My Mk1 1.6TD build...lots of pics

[cowboybootlegger]

First of all, just wanted to say a big 'Hey y'all' from Kansas City, MO.
I've been devouring these forums ever since i discovered them a month ago. Don't know how i missed 'em for the first year and a half of VW diesel owership, but even in the short time i've been here, you all have been a huge help! Thanks for all the knowledge and advice, it's a great resource for all.

I've been working on cars for as long as i can remember, but a buddy of mine got me into v dub diesels a while back. I've had a few diesel rabbits in the last couple years, (including the little yellow gem in the pics with the    
green meanie) but i've been slowly working my way up to my current ride.

I'm now the proud    owner of an '83 Rabbit LS 4dr, factory equipped with a 1.6 Turbo Diesel, 5 spd, p/s, and A/C.  I was told that the factory TD was a rarity in the mk1 rabbits, something like only 400-500 made?  Maybe someone on here knows for sure...




I acquired it from a guy who drove it from Phoenix, AZ to KC, only to blow the h.g. on the way up.  He had swapped the factory TD for an N/A when the TD blew several years ago  :roll:  i guess it was cheaper... But after he toasted the head gasket on the N/A he decided to call it quits, so i snatched it up.  
The first thing i did was yank that naturally perspirated lump out of there and return it to stock with a partially rebuilt 1.6TD out of my buddy's '84 jetta that had been diagnosed with terminal cancer  :cry:
Here's a few pics of the swap:





After driving it for about 4 k with the stock TD setup, i was having trouble getting the exhaust manifold and turbo to stay bolted together, (due to a broken bolt being drilled and tapped for a smaller stud, and the resulting uneven bolt pressure not allowing it to stay tightened) i decided i needed more power, so my friend and i devised the (somewhat ill-conceived)
master build plan.  I wish to God i had know about this forum before all of this, it could've saved me several mistakes, but hey, cheap schooling right?

I decided to use a bigger t-3 turbo on an 8 valve ATP manifold, a modified 1.7L gasser intake, an intercooler out of a Saab 900, a 2.5" downpipe, ARP head studs, and add a-pillar mounted pyrometer and boost gauges. (That little gauge pod bugger was not easy to find) Oh and a veg oil conversion. This was only a beginning plan, since money is always in short supply in these things it seems.... :roll:

The following pics do little justice to just how many hours of fabricating and designing and redesigning went into this little project, but i loved every minute of it.  :wink:


The pile of shiny new parts...

The gasser intake undergoing hacking...

Intake after mods...


Different views of the turbo...



My ARP advertisement...

Had to do a little 'clearance' for the intake boot...

G60 valve covers are just hot...

Battery tray after the battery was moved to the back, and the tray painted

You're looking at 6 hours of measuring, cutting, welding, and painting.


My teflon and stainless braided turbo oil and coolant hoses...

View of the oil feed and one turbo coolant line...

View of the other turbo coolant line...

2.5" downpipe and pyrometer probe, I later put it in the manifold.

Fuel filter relocated behind the pass headlight, now my veggie filter housing, i have a heat exchanger mounted on it.

Boost controller, which i didn't really need, but nice to have...

Intake routing, k&n filter...

Downpipe flexjoint, i must have spent 3 hours making sure i got all the joints lined up before i started welding it all in place...

Pyrometer relocation, note new freeze plugs and block heater, the cause of alot of trouble when they blew from rust-through. (the Jetta i sourced the TD from was a michigan car, unlike the rust-free Arizona rabbit.)

The finished product, version 1. This was before the veg oil conversion, and updated intake manifold.

Version 2, this photo was taken yesterday, 3 months after the previous pic. Note the fuel switching valves on the fender, and the shiny new vw Fox big-body intake fresh from the machine shop. (the first intake was welded poorly, and i tried using JB weld for the smaller holes, which didn't work. The fox intake didn't need porting for the 2.5" inlet either.)

Old, new

Looking straight into the manifold

Better view of intercooler pipe routing



The A-pillar gauge pod, check the numbers :twisted:  and i was being nice

Oh, and one important upgrade i forgot to mention, i swapped a 16v
10.1 brake system in, with cross drilled rotors front and rear, and mintek pads.  I actually got ahold of the whole rear beam (with the big anti-sway bar) out of an '87 'rocco.  I love how stable that thing makes my little bunny.  It stops good too....


I installed twin hood scoops, one for cold air, one for the intercooler, but I'm not sure i'm happy with the final look.  I don't know how necessary the cold air side is, and i'm considering deleting it and just leaving the driver's side intercooler scoop. (i have to redo them anyway, because the resin didn't set correctly in the corners.)  My wife always comments that 'the bunny has eyebrows now', and that's not what I was going for.  
I would appreciate any input y'all have on the issue, whether i should keep the pass. side scoop, or ax it. Here's some pics to give you some reference.





