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Series Audi 1.4 diesel conversion


sombre1

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Hello,

My series runs an Audi three cylinder, A2 turbo diesel. This is a great engine for the series vehicle, it has 105 hp and 195 ft lbs torque (when chipped, stock of 90 hp and 180 ft lbs), it's all aluminum, block and head. This engine saves about 100 lbs over the stock petrol engine that came out and is much more powerful. I haven't actually meassured the 0-60 time, but it is certain to be much quicker (the old series petrol would barely get to 60 mph at all!). I get 56 mpg at 55 mph on the motorway, maybe the best miles per gallon of any series vehicle, ever!

Maybe best of all, the Audi diesel is way quieter than the old petrol unit, with virtually no vibration! I used an interesting motor mounting system made up of what look like loops of steel cable, bolted to plates of aluminum. See the web site for this here http://www.springcompany.com/Vibration%20Isolators.htm

These folks will engineer a set of mounts for anyone, I recommend them for any Rover engine.

Off roading is now much more relaxed and economical. I can't seem to burn through a full tank of fuel, even driving to Wales, plowing around in the mud, then driving back to London leaves at least a quarter tank.

I can now idle up to the base of a hill in low range and second or third and just as the revs start to drop, just feed more throttle on and accelerate up the hill. It's amazing what dropping a 100 lbs and nearly doubling the hp and torque will do for these grand little vehicles.

Reliability has been fine so far, I finished the conversion about 10 months ago and I drive it everyday. I have put about 7k miles on it with zero trouble related to the engine conversion. The engine had a claimed 48k miles on it when I bought it from the wrecking yard. The engine, wiring harness, ECU and intercooler set me back 1100 quid, add the cost of other materials and machining costs and I am about £2000 into it (that is about $150,000 USD for you yanks :). Not cheap by any means, but I can tell you with certainty it beats the Hell out of ANY other conversion I have seen, it make even a TD5 seem agricultural in comparision.

Nest is an autobox conversion!

Best regards,

David

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Hello,

My series runs an Audi three cylinder, A2 turbo diesel. This is a great engine for the series vehicle, it has 105 hp and 195 ft lbs torque (when chipped, stock of 90 hp and 180 ft lbs), it's all aluminum, block and head. This engine saves about 100 lbs over the stock petrol engine that came out and is much more powerful. I haven't actually meassured the 0-60 time, but it is certain to be much quicker (the old series petrol would barely get to 60 mph at all!). I get 56 mpg at 55 mph on the motorway, maybe the best miles per gallon of any series vehicle, ever!

Maybe best of all, the Audi diesel is way quieter than the old petrol unit, with virtually no vibration! I used an interesting motor mounting system made up of what look like loops of steel cable, bolted to plates of aluminum. See the web site for this here http://www.springcompany.com/Vibration%20Isolators.htm

These folks will engineer a set of mounts for anyone, I recommend them for any Rover engine.

Off roading is now much more relaxed and economical. I can't seem to burn through a full tank of fuel, even driving to Wales, plowing around in the mud, then driving back to London leaves at least a quarter tank.

I can now idle up to the base of a hill in low range and second or third and just as the revs start to drop, just feed more throttle on and accelerate up the hill. It's amazing what dropping a 100 lbs and nearly doubling the hp and torque will do for these grand little vehicles.

Reliability has been fine so far, I finished the conversion about 10 months ago and I drive it everyday. I have put about 7k miles on it with zero trouble related to the engine conversion. The engine had a claimed 48k miles on it when I bought it from the wrecking yard. The engine, wiring harness, ECU and intercooler set me back 1100 quid, add the cost of other materials and machining costs and I am about £2000 into it (that is about $150,000 USD for you yanks :). Not cheap by any means, but I can tell you with certainty it beats the Hell out of ANY other conversion I have seen, it make even a TD5 seem agricultural in comparision.

Nest is an autobox conversion!

