1Y 1.9 diesel into '74 bay

[trev]

the rev counter that's almost out of shot on the bottom left there is a Porsche 924 VDO item complete with "nipple" lens!. Bought on ebay for peanuts and lashed to a hastily bent-up bracket with a cable tie!! Wiring is really easy, just three wires and the lighting. It's a petrol rev counter and I had it hooked up to the type4 engine that was in my bus. I don't think it'll work with the diesel but if I can get it working I'll think up a better/more appropriate position for it.

[trev]

so I got the radiator mounted today, working against gravity under the van is a bitch but with the help of a few plastic boxes, planks, styrofoam packing, the floor jack etc etc I got the radiator up at the angle I wanted and was able to measure up to make a couple of cross bars, drill them for the rubber mounts for the radiator and drill the holes to mount the lot to the chassis rails.





The ducting has yet to be made but it'll be a shallow "U" shape like this: l_____________________________l that spans the two chassis rails and extends from the centreline of the front wheels to the front of the radiator. It'll be so far forward to avoid collecting shite kicked up by the front wheels. I'll have to get some strong mesh to protect the "trailing" face of the radiator from anything kicked forward by the rear wheels.

The sides will have to be sealed above the chassis rails, there's a 1" or so gap where the cross members sit on top of the chassis rails and the floor sits on them. If I don't seal the gap, I'll lose air for the radiator out the sides, reducing cooling capability.

The idea (and taking inspiration from other radiator installs here) is that the ducted air will be at a higher pressure than the air passing under the radiator so even without the fan running the difference in pressure will draw the ducted air through the radiator and out to the low pressure zone under the van. Just to be sure, you can see the slim fan above the radiator which will be wired to blow through the rad.

At the lowest point, it's about three inches lower than the chassis rails but with no plans to lower the van, it'll have plenty of ground clearance...

[trev]

Since the radiator is now mounted in place it has to be connected to the engine's hoses. I looked into a few options to bridge the gap between engine and radiator and landed on one which I think (hope) will work.

On the recommendation from 13windowdeluxe for MDPE plastic water pipe I went hunting. The local builder's providers didn't supply it so searching on google brought up a supplier only a few miles away from me. A phone call and a visit to their yard resulted in a bundle of off-cuts for pocket money. Normally they sell in 100M rolls or more and the few feet I needed was basically useless to them. It's 32mm outer diameter which is perfect for the rubber hoses on the engine and radiator. It also takes a slight amount of bending, forming it over your knee gets it to follow a curve and it'll hold its shape. I've wired it into position and I'll leave it a while to take a set then I'll make up proper brackets/clamps/clips/whatever it takes to secure it.

As for the routing, ideally it would go over the torsion tube but there's a cross member just ahead of the torsion tube and a diagonal brace behind it that make it impossible to take that route, the bend is just too tight for the tube without flattening it. So I kept is as tight to the torsion bar as possible and it follows the line of the chassis leg over the trailing arm of the suspension so even on full compression of the rear suspension, there's still clearance.





also made up this little connector/adapter on the CNC at work to connect the header tank to the engine...

[13 window deluxe]

[trev]

[splitbusvanatic]

Seen your post on STF. Trev. Didn't realise it was you until I wandered back onto here and seen this. That's a shame. I thought you were all set with the fabia one.

[72panelvan]

mine wasn't far off being plug and play? it's from a 1996 AAZ - self supported type, just needed the holes to be redrilled and filled with liquid metal but it engages correctly.

[trev]

AAZ Golf or AAZ Passat? They came with different gearboxes so the starters are different too.

I have a solution in place now but it's with a starter I have borrowed for the short term. I'm hunting for a permanent replacement myself. I made this adapter plate:



and after a little on-site clearancing to get it in beside the bellhousing, the B4 Passat TDI (1Z) starter bolts right up. It's a 2kW motor so plenty strong to turn the engine.



now that the starter is in place, I was able to crank the engine over. It fires up and runs for a few seconds then dies. Mind you, there's only 2 litres of diesel in the tank as it's all I had to hand last night at 11PM so it's more than likely sucking in air from the tank.

[trev]

well, three gallons of diesel, a new fuel filter and a quick priming of both the pump and the filter and it started with ease! I hastily lashed up the fan onto the radiator with bungee cords and took it for a two-mile spin around the block. It drives nicely! There are some vibrations in the van at certain RPMs but with the top hatch on, the westy matress/cushion on over the rear shelf area and the engine lid closed, it's not that noisy!

It's shake-down from here on in, tying up loose ends, sorting out little issues as they arise etc. I have yet to get it up to "HOT" but I'm hoping the water pipes and hoses stay put. I haven't flared the end of the MDPE pipes at all so one of them popping off concerns me. I'll see how it goes

[splitbusvanatic]

Mighty news Trev.
Great to get it rolling under it's own steam.
Diesel all the way baby.

[northern lass]

hi trev
im i right in thinking that the engine is out of a golf deisel
ifso do they have a ecu and do you need the clocks as im thinking do doing this convestion my self
would be gratfull for any help and info
thanks dawn

[trev]

Yep. Mk3 golf or vento. No ecu to worry about.