Okay Dave, ya gotta tell us...what is that thang?

Okay Dave, ya gotta tell us...what is that thang?

VWMS shifter.
link



-Dave

Alright...thanks for the great explanation, Jake! Like everybody else, I can hardly wait to see how it works out.  

Thanks Dave...that shifter is the shiznitz!  :twisted:

I just hope the boost doesn't creep or spike too badly, or go "buckin' bronco" on me!

If the "buckin' bronco" scenario does occur it should be a fairly simple matter to "dampen" the response a little bit by restricting the flow through the wastegate hose. If the response is too slow and you get bad spikes, I'm not sure what to do...  :?

keep us posted!

I also loosely installed the long-runner NA Diesel intake in the engine bay to see how it fits with the TDI exhaust manifold / variable-vane turbo:

Thanks!  I am getting close... still need to do some air intake and exhaust tubing and duct work (I've sort of been saving that for last), but just about everything else is ready to fire up now.  The fuel system is all ready to go, even primed it including the new relocated fuel filter.  All coolant lines are installed, coolant is filled, and I even pressure tested the system to 15 psi - with no leaks.  Fresh oil is filled in the sump and the system has been pressurized / primed with a techtonics hand-drill oil pump adapter.  All the manifolds are torqued up, with the 1.6lTD intake manifold being installed.  The electrical stuff is all hooked up (except wiring for the new gauges which I need to route past the firewall.)

You guys won't believe how much room is behind the engine!  The TDI turbo really "hides out" down low underneath the intake manifold.  Another cool feature of this setup is ALL the TDI turbo's exhaust manifold fasteners were directly accessible... can easily check the torque, no unbolting the turbo from the exhast manifold first.  Nothing is in the way!

I have not tried totally priming the fuel system like this before, but I think it may have worked really well.  It will be interesting to see how long it takes cranking the motor before it starts.  I fitted a squeeze bulb to the fuel return and pumped away until fuel filled the new fuel filter, entered the pump, came through the return line (could really feel the resistance increase when the fuel starts passing through the tiny hole in the fuel return banjo) until it leaked out the outlet end of the squeeze bulb.  Then I hooked the return line back up to the tank fitting.


I also replaced the alternator pulley.  I lucked out in that an old 40mm wrench I had kept in the bicycle toolbox fit the outer alternator pulley nut perfectly!  Combined with a standard big socket (can't remember what size it was... but probably around 3/4") fit the inner nut pretty well.  I was able to change the pulley with the alternator still installed in the car:


Here is a comparison of the old versus new pulleys.  The old one is definitely worn compard to the new one.  I believe that it no longer had the proper conical profile that matches the v-belt.  I believe as a result of the worn pulley, the belt couldn't get good traction and belt life was short.  (Close-up of the pulley profiles - old pulley on right, new pulley on left:)


Still trying to source a proper TD harmonic balancer.

It seems all of these old bosch alternators with the sheetmetal pulleys have this same problem.  The sheetmetal pulleys just don't hold up forever.  Even rebuilt alternators usually don't have new pulleys and so the problem is not fixed with them.

I got this pulley kit from the VW dealer.  The VW part number for the pulley kit is: 049 903 119 L.  The cost was about $30.  I have found it listed aftermarket for a little bit cheaper, but not much.  For example, GPR parts lists it for $25(US):

I know that this pulley kit fits the Bosch alternator that came on '81-'84 Rabbit Diesels, but I don't know what else.

If I work on the car tomorrow, sure I will take a picture of how the v-belt sits in the pulley for you!

I found an old picture of the carnage that happened when the alternator belt broke on my GTD and got wound around the plastic timing belt cover, burned through it, and broke the timing belt.  It's a really ugly picture.  And I have a bent valve and broken cam lobe sitting on my mantle as a reminder of that incident.  You really don't want that happening to your car!