1989 944 s2 TDI BHW swap!!!

tims944

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2019
Location
montreal quebec
TDI
2015 Golf Sportwagen TDI, 2006 mk5 tdi-SOLD 1989 944 s2 BHW swapped
So where was i, okay so pretty much sorted the main 5 possible issues, oil, coolant, steering, boost pipes and... engine mounting. bam engine is in place,

The bhw mainly uses quick connect style hoses or outlets and piping. NO THANKS

so i modified and or swapped out for simpler stuff, the rear coolant passage block is actually a BRM !, on a 944 the heater core is on the pass firewall but the outlets are only about 2" maybe apart and about 5/8" OD. and on all 944s the feed line for the core comes from the water pump or sorry maybe thats the return but regardless i cant run a line safely there because all the intake and exhaust and what not so an alternative was needed. Since i deleted the oil cooler/heater... for colder climates i didnt need to run the coolant lines to or from it, this gave me sort of spare outlets.

Now on the back of a bhw water passage i think there are normally 3 outlets, 1 down and 1 out each side, well for a brm theres only the 2, NO need to block or weld or what not that some people do... no idea why...

so i simplified it and only ran the 2, 1 of them goes directly into the heater core, and the other is actually the redirect of the line comming off the upper rad outlet, it runs through a big metal s liked shape pipe than a 90 degree rubber to the outlet.

Now also.. on a tdi the lines get plumbed to the reservoir etc, well on a 944 the line(feed) and vent for the overflow go straight to the rad and well since it has its own nice place i left the oem one in place and also modded up this pipe to only have 1 in and 1 outlet.

now the other pipe, The themostat housing also houses a metal pipe which goes all bendy curvy and ugly and this that, yuk... so annoying to plan and or calculate so screw it... i cut/ welded modified blah blah and poof this outlet now goes to my heater control valve(vacuum operated) for my heater core.


Next the thermostat plastic outlet, this usually just goes at an angle and has a quick connect hose to the lower rad inlet.. forget it.. i bought i think 4 different designs, the alh, 1.8t and even than there were different ones, if im not mistaken i chose the simple alh which goes offset at like 90' but shoots out about 4". i than built a custom aluminum crossover.

Big issue here, almost all tdis or at least the bhw has all its rad connections on 1 side.....

well that doesnt work for me, 1. the tdi rad is way too big length wise to fit(also has trans cooler... unneeeded)
2. no desire to use it...

3. the stock 944 rad has ample space and good options.

so i used the 944 one made a nice fancy cross over built some braces and boom it fits

as for alternate cooling

the Bhw normally runs a thermowhatever you call it clutch fan... well to my eyes this is just a maintenance or breakdown part... the 944 has 2 electric fans controlled solely by a relay and a thermoswitch in the rad.... DING DING DING, so simple as the bhw also normally has a sensor like this on the lower rad hose, so... off goes the clutch fan and in comes the dual electric 2 speed fans.. :)


now that i freed up some more space i can look into belt and bracket options
 

tims944

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2019
Location
montreal quebec
TDI
2015 Golf Sportwagen TDI, 2006 mk5 tdi-SOLD 1989 944 s2 BHW swapped
I probably honestly spent 40 hours of nonsense and wasted time at pick & pulls trying to figure this out because i never had the parts needed in hand for comparisons because lack of thought and brain farts...

So, the bhw runs ac on passenger side, Power steering, alternator on driver side.

No Power steering removed... and for the time being no ac removed....

well that leaves a lot of space... now (initial plan, but now on backburner) plan was to run the stock 944 AC compressor, simply has 1 trigger wire independtly run(pretty much) and have some stock hoses customized to fit/adapt. but i ran into multiple problems with staeering shaft and the engine mount bracket etc, so for now its on the backburner but not ruling it out,

Now.. because of all this i had to find the appropriate acc bracket... well long story short, there are only maybe 2 or 3 different ones and the differences are very very very minor, but do make a big difference, also the annoying one being..

the Bhw tensioner is not a fun design or space helpful so i dumped that.

all in the bew bracket tensioner and alternator pulley became the simplest cheapest alternative

yes i now have lose my bhw crank pulley to run ac if ever but i wouldnt run a 2nd belt anyway so who cares.

this does also allow me to later swap out if desired a 1.8t FLuidampr pulley... depends a lot of vibrations and if i can find a kind sole to help me spend less than the 400$ asking price.

so i mocked everything up tada nice and good and ordered about 3 belts to start all wayyyyy too long, ordered next 3 smaller, and oops 1 too tight, the others too big, i than had to order online as my local parts guy didnt carry i think the dayco belt i found, but lone and behold my 12$ dayco belt fits perfect and with a cricket gauge has and maintains perfect tension! we have an engine that is now charging and keeping the belt on without walking ! tada!!
 

tims944

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2019
Location
montreal quebec
TDI
2015 Golf Sportwagen TDI, 2006 mk5 tdi-SOLD 1989 944 s2 BHW swapped
Now for intakes....

