1Z/AHU Billet CCV drain plates, shift knobs, and custom machining

[thechoochlyman]

Hey guys, I'm Charlie from Legacy Mold and Tool. We're a small machine/tool shop located in Bardstown, KY and have been in business since 1997. Since I've been with this company I've starting developing products to benefit my own vehicles - including my B4 Passat. I'm going to list a few things that I currently offer, and also discuss some things I'd like to bring to market later.

Updated 8-27-24

Products I currently offer:

Rebuilt O2A shift towers. I went through the entire assembly and replaced every plastic component with oil-infused bearing bronze, brass, or stainless, depending on its function. The relay arm is made from stainless and is fully-adjustable using the original captive bolt. The shift cable is held in place with a washer threaded onto the brass standoff to retain the cable's original position. You can find more photos and info here. Price is $250 plus a $50 core fee that will be returned to you when I receive your old shift tower.

Turbo Inlet Flanges for the Baby Garrett turbo (and others). Can be machined with any preferred inlet diameter for welding in a tube, clamping on a silicone fernco, etc. $110 shipped in the US with new O ring and mounting bolts. Link to development thread with more info, and installation post.

420 Stainless Steel serpentine belt tensioners. $125 shipped, assembled with a brand new Timken bearing. Replaces VAG part number 028145278E.

Billet aluminum coolant flanges for the 1z/AHU engine. These replace the stock plastic part that tends to crack periodically - OEM part 028121132A. No more worries of reliability! Please PM me directly if you want to place an order. Price is currently $225 shipped for the kit. It will come with both hose barbs, bolts, and an O-ring. It will be delivered entirely assembled with liquid thread sealant on the hose barbs and ready for immediate installation.

More details can be found here.

Billet CCV drain plate for the 1Z/AHU/AFN engine. This will replace the stock plastic drain tube which tends to break periodically. It comes with an O-ring and two mounting bolts. Price is $35 shipped per item. I make two versions - one with a tapped hole (1/2-14 NPT), and one without. Just specify which one you need.
An installation example can be found here.

Aluminum window guide clips - $30 shipped each. Replace a cracked or broken plastic window guide on your factory window regulator with solid aluminum that won't crack! Will probably need a bit of final sanding on the edges to get a correct fit in your regulator rails.

Billet shift knobs - all types available for $75-150 shipped. Standard engraving is included (shift pattern, TDI/VW logo, etc.) Custom engraving is available, starting at $25. Currently the only vehicle I can immediately provide a shift knob for is a B4 or B5 Passat, or any vehicle with an M12x1.5 stick thread. If you want a shift knob for a different model, please PM me - I'm willing to develop products for any generation.

We are a fully-capable machine shop with:
Hurco CNC Mill
Prototrak CNC Lathe
Wire EDM
Sinker/Ram EDM
Surface Grinders
Heat Treating oven
We work with all kinds of materials, and are open to quote custom jobs. If you have a specific product you'd like to see us build in the future, please send me a PM for details.

Here's a link to our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/LegacyMoldandTool

 

[john.jackson9213]

Charlie,

Here is a plastic part on the B4 that just cries out for a metal replacement.

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showpost.php?p=4869617&postcount=4670

If you check out the "What did you do to your B4" thread around post 4670 you will find a discussion about this needed part.

The current replacement part is C.R.A.P.

 

[Abacus]

Oh man, make the right parts and you'll be a gold mine!

I'm liking that CCV base!

 

[thechoochlyman]

Coolant Flange... that's interesting!

Do either of you have a ruined one you could send me to prototype? I'm not really sure where this part is on my car, and I'd rather not have to remove it. haha I don't exactly recognize it, either. But I'm sure it would be easy enough to machine a flat plate at least, similar to the CCV plate.

EDIT: John, thanks for the shout-out in the B4 forum - I appreciate the added publicity!

 

[thechoochlyman]

Oh man, make the right parts and you'll be a gold mine!

I'm liking that CCV base!

Thanks! I recently sold three to another forum member after he saw my post in that thread. Mine is working out great so far, no leaks to be found - and sturdy as a rock.

 

[Abacus]

I have one I can send you since it was just removed. But, would you be better off taking dimensions from a CRAP one or an OEM one? I just ordered 2 OEM ones from a dealer and most of the ones you find out there being sold are CRAP.

 

[thechoochlyman]

Most definitely, the OEM part would be the best candidate for reverse-engineering. Since you're willing to take a plunge with me here, I'd be pleased to send you a finished part free of charge once we're done. Of course, I may also have to send you a few prototypes along the way to make sure it's sufficient. Could you post some pictures of where this is located so I can get a better idea of its function?

 

[Abacus]

Wow, that is nice of you to do that, thanks!

It's right between the 3 & 4 injectors, at the end of the upper radiator hose.

Here is the old one with the new one in place.

A different perspective:

And this is where is mounts on the head, just a flat surface.

 

[thechoochlyman]

Ah, it was right in front of me the whole time and I couldn't see it!

