Turbo Diesel Cabriolet Project (with head porting pics)

[Greg Roles]

Wow, that's a huge effort mate, and when I look at all the parts on the bench, I have no idea what they are......

Have you bead rolled the ends of the plumbing at all? Is it in Stainless ( knowing you! ).

There's nothing quite like a total rebuild, and I'm sure it gives you immense pleasure to know it's all done right under the bonnet. Great to hear about it's fast takeoff too, that's new for a diesel!

Love to hear a video of it too Aydan, sounds like it's a unique noise.

[dubmc]

nice work mate, it has to be one of the few caddys that i can honestly say i actually like...i think that would be a great setup and it's good to see so many MK1 projects happening at the moment all of a different nature!

[Preen59]

Winner. Congrats, man. Really well done.

[gldgti]

Thanks fella's - makes it feel worth the effort when people appreciate all the work I've been doing

Cog, you can hear it in the vid I posted at the end of my last post! For the piping - yes it is stainless (but of course!) and so I just put about 6 blobs of mig weld around the circ of each tube end - this is plenty for the 2" stuff and I put about 8 blobs on the 2.5" tube.

Got it rego'd this morning, drove it to work today - 35 degree heat, got stuck in traffic on the F3 because of an accident and she didnt miss a beat! I was a little concerned that all the excess heat loading coupled with the big intercooler infront of the rad might cause problems, but it seems to run just the same on the gauge as it did with the old engine.

A lot quieter in the cruise than the old engine - mainly because of the turbo muffling the intake and exhaust. Also, now I've had a chance to drive it at highway speeds I can confirm that it needs more fuel . I guess I'll have to just keep myself in check until I've run in the new bearings and then let myself loose on her.

Pretty safe to say once its all tuned up it will fly though - so I'm very much looking forward to that!

[Dub Toffee]

Very Gutsy build mate well done and really in line with current manufacturing trends its great how diesel has become so popular.
Love the photos and cant wait to see it and get taken for a joy ride sorry the caddys not running yet lol
Who would have thought a turbo diesel cabby!

[gldgti]

Thanks mate - its nice to have a car that we enjoy cruising around in so much that also uses hardly any fuel, best of both worlds for sure.

After driving it home tonight can't get enough of the off the line torque, its quicker from a standstill than all my previous cars. My mk3 with the big turbo used to be slow off the line but had loooong legs, this is quite the opposite really but I wont have to lose the off the line accelleration when its tuned up!

I guess I should make a point that when I describe these characteristics I'm really talking about the way it responds to normal driving inputs rather than actually trying to go fast - its the characterstics of the powerplant that you get during normal driving that you live with 90% of the time - thats why i drive diesel

[Jarred]

great work!! love your reasoning and DIY skills!

[Dub Toffee]

Can't forget to mention how fun it was seeing this puppy
in the flesh. Was a tidy project
That was running like a Swiss watch.
Thanks for a run in it mate, your going to so much torque when u boost this thing all the way

[gldgti]

Thanks mate. New radiator is in and working great, probably a good thing given the extra heat loading of the big engine and intercooler up front.

Last night I fitted my new turbotech mk2 boost controller (good for 60psi!!!) and took the car for a little run - hit 22-23 psi easy as you like! But the little turbo probably wont last long like that so I've dialled it back to about 17psi. All the IC piping/connections are holding out no worries which is great, and the intercooler seems to be doing a great job where it is for now.

I've turned the fuelling up a little but this pump is seriously limited in its fuelling capacity - I can't make it smoke really which means all the extra boost only gives a little more power

still, it lights up the tyres pretty well

I think I'm going to need to put a bigger pump head on it mainly because its still slow at high speed/load. Just doesnt have much once your at freeway speeds, which just feels annoying considering how fast it is around town now. Anyway that'll be the next project.

Still no milage figures yet unfortunately, I've only use one full tank that I measured the km from and I forgot to work it out but its somewhere between 5-6l/100km which is great considering i've been using full throttle most of the time

[hiho]

An inspiring build Ayden! Love your work