Oh no! Another Vanagon TDI swap

[dieseltdi]

Pretty much finished up the fridge install with the exception of actually screwing it down. I am still waiting on my Gowesty solar utility box. I did get my Xantrex battery charger system but still need to get a battery that will fit in the under driver position. 100ah seems a bit large but I am going to have to figure that out. Anyway, I built a drawer to go under the fridge. I painted the front with paint I had mixed to match the color. May change out the handle at some point by using the one from the old fridge front.

[dieseltdi]

Well did a few more things while waiting for my GoWesty shipment. I installed the gauge cluster on top of the instrument cluster. It has an EGT gauge, oil temperature and oil pressure. I idled the car for awhile today to check the gauges. Oil temp and pressure work fine. I unfortunately don't know for certain if the EGT works as it starts at 300 degrees F. so even after many minutes of idle and some reving of the engine, it didn't move the needle. I guess I could take the sensor out of the intake and hit it with a heat lamp but..... I also rearranged and reinstalled my Donaldson air cleaner. I pushed it into the passenger side air inlet behind the tail light. This gives me more room for routing and arranging my A/C lines.

[old_man]

[dieseltdi]

Just another quick update. Since I am STILL waiting on my shipment from GoWesty, I decided to tackle making a pad for the engine cover/back cushion area. I used the "puzzle" floor mats from Northern Tool. I haven't decided if I am going to glue some "automotive" grade carpet on it before the cushion goes down but for now, it looks great.

[dieseltdi]

OK, so I just had to glue on a layer of carpet and it looks great. I also used the left over pieces of the "puzzle" mat to cover the back wall and floor of the storage under the bed.

[?Waldo?]

Looks good!

[dieseltdi]

Been waiting on parts but was able to start my house battery system. Since I probably won't be staying more than a day at campsites without electricity AND I have a 100W portable solar system to carry just in case, I decided to go with a 50 aH sealed AGM deep cycle battery as the basis for the system. I also purchased a Cyrix intelligent battery isolator that will allow both batteries to be charged by either the alternator OR the soon to be installed battery charger. It doesn't need a connection to turn it off or on. It monitors voltage flow and shuts down the connection from the starter battery when necessary. Anyway, I am still waiting on my monitor panel for my charger but I went ahead and installed a fuse box and test fit the solar controller using tape. I will move it up, down or sideways depending on the charger monitor. I have established 6 circuits: one for the fridge, one for the water pump/water/battery level display, one for the interior lights (need to run the wires), two spots for a dash mounted 12volt plug/USB charge ports/voltage gauge panel (separate circuits for the 12 volt socket and the USB/voltage gauge), and one for a cooling fan for the charger. I am also going to mount a remote controlled stereo head unit under the drivers seat but use the built in Fuse it comes with. I also swapped out my cheap pyrometer that didn't seem to work for a genuine VDO version that I tested and it does work. Anyway, I just keep plodding along.

[dieseltdi]

Thought an update is in order. I have been working on the last bit of wiring on the van: adding a house battery, battery charger and solar charger/controller. It took a while to get all the bits together and the charger I purchased was a bit bigger than I thought but it will handle two batteries or a much larger battery if I decide to upgrade. The house battery is a 50AH AGM deep cycle sealed unit, the charger is a Xantrex TrueCharge 20, and the solar component is the Harbor Freight 100w portable kit (I snatched one up when it reached a really low price plus I am an Insider Club member so is was pretty cheap), I have added a 6 place fuse box and am moving camper functions to the house battery. Because the charger was a bit larger than I expected AND it had to be installed in a vertical orientation, I put it under the sink area. I had to do some major shelf changes to get it in there but was still able to save some storage area. I ran it for a bit today just to see if everything was working and properly wired and discovered that I am going to have to install a venting fan to exhaust some heat out of the under sink area. No big deal since the entire back of the kitchen has a air grate along the back. I need to make a replacement cover for the battery and reroute the wiring for the interior lights and the power center (2 USB ports, 1- 12 volt plug and a volt meter) that will be mounted in the dash. I also intend to mount a stereo under the driver's seat that uses a remote interface also. Mechanically the van is almost ready for the road but I want to replace all the window rubber in the doors with a kit I just got from Bus Depot before trying to get it inspected. Everyday a step forward. BTW the last picture is from the TruckFridge. I turned it on and the temperature went from 80 to 40 degrees F in less than 2 hours. Much better performance than the old Dometic fridge.

