//// Mid engine AWD 1981 Camaro Z28 with 1.9 ALH TDI ? ////

[Andyinchville1]

HI All,

As a kid I always wanted a Z but time just passed and..... well here I am !

Anyways, I recently stumbled across a 1981 Z28 in pretty good shape except for a blown engine and missing tranny so I am thinking perfect TDI swap !

I was recently thinking I would like a Forester TDI conversion for wagon practicality (cargo space since I am a courier) , AWD and fuel economy BUT the allure of a childhood fantasy (and I suppose many adults still lust after the chevy Z) in an AWD Diesel form may be too much to resist!.... PLUS the 2 trunks my offset the small wagon cargo capacity?

Anyways, my thought was to locate the TDI engine / 5 speed longitudinally in the rear seat area of the Z ... one of the CV outputs would have to be extended / combined with a driveshaft to power the rear axle.

The other CV axle would have to be attached to a driveshaft to run up front to another diff / axle assy ....

The front end is the tricky part .... maybe easiest to make a leaf spring set up off a 4 WD jeep or pick up truck of some sort or is there some other independent system that could be figured out (possibly some transaxle set up but how to power that with the other CV from the ALH 5 sp transaxle ?

Anyways, with the engine moved to rear passenger compartment, I'm thinking the engine bay of the Z could be sheet metaled in for a frunk (front trunk).

The front trunk and the rear trunk could make for decent cargo capacity.

What do you think ? Any ideas of how to do the front drive portion or maybe just not be greedy and go for a mid mount 2 wd diesel ?

I am thinking whether 2 wd or AWD the diff in the transaxle either has to be turned into a limited slip (if AWD) or welded if doing RWD only ?

Thanks in advance for any and all help.

Andrew

 

[jimbote]

cool concept but are you planning on rockcrawling it? with the tdi final drive X whatever front and rear diff you end up with you'll be around 10 to 1 reduction ratio. In other words maybe 50? mph top speed. ...how about a transverse passat/audi transaxle/tdi combo mounted behind the front seats and rwd only?

 

[oilhammer]

I think you should stop trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. If you are having 2nd gen F-body fantasies, and want to grow your mullet out, go ahead and do it... just keep it in an extra car. As someone who has owned these (and had a mullet) in my younger, dumber days, that is what I would do. It sounds like you found a prime example of what we in Missouri call Trailer Park Yard Art (any F-body with a missing engine, really), and want to breathe some life back into it... which is great, plenty of parts out there to do just that. You can even buy a whole brand new turn key engine in various pushrod toting bowtie flavors, even some with EFI, that will drop right in there. With the proper modern OD transmission, you can even build one that'll do 30+ MPG down the highway (seriously). And still keep your TDI for what it does best... which is the polar opposite of what a Camaro was really meant to do.

 

[jmodge]

Put a 6.2 in it, smoke’m til the wheels melt

 

[Mozambiquer]

As they say, anything can be done with enough time and money... Some would take more time and money than seems practical... If you want to tdi swap a camero, just know that you'll get a lot of haters... Then I think the easiest way would be to put the engine where the engine was designed to go. If you want to go mid engine, go with a fiero or something like that. You can get a TDI adapter to a Chevy transmission, then slap that into the engine compartment, adapt everything else, hook up the electronics and go.
Not saying it would be easy either.

 

[PickleRick]

I've seen a mid engine honda del sol with an h22 prelude engine swap.

I say to for it! I hope you're good with fab work. Guys put the tdi motor into the westy by flipping the v6 passat dvz transmission upside down, could this work with the 4motion power train?

 

[Roost]

Hmm
Some serious fab work and time would be needed to make that go down the road safely. I'm all for one off projects but I hope you realize the complications, and not to forget $.

 

[PickleRick]

Tdi on a blazer frame using 4wd power train, toss the *****'n Camaro onto the frame

 

[Andyinchville1]

cool concept but are you planning on rockcrawling it? with the tdi final drive X whatever front and rear diff you end up with you'll be around 10 to 1 reduction ratio. In other words maybe 50? mph top speed. ...how about a transverse passat/audi transaxle/tdi combo mounted behind the front seats and rwd only?

HI,

You know that is a good point , I forgot about figuring that in if reusing the the factory rear end .... I was just so happy thinking I didn't need to get the cost and weight of a transfer case! ....

 

[Andyinchville1]

Tdi on a blazer frame using 4wd power train, toss the *****'n Camaro onto the frame

This may be the fastest (easiest?) way but it would require yet another donor vehicle ... I was hoping to keep it low $$ ... hmmm
I still have to source a good 5 speed ALH jetta ....

 

[PickleRick]

An 04-05 passat with bad transmission will also be easy to find. It's already longitudinal mount and had more power. Just needs a balance shaft delete.

Takes same adapters as a 1.9 tdi.