AAZ Turbodiesel swap into '86 Vanagon Syncro

[Syncroincity]

Thanks for the comments guys!

Re the resevoir: I don't have any real-world experience with AWICs yet, and I agree, it's probably massive overkill, but I wanted to build in as much heat-soak resistance as I could.
I don't really know what sort of heat levels I'll be seeing with a performance-modified AAZ, just playing it safe for now.

The tank is about 5lbs, if I'm shipping 5 gals of water in it, that's about 50lbs extra in the nose... however, I feel, on my van at least, that it handles better with a little more weight up front, it's currently quite empty, the spare's out back. It seems to respond better on the road when there's two people up front.
I should probably look into a better skid plate, though, the current setup is just the original spare tire pan holding the tank, it won't take much abuse.

The motor spun nicely when I installed it, and the trans is not hooked up anywhere, either driveshaft or axles, it's in neutral, and it spun freely as well.
I was using a cheater bar to try and spin the crank, all it was doing was overtightening the crank pulley bolt.

Houston, we've got a problem.
If it's just flash rust, a short, sharp shock should knock it loose, the problem it how to apply that force with the engine where it is.
I just hope it doesn't devolve into a full teardown... I really don't need that.

Hey Farfrumwork, have you seen my latest rarity?
'04 Passat Variant GLS 4Motion 5MT...
1 of 6 in this color.

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'86 Syncro CHC Top AAZ Turbodiesel
'04 Passat Variant 4Mo 5MT

Vanagon Build: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=466866&highlight=

[?Waldo?]

Jerry I also posted on your GTD thread.

Did you add coolant to the engine? If so, then I would be concerned that the head gasket (or a crack in block or head) leaked coolant into the engine. I would also be concerned about bending rods if the starter is used.

[Syncroincity]

[Syncroincity]

Finally got some quality time with the engine. It meant taking a few days of vacation, but whatever.

Turns out I neglected to install the spacer shim between the flywheel and crankshaft flange... the flywheel was hard up against the oil seal casting, preventing any motion. So no motor disassembly will be needed, thankfully.

Unfortunately, the shim is nowhere to be found... I searched for a few hours to no avail, the last time I remember seeing it was initial teardown when I got the engine. I have literally saved every nut & bolt that came off the van, but this one seemingly insignificant circle of metal has escaped, and the engine is useless without it. There's a few dark corners still lurking, behind some major-league heavy crap that needs to be moved... maybe it'll turn up tomorrow.

Anyone have a part number, or a spare shim floating around?
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'86 Syncro CHC Top AAZ Turbodiesel
'04 Passat Variant 4Mo 5MT

Vanagon Build: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=466866&highlight=

[Syncroincity]

OK, scratch that, reverse it. The shim was on the bolt side of the AAZ flywheel when it came off... Jeeze it's been a while since that day.

THe TDI flywheel has bolt recesses machined around the holes, so the shim won't work anyway.

The REAL culprit here was the ARP flywheel bolts I put in. Too long by about 2mm, and they were bottoming out on something behind the crank flange. A washer under each bolt, and one set behind the flywheel, and it rotates freely now with everything torqued to spec.
I'm a bit worried about what bumping the flywheel out will do to clearances and clutch operation... Tomorrow I may disassemble it again and try it without the washers between the flywheel and crank. THe trick here is to shorten the effective bolt length, but avoid having the bolts protrude too much, where they will contact the clutch disc.

The reason for the ARP bolts is that they're re-useable, unlike the stock VW bolts. Good thing, too... the flywheel must have come off & on about 7 or 8 times in the last few days.
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'86 Syncro CHC Top AAZ Turbodiesel
'04 Passat Variant 4Mo 5MT

Vanagon Build: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=466866&highlight=

[westyventures]

I wouldn't recommend leaving any washers between the flywheel and crank (if I am reading that correctly), or under the bolt heads. It would be best to trim the bolts to the proper length. And then, razz the supplier for selling you the wrong length!

While the OE flywheel bolts are recommended 'one-use', I've re-used them twice before. It's all in knowing the proper torque spec on a fastener. Another reason they recommend it is that the new bolts have locktite already applied.
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1990 Syncro 16" sunroof Reimo highroof conversion
1990 Westy Multivan 112i automatic
1992 LT31 Karmann Distance Wide 'La Tortuga'
2014 Touareg X TDI

[JED THE SPREAD]

AHHHHHH... nothing quite as satisfying as taking a petrol engine out of a Syncro and throwing it on a scrap heap is there

jed
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[Syncroincity]

[MKIII and Sons]

whoa 6 years?!
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broke.status

[Syncroincity]

[Syncroincity]

Did some playing around with Teleflex cables last weekend. I need an actuator for the cold-start lever, and the 17-footer seems to fit the bill nicely, engine end terminates in a thin wire that will work with the pump attach clamp.
Routed it along the middle underside, and up through the front bodywork to an existing wiring grommet behind the upper grille and into the dash. Now I just have to figure out how to secure the other end in the dash and fashion a handle/knob for it.

I have a 14-foot cable that might work as a replacement for the accelerator cable, tho a tad too long, but I can serpentine it a little to take up the slack since it's a push/pull. Grinding down the front end rod a little will allow it to mate to the stock pedal cable clamp, and the engine end terminates in a flat with a hole in it, easy to bolt to the fuel arm.
I have the correct DV stock cable, so it's not a priority, just something I'm considering.

I got the cables cheap on Ebay, originally for boating engine controls.

