Harold - the T25 van (1.8T content)

[GeorgeMK1]

Was too lazy to do any work yesterday so did a bit of brainstorming. I think I found the best possible engine bracing solution.
I've searched all other ways people have done theirs.
Some are very simple, and others and engineering marvels haha.

I have found that If I move the moustache further back just past the engine, I can raise it and not have to cut it in half due to the engine hanging so low. Then I can add 2 more supports and bolt them to the front on the chassis legs. This is by far the best method for my application and probably overkill, but will be a piece of mind for me.
A very quick dodgy sketch to get an idea.

[GeorgeMK1]

Its been raining very heavily for the past week so havn't been able to get as much done as I like, however following the diagram above I started to make the bits for the engine brace.
The O.G engine brace needed to be spaced 1" down, and 3" back. The good thing about moving 3" back is that it is enough to clear the engine, and yet still use atleast one of the original mounting holes.

This is the initial spacer I made for it.




But while at work I thought of a better method, where I can re-use both of the old mounting holes to make it stronger. So re did the spcacer again.




Here it is in action.




You can get the idea from this picture.




At the moment this is more than enough clearance, but I'm afraid that once the engine settles correctly after a few weeks, that it will hit. So there's two things I can do, 1) raise the engine another 5-6mm, or 2) leave it and just ad spacers under the engine mounts are a few weeks.




Fitted the passenger side mount on again. This needed some touch ups in order o fit the AUDI rubber mount.




Due to heavy rain I couldn't continue with anything under the car these past few days, so luckily I had the template of the front support plates I needed to make. Working with cardboard is soo good




Finished product and installed for test fitting/some final trimmings needed.




Finally caught my break last night after work as it stopped raining. However everything was wet, messy and freezing, this is what I had to work with
Definitely not fun, but if you want something done no excuses can be made haha




Lots of measuring and trimming to get these support mounts perfect.






.....and here we are, the home run. This is what it will look like. Once these are welded in place, I can do the final plates to actually support the rubber mounts. Its so close to being finished now!!
I borrowed a buddies arc welder, but i hate arc, so really hoping the repairer gets my mig fixed soon. Either way, this Sunday the engine brace will be done and finished. Then we can move onto other things




Cheers for reading

[ericcs]

looking good George, how much ground clearance will you lose with the lower sump?

[GeorgeMK1]

looking good George, how much ground clearance will you lose with the lower sump?

Hey Eric, not too sure to be honest mate. I havn't measured yet but I know if will be a big loss. I'm guessing around 6" of loss.
It's not all bad though, this will be rectified with 15" rims and larger diameter all terrain tyres. Also to add in the mix I will be putting in lift springs, so all up it should raise it quite high.
I've read the only 4-5 build threads on these with 1.8t, and no one has had any major issues.

Perhaps a bash plate might be made up to help

[ericcs]

i guess with that engine, it will spin up any size rim/tyre you choose.
my son had a t3 with a 1.8 subaru leonie engine, man, was that slow!

[GeorgeMK1]

i guess with that engine, it will spin up any size rim/tyre you choose.
my son had a t3 with a 1.8 subaru leonie engine, man, was that slow!

Im sure it would have been gutless, the 1.9 wbx was bad enough haha!

Yesterday was an epic day. Weather was top notch and I was able to put in a solid 6 hours, resulting in me finishing the engine brace.
Was able to borrow my uncles mig, wowee was this thing powerful with plenty of penetration. However lifting it out of the car was a mission in itself haha.




Started by tack welding both arms in place.




Pulled it back out and welding everything solid. Now that this step was done, I could start getting the idea of how it will all piece in together.




Then back in it went to start measuring the mounting plates for the AUDI mounts to sit on. Once again cardboard was a big time saver. Cut the plates out and tacked them in place. I ended up raising the engine about 8mm before making the final tack welds, so that when it settles with time - it should all be at the correct height.








Top view of how much room is left over.




Once that was done, back out it came again - for like the tenth time by now I was pooped lol.
I went ahead and started making support walls on each side of the mount just to be able to withstand the weight of the motor. This took some time to cut out, I used 6mm steel and then welded it all together.








