First post - Big hopes

[axel]

Gday Mk1 people!

I have been lurking around here for months now so it's time to throw some grand ideas of mine around for discussion.
I've done some reading here in the forums but may still repeat some things you guys have already covered - if so just tell me.

Have been given a '79 GLD that is running and very capable of being registered again. Has had new rings put in by my mechanic friend who gave it to me. I wouldn't let him repair my cars, he's a butcher in my eyes (I am the complete opposite, but anyway).
Motor has some oil leaks. Has around 200,000 kms on it. Hopefully just sump leaks rather than main seal.
The body has some rust I was not happy about (lots) so I found a good friend of mine interstate with an '80 with a cracked head, always garaged, essentially rust free. The engine bay is immaculate - like new.
Was going to transplant the running diesel motor from mine into it but then again it may be better to just transplant the head. Any thoughts?
Also, after I have the new car on the road the plan was to fit a small turbo (low boost) to it. I haven't read much positive talk about it here yet. Heat seems to be the main issue?
Was planning on fabricating a new inlet and exhaust manifold for the turbo and running a large enough intercooler to keep the charge temperatures down. I may even run oil/lubrication injection to the valves if required.
I was planning some serious oil cooling and increasing capacity to keep operating oil temps down. The increased temperature (too be seen) may require a larger radiator. If a reduction in compression is required I would increase the head gasket thickness most likely. Is the increase in torque worth the hassle?
Sorry about the long post. 6 posts in 1.

[Jarred]

Hi there and welcome to the forums!

where to start.

A rust free body would be brilliant! as rust is a major issue with mk 1's.

I'd defiantly look into the other car (providing it's a diesel too) and put your good engine in it. This is a pretty comon practice amongst mk1'ers I find.

As for the turbo suggestion.

well. I'm under the belief that that engine origonally came with a turbo, for other (ie US) markets, but we never got them in Aus.. I believe some passat's also got turbo deisels.

As for the actual turbo set up, unforuntaly we only have a few diesel nuts here, So for a big base of info I'd check out. www.vwdiesel.net, as it should have all the answers you are looking for!

But once again, welcome. and feel free to post up some pics of your car too!

[axel]

Thanks for the welcome Jarred.

Yep both diesels. Converted this one to WVO already. Will probably be fumigating with LPG too if I get motivation.

Will visit the site you mentioned for info - thanks for that.

Picture wise, there's not much to see of the white one here but when I get down to the new doner chassis I'll get some for posting. I am quite certain there will be some green eyes.

I'll post up how the project goes. Always ready for expert opinions. Will be some time before the hands get greasy as I have to sell the R33 Skyline first. I'm gonna miss it but oil at US$192/barrel it's gotta go. Plus the skylinesaustralia forums are full of f&*^%&%s (I met some of them in person).

[GoLfMan]

welcome mate!
good to hear your getting into the mk1 scene, not many of us left im afraid

however i've heard that force induction through those engines doesnt quite go that well as they cannot cope and stuff goes wrong, i may be wrong however.

if you can find one get the 1.6td or even a 1.9td they both should transplant fairly easily without to much fuss!

and again

WELCOME

[gldgti]

I'm under the belief that that engine origonally came with a turbo, for other (ie US) markets, but we never got them in Aus.. I believe some passat's also got turbo deisels.

As for the actual turbo set up, unforuntaly we only have a few diesel nuts here, So for a big base of info I'd check out. www.vwdiesel.net

the 1.5 engine that we all have here in austraila was never designed for a turbo, and is not set up for it at all. not saying it can't be done, or you shouldnt. just that its definately not the same as the turbo spec engine.




all of the suggestions you list about converting the engine to take a turbo are good ideas, and i would employ all or most of them. i think you could get away with just going with an oil cooler and larger radiator, but its all very dependant on how you want to set it up and what you want to produce, in terms of power.

looking at your to do list however, it seems you're willing to throw some money at it, or otherwise you have some talent, time and fabrication resourses?

if you want to throw money at it, then you migh tink about chucking the 1.5 and buying a 1z engine code 1.9 TDI engine from GolfLoon on this forum. ontop of the engine cost, if you add $500 for a turbocharger and another $500 for an injector pump that will run the TDI with no electronics, you will have a 110hp, 240Nm beast, without even cracking the 13psi boost mark, which is standard..... and there'll be less fabrication involved.

on the other hand, if your a DIY guy, then i'd suggest you look around on the VW GTD forum, as Jarred has suggested, its great for general info and stuff.