Best regards,

David

And here i thought April Fools day was 3 months in the future..............

I like the idea if the spring motor mounts though......very cleaver and imaginative :) :)

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And here i thought April Fools day was 3 months in the future..............

You doubter you ;)

I think that sounds like a really smart setup, not sure if we get this model Audi in NZ, I'll have to do some asking around, maybe some in Jafa territory. ( Auckland) where you ask about engine hours rather than Kms as they spend so long in gridlock :lol:

David, do you have any details about the adaptor you used for this, clutch etc? Any chance of some pics? it would be nice to see how the Intercooler mounts, & ancillaries such as starter, alternator et al. if you can provide details such as engine model #, rev range etc, would certainly save me some legwork in google & probably a clip around the ear from SWMBO for spending too long on the computer over the holidays. Its pretty standard by now :lol::lol:

cheers, Steve.

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I must say, repowering older vehicles with newer, downsized and cleaner units sounds like a very sensible idea - the next level of "ultimate recycling"! Who did the conversion? I'd be interested to see any pics.

On a similar note, I've often thought that a 200Tdi on the LT77 in an MGB V8 would make a nice car with reasonable power and good economy.

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You doubter you ;)

I think that sounds like a really smart setup, not sure if we get this model Audi in NZ, I'll have to do some asking around, maybe some in Jafa territory. ( Auckland) where you ask about engine hours rather than Kms as they spend so long in gridlock :lol:

David, do you have any details about the adaptor you used for this, clutch etc? Any chance of some pics? it would be nice to see how the Intercooler mounts, & ancillaries such as starter, alternator et al. if you can provide details such as engine model #, rev range etc, would certainly save me some legwork in google & probably a clip around the ear from SWMBO for spending too long on the computer over the holidays. Its pretty standard by now :lol::lol:

cheers, Steve.

Hi Steve,

Here is a bit of info about the engine http://www.audiworld.com/news/99/a2_2/content.shtml

Here is the tuner who provided the tuned ECU chip http://www.dieselchiptuning.com/catalog/au...-tuning-25.html

It is a free reving and torquey little beggar, developing 80% of it's torque at 1300 rpms and revs freely to about 4500 before it starts to get a little loud.

I made the adapter with a vertical mill, not too hard really. The big challenges were adapting the series clutch disc/pressureplate to an Audi flywheel, extending the release bearing arm to account for the slight difference on location due to the adapter plate. It just took a lot of shaping, fitting, more shaping, more fitting, etc. Definatley not brain surgery though.

Getting the engine, wiring harness, ECU and various sensors happy were really tough, but I had a lot of help from a local Audi technician with lots of time.

I had custom silicon hoses built for the radiator, intercooler and heater.

I bought a customer aluminum double row radiator to allow the stock adui intercooler to fit next to it in the space provided in the series nose.

Engine mount locations and an engine frame/cradle were crafted by me with a mig, metal saw and lots of aluminum!

The alternator fit right where it was designed to on the engine, there is lots of room in the engine bay with just a 88 kilogram, three cylinder 1.4 ltr in there.

I did replace the fan and water pump with electric units to get ride of unnecessary parasitic loses, but there was no space problem with these.

I did not take any pic during the construction, but I can post some of teh finished product.

Anyway, I hope this helps and I hope you take the plunge! You will be amazed what dropping 100 lbs off the nose and double the horse power will do for a series!

It took me about a year to finish, though I didn't really kill myself with a deadline and jsut had fun with the engineering and crafting process.

By-the-way, a fellow has made me an offer I don't think I can refuse for her. It looks like I may start another project soon, maybe a Defender this time.

Best regards,

David

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I must say, repowering older vehicles with newer, downsized and cleaner units sounds like a very sensible idea - the next level of "ultimate recycling"! Who did the conversion? I'd be interested to see any pics.

On a similar note, I've often thought that a 200Tdi on the LT77 in an MGB V8 would make a nice car with reasonable power and good economy.