Finished product




Once I was finished, I thought for a piece of mind I should add two 6mm plate gussets to each corner where the legs meet the moustache bar.






.. and what a day that was. Now I have to battle the brace again - but with painting. Will be going over it with a wire brush, and a flappy disc to get it looking pretty and ready for etch primer and subrframe black paint within the next few days.

Hoping to also have the engine back out by tomorrow to start on wiring and also intercooler/exhaust setups.

Thanks for reading

[Sunny43.5]

Do you think that the frame will flex a bit under the weight and torque ?

[GeorgeMK1]

Do you think that the frame will flex a bit under the weight and torque ?

Hey Sunny. I highly doubt it mate, unless I am running over 280kw, I think the frame will cope more than enough.
I've been researching this for months and most guys in the U.S use only the moustache bar and nothing else to support the entire engine weight on its own.

So I think I've over engineered mine by a bit.

Here are some that I found online to compare theirs.
This fella only used the original moustache bar.


Here's another that has only used the moustache bar


This is a off-the-shelf kit you can buy, but costs too much to import from the U.S and it doesn't look to be overly engineered either.



I have actually based my design on this blokes own design. He is running a 1.8 TDI engine at 50deg. He made his custom mount using the original moustache bar, and I basically made my design from his.



So hopefully no problems come from this, but it might be worth my time to maybe add a few more gussets etc for added piece of mind? Hmm

[Sunny43.5]

Ok I was not sure if it was an issue but it seems the VW guys have done lots of these conversions so all good .Keep up the good postings.

[GeorgeMK1]

The VW community is the only one I know that will swap 100s of motors all over the place with so many different VAG parts to get it to work hahaha

[jamesmsmall]

i love this transformation....

[aprr32]

Get it powder coated, I did this with the mounts in the 914 when I fitted the Boxster engine and the finish and protection will outlast any paint job bar polyurethane I reckon.

[GeorgeMK1]

i love this transformation....

Thanks we are really enjoying the build too !!

Get it powder coated, I did this with the mounts in the 914 when I fitted the Boxster engine and the finish and protection will outlast any paint job bar polyurethane I reckon.

Hey dude, I'd love to, but have been quoted $180 for sand blasting and powder coating and we are not sure we can justify it, considering everything has been a budget build so far
Might have to reconsider and maybe just get it coated properly.

[Bryn23]

$180 is a bit rich, for a simple job, id be getting a mother quote.

Just picked up my 17 inch steel rims this morning for my T6.

Had 4 sand blasted and powder coated in Satin black and it came to $400 inc GST

Loving the build by the way.

[GeorgeMK1]

$180 is a bit rich, for a simple job, id be getting a mother quote.

Just picked up my 17 inch steel rims this morning for my T6.

Had 4 sand blasted and powder coated in Satin black and it came to $400 inc GST

Loving the build by the way.

Hey Bryn, I have also had 4 BBS faces, including caps done for 200 for the set. I ended up getting another quote locally and it is $100. I have thought about it, and have decided it's not worth worrying about stone chips hitting the brace, and then it rusting over time. So am dropping off the brace today after work to get it coated Thanks fellas!


After Sunny asking if it will be a strong enough brace, I ended up relooking over it and decided to add a bit more bracing to areas I thought were prone to stress. Here's a bar I added on the angle.






I have also added some here to this end of the post. The wire speed was set a bit too high and got some splatter here and there, also it does look a bit messy, but only because I ground the welds down, and re-welded over them again - so penetration is very good.




I am now very confident that I will have no structural issues at all with the brace. I gave it a quick spray with etch for the time being, and spent the rest of the night cleaning it and grinding all the imperfections away. Basically just ironing out the edges, although I didn't take any pics of it at the end. Here's a quick one in etch and supports in place.




Also managed to get the engine out, and now had to finish the engine mount.
Here I tacked the support piece to it.






And added the final support bar on the engine mount too. Although only have pics of it tacked on.






That's it for now. I have finished all fabrication work and can now take a bit of rest from all the hard labour over the past week. Now its just all the cruisey wiring, intercooler plumbing, exhaust fab etc.
Engine will go back in by the weekend, and I will then await for the brace to come in from the powder coaters.

Thanks for reading