TDI Transplants: Corrado TDi?!

Peter Cheuk

Gasser :P
Joined
Aug 31, 1998
Location
Daly City, Calif., USA
TDI
'06 Jetta GLI
It's not as far fetched as it may sound, Gord. The motor mounts are different as the A3 cars use a different front mount and maybe different mounts at other locations. The intercooler looks like it is in the same place relative to the engine as long as the donar car is an A3 Jetta or B4 Passat. The transmissions are physically the same though (obviously) geared differently. The only real hassles have to do with the pedal cluster and the fact that the Corrado has gasoline emmision equipment to remove/contend with.

I was thinking of a similar project but with a 1.8T motor.
 

Gord

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 15, 1999
Location
Ottawa, ON, Canada
TDI
New Beetle, 2001, yellow
Hi All,

There was an interesting question asked on the diesel mailing list, that has been asked before, but it made me think of something new. A2 TDi transplants.

It's been talked about before, but it's a lot of work considering things like the cable shift and etc have to be done. Then I was reminded by someone that the Corrado is an A2 based car that uses a cable shift linkage and the 02A trannys. This would certainly make an interesting car!

Find an older G60 with a blown engine (or G-ladder). It could likely be picked up relatively cheap. Find a whacked A3 TDi donor (the hard part), and transplant it in. The shift linkage, axles, and (likely) the mounts should be perfect for the swap. The only hard stuff would be the computer, I/C, and accelerator pedal.

This would certainly make for a really cool car! TDi sport coupe!! Oh man, now I'm excited! If I only had some spare cash...

Now that I think of it, I believe we used to have the Syncro Corrado's here in Canada. I know we used to have the syncro 1st gen Passats (another interesting idea...).

Just day dreamin'...

-Gord
99 (A3) Jetta TDi

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Stealth TDI

Pre-Forum Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 13, 1998
Location
Newport News, VA
TDI
2017 GTI APR Stage 3 (395 hp/376 lb-ft)
Hi,

I thought the same would be pretty cool in the 1800-lbs Scirocco. A massaged 200-ft/lbs TDI in an 1800-lbs car. WOW!


------------------
Scott Farrell, formerly known as "RADHAZ TDI"
98 Jetta TDI w/52,000 mi
53 mpg (US) w/AC

Scott's Jetta TDI Page
(Features TDI Articles, Sound
Files, and Spreadsheet)
 

David

Member
Joined
Apr 7, 1999
Location
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
I though of this a while ago, even did some reseach into it. I managed to find a 1996 BRAND SPANKING NEW (<1000 km) Corrado fully loaded leather interior with a VR6 for sale on the 'net by some poor dealer in Ontario who got stuck with it. Remove the VR6 gas and replace it with a V6 Audi Diesel, or a VR6 VW Diesel if they ever get one into production. I figure you should be able to modify one of those to put out 300 ft-lbs of torque and 170+ HP. Dual Turbo, chip modifications and tuned exhaust should make this feasible. If only it could be made AWD as well!

My bumper stick on the back of this beast would read something like:
"300 ft-lb / 175 HP / 55 MPG"
"Diesel Rocks, Gas Sucks"
 

ThinkDiesel

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 31, 1999
Location
Northern Virginia USA
Yeah!! What a great idea! A TDI Corrado would be RAD!! What a sweet ride that would make!!!

Man I am drooling just thinking about it...
You would want to be sure and affix the appropriate "TDI" badge when you were all done with your mods, of course. What an attention-getter that would be..

DO IT MAN! I want to see this happen... Post the pics back here in 6 months when its done!

------------------
Ryan

1999.5 New Jetta GL TDI
Atlantic Blue/Gray

...awaiting rally Jetta type upgrades
shocks, springs etc.
 

iDiesel

New member
Joined
Dec 28, 2000
Location
Ogden, UT, USA
I'm here and serious about a Corrado/TDI. I'm building a house right now and keepin' my eyes open for the right Corrado that has everything I want to have for say the next 10 years of driving (sunroof, heated seats, etc.) I'm also watching for, a possibly rolled or rear damaged, low-miles A3 Golf to ease the "conversion" I'm watching the threads and planning as I pound the hammer. I plan on starting my project in about 6 months or sooner.
 

