New TDI swap

[Myst69]

 

[PickleRick]

The bv43 seems to be a popular upgrade, verify with the tuner you're going to use as some are more familiar with some turbo combos than others. I'd imagine your Comanche is similar weight to my 87 4 runner and you'll be running an ax15 or nv3550? If so you may not want a turbo with more lag. With just a tune the 300 ft lbs of torque you'll be getting is enough to damage the little dana or Chrysler axles if you do any sort of aggressive off roading with a heavy skinny pedal. Not bad axles, just a weak point with bigger tires off road.

I personally don't want any more lag. These vehicles have much more rotating mass to her moving than the Passat the engine came out of. With 4:30 gears and roughly 33" tall tires I can accelerate with most traffic easily. Just finished a 2 hour road trip with cooler and hockey gear for two, running 75 up some pretty decent east coast foothill grades I never got above about 550 degrees Celsius egt.

Other than cam and taps I wouldn't go into the motor unless you just really want to spend money. There's nothing wrong with pulling the bearing/main caps to check the BEBs but you'll need all new hardware to go with it.

 

[Myst69]

The bv43 seems to be a popular upgrade, verify with the tuner you're going to use as some are more familiar with some turbo combos than others. I'd imagine your Comanche is similar weight to my 87 4 runner and you'll be running an ax15 or nv3550? If so you may not want a turbo with more lag. With just a tune the 300 ft lbs of torque you'll be getting is enough to damage the little dana or Chrysler axles if you do any sort of aggressive off roading with a heavy skinny pedal. Not bad axles, just a weak point with bigger tires off road.

I personally don't want any more lag. These vehicles have much more rotating mass to her moving than the Passat the engine came out of. With 4:30 gears and roughly 33" tall tires I can accelerate with most traffic easily. Just finished a 2 hour road trip with cooler and hockey gear for two, running 75 up some pretty decent east coast foothill grades I never got above about 550 degrees Celsius egt.

Other than cam and taps I wouldn't go into the motor unless you just really want to spend money. There's nothing wrong with pulling the bearing/main caps to check the BEBs but you'll need all new hardware to go with it.

Well put, I guess I’ll take your word on this and save some money lol my mind goes to building old small blocks with everything that is involved (currently finishing up a 340 mopar engine resto for my 69 cuda) but this is a completely different animal so I’ll refer to your expertise and replace it if/when it breaks. Thanks again for this valuable info

 

[PickleRick]

You're welcome. This is all assuming the engine is running well.

The bottom end of diesels are usually well over built compared to gasser motors and run lower rpms