Oh wow! I am happy that the glowplug deal sparked so much interest! Matter of fact, I was kinda waiting for someone to say "Don't you think 60amps per plug is a little bit overkill?" lol I only went with the 60ampers because that is what came in the fusebox (except for the extra 40amper at the end that I removed)
This worked out because I was a bit curious how much they actually drew. My rough draft setup (2 glass fuses, each feeding a pair of GP's) I had started with 25a fuses, only to burn them out rather quickly. I went up to 30a, and it was better...but IIRC I had still blown a few. I was thinking that 20a or 25a would do fine for individual plug fuses, for a little extra headroom.
Since doing the timing again, the car has been running great! EGT's were still climbing when going up a grade, but not nearly as much! I still backed off the max fuel about a quarter turn, because I noticed a position in the throttle cable where EGT's would start to climb if I passed it. There's the governor mod workin!!!
Even though we all know this got off to an abusive start, I am still taking precautions to keep engine temps safe and stable. The fan that I made certainly works great, but I picked up a piece of aluminum yesterday to make a bracket for my flexalite dual fan. I would rather have an extra fan on demand, just incase I ever need it. My gasser temps would never fluctuate like this motor, so I think the diesel is more deserving of it. I am also going to be on the lookout for an oil cooler setup next time I am at the junker. I heard the volvo turbo's have a cooler that is a direct fit, you just have to get creative with the hoses. I read briefly about water wetter and picked up a bottle at the parts store yesterday. I guess antifreeze isn't a huge factor here in So Cal. The water wetter label recommends running a minimum of 15% coolant on a street car, but I am not sure what the "boiling" qualities of a 15-85% mix would have. One review I looked over said that this sauce does NOT lower the boiling point of water, it just helps "hot spots". Having a vented system, I do not want my system to boil and start puking out the cap! Hopefully I get the blend just right! I am also looking to change the setup for my upper radiator hoses. The way I had to cut and splice the stuck hose is a little wonky. I want to simplify the bends, have the hose sit more "flat" and get the filler neck closer to the head, so it's not hovering over the alternator. I should be able to shape something up with whatever they have in stock at carquest. I have a couple close friends that work there, so we should be able to go back and forth to the parking lot and eyeball a pair of hoses that will work out.
Now that I have advanced as a technician and have been studying the flow characteristics of gasser heads, I am excited to do headwork on a diesel one of these days! Having this system all dialed in will give me a pretty good before and after when it comes to seeing temperature differences between a ported and non ported head with the same fueling. Then, figure out how much further you can push the fueling with a free flowing head! Once I get the rabbit out of the way, I hope to pickup an extra diesel head to put on the shelf.
As far as I am concerned, I have it dialed in just right at this point. A VERY happy medium between economy, performance and temperature. I would love to see how much better this engine would push my gutted, super light rabbit with a shorter final drive instead of this big tuna boat of a jetta! I am very impressed how well this thing moves for it's size! I can still remember what it was like trying to make it up the big hill to my house when I first got it....second gear FLOORED, door open, kicking off the pavement to help push my car in anyway that I could hahaha. Then realizing how much better things were when I did the suspension and I could BOMB through the corner at the bottom, trying to keep my momentum!
I finally cracked the case on my CHE tranny yesterday and swapped in a .75 5th. The stock ratio with the .8 actually wasn't too bad. I feel that it is a great tranny for economy. Now, it is just like an early ff with a final drive swap. It is not an extreme difference, as it only drops rpms by 200 at 75, but it feels great. The .8 will find itself a much more useful home going into a close ratio tranny
The mk2 is much easier to do the swap in than the mk1 (stupid frame rail!). It only took me a few hours, and I was moving pretty slow. The hardest part is drilling the smaller gear to accept the large spline style clip. Thank goodness I have some carbide crap! I had to start with a small carbide dremel bit, then I was able to start buzzing it out with larger carbide cones, and THEN I could hit it with a drill bit so that I could have some steep walls, to keep the clip from climbing out.
Anywho, thanks again for the kind words and suggestions all along the way guys.
