vw-tim's 1979 Rabbit Diesel Build Thread!

[vw-tim]

Well, first look under the car real good for leaks. Second check the front passenger side. This should tell you if its the master cylindar, it works criss-crossed. So the front driver and rear passenger work together and the front passenger and rear driver work together. If the front passenger bleeds fine then MC is probably good. Next I would look at condition of the rear driver side brake cylinder or maybe even a kink in the line. Could even be a messed up bleeder valve? take it all the way off next time you check it (that ones a long shot) good luck

also the passenger front bleeds so that means good master cylinder ha

[chrissev2]

"yeah i did i just pulled out the pistons and honed the cylinders and getting new rings now just waiting for parts to come in ha ill update this thing soon"

Did you check to see if the cylinders are round? With the compression numbers you were getting I doubt they are. Which means new rings won't do much for you as you'll still have a lot of space between the piston rings and the cylinder walls. The diesel cylinders wear in an egg shape. You need to bore them out to make them round again and then fit oversize.

This is what usually happens with the old diesel rabbits. People put about a million miles on them then when they just won't go anymore, they are parked. Then 10 years later someone comes along and finds them and tries to get them going again. That engine is very well used. You are going to have to put some serious work into it to make it functional again.

Chris

[vw-tim]

"yeah i did i just pulled out the pistons and honed the cylinders and getting new rings now just waiting for parts to come in ha ill update this thing soon"

Did you check to see if the cylinders are round? With the compression numbers you were getting I doubt they are. Which means new rings won't do much for you as you'll still have a lot of space between the piston rings and the cylinder walls. The diesel cylinders wear in an egg shape. You need to bore them out to make them round again and then fit oversize.

This is what usually happens with the old diesel rabbits. People put about a million miles on them then when they just won't go anymore, they are parked. Then 10 years later someone comes along and finds them and tries to get them going again. That engine is very well used. You are going to have to put some serious work into it to make it functional again.

Chris

after honing they dont seem to be egg shaped to me...? ill guess ill find out once i get the new rings and pistons back on ha

[vw-tim]

sooo im rather frustrated. i got new rings and honed the cylinders on the block and anyway so im going to put in the freshly cleaned up piston and new rings and i get the piston in and then it just stopss wanting to go in after the first two rings so basicly one ring is still out... what the heck is going on here? is there just carbon build up i havent gotten out of the grooves enough what do you guys think? im almost just considing just ditching this freaking block and i using another block cleaning it up real good i have another unknow block with the head all messed up on it i mean i think the block should be okay?? but i havent inspected it yet on the head the cam shaft was snapped... so idk if thats a bad sign for the block or not what do you guys think?? i just dont want to keep messing with this block any longer when i could be cleaning up this other one and putting the new rings and stuff on it instead.... what you guys suggest? its def Corona:30 time right now! ha

the other block the original one had a broken rod... i dont know if that block might be better to use? then the other block i talked about above...

[westy78]

Man u must have a lot of free time!! Dude ya gotta get the block checked out !!! Take it to a diesel shop

[vw-tim]

Man u must have a lot of free time!! Dude ya gotta get the block checked out !!! Take it to a diesel shop

haha i know... i honestly dont have free time i just bust my ass after work and on days i have off lol

[vw-tim]

so cleaning up the pistons really good i got this chem-dip stuff from autozone works really well heres one that was soaked for 2 hours and then took it out and dipped it in water and brushed with a plastic brush

[vw-tim]

so i got all the pistons in went in smoothly and got everything back togetehr oil pan back on and now just waiting for my head gasket and head bolts to get here! also i did notice that its alittle hard to crank and move the pistons now idk maybe they just dont have enough lubricant cuz i didnt have oil pan on when i was trying to turn it to tighten down piston bolts to the crank is that to be expected like there no binds its just really hard to turn it but it will get 360 no trouble just more effort..

also i re did my rear drums with new shows and new wheel cylinders i got it all back together bleed the whole car and then as i put a wheel on and spun it and go on the brakes i hear this burst of air and it was one of the brake lines that goes under the carpet on the driver side where can i get a new steel line? what should i do suggestions please!