74SciroccoTDI

Member
Joined
Oct 5, 2000
Location
Telemark, Norway
Hi! Nice to hear about some plans for the older cars too.! Corrado TDI (Jim from Texas) has one . Do a search on: 'Corrado TDI, tdi rs, diesel des' and you will find some serious first class A2
If you want to make it simple, replace the pump with a TD pump, then you can forget the ECU and pedal box problems...
Ruby

------------------
If the 1.9/155 bhp TDI engine was an option in the '74 Scirocco, my kids could call me father again....not stranger
"half the weight, twice the fun"
 

Lug_Nut

TDIClub Enthusiast, Pre-Forum Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 20, 1998
Location
Sterling, MA. USA
TDI
2015 GSW 6M in S trim the other oil burners: 1967 two stroke Sonett 1988 Bolens DGT1700
My A2 Golf diesel uses the 020 transmission, not the 02A that my wrecked TDI Passat has. They appear to have different mounting bolt locations and thus might not be interchangeable. Does the gasser A2 Corrado really use the 02A, or the 020?
I might be on to a replacement Passat soon. If so, then the engine and trans (and ECU and throttle-by-wire) from the TDI might finally find itself back on the road again in the A2 Golf.
 

mazama

Active member
Joined
Oct 28, 2000
Location
Issaquah WA USA
One of our members from Portland (Oregon) brought his A3-powered Rabbit pickup to the GTG in Washington in November. (I unfortunately missed who it was, perhaps Murraywest?) He took a unique approach to the drive-by-wire conversion problem: Got a wrecked 96 TDI Passat and simply cut the entire pedal cluster out of the body pan with a welding torch, did the same with the pedal cluster in the pickup, and swapped them! Drastic, but it worked-- it reduced the drive by wire problem to a matter of routing the TDI pedal cluster wires through the firewall of the pickup. Maybe this same technique would work for a Corrado. He said that the biggest remaining problem is the A1 transmission. With the low gearing on the A1 relative to the A3/B4 transmission, he now has a stump-pulling Rabbit pickup that runs near 4000 RPM on the freeway--well beyond its optimum speed. It sounds like in all these conversions to A1/A2 platforms, clutch and transmission work is a must.

[This message has been edited by mazama (edited December 30, 2000).]
 

caddy shack

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 26, 2000
Location
Milwaukie, Or.
TDI
81 rabbit pickup TDI Blue
I am the one from portland with the A1 pickup TDI. You can use an 020 trans but the gearing isn't quite right for a TDI. The best I could do is take and 86 jetta 3.67 trany and put a .71 fifth gear in so that at 65 mph I am at 3000 rpm. The only other way is with bigger tires which I am now in the process of doing but first I have to give it a little lift of about 2 inches.
 

diesel des

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 19, 1999
Location
Belfast,NI
When I did my tdi to a2 conversion I used the 02A tdi gear box. This means that I had to convert to cable change and hydraulic clutch. The 020 is too week and low geared for a tdi. As for the peddle box, I took all the sensors of the a3 box and put them on the a2 box. I then made a bracket for the fly by wire throttle and bolted the a2 box back in. A a3 box does not fit into a a2.
 

indigo99golf

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 1, 2000
Location
tigard/oregon/usa
Hey caddy shack, I'm curious about your engine transplant. Have got a 78 rabbit 5 speed, and ever since getting my TDI have wondered what the performance and MPG would be like, with the 1.9 motor. How much work was it anyhow? I went to a vw meet a while back and was B.S.ing with somebody about this and they mentioned hearing about somebody locally (portland area) that had done this, wonder if it was you? I live in Tigard , would sure like to see your rig sometime. Do you work on V.W.'s for a living or a hobby......1FSTVW
 

Normand

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 8, 1999
Location
Near Montreal, Quebec
Transplant is nice,
my actual drive is a
1992 passat syncro with a tdi
sold the old G60, bought a 98 tdi with trany
degear the syncro trany and regear with tdi.

