[Vwdiesel] 944 Diesel

[Patrick Dolan]

Sorry to miss so much of this thread.  Have been in a very remote place with only occassional internet access - and no time to use that!

The 924 is in deed all Audi (in the drivetrain - the rest is a mixture of Rabbit and air-cooled Beetle parts...you read that right - the rear suspension is Type I/III with drum brakes that also look Type III size).  The original cars are 100LS engines with OHC head (same as AMC Gremlin...also not kidding) and the 100LS 4 speed gearbox with a long enclosed driveshaft and bell housing that puts the engine at the right angle (not lower than a Vanagon).  Later 924s used the 5 speed from Audi as well (016? - except for "snail case" 924s with an unsuccessful Porsche box).  The 944 is basically half of a 928 engine - again using the regular Audi bolt pattern.  968 continues with same.  Perfect gearing should be found from a Euro diesel 2WD Audi 016 box.

The 5 cyl Audis have a diffrerent bolt pattern from 4 cyl VWs (and thus Audi Fox and later Audis as well), and this is what is in the 924/44/68.  Many people have sucessfully bolted in the 5 cyl gassers, so the basic fit is easy for a 5 cyl diesel (which are all Audi bolt pattern - including T4 and T5 Eurovans).  There is ONE problem (so I am told):  the diesel injection pump drive (off of theback of thecylinder head where the 924 has its distributor drive) runs into the firewall, so some fancy bodywork is needed (don't know what is in the way inside).

I have a 924 M471 (that means turbo suspension and brakes with 5 bolt wheels) and a 2.0 5000TD for this swap, but no time to do it yet.  It is for my daughter (bio-D and bio lube researcher-grad student) and myself for general extra fun car-driver.

If the OP really has the stomach for this swap, any VW or Audi 5 cyl diesel bolts in, including the 2.4 TD from Canadian Eurovans (T4) in the mid-90s which can be supported here.  The Euro engines come from VW T4 (about 90 HP) up to Audi A6 (170 HP) and are an easy engine to tune (except for Stanadyne injectors on the lowest power commerical engines).  For a price, Giles Gallie (Performancediesel) in Toronto can whip up an all-mechanical pump using the TDI and a 2.4TD core (you may want to remove the big damper "flywheel" on the TDI unit for more firewall clearance.  We have one of the Euro 2.5 engines, and it cost over $5grand to buy here, and still needs a lot of parts to be runnable (got the pump M-TDI by Giles already).  Etka will be your best friend.

300 HP is easy with the 2.5TDI (there is a guy with this power at the 80-90 club in the UK, and it is his daily WORK TRUCK!!) It would make the perfect 944 IMHO.

----- Original Message -----
From: Erik Lane <eriklane at gmail.com>
Date: Monday, November 3, 2008 0:45 am
Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] 944 Diesel

> More laid over than the vanagon? Those things are at 50 degrees!
> (Doesn't sound like much, but when you look in there they look like
> they're just about lying flat.) There are a lot of people who have
> repowered the vanagons with TDIs and might be able to help. 
> There's a
> whole list based on TDI-conversions. The list address is
> TDI-conversion at yahoogroups.com so if you go to yahoo and search their
> groups you can ask questions over there too. They have experience that
> would be a little better fit than VW diesel in general. Unless you
> want to put a smaller engine in your rig, but if you're going to 
> do it
> you might as well go all the way, I would think.
> 
> Good luck,
> Erik
> 
> On Sun, Nov 2, 2008 at 7:49 PM, Gary Bangs <gbangs at cfl.rr.com> wrote:
> > Being a 4 cylinder, it *should* bolt in. But if I remember 
> right, these
> > Porsche 4's are an off breed.
> >
> > Something else to consider, is that the Porsche 4 sits in the 
> engine bay
> >  laid over at a pretty steep angle if I'm not mistaken. Much 
> more so
> > than a standard VW.
> >
> > Aside from this... I can image a nice TDI sitting in there! That car
> > would be a hoot to drive.
> >
> > As with any conversion, you can probably make it happen, only your
> > budget would be the limiting factor.
> >
> > -Gary
> >
> >
> > Greg Johnson wrote:
> >> Gents.
> >>
> >> I've been lurking on the list, learning what I can, for a year 
> or so.
> >>
> >> I have a Porsche 944.  It became a three cylinder a few 
> weekends ago and
> >> needs a new engine.  One option under consideration is a VW 
> diesel.  Any
> >> input or BTDTs.
> >>
> >> Thanks in advance for your collective wisdom.
> >>
> >> Greg J
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> Vwdiesel mailing list
> >> Vwdiesel at vwfans.com
> >> http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/vwdiesel
> >>
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