project: moral indemnity
 

So, I bought this car (1992 tornado red jetta gl) in february 2006. not because I needed it, but because It was a good deal. I know. It's sat motionless in my driveway since. The only thing wrong with it (other than the tires needing air) is a bad wiring harness.

anyway, here's a couple (more)pics.

When I got the car, in the beginning of february:
https://img280.imageshack.us/img280/5...tafront7tn.jpg

https://img280.imageshack.us/img280/7...ttaside4ti.jpg

As it sits now, 8 months later, still hasn't moved:
https://img213.imageshack.us/img213/6...pics001os1.jpg

https://img380.imageshack.us/img380/7...3customod8.jpg

The plan is to find a newer TDi swap, and make this into a highway car. probably a grease conversion.

I haven't posted it until now because I can't find an engine for it, or at least I haven't yet. I want to find a complete totaled car so that I have almost all the parts I need.

Finding a rare westmoreland front (look at the pics, the headlights and grill) in the junkyard today renewed my enthusiasm for it, I'll post more info on it later.

For those interested, westmoreland fronts were put on cars made in Westmoreland, PA. This plant was only open through the '85 model year(the first year this generation of cars was made), and only produced cars for america. People in Europe pay lots of money for these to gain an edge in shows.

Due to not having much to do until I find an engine for this beast, expect this to be a slow project.

maybe later I'll resize that second pic, but i'm in a hurry. thanks for the look.

-Casey

Wow! You post!

Don't worry about resizing, unless you're worried about bandwidth. I have a super secret code installed that resizes it for you.

Anyway, I'd love to see some grease conversions here.

If you want me to look for anything in the junkyard, let me know. When you're driving through next summer we'll hit up a few junkyards and see what we can find.

Do you have old integra wheels on that?

right now, yes. they won't work for driving on unless the center hub part is machined bigger, though.

both cars use a 4x100 bolt pattern, however, the hole in the center is a couple millimeters larger diameter on vw's than hondas. So you can put vw wheels on a honda, but it's not safe to drive with honda wheels on a vw. I guess they're just "too good" for that.

I borrowed the wheels off the jetta for my civic because the tires had better tread, and the jetta had to sit on something. The jetta-wheels (teardrops if you're familiar with how vw gives a name to each wheel design) are, in my opinion, ugly.

Anyway, Matt, if you see any totaled tdi cars in the junkyard that the engine compartment/wiring is relatively untouched, i'd love you for life. Or if you see a car with a grease conversion, let me know.

Thanks for the support, Casey.

you'll have to tell me which cars to look out for. There are only like 3 rows of VWs in my yard and i rarely go there, but I'll take a look.

Bagpipe goatee -

I noticed the classic olden-CA license plate and freaked. You must have that on for show, right?

CarloSW2

Gl on picking up a TDI, from what I've gathered even junkyards know they're hot, so they tend to be too much ca$h for not enough performance. If you can find one for a couple hundred that'd be sweet, but they tend to go for a couple thousand.

TDi = Complicated
 

The TDi is really complicated: Turbo Direct injection. Have you tried the TDi Club for advice? I post there when I get the VW Diesel itch. They may suggest that an old Rabbit diesel would be simple, efficient, and could be modded for Bio-D, but I'd check.

RH77

Hopefully I can find one at my pick-n-pull junkyard. I think engines are $150 and transmissions are $75.

Yes, I know all the complications of a newer tdi engine, but I also know the benefits. That's why I'm willing to pay a decent amount of money for a complete car, rather than just the engine. also, while I'm not all about performance, rabbit 1.5 and 1.6 diesel engines are not powerful enough for me at like 57 and 62 horses. this generation jetta came with a decent 1.6 turbo-diesel, but It's still not the best for what I want.

matt: if it says TDi on it, I'm all for it. the one's in the third gen cars are easier for wiring, but their control is obviously not as sophistocated, as well.

2000-2001ish cars and later have an immobilizer, which severely complicates the electronics.

Heh, the plate was just put on there because the pics looked empty without it.

Oh, I added a couple more pics and some description in my first post.

Every junkyard I've been to tends to seperate the newer vehicles and charge different prices for the parts, if they don't nab the stuff for themselves to sell. Your best bet would be a 96-98 Jetta or 96-97 Passat since they may get by because they're older. In terms of swappage, either get all the wiring/pedals/electronics and figure out all that drive by wire crap, or just get the engine/tranny/linkage (maybe?) and put together a tdi-m. 50+mpg@70+mph, 14s quarter mile.

