UK Corrado TDi

[Purple Tom]

Hi guys!
I've recently been doing a lot of thinking, soul-searching and house buying and I've come to the conclusion that 30mpg from my Corrado VR6 just isn't conducive to a healthy bank balance!
Therefore I purchased a 1998 Seat Ibiza TDi (1.9 AHU) as a daily, and things were good for a while. Then the insurance came up for renewal and it became more apparent that having 2 cars while trying to run a house was even worse for the bank balance, so one's got to go. However I love my Corrado, it's so good to drive and looks awesome, so I decided that a TDi conversion would be a good idea (the missus doesn't know yet!).
I'm no stranger to engine conversions, having shoehorned a 1.6 Vauxhall (GM) engine into a late 70's Mini Clubman, so I don't think this one will present too much of a problem, but I'm sure it'll be fun and not without its traumas.
My plan is to sell the VR6 engine and as much of the ancillaries as possible, then buy a 1996/7 B4 Passat TDi, rip it apart and shove the lot into the Corrado I've done the research and the swap looks fairly straightforward, even down to the instrument cluster being the same (I love the OEM look). I should be able to pick up a decent Passat for about the price that the VR6 bits sell for, which'll leave me with a nice project to do over the winter, while I run the Ibiza as a practical, economical daily.
I hope to keep this thread updated as much as possible, but for the time being I've got to persuade the missus that this is all a good idea :lol:
Thanks for reading, and out of interest here's a pic of the Corrado and Ibiza:

Thanks for reading!
Tom

 

[CFM]

Check out the sticky on Corrado TDI swaps...G60ing is the person who has done it a few times with great results. His cars are top-notch quality, fit, and function!

 

[dslg60]

I don't think I could part with that Corrado either. That thing looks good.
Good luck with the swap. It's just about as straight forward as you think.

 

[G60ING]

you will love it. If I were you I'd get an AFN TDI from a mk3 so that you have all of the engine potential out of the box and then get a Passat TDI pedal cluster and instrument cluster.

 

[Purple Tom]

Thanks for the warm welcome guys I hadn't heard of the AFN engine code before, despite my research (typical!), but thank you for the advice G60ING as I'll definitely be going along that route now. It makes sense, although the one concern I have is regarding wiring, will the Passat loom function ok with the AFN engine?

Thanks for any advice!

Tom

 

[compu_85]

The passat loom will work great, and physically fit great in the corrado.

-Jason

 

[G60ING]

The wiring is a drop in. There are a num,ber of people over here that have converted their ECU on an AHU to AFN after upgrading to a VNT tdi turbo.

The AFN is the best tdi motor you could get for a corrado swap.

 

[Purple Tom]

So I reckon the best thing to do is get a Passat B4 TDi donor car with whatever engine it comes with, rip everything out of it and then find a decent AFN lump, combine the Passat loom with the AFN engine and ECU and job's a good'un

I'm sure there'll be more complications than that but hopefully I'll end up with a 110bhp 1.9TDi (non-PD) Corrado with an engine that can be later upgraded to give more power and torque as when I want to. Sounds good to me, and I should be getting near to 50mpg (if not a bit more) with that set-up.

Thanks again for the help, I'll keep you updated!

Tom

 

[G60ING]

yeah that pretty much sums it all up.

 

[Purple Tom]

Excellent, I'll get onto it as soon as I can, thanks again for the advice

 

[Purple Tom]

Well there's been a slight change of plan now...I've sold both the Corrado and the Ibiza, and bought my old (and first) Corrado back - a 1995 2.0 8V. I know you guys in the states didn't get anything other than the Corrado VR6 and G60 so you'll probably laugh at the pathetic 115bhp output of the car, but it's great on fuel and is a nice relaxing thing to drive.

Anyway, I bought it for two reasons - firstly to free up the money that I had tied up in the VR (sold the VR6 for £3700, paid £1200 for the 8V) , and secondly because I know it'll be ideal for a TDi!

