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Engine Specific Info and Questions => IDI Engine => Topic started by: burnskiez on March 21, 2011, 08:44:20 pm
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Heeello All,
New here, I've lurked here a bit in the past, mostly been a samba follower since I got rid of my old 84 rabbit diesel. Now I've got a wild hare to put a diesel in my Syncro Vanagon. I've been really impressed with some of the 1.6 tds I've seen around here and its got me curious as to how well it would push the syncro around. I've got no need at all for a hot rod, and my transmission is out due to the 3/4 slider failure so I can regear easily as well if needed. I'm looking for reliablity, torque for off road use, and economy, hoping for at least 25 mpg. If this gives you any idea of how I drive and what I require, I was completely satisfied with the 2.1 in the van, it just has low oil pressure issues which seem to be getting worse and I'd like to get back what I lost when I put 15" rims with bfg a/ts on. I tow a little dirt bike trailer around sometimes as well, but even the 2.1 didnt seem to be too bothered by it, so I doubt its an issue. I also plan on installing an oil cooler with which ever engine I end up going with. I've always like the 1.6 na whether it was my pops caddy or my rabbit, and I'd feel much better about running biodiesel through the 1.6td rather than a newer more expensive tdi. Anyhow, thanks for all the great posts I always read here, makes stuff like this possible for bored hacks like myself.
Kerry
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Yes, from the start I was a fan of the 1.9 m-tdi swap but it looks like I'll be headed back to school for a year and a half and couple that with some other financial constraints and its got me looking at all my options once again. Could the 1.6td swap be a good possible interim swap, What I mean being if I converted to the 1.6td, regeared my tranny to optimize mpg, diesel bellhousing, begin the search for the rare diesel syncro fuel tank, could I then swap the tdi in at a later date without any hassle, other than getting the harness modded?
Kerry
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You could also consider what i did. 1.9 non turbo, with a Giles super pump, and keep the inlet and exhaust large -2 1/2 " . More torque than a stock 1.6 TD which is what you need to push that nose through the air. I have a 5 speed but i'll do a bit of research into what gearing would work for you with your 4 speed.
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"Caveman, any time you want to race for pinks your 1.9 non-turbo against my 1.6TD vanagon, I'm game. "
!!!! ;D ;D ;D
yeah but yours isn't stock. Mine is dead low right off the line, but once rolling, i can more than keep up with traffic. plus i'm a born and bred Montreal driver. If you don't know what that means, just ask around.
my pal with his intercooled AAZ 4 speed is definitely quicker. But he's always tinkering with it. i barely even open the engine cover.
of course if i ever go down to visit my uncle in tuscon, i'll be the guy honking and revving the engine outside your house !
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My girlfriend and I were going to do a big road trip this year to visit my uncle and tour AZ, Utah, Colorado, etc. But it will have to wait until next year as we to take a trip to Northern Ireland and Scotland this fall. Definitely next year, although i doubt i'll still have my Transporter.
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Thanks for the replies. Its a good thing I found out now that the 1.6 and tdi wouldn't enjoy the same transmission, looks like I'll be stickin with my m-tdi plans may just be a while before the whole shebang gets underway though, beats rebuilding my tranny twice though, cost about as much as I paid for the whole van anyways. The tdi will get much better mileage anyways, I reckon, but for some reason I have a soft spot for those tiny td's, the engine compartment has such a clean simple look and they sure pushed the cars and caddys around fine, but the syncro van will be best suited by a bit more torque and not having to work as hard to achieve it. As far as the 1.9 aaz goes, I guess everytime I see one of those for sale here in california or anywhere close, they seem to be about the same price as a tdi, and from what I've heard parts arent any cheaper either. Seems like any good running vdub diesel is hard to pry from the hands of its owner, can't say I've been happy about the few I've had to part with over the years, >:( , but soon enough the van will be doin its tdi tick down the road, soon enough.
Kerry
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what about Mexico? They got AAZ's IIRC
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Huh, thats a good point. Anyone got any experience bringing back a diesel engine from mexico? It'd be really nice if I could grab one in baja, I make frequent trips down anyways.
