LBundy's GTi TDI swap thread

[LBundy]

Found a great deal on an full parts 1998 jetta ahu tdi a few weeks back and got in contact with the seller immediately. That being said i met up with him and got things all settled. From the information he gave me the car had an veggie oil conversion kit on it for most of the engines life. It was considered total due to an accident he had which consisted of the car being flipped onto its side. The engine was luckily not hit in the accident. It kicks over quick and runs very smooth. 215k on the engine. trans and clutch in great shape Johnstamos will be helping me with this swap since this will be my first and he could chime in if anyone has questions about the swap.



not the cleanest but who cares when its an tdi. do have engine cover for it though



the car it is going in...
later 2.0l




The goal is to have it completed by h2o but if all things go to plan it will be done weeks prior to that. Pretty much keeping it stock for now with a mild tune.

[silverjettin]

looks like a fun swap! im in to check out the progress..
seems fairly straightforward

[JohnStamos]

I have never seen anything that makes as big of a mess as running Veggie Oil. There is literally a 5mil think film on EVERYTHING.

That said, its a 99% complete swap car, that runs GREAT, and the previous owner took good care of her, so it should be about as straight forward a swap as they get.

TDI swaps are basically the same as VR6 swaps +tank, lines, pedal, more wiring, rewiring the tank sending unit, HVAC(some models) and I can do Vr swaps in a single day, so aside from all the side tasks, will be a quick deal.

Car is being done in my free time (when his schedule permits as well), away from my garage, in his small one car attached, so won't move as fast as it could, but will be done as fast as I can push him.

Phase one: Deadline of August 17th to get all done. So realistically, 15~ work hours.

Get running. (Done)
Drop full drivetrain w/ subframe.
Drop tank and lines.
Remove dash, and get the TDI specific parts, ignition harness, HVAC box, cluster harness, throttle pedal/potentiometer, ect ect.
Strip car and send her off.
Access engine/trans condition.
Strip and clean, and clean, and clean, engine/trans.
Clean soot from intake manifold that is probably plugged 75% at this point as it has never been done.
Reassemble with 95% new parts as budget permits. (Hoses, belts, Vr6 pressure plate/TDIdisc, cts, all external gaskets/seals, glowplug harness, ect ect.
Clean up harness. EVERYTHING on the car from the factory minus maybe cruise will be staying, so very little harness work needs done.
Flush ENTIRE fuel system, as it is caked with Veggie Oil buildup.

As time/budget/what I can convince him of() permits, most of the fab supplies I have already laying around the shop, so it's almost all time.

Build a 2.5" downpipe if flex pipe on stock one isn't in acceptable shape. I'm not satisfied with the execution/price of any currently on the market, so buying one is not an option.
Split trans and double roll pin/weld the cross-shaft; replace input shaft/diff bearings and shift segments as necessary.
Fab up a turbo->MAF intake pipe to replace the fail prone factory intake elbow the TDI is notorious for.
Remove the factory CCV setup, and run a VTA setup in AN lines if above gets done.
Reseal the Injection Pump before it decides to start leaking.
Cut out the EGR from the intake manifold and weld it back up.
Sandblast and paint any exposed brackets, lines, ect. Everything under the engine cover would be ignored this time around, as there just isn't enough time to do so.


Basically going to be going with the flow. If time permits, it will get done, if not, it will stay as the factory had it to stick with the deadline as the timeframe til H20 is coming up fast.

[jstn]

if its been running veggie it's whole life I'd rebuild that motor... that hippy sh1t ruins engines.

justin

[LBundy]

if its been running veggie it's whole life I'd rebuild that motor... that hippy sh1t ruins engines.

justin

We are going to look into the engine and see how it is. The convo kit was said to be in the car for the past 5-6 years and from the sounds of it he didnt half ass anything. It had an in-line fuel heater and other things. From what we are finding now is that the engine runs very smooth and trans shifts great. It will be getting all new seals and whatnot. I am confident this thing will be free of any problems

[jstn]

yeah I dunno... personally I'd never trust a veggie engine. ive seen too many failure on tdiclub...

just check it out to make sure it's solid. you'll have a fun little gti when you're done!

justin

[Farlos]

this thread i s interesting, i will be following.

