Little red pickup

This is a place for us to share progress on and upgrades to our vw diesels.

Moderator: Fatmobile

Fatmobile
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Posts: 7564
Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2002 10:28 pm
Location: north central Iowa

Re: Little red pickup

Post by Fatmobile »

If he sells the engine separate I can get the factory TD Rabbit body for $500.

I played with the injectors.
I have some mildly abrasive stuff for stropping the razor and tried using it to lap the injector needle.

Put the needle on a drill and spun it.
Tried it a few times.
I got it to chatter a little but it was still peeing too much.

So I put a new brazilian bosch insert in there.
I was wrong earlier when I said the new indian ones were junk.

The indian ones were good.
This batch of new brazilian ones don't spray as nice as they should.
It chatters nice but if I hold it right before breaking I can get it to pee.
'91 Golf gasser converted to a 12mm pump, M-TDI.
'84 1.6TD Rabbit with a VNT-15 turbo, still setup to run on vegetable oil.
'84 GTI with 1.7TD pistons and intercooled.
2003 TDI wagon
2000 TDI Jetta.
sgnimj96
Turbo Charger
Posts: 259
Joined: Thu Feb 20, 2014 2:08 pm

Re: Little red pickup

Post by sgnimj96 »

I've tried that needle in the drill trick, helped but no cigar.
Next time I mess with injectors I might try adding polishing compound on a bad one to see what it does.
It is a sham that so many of the new bosch nozzles are like that, if you need 4 - buy 5 or 6 ?
81' Scirocco 1.6D (conversion)
86 Golf 1.6D
85' 300TD
Fatmobile
Global Moderator
Posts: 7564
Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2002 10:28 pm
Location: north central Iowa

Re: Little red pickup

Post by Fatmobile »

Here's picture of the old oil pan
and the cracked oil pump pickup.

Imageredpickuppandent by vwfatmobile, on Flickr

That's about where it sits in the pan.

Machine shop still has the head.
'91 Golf gasser converted to a 12mm pump, M-TDI.
'84 1.6TD Rabbit with a VNT-15 turbo, still setup to run on vegetable oil.
'84 GTI with 1.7TD pistons and intercooled.
2003 TDI wagon
2000 TDI Jetta.
sgnimj96
Turbo Charger
Posts: 259
Joined: Thu Feb 20, 2014 2:08 pm

Re: Little red pickup

Post by sgnimj96 »

I saw someone on the 300d forum talking about grinding paste or even toothpaste on the needle valve in junk injectors and it making a difference.

Dang, that cast pickup tube looked nice.
Vw didn't seem to put any thought at all into protecting mk1 diesel oil pans, guess they figured only an idiot would want to lower one so they thought is was a non-issue. At least the steel ones are pretty cheap or easy to hammer back out.
I don't think a cheap pan would have survived that blow without hemorrhaging.
81' Scirocco 1.6D (conversion)
86 Golf 1.6D
85' 300TD
Fatmobile
Global Moderator
Posts: 7564
Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2002 10:28 pm
Location: north central Iowa

Re: Little red pickup

Post by Fatmobile »

Yeah, I'm glad I had another pickup tube for one with the early metal pickup.

Head is done.
I picked it up yesterday.
Some parts to clean then it goes back together with new seals.
They did a great job, the valves have almost no side-to-side movement.

I gave them a new 12mm headbolt so they would know what size to make the bolt holes.
I forgot to grab it with the head,.. should have given them an old one.
I'll pick it up next trip into town.

Off topic side post:
Now that the MK2 MTDI is running good, and I have my first Mk4 project (2000 Jetta) running
it might be time to take the old VNT-15 Rabbit (Pa)Tina off the road.
There is oil in the coolant, an oil leak on the front of the engine
and it needs some body work.
I want to build stainless rocker panels for her, to match the stainless floor pans.

It'll be nice to have my hoop building work space back.
I was tired of waiting and did the MK4 steering rack swap outside.
1 week of really nice weather for that job.

I might also be getting my own Rabbit pickup project after this one is done.
He keeps making the deal better.
Now it's $1800 with all the parts it will take to get it on the road,..
and a MK4 panzer plate for protecting the underside of a MK4 TDI.
And maybe I can get a nice topper for it.
'91 Golf gasser converted to a 12mm pump, M-TDI.
'84 1.6TD Rabbit with a VNT-15 turbo, still setup to run on vegetable oil.
'84 GTI with 1.7TD pistons and intercooled.
2003 TDI wagon
2000 TDI Jetta.
sgnimj96
Turbo Charger
Posts: 259
Joined: Thu Feb 20, 2014 2:08 pm

Re: Little red pickup

Post by sgnimj96 »

Stainless floor pans? wow

Mark 4's are the new mk1's, everybody wants them because they're "simple" :lol:
I like the days when the check engine light was just a timer.

btw, great project
I don't know what's going on with this forum, but kinda get impression that people think that
more than 2 people here might be some kind of conspiracy... :roll:
81' Scirocco 1.6D (conversion)
86 Golf 1.6D
85' 300TD
Fatmobile
Global Moderator
Posts: 7564
Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2002 10:28 pm
Location: north central Iowa

Re: Little red pickup

Post by Fatmobile »

Yeah, I should probably link this post to the vortex or something.