Kerry
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Where in the Eastern Sierra? Mammoth?
Last time I had my Westy out here, I made right at 25 mpg over about 900 miles from Costa Mesa to Bridgeport and back with 1.6 TD. Sherwin grade will kick your ass every time, though.
Chris
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Oh hey you're my neighbor practically, ;D. I'm in the bishop area, paradise actually up on the hill. Sherwin always has me in 2nd by the top, its a lot of motivation not to drive north ever unless is really necessary. The 1.9 tdi will definitely make me happy on that hill though, I'll be so excited to drive over that and tioga and up bishop pass area once I get the project all sewn up. I'm sure I've seen you around, I drive the olive drab spray-can paint job (previous owner) syncro, got a solar panel and box up top, we've probably passed on the road.
Kerry
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For some reason your van sounds slightly familiar! I left my Westy down south, trying to maybe sell it since I bought an F250 for quicker trips into Saline. Otherwise I drive an 81 diesel Caddy that I bought locally, that used to be serviced up there at Sierra German Auto.
Sherwin was a good drive when they were doing the construction and the speed limit was 35... at least then I had an alibi! It's hard not to make that climb in the summer, when things are heating up down here in the valley. I smoked my brakes one summer coming down Bishop canyon... yikes!
Give me a holler when you get started on that TDi swap... I might have a few things to make it a little easier.
Chris
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Yeah thats the worst part, you kinda gotta head up to the higher elevations on a regular basis to keep sane and happy in the heat. I don't even mind driving that slow really, its just the 12-14 mpg that my van seems to get regularly heading up to south lake or sabrina that really drives me crazy. And comin down those hills I'm always so grateful to have a manual, I hate driving my girlfriend's crv auto, have to ride the brakes a lot around here. The tdi swap is gonna be a little bit in the future, but who knows, its mostly dependent on when I find a good deal, we'll see what I can come up with.
Kerry
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Supposedly there's a late model Golf in the area that was rolled while still under warranty. I already offered cold cash but the lady wanted to hold on to it for some reason. Probably an ALH engine though, not ideal for your swap.
Chris
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Oh, now thats interesting, wonder if she still has it. I would love to get my hands on it, I believe the ALH is the engine I want, combined with an m-TDI pump, best performance and economy albiet a bit more startup cost and a lot more of a time investment.
Kerry
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Cool...
I've been working on (well 'was working on', actually) a few parts specific to swapping an ALH into a Vanagon. I've been feeling the itch to pull those projects off the back burner... of course my hard drive self-destructed a few weeks ago and I lost a few key AutoCAD files... Live and learn.
The Golf was a friend-of-a-friend kinda thing. Next time I see that friend, I'll ask about it.
Chris
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Chris,
Thanks for the heads up on the alh, but for the time being things are mostly on the back-burner and I'm at a bit of a budget standstill. Unfortunately, our local forest service has decided to cut back a lot of jobs around here, so I'm currently out of one and as such the van is on hold. I'll also be headed back to school for a year and a half down in av this fall, so I'm gonna be saving a bit for that too. However, I've been getting a few hits in down in yosemite and seki, so if something does turn up I would be interested in the engine, but like I said its all so up in the air its hardly worth mentioning for any other reason than to say that you should grab that engine up.! ;D. What kinda project do you have planned for it? Replacing the 1.6td or got another project to throw it in? TDI and projects and AutoCAD sounds like fun!
Kerry
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I already have an ALH, the 6-speed trans and a bucket of electronic mess to match... At some point I had a little extra cash and thought that the first engine would like a friend to hang out with... then I got laid off, bought a 2-stroke sport bike project and went back to school...
The biggest plans are to manufacture a few key parts to make an ALH swap go a little smoother into a Vanagon, also including 1Z/AHU fitment for some of that stuff and I'm interested in making some bolt-in parts for dropping a TDi into an early watercooled chassis (though all the money is in the Vanagon market).
