inch by inch

Today was like being on a roller coaster, and like being on a roller coaster, there's not much time for pics. The highs were exhilarating and the lows were a bit of a gut shot.  John and I had to run over the new old shop to pick up the TDI engine on deck for our next conversion, and that whiled away a bunch of time scheming on the next big thing: 2.0l PD install in a Vanagon or Eurovan.  We had a good time though and I got all hopped up on coffee which helped fuel my roller-coaster all day.

Once we got back to the shop we determined that both the AC compressors we have in our quiver (the stock 5-cyl gas one and the AHU one), had issues and we needed to get another one coming, so John had to run over to the wrecking yard.  We then had 1-2 good hrs putting back together the front suspension on the EV that we had taken apart to for some basic service that had been deferred for far too long.  Here's the list:

* new front wheel bearings
* new upper and lower ball joints
* rotors turned, re-installed
* CV joints de-greased/cleaned/repacked/installed

While John was out I started on the EV coolant system and was pleased to discover that the lwr radiator hose on the stock EV 2.5l gas engine fits the 4-cyl engine with very simple mods: trim ~39mm
off the t-stat cover end of the hose, and use a A1/A2 90* t-stat cover on the water pump and it fits like the stock 5-cyl. one.

Also, FYI, the 5-cyl gas engine alternator is a bolt-in swap on the 1Z/AHU TDI
engine, and the AC compressor *could* be made to work, but uses a different
mounting ear strategy than the TDI (captive threaded 'slider' nuts in the eng.
bracket, not in the comp. like on the TDI), so the TDI comp. is a better bet.

Also, installed the PS pump and belt and as long as it clears the belly pan, all
will be well in that domain. The only mod necessary here is to remove the low
press. hose off the PS reservoir and install a slightly longer (maybe 3") PS
rated hose to attach to the low press. side of the TDI PS pump. The high
pressure side with the banjo fitting attached looks like it will bolt right onto
the TDI pump, so no problem there.

Later in the afternoon our last TDI Vanagon conversion customer came in with his Syncro for service and that occupied the rest of the afternoon.  And now mophius calls...

justin