Mk 1 TDI, The engine rebuild begins

Few pics of the dash pod fitting - semi temp install!
Still needs more sanding & painting, I was more interested in getting it in to fulfil a purpose (2hr start to finish inc. doing other stuff while drying off stages) rather than spending 10 hrs getting it mint

i can do that over this winter

I'd tried fitting the complete mk 4 dash pod in my mk2, not really that tidy (pics on home pc)

mk 1 was / is going to be neater, more complete conversion- the process can be applied to any build, for any item. learnt these skills when i dabbled in the ICE days with big speakers etc taking skills to 'motorsport'

mk4 dash obversely bigger so i started to strip the mk 4 down to bare bones.

started by cutting down the dash trim - point of no return



offer up the dials hot glue gunned via metal strips, adjusted as necessary from my point of view as driver




once that was done, i had to cover the area with a fleece cloth - anyone thats made there own custom speaker box / pods will know the process



with the whole thing stretched pulled and all the creases out of view, using the hot glue gun to stick down the cloth

3 reasons:

1. it sticks in seconds
2. soaks in to the cloth / sticks to plastic
3. if wrong will pull right off

and constant rechecking in & out of dash

looks bit like this



sorry no pics of the rest of process, basically mix up fibreglass resin more than you think for the first process (1/2 litre 'ish )
then brush it on to the fleece, which soaks it right up

then leave to dry. you'll be surprised how much 2nd coat soaks in
add fibreglass matting to strengthen as you see fit

once dry, and your happy applied body filler in couple stages to the inside of pinnacle (clocks removed) to smoothen out texture

paint / finish as you see fit

I choose couple quick passes in matt black





bit of a tight fit, but for now i didn't want to alter the mk 1 feel & appearance

 

looks great

i can't help thinking that the nearside chassis leg "looks" a lot weaker. how much internal strengthening did you use?

 

3mm plate - cross bracing

planning a visual brace bar over the top, bolted to the chassis & engine mount. Similar to mk4 polo engines cambelt side engine mount

 

Great work mate, didn't know diesel's used fuel coolers, yet another thing to add under that tiny panel...well done mate I know what a nightmare it is..although you've made it look easy!

Keep up the great work.

 

I was thinking something like dogwoods, there's loads of torque available to twist everything

 

Any more progress on this one matey??

Any pics of it in action?

 

he broke it

should be back soon.

 

It will be returning very soon

I've had a little issue, with the cam timing not wanting to keep up with crank timing!
it could of happened any time, might of happened while out at the ring!!


there she is, admiring the handy work!




She decided to give up night before CGTI Curborough event, it decided to stop working mid journey, didn't help it was night, stuck on the A50 1 hour from home

the cam had come loose from the pulley (cam belt timing fine) but all the valves hit the pistons as the cam was now 90' out. The first time I'd seen damage like this - all the valves apart from one looked straight but the hydraulic buckets took a hit
I've looked into the problem, looks like 90% of issues (on the tdi forum) stem from the cam pully being reloosened while doing a cam belt. Mine is the other 10% -unknown



cyl #1 Inlet valve went under load, top of bucket popped right off



not to dwell on the bad, with all the valves out thought it would be a good idea to do some more porting to the head
I'll have some pics to upload tomorrow night

 

Any updates?

 

yes dizzy,

the car has been running since end of november.

I now have a very ported head, with a high lift Dbilas cam. Inlet & turbo manifold are also ported & match to the head.

I've done one track day as part of the CGTI trackday tour, and runs great
with all the mods it's in serious need of re mapping to cope with increased boost & airflow.
Couple other jobs done while apart, the next updates with pictures will be suspension having a few mods & interior, all when the weather gets better.

 

Look forward to it. Be nice to know what sort of power your acheiving with these mods.

 

any updates?

 

been a busy couple months, ran the Curby Sprint day with poor results

some parts have been altered, gear box upgraded & oil cooler moved, I've carried out the ErvyMan mod, with surprising results. VAG VR6 clutch been slipping due to torque delivery being too much for it!