I think this could be done easily enough. May have to do some welding for the extra ports, but overall I think it's entirely possible. I'll be able to do more critical thinking about it once a part arrives that I can examine more closely.

 

[thechoochlyman]

It appears to have four ports:

Straight-through hole for the main radiator hose. That's easy, just bore a hole through the middle.
I'll probably drill and tap a 1/8 NPT hole for the coolant return line, as it's not an exceptionally critical feature.
The Lower hose and Sensor may require machined and welded bungs in order to work properly.

 

[Abacus]

I can send you off the bad one now so you can formulate an attack plan and as soon as an OEM one arrives I'll send it off as well. I'd be curious to see the dimension differences.

 

[Abacus]

I would think the lower hose could be oriented at a 90° angle and moved further out to fit better. The sensor bung would require some thought though.

 

[thechoochlyman]

I can send you off the bad one now so you can formulate an attack plan and as soon as an OEM one arrives I'll send it off as well. I'd be curious to see the dimension differences.

That would be fine by me, sir. Really the only important thing will be O-ring size and bolt spacing. Everything else is kinda gonna be modified by me for easy of machining. Stand by for a shipping address.

I would think the lower hose could be oriented at a 90° angle and moved further out to fit better. The sensor bung would require some thought though.

Perhaps so, but from what I'm seeing it would probably put a kink in the hose to alter things very much. You know more about these cars than I do, though. haha

I don't think the sensor will be too much of a hard time. It will just need to be bored to a proper diameter to snugly fit the O-ring and have some slots milled in the side to accept the retaining clip.

 

[Abacus]

I'm not machinist and don't play one on TV, so I have no concept of how you do things on that level. I'm just saying there is some variability with some of the connections that may make your job easier.

 

[thechoochlyman]

Sure, I gotcha. But that's good to know - I'll definitely have to make some design modifications in order to machine it more easily.

 

[burpod]

nice stuff!! subscribed! i've always wanted a nice machined ccv breather flange as well as the various coolant flanges... but metal, not crappy plastic.

 

[thechoochlyman]

nice stuff!! subscribed! i've always wanted a nice machined ccv breather flange as well as the various coolant flanges... but metal, not crappy plastic.

Thanks!!

I've got three more CCV flanges sitting on my desk ready to go, if you want one just raise your hand.

 

[Abacus]

I will include payment for one with the cylinder head coolant flange.

 

[thechoochlyman]

I will include payment for one with the cylinder head coolant flange.

Sounds good, I'll set one aside for you.

 

[Sprocket]

Put me down for the cylinder head coolant flange as well once they are available!

 

[burpod]

put me down for a couple CCV block flanges. i'll pm you later

 

[thechoochlyman]

Got some new stuff cooking for today. Brought in one my new junkyard window regulators to reverse-engineer the plastic sliders.

These things are the weak spot in our window regulators. And apparently you have to buy a whole new regulator just because one breaks.

In order to replace these, you'll have to get creative with the removal of the old ones. But I believe it will be worth the trouble, considering you should never have to replace your regulator again once you install these aluminum sliders.

This is what I've come up with so far. Hopefully I'll have one finished by the end of the day to test out.

 

[thechoochlyman]

I got a couple of parts finished up earlier than I expected! I'm quite pleased with how they turned out.

I believe these would be best custom-fit to their individual regulator channels by the customer. This would prevent my making them too loose by mistake. Due to the internal radius of the channel, the edges of the aluminum sliders will need to be sanded down quite a bit to move freely - as you can see from the photos. I was able to fit it within two mintues using my air sander. I can go ahead and round off the edges quite a bit before I ship them, but leave them a tight fit.

Left - sanded to fit
Middle - from the mill, not deburred yet

And installed in the regulator

The only possible issue I can see popping up here is some light rattling, but I think they will fit too snugly to rattle very much. What I really need is somebody who can do beta testing for me, because goodness knows I don't want to take my regulator back apart until I actually have to.

 

[Abacus]

Damn, that's sweet.

I sent two coolant flanges, both OEM VW. One is used and can be cut up, destroyed, etc. The new one obviously shouldn't be if possible.

 

[thechoochlyman]

Thanks, Mark!

And great - I'll start on that once they arrive. Don't worry, the OEM part will be used for measuring only.

 

[burpod]

nice!!!!!

 

[Bob S.]

Very nice. Thanks for stepping up & getting to it.

 

[deejaaa]

those sliders look great. hope i have to never change mine though. nice machining.

 

[Bob S.]

Seeing those sliders made my day. And I had a good day before seeing them!

 

[thechoochlyman]

Today I did some redesigning on the window guides to make the retaining clips fit better. I made the top an oval instead of having flats, and beveled the edge where the clip goes in. I've made three new ones like this, and like it quite a bit better. There is much more positive engagement, and the clip snaps in more snugly. Along with that, I adjusted the depth of the center hole to not have as much wiggle room. It still moves freely, but doesn't move in and out any.