Samurai TDI swap

That looks amazing!!!!

Bczuk said:

It's a textured powder coat. I ordered it from Prismatic Coating. They have the best selection for colors and sell the paint by the single pound which is nice for small jobs. They will also mail you up to 5 free color sample cards at a time
This color has a neat metallic flake to it which is cool. We've been powder coating at my family's business for over 20 years so it's nice to finally have some awesome colors available for decent prices
http://www.prismaticpowders.com/colors/P-1110B/midnight-blue-cast/

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Thanx very much for the info. That is a really cool color. They seem to have reasonable prices on their powders. I don't do any powder coating myself but I regularly have stuff coated (mostly for clients) and I will find out if my regular guy can get them. Thanx for the link too.

Jaysin

Wow, you have some awesome skills I really like your attention to detail. I'll be tackling my TDI swap and suspension soon.

Thanks

I've been finishing up the little things to keep the project going forward.

I bought a OBA setup off of eBay. It didn't fit well so I ended up taking it apart so it would fit behind my seat in what was empty space.

Another bonus is the pump to tank line is a copy of my high pressure power steering hose so I now have a trail spare (my buddies great idea)

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/PUMA-12-VOLT-1-5-GALLON-OIL-LESS-AIR-COMPRESSOR-FREE-SHIPPING-/280790586347




Fuel lines and tank vent are finished




The wiring is starting to get routed. I also found a tiny 300 watt amp that tucked up under the dash perfectly. It measures 1.53 x 4.25 x 6.75 inches and has great reviews from the touring bike crowd.

I was able to get the engine computer to mount above the amp so both should be very safe

What alternator and power steering pump are you running. I talked with Acme, and they said for the AHU motor I am running, their GM alternator and bracket will interfere with the turbo inlet and cannot be used. Also, I can't find out what pulleys I can get for these TDis and ditch the serpentine.

sikmusicfreak8 said:

What alternator and power steering pump are you running. I talked with Acme, and they said for the AHU motor I am running, their GM alternator and bracket will interfere with the turbo inlet and cannot be used. Also, I can't find out what pulleys I can get for these TDis and ditch the serpentine.

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Use a different exhaust manifold!!!!

Finally hit a major milestone and got our first start up on Sunday



After this video was shot I chased a few minor leaks and was able to get it timed with vcds. Sounds a lot less like a tractor now.

One issue we are having is the glow plug relay not getting triggered (had to bypass for startup) My harness is a 4 wire and we are thinking that the computer wants a 2 wire set up.


Since this was a unknown Craigslist motor I was very relieved when nothing strange happened at start up. Also glad the adapter worked out

samurai > every other suv

My Car Is Stock said:

samurai > every other suv

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This.

Well, after a really long time my Samurai TDI swap is now driving

Our local Aircare program is over at the end of the month so I will wait the couple weeks before dealing with insurance but I have made a few laps around my neighborhood. Can't really do much other than get up to 3rd but so far it feels great. I might throw a day permit on it soon so I can get out on a main road and see how it really is. I don't know if the GTB turbos come ready to go from RyanP or if I will have to start playing with adjustments.

Here's a quick video of my first lap around the block



How it looks under the hood. Smaller motor than the 22re but it sure filled up fast under there

Very interesting radiator setup you are using. Got any pix of how low the bottom of the radiator is exactly?

You can kinda see how low it sits in this post

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showpost.php?p=4227262&postcount=31



Its not much lower than the frame but my frame is also not stock anymore



The radiator/intercooler height and width is almost the same footprint as the 22re radiator I was running before

sounds great!.... can't wait to hear your impressions of the VK

jimbote said:

sounds great!.... can't wait to hear your impressions of the VK

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Thanks. I am looking forward to trying it out. I might not be able to wait 2 more weeks for insurance. There is a group going snow wheeling new years day so it would be nice to give it a few good test runs and join them

The registration papers on my sidekick were changed to diesel and aircare was not an issue (as long as you arent billowing out black smoke). I still want to check this swap out when I am home next.

Good to know, thanks. I might just go for it


Let me know when you are around and we can meet up. I'd like to check out your Sidekick too

I did some more test driving yesterday. This time with the doors and top back on. All I can say is it is LOUD on the inside of the cab. I still have a couple holes to seal up on the passenger firewall which aren't helping much since the turbo and air filter are right on the other side but I think I will be investing in some sound deadener or something for the firewall to knock it down a bit. I guess I cant be too surprised since its a big tin can with only a metal firewall in between the motor and cab

I also am chasing some air pockets in the coolant lines and need to play with the turbo a bit. RyanP said the turbo should be almost bang on for setup from him but when I clocked the inlet I must have put the bracket for the arm out of wack. It's building boost quickly but topping out around 20 psi instead of the 28 that Mark set the tune at. I am also getting a low bark when I was off the throttle at low speeds.

Some minor speed bumps but as it is it pulls the truck around my block with ease

Sweet looking build man!
I just read through the whole thing looking for some convincing for the same swap.
I just got in to the Samurai game not too long ago and happened to pick up a very clean 2000 jetta with bad IP for a steal. The car is so nice for 315K miles on the clock, I just cant make up my mind if to fix it for my teenage son soon to be driving, or swap in gasser to that body and save ALH for my Samurai...
Also, how do you survive for over two years without going out wheeling? Do you have other toys to substitute this one?
And another Q. I see most people DD their TDI Samurai. Would you do it if it was only trail/sand playing trailer queen?

