Budget TDI Build Help

ThatTDILife

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 10, 2016
Location
Gallatin, TN
TDI
2012 JSW 6MT in Plat. Grey Metalic
Okay guys so I am about to start a build on the kinda cheap and need some help.

For starters I have had a few TDIs but never a modified one (98' AHU, 03' ALH, and currently a stock 12' CCTA). All have been stock or close too it (CCTA will be stage 2ed after warranty) but I have wanted something fun for awhile. Recently my friend who bought my 03 is selling it back to me. He bought it after I hit a deer. Car has been apart for a few years because after I sold it to him he took it out in the winter and got on it and it developed a tick. He deiced to build it and took the head off, put on some studs, and then gave up. It sat like that the whole time. So now I am getting it for a grand. I am wanting to build it into a quick car as I have always liked the quick TDIs but have never had a good opportunity to build one. The goal with the car would be 250+, and a 4k budget for parts, and anything needed. This may be a bit short on either the budget end or power goal end but I am open to move them if needed, mainly want a fun car that is no slouch. Let me know what you guys think and any advice you have.

TLDR, got a cheap ALH with a shot head and new headstuds, want to make 250hp+ for 4k or so
 
Last edited:

jhax

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 24, 2012
Location
Golden, CO
TDI
96 Passat B4V, ALH engine out of a 2002 Jetta, some IE Rods and ASV Pistons. Nothing drivable yet though
You'll be hard pressed to get 250HP from an alh on that budget. I'd shoot for 170-175. My alh has an 11mm IP, dlc1090 nozzles, gtc1549VZ turbo, h beam rods and pd150 intake. Cost me about $5k and I'm looking at 180HP
 

roadlust

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2004
Location
Yakima, Washington
TDI
2003 golf gl reflex silver (sold) 2013 TDI 2 door Golf Blue Graphite Metallic 6MT Premium Package.
I thought 03's were the last of the alh motors.
 

ThatTDILife

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 10, 2016
Location
Gallatin, TN
TDI
2012 JSW 6MT in Plat. Grey Metalic
You'll be hard pressed to get 250HP from an alh on that budget. I'd shoot for 170-175. My alh has an 11mm IP, dlc1090 nozzles, gtc1549VZ turbo, h beam rods and pd150 intake. Cost me about $5k and I'm looking at 180HP
Hmm, how does it feel, and what would you reccomend to do while I have the motor apart for more power in the future?
 

[486]

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 1, 2014
Location
MN
TDI
02 golf ALH
'developed a tick'
prolly don't need a head, just lifters (or even just one, at that)

don't need a lot of money to go fast, just gotta do a lot of learning
have the head decked since it's off, they tend to not seal too great once they've been removed
check the rod bearings on 2 and 3, they're probably worn offset, meaning bent rods, generally easiest way to get a set of 4 good pistons and rods is to get a couple engines and use 1 and 4 from both of them
cut the piston bowls and valve reliefs, with a real good map you don't need to drop the compression but it makes the remapping process a lot more idiot resistant, valve reliefs for whatever flavor of camshaft is cool nowadays
chinese nozzles, borrow a pop tester just to see if they're streaming, order 6-8 of them and choose the best four, much better luck to get a good set that way than buying 4 'reasonable quality' nozzles like bosios or whatever
remapping is pretty well all out in the open on these old things so it isn't too hard to learn with the silver ebay cable
ditch the stock turbo right off the bat, VNT turbos are harder to tune so unless you're local to a good mapper (read: northern europe) it's way easier to just go with a dumb wastegated turbo like something in the GT30 range or a very small 35 series holset and deal with shifting it at 5.5-6k rpm
carter p4601hp? lift pump, 3/8" fuel lines, some sort of larger fuel filter

I went with compound turbos rather than a performance camshaft, I really should just drop the $250 on a friggin' camshaft but I'm way too cheap

grats now you've got 250-300 hp and no way to get it to the tires
typing all that up just makes me depressed at the amount of effort I've wasted on a car that's sitting in my garage needing the trans pulled out and apart again :\
 

