1992 Jetta Coupe 1.6TD Build

[libbydiesel]

Also wanted to mention that looks like a solid crank holder.
 and that torqueing that crank bolt works great with the engine sitting on the ground.
 With that brace against the ground you can just push down on the breaker bar.
 Hardly moves the engine at all.
 All the force goes into the ground.

I've torqued quite a few with the engine on the engine stand but I rest end of the bar onto a chair so it is basically horizontal and all the force of the holder goes down to ground.  I orient the breaker bar with cheater pipe so it is also pushing down. 

[Huc]

Fun to see.  Thanks for sharing.  What is your plan for the crank vent?  If you connect back to the intake (per stock routing) then you need the hockey puck as a safety measure to help prevent diesel runaway.  I think it is bad manners to vent to atmosphere.

It will run through a catch can and back into a custom pre-turbo stainless steel intake pipe.

[Huc]

With the bald spots on those valve cover studs,
 that might not be clamped down enough to seal.
 Without additional washers.

 Great exhaust build.
 Here's apic of the MK2 downpipe I built:
td_outpipe by vwfatmobile, on Flickr

 Big fan of the toilet bowl, ha.
 That's how the stock one was supported.
 Must agree wouldn't last long without support.

 Also wanted to mention that looks like a solid crank holder.
 and that torqueing that crank bolt works great with the engine sitting on the ground.
 With that brace against the ground you can just push down on the breaker bar.
 Hardly moves the engine at all.
 All the force goes into the ground.

The rubber gasket comes with these built in metal grommets/washers where the studs are. The rubber gasket is really thick, so I was able to tighten them down with more than enough clamping force. There is also a spacer above the valve cover to add more height to help clear the bald spot. It is about 1/8" thick I think. It looks kind of like a long popsicle stick, it's an OEM part. It has a curvature to it, so it acts like a leaf spring. It is used to push down the valve cover in the spots between the studs for better sealing. 

I've never seen a modified toilet bowl, but good on you for keeping it for the support! Too many people don't understand this and end up with short lived exhaust components.

And yes I used several slabs of 1/8" stainless steel to build the crank holder. Always better to overbuild and have something that won't fail.
That bolt was extremely tight, but using the stand to brace the crank holder worked really well, everything was stable and I didn't have to fight keeping the engine from tipping.

[libbydiesel]

Fun to see.  Thanks for sharing.  What is your plan for the crank vent?  If you connect back to the intake (per stock routing) then you need the hockey puck as a safety measure to help prevent diesel runaway.  I think it is bad manners to vent to atmosphere.

It will run through a catch can and back into a custom pre-turbo stainless steel intake pipe.

You should have the hockey puck in that loop.  The hockey puck serves an additional purpose of cutting off flow from the block to intake if there is a significant pressure differential.  That function helps to prevent engine runaway.  Without that in the loop you will greatly increase your risk of runaway even with a catch can.  Any intake restriction from a collapsing hose or an air filter getting somewhat clogged runs a decent risk of runaway without the puck in place.

[fatmobile]

 Those aren't the studs that come with the victor rubber valve cover gasket
 but the bald spot looks about as big.
 It feels like it's getting tight but it just hits the bald spot and doesn't clamp down.
 Those are stock spacers too, so many have used them and it leaked because of the bald spots.
 We won't really know until you start it up. It leaks alot when it does so you'll know right away.

   I use set screws, blue locktited in. At the very least 1", more is better.

 For the hockey puck I use the MK3 2.0  gasser puck.
 Because the extra port gets run down to the front of the block AAZ styles.

 
 

[Huc]

Those aren't the studs that come with the victor rubber valve cover gasket
 but the bald spot looks about as big.
 It feels like it's getting tight but it just hits the bald spot and doesn't clamp down.
 Those are stock spacers too, so many have used them and it leaked because of the bald spots.
 We won't really know until you start it up. It leaks alot when it does so you'll know right away.

   I use set screws, blue locktited in. At the very least 1", more is better.

 For the hockey puck I use the MK3 2.0  gasser puck.
 Because the extra port gets run down to the front of the block AAZ styles.

Hmm, I can't explain what others have been doing wrong, but mine doesn't leak, and it is getting tight from clamping it down, not from hitting the bald spot.

[Huc]

Fun to see.  Thanks for sharing.  What is your plan for the crank vent?  If you connect back to the intake (per stock routing) then you need the hockey puck as a safety measure to help prevent diesel runaway.  I think it is bad manners to vent to atmosphere.

It will run through a catch can and back into a custom pre-turbo stainless steel intake pipe.

You should have the hockey puck in that loop.  The hockey puck serves an additional purpose of cutting off flow from the block to intake if there is a significant pressure differential.  That function helps to prevent engine runaway.  Without that in the loop you will greatly increase your risk of runaway even with a catch can.  Any intake restriction from a collapsing hose or an air filter getting somewhat clogged runs a decent risk of runaway without the puck in place.

