VW Swap

[raccoon]

so Ive been trying to figure out what to do with my rust free 87 Reliant 2 door

I think ive made up my mind and I want to put a diesel engine in it. is this a crazy good or crazy bad idea?

I can get a 01 TDI jetta drive train for the scrap value. do engine mounts exist? since VW and chryco worked together so long ago. maybe if i order 1.7 omni mounts it might bolt up?

[iTurbo]

Well.....a 1.8L Turbo would be a lot cooler and wouldn't smell so bad! If you can, head to a junkyard and maybe you can find an old Omni to compare and take notes. The Reliant uses longer motor mounts though since it had a larger engine bay than the Omni. I'm not sure if any K-cars got the 1.7 VW motor in the early 80s or not....I think they were all 2.2L or Mitsu 2.6L.

[raccoon]

the 1.8T would be neat but I want to see what kind of MPG I can get. with the big heavy bodies those jettas get great mileage, I can only imagine what kind of MPG you would get with the light k body.

[turbovanman²]

I can check tomorrow but I am 99% sure the TDI has different mounts than a K/L car but I don't see why you couldn't make any. As for tranny's, the old 404 3 speed auto fit the VW 1.7's and I guess the 4/5 speeds of that era too.

[135sohc]

search youtube for Davidsfarm

he put a tdi in a first gen caravan. has a couple video's on how he did everything

[turbovanman²]

search youtube for Davidsfarm

he put a tdi in a first gen caravan. has a couple video's on how he did everything

Isn't that the guy that had his K car up in the roof rafters in his barn?

[135sohc]

Isn't that the guy that had his K car up in the roof rafters in his barn?

yup thats him


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8r3Vcjp58o

[Nemesismachine]

my boss just traded his tdi golf in on a new one, 59mpg. makes up the difference in the cost of diesel by about 30%

[Vigo]

and a reliant is WAY lighter than a jetta. they're under 2500 full weight.

the old 404 4spd should bolt up assuming its the same pattern as the 1.8 because ive heard of somebody putting a 404 and 1.8 together...

i think its the most badass idea ever and ive thought of it many times myself but never been in a position to buy a tdi motor for cheap.

i bet you could easily get over 50mpg and i bet itd be quick too.. some tdi jettas have gotten into the 13s and those are over 3000 lbs.

[altered7151]

I think its an awesome idea. I'd really like to find one and put it into a lightweight rear wheel drive like a miata or rx-7. It would move pretty good and get amazing gas mileage in something that light.

[Vigo]

hehe but you'd have to upgear the rear end or you'd redline it in 5th at like 75. those things are geared low and getting tall enough gears for the stock rearends might be tricky.

[MopàrBCN]

Logically it's a question of taste, and yes a TDI provides a lot of miles for the buck.

But bear in mind:

1. The economy is quite relative. Yes, you can get an average of 7 liters per 100 km (60miles) but if I want to I can get quite happily 8 liters per 100 km with my daytona. Now, one liter more gives me the fun to kick --- any TDI I want to (inkl. 3.0 TDI)

2. Yes, you get quite impressive torque with a tdi - but that's it. ones it get's up to speed it slows down dramatically

Ok, in my case it's a bit of an image thing as well. In Europe doing this would equal putting a Camaro Engine in a TD in the USA.

Maybe this rules it out for me in the first place, but then, I don't see that much of an advantage doing this swap once you consider the hard facts. You'd have to do a lot of driving until you could say this swap has really paid off.

The only good thing about the VW TDI engine (and then get one of the earlier years) is durability. They are durable engines.

[Vigo]

a modded tdi aries would be plenty quick enough to keep up with most lightly-modded turbo dodges.

I guess it has narrow appeal but to me it just seems fantastic.

[MopàrBCN]

As I said, it's basically a question of taste. Rationally nothing speaks against a TDI Engine. ANd the challange is there. However if economy is the prime driver for the project I doubt it would result in a benefit.

Without a question is, anyone doing such a project (or whatever other crazy project) deserves total respect!

Thinking about economy - I don't know about the availability of Liquid Propane Gas in the United States as a car fuel. Here in Europe, this is a definete Economoy mod of any Gasoline Engine built prior to 2003 for the simple fact that LPG costs half the price gasoline does (This is here an argument because our fuel prices are way higher then those in the USA-so maybe LPG and gasoline are equally priced in USA and thus you wouldn't have a benefit).
Now, without modding your ECU you lose a bit in performance due to it's Stoichmetric of 15:1 against 14:1 and it's high Octane Rating (110). But if you tune your SMEC for this, you'd even gain potential. And it's cheap to do. Here a whole kit (sequential injection) would cost about 600-800 Euros with a 90 liter cilindertank which you can fit at the spare tire location. And the best thing is you don't lose running your car on gasoline if you'd want/need to. And finally, this would be environmental friendly. It burns much cleaner then gasoline.

[rich tideswell]

found you a swap cannidate, cheap too

http://detroit.craigslist.org/cto/1009716913.html

["Top Fuel" Bender]

found you a swap cannidate, cheap too

http://detroit.craigslist.org/cto/1009716913.html

did they make stick vw powered dodges?????

[rbryant]

did they make stick vw powered dodges?????

Weren't they a varient of the 460/465 4 speed? (predecessor to the 525)

If so can you put the 525 5th gear extension on them?

This seems like a horrible thought given the weakness of the 525....

Running a VW tranny and making a custom mount is probably a better choice....

-Rich

[rich tideswell]

i'm pretty sure its the 4speed vw trans out of a rabbit.

[bradp]

i'm pretty sure its the 4speed vw trans out of a rabbit.

Yep thats the transmission. The A460 was used behind the 2.2 starting in 81

[Big_P]

I'd avoid any VW engine like the plague. There have to be other options for you.

[bradp]

I'd avoid any VW engine like the plague. There have to be other options for you.

Why do you say that? The TDI will run a hell of a lot longer than our TD's will.