[vw-tim]

okay so to sum up things i have new rod bearings new pistons rings the block cylinders honed and a new head gasket new head bolts the head is good the valves are adjusted correctly... i torqued down the head and all but number 2 bolt would torque its like it wont tighten i did clean all the block head bolt holds but on #2 this was a prevous problem i was having the threads got messed up but i ran a tap in the block and cleaned them up cut a few new threads at the top that got messed up but i just tightened it much as i could and then torqued all the others.. i guess this might be the cause of my problem because all thought compression in the cylinders has all jumped up to about 300-320 range its still not hitting that 400 mark i need to be at correct?

so i kinda dont know what i can do here i guess because i cant get #2 bolt torqued thats the reason why im losing the compression. i do have 2 other 1.5L blocks one has a broken rod and other the head is all messed up the cam shaft was snapped on it but idk maybe the block is still good? i was thinking of just pulling the engine out of the car and then using that block or atleast inspecting it and just honing and then moving my pistons and new rings and bearings to that block and then putting the head all that stuff back on it. would that be a good idea? just ditch this block because that #2 bolt cant torque i just i dont know what else to do. suggestions please..

[vw-tim]

also i have another question now when i was torqueing the head to the block yes my #2 bolt stripped the threads or wouldnt torque down but after doing the other bolts i did notice doing the torque sequence as described going from 37 ft lbs to 57 and then to 66 not all of the bolts would torque at 66... they didnt feel like tighting up more why would this be? is it a common thing that happens to 1.5L blocks because they are 11mm and is that why people use head stud bolts?

[vw-tim]

okay so on vwdiesel.net i have a thread and on there they keep saying like oh my head bolts are bottomed out an thats why i cant get them to torque the head down or the head bolts ive been using are wrong size and i need to put on another washer because they bottom out and then they wont bottom out anyway this is just somthing i came up with lemme know what you guys think...


okay so here is what ive come up with and i think it really rules out that the head bolts are bottoming out and thats why i cant get them torqued... let me begind with this comparison i have another engine that has the allen head bolts on it and so i took one of those out to compare it with the head bolts that ive been using...




and from what i can tell just buy eye balling it i can get measurments on it as well but they pretty much look identical i think the allen one is a tiny bit longer but still the washers are the same size. and so that brings me to this point if the washers are the same size then it cant be the washer size that isnt allowing me to torque i think if put on another washer like everyone suggested it wouldnt even be able to thread into the block.. but i may be wrong anyway so next thing i did was put the head bolt i was using and the allen head bolt and i put it into the head and see how much of it sticks out and i put some white paint on the threads to show how much sticks out...



and now it looks like the same length on both head bolts stick out



( the washer fell off the allen bolt but i did have it on when i put it in the head)

now i then screwed it into the block just by hand as far as i could turn it til it stopped which i assumed it bottomed out and then i marked it again



and so i pulled it out and compared it with the other exact same head bolt and here is what i got there is a gap between them..



but dont get me wrong i do understand that just because i set a head bolt into the head doesnt mean it will screw down farther but i mean is it really gonna tighten down so much more that it will bottom out? i personally dont think so... but please what do you guys think? any other things i could do to test this i just really want to get to the bottom of all this.

i think i might just buy some head studs and stop wasting my money on head bolts and stuff idk head studs sound like the way to go with these 11mm size blocks because then i can tighten the stud down all the way past the point a head bolt can go i think that might fix my issue and i can then have the head fully torqued down. Or i was thinking of just cleaning up this other block i have idk what do you guys suggest there thank you!

[vw-tim]

so i just wanted to update alittle bit last night i worked on cleaning up the floor pans more to get all that nasty tar stuff off and so heres what i did

using heat gun and a putty knife i just heated it up and slided the puddy knife underneath and it brought up the tar like butter it was so easy and quick!

[vw-tim]

okay so got a question so i got the engine out and just wanting to clean up the engine bay i figure now is the time to do so i was wanting to just re paint it clean it up some. anyway i was thinking of sand blasting it but have read some stuff not to go with sand because its hazardous and it heats up the metal too much so i was thinking of making this and doing baking soda?

http://www.aircooledtech.com/tools-o.../soda_blaster/

and heres a pic of the bay im gonna remove the steering rack and shift linkage as well just havent gotten there yet.



what do you guys think is best way to do this?