------------------
'92 PASSAT SYNCRO TDI
YEAH BABY
 

Dieselgeek

TDIClub Enthusiast, Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Oct 3, 2000
Location
Golden, CO
TDI
2016 Golf TDI
Gord:

The Corrado is actually more akin to the A3 chassis than to the A2 but the differences are irrelevant to the conversion compatibilities. There is no such thing as a stock Corrado syncro. The Corrado TDI is a good combo.The slippery body and 2600 pounds make for a little better performing package over the heavier A3 Jettas or A4 cars and the uniqueness factor is of course high. I used the A3 TDI subframe, VR6/crossflow 2.0 B4 Passat front crossmember(though the VR6 Corrado parts are the same), and the TDI motor mounts to mount the stock A3 Jetta TDI motor. The intercooler is G60 with tubing fabricated to mate the TDI to the G60 intercooler system. The wiring was no problem(for me)and the throttle potentiometer/pedal assembly is directly from a Passat TDI thought the bracketry will bolt onto any Corrado pedal assembly. The stock TDI gearbox is shifted with stock Corrado shift cables. The exhaust mated to the Techtonics 2.25" exhaust with an adapter made from the tail end of a Corrado catalytic convertor. The radiator is stock G60 and the fan almost never runs since the motor makes very little waste heat. I use a Passat 2.0 instrument cluster with the trip computer and the tach works fine. I used a Diesel A2 Jetta fuel tank with the A3 fuel lines/filter though I could have gotten away with using the stock Corrado tank. The A3 tank didn't quite fit.

Anyway, if you need a motor/advise, email me and I'll try to help.

jim
'90 Corrado TDI


<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Gord:

This would certainly make for a really cool car! TDi sport coupe!! Oh man, now I'm excited! If I only had some spare cash...

Now that I think of it, I believe we used to have the Syncro Corrado's here in Canada. I know we used to have the syncro 1st gen Passats (another interesting idea...).

Just day dreamin'...

-Gord
99 (A3) Jetta TDi

[/B]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
 

Jason Crabtree

Veteran Member
Joined
May 17, 1999
Location
Ontario, Canada
RPI in Port Coquitlam, BC (604-944-0494) did my TDI in a A2 swap.(see pics in Gallery).

It can be done, if enought time and patience. There are a number of problems but it is similar to putting a VR6 into a A2 body.

It is also a lot of fun to drive!! The added fuel economy is just a nice bonus.

J.
J.
 

caddy shack

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 26, 2000
Location
Milwaukie, Or.
TDI
81 rabbit pickup TDI Blue
The preformance is about the same as it in any TDI except my pickup only weights 2200 Lbs. So I get off the line real good if I don't just smoke them. But now I am having problems with the trany sliping. The gas mileage is about 45 to 50 but would probably be better with TDI trany. It probably was me that you herd about. I only work on mine for fun. But I am still on a learning curve about my project. Every couple of months my truck does something different so I have to figure out what is wrong or breaking.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by indigo99golf:
Hey caddy shack, I'm curious about your engine transplant. Have got a 78 rabbit 5 speed, and ever since getting my TDI have wondered what the performance and MPG would be like, with the 1.9 motor. How much work was it anyhow? I went to a vw meet a while back and was B.S.ing with somebody about this and they mentioned hearing about somebody locally (portland area) that had done this, wonder if it was you? I live in Tigard , would sure like to see your rig sometime. Do you work on V.W.'s for a living or a hobby......1FSTVW<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
 

Gord

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 15, 1999
Location
Ottawa, ON, Canada
TDI
New Beetle, 2001, yellow
Corrado TDI,

This thread really brings up some memories! Over a year since I posted this idea. Since then I passed my A3 Jetta TDI on to my parents and we got a new 2001 New Beetle TDI to replace it. I really liked the idea of a Corrado TDI, and before getting the Bug I looked at it before being told that the engine mounting would be difficult. I didn't think it would be, but these were VW people telling me this...

