the list of anybody who is planning to get more power out of their diesel without first making it stronger.  Every extra hp squeezed out of a stock engine puts it closer to its breaking point...and I hate breaking down.

It's annoying and expensive..and it's even worse if it was cause by cheaping out on gauges.

....did I mention I'm cheap...?

[Gizmoman]

. . . I plan on getting EGT and boost gauges first off, as soon as I decide which ones I like most.  I would not mod a diesel without them.  These are almost always monitored in big trucks because even those huge engines can be broken by overboost and high egt's. . .

AMEN

[JoeCanuck]

Good day.  At long last, I have all the pieces in my grubby little paws.  I hauled home the 97 Jetta, (with 20k km on the rebuilt engine), then dragged the Westfalia from Michigan, (with a stop for my bro's wedding)...7500km, (4650 mile), round trip for the van.  I drove the 3500km, (almost 2200 miles), to Michigan in around 48 hours.  I was a bit tired after that. 

The Jetta seems pretty solid so I'll probably keep that roadworthy as a spare vehicle for now...and rolling storage for my spare engine.  It was supposed to have a wonky 3rd  but seems alright to me.  I already have replacement fenders and am searching for a driver's door.

The Westy is is great shape...just some rust under the camper water port.  The chassis and rest of body are very solid...no bondo that I can detect.  Someone did rattlecan the red on but that's easily remedied.  I'll get it painted some time after it's on the road and the bugs have been worked out.

The van has the siezed 1.6td with the 50 degree pan and mounts, which I'll swap over to the "0" miles rebuilt AAZ which I bought from the guy who sold me the Jetta.  The trans is a 5 rib unit.  I haven't checked the numbers so I don't know what the ratios are yet.  

I also have a ton of extra parts.  The AAZ comes with a K14 but he also threw in a K24, an extra 1.9 head, a 1.6 head, a bunch of injectors and glow plugs and a ton of other stuff.  I took some pics and I'll try to upload them.

[JoeCanuck]

Some pics in random order;  The Jetta and two pics of the rebuilt AAZ

[JoeCanuck]

A couple of pics of the Jetta engine and one of the rebuilt AAZ...