From Rust to rig, 85 Toyota VW tdi conversion

[Hollingsworth67]

This is Rusty, my 85 Toyota truck. Started out as a search for a Toyota axle for another project and got the whole truck about the same price. Got it home and found that even though the bed and fenders were literally falling off, the cab and frame were in very good shape--and it had air con that worked. It's a bare-bones truck other than that, manual windows and steering. The first part of the plan is to just pull off the bed and fenders and pull the engine and clean up the frame with some sand blasting and seal/paint. The first significant mod is to re-power the truck. I've had lots of 22R's and I still love em, but this one had a cumulative total of 171 lbs of compression (all four together) and I could just go through it and keep it going, this time it's going to be a VW tdi swap. So I'll get the re-power started then move into the flat bed, power steering, electrical goodies and suspension/wheeling/overlandy stuff.

 

[Hollingsworth67]

The re-power is a 2002 VW tdi. It's a relatively low mileage engine, I sourced it from a salvage yard out in Ohio. In retrospect, I wish I'd gotten a whole car. All the wiring and ecm have come from scrounging other salvage yards, Ebay and Craigslist, so re-assembly was, em tedious. I don't mind the wiring, I work for a company that does lots of custom wiring, but still. The engine tune is from Malone tuning, and it's just a stage one. As an overland project, range is really the goal, and I know I could just huck more jerry cans onto the back, but a significant mileage increase sure wouldn't be a bad thing. And the tune retains the VGT function that the OEM turbo came with, so theoretically, so it should have plenty of low end go. Along with the Malone stage 1, I got the Flashzilla, so eventually I'll be able to do some tuning and performance upgrades

 

[Motohead1]

Tdi + pickup truck= The way it should be. :)

 

[Hollingsworth67]

Tdi + pickup truck= The way it should be. :)

Yesir it is! I'll be pretty happy if it's all wrapped up and ready to go for Overland Expo west.

 

[Motohead1]

What transmission and adapter plate you using? Lots of these rolling around now especially the toyota flavor Im sure your aware of.

 

[Hollingsworth67]

When I started to fit the engine, the first issue with fitment was the vacuum pump and coolant tube at the back of the engine. There wasn't enough room back there with the trans in the stock location. So, I opted to delete the vacuum pump and modify the the coolant lines.

 

[Hollingsworth67]

First step became the vacuum delete. Someone probably makes one, but I just 3D printed a block-off with the OEM o-ring groove in it. It would never hold up to operating temps, but it should be ok to test fit.

 

[Hollingsworth67]

What transmission and adapter plate you using? Lots of these rolling around now especially the toyota flavor Im sure your aware of.

This one has the original W56. Diesel Conversion Specialist adapters. Marlin crawler (OEM really) flywheel and clutch. All the doulbler parts are already together for it, and it isn't destined for big hp/torque numbers, so I'll probably just keep it. I have a Passat Manifold so I can rotate the turbo out away from the starter and step up to the VNT 17 turbo, nozzles, etc. Other than that, no big performance plans. There is a second truck in the shop, 88 IFS truck (IFS deleted) that went from W56 to R150 that has an 04 BEW engine. That one makes quite a lot more power than the ALH in the 85. No license plate on that one, I'm not mature enough to drive it on the street.

 

[Hollingsworth67]

What transmission and adapter plate you using? Lots of these rolling around now especially the toyota flavor Im sure your aware of.

I've not used a clutch from Marlin before. I'm looking forward to trying this thing out. I also bought the little Marlin Crawler stainless clutch line, it replaces the often squishy rubber one.

 

[Motohead1]

On the space issue with the vac pump and back of the head did you consider using TDconversions adapter? It spaces the adapter an extra 2 inches out from the transmission. Kept me from having to move the driveline and I used stock driveshafts and also gave me an inch of clearance on the firewall.

 

[Hollingsworth67]

On the space issue with the vac pump and back of the head did you consider using TDconversions adapter? It spaces the adapter an extra 2 inches out from the transmission. Kept me from having to move the driveline and I used stock driveshafts and also gave me an inch of clearance on the firewall.

I don't have to do any driveline mods with this kit, and I'll tentatively compromise on the vac pump. In theory, even if the electric vac pump fails, I should be able to drive it out, but I do want to keep an OEM starter, I know starters are not a real common failure, but, with an OEM one, I can more likely (fingers crossed) find a Toyota starter easier.