Club 80-90 Forums

I know - "If you have to ask, you can't afford it". But I'm asking anyway. Ballpark cost?

Man, that sounds really nice. Pleased for you
The install looks awesome, nice to see someone post up their work, it looks spot on.
Well jealous.

CJ it's hard to put a price on our conversions as different customers have different requirements, this being our first PD conversion and as far as I know the first commercially available PD conversion here in the UK, I still need to sit down and work out how long this job will actually take now I know how to approach it, I think on Keith's I spent as much time contemplating how to do certain parts of the job as I did actually psyically working on it,
On all our conversions all mechanical parts are replaced with new items apart from 1z conversions where the turbo is not replaced.the cyl head is fully reconditioned and entire bottom end is dismantled and inspected, obviously this all adds to cost but gives me great peace of mind on what leaves our workshop is as good as it can be, something I learnt very quickly after setting up on my own is you can't do a cheap good job.
Our normal VE pump TDI conversions start at £3000 then there is Aidan's cost for gearbox rebuilds with 4:14 final drive on top of this so in total they normally avg around £4700 for a 2wd, But the PD is far more labour intensive to do correctly , and so is the flipped Passat box.
The mounts and sump are modified FAST parts which we bought individually, but since then i have formed a good relationship with the FAST guy s and will soon be stocking there parts here in the UK, so obviously this will bring down the cost of these parts dramatically as shipping and mystery import duties can then be reduced, i really would have to cost this job to your individual needs, I am doing my own panel van next so I will be able to time Job correctly, these PD engines are good for over 300hp and I tend to exploit that fact in my empty PV ,

Any chance you could get an aftermarket rear anti rollbar kit stuffed into your next shipment

Mazz, awesome stuff. Thanks for sharing.
After reading this, I wish I'd gone pd instead of the AFN. And of
Course, would've got you to do it instead.

Darren ill look into the rear ARB for you

Mazz,
Lovely job. Regarding the gearbox install, did you retain the Passat drive shafts or modify the T25 version to fit. Believe they are a different diameter and length.
Now how about trying to shoehorn an Audi 4.2 in there?
I might have to raid my saving accounts

Cheers
Steve

Hi Steve, we used Tim's inner driveshaft adapters to mount new GKN CV joints.
As for the 4.2, yes it would be possible but if you drove Keith's bus, you would soon convert to the dirty derv

Do you have any pictures showing the drive shaft angles?

Don't think I do David, I would need it on a 4 post ramp for that, which I don't have, but on this van which sits fairly low with AVO shocks and Bricwerks 50mm springs it is around 4 to 7 degrees, going though my notes I also need to correct ground clearence at lowest point which is 145mm at lowest point not 175mm

Thanks Mazz,
I actually would prefer the 4.2 diesel. Loads of torque!!

4.2 diesel I pressumed you meant 4.2 petrol, yeah it would be sweet but a serious install, and then you may aswell go 5.0 TDi
These sort of conversions are ill leave to others, my main aim is to make a conversion that produces a practical useable vehicle, so ill stick to my 4 pots for now.
And I loathe common rail diesels, there great when there right but injector issues and high pressure pump issues are common enough in there factory installs

Mazz,
I am assuming the install would not be cheap
I only asked as I have seen stuff on You Tube with the 4.2 installed but the site is in German so not much use to me.
Thanks for replying.

Its not so much the cost, its how it effects how practical your van becomes, the V6/V8 is a very deep engine so for one you would ethier have very poor ground clearence or face modifying your rear hatch and bed area, which on a westy becomes a problem. Then there is the fact that it would frighten the hell out of most garages so routine maintenance would become a big problem. I can easily push 250hp from the 1.9PD with 320HP well within reach of the 2.0 16v PD, the PD is far more tuneable than the Common rail diesel because of its injector system, meaning no other diesel can pop in more fuel per stroke than the PD. I would suggest the 2.5 5cyl T5 PD engine but it has some major design flaws and is a whole heap of trouble.

I definitely would not like to alter the engine hatch as we do use our Westy alot and ground clearance would also be an issue. Just out of interest, is the 5.0 Tdi you mentioned from the Phaeton?