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It is official, I am beginning a VW tdi swap into a 1979 toyota sunrader!

I picked up a 2001 VW Jetta with a 1.9 alh tdi engine with a failing transmission. It has 186,000 miles and the engine is in great shape. This engine will be mated to a 5 speed toyota w56 pulled from a 1985 toyota pickup. The engine and transmission will be mated using an adapter plate from acme adapters.

The goal of this swap is to increase power and fuel efficiency. Stock this engine has 90hp and 120 ft. lbs of torque (similar to the original 20r) but with a simple tune, will yield 134hp and 235 ft. lbs with everything else stock. In addition, this swap will also double my fuel efficiency which is the major reason for doing this swap.

This is definitely not the first toyota tdi swap but definitely the first tdi swap into a toyota motorhome I have seen. Also probably the first toyota swap into a gen 2 hilux (1972-1978). I will definitely be open to any advice or suggestions along the way as I am sure there may be things that I will overlook.

Stay tuned as I will be posting pictures along the way of the entire process. I will do my best to take pictures and keep this updated as things come together but I have a month to finish this swap so I apologize in advance if I fail to update in a timely fashion. 

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I call dibs on your first paid swap after you work out all the kinks. Don't know if will fly in California but my daughter works at DMV so maybe I can finagle an approval. I just love the sound of a diesel.

Linda S

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The TDI is worse than just an interference engine it will trash the head, bend connecting rods and smash holes in pistons. With that mileage it is close to the second belt change at that point you need to replace the cam followers they will be worn all of the idler pulleys and water pump. They are great engines with proper mainantice will run a long time you'll have to use the VW computer and wiring and change the Toyota fuel pump if it's fuel injected if it's not you will need to add a fuel return line to the tank the diesel returns about half of the fuel  to the tank.  Your fuel mileage will be better but do not expect  anywhere near a 50% increase it is still going to be a turbo brick you can't get past the wind drag. Toyota pickups did once come with a diesel engine they were not turbo charged and were gutless. The big plus will be increased torque another consideration is going to be max rpm it will not turn as fast as the gas engine. How about the trans? The VW one is out because it's transverse. Don't mean to discourage you go for it I'm curious if it will have the power to pull the weight. I have owned and worked on many TDi's I loved my Jetta but I would look for something with more displacement to graft into a camper. My choice would be a 5 cylinder Sprinter engine.

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Don't know what the engine is but it's highly modified, TDI turbo is down low.  I come up with about 4 grand at 100 MPH and I don't believe that engine was turning that fast from the sound. Any way it's not a MH so 40 MPG is possible with a light foot. My Jetta would do 50 on the highway lower lighter and more slippery.

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4 hours ago, Derek up North said:

The guy says it's a 'Malone Tune Stage 3'.

https://malonetuning.com/ecu-tuning/audi-volkswagen/tdi/ve-tdi

Little confusing but it looks like $600+ labor

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7 hours ago, Maineah said:

The TDI is worse than just an interference engine it will trash the head, bend connecting rods and smash holes in pistons. With that mileage it is close to the second belt change at that point you need to replace the cam followers they will be worn all of the idler pulleys and water pump. They are great engines with proper mainantice will run a long time you'll have to use the VW computer and wiring and change the Toyota fuel pump if it's fuel injected if it's not you will need to add a fuel return line to the tank the diesel returns about half of the fuel  to the tank.  Your fuel mileage will be better but do not expect  anywhere near a 50% increase it is still going to be a turbo brick you can't get past the wind drag. Toyota pickups did once come with a diesel engine they were not turbo charged and were gutless. The big plus will be increased torque another consideration is going to be max rpm it will not turn as fast as the gas engine. How about the trans? The VW one is out because it's transverse. Don't mean to discourage you go for it I'm curious if it will have the power to pull the weight. I have owned and worked on many TDi's I loved my Jetta but I would look for something with more displacement to graft into a camper. My choice would be a 5 cylinder Sprinter engine.

I will try to address these and hopefully not come across as abrasive. 

First, ANY interference engine has the ability to be trashed as you describe. Yes there is a higher risk with a timing belt vs. a chain. That is why the timing belt will be changed every 50k miles as it will only be an hour job with how the engine will be mounted (different motor mounts).

Second, every time a timing belt is changed, those items should be inspected and addressed. The camshaft followers are not a maintenance item I have run across as something that needs replacing on the ALH engine. I know there were significant camshaft issues with the BEW. The ALH is arguably the most reliable tdi engine.

Third, fuel system is simple and is no more work than any diesel conversion would be. This is something I will address later but is not even on my radar as something to be concerned about.