[dieseltdi]

Well finally finished up the house electrical system. I installed a cooling fan for the charger and used a bus plumbing vent for the discharge (see picture). I also installed a dash mounted power center. It has 2 USB ports, a 12 volt socket and a volt meter. I added a switch to turn it off and on as needed as those LED numbers can be REALLY bright when you are trying to go to sleep. My Secretaudio radio is coming on Friday or Saturday and that is the last thing to be connected to the house fuse box. Once that is in, then I can tie the battery down and make a new lid that will be removable rather than hinged. Now to tackle a few things in the engine compartment (securing some loose hoses, wires etc) and I will be ready to get a temporary license so I can take it up and get it inspected and do some road time. Baby steps but almost finished. BTW the new cost of a Secret Audio system is around $400 but I found one on eBay that had been installed in a suitcase and bought it for $145. I ran the system for about 6 hours with the Truckfridge on a setting of 7 and it dropped below 32 degrees on the center shelf. Of course is it empty right now so it really isn't a good test. Charger did its job and kept the battery where it needed to be. May try running just the fridge without the charger to see how it does on the 50 amp battery.

[dieseltdi]

Well it has been awhile since my last update but I have been busy. I managed to replace all the window rubber pieces on both front doors. I had to replace one of my wing windows because it was completely rusted through on the bottom. I had to rebuild the window lift on the drivers side because both of the guides were missing and the PO had wired the thing together with some bailing wire. I don't really know how it worked but it nearly did. I then cleaned the doors inside and out and put sound deadening material into the interior of the door and and all over the inside where the new panels were installed. I also installed new front speakers and panels from Werksberg, boy are they nice. Screwed on the pull handles, window winder and door pull trim and viola nice new doors. The stereo is a Secretstereo system under the front seat and I added rear speakers to round out the sound. Once I figure out exactly where to mount the control panel and the Scangauge on the dash, I will upload a picture of that also. I have also finished painting the Sears trailer that I got. I decided that stripping the whole trailer was not cost or time effective so I simply sanded the lower half with 80 grit to knock off the shine and give the LineX some tooth and painted the top and bottom. I have reinstalled the marker lights as it would have had on it and just need to finish up the wiring. Then I will do the bearings to go along with the new rims and tires. I am really close to being able to drive the thing out of the side yard and onto the street!!!!!

[dieseltdi]

Well it has been awhile since I updated. Between holidays, and fixing a major roof leak, I have been kind of busy doing other things. I did manage a bit of time to finish the wiring on my Sears trailer and I replaced a very leaky axle boot on my 57 Oval. Anyway, I noticed some time ago that the turbo in my vanagon TDI swap was leaking a significant amount of oil. Since I had another one, I decided to have it rebuilt and "tweaked" a bit to match the higher flow injectors and stage 1.5 tuning that I have. I took it to Majestic turbos in Waco, TX and he built me a hybrid GT17/20 turbo from my GT15 base. This is basically the same as the variable vane turbos in the later TDIs but with the standard pressure relief valve. The tweak added nearly 6 mm to both the turbine and the compressor side but in the same small housing...not much lag. Should wake the van up a bit. Had local guy make up a new turbo adaptor plate and I mock assembled it today and clocked the turbo to the correct orientation. Now to get the old one out and install the new.