ThatTDILife

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 10, 2016
Location
Gallatin, TN
TDI
2012 JSW 6MT in Plat. Grey Metalic
'developed a tick'
prolly don't need a head, just lifters (or even just one, at that)

don't need a lot of money to go fast, just gotta do a lot of learning
have the head decked since it's off, they tend to not seal too great once they've been removed
check the rod bearings on 2 and 3, they're probably worn offset, meaning bent rods, generally easiest way to get a set of 4 good pistons and rods is to get a couple engines and use 1 and 4 from both of them
cut the piston bowls and valve reliefs, with a real good map you don't need to drop the compression but it makes the remapping process a lot more idiot resistant, valve reliefs for whatever flavor of camshaft is cool nowadays
chinese nozzles, borrow a pop tester just to see if they're streaming, order 6-8 of them and choose the best four, much better luck to get a good set that way than buying 4 'reasonable quality' nozzles like bosios or whatever
remapping is pretty well all out in the open on these old things so it isn't too hard to learn with the silver ebay cable
ditch the stock turbo right off the bat, VNT turbos are harder to tune so unless you're local to a good mapper (read: northern europe) it's way easier to just go with a dumb wastegated turbo like something in the GT30 range or a very small 35 series holset and deal with shifting it at 5.5-6k rpm
carter p4601hp? lift pump, 3/8" fuel lines, some sort of larger fuel filter

I went with compound turbos rather than a performance camshaft, I really should just drop the $250 on a friggin' camshaft but I'm way too cheap

grats now you've got 250-300 hp and no way to get it to the tires
typing all that up just makes me depressed at the amount of effort I've wasted on a car that's sitting in my garage needing the trans pulled out and apart again :\
This is really good info, this is not a daily, its gonna be a fun car so I do not car about any vnt turbos or fuel mileage, thinking the ebay nozzles, a 24v cummins turbo, a stage 5 south bend clutch, and the carter fp. Has anyone made a guide on fitting it up and do you know if its better than just getting a 11 or 12mm pump?
 

[486]

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 1, 2014
Location
MN
TDI
02 golf ALH
Has anyone made a guide on fitting it up and do you know if its better than just getting a 11 or 12mm pump?
lift pump and injection pump are different parts, no matter what you do for an IP you need a larger feed line, filter and pressurized fuel at the injection pump inlet
you do not want a 12mm pump head as it will rpm-limit you
fuel mileage actually improved on mine with the big nozzles and turbo from 42 stock to a peak of 48, the dropped compression brought it back down to 46
aliexpress was way cheaper for nozzles than ebay for me
eta: I'd go with sachs SRE parts from darkside rather than southbend stuff, they might be okay for the cummingsbrahs but their TDI stuff is rather... failure prone
 

Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
lol 250+ on a budget of 4k??????
yea i would not.
my set up on my AHU was about 3 grand and it was so terribly unreliable. well..... that was for a host of reasons.
i was running 230 on my ahu loved it.
its not that you cant make that power for about 2 maybe 3 grand, its that your car cant get that power past the crankshaft. you need a lot of trans upgrades, LSD, good axles, great tires, shifter kit, and if any of your gears are hard to get into now,...... just wait. lol
the idea is what ever you spend under the hood, spend more than that on tires, suspension, trans and other mods to get it to be reliable and safe.
 

ThatTDILife

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 10, 2016
Location
Gallatin, TN
TDI
2012 JSW 6MT in Plat. Grey Metalic
From all the research I have been doing, and I will end up doing more before I start tearing it apart. It seems the best option is to just get it running but where applicable use better parts. I>E> put new nozzles in but don't go for smaller ones that will limit me in the future, if a rod is bent get the I beam ones, etc. Gonna just start by tearing it apart and seeing if the rod is bent, pistons are messed up and whats up with the head. Since I was not the one who tore it apart I have no clue what really is bad and I should probably start there. The goal is to have this thing on the road by the end of spring and then determine where to go from there
 

Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
Honestly don't do it one at a time.
Save up for a 100% build what you want. Hou want internals, save up for the full build. You will end up spending less money that you actually can afford vs pipe dreaming a rabbit hole. I've been there lol
Go for one specific goal no bs. And all at once sort of thing. If it was all built on under 1grand, yes who cares. Your talking about 2 to 3 times the value of your car in parts alone. So dont f around here for it will be a hobby /project that's never done.
 
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