Hello,

I did most of the conversion, with a bit of help getting the Audi engine to like it's sensors, ECU and wiring harness again.

I farmed out things I can't do, silicon hoses as an example.

I made the adapterplate with a vertical mill and believe me, I am no machinist! It's just not that tough to do. Lots of measuring, cutting, refitting and wasting of nice aluminum plates :)

And yes, I installed a catalitic converter!

I think your MGB V8 would like a VW 2 ltr diesel! 150 hp stock, 170 tuned, light and modern engineering!

Best regards,

David

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And here i thought April Fools day was 3 months in the future..............

I like the idea if the spring motor mounts though......very cleaver and imaginative :) :)

By-the-way, the spring engineers inserted rubber bump-stops between the aluminum plates for me in the event of hard landings.

Best regards,

David

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Hello,

I did most of the conversion, with a bit of help getting the Audi engine to like it's sensors, ECU and wiring harness again.

I farmed out things I can't do, silicon hoses as an example.

I made the adapterplate with a vertical mill and believe me, I am no machinist! It's just not that tough to do. Lots of measuring, cutting, refitting and wasting of nice aluminum plates :)

And yes, I installed a catalitic converter!

I think your MGB V8 would like a VW 2 ltr diesel! 150 hp stock, 170 tuned, light and modern engineering!

Best regards,

David

I forgot, yes I have pic of the finished product I'll post. Unfortunately I didn't take any of the build process.

Regards,

David

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  • 2 weeks later...
...On a similar note, I've often thought that a 200Tdi on the LT77 in an MGB V8 would make a nice car with reasonable power and good economy.

TC, 200Tdi are tall engines, I think it would be difficult to close the bonnet.

David,

Sounds like an excellent result. Well done and thanks for sharing.

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  • 11 months later...

Damn you, and here I thought I was the first to do a VW Diesel in a Rover. ;) Good job. Yeah, post some pics so I can see

someone elses conversion. I was thinking TDI, but couldn't find info on the ECU part, so I went straight TD, all mechanical.

Too bad we don't get any good engines down in the States. My pics are at www.66rover.com BTW.

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  • 2 months later...

. My pics are at www.66rover.com BTW.

So where does this project stand today? I would love to learn more....these engines are cheap and plentiful.

On that topic does anyone know if the Perkins Prima can be sourced on North America? I heard it was fitted to fork lifts or boats?

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. My pics are at www.66rover.com BTW.

So where does this project stand today? I would love to learn more....these engines are cheap and plentiful.

On that topic does anyone know if the Perkins Prima can be sourced on North America? I heard it was fitted to fork lifts or boats?

Well, It currently is 2 axles on the garage floor, and the engine on a stand. After I got it in and got one trip to Moab out of it, I got cut off and the Rover got totaled. So like any Series owner, I am rebuilding. The engine didn't seem to run right after the crash, so I rebuilt it with a new head. I did the new head as I had overheating problems on the way to Moab when going up over the passes. Since the head was off, I put in gapless rings and rod bearings. I had the oil bath on, which damaged the turbo blades, so I got a variable vane turbo to put on it. This time it will have an intercooler as the EGTs were high, but the new turbo should help those too. I am putting a new aluminum radiator in as well as a second external oil cooler. Especially when it was cool out, it could do as well or better than my Rangie on the highway, and at 30 mpg to boot. I got 19 mpg on the trails around Moab. Torque was slightly less than the 2.25 right off idle, but very good above that. I think the new turbo will help the lower torque. When I finally get it together again, I plan on getting it dynoed to compare to the 2.25

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  • 2 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...
Hey Jim!

:D

Boy, you get around don't you!