Sorry for the long post, but i hope you like the pics, and i'll keep everyone posted on the progress...

-Caleb

[rov716y]

thats sweet mate!!

love the 5 door mk1's.  just need to get the uk front end on her with the round lights and she'll look right to me lol

any chance i can have you rear badge?

[Ziptar]

First off, Welcome to the Forums,

Nice MKI, Nice write up.

You have definitely found a home :wink:

I'll weigh in on the hood scoops. While I know they are totally functional, they look like they are just a cheap attempt at ricing it and they were just slapped on with some double stick tape. No offense but, it strikes me as one of those cars you see like a 4Dr Camry with a wing, ricer accesoiries, and "Type R" badges stuck all over it.

That's just me though, I am partial to the totally stockj look on MkIs and MKIIs.

Since you moved the battery to the back, have you looked into leaving the hood lines stock and getting air from underneath?

Oh, and yeah... The G60 valave cover is sweet, one of these days I'll have to get me one of those.

[blkboostedtruck]

nice ride! hood scoops too! the only thing i see is you need to change your injector lines from N/A to some TD ones there is a difference between them! the TD ones have a bigger I.D. for the extra fuel
thanks Duane

 UPDATE
 I have given false info on TD lines! disregard the above statment!! the only difference is for the bends around the LDA and the I.D. are the same between the N/A and the TD! I appoligize for any miss leading of anyone!
and thanks to Andrew (Libbybapa) for the his vast great knowledge that he loves to share with us in our VW community!
 thanks Duane

[andy2]

Well done. What RPM does the turbo start to produce boost at?Also what Nissan engine is that turbo from?

[cowboybootlegger]

thats sweet mate!!

love the 5 door mk1's.  just need to get the uk front end on her with the round lights and she'll look right to me lol

Thanks!

I've actually thought quite seriously about the round headlight conversion,
but lack of funds and not having a donor vehicle have made it difficult.
And this car's somewhat of a piece of rabbit history, being factory td and all,
It was a hard enough decision for me to cut up the hood to install the scoops...

any chance i can have you rear badge?

Sorry bro, but it's the only one i've ever seen, so i'd better hang onto it.
But if i ever decide to sell it, i'll let you know.  :wink:
BTW, love your golf of many colors...

[cowboybootlegger]

I'll weigh in on the hood scoops. While I know they are totally functional, they look like they are just a cheap attempt at ricing it and they were just slapped on with some double stick tape. No offense but, it strikes me as one of those cars you see like a 4Dr Camry with a wing, ricer accesoiries, and "Type R" badges stuck all over it.

That's just me though, I am partial to the totally stockj look on MkIs and MKIIs.

I would've just done a fmic like smart people, but my car rides that often frustrating line between daily driver and budding race car.  If the factory a/c hadn't worked perfectly with an almost new system,(and the summers weren't 110 de-friggin-grees in Kansas City)and i hadn't put an oil cooler in front of the a/c condenser, then i would have deleted it and put the ic in the rad support. As it is, space is at a premium, and i picked what i thought was the best option.  As for the quality of the install, i had a friend of mine who was a body man for 15 years do the work, and here's a few pics to show just how much work went into them. I got a smaller size than what i would have liked so that they would fit within the hood lines, and i actually was going for more subtle than overt. It's still somewhat of a mystery as to why they've worked loose slightly on the corners, he's never had that happen before.  'Course these weren't the highest quality scoops ever, good 'ol summit racing. :oops:


If you look closely you can see where he hammered the recess so the
scoop would sit flush and therefor require almost no bondo to smooth lines



View of the scoop riveted and glued down, note the absence of rivets in the corners, the troublemakers.



applying fiberglass and resin...




2nd coat primer and sanded...



Applying wax and grease remover...



Coat of sealer for any area that was sanded...



#2 of 4 color coats....



#3 of  clear coating...



Ta da!

Since you moved the battery to the back, have you looked into leaving the hood lines stock and getting air from underneath?

Yes, and unless i'm wrong that would require quite a bit of fabrication,
air duct building and the like, but i would be open to it if anyone has any experience doing it on a mk1.  I just went with the scoops cause it was the  most economic, functional option. (and you don't see a TD bunny with scoops everyday... i just look at their expression and say "YES, they're functional")

Oh, and yeah... The G60 valave cover is sweet, one of these days I'll have to get me one of those.

Yeah, it was love at first sight.  I'm fortunate enough to have a buddy who's been into vw's for years, and has amassed a fair amount of spare parts. Most of the secondhand vw stuff on this car i acquired from him for dirt cheap.  

[cowboybootlegger]

Well done. What RPM does the turbo start to produce boost at?Also what Nissan engine is that turbo from?