[vw-tim]

so just alittle update here i started sandblasting the engine bay and it works pretty good it just slow process anyway heres a pic i should have this thing blasted in next couple days if i keep at it ha

[MicroCADDY]

so i just wanted to update alittle bit last night i worked on cleaning up the floor pans more to get all that nasty tar stuff off and so heres what i did

using heat gun and a putty knife i just heated it up and slided the puddy knife underneath and it brought up the tar like butter it was so easy and quick!

dry ice does such a better cleaner job of this. heat gun just reactivates the nasty tar like glue. To late now

[foxygrandpa]

Woah. You're really having a hard time with this haha. Not to sound like a dick but I'm kinda glad it's giving you such guff just because I've learned a lot from reading through the whole thread. Which took forever.

I hope you get it running soon and everything sorted out. I just picked up a diesel also about 1 1/2 months ago or so and just trying to learn as much as I can before I dive in to mechanical stuff since I'm so new to diesels. I'd hate to pull a rookie move and ruin a good diesel lol.

Anyway, Keep it up, ever get that block to a machine shop to get checked out?

edit: Oh and that soda blaster idea is the business! I love stuff like this, poor people always figure out a way lol..

[vw-tim]

Woah. You're really having a hard time with this haha. Not to sound like a dick but I'm kinda glad it's giving you such guff just because I've learned a lot from reading through the whole thread. Which took forever.

I hope you get it running soon and everything sorted out. I just picked up a diesel also about 1 1/2 months ago or so and just trying to learn as much as I can before I dive in to mechanical stuff since I'm so new to diesels. I'd hate to pull a rookie move and ruin a good diesel lol.

Anyway, Keep it up, ever get that block to a machine shop to get checked out?

edit: Oh and that soda blaster idea is the business! I love stuff like this, poor people always figure out a way lol..

haha Thank you! and yeah ive definitly learned a lot doing this and its pretty much looking like im replacing everything on this car. i should be doing more updates here on stuff im getting done rather then asking questions so much so it should be alittle more entertaining!

anyway from what ive learned diesels are rather simple well atleast whave ive had to do! i would definitly suggest buying the head studs i wouldnt waste your money on head bolts and that stuff! head studs and done.

right now it just seems like i have a ton of body work to get done im making a Toptissorie so i can really work on the underbody of the car as well im gonna be running all new fuel lines and brake lines pretty much new everything for this car anyway!

oh on also on the sandblaster part im using sand i picked up from Home Depot and im straining it with a screen and using that sand. it works really good! just a slow process.

[wilm13]

so i just wanted to update alittle bit last night i worked on cleaning up the floor pans more to get all that nasty tar stuff off and so heres what i did

using heat gun and a putty knife i just heated it up and slided the puddy knife underneath and it brought up the tar like butter it was so easy and quick!

It is a diesel with good floors, why would you remove the tar?

[vw-tim]

It is a diesel with good floors, why would you remove the tar?

because the tar bothers me ha it was just all nasty and i wanted to take this car back down to the metal with no junk on top of it and i wish the floors were good do you not see that huge hole? ha

[wilm13]

Did not notice the hole. I live in New Mexico so I do not know of this 'rust' you all speak of.

My floors. http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...ill-too-thread

[vw-tim]

Did not notice the hole. I live in New Mexico so I do not know of this 'rust' you all speak of.

My floors. http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...ill-too-thread

and im rather jealous! yeah i should be learning to weld so i can put in new floors ha

[vw-tim]

so i sand blasted the engine bay more and then primed it up some gonna go back and sand it and prime some more i know this isnt gonna be a show car or anything i just want it too look good and i also made a tiptissorie which works really good! im pretty stoked on it and gonna start cleaning up the underside now

some pics:

[vw-tim]

so just wanting to update alittle bit ive been wire wheeling the bottom cleaning stuff up i should have it all cleaned up pretty soon then i was thinking of cutting out the rust and prepare to weld in new floor pans what do you guys suggest on cutting the metal out?

[vw-tim]

okay so i have a question i have pretty much both floors wirewheeled and cleaned up but should i do the rest of the car where the tank goes and the wheel well? or should i leave the factory like rubbery stuff? what do you guys suggest?

[sprstu]

Where were you buying your parts? Buying cheap, Prothe parts can lead to many issues.

If youre having issues with your bolt depth, maybe you have it sorted now, check how far down you can get in the hole with a depth gauge. i had a lot of build-up in one of my bolt holes and i could never get the bolt to seat properly, caused me to under tighten and eventually ruined the head because the uneven pressure and heat warped it.

clean the bolt holes with a pick, brake cleaner and some air blasts, see if you can get some crap out of there.