[dieseltdi]

AND 2020 strikes again! Went to open the sliding door on my Vanagon. Heard a loud popping sound and the door wouldn't open. Had to tear apart my homemade door panel to get to all the bits and found that the "latch cable" which is really a big stiff wire, broke at the front latch AND the back latch and part of it fell into the bottom of the door in an unreachable spot. Worked on it a bit today and got frustrated and quit. I am going to try to rig a real cable to do the job. Had to take the wife out to Tyler, TX yesterday to see her mom who is in the hospital after a stroke (maybe 2) and a blood clot in the brain. #@%$^& 2020! Sure will be glad when this is all over.

[dieseltdi]

Waiting on the door cable from CCCables and will get that done when it gets here. Managed to reinstall the exhaust manifold and tweaked turbo. First test is promising. With the stock turbo, I could get about 7 psi of boost by goosing the pedal but it also made smoke. Now with the same effort I got 13.5 psi and virtually no smoke. Looking forward to getting this on the road.

[erste]

Sorry to hear about your wife's mom. Hope she's doing alright. Sucks about the cable.

Turbo upgrade is awesome though!

[dieseltdi]

Thanks for the concern. Mother in law has been moved to a rehab facility so she is doing better. Still has trouble with speech but is making progress. Yeah the door cable was a %$^&*!!! Luckily getting the new one made will solve those problems for years to come. The neat thing about this tweaked turbo is that before, you really couldn't hear the turbo spin up. Now you can. Should make a big difference.

[dieseltdi]

Well I got the new sliding door cable from CCCables in Louisiana today and it is pretty nice. I did have to grind the ends to make them thinner and drill the holes out so they would fit over the posts but not to bad. It probably took 10 minutes. I will post pictures of it installed after that happens. Hayden

[dieseltdi]

Finally felt well enough and it was warm enough to finish the installation of the new sliding door release cable and Werksberg door panel. The cable is a bit too long so I fashioned a spacer to fit over the back latch portion of the cable this made it fit really well. Door opens and closes really smooth. There is a bit of grumbling from the lower rollers, so I will probably replace them in due time. Supposed to be cold here tomorrow so I may spend the day in my garage replacing a steering box on my 57 Oval.

[dieseltdi]

Well my last post was made as I was falling into the Covid darkness. Ended up in the hospital for 3 nights. Worse thing is that I lost 16 lbs but not from the belly fat from my leg and arm muscles. Man my pants fit funny. Then my mother in law passed way. 2021 isn't starting much better than 2020 ended. Anyway, I have finally felt well enough last week to start working on my VWs again. I installed a new steering box on my 57 Bug on Saturday and began working on my transport trailer today. Only have a few things to finish up the Vanagon and I can get it inspected. Be on the look out for new posts soon.

[?Waldo?]

Glad to hear you have largely recovered. Be well!

[dieseltdi]

Thought I would post an update. After battling through the Covid and its side effects (seems to have triggered Type 2 diabetes, something that NOT one of my family members have) and freezing cold temperatures with 7" of snow, then rain and and.... Anyway I was able to work a bit on the Vanagon. I finished cutting the center hole for my space saver spare. It is from a Tiguan and is the correct weight rating. I just needed to enlarge the center bore to allow it to go on the rear. I also backtracked and changed out the tie rod ends and steering rack boots. I had meant to do this when I did the other front suspension and brake work that I did but somehow didn't. I also managed to sand the center bores of the rear wheels (16" aftermarket, see previous posts) so that the center caps fit. This next week I intend to tie up some loose wires and hoses, reinstall the front carpet and tighten down the shifter. I also want to install the grills and change out the hoses for the window washer. It is getting close to driving, finally. The body can look ugly. I hope to have a shake down camp sometime in late April or early May pending health and weather. BTW, the Xantrex battery charger kept both the house battery and the vehicle battery nice and charged up even on the morning we woke to -2 degrees. After glow, it started right up. Hayden