Lets just say i must have changed my mind 20 times..

i think i had 7 different intakes sitting in my garage and well eventually just went for simplicity, airflow and cost.

I started with a pd150 imported driverside port intake... but than realized why run all the extra boost plumbing for nothing... i could just swap a passenger side intake and go from there...


i than stumbled upon quite a few flow chart testings and it seems the BRM intake is actually one of the best and superior... so why pay big money or decent money to import or source one when i can go and pull a brm one from a pick and pull and pay like 10$...

so thats what i did, pulled and intake and worked on the rest...

Now, the brm has a secondary section of the intake which houses the egr and than after that has the Anti shudder valve.

so the bhw also has the ASV valve, and as many times as i read it can be deleted with litle issues on PD engines, compared to injection pump motors i wanted to keep it for comfort.

now... the ASV valve wont bolt directly to the brm intake,... hmmm

yes they have adaptors for egr delete kit and if youve looked before yikes there not cheap...

but what is cheap.. pulling garbage parts for pennies and cutting them up and welding your own custom brackets !!

so i found another intake, another asv etc etc and voila my extension was born!!
the main reason i actually wanted this was also i made solid alum 2.25" intercooler plumbing but planned on having the intake turn 90degree in front of the timing belt covers as getting closer and closer to the hood latch i had to get lower and cross over for the intercooler.

bing bang boom and the stock asv was installed and clock to keep a pretty level line.

Yes i know the quick connect rubber clamping style hoses always fail bla blah, i havent made one of those like horshoe clamp braces to help tighten it up, but until i need to it works fine for now,(replaced all the proper seals for the joints and seems good.)

so the intercooler to intake is plumbed ! and into the intercooler outlet. Cutting and welding a map port on was super easy, also found a sweet ebay weld on bung for the map with different sized adaptors depending on design ! yay


The turbo side.. well if i didnt already mention i did lots of work and ended up sourcing a freshly rebuilt bv43( rebuilt in germany :) ) and my total cost out the door would scare some people into space considering what im sure theyve paid ha,...

But no i did not have the frans or what not mod done to reinforce or swap out for a better impellar etc.. im not going for records just a good solid power level to enjoy.

Now from that, most who do the bv43 swap have to worry about converting there quick connect intercooler lines to clamped. I DONT :) all my outlets are barbed say and well clamps galore, the other sweet bonus on the bv43, how easy it is to clock the turbo outlet to pretty much any position i needed pending proper space, which made plumbing the outlet super simple into the intercooler so that was super simple.

As for the already deleted egr, making a simple egr block off plate for the manifold took all of 5 minutes and a new gasket tada !

Now exhaust.. this i only actually just finished today ! april 22,2020 !

i had made a mock up down pipe, and just left it at a 90' turnning into the tunnel for now.

I made my downpipe off a stock alh 90' reclocked it and added a nice 2.25" stainless flex pipe, than used a bull horn section to curve arround, into the tunnel and than honestly just used basically a stock 944 muffler, and some straight sections of stainless. the complete exhaust is 2.25" and there is only a muffler didnt bother butting a cat as im sure the turbo appreciates it + its really not that loud to begin with.

the only thing i know for sure is, i have heat sheathing wrapped on my coolant lines for my heater core as there about 4-6" away and i will be making a heat shield cover for the stock bhw starter as the downpipe now comes within probably 1-2" next to it... which isnt ideal but meh..
 

tims944

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2019
Location
montreal quebec
TDI
2015 Golf Sportwagen TDI, 2006 mk5 tdi-SOLD 1989 944 s2 BHW swapped
thats it for tonight, tomorrow ill focus on some pictures and if i manage to get VCDS hooked up ill work on a small video clip for those eager beavers!

