Hi all,
I'd been lucky enough to have a lot of good advice over the past two years while doing a 93 Eurovan TDI conversion and then a MV to Weekender conversion with the same van. I have a bit of time finally to do a write up of the process and thought I would do it in some installments here. I'm not a full time mechanic and just did this over two summers while on break from teaching. I've rebuilt a few engines and replaced a number of them from TDIs and a bunch of Hondas. I have pretty good but not stellar mechanical skills and can generally keep a vehicle going when it needs to get somewhere.
In the end what I wanted (and got) was a VW Eurovan that can comfortably seat six or seven for long distances, camp with 2 - 4, and get 30+ mpg on home made biodiesel. And I wanted to do this without getting too crazy on the price, so set a goal of about $7000 for everything except my time (which was of course way too valuable to cost out)
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I started with a 93 Eurovan MV 5cyl 5 speed with about 180,000 miles that I bought for $3000, which was in not too bad of shape. I also had all the parts of a 96 Passat 1Z TDI which I had owned for about 5 years and served me well, and whose engine had been taken care of well and also had 180,000 miles. I found the top half of a Eurovan MV Weekender at a junkyard and had them cut off the entire top and about 8" of each post, keeping all the plastic trim and all the interior parts together. For replacement middle seats I found swivel middle captains chairs from a 1997 Toyota Previa and welded brackets under the carpet to enable me to quickly bolt the chairs down or remove them in less than a minute.
Here is the outline of what I did; I'll try to explain most of the points in detail and add pictures as I can find them (I posted this earlier on a few forums):
things to keep from 96 Passat or 96-98 Jetta TDI Engine and transmission - engine for obvious reasons and transmission if you rebuild your exisiting Eurovan transmission
ECU and entire ECU wiring loom,
15 pin OBDII plug - 7 wires attached in back.
Fuel tank sender and entire fuel line
Entire vacuum line system including line from vacuum pump to brake booster, N75 valve, etc…
Front half of exhaust system
Entire intake from air-intake box
instrument cluster from 96 Passat; Jettas do not swap into 93-95 Eurovans
Cruise control wiring from switch to ECU plug.
Clutch and brake pedal switches
Fuses and relays for spares
Emissions diagram from plastic piece near battery (to prove to California DMV that your engine is from a car at least as new as the Eurovan).
Anything else that looked valuable!
Basic to do list: -order transmission, right side engine mount, transmission support, oil dipstick tube and dipstick, oil pan, oil pickup tube from Dutch Auto Parts in Holland. Total for me was $1641 shipped to California; or have Dave Folts Transmissions in LA do complete rebuild of existing Eurovan transmission with new 4.23 ring and pinion gear, Passat 3rd and 4th gears and a .681 5th gear. Total cost about $2300 - $2500. If you do this you still need the right side engine mount, transmission support, oil dipstick tube and dipstick, oil pan and oil pickup tube.
-remove 1Z engine and completely clean and/or rebuild upper or lower end
-enlarge two 8 mm to 10 mm mounting holes on front of engine for new right side engine mount
-drill out hole for oil dipstick on rear of engine
-attach new transmission mount
-new G60 clutch, pressure plate, flywheel, rear oil seal from IDParts
-new water pump, harmonic balancer
-new a/c compressor (don’t buy a cheap one - they break - ask me how I know!),
-new alternator, new starter, new Passat TDI battery
-new front crank bearing and oil seal,
-clean clogged air intake
-delete 5th injector on 96 Passat
-order and install .681 5th OEM gear
-buy all new transmission linkage joints/parts from SD Euro
-mount 50 amp fuse and N75 valve on top/middle of engine compartment
-extend wires for N75 valve and other electricals
-splice together EV and Passat brake booster vacuum line to connect with EV brake booster to Passat vacuum pump
-mount ECU on passenger side towards back of engine compartment and sealed from elements
-wire in ECU to TDI engine. Keep track of wires! basically plug and play if using 1Z or AHU engine.
-install go pedal linkage with potentiometer from tdi;
-attach new cv joints/axles
-remove, clean, and reinstall fuel tank after modifying fuel sender: removed EV electric fuel pump and replaced fuel sender with Passat fuel sender.
-attach TDI fuel filter to frame near power steering pump
-modify/replace upper and lower coolant lines and attached.
-modify brackets to hold lower coolant line in place
-splice in vacuum canister (3 "tennis balls") to vacuum system of TDI.
-route fuel tank lines to right side of van, near p/s lines and place fuel filter on frame
-exchange BK to GQ ECU in 96 Passat so OBDII/Vagcom compliant and can chip it.
- order and install Rocketchip stage II chip
-install PP205s injectors; professionally clean and pressure test all injectors
-connect power steering pump line from Eurovan to Passat with modified custom-made elbow
-replace all vacuum lines
-exhaust - bring to muffler shop to weld together Passat down pipe and catalytic convertor to rest of Eurovan exhaust
-brake pedal and clutch pedal switch replace from Passat to connect in with Passat wiring
-airbox intake: replace Eurovan airbox with 96-98 Jetta TDI air box
-install front mounted 2” intercooler from Ebay; mount under front bumper.
-cruise control wires join together 4 pin wiring from Eurovan with Passat stalk; eliminate all sucky Eurovan vacuum cruise control equipment.
-ignition switch - replace even if it works and buy spare for next time it fails
-reduce smoke - adjust iq setting with vagcom to about 5.5 to compensate for bosio injectors and RC2 chip
other stuff that needed to be done on mine -replace a/c compressor, dryer,
-replace leaking a/c evaporator - remove dash completely; remove all spongey insulation and replace with new insulation;
-add a/c switch to have option of not automatically turning on a/c for first three settings.
-windshield chip repair
-flush and bleed brakes and check all lines; replace as necessary
-register van in California - if pre 98 engine no smog required; 98+ smog check is simple visual inspection; engine must be at least same year or newer then vehicle
-replace rear brake cylinders and bleed brakes
-alignment; new bolts and pieces as needed throughout suspension
-balance tires
-replace burnt out instrument cluster lights
-put molded insulation around doors and front air intake
Westfalia Weekender conversion -cut out roof and replace hardtop with westfalia pop top. (easier said then done but not too difficult!. If you go this route buy *entire* westfalia pop top roof from junkyard; keep all interior trim from bottom of windows up.
Interior stuff -remove dash; create good seals for all HVAC ducting; replace heater core and a/c evaporator
-attach floor with sound deadening insulation under floor, behind all side panels; double layer over all four wheel wells
-paint all grey plastic trim interior
-install VDO or other boost gauge, oil pressure gauge, oil temp gauge.
-replace front speakers and rear speakers; replace stereo
-install 2nd row seats with 97 grey Toyota Previa seats that rotate - allow middle seats to recline, provide comfort, and still allow rear seat to completely lie flat.
-install middle shoulder belts from 2000 Honda Odyssey middle seat ($18 at junkyard; custom heavy duty sewing job to install).
-add coach battery under driver’s seat
-new grey one piece front mats from Go Westy
O.K. That is the basic outline. I'll try to go over some of the more pertinent points one at a time.
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