AAZ Turbodiesel swap into '86 Vanagon Syncro

[Syncroincity]

This was a mod from a few years ago, but it's worth mentioning; I picked up some polyurethane bushings that were reasonably close to the right size, and "machined" them to fit using a grinder & drill, I found these in a Pep Boys that had a good selection of universal-style endlink and swaybar bushings. The swaybar parts were a direct fit, and have a grease fitting on them, just look for the appropriate size... 21 or 22mm, I forget. The cool red poly has faded a bit since then to a Pepto pink.

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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]

[?Waldo?]

[Syncroincity]

Weekend Update... actually a couple of weeks condensed.

New (rebuilt) power steering rack, new lines from Frank Condelli, new German Meyle tie rod ends. Finished it off with a set of poly bushings from Chris (Loogy). Note relocated resevoir in engine compartment; the tank bracket was originally welded in place right over the diesel engine bar mount holes, and had to be ground off so I could fit the mounts to the van. Cast around a bit for a new location; ended up tucking it into the corner; accessible, and a straight shot to the ps pump inlet.

Coolant system is finally all in place & ready to go. The silicone DV engine hose set, which I played a part in creating, is available from Justin at Greaseworks. Apparently, the diesel body hoses run longer than the gasser hoses, I came up about a foot short, and had to splice in some hose to reach my original body tubes. I got the front silicone hose set directly from GeeBee, he's producing them and they will fit any watercooled vanagon except early diesel unless you update the radiator...
Bitchin' coolant tank bracket from Greaseworks as well, with a new 1.9L tank. Note also the spliced water pump outlet hose; I can't find the correct angled thermostat cover that the hose set was designed to use, I ended up using the nice compact 90-deg section from an original front radiator hose.

Air intake system is under heavy revision. I have a Donaldson air cleaner that was recommended to me; I simply could not get it to fit/work with the Syncro snorkel as originally configured, with both in & out on one side. I had planned to put it behind the pass. side tail light, but this location is also where the fuel filler tube comes in, further decreasing space. I gave up, and moved it to the other side, but again, outlet config prevented hooking up the snorkel, the intake would not clear the lip of the side vent, could not get the unit in far enough... I couldn't let it go, I want my snorkel, dammit. So I proceeded to re-engineer the Donaldson. Sliced off the offending outlet tube and blanked off the endcap, reversed the filter element (cylindrical, with one end open and the other closed), and put a new outlet flange on the removeable cap, effectively reversing the flow thru the filter. This allowed me to push the unit all the way into the cavity, and I got the intake tube and the snorkel to line up. Used a new length of accordian 3" hose down the side vent, and attched it to the filter with a vinyl adaptor/clamp that came with the hose, one end "screws" onto the hose, the other got zip-tied to the filter. Bloody cramped quarters to work in, very frustrating job, but it's in. The gotcha here was that it went in so far, that the drain tube now hits the frame. Hence the sideways drain in the pics... I'll figure this out later. I probably should have just ordered a different filter, one that fits, but I'm kinda dumb that way...

This is how it came originally; with moveable 90-deg outlet.

During modification, outlet-ectomy, kind of a filter sex-change...

After installation and snorkel hook-up. Note incorrect drain orientation... hard to find a position where I could get all 3 latches shut. Nightmare project all around, especially getting that snorkel secured tightly to the filter intake, not much room for man hands in there...

Syncro snorkel, transferred to the drivers side. It still fits on the mount prongs, but it's reversed so the openings face forward. If I encounter water ingress issues, I'll just spin it around and use zip ties.

Miscellaneous stuff...

Replaced the crumbling throttle cable tube with new nylon 3/8" tubing, leftover from the fuel line feed. I encountered frozen gas pedal syndrome a few times from water getting into the cable run in winter, now it's all sealed up.

Oil dipstick; I ground out a divot in the pump bracket, and tied down with a SS zip-tie.

Corrosion control: every fastener, clamp, and component that goes into the van gets soaked with this stuff, high penetration and dries to a waxy red shine. Freebie from work...

Fuel filter; Lucas unit with built-in prime pump, bowl heater & water drain. Left-to-right flow necessitated the crossed fuel lines. Turns out filters don't really exist here, so I just ordered 6 of them from the UK.

I'm having difficulty getting enough motion from the gas pedal to make full throttle on the injection pump. I cut off the stop flange on the plastic gas pedal, so floored is really on the floor, and I'm still about 1/4 -5/16" shy of WOT on the pump. I'm thinking of re-drilling the bellcrank under the pedal and the cable attach point on the pump to gain some lever action... anyone have ideas or experience on this?
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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]

Engine re-re-installation pics. Help from a couple o' likely lads of my aquaintance, shanghai'd them when they came by to drop off their dachshund for a playdate with the cats, lol...

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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=

[svenakela]

[Syncroincity]

Progress Report:

The engine & trans are finally back in the van! Congratulate me, I'm now right back where I was 11 months ago.

Yes, this time I checked that it rotates before I hung it in the vehicle.

I took your advice, Karl, pulled the flywheel back out and got rid of all the washers, and installed a new set of stock bolts. I started to imagine what would happen if the washers were to deform over time...

So then transmission back in place, after a slight argument with the clutch (I don't have the right dowel for the TDI clutch, had to eyeball it, and missed the first time.)

I hooked up an old battery to the starter, and gave it a good workout after pre-oiling again with the 13mm-socket-on-the-oil-pump-drive trick...love that bit of tech. Then buttoned everything up, loaded the powertrain onto a dolly, and wheeled it out to the van, where I once again used the crane to lift it up into position... had some help this time from a few friends that happened by and got pressed into service. I gave 'em rubber gloves before, and beers afterward. Bloody diesel engine WEIGHS, man. Anyway, went up cleanly, 2 big bolts on the mains, 6 bolts on the trans mount ears, and she's back home. Everything's torqued and ready for service.

Now comes all the fiddley little details... spent today working on the cold-start cable, accelerator, vacuum lines, some wiring, etc. etc. but was again thwarted by rain in the afternoon.

Writing this now, because my girl is at work & is recording Dancing with the Stars, I can't watch Top Gear until that's over...
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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]

[MKIII and Sons]

awesome progress!
really digging how you incorporated the B4 euroswitch.
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broke.status

[Syncroincity]

I doubt it'll be be too accurate, as the gearing in the speedo is set up for MPH, but we'll see if the numbers line up... Maybe I can swap in a kph gearset later.

Thanks for the cheatsheet!
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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]

[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=

[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]

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=

[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]

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]

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]

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=

[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]

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=