Ultimately I'd like to drop that ALH into a van of my own, but I've realized that the Westfalia layout doesn't really work for the way I use the van (I'd like to build a hightop Euro market Syncro for a full time residence) and it's not in nice enough condition to show off my work. Same goes for my Caddy - it's my daily driver/medium duty off-road ride and isn't worth the effort to put together a quality engine swap.
Chris
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Wow very cool man, where's the 6-speed transmission from? Yeah I've got hightop lust bad for my syncro too, and the worst part is I'm pretty sure I'm gonna have to give in and buy one once I get the diesel in, I won't have all the lack of power/reliability excuses that I used before. And those new timbertech tops on the samba aren't making it any easier at all.
Kerry
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That would be a Beetle 6-speed... I thought that was gonna come across wrong.
I was thinking hard on running out to Libby's for one of those tops. But I couldn't justify throwing that much more money into a van that I was beginning to get tired of. Bringing a Euro spec van in from Europe almost makes more sense to me, for what I'm after.
Chris
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Oh, ok, I never knew they put a 6 speed in the bug, that sounds like alotta fun. Was wondering whether you were talking about a subie trans or some oddball like a renault. What are the rules for importing vans from europe? I used to be up to date on this stuff when I was looking to bring a diesel nissan patrol over from ozland, but its been a while since I've looked into it. The 16" syncro options would be pretty priceless, I've got such a longing to rally one of those hard down in baja, but more realistically I'll probably go with the burley motorsports setup, seems more than good enough for a hack like me!
And thanks for reminding me about the top libby, :P , believe me if I had to cash to spare, I'd already have bought it, everytime I see the ad on the samba I check my bank accounts and do the math. Not in the cards right now, but hopefully in a year or two. 8)
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I haven't looked deep enough into importing to know for sure, but certainly bringing something into the states that already has a domestic version will save some headache... and bringing a diesel into CA reduces the hassle even more (the common Euro gasser is not smog legal, for example).
Busman.be is now offering a complete import service where they handle everything to the point of handing the customer a registered, US legal van. Not a bad way to go if you're only doing it once!
Speaking of Renault... I was over at a buddy's shop today and they had a Renault R5 turbo sitting there with the hatch open - it's the second one I've seen come through their place... what an AMAZING car. Kinda funny to compare it to the Le Car sitting 15' away in their storage yard.
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I wonder how much he charges to bring a typical syncro over? It'd probably be one with the 1.6td, it seems I've seen a lot of those on the European classifieds sites and ebay. Is that a good source for syncro diesel parts as well? I've seen a diesel fuel tank on ebay for $350 including shipping, seems like a decent price, but I'm still looking for a better deal if I can find one.
So you're sayin that there's a renault shop in Lone Pine? I'll believe it if you say so, but boy talk about another East Side oddity, gotta love it. Speaking of east side oddities and establishments, have you ever done any business with the Sierra German shop in Bishop? I was thinking of going over there and bothering him about some of the vans he's got sitting around the yard there, I have a couple of nice spare wbxers I'm looking to put in donors at some point. I bothered the owner for an hour or so once, when I was having some ecu/fuel injection wiring issues, seemed pretty on top of it and above average as far as thinking outside the box.
Kerry
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The Renaults were in a buddy's shop in Costa Mesa... all grey market euro stuff - crazy ass Ferrari's and Lambo's passing through there regularly. He just sold his M3 BMW to finance a Lotus Cortina, while selling his Cortina parts cars... fun stuff! He was tinkering on a Corvan when I was there the other day... neat to see the underside of that after seeing so many Corvair engines in sand rails - front end looked like standard 60s - 70s US passenger car... rear was exotic for its time.
I've no opinion on Sierra German, though they did put a hydro NA 1.6 in my Caddy at some point. I do all my own work, so no need to have them do anything for me. I have stopped in a few times... not interested in oddball diesel mods... no interested in hiring me with no late model knowledge... can't blame him! But it's good eye candy when running up the highway!