It is basically done. I took my first long trip in it, around 500 miles, to scout out some trails for the Solihull Society National Rally. It has a very good amount of power, but I was running very hot going up the passes, so couldn't really get on it. On the way out, they aren't as steep or long, and I was able to do the 65 MPH speed limit up them. The way back, I had to stop and cool down once on Vail Pass, the longest one. With my 2.25, I was lucky to be going 35 up it. After cooling, I decided to see what I could do before I got too hot again. I got up to 61, still accelerating. Off-road it did great, although it ran hot on one trail that had lots of long steep, 15-20 degrees, hills. Plus it was very hot out that day. My GPS said 41 C. The torque seems better since the rebuild, but the motor has Total Seal rings, more advanced timing and a different turbo. Yesterday was the first cooler day here in quite a while, only in the upper 70's as opposed to upper 90's to 100 degrees. I drove about 140 miles. There is one hill on this route that I usually go 35-40 mph up. I couldn't do the 75 MPH speed limit, but was very happy with 74 with a headwind. :D What was even nicer was passing a new RR, Lexus, old BMW, and a little red rice car with a fart can muffler and spoiler, while going up a hill closer to home. The temps were better with the cooler weather and higher humidity. It is usually fairly dry here. I'm hoping that a valve in the heater hose and a better fan will solve the heat problems. I have newer pics up on my site, http://www.66rover.com/rover%20rebuild/index.html, with trip pics up at http://forum.solihullsociety.org/cphoto/ under Colorado trails, Rattlesnake Canyon, Bangs Canyon and Coal Canyon.

normal_PICT0402.JPG

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Boy, you get around don't you!

lol - you could play "six degrees of 4x4 separation" with a quick Google search of "deepmud" I think :D

I was invited here! :D I think the LR power steering hose got me in :ph34r:

I like the pics jim - your rig looks so........Wild Kindom! :D Elephant Chaser is right :D

I am glad your swap is finally up and recovered so well from it's accident - 74mph is great for a 4x4 that still gets good economy. Hey - you got any idea of mpg yet?

I love the idea of a 1.4 TDI in a LR too - I wish we could get those in the states, I think they'd be great in a light weight Samurai, and the VW adapters available would likely make it an easy swap.

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Great places!

I'll fly over for the National Rally in Montrose, I guess you'll be there?

B)

can't wait!

^_^

Oh yes. I have been to every rally since I got my Series in 1997. I will be leading trails. It may or may not be fully painted by then, but it will still be the only one with an elephant on the bonnet.

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lol - you could play "six degrees of 4x4 separation" with a quick Google search of "deepmud" I think :D

I was invited here! :D I think the LR power steering hose got me in :ph34r:

I like the pics jim - your rig looks so........Wild Kindom! :D Elephant Chaser is right :D

I am glad your swap is finally up and recovered so well from it's accident - 74mph is great for a 4x4 that still gets good economy. Hey - you got any idea of mpg yet?

I love the idea of a 1.4 TDI in a LR too - I wish we could get those in the states, I think they'd be great in a light weight Samurai, and the VW adapters available would likely make it an easy swap.

My odometer stopped working on my last trip, so the only mileage I got was doing a half day of trail plus the 200+ mile drive back home. I got 24 on that leg though. I can do much more than 74 MPH on the flats. I was getting up to 83 just passing trucks, but I bet I could surpass 90 MPH with the high redline.

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Oh yes. I have been to every rally since I got my Series in 1997. I will be leading trails. (...)will still be the only one with an elephant on the bonnet.

I look forward to see you there then!

I'll be in Disco...another trail leader,I've been told...

;)

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Did anyone ever get pics of the A2 1.4TDi install or was it a complete wind up? :D

Not to my knowledge, and I've never heard it mentioned anywhere other then here, so I guess one has to decide for themselves if it really ever happened or not. If it did happen, I imagine it couldn't have been that much different than mine, just even shorter. I did find it interesting that it was only 100 lbs lighter, where I had one more cylinder and shed 150 lbs, unless the 1.4 is all cast iron. Mine has an Al head.

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