cheers
 

Momentslater

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 2, 2018
Location
Calgary, AB, Canada
TDI
2003 Jetta 535k km
I'm in the works of doing a CR swap into a 944. Have chose to cut up an 02J transmission for the bellhousing and make an adapter plate for the torque tube.
Will be looking into using an upgraded Turbo intercooler from Lindsey racing.
Gonna stick with the stock cluster as most of it can be made to work with the VW ECUs. There's a unused light opposite to the high beams that can be wired in as a glowplug light.
Going to also use to the stock rad and rad fans as well.
I will be getting most of the wiring harness made by Fast Forward Automotive. Will also be using their modules for cruise control and rpm.
Have yet to really figure out what to do about the AC and Power Steering yet, most likely gonna run the VW AC compressor and use a electric power steering pump out of a Saturn Astra or something like that.
I'm currently pondering my options for the crossmember, what did you end up deciding on?
Will be going with a 2wd 01E or 01X later down the road as the swap isn't that hard from the 016 already in the car, just need a come up with a coupler from Porsches 24t 25mm spline to Audi's spline.
 

tims944

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2019
Location
montreal quebec
TDI
2015 Golf Sportwagen TDI, 2006 mk5 tdi-SOLD 1989 944 s2 BHW swapped
I'm in the works of doing a CR swap into a 944. Have chose to cut up an 02J transmission for the bellhousing and make an adapter plate for the torque tube.
Will be looking into using an upgraded Turbo intercooler from Lindsey racing.
Gonna stick with the stock cluster as most of it can be made to work with the VW ECUs. There's a unused light opposite to the high beams that can be wired in as a glowplug light.
Going to also use to the stock rad and rad fans as well.
I will be getting most of the wiring harness made by Fast Forward Automotive. Will also be using their modules for cruise control and rpm.
Have yet to really figure out what to do about the AC and Power Steering yet, most likely gonna run the VW AC compressor and use a electric power steering pump out of a Saturn Astra or something like that.
I'm currently pondering my options for the crossmember, what did you end up deciding on?
Will be going with a 2wd 01E or 01X later down the road as the swap isn't that hard from the 016 already in the car, just need a come up with a coupler from Porsches 24t 25mm spline to Audi's spline.
It is in my experience that to use the 02J housing to properly mount a starter you have to sent or cut into the tunnel/firewall.. a big reason I didn't do this, unless you space it back enough so will be interesting.

I didn't chose a CR motor as it's not something I've spent much time working on and frankly the cost of one was much more and what not.

The Porsche shaft is 23 teeth as an fyi not 24. I have a few couplers I made for myself.

I probably could have used the stock cluster but I wanted a more or less completely independent system.

As much as I like the 80s a cluster I can barely see or that has very common issues and isn't cheap to service doesn't sound like a good long term thing. A cluster that are everywhere and can modify all kinds with. And much better visibility and accuracy of gauges was more appealing to me.

Look forward to some pictures or progress of your swap.
I built my own subframe. Be prepared to be very very creative. I'm not familiar with the stars steering but I wonder if it's similar to the Chevy cobalt set up where the motor is mounted under the dash on the column. Because there really won't be a lot of space when you mount the motor and the rack. I'm running a 924 manual rack and it's the lowest placed item on my car....

Cheers.
 

Momentslater

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 2, 2018
Location
Calgary, AB, Canada
TDI
2003 Jetta 535k km
It is in my experience that to use the 02J housing to properly mount a starter you have to sent or cut into the tunnel/firewall.. a big reason I didn't do this, unless you space it back enough so will be interesting.
I didn't chose a CR motor as it's not something I've spent much time working on and frankly the cost of one was much more and what not.
The Porsche shaft is 23 teeth as an fyi not 24. I have a few couplers I made for myself.
I probably could have used the stock cluster but I wanted a more or less completely independent system.
As much as I like the 80s a cluster I can barely see or that has very common issues and isn't cheap to service doesn't sound like a good long term thing. A cluster that are everywhere and can modify all kinds with. And much better visibility and accuracy of gauges was more appealing to me.
Look forward to some pictures or progress of your swap.
I built my own subframe. Be prepared to be very very creative. I'm not familiar with the stars steering but I wonder if it's similar to the Chevy cobalt set up where the motor is mounted under the dash on the column. Because there really won't be a lot of space when you mount the motor and the rack. I'm running a 924 manual rack and it's the lowest placed item on my car....
Cheers.
It's just a power steering pump, but it's an electric motor. Any chance you'd be willing to part with one of those adapters? In the case of the bellhousing I don't mind doing some unorthodox "clearancing" on the firewall, the car is a 85/2 NA and has a rebuilt title and 260k km so it really isn't worth much to anyone else other than myself. Is there any chance you have pictures of the crossmember you made? How much more depth did you have to make vs the factory crossmember? I'll PM you my contact information and hopefully we can talk more about this! I thought I was alone in this adventure up until now.
 