Gearbox has been treated to full rebuild and couple of internal alterations, pis to follow
interior has also had time spent on it, Inc both seats lowered on in the chassis and still drivers seat adjustable for various leg length

trying to get to a point i'm happy for Castle Combe day with autometrix & then germany with our 'Ring trip

 

Quick update on the build, we went out to Nurburgring on the annual CGTI trip

after spending many a night prepping the car and catching up on jobs that should of been done months earlier


pic on the public highway in Germany







after the ring instead of coming home headed for summer climates



Left Sunday meal before everyone else, but not early enough!

drove though the night heading toward Stuttgart, slept for couple hours in car then headed on for couple more miles on the clock - potently disaster between 4:30am & 5am, warning lights on - warning beeps & quick glance over to the VDO gauge confirmed loss of oil pressure .......

engine off, and cruise to a halt in the middle of roadworks parking on a grassy bank in the long grass

quick look under engine bay found signs of oil all over the place

not sure if lucky or not the failure was nothing more than a pipe to the oil cooler off.
I have these push on hoses!


'no need for clamps' push on hoses - popped off, and yes i had it fully pushed on, I was able to push it back on with a jubilee clip to secure it & had 3.5 litres of VW's finest silver in the boot

back to the road trip again...

early hours in Austria






quick stop to swap over drivers after me getting hours sleep and Mrs crispy driving




Just in the borders of Italy






not sure where this was, but looked like a tour as it only had a huge hotel next to it and lots of groups walking to Ferrari building







had very little sleep, rolled into the port of Ancona, Italy by 15:10 and on the ferry by 16:00 (there was only 4 ferry's leaving each day,17:00 being the last!), treated Lou (and myself) to a cabin




then got a upgrade to a room with a view & complimentary fruit (and TV)




watched the sun come up 6'ish in morning







coming into port after 21 hour 'cruise'







All being well, until I took my dad for his first drive in car on day 2, and promptly broke down......

after spending rest of evening suspecting lack of fuel (gauge incorrect and just heading for fuel)



came to the concluding Diesel pump had a 'Warp core failure'!

found a local diesel specialist to confirm diagnose and next plan of attack (me and 2 cousins - all mechanics but not diesel!) we all a good idea

fuel only flowed though #2 injector


took off pump and dropped it off to be examined

mean while he suggested we got the car there to build back up / test

ADAC covered the trip, simple as "can you take my car to X garage down the road?"
in 20mins the truck turned up












on strip down shown this. The shaft which governs the size of fuel used had fractured - nasty on full zoom - which in turn had snapped a locater pin








This is what you get when you upgrade from a 10mm pump to a 11mm pump not using bosch items (big 's)

resulting in head part of pump scrap (in boot of car to bring home)







sort of good news was I have a spare pump, sat at home.......
on the upside the guy had a modded mk 2 diesel and just as mad as myself



I talked him into sorting the pump using 2nd had bits , pricey job as new bits are silly money (replacement 10mm head 350!)

found this after sorting though his bits







original 11mm of mine verses 12 mm Mann shaft & head that matched the Bosch pump pattern





rebuilt the whole pump to match with a new cam plate and softer springs



ultrasonically cleaned the injectors while we could




time to set up the pump, I was amazed









a machine to alter the electronic angles to test the variable geometry of internals




couple 'dyno' style runs to check flows and adjust as necessary internally




confirms final run of idle settings spot on factory specs for delivery, higher up the rev range a 'bit' more juice , figure just thats below double

never mind pulls like a train, think it could pull the train !


installed back in engine bay





from turning up at his place, the car drove home under it's own smoke, with a fair few euros lighter in pocket [:^(] in the same day!



car feels so much smoother gears will pull up a steep hill in 3rd on idle parameters (0 acceleration)


for anyone that came out with me at ring the guy said at some point in past a part controls the internal pressure of pump (and delievery) was moved as fail safe and vehicle had been down on power possible by 20% (not related to fail)

 

glad you got it sorted mate

 

too much Boost Chris!

so how you coming home?

 

It's a long way from home to have car trouble! Fingers crossed for the drive back

 

cheers guys,

It's driving home with me !

the part that failed internally could of happened any time, just a bonus it was here in greece - was able to sort it same day of diagnoising fault! and with having communication skills and supportive family here in the automove trade helps!

Jon : too much boost, still 1.7 above atmostpheriic is just right !

what i have found is with power upgrade on fueling on a motorway cruise boost now sits around 3-5 psi where as before it would be 4-8 psi! concludes less on the go pedal!

 

Good work Crispy

only just got into Diesel myself so still learning and the thread is a good starting point!

 

vw diesels cant beat em.

what mpg do you get from it ?

i would imagine in a mk1 its quite high as they are light.