93 EV TDI conv. & Surprise visitors

Yesterday we had a complete surprise visitor drop by the shop.  Mr. Karl Mullendore of m-TDI fame (and from Maryland no less!), dropped in unannounced and thus commenced many hours of TDI and Vanagon tech talk.  Very cool to meet someone in person you have known for years in this virtual universe!

The Mullendore machine

We are in the final tuning stages of our latest TDI conversion, this time a 93 Eurovan weekender.  Here are some pics of the eng installed:

 Airbox, P/S bottle, IC pipe from turbo outlet, etc.

 Engine central, coolant bottle.

 Stage L, IC hose to int. manifold, coolant bottle.

 Final tweaking before test run.

Another view of the IC pluming coming up and to the int manifold.

Eurovan 4-cyl AHU TDI engine/trans mating & install

The best way to end any week for us is to finish it off with slinging up an engine in a freshly converted vehicle.  We had that satisfaction yesterday after a solid week of engine building and TDI conversion work.  Here's the play-by-play:

 View of nearly complete engine just before install.  Note custom silicone coolant hose set from water pump to oil cooler.

 Completely rebuilt engine on stand, just timing left once it's mated to trans.

 Off stand, trans. dust plate installed.

 TDI flywheel installed, new TTY bolts (w/loctite, torqued to 48ft/lbs + 90*)

 G60 Corrado pressure plate & clutch disc installed (Sachs brand, rated at 300 ft/lbs torque clamping force)

Engine and 02B 5-spd trans mounted.  Note R trans extension arm eng support bracket, specific to 4-cyl T4 engine.

 Close-up of R trans ext. arm support bracket.

 Detail of the ingenious dual drilled bellhousing with bolt holesfor both the 5-cyl engine and the 4-cyl.  This is VW at their finest, and the only model we have ever seen to do this.

 Rebuilding injectors: installing Bosio Sprint 764 nozzles (short jump above Sprint 520s)

 Engine/trans on dolly moved into position.  It's far easier to install an engine in a Eurovan/T4 if you lower the van down onto the engine, vs. lifting the engine up to the van.  A lift is helpful here.

 Engine installed and hanging by its own accord.

Installed 4-cyl engine in a T4 chassis.


A few more days of tuning and tweaking and we'll have this on the road replete with a completely different driving experience.

Eurovan 4-cyl AHU TDI engine rebuild 301H

 Here are the final steps in the engine rebuild:
Measuring piston height projection on #1 piston.

 Appropriate head gasket selected and installed along with ARP head studs.

 View from above.

 Rebuilt cylinder head ready to come out of bag for installation.

 Cylinder head installed on block.

 New hydraulic lifters installed in head.

 Cam shaft installed, caps torqued (18ft/lbs) and head stud torque sequence followed to the letter (final torque of 125ft/lbs).

Installing exhaust manifold.

Engine peripherals being installed.

 T4 4-cyl oil dipstick and turbo.

 Close up of dipstick entry into block.

 Engine tipped forward for pic.  Intake/exhaust manifolds installed along with dipstick.

  One more shot from the back of the engine.  Note 4-cyl trans. support bracket bottom R of pic, and R side engine bracket halfway up R side.

 Detail of how oil dipstick tube is supported at the top.

 R side engine bracket installed along with lower T-belt cover (also 4-cyl T4 specific since it interfaces with the bottom bolt of the eng bracket and shares a common 10m bolt).

 Overview of R side showing R eng bracket, etc.  Engine will be timed and inj. pump installed tomorrow since the IP was on the bench today being re-sealed.

Note the barbed fitting installed in the EGR weep hole (smaller barb twrds bottom of ctr).  As these manifolds get older they are notorious for weeping oil out of this weep hole and all over the engine.  This small barb allows us to plumb it back into the intake and negate the oily mess it can make without this mod.

Eurovan 4-cyl AHU TDI engine rebuild 101

It's been a good couple of weeks in the shop, catching our breath and enjoying the holidays a bit.  In the process we've been busy with a few things, namely diving into our next conversion: a 93 Eurovan T4 Weekender.  Here's the highlight reel:

 Prepping AHU block for 4-cyl EV R mount.  Three 6m bolt holes are drilled out to the appropriate VW sanctioned size.

Post- drilling 'mole hills'.

 Tapping bolt holes.

 OEM EV/T4 bolts threaded into new holes.

 4-cyl EV/T4 mount test fit for fitment.

 Now onto drilling the factory stepped 4-cyl EV oil dipstick tube hole in block.

Stepped hole complete.  Big shavings means sharp drill bit.  That's the way we roll.

 View from below through block.

 Short block engine rebuild parts.  Re-bushed rods, new ASV pistons, 0.50mm over, new rod/main brgs & bolts, ARP head studs, polished crank.

 TDI engine rebuild 101:
1) install oil squirters (w/loctite)
2) install block side main brgs (w/assembly lube)
3) lay crank
4) check radial clearance (w/plastigage)
5) install bearing caps (w/assembly lube)
6) install new TTY main cap bolts and torque to spec (48ft/lbs + 90*)
6.5) install new TTY crank bolt, lock with 3/8" extension placed strategically under crank throws torque to 68ft/lbs + a big 90* (w/loctite as per GW instructions, NOT oil as per VW!! This one is too important to ever come loose!)

 7) Install rods onto pistons, noting rod # and piston #s (1/2 or 3/4, w/ assembly lube on wrist pin), as well as keeping the raised "nub" always to the front/I-shaft side of the engine.







 **Shown for comparison/edification only: note the underside of the ASV piston on the R showing the additional oil galley(s) underneath the piston crown compared with the stock AHU piston on the L

8) Install pistons into cylinders (w/copious oil); careful attention to piston # and cyl. #, numbered 1, 2, 3, 4 L to R in this photo.

Ring compressor tool in use.

 **Shown for compariston: OEM 4-cyl EV/T4 oil pump on the R, Jetta TDI oil pump on the L.  Note the angle of approach and the depth of the pickup tube, corresponding with the deeper oil pan and angled forward installation of the engine in the T4.

 Another view of the difference, TDI on the L, T4 on the R.

 9) Oil pump fitted to engine (w/oil in gears and on mating surface, torqued to 18ft/lbs)

10) New 4-cyl EV/T4 oil pan installed w/oil pan bolts torqued to 10ft/lbs, and short block complete.