ALH GTD1752VRK Build Thread

Xavier42

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m-tdi ALH swapped 1990 Toyota Pickup 4x4 2000 Beetle ALH Golf Mk6 CJAA
Hi all, I have not been a member here for very long, but I have been a lurker for over 6 years and have read probably hundreds of hours of threads. This thread is for my build I am starting on my 2000 ALH new beetle with a 02j. The engine in it has pretty bad blow by due to being driven with a bad thermostat by a previous owner for at least 50k miles. I have a good motor that I am swapping in it with 130k on the clock. I am aiming for power and efficiency. I want a relatively mild tune to keep efficiency and keep the bottom end together. I plan on tuning this myself, I have adequate understanding of tuning principals and am going to shoot for keeping the turbo at peak efficiency by datalogging, calculating, and comparing volumetric efficiency. I also am going to attempt to keep the tune smokeless.

My build plan is:
ARP head studs
New head gasket
(Mildly) lightweight g60 flywheel
McLeod vr6 clutch (40% greater torque capacity than stock vr6 clutch)
Fluidampr
Diesel geek shifter
Boost/EMP/EGT Gauges
11mm injection pump
R520 injectors
4 bar MAP
GTD1752VRK
Custom equal length header
Custom long runner intake
FMIC 2.25 inch post-cooler pipe 2.5 inch pre-cooler pipe
Custom cold air intake( with a atmospheric vent)
Future AERO mods

I plan on using the BMW Hella actuator instead of the N75 for its better response and more simplistic nature (I have chased down over boost issues, not fun). From looking at these threads below it should be do-able by using a resistor and tuning pulse width modulation only, though I am not 100% sure on the wiring of the resistor yet. The BMW actuator and N75 valve should both operate at 300hz.



Questions about:
3 or 3.5 inch intake pipe?
vr6 or r32 MAF?
2.75 or 3 inch exhaust?

My questions for you all are:
Have I vastly overlooked anything?
Should a vr6 MAF and 3 inch intake pipe be adequate or should I jump up to r32 with a 3.5 inch pipe?
The rough calculations I did for piping sizes all pointed to 2.75 inch exhaust, will I notice performance losses from going to 3 inch? (3 inch is more widely available)
Is the best place to purchase a stock GTD1752VRK in the US Darkside Developments? They have them for about $1k including shipping and tax.
 

Andyinchville1

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Apr 7, 2016
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Virginia
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2003 Jetta TDI wagon, 5 sp, 226K miles
Hi

Definitely an interesting sounding build . I especially like that you're trying for max efficiency as well.

I believe you need to go for the least restriction on both the intake as well as the exhaust side.

I know that the common thought here is you only need to go so big if you're making x amount of power or some would even say stock is fine but I think personally you should go with the biggest that will fit piping wise.

I had actually seriously looked into using a bhaf air filter from the Cummins forums ... problem is even if I took out the existing air filter box and relocated the battery inside the car the filter I think would barely fit in the underneath the hood and that would only allow it to draw hot air as opposed to a cold air intake ( I had posted a separate thread regarding how hot of an intake is too hot before things start happening in a negative way from an efficiency standpoint but never really got an exact temperature reading but I suppose that would be hard to come up with).

My belief is some sort of larger than stock filter element with a bigger than r32 cold air intake would be ideal.... ( or maybe use the R32 intake snorkel type setup along with some other piping to bring in cool air from the outside I think racerxtdi might have done something like that on one of his builds ... that is an upgraded Factory air box with I think an extra hole drilled into it with a corrugated pipe piping in fresh air in addition to the factory setup).

I actually have a bhaf filter which is a duralite 542790 air filter from my old playing with 5.9 Cummins diesel...
That particular canister type filter is huge and it has a 4in opening for a pipe which would have to be neck down to approximately 3 in to work with a profi diesel tip ( just from looks it looks like the profile diesel 3 inch tip with outflow a pd150 tip).

I suppose in theory the ideal intake system May consist of some sort of bhaf filter necked down to a three-quarter inch R32 maf joined up with a 3in profi diesel tip ( I had ordered one of these for my car but unfortunately the order never came so I ended up with a pd150 tip that I still have not installed yet .... I may try one more time to get the profi diesel tip before settling on the pd150 tip).

I would also recommend a brm intake manifold .... some of the testing that Malone did on a flow bench (thread on this site) seems to indicate that this is one of the best intakes out there .... even flowed better than a pd150 intake.

Unfortunately Malone was not able to test other custom intakes .... profi diesel seems to have some interesting looking ones but no test results so hard to say how they would flow but they do look awesome tho!