I've also been doing more research into Passat B4's and have decided that I'm going to find a 'GL' model, specifically because of it's MFA. I've just found a B4 GL TDi for my Dad, we paid £400 for one with 140k, full tax and MOT and in very good condition, so there won't be any problem with me finding one to use a donor for very little money.

I've also bought a very poorly Corrado VR6 to break. It's in great condition mechanically but unfortunately the bodywork is shot so it's an ideal breaker. It's got full heated leather and is going to provide the widetrack conversion for my 8V too, along with providing lots of money to do the TDi conversion.

I'm still going AFN, really excited about it! Sorry about the ramble, just gives you an idea of where I'm at with it at the moment Here's a pic of the 8V, not quite as pretty as the VR6 but once I get it running on the widetrack gear it'll sit a lot nicer:

Thanks for reading!

Tom

 

[G60ING]

I love the plan. It sounds well thought out. I like the color too.

 

[borachris]

Like this mate, will be a good read i'm sure!

 

[Purple Tom]

Bit of an update to this, I think I've found a donor

You may recall that I helped my Dad find a more economical car to replace his Land Rover Discovery in the form of a 1995 B4 Passat GL TDi - the same car I require for my donor vehicle. Well he's been badgering me for a while to do the timing belt for him as it was last changed in 2004 so was well overdue. I got the parts and set about it on Saturday morning.

It really was incredibly easy and we had it done within a couple of hours. It helped that it had been done previously so the awkward bolt behind the serpentine tensioner wasn't a issue, but even so it was an easy job. Dad knows all about my TDi conversion plans and we discussed the difficulty I'm having in finding a B4 Passat GL TDi with all the necessary bits at the moment (it's not as easy as I hoped!). In a roundabout way I persauded him to be agreeable to the idea of me finding a similar condition B4 Passat TDi (but not a GL) for him and doing a straight swap so I have everything I need for my donor. Result I think!

I can now widen my search to encompass Passat CL TDi's as well, of which there a quite a few more, so hopefully I'll be starting my conversion within the next couple of months. Here's a picture of the two vehicles together, hopefully all the bits (apart from the engine!) from the Passat on the left will be in the Corrado on the right soon. I also took the opportunity to park the vehicles side by side and compare the engine bays. I reckon there'll be some issues with the fuel filter location and of course the intercooler pipework will have to be totally different. Apart from that it all looks fairly straightforward!

Also, here's a picture of the poorly Corrado VR6 that I'm breaking. Looks good in the picture but really isn't bodywork wise. It has all the widetrack parts that I need though:

All in all, I'm getting closer. I'm hoping to get all of the necessary parts together and complete the conversion itself within a couple of weeks, all being well. I can't have the Corrado off the road for too long as its my daily drive.

Thanks for reading, more updates soon.

Tom

 

[m1ketdi]

What are the wheels that were originally on the 2.0? If your going widetrack do you wanna sell them?

 

[lowpolo]

the gl tdi b4 passats are getting hard to find nowadays, I have done the same swap but with the loom and engine from a mk3 golf, the corrado has mounting points for the fuel filter aswell on the strut tower. If the subframe comes of easily enough then its straight forward, has the b4 got an oe chipped key and obd2 port if so they need transfering accross too. You mite need to change the fuel tank as the 8v and late corrado have the smaller fuel pipe so the diesel nozzle wont fit, the early valvers have the right one or maybe try the b4 tank.

 

[Purple Tom]

Yeah I had a look at some other Corrado conversions and the fuel filter seems to be a good fit on the suspension tower.

The B4 donor does indeed have the immobiliser and OBD2 port, I'm used to playing with those as I did an OBD2 conversion on my old Corrado VR6 so should be able to remember the wiring with any luck!

I've investigated fuel tanks a bit and there isn't another tank that will fit the Corrado. The Mk3 Golf tank will physically fit but the filler protrudes slightly too far so the filler flap won't shut.

