AKAvant
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Oct 12, 2010
- Location
- Europe
- TDI
- 2004 Audi A4 Avant 1.9TDI Quattro, 2002 VW California, 1998 Jetta TDI (Sold 6/16), 1997 B4 Passat TDI, 1993 Eurovan Weekender 1Z m-TDI conversion (Sold 5/12), 1992 AHU powered B3 Syncro Wagon
So I’ve started this thread before on a few different forums but after a longer hiatus I’ve begun working on the car again and decided to commit to one thread on this forum only. This decision is based mainly on the depth and quality of the information that this forum provides.
I’ll be summing up over a year of work so I apologize if the content is a little thin describing event up until now. I recently dove fully back into the project and detailed updates will follow these first posts.
So the back story….in August of 2010 I found a 1991 B3 Passat Wagon with the 16v engine and the 096 auto transmission which I purchased for $300 and towed home. Exterior and interior were in pretty good shape with almost zero rust. She needed a new water pump, muffler and various other maintenance items but once tuned up she was my main transportation for 7 Alaskan winter months. 28mpg on the highway with a 20yr auto impressed me. That little 16v was actually a really impressive motor.
A winter drive up to Talkeetna, AK with a great view of Denali.
A few weeks later a friend of mine finally decided to sell his AHU (k24 turbo) powered1992 B3 Passat Wagon Syncro. It had spent most of its life in Canada and was rusted through and through. It had also been recently tagged by an F150 on the left rear quarter panel, so it was a good donor canidate. When I took possession it was missing a rear brake so I was never able to drive it. The swap wasn’t the prettiest, with part of the original B3 harness spliced into the AHU (Jetta) harness with not all TDI parts used. The original B3 pedal cluster was customized to accommodate the potentiometer and the cruise control never worked. So I have a lot of sleuthing in the electronics still to do along with a million other things.
Towing the donor Passat home. She looks good in the picture but don’t be fooled, she’s a rotten tart.
Here is the thread I had begun on the ‘tex
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?5017953-Finally-got-a-B3-Wagon
So here’s the donor finally in the garage and getting torn into.
Once those last pictures were taken I basically was unable to touch the Passat project for 8 months. Thanks mainly to working in the Alaska Range for 2 months and then a town 120miles south of my home for 3 months.
Swapping a used block into a ’98 Jetta with a blown motor and saving it from the junkyard slowed me down too. But that thing is blast to drive now and is my new winter car.
Finishing up a 1Z swap into a 1993 Eurovan Weekender burned some time too. I used an M-TDI pump from the European LT van since the previous owner hadn’t started the swap with the correct wiring to make it a TDI. But damn that pump with the stock injectors moves the van more than adequately. And we recorded 38mpg on the highway after I installed the .681 5th gear.
I’ll be summing up over a year of work so I apologize if the content is a little thin describing event up until now. I recently dove fully back into the project and detailed updates will follow these first posts.
So the back story….in August of 2010 I found a 1991 B3 Passat Wagon with the 16v engine and the 096 auto transmission which I purchased for $300 and towed home. Exterior and interior were in pretty good shape with almost zero rust. She needed a new water pump, muffler and various other maintenance items but once tuned up she was my main transportation for 7 Alaskan winter months. 28mpg on the highway with a 20yr auto impressed me. That little 16v was actually a really impressive motor.
A winter drive up to Talkeetna, AK with a great view of Denali.
A few weeks later a friend of mine finally decided to sell his AHU (k24 turbo) powered1992 B3 Passat Wagon Syncro. It had spent most of its life in Canada and was rusted through and through. It had also been recently tagged by an F150 on the left rear quarter panel, so it was a good donor canidate. When I took possession it was missing a rear brake so I was never able to drive it. The swap wasn’t the prettiest, with part of the original B3 harness spliced into the AHU (Jetta) harness with not all TDI parts used. The original B3 pedal cluster was customized to accommodate the potentiometer and the cruise control never worked. So I have a lot of sleuthing in the electronics still to do along with a million other things.
Towing the donor Passat home. She looks good in the picture but don’t be fooled, she’s a rotten tart.
Here is the thread I had begun on the ‘tex
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?5017953-Finally-got-a-B3-Wagon
So here’s the donor finally in the garage and getting torn into.
Once those last pictures were taken I basically was unable to touch the Passat project for 8 months. Thanks mainly to working in the Alaska Range for 2 months and then a town 120miles south of my home for 3 months.
Swapping a used block into a ’98 Jetta with a blown motor and saving it from the junkyard slowed me down too. But that thing is blast to drive now and is my new winter car.
Finishing up a 1Z swap into a 1993 Eurovan Weekender burned some time too. I used an M-TDI pump from the European LT van since the previous owner hadn’t started the swap with the correct wiring to make it a TDI. But damn that pump with the stock injectors moves the van more than adequately. And we recorded 38mpg on the highway after I installed the .681 5th gear.
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But it sure was nice to be able to double and triple check everything before cutting and welding. The donor also provided every syncro specific mount. 