tims944

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2019
Location
montreal quebec
TDI
2015 Golf Sportwagen TDI, 2006 mk5 tdi-SOLD 1989 944 s2 BHW swapped
Cool, yea my setup wouldnt even fit a power steering rack... and i have very small ammounts of clearance for my rack. i took a peak today to compare id say it almost had to come down easy 2-3 inches... and depends on your definition of parting with i had them made.... they werent cheap... but i will eventually make a few more, the 2 i have are my main one and a spare incase it breaks, i did it a different approach there are much cheaper ways to make them, i can give you contact information for what i bought and well the machine work either have it done locally or what not.. thats where the $$ is if you dont have a good machinist friend ha.. Now i do :p

will work on a video for this weekend been working 55 hour weeks since all this pandemic nonsense,.. and i had to get a new tune as my tuner sort of messed up with the last one, should have the ecu here by friday and can go for a joy ride :p

cheers guys.
 

tims944

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2019
Location
montreal quebec
TDI
2015 Golf Sportwagen TDI, 2006 mk5 tdi-SOLD 1989 944 s2 BHW swapped
Suspension test #1.

So seeing as this has a custom subframe and **** sits pretty low. I finally spent time last weekend installing my all oem coilover suspension ?. With some nice ****. This is my test for ride height. Clears the bigger tires and such but need to re adjust the front. I was worried the specific springs I am running wouldn't give me enough height but there is more than enough.

This is with a fender height of about 28" front and 26" rear will lower the front to about 26 and try like that!

 

turbobrick240

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 18, 2014
Location
maine
TDI
2011 vw golf tdi(gone to greener pastures), 2001 ford f250 powerstroke
The diesel Porsche with a gasser stance! :) The car looks great, very solid. A little mossy, but that ought to clean up nicely.
 

tims944

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2019
Location
montreal quebec
TDI
2015 Golf Sportwagen TDI, 2006 mk5 tdi-SOLD 1989 944 s2 BHW swapped
The diesel Porsche with a gasser stance! :) The car looks great, very solid. A little mossy, but that ought to clean up nicely.
Yea hasn't had it's clean off since last spring yet. A nice wash will clean it all up. The exterior is not my concern for now.

Just got my new tune one today. So hoping to dial it in make sure every thing checks out and try and get a video for you guys !
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Curious as to the weight difference... I know the BHW is physically smaller than the Porsche engine that was in there, but the cast iron block is a bit heavy for its size. Wasn't the 944 like a 60/40 F/R weight distribution? With the BHW it may be 50/50!
 

tims944

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2019
Location
montreal quebec
TDI
2015 Golf Sportwagen TDI, 2006 mk5 tdi-SOLD 1989 944 s2 BHW swapped
Curious as to the weight difference... I know the BHW is physically smaller than the Porsche engine that was in there, but the cast iron block is a bit heavy for its size. Wasn't the 944 like a 60/40 F/R weight distribution? With the BHW it may be 50/50!

The 944 engine weighs a ton.. the 1.5 base is like 325? Maybe more. Turbo over 400. And the 3 0 like it had probably over 400.

I am able to barely move the bhw engine where as the 944 forget it

But the gearbox I'm using is also a bit lighter. And the 944 was very close 50/50 I'm thinking it should be similar but lighter ! One day it'll get corner balanced far far down the road haha.

I'm assuming I dropped 150lbs easy with the swap.
 

tims944

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2019
Location
montreal quebec
TDI
2015 Golf Sportwagen TDI, 2006 mk5 tdi-SOLD 1989 944 s2 BHW swapped
bhw weighs around 375#... more pics please! ;).
Really ? That seems way too much..

Also I've removed a lot off the original motor. And is that the long block or including like flexplate etc.

Next time it's out. I'll weigh it for fun ! Super simple to remove so why not !

And I really dislike the photo uploads with this site. I have a few hundred.. just always bugs out..