Got to putting it together today.
The shop even put the valve seals in.

Not happy with the cam clearances.
Most are at 2 thou of an inch.

2 is the max,.. they should be 1 thou or less.
I'm rubbing the cap flats with sandpaper on glass until they are tighter,..
that's going to slow things down a little.

The headbolt was in a bag, along with some injector heat shields.

I agree the Mk4s have the reputation of the Mk1.
Easy to work on, fuel efficient and reliable.
'91 Golf gasser converted to a 12mm pump, M-TDI.
'84 1.6TD Rabbit with a VNT-15 turbo, still setup to run on vegetable oil.
'84 GTI with 1.7TD pistons and intercooled.
2003 TDI wagon
2000 TDI Jetta.
Fatmobile
Global Moderator
Posts: 7564
Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2002 10:28 pm
Location: north central Iowa

Re: Little red pickup

Post by Fatmobile »

Had to grind down the washers.
Took 40 thou off the width.
From .9" to .860".

Valve cover set screws blue loctited in.
Getting ready for the rubber gasket.
Hard grey sealant was chipped from the valve cover so it's clean and ready.

#1 cam cap has a light smear of formagasket 2 on the flat. It never hardens.
Since it's metal on metal
oil can seep out from around the cam seal if these surfaces aren't sealed.
I always had an oil leak around the cam until Andrew taught me this trick.

Picked up the new duraterms at the PO box today.
So those are in.

Both waternecks were rough
needed to be rubbed on sandpaper on glass.
Front one is on.

I want to just put the old injectors back in,
they spray so nice.
But they look like crap.
The one I did open had bunches of the same crap inside it.
I want this to be reliable and injectors are important.
So I'm going to risk having them leak and having to repeatedly take them apart and lapp sealing surfaces until they don't.

Head is on and torqued down.
'91 Golf gasser converted to a 12mm pump, M-TDI.
'84 1.6TD Rabbit with a VNT-15 turbo, still setup to run on vegetable oil.
'84 GTI with 1.7TD pistons and intercooled.
2003 TDI wagon
2000 TDI Jetta.
Fatmobile
Global Moderator
Posts: 7564
Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2002 10:28 pm
Location: north central Iowa

Re: Little red pickup

Post by Fatmobile »

I got all the valves adjusted.
Probably should have done that before the head was put on
in case one of the valves was too long and had to be shaved
but everything worked out.

Oil filled and turned the pump with a drill to prime everything.

I took the rest of the injectors apart.
They were full of crud and rust.
The nastiest one wouldn't spray nice after the teardown
so I had to put another new insert in that one.
Got them all set close to 1900 and spraying nice.

I Lapped the sealing surfaces but I'm going to reshape and reuse some heat shields
until I'm sure they won't leak where the two halves meet.

Timing belt is on and cam crank timing set.
Took some work to get the belt to ride down the middle of the injection pump sprocket.
It wanted to ride toward the engine, off the edge of the sprocket.
That's better than going the other way.

4 new duraterms installed.

Sooo injectors need installed.
The rest of the coolant lines need hooked up and some water poured in.
The positive battery cable needs repaired.
The injection pump timing needs to be set close with the dial gauge.
Then injector lines connected.
A few more wires connected.
Fuel system needs primed.
Exhaust needs hung up right.

I think that's all it will take before I can turn the key
then take off like me and grandma stole a rabbit pickup.
Break it in right.
After some breaking in I'll need to set the timing better with the pulse detector.
Check for leaks at the injectors and maybe replace heat shields with new ones.
Plates are out of date, along with the insurance card so I'll have to get those updated before I can drive far.
'91 Golf gasser converted to a 12mm pump, M-TDI.
'84 1.6TD Rabbit with a VNT-15 turbo, still setup to run on vegetable oil.
'84 GTI with 1.7TD pistons and intercooled.
2003 TDI wagon
2000 TDI Jetta.
Fatmobile
Global Moderator
Posts: 7564
Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2002 10:28 pm
Location: north central Iowa

Re: Little red pickup

Post by Fatmobile »

I'm glad I decided to tear apart the rest of the injectors.
Image
that wasn't even the worst one.
The worse one is the one that didn't spray right after the teardown.

The positive battery cable end was junk.
Last time I did this on one of my projects
I put together a spare connector for the 2 fat wire plugs
that bolts to the positive post on the starter:
Image

Replacing it with a positive cable from a MK4 TDI.
I replaced the negative cable with one from a MK4 too.
The stock ground cable bolts to the mount,
through the mount from steel to aluminum
from that to the starter. Where the most amps are needed.
Lots of places for galvanic corrosion and corroding connections.
I use a long cable and bolt it on with the top starter mounting bolt.
It goes right to the starter where amps are needed most.
MK3 cables are my favorite but didn't have any to spare.