In addition to the 2.5" downpipe, have 2.25" all the way back, with no muffler or cat.  The turbo does a great job of muffling, and the sound I get is just mean.  :twisted:
So with little backpressure to deal with, the boost guage will move about 1/2 to 1 psi when you rev the engine from idle, and when driving normally, it has a little lag below 2500, but it'll make 5 psi at 2000rpm. (pure guesses, i might add, no tach yet, but i use a gear calculator to make the guesses more accurate.)  
But when 3000 rolls around, it comes on hard and fast, and now that i've done the gov. and boost pin mods, it's a whole new world of smokey power. I've hit 25 psi, but most of the time i don't need more than 10. I swear this thing feels faster at 6 psi than the stock setup at 10!  I can pull away from a vtec civic pretty easily, and when doing 0-60, between shifts i retain 10-18 psi boost, dependent on the shift.  The only thing i don't like is I build EGT's pretty fast under hard driving, but the more i read, i realize that's pretty common.  And as soon as i let off the throttle, they go right back down.  I need a 6 speed, and a better clutch. I'm slipping my 210mm on the higher gear shifts.  
Oh, and i have no idea what nissan my turbo is from, i think it may just be the compressor housing that says nissan, i ordered it from 034 motorsports in CA, i just told them what my application was, what rpm range i was shooting for, and this is what they sent me.  I know, not very scientific, but i was young and stupid.  :oops:  I can't for the life of me remember the trim, i'll look it up.  I've got alot to learn about turbos. Fascinating subject though.  I LOVE your compound setup! I need a lathe and a mill!

[andy2]

Sounds like your turbo works really well for you.I'm still learing about turbos using the trial and error method :lol:.

[KTZed]

Wow thats nice...and I was all excited about finishing mine...dirty little beater compared to yours  

[gldgti]

great ride - the scoops - i reckon they are great! i dont like the look of them really, but you never see it, and it IS functional. why lose something different if it works? if you can manage to live with 'em, i say keep em.

there is another option for air - the rain tray. you could even build a scoop over the raintray inlet grill and duct your intake air from there.

i'll point out from an aerodynamics point of view that air from the front grill or the raintray is the best to get, since its low velocity, high pressure. when you take it from the bonnet where its going fast, it is quite low pressure.... but hey, thats why you have a scoop!

nissan used lots of garret t3's on the rb30 series of engines and many others.... it looks like a t3 aswell.

[rov716y]

thats sweet mate!!

love the 5 door mk1's.  just need to get the uk front end on her with the round lights and she'll look right to me lol

Thanks!

I've actually thought quite seriously about the round headlight conversion,
but lack of funds and not having a donor vehicle have made it difficult.
And this car's somewhat of a piece of rabbit history, being factory td and all,
It was a hard enough decision for me to cut up the hood to install the scoops...

any chance i can have you rear badge?

Sorry bro, but it's the only one i've ever seen, so i'd better hang onto it.
But if i ever decide to sell it, i'll let you know.  :wink:
BTW, love your golf of many colors...

mine is work in progress but as you say money is an issue for me too. mine is a series one (small rear lights) so i also agree about leaving em standard she will be original colour and td'd some time in the not so distant future

on the subject of bonnet vent not my cup tea but i have seen some fiberglass bonnets with an Audi quattro style went on the front and i liked em could always look into that as a option

[Baxter]

any chance i can have you rear badge?

Sorry bro, but it's the only one i've ever seen, so i'd better hang onto it.
But if i ever decide to sell it, i'll let you know.  :wink:
BTW, love your golf of many colors...

if your willing to take a rubbing with a pencil and piece of paper, scan it and mail it to me i can reproduce them in vinyl.

 

[Baxter]

thats sweet mate!!

love the 5 door mk1's.  just need to get the uk front end on her with the round lights and she'll look right to me lol

Thanks!

I've actually thought quite seriously about the round headlight conversion,
but lack of funds and not having a donor vehicle have made it difficult.
And this car's somewhat of a piece of rabbit history, being factory td and all,
It was a hard enough decision for me to cut up the hood to install the scoops...

any chance i can have you rear badge?

Sorry bro, but it's the only one i've ever seen, so i'd better hang onto it.
But if i ever decide to sell it, i'll let you know.  :wink:
BTW, love your golf of many colors...

mine is work in progress but as you say money is an issue for me too. mine is a series one (small rear lights) so i also agree about leaving em standard she will be original colour and td'd some time in the not so distant future

on the subject of bonnet vent not my cup tea but i have seen some fiberglass bonnets with an Audi quattro style went on the front and i liked em could always look into that as a option

Fancy some Golf N rear lights (red and orange, no reverse lights)? as i have 3 on the shelf...

[CoolAirVw]

Kansas City Hey, neighbor.  

Original turbo rabbit huh?  Thats neat.  

Love to see it sometime.

Richard