Good luck!

[JDuval]

Yup, I'll be watching! Good luck guys!

[Hurt]

It'd be a "GTD" in Europe. This is a cool swap.

[LBundy]

Dropped the engine with the subframe this evening as well as the tank and lines. Now to tackle whats under the dash tomorrow for a few hrs. I plan to have a list of parts that are needed and will be ordered by the end of the week. Everything is going smooth thus far Will update with pics once johnstamos uploads them.

[JohnStamos]

After spending all Sunday rewiring his garage, adding 700 more watts of lighting, and generally getting a garage that hasn't been used as a garage in 15 years ready to go, we finally pulled it in and started. Of course we had to break in the garage and send the car off right with a burnout, with a Nesquick bottle full of diesel and some washer line for a fuel source.

Put in a solid 5 hours from 6pm-11pmish, and got all the major parts out of the car. Would have got it the rest of the way stripped, but had to stop to rewire the faulty mini fridge. Rigging a battery charger to power it made it a quick fix though.

Engine, trans, subframe, suspension, front clip, rear beam, tank, lines, exhaust, alot of the dash, all the non ABS parts, ect are out. Making GREAT time for working with all handtools.


On to the boring pics everyone has seen 100x times before.







Got lucky and the frame rail JUST missed the engine in the accident. It tweaked the water pump pulley, but thats all.







Keep finding more and more new OEM parts on the car that must have been replaced right before it was wrecked and sat forever. New OEM axles, control arms, calipers, strut assemblies, etc.




Aside from the rockers and drivers floor pan, the car is rust free. NOTHING near the towers, gas door, 1/4's and fenders, etc. Even the rear impact bar isn't covered like normal. Prob going to cut a bunch of repair panels before scrapping it because of this.

[JohnStamos]

Managed to get in almost 3 hours today on the car. Just need to pull the shift box and its ready to get hauled off.

Dash, pedal cluster, all harnesses, HVAC box, and the bay got completely stripped, as well as all the body parts that are getting saved.

Im amazed at how well this car managed to survive. Even the OEM exhaust survived in near perfect shape, the clamps came right off, and after a few taps with a dead blow, came right apart at the slip fits. Exhaust will be saved and going on his brothers beater Mk3 to quiet it up.




\










Some of the unique extra sound deadening panels that the TDI's got.

[Hurt]

OEM exhaust that comes off without a torch?!

Witchcraft.

[LBundy]

now comes for the fun part... spending money on parts needed

plan to scrub down the engine and such as much as possible this week and hopefully have the parts by mid next week.

[JohnStamos]

OEM exhaust that comes off without a torch?!

Witchcraft.

With 215k on it at that.

All the foam in the HVAC box is still there, and looks like new. OEM suspension that rides like new. OEM heatercore, bearings in the steering shaft are tight, brake lines are COMPLETELY rust free, and came off with no fuss.

I feel like this car doesn't have 215k on it, as the seller said originally it had 140k, but cluster read 215k. Aside for the rocker rust, the car looks like it has 80,000 miles on it, if even that. It was maintained well for sure.

[PKstrategy]

always loved this car.
so it for the 1st time at VAG fair last year and it made me miss mine greatly.
now it's going to become even more ill.
Do work, son.

p.s. what is going on with the old 2.0?

[LBundy]

always loved this car.
so it for the 1st time at VAG fair last year and it made me miss mine greatly.
now it's going to become even more ill.
Do work, son.

p.s. what is going on with the old 2.0?

thanks alot man
as for the 2.0 it will be getting put up for sale/parted with. trying to make back some money from the swap.

ordered parts today for the tdi. just need to get a few more ordered and patiently wait...

[..Derek..]