[vw-tim]

Where were you buying your parts? Buying cheap, Prothe parts can lead to many issues.

If youre having issues with your bolt depth, maybe you have it sorted now, check how far down you can get in the hole with a depth gauge. i had a lot of build-up in one of my bolt holes and i could never get the bolt to seat properly, caused me to under tighten and eventually ruined the head because the uneven pressure and heat warped it.

clean the bolt holes with a pick, brake cleaner and some air blasts, see if you can get some crap out of there.

yeah i got it all worked out now i bought apr head studs and the head is torqued onto the block perfectly

[vw-tim]

so just wanted to do an update got the engine bay all painted a solid color pretty much just spray bombed it but its looks better then it did so itll do. just wanted to post up some picks hopefully ill be buying a welder soon and then ill get these holes in the floor all fixed up!

before:


after:

[vw-tim]

Starting to look at the floor boards now I'm a little concerned with rust here. I dont know if this is a big deal but how much rust is to much rust that just isn't worth fixing? should i be concerned with any of this stuff here? I'm manly looking at like the tunnel part that concerns me.

[vw-tim]

Okay so heres a video of the engine running it wont idle is there still air in the system? could it be because the IP is not in time? i dont have the gauge to get it in time yet.



tons of white smoke. and also when i went to turn off the motor i have the IP Stop Fuel Solenoid on a wire connected to the positive i unplugged it and the engine wouldnt turn off i then un did the negative and it still wouldnt turn off. ended up dieing after not giving it more fuel. what could that be from?

[Rockerchick]

Something doesn't sound right to me on that. But it could also be the quality of the video.

Is it running off of a bottle or the tank? Fuel filter new? I would get the timing checked for sure.

[vw-tim]

Something doesn't sound right to me on that. But it could also be the quality of the video.

Is it running off of a bottle or the tank? Fuel filter new? I would get the timing checked for sure.

fuel filter is brand new and its running off of a bottle at the moment. and yeah ive got another ip i think im gonna throw it on there i think the stop solenoid might be stuck on this one which just allows fuel to flow

[damac2004]

fuel filter is brand new and its running off of a bottle at the moment. and yeah ive got another ip i think im gonna throw it on there i think the stop solenoid might be stuck on this one which just allows fuel to flow

where are you located?

cool I am bringing back to life a 79 rabbit diesel to. 2 doors with round headlights. i am just a day away from starting to daily drive it, all the cosmetic stuff is on the backburner only issues i got is some electrical hacks.

anyways if you don't know about the condition of your pump/injectors you just never know.

the lack of exhaust is making it hard to hear the sound of the engine.

did you push/pull fuel through the pump before trying to get it started? can you see the pump pumping fuel when it was running?

if you got to that point you could be on your way. there will be air that will purge itself after the initial starts.

i have rushed myself before and just filled the filter and pump by gravity and it took me multiple starts with the pedall all the way down to get it to catch and i had to hold it there until things cleared up.

during those extreme times with the car stumbling bad i have seen the throttle not react like your video, otherwise that usually has some effect.

if it were firing unevenly and the smoke is white and stings your eyes like unburnt diesel i would for fun start moving the pump advanced towards the engine just a nudge at a time and see if you can get it to run and idle and purge that air.

another thing you could have tried when it was running is to pull the cold start cable and looked for improvement on the smoke pattern and stumbling to let you know you are going in the right direction.

[vw-tim]

okay so ive been moving the IP towards the engine and still white smoke and then back away from the engine and it seems to be less smoke but still kinda white blueish smoke also wont idle and the throttle lever still does nothing..

does that mean bad IP or i just need to get a guage and hook it up and just really time it.

I also have another IP i was thinking about hooking up and seeing if that changes anything.

on another note i put some clear tubing to one injector to another injector and it does seem fuel is flowing between them? what does this mean? i still have yet to get a clear tube from the return fuel but what if no fuel is returning ?

and also does the white smoke mean unburned diesel fuel?

[russianfreak]

your pump as been sitting, and this causes troubles and algeas in it. You need to get a treatement for algea and make your engine run on a smaller tank of fuel (with the treatement in it). It those miracles you will see...

[vw-tim]

your pump as been sitting, and this causes troubles and algeas in it. You need to get a treatement for algea and make your engine run on a smaller tank of fuel (with the treatement in it). It those miracles you will see...

so run Automatic transmission fluid threw it?