turbo kits for 1.6 diesel

[Phil Cycle]

Hello,
I provided pics of my 1.6 diesel engine to a local shop in order to inquire about an engine swap for obvious need of highway speeds. They replied with, "the engine you have is a great one!" and suggested a turbo and a better geared transmission. I have a contact and already a shop thinking about the trans, however, I don't know how to source a turbo. I realize you can't just get a turbo and there is some fabricating involved but any leads on a turbo kit would be appreciated.
Any feedback on whether this 1983 Westy diesel engine is "great" or not is also appreciated.

Thanks!

Engine code CS Current trans code: DX

[outcaststudios]

there are more qualified people to answer this, but you can get a k turbo fairly easily. youll also need the manifold, the oil cooling lines, the exhaust manifold and lots of other little odds and ends, but this isnt some crazy thing to track down! easy enough to source.
_________________
'88Doka JX td
'69 westy
(rip)couple bugs
(rip)three type III"s
(rip) '81 vanagon
a bunch of french stuff,and 9 motorcycles.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2573791

[?Waldo?]

IIRC the member ndorian has a thread all about adding a turbo to a non-turbo 1.6.

[crazyvwvanman]

Your 83 came with a rare DX 5 speed with reasonable top gearing but the shop may think you have one of the diesel 4 speeds that rev too high for a more powerful engine in the VW diesel family.

You could bolt a turbo on the existing engine and get a pretty good power bump. I'm not aware of any kit that covers everything needed for a Vanagon and there are issues to solve.

Mark

[Phil Cycle]

Thank you all for the advice!

[AndyBees]

Good advice thus far, but you need to do a lot of research.

Find the guy Waldo referenced and see what he did.

The DX transmission as mentioned by Crazyvwman is geared tall compared to the 4-speed diesels and with stock size tires, should push the vanagon along at about 65 MPH at 3600 RPMs. That's in the ball park of okay for the 1.6 engine. However, for comparison, that's spinning unnecessarily too fast for a 1.9 TDI engine. The 1.9 fairs much better around 2800-2900 RPMs at 65 mph.
_________________
'84 Vanagon Tin-top, ALH TDI. 1989 Tin-top
1983 Air-cool, 225k miles, 180k miles mine. Seven trips to Alaska from 1986 thru 2003.

[Phil Cycle]

Tires are stock. It does about 57 on a flat road with performance intake air filter and screw adjusted for the fuel/ air mixture, "blowing coal." I mean, maybe I didn't wind it out in 4th but I'm pretty sure I did because I was trying to see what it would do.

[hdenter]

The trans you want is the AAS 5speed. It's for the 1.6TD and has a 4.83 ring. The DX is better than the 4speed, but is still too tall. I have an AAS in front of my 1.9 gas engine and love it!


Hans
_________________
'79 triple white convertible bug
'84 sunroof vanagon
'85 weekender

[?Waldo?]

I think that a stock DX with 27" rear tires is fairly ideal for a 1.6TD. The DX is a little shorter gearing than the AAS but allows 70MPH @ 3750 which is as tall as I would want with a 1.6TD. The AAS would only drop the rpms in top gear by 150 @ 70MPH.

[RolandD]

Make sure you add oil sprayers for the pistons if you do not have them.

Roland

[?Waldo?]

Keep the fueling/EGTs reasonable and the piston cooling oil jets are not needed. You also can't exactly add them easily. Complete disassembly of the engine would be required along with custom machining of the crankcase!

[outcaststudios]

there is also an auxiliary water pump and cooling system with a sensor that runs off a relay in the engine compartment you will need, all available.
_________________
'88Doka JX td
'69 westy
(rip)couple bugs
(rip)three type III"s
(rip) '81 vanagon
a bunch of french stuff,and 9 motorcycles.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2573791

[?Waldo?]

Aux water pump and sensor are also not needed.

[outcaststudios]

[Phil Cycle]

I messaged ndorian who had the turbo thread before about where to buy the turbo kit and components but have not heard back. I will let my transmission guy know about what trans is preferred (he should already know.)

Thanks again!

[dobryan]

[Gnarlodious]

Wouldn't recommend it. A turbo on that engine is going to see increased wear and shorter lifespan due to the engine not being made for a turbo. You are going to need extensive intake and exhaust modificatons for an engine that may not have much mojo left in it. When it does wear out you should be prepared to put in a bigger engine but those parts may not be compatible unless you already planned ahead. Even if you do it, you will have a suboptimal engine and wish you went more robust.

The only exception is if you are going to be driving at high elevation, in that case the turbo can make it seem like sea level.
_________________
Vanagon ’83 diesel AAZ w/Giles injection, 5spd 4.57R&P+TBD and a '78 diesel Rabbit

[ALIKA T3]

[Phil Cycle]

[outcaststudios]