'99 EVC VR6 to TDI conv. & auto to manual trans conv.: Day 2.5

Sundays are always great days to turn a wrench.  I always thank the Good Lord that my shop is an ordained house of VW worship and that high communion can come in simple forms such as cleaning the tools and laying them to rest at the end of the day.  We truly are blessed....

Lots of progress today.  First we had a chance to compare the auto vs EWB manual trans mounts:

 Pair on the left: lower pendulum mount comparison, auto trans. mount on the L, 5-spd on the R.
Pair on the right: upper trans. mount comparison, auto trans. L, 5-spd on the R.

TDI wiring harness being test fit for length.

 And on the bench, being modified accordingly.

Modified TDI harness in final format before installation.

VR6 A/T cluster/TDI manual cluster hybrid.  By mating the two we retain the correct odometer reading and have the factory glow plug light and tachometer.








Now onto finishing the engine rebuild/assembly:

Measuring piston height projection at TDC.

 1-notch head gasket it is!

 1-notch head gasket installed.

 ARP head studs installed in block.

 De-greasing/prepping rebuilt cylinder head prior to install.

 New camshaft and hydraulic lifters.

Head is 'gently' mated to block (and onto studs); lifters being installed.

 New camshaft laid.

 Bearing caps installed and torqued (18 ft/lbs).

 ARP head stud hardware being lubed-up with ARP's special high-torque lube.








                                    

Finished loaded head sitting on block.  ARP head stud nuts are torqued to 125 ft/lbs in 3 equal steps in a diagonal pattern.

TDI exhaust manifold drilled and tapped for EGT probe.  Always remember: measure/fit  3 times, drill once.

Probe hole can be seen through flange opening.








EGT probe fitting and installed.  Manifold studs chased with 8mx1.25 die to clean threads.

 Exhaust manifold mated to engine.

 Close up view.

 K03/K04 hybrid turbo mated to exhaust manifold.

 Turbo sitting proudly.

 PD150 intake manifold installed along with EGT probe.

 Turbo and EGT probe leads.

 Side view of engine.

The money shot.














Long block complete.

'99 EVC VR6 to TDI conv. & auto to manual trans conv.: Day 2

Lots of progress today on this conversion.  The AHU/PD150 hybrid short block is complete and buttoned up, pics of the build below.  We also finished the clutch pedal install, pedal potentiometer install and the VR6 instrument cluster to TDI cluster mods.  Late in the day we had a surprise visit by a neat father/son team from Eugene who are planning on a m-TDI conversion on their Vanagon.  They came up to get some parts and to sell us their AHU harness/ECU, but after a ride in John's Vanagon rocket ship and individual e-TDI rants by John and I, they decided to go home with their harness/ECU just in case the m-TDI doesn't as well as the e-TDI Vanagons does.   We wished them luck and challenged them to pull it off as we've yet to see an m-TDI that performs anywhere near our e-TDIs.  Good folks and I look forward to hearing back from them.

 After block is prepped and cleaned, the oil squirters are installed and torqued w/loctite.  Then the block side main brg shells are installed w/assembly lube and crank is laid.  Then brg caps are fitted with brg shell and plastigaged to check radial clearance.

 Close-up of plastigage measurement (0.03-0.08mm new parts spec).











Once all main brg tolerances are checked the caps are installed w/assembly lube and torqued to spec w/new main cap bolts (48ft/lbs + 90*).

Next it's time to mate the Rosten H-beam rods to the PD150 pistons.

 Rods #1 and #4 mated to their respective pistons.

 Rod bearings being installed on rods and rod caps.  Rod side is lubed w/assembly lube, cap is left lube free until plastigage measurements are taken.

 Rod plastigage measurements.

 Once rod brg axial clearances are checked caps are installed w/assembly lube and torqued to spec, in this case w/new ARP rod bolts (30ft/lbs).

 And now it's on to pistons #2 and #3.

Installed in block.

After checking radial clearances caps are torqued to spec.

Oil pan baffle and T4 oil pump installed.

Short block loaded with PD150 pistons and Rosten H-beam rods.

T4 oil pan installed and buttoned up, short block complete.

 Clutch pedal assembly installed (automatic van remember?).

 Pedal potentiometer installed at top of accel. pedal bracket.  Viewed from below, lighted from above.

Pedal pot. installation viewed from above

'99 EVC VR6 to TDI conv. & auto to manual trans conv.: Day 1.5

We finally cleared the deck and started in earnest on this project today.  We pulled the VR6 eng and auto trans about a month ago to meet a deadline for selling those, but then had to shelve it for a month as we took care of a some unexpected work that came up (Syncro Vanagon drivetrain R&R, etc).




Now it's go time and we're on a mission.  Step one, transport it from shop A (eng removal shop) to shop B (TDI conversion & fine tuning shop):

Now the elegant manuevering of backing in a 5000+lb vehicle with no eng/PS through the narrows and centered on the lift.

 Step 1: pop the hood

 Step 2: remove VR6 wiring harness

 Step 3: continue evisceration

 Empty engine bay patiently awaiting TDI engine.

Instrument cluster removed; pedal assembly removed for manual/clutch pedal assembly installation.

 Steering column and fuse block exposed for re-wiring.

 Lots of vacancies....

 Steering column disassembled.

 TDI engine rebuild dept.  What you see are the build parts for a highly tuned (stage V) TDI engine, including: PD150 intake & pistons, Rosten rods, ARP head studs, rod/main brgs, new oil cooler, crank.

Add a rebuilt AHU head and new lifters/cam and you've got the makings of a 150hp/300ft/lb AHU engine.

 Modding AHU engine to ABL protocol: Drilling stock 4-cyl EV/T4 dipstick port.

Thick casting boss, powerful drill & sharp bit, lots of metal shavings.

 ABL protocol for R engine mount: Prepping R engine mount holes for 10m tapping.

93 EV TDI conversion completion pics

Finally had some time to snap some pics of our last EV TDI conversion.  This is a 93 Eurovan weekender from Texas with a fully electronic stage I AHU TDI eng installed using factory VW hardware and a CHP 02B 5-spd trans w/.658 transmission:

TDI EV heading back to Texas

TDI cluster installed in 93 EV

Rear TDI badge

Engine bay with AHU TDI eng.

EV eng bay with TDI eng.

R side eng, air box & IC pipes

L side eng, coolant bottle & IC pipes

Battery w/ABS pump in foreground

L side eng bay.

Long awaited EWB trans & TDI Syncro restoration & EV TDI

After months of planning, researching and trial and error risk taking (to the tune of $1740) with German purveyors, the TDI Eurovan T4 transmission we have been drooling over finally arrived this week:

Crate from Germany via FedEx freight

EWB transmission

This transmission will be going in the 99 EVC we are currently working on.  This rig is getting a highly tuned AHU engine with Rosten rods, PD 150 pistons, Malone custom tune, T4 injectors, etc.















Our big distraction this past week has been a Syncro TDI Vanagon that was in need of some major drivetrain R&R&R (remove, rebuild, re-install):

 Rebuilt syncro driveline: transmission, driveline, and front differential.

$6000 in drivetrain parts.

And here's our current EV TDI conversion during the road testing phase.