I had thought about going for a turbo on my old 1.5 when i had it, for quite a while. however after a lot of research i decided that it would be far more effective, easy, and fun, to stick a supercharger on the car. this is something i never got to either since the car fell to the rust demons and i found another mk1, and a different engine to go in it.

once you get a bigger exhaust on the 1.5 and turn up the fuelling a bit, its easy to notice just how revable they are and how natural a supercharger would feel on it. i would go for a nice toyota sc12 or sc14 and run it at close to 2:1 ratio, so that you would get about 15psi. this would be much easier on the engine since the heat wouldnt be held in by the turbo, leaving you with happy pistons... plus you get all the advantages of being able to run extractors.

another big plus would be that you could easily clutch it so that you could turn it off whenever you wanted and run around with good economy.

you would be pushing the engine pretty hard (heat wise) with a turbo running anything more than about 10 psi on the 1.5, and i wouldnt expectyou to get much more than 65-70hp if you really tried hard. i dont see why you couldnt get 100hp with a supercharger though.

finally, welcome to the forum. nice to have another dieseller here in the old school. post up your stuff in the diesels section too, there are people there that will appreciate it too.

welcome,
aydan

[axel]

welcome mate!
good to hear your getting into the mk1 scene, not many of us left im afraid

however i've heard that force induction through those engines doesnt quite go that well as they cannot cope and stuff goes wrong, i may be wrong however.

if you can find one get the 1.6td or even a 1.9td they both should transplant fairly easily without to much fuss!

and again

WELCOME

Thanks! There may be few but I can't see a better platform to play with diesels on a budget than these Mk1s. 2 free cars to play with in my example. Can't beat that. I saw the possibilities for those transplants. I will consider them certainly, but after blowing up this one first
I have some contacts that can get me free turbos that will need bearings at worst. Everything else is from wreckers or scrap metal places. I have nothing to loose. Will be educational for sure. At worst it will be a great case study on what NOT to do haha.

[axel]

Gday Aaydan,

Not prepared to spend the big dollars on it as my thoughts are there should be a reasonable limit for cars this age. Big money would be best spent bringing in a TDI for our little Ford Focus here... but that's another story. The Mk1 is a good playground for some ideas. I will try and work with what I have and record ongoing costs. I am a DIY kinda guy - yes.

I have read on your/others ideas with the clutched superchargers and I see great merit in that idea. Drive belt will need some serious thought. I will have my contacts keep an eye out for one.

I will add I am not really keen on getting big power out of it. It's really an education in diesels and turbos/superchargers. If I wanted big power I'll throw money at the Focus or Skyline which, I won't.

[gldgti]

Gday Aaydan,

Not prepared to spend the big dollars on it as my thoughts are there should be a reasonable limit for cars this age. Big money would be best spent bringing in a TDI for our little Ford Focus here... but that's another story. The Mk1 is a good playground for some ideas. I will try and work with what I have and record ongoing costs. I am a DIY kinda guy - yes.

I have read on your/others ideas with the clutched superchargers and I see great merit in that idea. Drive belt will need some serious thought. I will have my contacts keep an eye out for one.

I will add I am not really keen on getting big power out of it. It's really an education in diesels and turbos/superchargers. If I wanted big power I'll throw money at the Focus or Skyline which, I won't.

fair enough... money doesnt grow on my trees either...

i reckon twin v belts might pull it enough. the other option would be to run the standard 6? rib flat belt, and make up a pully adapter plate to bolt onto the crankshaft pulley assembly.

[gldgti]

btw, update your location.... you never know what fellow close by forum member might have sitting in their shed with your name on it

[Jarred]

*Doh!*

I always forget that the Oz diesels are 1.5s! I keep thinking they are 1.6's. gah. damn vortex screwing with my head again! hahaha

Anways, best of luck with it. and don't worry. Anything is possible!

[Preen59]

Plus the skylinesaustralia forums are full of f&*^%&%s (I met some of them in person).

Heh, so its not just me that thinks it.. I really hate those boy racers. Really.

Good luck with this one i like where you're going with it. I've always wanted to stick a puffer on a mk1 diesel. So i'll keep my eye on what you get up to.

[Golf Loon]

Welcome mate.

Dont crack the head off a running Diesel, transplant the engine whole.

Good luck with the rest of the project.

[DVR68U]

yeah many a mk1'ers dream would be a boosted diesel mk1 , torque and economy
cheers brenton

[smithy010]

Welcome Axel,

I'm another mad dieseler. I did a diesel transplant on a petrol LS last year. I won't mention the issues i've had with the diesel recently, but it's certainly great to have the diesel engine in the mk1, even if it is a slug!

Hope you hang around, and add some more views to our community, especially our smaller diesel community!

Cheers

Smithy

[axel]

Welcome mate.

Dont crack the head off a running Diesel, transplant the engine whole.

Good luck with the rest of the project.

Geez I didn't think this forum was that busy. Thanks for all the interest/ecouragement everyone.
My initial thoughts exactly on transplanting the engine whole.
Diesels are the go certainly. Playing around with Petrol engines has been done to death plus the RTA and cops don't seem to approve. Especially turbos
Have spent some hours on that diesel website - yikes. There is some reading to do there.

What I will be reading up on is tricks to protect the new chassis from the usual rust issues. I have a fair idea where all the rust problems are, just need to look at the white one in the backyard haha!

BTW, I have moved from Sydney to a place not quite ideal for playing with VWs - Dubbo. I now have the space and the workshop but all those bommadore and falcooon parts around here are no good to me!

Anyway, will spend some serious time reading up on all previous gritty here and the vwdiesel site before I raise up the spanner. I have a Hanes ws manual already. I know there are better ones around. Will see how far this one gets me.

The car was initially intended to tow my bike trailer with my KTM around the countryside on my cheap veggie fuel. We shall see if it can prove to do this comfortably and reliably. A nice new seat and a loud stereo will help.