My 2003 Jetta

Mastertrim

Active member
Joined
Aug 12, 2008
Location
Central, MN
TDI
2003 Jetta ALH; 2004 Golf BEW; 2011 Golf CJAA
I bought in 2005 with 44k miles for I think $15k? It's a GL model, an ALH with manual trans; black cloth w/ heated seats. 260k on er now. Shes been amazingly reliable the past 17 years. Couple timing belts kits, tires, brakes, struts, shocks, springs, batteries and oil changes and filters. 1 egr valve and intake clean, otherwise all original. I do all my own work. Having a shop helps with that. Got in at the last minute for the corrosion TSB, to which VW paid $2000 to fix the body work. Last year spent another $1400 fixing a bit of rust on front fenders and rear dog legs. Spose its helped to have been in a heated garage ever since ive owned it in this rust belt.

Lately (past year) I've had a small oil leak on back side of the head. Then I noticed PS rack is leaking out the boot. Have an axle vibration as well and the turbo vanes are sticking creating an over boost code. So, time has come to do some major servicing. I want to tune the car. Recently I purchased a donor car with some go fast parts on it. It's an 01 ALH w/ 385k with a blown diff. Kerma tune, digital gauge (cant remember name right now), VNT17, PD150 intake, 764 nozzles, 11mm pump, extra trans, new: tires, battery, serp belt, timing belt kit, VR6 clutch kit and more. I'll use what I can and sell the rest. Debating on building donor motor and doing swap or just fixing up mine. I know the vnt17 and 764's are not necessarily a fan favorite in the big HP/Torque crowd, although not sure that's what I want or not. I'm open to other combinations. Then there is the trans... LSD? 6spd? As of now donor is down to long block and on a stand, all bolt on's have been inspected and cleaned as needed. Thanks for reading!
 

benIV

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2009
Location
Southeast NC
TDI
2003 PG 5m Jetta GL Sedan, 2003 RS 5m Jetta GLS Wagon (Golf Variant)
Looking forward to seeing what you decide and how it moves along/turns out. Looks great!
 

reince

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 13, 2017
Location
GA
TDI
2006 Beetle
Howdy! Hope to hear some updates about your Jetta.
 

Nevada_TDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 17, 2008
Location
Reno, sort of...
TDI
2001 Jetta TDI
I bought in 2005 with 44k miles for I think $15k? It's a GL model, an ALH with manual trans; black cloth w/ heated seats. 260k on er now. Shes been amazingly reliable the past 17 years. Couple timing belts kits, tires, brakes, struts, shocks, springs, batteries and oil changes and filters. 1 egr valve and intake clean, otherwise all original. I do all my own work. Having a shop helps with that. Got in at the last minute for the corrosion TSB, to which VW paid $2000 to fix the body work. Last year spent another $1400 fixing a bit of rust on front fenders and rear dog legs. Spose its helped to have been in a heated garage ever since ive owned it in this rust belt.

Lately (past year) I've had a small oil leak on back side of the head. Then I noticed PS rack is leaking out the boot. Have an axle vibration as well and the turbo vanes are sticking creating an over boost code. So, time has come to do some major servicing. I want to tune the car. Recently I purchased a donor car with some go fast parts on it. It's an 01 ALH w/ 385k with a blown diff. Kerma tune, digital gauge (cant remember name right now), VNT17, PD150 intake, 764 nozzles, 11mm pump, extra trans, new: tires, battery, serp belt, timing belt kit, VR6 clutch kit and more. I'll use what I can and sell the rest. Debating on building donor motor and doing swap or just fixing up mine. I know the vnt17 and 764's are not necessarily a fan favorite in the big HP/Torque crowd, although not sure that's what I want or not. I'm open to other combinations. Then there is the trans... LSD? 6spd? As of now donor is down to long block and on a stand, all bolt on's have been inspected and cleaned as needed. Thanks for reading!
How much HP do you want? The VNT-17 and 764's make a respectable amount of power.
 

Andyinchville1

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2016
Location
Virginia
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI wagon, 5 sp, 226K miles
HI,

Sounds like good times ahead ...

I"ll recommend 5 speed tranny with Wave Trac and a 6th gear add on ( THAT is what I want my tranny to be! .... If you decide on that let me know maybe we can get a group buy going together (I have a separate thread on that but so far no takers ..... (of course if you are dropping the trans anyways get a South Bend Stage 3 clutch for good measure).

Anyways, as far as Turbo .....

If money is no object I would do the Darkside Tubular exhaust headers with the latest generation (GTD?) 2260 turbo ....

If 2260 is too much, I'd LOVE to see what would happen if somebody took those same Darkside Exhaust headers and mated it to a VNT 17.... yeah different BUT I would be curious to see what happens performance wise with that combo (power and MPG) .

Andrew
 

Mastertrim

Active member
Joined
Aug 12, 2008
Location
Central, MN
TDI
2003 Jetta ALH; 2004 Golf BEW; 2011 Golf CJAA
HI,

Sounds like good times ahead ...

I"ll recommend 5 speed tranny with Wave Trac and a 6th gear add on ( THAT is what I want my tranny to be! .... If you decide on that let me know maybe we can get a group buy going together (I have a separate thread on that but so far no takers ..... (of course if you are dropping the trans anyways get a South Bend Stage 3 clutch for good measure).

Anyways, as far as Turbo .....

If money is no object I would do the Darkside Tubular exhaust headers with the latest generation (GTD?) 2260 turbo ....

If 2260 is too much, I'd LOVE to see what would happen if somebody took those same Darkside Exhaust headers and mated it to a VNT 17.... yeah different BUT I would be curious to see what happens performance wise with that combo (power and MPG) .

Andrew

Just read your thread abou the add on 6th! Very interesting! $1700 or so shipped? I'll get this thing running and on the road first.
 

Mastertrim

Active member
Joined
Aug 12, 2008
Location
Central, MN
TDI
2003 Jetta ALH; 2004 Golf BEW; 2011 Golf CJAA
Got my head back from Frank, with a port and stage 2 cam and 764's dialed in. Short block is good, just re-sealing everything. Few other new parts, steering rack, ball joints. Cleaning everything and painting as needed. SB stage 2 endurance clutch. It's coming together!
 
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