On the exhaust side, for minimum restriction , I would go 3-inch all the way ... straight pipe ... Kerma tdi already sells such a system but I'm not sure if they would work for a beetle since I was working with a Jetta.

I think there was somebody on this site that did 4" exhaust but I can't remember who it was though.

Since you might have the engine apart anyways it would be the perfect opportunity to possibly install larger valves and do a porting job for even better flow on the head ... lots of people here seem to recommend Frank06 ( I think that's his username).

Anyways maximum flow in and out would help efficiency big time

As far as intercooler , I believe some sort of low restriction intercooler would also be helpful... when I upgraded to the brm intake manifold and upgraded smic I actually had a little less smoke and even better MPGs so I imagine possibly even upgrading to a large core fmic may even prove to be more beneficial for lesser restriction and better intake Cooling ( maybe ideally 2.5 in intake and exhaust piping on the intercooler... 3 inch may be better but then you would have to have a neck down to a more reasonable 2 and 1/2 in piping).

I have read that the cross-flow front mount intercooler work better than the ones with the intake and Outlet on the same side.

To be honest I have looked into the 17 series turbochargers but I'm thinking if you can deal with a little bit more lag I believe a 20 series (probably the latest version of the 2260) would actually be more efficient flow wise especially if doing highway speeds .... to help with spooling maybe even consider wrapping biturbo and pipes with blankets to help retain heat and make for better spooling.

Maybe some high tech Coatings could be applied internally on the engine parts? .... I mean if you're going to be in there anyways perfect opportunity.

I guess that should be hopefully a good start

If I could do it this is what I would like to try so maybe I can have my project done vicariously through you!

Andrew
 

TDIMeister

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Following. All the best on the project. I wouldn't bother with an exhaust header though. For the intake, you might search for a plastic-runner SDI one or simply one off a BRM.
 

adamss24

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audi a4 2.5 tdi 98 quatrro 6speed
Them parts you’re compiled sound good on paper however I would choose a larger turbo, gtb2060vk or 2260vk or even the gtb 2060/ 2260vklr. With 11mm pump and race 520 nozzles you will have plenty fuel to spool the larger turbo ! A large FMIC will also do good, intake pipes 57mm work very well and a 3” exhaust system is very efficient ! I have a pd 130/150 in a light mk2 golf tdi and it flies. Mods are plenty...spend money on a 6 speed conversion and add a Sachs SRE clutch, it really holds everything I threw at it so far ! Also get some really sticky tyres, I went for toyo race 888r and even they struggle for grip. Don’t overlook the brakes either, I have 280mm g60 front setup and mk4 golf rear disc /caliper conversion and it barely stops !
Intake wise, I use stock pd150 and it’s sufficient, however I have a cone filter due to lack of airbox and a 63mm intake pipe was easier to adapt to the gtb2260vk turbo...as above, egt and boost gauge are a good addition for peace of mind, not sure emp will help much in the long run- it’s mainly used for dialing stop screw on the turbo so emp stays low. Invest In stronger set of valve springs and definitely port your cyl head if you can. Pd 150 head bolts and a 3 hole headgasket it’s also a ghetto way of keeping head tight on the block and also lowers compression a little. Many will say it’s not the proper way to do it but I have no problem with cars I have done like that and they get driven really hard !
Another thing to consider is stronger rods and piston if you’re shooting for over 250 Bhp, then forged aftermarket rods from Maxspeeding rods are good on paper and I have seen them ran in a few high power motors and they last well ! Pd115 AJM rods and pistons are also a good upgrade, along with some sputter big end bearings from glyco or Mahle ! I have Re- built a pd105Bhp seat Leon last week, rod on cyl 1 was bent slightly due to small turbo (gtb1749vb) and tune combination, I have fitted a new rod, lowered the CR and fitted the 3 hole gasket...car runs sublime ! My advice go for larger turbo as it will keep your rods straight for longer !!! Anyway, good luck with your build and keep us updated !
 

adamss24

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audi a4 2.5 tdi 98 quatrro 6speed
Another mk5 golf 105 I have done has a gtb1756vk turbo on it, runs really well and done 200 Bhp on the rollers at Complete Chip in Romania. Still runs stock injectors, if pd150 injectors were used then 240 Bhp would have been easy attainable!
I know yours it’s not pd but the ingredients for a potent engine are there, just make sure you keep the recipe simple and keep track of the mods ! It’s such a pain In the proverbial to fix a modified car if you don’t know what was upgraded on it and from what cars !
 

Alcaid

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In my experience a 2.5" exhaust system is plenty for this kind of HP.

Remember that a VR6 clutch disc has a spring setup for a petrol engine, the TDI discs are setup differently and with a lightened flywheel you really should go for a TDI specific disc to avoid a noisy setup.
 