But now I see someone has done it, and lookie here, it IS basically a bolt in from what you are telling me! I still would love to have a Corrado TDI (love the style), and the lighter weight than even the Jetta would really help the performance.

Even though the A4 (VNT) motors are stronger than the first gen TDI, you can really feel the difference in weight between the Jetta and the Bug. Mind you the Bug has an amazingly stiff chassis (which helps a lot I can tell already for handling), and the brakes are awesome. But, the extra 200+ lbs increase in weight over the Jetta (I think the J was around 2700 lbs) can really be felt. Going lighter than the Jetta with the brakes of the Bug, lower CG, slippery body, and (hopefully) relatively stiff chassis, would make for a real killer car.

How do you find the Corrado as far as structural integrity? Is the 10 year old chassis still pretty tight (as good a the A3 Golf/Jetta)? Do you get a lot of vibration in the cabin?

Since the swap is as do-able as you say it is, I am now really thinking about this again. I'm looking for a good slalom/track car, but want a diesel as well. The Bug is nice, but the heavy weight and large body are a performance drawback.

Do you have any pictures of your car online? Any performance stats? Are you chipped?

Thanks for reminding me of such a cool idea!

-Gord
01 NB TDI
99 Jetta TDI (parents car now)
83 Scirocco (another project)
 

Gord

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 15, 1999
Location
Ottawa, ON, Canada
TDI
New Beetle, 2001, yellow
Normand,

I had thought of the Passat Syncro idea before as well (thought the AWD thing would be cool), but I can't believe someone has actually done it! Cool!

I was so impressed that I had to tell the wife about it. She likes the idea of AWD for the winter, but out current winter car (the Scirocco) is so amazing in snow and ice because of the extremely light weight. You can't beat low weight in slippery conditions (the laws of physics say so), and I'm not sure the AWD system would be able to make up for the extra weight of the Passat. But oh the acceleration must be awesome! Being able to put the power down would sure be nice.

Oh the decisions! I want so many different cars. I've already told the wife we need more garage space. I'm thinking room for 12 cars or so should be enough! The Bug, the 'Rocco, a TDI Corrado, a TDI Passat Syncro, some BMW's; hmmm, that would be a start...

Thanks,

-Gord

P.S. Is yours a sedan or wagon? There don't appear to be many Syncro's around. BTW, if you are interested in playing in the snow, we are starting out winter slalom series here in Ottawa soon.
 

christi

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 22, 1999
Location
Ruislip, Middlesex, UK
TDI
Peugeot 806, 607
The way I understand it, there might be two ways of making your own Passat TDI syncro.

1. Get a syncro and convert it to TDI, as Normand has done. This will give you a B3 TDI, which is a bit unusual or..

2. Get a 95-97 (B4) Passat TDI and fit the syncro transmission from a crashed B3 syncro to it. Now the question is, is this possible?

I believe that the sedan syncro had a higher trunk floor in order to give room for the rear diff, which means that you couldn't do it to a sedan.

I believe that the wagon on the other hand is the same for both syncro and front wheel drive, and so could be converted.

However I'm really not sure about either of the two statements above.

I know that the syncro has different rear suspension in addition to the rear diff and a different transmission and a prop shaft, but it does look as though the syncro rear suspension mounts on the body shell in the same places as the standard rear suspension.

I would also guess that other parts that would have to be changed include fuel tank and exhaust system, but that might be all...

This would be a better project for me, as I already have a Passat TDI wagon (though I'm sure I'll never be able to do it, just dreaming really).

Thoughts?

------------------
1996 Passat Tdi estate (wagon (variant))
See my Peugeot / Passat site
 
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