OK12V said:

Sweet looking build man!
I just read through the whole thing looking for some convincing for the same swap.
I just got in to the Samurai game not too long ago and happened to pick up a very clean 2000 jetta with bad IP for a steal. The car is so nice for 315K miles on the clock, I just cant make up my mind if to fix it for my teenage son soon to be driving, or swap in gasser to that body and save ALH for my Samurai...
Also, how do you survive for over two years without going out wheeling? Do you have other toys to substitute this one?


And another Q. I see most people DD their TDI Samurai. Would you do it if it was only trail/sand playing trailer queen?

I will wait until I have more time driving it before forming much of an opinion but I think a 3rz or something would be pretty fun in the sand. Or do some head work on the tdi so you can get higher revs

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-Thanks!
-Nothing else so it was tough. Maybe a few nights of regret
-I will wait until I have more time driving it before forming much of an opinion but I think a 3rz or something would be pretty fun in the sand. Or do some head work on the tdi so you good power at high rpm

I haven't had any more time to work on the Samurai but am still figuring out a plan of attack to quiet down the interior

Do you have any more pictures of your front bumper? Really like how you built that and what winch did you use to be able to fit behind the bumper? Thanks

When I remade the front 1/3 of my frame I made a mount for the winch that is welded in between the frame rails. This made it so the bumper could be made out of light material. I used 14 gauge for most of it. The winch is a older Warn 8000

If you click the link in my sig it goes to my build thread which has lots of pictures.

While I have been waiting on parts to fix a coolant leak I have been spending way too much time reading about sound proofing. My Samurai has no flooring other than rhinoliner over the metal so it is not as easy to do as if I had carpet to lay sound proofing under.


I don't have much experience with this type of product but I think I have it narrowed down to using a press on layer of butyl based product like this 'Damplifier' in key areas on the firewall and then coat the firewall, foot wells and under the front seats with the spectrum liquid deadener.

http://store.secondskinaudio.com/damplifier/

http://store.secondskinaudio.com/spectrum/

They rep says the spectrum hardens to a very durable surface but you can also top coat it after 7-10 days of curing so I might need to rhino line over in the foot wells for added protection

This would cost a couple hundred dollars to do plus my time so if it works I think it would be well worth it especially for longer trips with my kids. I know the Samurai will never be a quiet vehicle but I am hoping I can knock down the direct engine noise.

There are of course a wide variety of products and brands that people use so if anyone has some reviews I would be happy to hear them. The Second Skin stuff seemed to pop up quite often while searching other forums

Subscribed.

Some progress has been made the last few weeks. Started by stripping down the interior. Taking off the old tar mat was a bit of a pain but worth it I think

Once I had everything stripped I wipe it all down with degreaser and started putting down the Damplifer mat. It's a layer of Butyl rubber with a thick aluminum backing. I did from the firewall to the back of the front seats

Then I brushed in 4 coats of Spectrum liquid deadener. It was really easy to work with and I ended up using 1 gallon getting it a bit thicker than a credit card.

It can be top coated after a week so around 10 days later I sprayed it with 2 coats of bed liner. This covered all the brush marks and will give it a good protective layer. My buddy also drew up a new shifter cover and top plate for me and another cut it out on the water jet. I also took a large piece of 1.5" thick closed cell foam and ran it on top of the tranny to the back of the rear tcase. This should knock down a lot of the gear noise

In case you missed my other thread my motor had a bad head gasket so I worked on the interior while waiting on parts. Whitbread was kind enough to do some port work on a head he had and shipped it up to me. I bought a Colt stage 2 cam and had the head rebuilt with new valves etc.
Here it is ready to be installed

On Friday night we got the head back on nice and tight with ARP studs. Today I started installing a BRM sprocket on my oil pump. This along with some cutting on my oil pan should gain me a bit more up travel.

Made a tool to hold the crank while I get that pesky bolt out

Now I can start slowly putting everything back together. Cant wait to drive this thing

Sweet build man.

Wohoo! Can't wait to hear driving impressions and see some vids with a good running motor!

Whitbread said:

Wohoo! Can't wait to hear driving impressions and see some vids with a good running motor!

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Work has been really busy the last couple weeks so haven't had much time to do anything. I am hoping to get some garage time this week.


Its killing me to see it almost finished

I have been working on this again and yesterday was the big day. I drove it the 25 miles to work and used it to travel across the line to grab some parts. Did around 80 miles total and everything went well

I haven't looked into the factory speedo situation yet but used my iPad to track speed. With my w56 tranny, 5.29s and 37" tires I am about 2800 rpm at 65 mph. Feels pretty good so I think I can live with that. I have been taking it easy to let my clutch work in but the power is really impressive. There is a large long hill climb to get up to my area of town and I can easily go up it in 4th. Before passing someone up the hill was a planned attack and now it will no longer be an issue

A view I had really missed



I pulled over a couple times on the way to work to make sure nothing was leaking etc but it was all good



Finished interior. All the sound proofing effort I did while the head was off made a huge difference.

Very nice work, bczuk - looks great!

What kind of boost are you holding at speed?