PakProtector

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Mk.4's and the Cummins
Just keep in mind the size of the compressor outlet. None of the options so far presented are very large. Example: GTB2260 exhaust trubine exducer is 45mm.
cheers,
Douglas
 

Alcaid

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Just keep in mind the size of the compressor outlet. None of the options so far presented are very large. Example: GTB2260 exhaust trubine exducer is 45mm.
cheers,
Douglas
No one ever sized their intake pipe looking at the compressor wheel inducer size or sized their downpipe looking at the turbine wheel exducer size. Pressure drop / resistance is a function of pipe diameter and length...
 

adamss24

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audi a4 2.5 tdi 98 quatrro 6speed
I have 2.25"/57mm boost pipes mated to a large 3" inlet intercooler which goes again to the 57mm race pipe that bolts to the stock pd150 intake manifold, works really well. 63mm cone/foam filter intake from turbo is 63mm reduced to 2.25"/57mm to inlet, seems to work pretty well ! Turbo is gtb2260vk adapted on stock pd130 AVF passat with darkside developments adapter plate working at 1.8 bar. Full boost 2500-2800 rpms...exhaust is full 3" with only one resonator at the back...sounds meaty but still reasonable noise on a run ! No stereo though !!!
 

PakProtector

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Mk.4's and the Cummins
You're right up to a point Alcaid, the exducer is rather short, but it does indeed behave a bit like an orifice restriction. Getting rid of as much back pressure from the following pipe is useful but examine the pressure v diameter( plus silencer) plot. Not much good attacking the last wee bit with another inch in dia due to space.
cheers,
Douglas
 

Alcaid

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A friend og mine dynoed 430bhp (petrol) on a 45mm exducer turbine, please don’t tell me a 45mm/1.77” exhaust system is big enough :p
 

bn_

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Jul 18, 2016
Location
Germany
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mk4 wagon '00
I am going this road after piston #1 split in half after ~100000km on the maxed out 1749VB in my ALH. If your intention is to have a solid engine, then i would suggest you to upgrade the pistons and probably the rods too, as the missing cooling channel most likely caused the issue for me. Even the ASV with only 20HP more was given better pistons with the channels... You might then save on the Fluidampr at all and exchange the ARP bolts for ARL 12.9 screws. In the end your 02j/clutch setup will be the limiting factor

As for matching the turbo to the engine, you are looking at a few difficulties. If you plan on using the stock Hella actuator that comes with the turbo, i can tell you that it is not PWM based like older actuators. Ask me how i know... You will also not find an older actuator that takes PWM and fits the VRK actuator rod and its mounting position. (Thanks @Rub87 for ginving me the confidence to keep on at it!) You will need to take a PWM actuator, machine the case a bit and fabricate a new actuator lever and weld it in place. Then you need the it to learn the end stops so you can use the full VNT range. Now you still dont know where the min flow setting would be (aka stop screw on vnt turbos). My plan is to tune this while monitoring EMP, best would be to put the turbo on a flow bench and find the PWM duty cycle where the turbo reaches its specific min flow and keep this as min vane opening position in your tune. I uploaded a video so you can see what i mean with custom lever:


Dont forget about oil feed and return lines that need to be adapted, i dont know how this is handled in the bolt on kits from darkside or profidiesel. Also if you want to keep the turbo unmodified like me, you need to have the matching exhaust flange to build your downpipe. Then theres the turbine outlet that needs a matching connector, exhaust manifold and so on...

Btw i am going for a 2.5" downpipe and then into the stock exhaust for now, as 2.5" is the perfect size for the exhaust flange, but go with whatever you are comfortable with. Anything above 2.5" should be more than ok. boost pipe is 2.25" all the way
 
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PakProtector

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Mk.4's and the Cummins
A friend og mine dynoed 430bhp (petrol) on a 45mm exducer turbine, please don’t tell me a 45mm/1.77” exhaust system is big enough :p
Not quite, but with a TDI and a turbo with a 45mm exducer, tell me the benefit in reduced back pressure from going 3" over 2.5" if you'd be so kind.

Douglas
 

Alcaid

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Not quite, but with a TDI and a turbo with a 45mm exducer, tell me the benefit in reduced back pressure from going 3" over 2.5" if you'd be so kind.

Douglas
Did you see my post above where i wrote that 2.5” is sufficient for this build? ;)
 

MAXRPM

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00 Jetta and 99.5 Golf, 2015 Passat TDI,BMW 2
Yeap 2.5" is more than enough, and if you go with 2260 turbo R520 are small injectors for it
 
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