I'll try on the weekend.
 

jimbote

Certified Volkswagen Nut
Joined
Jul 10, 2006
Location
spiral arm, milky way (aka central NC)
TDI
Tacoma 4x4 converted to TDI
Really ? That seems way too much..
Also I've removed a lot off the original motor. And is that the long block or including like flexplate etc.
Next time it's out. I'll weigh it for fun ! Super simple to remove so why not !
And I really dislike the photo uploads with this site. I have a few hundred.. just always bugs out..
I'll try on the weekend.
within a few pounds, yes
 

tims944

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2019
Location
montreal quebec
TDI
2015 Golf Sportwagen TDI, 2006 mk5 tdi-SOLD 1989 944 s2 BHW swapped
Quick little update.

Up until now the car had a 944 5 speed gearbox installed.

As of hopefully tomorrow after work or over the weekend.

My 6 speed 01X swap will be complete!!

The gearbox is already in along with driver side axle. Just had to make a small machining correction to passenger side before installing !!

Hello cruising!!

Photos to come. Again sorry. For the delays I can only upload them it seems through my laptop and well getting the pictures on there is a whole other mission.

Cheers.
 

tims944

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2019
Location
montreal quebec
TDI
2015 Golf Sportwagen TDI, 2006 mk5 tdi-SOLD 1989 944 s2 BHW swapped
Finally some new pictures.








 
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tims944

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2019
Location
montreal quebec
TDI
2015 Golf Sportwagen TDI, 2006 mk5 tdi-SOLD 1989 944 s2 BHW swapped
the 01x 2.0l TDi box is fully bolted up, nice 108mm inside cv joint, and 100mm outside joint,
also made a nice heat shield for the starter, the downpipe was kind of close for comfort... and lifetime of the starter might not have been long, nice like 1/16" maybe a bit thicker aluminum plate, 1 section has a big nut bolted to back of starter bolt, and a nice 10mx1.5 onto the block next to oil pan nice and solid.

might actually have it on the road this week again, just so swamped with work, finally made the rest of the intake plumbing to move my air filter to a better spot, tucked in behind front bumper, will probably make a box or cover to really keep the heat away but not too worried since theres so much space, and the motor is pretty far back.

pictures to come for that.
 

mikec944

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 27, 2004
Location
Bel Air, MD
TDI
2012 Golf w/Tech
This is extremely interesting! Of course we’ve seen V8 conversions and 1.8T in the 944, but this combines my two favorite vehicles. Good luck! Looking forward to the outcome!
 

tims944

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2019
Location
montreal quebec
TDI
2015 Golf Sportwagen TDI, 2006 mk5 tdi-SOLD 1989 944 s2 BHW swapped
This is extremely interesting! Of course we’ve seen V8 conversions and 1.8T in the 944, but this combines my two favorite vehicles. Good luck! Looking forward to the outcome!
Yup, not a fan of big v8 cars never have been, and its a tried and tested method but it just leads to costing you because short cuts, break this, break that. i have a few customers with some ls swaps... not my cup of tea.

and the 1.8t... tempting again have one or two customers starting that path but not for me, i dont know the 1.8t platform at all id say never owned one, likely never will. Unless your doing it all in house, the companies putting out stuff arent cheap..

boost bro's... is a costly 07k swap.. NOT 1.8t sorry..

and well motorwerks 1.8 setup is just not at all interesting to me.

i like the simplicity and well the originality of my car now !

not many people can roll coal in a 944 :p
and still get 1000k+ on a tank of fuel
while still packing a mean ammount of torque.

unfortunately ive been working 55+ hour weeks at work since all this pandemic business usually 5-6 days a week.

and because i have a shop i have a lineup of customers 944,968s and such to fix.

hopefully will have some time to finish the final touches soon and actually start enjoying the car, i could take it out now, but until i button down final adjustments and such and have the car alligned i dont really want to go too far.

i will try and post some more informative info over the next few days.. as for pictures might not be much though

cheers.
 

tims944

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2019
Location
montreal quebec
TDI
2015 Golf Sportwagen TDI, 2006 mk5 tdi-SOLD 1989 944 s2 BHW swapped
Quick update, finally extended my MAF harness, and made my proper inlet pipes, just have to install them, and properly plumb my CCV. Hopefully spend some time on her tonight shes been neglected, but enjoy the occasional burn out up the driveway ha..
hopefully take some time off in a few weeks to button up final stuff and start driving her everyday !

pics to come of new intake ducting.
 
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