You might have noticed the hood release cable shroud is going to need to be replaced.
I got some bicycle brake cable shroud for that,
64" long is the number.

Here's an engine bay pic:
Imageredpicupenginebay by vwfatmobile, on Flickr

It shows the cables I'm talking about and how it connects to the starter top bolt.
Kinda shows the smaller cable that branches off for the frame ground.
The cables even seem to work with the wrong battery, ha.
'91 Golf gasser converted to a 12mm pump, M-TDI.
'84 1.6TD Rabbit with a VNT-15 turbo, still setup to run on vegetable oil.
'84 GTI with 1.7TD pistons and intercooled.
2003 TDI wagon
2000 TDI Jetta.
sgnimj96
Turbo Charger
Posts: 259
Joined: Thu Feb 20, 2014 2:08 pm

Re: Little red pickup

Post by sgnimj96 »

Awesome machine!

Yea, makes me think I should check my ground cable.
Those stock starters without gear reduction need all they can get.

Is that a fuel filter upgrade? Looks truckin' good, matches too. :D
81' Scirocco 1.6D (conversion)
86 Golf 1.6D
85' 300TD
Fatmobile
Global Moderator
Posts: 7564
Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2002 10:28 pm
Location: north central Iowa

Re: Little red pickup

Post by Fatmobile »

That's a baldwin brand fuel filter.
He must have a connection because the oil filter is baldwin too.

I tried to get it started yesterday.

I was sputtering about as bad as when I first got it.
It was smoking and running so bad I had to check if I had set the cam 180 out.
Nope.
Idle wouldn't increase so thought maybe accel lever is on the wrong spline.

Stopped working on it and thought about what it could be.
I think it's the fuel.
As you can see in the picture it's red.
I asked him what was in it he said it might be some offroad diesel he wasn't sure.
So I bottle fed it clean diesel,
with the return still going back to the tank.
Basically flushed all the red back to the tank.
As the fuel coming from the pump got more pink than red
it started to run smooth and would accel nice.
I was so bummed after all that work and just a huge cloud of smoke and wouldn't even rev.
Part of the clue was the smoke didn't smell much like diesel,.. and I've never seen injectors with crud like that.

Sooo I got it going down the road today.
It's been awhile since I drove a VW diesel without a turbo.
So slow.
I ran it up and down the street loading and unloading it.
Now it starts right up and runs smooth.

I might hook the tank back up to see what happens
but I'm pretty sure it's going to need drained and filled with good fuel.
Never had that happen before
and I've gotten some cars running that have sat so long the flyweights were stuck.
I figure there might be too much ATF in there or something.

Now it's out where I can get some pictures of the body.
'91 Golf gasser converted to a 12mm pump, M-TDI.
'84 1.6TD Rabbit with a VNT-15 turbo, still setup to run on vegetable oil.
'84 GTI with 1.7TD pistons and intercooled.
2003 TDI wagon
2000 TDI Jetta.
sgnimj96
Turbo Charger
Posts: 259
Joined: Thu Feb 20, 2014 2:08 pm

Re: Little red pickup

Post by sgnimj96 »

I thought that was red poly fuel line, part of the cool theme haha.

Yea, my n/a has a narrow powerband. Shifting is an art, certainly more fun than watching the regen screen on a hybrid.
81' Scirocco 1.6D (conversion)
86 Golf 1.6D
85' 300TD
Fatmobile
Global Moderator
Posts: 7564
Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2002 10:28 pm
Location: north central Iowa

Re: Little red pickup

Post by Fatmobile »

A 65 mile update.
Starts and runs great.
2 injectors are leaking at the halfs. So I'll remove them and lap the metal sealing surfaces some more.
I suspected that would happen.

Some air in the lines. Air coming from the pump so I changed the mainshaft seal again.
Along with the banjo crush washers on the input banjo.

There was some residual oil in the cooling system so I am still running water through it.
Put some dawn dish soap in the water and am running the second rinse.
I wasn't thinking straight when I first drained it.
Each time I should have removed the reservoir and got all the oil that collected there.
Instead of just draining it and letting the oil that collected on top to go back into the engine.

The steering rack is tight and kind of sticky.
Might be because the delrin bushing I installed to take out the slop is too tight.
Never had one do that before. I suppose there's a chance I didn't put it in deep enough but it felt like it stopped.

So just a few bugs to work out.
'91 Golf gasser converted to a 12mm pump, M-TDI.
'84 1.6TD Rabbit with a VNT-15 turbo, still setup to run on vegetable oil.
'84 GTI with 1.7TD pistons and intercooled.
2003 TDI wagon
2000 TDI Jetta.
sgnimj96
Turbo Charger
Posts: 259
Joined: Thu Feb 20, 2014 2:08 pm

Re: Little red pickup

Post by sgnimj96 »

Sounds like a happy 1.6;D

I now add some sand in the reservoir with the soapy water to get scrubbing action when I clean em'. Shake n' rinse. Hot water make quick work of it.
81' Scirocco 1.6D (conversion)
86 Golf 1.6D
85' 300TD
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