If a hose collapses, then the path from CCV back to intake would be blocked. Aside from that path, there is no other pre-turbo intake hose that can collapse, unless I'm pulling enough air to collapse a 3" stainless steel intake! 

[libbydiesel]

I deleted my prior post as in retrospect I thought it might be perceived as overly harsh.

The 'collapsing hose' reference was a theoretical as I do not know what air filter or intake system you are using.  It referred to any hose prior to where the crank vent joins the intake.  Even if your intake system is completely immune to the possibility of a collapsing hose causing an intake restriction, is it also immune to the possibility that the air filter could ever become even partially clogged?  No chance of sucking up a plastic bag, leaves, bugs, dirt, etc... while driving?  Runaway is quite dangerous (your engine will run uncontrollably at full power).  It can also quickly ruin an otherwise perfect and very pretty new engine.  What is the benefit to increasing that risk by eliminating an important safety feature of the engine?  Is that benefit really worth the added risk to your own safety, your own property, and the safety and property of others on the road?

[Huc]

I deleted my prior post as in retrospect I thought it might be perceived as overly harsh.

The 'collapsing hose' reference was a theoretical as I do not know what air filter or intake system you are using.  It referred to any hose prior to where the crank vent joins the intake.  Even if your intake system is completely immune to the possibility of a collapsing hose causing an intake restriction, is it also immune to the possibility that the air filter could ever become even partially clogged?  No chance of sucking up a plastic bag, leaves, bugs, dirt, etc... while driving?  Runaway is quite dangerous (your engine will run uncontrollably at full power).  It can also quickly ruin an otherwise perfect and very pretty new engine.  What is the benefit to increasing that risk by eliminating an important safety feature of the engine?  Is that benefit really worth the added risk to your own safety, your own property, and the safety and property of others on the road?

Haha no worries! I'm removing it because it doesn't guarantee the prevention of runaway. It can prevent runaway situations of the type you suggested, but the engine can runaway from other means. It makes no sense to implement a runaway prevention device this far upstream of the intake system when failures may occur downstream. If I'm to implement such a system, it would be post turbo.

[theman53]

Unless Giles didn't change much in the pump, when he builds them he usually adds a lot of dynamic advance and there is a performance loss if you time it to 1.05. Usually in his instructions he tells you to time it .85 to .95. The more advance just fights the piston as the advance he built into the pump takes over much faster than a stock pump.

[libbydiesel]

Haha no worries! I'm removing it because it doesn't guarantee the prevention of runaway. It can prevent runaway situations of the type you suggested, but the engine can runaway from other means. It makes no sense to implement a runaway prevention device this far upstream of the intake system when failures may occur downstream. If I'm to implement such a system, it would be post turbo.

I don't understand your logic.  The hockey puck prevents all of the instances of runaway that can occur on a healthy engine.  While there are other potential causes that the puck will not prevent, those all rely on the engine being thoroughly worn out or parts actually failing.  Removing a safety feature that works 95% of the time because it "doesn't guarantee the prevention of runaway" for the outlier causes of a failing engine does not improve the system.  It results in a dramatically less perfect system and to quote you, "makes no sense".   You are gaining nothing by removing the puck, you are only increasing your own risk.  Why?

[Huc]

Unless Giles didn't change much in the pump, when he builds them he usually adds a lot of dynamic advance and there is a performance loss if you time it to 1.05. Usually in his instructions he tells you to time it .85 to .95. The more advance just fights the piston as the advance he built into the pump takes over much faster than a stock pump.

You are right! I have to change it back to 0.95mm, thank you!

[Huc]

Haha no worries! I'm removing it because it doesn't guarantee the prevention of runaway. It can prevent runaway situations of the type you suggested, but the engine can runaway from other means. It makes no sense to implement a runaway prevention device this far upstream of the intake system when failures may occur downstream. If I'm to implement such a system, it would be post turbo.

I don't understand your logic.  The hockey puck prevents all of the instances of runaway that can occur on a healthy engine.  While there are other potential causes that the puck will not prevent, those all rely on the engine being thoroughly worn out or parts actually failing.  Removing a safety feature that works 95% of the time because it "doesn't guarantee the prevention of runaway" for the outlier causes of a failing engine does not improve the system.  It results in a dramatically less perfect system and to quote you, "makes no sense".   You are gaining nothing by removing the puck, you are only increasing your own risk.  Why?

Ah, I think you are missing the point, but that's okay! It will be explained in the future. Keep in mind, this thread is almost a year outdated, that video I uploaded was from last year November. A lot of the concerns brought up are not really an issue, since I'm able to look back at this in hindsight, but readers of this thread are unable to see into the future and the current state of the build, something that only I am able to. Just sit tight and be patient, updates will come, just don't stress out too much! 

[libbydiesel]

There's plenty of stress in my life at times, but how you have your intake is routed or whether or not your engine lasts well doesn't even make it onto the long list.  Couldn't care less.  Curiosity and helpfulness are the only reasons I have posted about it.