Bravo! This is a thread I want to watch. Dont forget to delete EGR and cat and make a call the Mark @ Malone Tuning for tuning.. VNT swap - big injectors - ect ect ect. Last xmas I put together a TDI for a customer that made 201hp and 306 lb/ft and still acheived 52mpg

[JohnStamos]

Bravo! This is a thread I want to watch. Dont forget to delete EGR and cat and make a call the Mark @ Malone Tuning for tuning.. VNT swap - big injectors - ect ect ect. Last xmas I put together a TDI for a customer that made 201hp and 306 lb/ft and still acheived 52mpg

Have to do the swap "stock" enough to pass through the first emissions test/DMV lookover to get the title changed over for the diesel engine, as he has emissions where he lives. Tune, fake cat, and exhaust for now.


But after that, I'm sure he will catch the bug and want more.

[LBundy]

too much money spent this year on this piece.
next year i do plan on the more performance parts (bigger injectors, intercooler, etc...)
i do plan on getting a tune from malones this year during the fall whenever i sell my aba setup.

rapping up the major parts list today with the last order for the intake elbow, fuel lines from the filter to ip and fuel sending unit. hoping all parts will be in next week. will need to make a small order from advance for fluids,filters and such.

[vdubfrodo09]

I like this

[LBundy]

Looked to see if clutch was ok and unfortunately gonna need a new one better to change now then later though and also ordered final main parts/seals. Will order new sachs clutch this week

[LBundy]

idparts.com package came in yesterday and received some parts needed that i acquired off a guy from sweden on tdiclub. ordered a vr clutch today so hoping that comes in first thing next week

[candela]

subscribed..... I love a good TDI swap

[LBundy]

been busy with some personal stuff and have a friends 300zx in the garage getting new turbos. been waiting on parts for him over a week so this has been putting off finishing the swap

[steveo27]

watching

[euro4-DoOr]

[LBundy]

And finally after all the holds up, the tear down process has finally begun. Shall be done in the next upcoming days. Still much more to do.

motor out


dash out and wiring mess figured out

[zrace07]

[Afazz]

Nice work so far Where are you guys working on this?

Also, what condition is the right rear door in? If it's immaculate, I might be able to boost your budget.

[LBundy]

Nice work so far Where are you guys working on this?

Also, what condition is the right rear door in? If it's immaculate, I might be able to boost your budget.

Johnstamos has a garage outside of Apollo at the moment so we decided to work on it there because of the much needed space needed for doing the swap in sitting parts all over the place. Sadly, the parts car was wrecked and only saved a few body parts. The rear passenger door not being one of those salvaged

[JohnStamos]

Engine/trans is all back together and in, wiring is 99% sorted (after dealing with a hacked stock harness, a few melted interior harnesses, etc.), tank modified to take the Diesel fuel pickup and pump, Diesel lines in, sending unit sorted, pedal cluster swapped, shift box swapped, EGR cut out and manifold welded up, block off plates fabbed up, intercooler piping in and extended, blah blah blah.


Time to pass out after a 14hour day on the thing. Only a few hours away from backing out of the garage.



Sorry for the lack of pictures and progress the past 2 days, just need it done and out, and it reality, its just alot of mundane work. Aside from some interesting use of a few quarters when welding up some blockoff plates.


Someone tell LBundy to stop falling asleep in random chairs and operate a camera instead so their are pictures to go with the thread.

[JohnStamos]

Nice work so far Where are you guys working on this?

Also, what condition is the right rear door in? If it's immaculate, I might be able to boost your budget.

I moved into a better shop (finally) from the last time you stopped and grabbed that trans. About a half mile from the 780/380 intersection.


Gave in and drug it all over there out of his garage, wasn't worth dealing with the space limitations/dragging tools back and forth.






And actually, I did save the pass rear door, it was the only one that survived. I don't remember there being a single bit of damage, but I'd imagine there are some issues with it, with 215k on it. I'll check for you in the morning when I head down forsure.

[LBundy]

swap went pretty smooth to say the least was pretty straight forward with everything. will acquire pics and sound clips in the coming days when i can get ahold of a good camera

[Dub4life90]

Loving this makes me want to swap a tdi in my golf defenatly watching keep up the word