What I am going to do is take the tank from the breaking VR6 and see if I can remove the unleaded restrictor. It's only made of plastic so I've a feeling it might come out or be able to be modified by a dremel, I'll see once its apart! I have considered the early Corrado tank but its only 50L and I'd like to have the original 70L tank if possible.

How does yours drive? I really can't wait to get mine running to be honest!

Tom

 

[lowpolo]

mine drives ok but having issues with it going into limp mode so gave up on it
last year. Just getting back interested in working on it again now the weathers picking up, it the first conversion I have done so learnt a lot. Remember to sound* prrof the bulkhead whilst it apart, inside and out. Looking forward to getting it running right and actually driving it daily.

 

[G60ING]

If you get a fuel tank from an early leaded fuel 1.8 16V Corrado you won't have to enlarge the tank opening.

 

[m1ketdi]

What are the wheels that were originally on the 2.0? If your going widetrack do you wanna sell them?

Bump just wanna know what they are.

 

[G60ING]

Bump just wanna know what they are.

These are BBS RX:

 

[m1ketdi]

Hmm nice and rare in england.

 

[Purple Tom]

G60ING - I would like to retain the 70L tank rather than go to the earlier type, if only because I already have two 70L tanks and I don't really want to buy another one if I can modify the one I've already got

m1ketdi - sorry, I missed your post - they are 16" BBS RX2 wheels in 4x100 and I'm actually about to put them up for sale on a few forums - are you interested?

Tom

 

[G60ING]

Take a look at the tanks listed in vagcat.com Also are you certain that your nozzle opening is too small for a diesel nozzle? It looks likes there are some 70L tanks that might have the larger opening. If not you'll have to customize your tank.

 

[m1ketdi]

m1ketdi - sorry, I missed your post - they are 16" BBS RX2 wheels in 4x100 and I'm actually about to put them up for sale on a few forums - are you interested?

Tom

Possibly, depending on price.

 

[Purple Tom]

I've trawled through Vagcat for hours looking at various tank options. My tank opening is definitely too small for the diesel nozzle so it will be a case of modifying. The actual restrictor in the tank neck appears to be plastic so I reckon with patience I should be able to remove it fairly easily.

 

[G60ING]

thats what I've done on two corrado tanks

 

[Purple Tom]

Excellent, its possible then

Out of interest I wanted to ask you if you had any problems with the Corrado spoiler when fitting the B4 clocks? Its 100% definite that I'm going to have my Dads B4 so within 6 weeks or so I should be starting the conversion, using the B4 MFA clocks etc.

I haven't studied the wiring diagrams for the two cars yet but I imagine I'm going to need the B4 instrument wiring because of the glow plug light (no CEL on UK cars). Presumably I'll lose the spoiler feed from the clocks when altering the wiring - did you have difficulties with that?

Tom

 

[G60ING]

The passat cluster fist like a corrado cluster, perfect fit & finish.

Yes you will need the passat's cluster wiring if you want to make it easier. If you want to eventually convert to MFA you'll need to add a few wires later so don't toss the corrado cluster harness.

For the spoiler alls you will have to do is connect the speed sensor's blue/white wire to the spoiler as well as the ECU. Its very simple and once you learn to read wiring diagrams (if you don't already) you'll see how easy it is.

 

[Purple Tom]

Yeah, I've already sussed out that the clusters are physically identical.

Well I plan on having the MFA working straight away to be honest. The Corrado has it fitted, I reckon I can use the original wiper stalk from the Corrado, although I have the option of the B4 one if I want it (can't see there being a difference?).

I have the Bentley Corrado manual however it covers US-spec cars only, and VR6's at that. As mine is a Euro-spec 8V I think I could find some differences but not enough to be a major issue.

I did hope it would be something as simple as the blue/white wire. I've helped a friend diagnose spoiler issues on his VR6 so I'm fairly up on the routing of the wiring etc.

I may well be getting in touch with you a bit more regarding that MFA conversion, but hopefully a combination of the Corrado Bentley manual and UK Passat Haynes manual will see me through!