87 Westy Syncro TDI conversion and restoration~lots of pics

[87vanwes]

[87vanwes]

[Steve M.]

[fleet_maintenance]

Re-read the entire thread today thinking you may have posted your reasoning for keeping the front (2wd) filler hole was, if you posted it, I missed it. Aux tank? Something else? I have no doubt it was a deliberate decision.

I was stunned to see that your thread was 13 months old. A lot of work has gone into this, and clearly a lot went into the planning. It shows.

As always, thanks for the fantastic documentation. The improvements you are incorporating into your "rebuild/conversion" are what keeps these beloved boxes capable for modern travel, and from becoming relics.

BEST THREAD OF 2016, imho

[erste]

[llilibel03]

I'll buy it off you.

I mean that as a compliment. For a non mechanic like me what you did/are doing is a work of art. I went through the whole thread. The attention to detail is exceptional.

My only critique is about the fiberglass work. From the photos the layups look rich. I worked for years in boat building and make surfboards as a hobby and know that a drier lamination, as long as it's completely saturated, is stronger. Of course the boats we were building were racing sailboats and, with surfboards too, you're always obsessing about eliminating every ounce of unnecessary weight.

But again, I'm blown away at your craftsmanship. Much, much respect!

[llilibel03]

I'll buy it off you.

I mean that as a compliment. For a non mechanic like me what you did/are doing is a work of art. I went through the whole thread. The attention to detail is exceptional.

My only critique is about the fiberglass work. From the photos the layups look rich. I worked for years in boat building and make surfboards as a hobby and know that a drier lamination, as long as it's completely saturated, is stronger. Of course the boats we were building were racing sailboats and, with surfboards too, you're always obsessing about eliminating every ounce of unnecessary weight.

But again, I'm blown away at your craftsmanship. Much, much respect!

[87vanwes]

[87vanwes]

Happy New Year... I hope every one had a good one.

I'm plugging along on the van best I can in my limited amount of room. It's nice to have it home, but not being able to jack it up kinda sucks.

Early on in my thread I put some effort in drilling and tapping for a sensor in my bell housing for a tach probe. My intentions was to use the internals from a teleflex tachometer and marry it into the vanagon cluster.

What I really wanted was a diesel specific MKII tachometer from a Jetta, golf well you know.

I scored one on eBay

170 was a little pricey, but if weighed out buying a teleflex tach and mushing it all together and still not having a good face.

Let's put some parts together

Here's the cluster.

The tach is in great shape and a perfect clock.

It took two vanagon clusters and the MKII to make one.

The syncro one was shot. Tape was it's best friend.

The odometer still works and the speedometer is spot on. I'm just going to do my best to not reset the trip odometer .

The diesel tach is almost a perfect fit, however the black vanagon holder needs to be changed to the MKII tach.

The tach and the speedo are face down in the paint cups to prevent dust.
I soaked the rest of it in an armor all type of stuff to try and rehydrate the plastic. It's sad how dried out and brittle this stuff gets.

It's all together.

The cruise control is going to be nice

Since I had to ditch my sensor in the bell housing. I needed a W signal from the alternator. Luckily my crank to alternator ratio was almost spot on 2.22 to 1. That's what's printed on the face of the tachometer.

The W signal is any of the three legs from the stator before the enter the diode block.

I soldered to one of the legs with 20 gauge wire. The thought here was it will act like a fusible link if something went wrong. It's possible the terminal just below my ring terminal is a W signal, but I wasn't sure.

I created a new W thermal on the alternator.

It connects to the green wire in the factory harness in the engine compartment junction box. Somewhere in the harness is a light green wire.

Works like a champ. I checked it against my photo tach and it's spot on.

Cheers
_________________
Kevin


1987 westy syncro tdi conversion and restoration.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6...highlight=

[?Waldo?]

Nice work.

No EGT gauge? I find it is very useful for dialing in the fueling gives you immediate information when there is an issue with the fuel system.

I know that 'diesel' boost gauges have boost only (no vac) because without a throttle plate, the intake manifold pressure under normal operation always stays positive. I prefer the boost/vac gauges, though, because they will give immediate warning if there is any intake restriction (e.g. plugged air cleaner or collapsed hose, etc...) and for me the point to a gauge is to give quick warning of issues. Lack of warning about an intake restriction can actually cause diesel runaway with the intake sucking overly hard on the crank vent and pulling in oil.

Anyway, top notch work as always. Very good to see. I've done exactly the same on a couple alts that didn't have the W terminal .

[0cean]

I like the way you roll... Very nice...
_________________
I'm not a mechanic, I just play one on the internet

Cluster Rebuild:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=569920&highlight=

Left for Dead the Resurrection Story Build:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=613669
(Number of Different Donor VW Vans Body Parts Used: 12)
(Number of completely different vehicles parts used: 3)

[87vanwes]

[?Waldo?]

Of course. Digital EGT. It just didn't register.

[thasty07]

If that is a Trans temp gauge, its never going to register, the syncro trans runs well below those ranges on the gauge.

[Zeitgeist 13]

Yeah, I bought the same gauge for the same purpose, and was informed that it's ideally setup for an automatic. For my mTDI build, I just wired my engine oil temp gauge with a toggle to switch between the engine and trans senders for monitoring temps.
_________________
Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?

[snwbrdr435]

I spy an enbloc

[87vanwes]

[87vanwes]

[87vanwes]

[87vanwes]