First diesel in about 12 years. 1983 Quantum Wagon

[Muthashabubu]

Hey everybody! It has been about 12 years since I have owned a VW diesel. I had been focusing (sort of) on my air-cooled dubs.
Well, that and dealing with life. (first house and the lack of money that comes along with it)
It's very nice that there is now a forum dedicated to diesels. I had nothing to go on last time I owned one.
Used to have (2) 1981 diesel pickups.

And now against my better judgement, and with great disregard to my marriage, I bought a rust-free 1983 Quantum wagon!
She doesn't know yet and I hope she doesn't find out until it's running. (I have enough non-running projects as it is. And she puts up with it!!!)
It was hard to pass up. The interior needs a lot of help, but the exterior is beautiful!
No dents (that I remember) and only rust is a mild amount of surface rust on some of the scratches it has acquired after 30 years.

Going to need some help getting a few interior parts. Exterior really only needs front turn signal lenses and some new window seals.
Feel free to point out what else I might need. Just looked at it this morning on very little sleep so I may have missed some things.
Guess the hardest interior parts to find will be the wagon specific ones. I am in no hurry though.

I will now try to upload some pictures.

[Muthashabubu]

Here ya'll go.

[vwroadkill]

where is this place... MK1 jetta and looks like a truck in the background

[Muthashabubu]

where is this place... MK1 jetta and looks like a truck in the background

It's in Ohio. Don't want to give out too much yet. Don't even know if they are for sale.
I got the Quantum from someone other than the land owner here.
This guy is going to do my engine work though.
He has one MK1 Jetta turbo diesel and at least 4 MK2 Jetta Turbo diesels. 
The pickup you see is not a VW but he does have one + some other diesels around the place!

[trent77]

I see, he is one of those "savers"!! They will rot and die in the field, because he is "saving" them!!

[Muthashabubu]

I see, he is one of those "savers"!! They will rot and die in the field, because he is "saving" them!!

Well, I stopped by his place last Thursday and some of them have actually moved!
He says all of the Jettas run and are for sale: a 1984, 2- 1985s and a 1986 (needs a piston?).

And also a red 1991 Eco-diesel Jetta which looks like new on the inside!
     -has new starter, alternator, exhaust, tires, and glow plugs.

Prices (OBO) All are 5-speed:
1984 TD Jetta      $2500
1985 TD Jetta      $2500   one of these 85's has A/C that works
1985 TD Jetta      $2500
1986 TD Jetta (says needs piston?)    $1500

All of these are located on the west side of Columbus OH near Dublin.
I will get more information if anyone is interested. He is not in the digital world at all.

[trent77]

I'd be interested in the eco perhaps!!

[Quantum_Freak]

Here ya'll go.

That car looks super clean!  Congrats!  I've got an '85 TD, and it's a great car.  Keep posting pics, and get all those classic diesels back into circulation!

P.S. I bought a Quantum Coupe out of Ohio about a month back, weird that B2s are suddenly popping up for sale in that area...

[Muthashabubu]

Here ya'll go.

That car looks super clean!  Congrats!  I've got an '85 TD, and it's a great car.  Keep posting pics, and get all those classic diesels back into circulation!

P.S. I bought a Quantum Coupe out of Ohio about a month back, weird that B2s are suddenly popping up for sale in that area...

Was that the coupe for about $700 or so? Looked great for the price!

[Muthashabubu]

Ok, it has been awhile since I have updated. I have a bad habit of spending too much $$$ when I am browsing VW forums so I have been staying away. 

Actually got to take the Quantum for a short drive the other week. Saying "it's a little rough still" is an understatement.
But Floyd got all the lights, turn signals, and wipers working which will be nice (and safe!) when I drive it the 100 miles back home.
He said that the inside of the wagon looked like new when the previous owner got it a couple of years ago from Florida.
Now it has lots of hacked wiring and there is much cleaning to be done. 
All the engine needed were rings. Should be bringing it home within the next few weeks I hope.

[burn_your_money]

All the engine needed were rings.

That's the most optimistic thing I have read all day!

[Muthashabubu]

All the engine needed were rings.

That's the most optimistic thing I have read all day!

Well, to get the engine running at least. 
It's not the original engine.
And the current engine had developed some compression problems that was solved with the rings.
Time will tell.

I know on the air-cooled VW sites they have a way to check engine numbers to see what year and model an engine originally came in.
Anybody know if there is anything like that in the water-cooled VW world?

[Toby]

What difference would that make?

[Muthashabubu]

What difference would that make?

Well, thanks for the help. 

First off, that information would help me to know the age of the engine.
Which I think would be helpful when searching for spare engines/parts. (maybe not)

And I don't know enough (much at all) about VW diesel engines to know if different models of VW's that came with these engines also had different internals.

[vanbcguy]

As far as any of us have been able to tell there is nothing cast in to the block/head that definitively says "it was made this year on this day" or anything like that.

There are a few different variants of the 1.6:

- 1.6 NA mechanical 11mm
- 1.6 Turbo mechanical 11mm
- 1.6 NA mechanical 12 mm
- 1.6 Turbo mechanical 12 mm
- 1.6 NA hydraulic 12 mm
- 1.6 Turbo hydraulic 12mm

There's 4 different engine codes in the North American market that cover the 6 block variants listed.  There's a few additional codes in the european market for things like the GTD engine.

The turbo engines all have more robust pistons plus oil squirters in the bottom of the block that help cool the pistons.  Depending on which of the above variants there are also differences in the prechambers and valves.

A photo of the front of the head will help identify whether it is a mechanical or a hydraulic engine - there is an additional oil drain on the hydraulic engines that protrudes from the front of the head.  The block itself will either have a '1.6' or a '1.6D' cast in to it if I remember correctly, the later blocks had the '1.6D' and I BELIEVE those are the 12mm blocks, I'm sure someone will correct me on that.