The thing is*, it's much easier to put a VNT15 and a td fuel pump on a idi to get tdi power and near-tdi economy because they are still cheap and plentiful. Plus, they rev better, so even though they make less torque, they make power linearly, and if the pump is reworked will make peak power at 6k rpm, something like 120-150hp relatively safely on stock components can be had. Cermanic coatings in the prechambers may help with heat losses into the head, and the turbo will get ~10% in terms of efficiency, probably more if you just run boost w/o extra fuel. Idi's also supposed to be better for grease since there's less injection pressure and combustion occurs in the prechamber (can't gum up rings as easily), and obviously, they are cheaper and more plentiful so if you do blow an engine it's no sweat picking up another.

*I'm so gonna regret this, cuz it's another person bidding on the o.k. priced vnt turbos when they show on ebay. :p

Older grille and Headlights
 

Did you swap-in a different set of headlights and grille? The first pic has composite headlights and the most current has the sealed-beam variety.

RH77

I completely understand what you're saying, and i've been thinking that if i don't get a complete car, i'll do a tdi-m. turboniumhillfolk (changed to dieselfolk, and just got banned so now he's dieselfolker) convinced me of that, but i've been kinda thinking of getting a whole car for the swap. that way I can get an o2a tranny, etc. etc. And i'm thinking that if i just get the whole car, i might as well put the swap in full.

The junkyard isn't where I'm expecting to get my engine, but i'd like to keep my eyes open if one comes along.

There's a place 10 minutes from my house where they take totaled out cars and auction them off, I've been trying to convince someone with a dealer's license to take me there sometime

Yep, that's what I was talking about with the westmoreland front. I kinda like it, but I'll probably end up selling it since it's worth more to other people than it is to me. I put it on the car yesterday for two reasons: to inspire myself, and to prevent me from stepping on it and breaking it.

thanks for the feedback- Casey.

Edited for grammar. Hey, it's the morning.

I saw "Westmoreland Front" and glazed over the first post thinking it was something else :rolleyes: But definitely a rare find, nonetheless.

RH77

Ok, so there's progress on this car. Sorta.

I got off my *** and took a multimeter to the electronics. The wiring issue is now gone.

But it still won't start. Why not? The pistons are rusted to the cylinder walls, the engine won't crank. I'd heard of this happening to cars that sat for 15 years or so (my cousin's 911) but not on anything that sat for only a year or so (it was broken down for about 4 months before I got it)


Today I put oil in the spark plug holes. Who knows. It worked on the 911.
If it won't start with the starter tomorrow, I'm gonna take the slushbox (my new 90 civic winter beater) and pullstart it, forcing it to rip the piston free.

Wish me luck.

(p.s., You can tell I don't really care much for the engine that's in there, I just don't want to pay to tow the car out to my barn.)

The Passat TDI won't work without a bit of messing around as they are a north-south engine. Not to mention the Vanagon guys keep trying to nab them! I belive that it is possible to get a MkIV TDI engine to run with the MkIII ECU, in theory at least. Can't confirm this as I've yet to see proof, and we never got MkIV TDIs here.

Hi irsa -¨and we never got MkIV TDIs here.¨

Australia has always missed out on the best cars.
Even models like the new beetle took years to get there , same for the new mini.
Here they are all over the place and nothing special , but in OZ ime sure they still get looks.

The B3 and B4 Passats (third and 4th generation of the B body size from 91-96/97) were east-west engined as they were based on the A3 (third gen of the VW A body, not an "Audi model A3") Jetta/Vento.
These model years of Passat would be a suitable candidate for a diesel engine for the A1 Rabbit or A2 Golf/Jetta. There is a Canadian version of the 95 Passat with a mechanical turbo diesel (engine code AAZ) that avoids most of the electronic controls nightmare of a 96-98.5 TDI (engine code 1Z or AHU) swap.

Good to know, you canadians get all the good stuff. Passat synchros, German rabbit GTIs, and now this. Really, I'm going to get whatever comes along that would be a mostly complete swap. I don't wanna have to track down a million different parts off different cars. I made that mistake with my rabbit.

Most of the cars around here that are tdis are A4's, so that's what I'll probably get.

Look at this thread, it says a lot:
https://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=778864
(I'm aware of the differences between the mk1's and mk2's, but this thread still has a lot of good information)

I have standalone on my rabbit, so wiring doesn't bother me that much.

This project is second or third priority right now, I need to save up some more money before I can buy a donor car, anyway. I just want this thread to document everything.

Thanks for all the positive feeback.

edited for grammar