Got the radiator back in place behind the new front chargecooler rad. I had to put spacers behind the right side bottom radiator mount to pull it in a bit, the plastic side tank has a bulge running down the front of it that was interfering. It's tight, but everything's in. I want to slide a thin insulator between them on the drivers side, there's metal contact and I don't want the big rad sending heat to the little one.
So I squeezed a 2" thick H2O intercooler rad in the lower opening, without it protruding out the hole. Requires cutting out the two posts, and removing the AC condensor...
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'86 Syncro CHC Top AAZ Turbodiesel
'04 Passat Variant 4Mo 5MT

Vanagon Build: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=466866&highlight=

[trailnewt]

I'd appreciate pictures of your intercooler radiator install when you get the chance. I just finished installing the commonly-available 12" x 24" x 1" intercooler radiator in my van in front of the main radiator with AC condensor removed: What a royal pain! Sounds like you may be on to a better solution.

It all looked so simple on paper... Turns out the dimensions given are not very accurate, especially the thickness.

I'll post a thread once I get the system up and running.
Brent
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'87 Syncro Westy TDI
Too many bicycles
Maybe an old unicycle around here somewhere

[Syncroincity]

Sure, I'll grab some detail pics this weekend... Your shot of the rad shows that bulge I was talking about pretty clearly; the tube that runs down from the bleeder screw.

In the meantime, here's a re-run; it's basically this setup, with those 2 posts removed, and the bottom mount tabs secured to the lower lip of the opening and the top tabs to a hidden lip on the bottom of the center crossbeam. The cooler was supposed to rest on the stumps of the posts, but I took a little too much off. I could just wedge a filler in there if I feel the need.

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'86 Syncro CHC Top AAZ Turbodiesel
'04 Passat Variant 4Mo 5MT

Vanagon Build: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=466866&highlight=

[Syncroincity]

Miscellaneous Pictures Posting

Pre-disassembly rust-o-rama

Old Audi 5K turbo 15" wheels, 235/75 BFGs

Slip-joint driveshaft, Spicer U-joints, & adapters

A/C removal leaves some bald patches;

She's coming down.

Workin' on VWs is the cat's ass!

Inclinometer from my old 4-Runner, repainted to have a Vanagon on it;

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'86 Syncro CHC Top AAZ Turbodiesel
'04 Passat Variant 4Mo 5MT

Vanagon Build: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=466866&highlight=

[Syncroincity]

New Shoes. 16" Mefros from Peter at VolksCafe fitted with 225/75-16 BFGs. Straight mount in the front, 7mm spacers on the rear for trailing arm clearance.

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'86 Syncro CHC Top AAZ Turbodiesel
'04 Passat Variant 4Mo 5MT

Vanagon Build: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=466866&highlight=

[Syncroincity]

OK, here's some detail pictures of the front radiators; CHargecooler in the lower opening, oil cooler up top, and the engine radiator behind in it's regular position. The pass. side was bumped back a little with spacers in front of the lower radiator mount.

Drivers side; just touching part of the metal engine rad.

Spacers between the lower rad mount and body.

Behind the bumper beam

Upper tabs mounted to center cross beam lip. Looking at this now, I'm wondering why I didn't put the mount tabs at the front side of this lip... that would give a little more breathing room between rads; but I can't rememberwhat the deal was when I mounted this last year... I assume there wasn't room for the tabs, I'll have to look into this.

Oil cooler...

bolt holes... bottom just rests on the center beam.

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'86 Syncro CHC Top AAZ Turbodiesel
'04 Passat Variant 4Mo 5MT

Vanagon Build: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=466866&highlight=

[Syncroincity]

So everything came back out, and turns out the top mount tabs were too tall... a session on the bandsaw took care of that, lopped off almost 1/4" of excess metal, now the tabs fit in front of the beam lip. I got chased inside by rain just now, so full reassembly will have to wait for tomorrow. I've been up for about 24 hrs now, think I'll take a little nap.
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'86 Syncro CHC Top AAZ Turbodiesel
'04 Passat Variant 4Mo 5MT

Vanagon Build: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=466866&highlight=

[trailnewt]

Very nice!
The spacers in front of the lower radiator mount are such a simple solution that it's brilliant. I never even thought of it.
Brent
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'87 Syncro Westy TDI
Too many bicycles
Maybe an old unicycle around here somewhere

[Syncroincity]

Here's what I've been up to on the inside. E/L gauge faces from Ebay.de & a tach from an '85 Jetta diesel swapped into my cluster. Painted the needles flourescent orange, and I'm adding some UV LEDs in place of the old gauge lights. THe gauge faces light up electroluminescent, but the needles still need an outside light source.

Obviously, it's a KPH face, while the mechanism remains calibrated to miles... Oh well. GPS to the rescue... the only conversion value I have memorized right now is 100kph = 62mph.

Mid '80s Volvo fog light switch

...which may be made redundant by this setup, if I can get it wired up. Took a Euroswitch from a B4 Passat, trimmed it to fit in the vent frame on the dashboard. It's not finished yet, still need to scoop out some of the frame to clear the switch, but you get the idea. It'll be a nice modernization touch, VW is still using a variant of this design today.

Still needs a lot of detail and finish work to clean up the edges. You can see the frame is bulging slightly, the round switch housing part of the assembly sticks out further than the rest. A little Dremel quality time will fix this.

I have the complete switch harness from the B4, need to merge it with the Vanagon wiring, and then figure out what to do with the old light switch hole.

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'86 Syncro CHC Top AAZ Turbodiesel
'04 Passat Variant 4Mo 5MT

Vanagon Build: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=466866&highlight=

[j_dirge]