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Hello, all.
I'm working on this 5-alarm dumpster fire for a friend and I figured I'd document the long and undoubtedly painful process here.
It's a proper mess and not worth getting into everything wrong with it, but the big issues:
-No Compression
-No boost
-No brakes
-Plenty of rust
-Sketchy lift
-He wants it one color
Being a Mk1/Mk2 VW hoarder collector, I'm pretty well versed in old VW diesels, although I'm used to them being sideways and about a third shorter.
Pic of my beloved rabbit because of course you want to see that.
It's just a NA 1.6D I rebuilt. Don't mind that french junk.
I also love bringing cars back from well beyond saving, so this is actually the nicest starting point for a project I have ever had. It's pretty rough, but not bad at all for what I'm used to
It ran, but just barely. I didn't bother doing a compression test because It was all coming apart anyways.
When he first drained the oil it was more like jelly than oil, but he still got the injection pump rebuilt just to get it running, so at least I don't have to deal with that.
Another mutual friend owned the wagon before the current owner. He is known for his automotive promiscuity. He is also a welder. One day he found a spare HX35 from a 5.9 Cummins.
This is not helping the situation with this very, very tired engine.
The cracks between the valves (that's normal if you're unfamiliar) are a little wider than I'd like to see, and quite a bit of the #6 piston was in the oil pan, but it wasn't grenaded or warped. Just tired.
It can definitely be brought back to some degree of serviceability, but my friend somehow managed to find a "freshly rebuilt" d24t longblock a few years ago, so it's going in the car after freshening up the equally abused ZF22.
I have no Idea where it came from or who assembled it, so I'm going to take it all apart to check clearances and ring gaps and whatnot, But I want to get the interior apart and get a better look at the rust situation first.
I'm also using this project to revive my youtube channel, so If you want a closer look at the engine or would rather follow this project in video format, search for "Baked Beans Garage"
It's mostly going back to stock minus an intercooler and the lift, I'm just making it safe, reliable and pretty again.
That's all until I get the carpet out, but the rear seat is stuck upright and the latch is broke.
It looks to me like an interesting project. I'm not a diesel fan, myself; but I can appreciate their benefits. I, for one, will be following your project here, and perhaps your you-tube channel BTW, somewhere down the line if you could expand on the "sketch" suspension lift, I would appreciate it. Compare it it to my own "custom" lift on my 240 Soft Road machine.
Hey! thanks for reminding me I started this thread, haha. I'll get better at keeping it updated.
Ill talk about the lift soon, I'm just about to start on suspension and brakes. its a little less sketchy to me now that I understand exactly how the front suspension is put together, but it's still ugly.
I also picked up a lovely little 240 wagon as a home for my extra d24t. I plan to lift it too, so I'll have to check out yours!
Some updates now that I remembered this thread exists.
Apologies for the lack of photos, everything is documented much better on youtube.
The pretty engine was just as pretty on the inside, the head is freshly rebuilt, the bottom end is all brand new and it's even .5mm over bored. Currently waiting on the head gasket to put it back together.
She had the expected Pennsylvania spicy sadness.
I had enough extra Chevy hood to fix all that mess.
I got the bay painted too, I'm using the cheapo acrylic urethane "carbon fiber metallic" from Summit. It's a very close match for the original color. I somehow managed to cut the air off to my gun mid-pass and dripped paint all down the captain's side strut tower, hence the runs. could be worse. I'll make it "better"
Dash and HVAC box are also out for new heat exchangers, blending door seals and some electrical tidying.
I also scooped an absolute peach of an '83 240. It will get the spare d24t from my parts 760 and a few other goodies.
Apologies for such sporadic updates, I keep forgetting to take photos. I finished up the front suspension awhile back. The front strut tubes were quite the battle. All documented here:
Currently working on the rear suspension; decided to just drop the axle out to address the rest of the road tar undercoating.
Not sure if its original to the car, but we got a centrifugal LSD.
The trailing arms were completely rotten around the spring seats. I wanted to rework them anyways so have a spring mount a little sturdier than a hose clamp. It is lifted using WJ cherokee springs and Durango shocks.
Nothing was leaking out of the axle, so I just put some lipstick on it.
Ambitious project, good to see you have a nice, well-equipped shop with room to move around in. Makes a huge difference when taking on this kind of work. Good luck, should be a great car when you’re done.
Originally Posted by Mk2Chinchilla
Apologies for such sporadic updates, I keep forgetting to take photos. I finished up the front suspension awhile back. The front strut tubes were quite the battle. All documented here: https://youtu.be/Ief267fTLUA
Currently working on the rear suspension; decided to just drop the axle out to address the rest of the road tar undercoating.
Not sure if its original to the car, but we got a centrifugal LSD.
The trailing arms were completely rotten around the spring seats. I wanted to rework them anyways so have a spring mount a little sturdier than a hose clamp. It is lifted using WJ cherokee springs and Durango shocks.
Nothing was leaking out of the axle, so I just put some lipstick on it.
'86 740 Diesel Wagon Revival Thread