Fourth, when I talk about doubling my fuel economy, I will always be referring to doubling my fuel economy cruising a 55 mph. This thing is a brick and yes with the added horsepower, I could go a lot faster but lets be real here, it is not safe nor enjoyable from my standpoint. I am in no rush and see no point in endangering my life or others by flying down the road at 80. I feel a sunrader is perfectly happy and enjoyable to drive at 55. Driving at these speeds will definitely yield a doubling in fuel economy. One part a lot of people overlook is the necessity for proper gearing. I will be gearing it in such a way so that in 5th gear, I will be midway through the torque band at 60 mph (around 1800-2000 rpm). Cruising in the torque band on these engines will yield the highest fuel economy and is only possible through proper gearing.

Fifth,  an ALH tdi is 1.9l, the 20r that is currently in there is 2.2l. Stock they have the same power and torque specs from when the 20r was new (90hp, 120ft lbs). My 20r has probably lost 30%+ of its power from when it was new. A simple stage 2 malone tune, which I will be doing, will yield 134hp 235ft. lbs. of torque and is running the rest of the engine stock. That will easily double my hp and torque that I have right now. I will have no issue moving my little 18' sunrader around the country.

Sixth, sprinter engines are WAY WAY WAY WAY too expensive for a swap. I have found that if you want to do a swap and not spend months or years tracking down parts and getting it up and running, you need to get an entire running donor car. Right now, any kind of sprinter is selling for $1000s over bluebook with 250k+ miles on them. Those engines are about to need a serious overhaul at that point. I could not see a sprinter engine conversion running anything less than $10,000. Right now I have the tdi donor car and a toyota w56 5 speed manual transmission for  way less than a quarter of that.

4 hours ago, Maineah said:

Don't know what the engine is but it's highly modified, TDI turbo is down low.  I come up with about 4 grand at 100 MPH and I don't believe that engine was turning that fast from the sound. Any way it's not a MH so 40 MPG is possible with a light foot. My Jetta would do 50 on the highway lower lighter and more slippery.

The swap in the video and my swap will not use the VW transmission. It uses a toyota manual transmission. You can not compare RPMs to mph when the transmission gearing and rear differential gearing are different.

Edited by gmg
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23 minutes ago, Derek up North said:

My gut tells me you'll have a hard time coming even close to doubling your MPG (though you haven't mentioned what you get now). I look forward to my gut being proven wrong. :)

I hope to prove your gut wrong as well! We will all just have to wait and see but here is my reasoning.

70s toyota corolla with the 20r got around 20-22mpg (lets say it is 21). My sunrader with same engine gets around 12-14mpg (lets say 13) at 60mph. Sunrader yields 62% of the efficiency of the corolla (13mpg/20mpg). Lets say the corolla has similar drag characteristics as a jetta (I know this is not exactly correct but the air resistance, which is the biggest factor, would be comparable). If the Jetta gets 45mpg then this engine in the sunrader would yield 27.9 mpg (0.62*45mpg). That is more than a doubling in fuel economy. I can speculate all I want which is why I will no longer talk up the fuel economy until I can prove it to everyone! ?

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2 minutes ago, gmg said:

I will try to address these and hopefully not come across as abrasive. 

First, ANY interference engine has the ability to be trashed as you describe. Yes there is a higher risk with a timing belt vs. a chain. That is why the timing belt will be changed every 50k miles as it will only be an hour job with how the engine will be mounted (different motor mounts).

Second, every time a timing belt is changed, those items should be inspected and addressed. The camshaft followers are not a maintenance item I have run across as something that needs replacing on the ALH engine. I know there were significant camshaft issues with the BEW. The ALH is arguably the most reliable tdi engine.

Third, fuel system is simple and is no more work than any diesel conversion would be. This is something I will address later but is not even on my radar as something to be concerned about.

Fourth, when I talk about doubling my fuel economy, I will always be referring to doubling my fuel economy cruising a 55 mph. This thing is a brick and yes with the added horsepower, I could go a lot faster but lets be real here, it is not safe nor enjoyable from my standpoint. I am in no rush and see no point in endangering my life or others by flying down the road at 80. I feel a sunrader is perfectly happy and enjoyable to drive at 55. Driving at these speeds will definitely yield a doubling in fuel economy. One part a lot of people overlook is the necessity for proper gearing. I will be gearing it in such a way so that in 5th gear, I will be midway through the torque band at 60 mph (around 1800-2000 rpm). Cruising in the torque band on these engines will yield the highest fuel economy and is only possible through proper gearing.

Fifth,  an ALH tdi is 1.9l, the 20r that is currently in there is 2.2l. Stock they have the same power and torque specs from when the 20r was new (90hp, 120ft lbs). My 20r has probably lost 30%+ of its power from when it was new. A simple stage 2 malone tune, which I will be doing, will yield 134hp 235ft. lbs. of torque and is running everything stock on my car. That will easily double my hp and torque that I have right now. I will have no issue moving my little 18' sunrader around the country.

Sixth, sprinter engines are WAY WAY WAY WAY too expensive for a swap. I have found that if you want to do a swap and not spend months or years tracking down parts and getting it up and running, you need to get an entire running donor car. Right now, any kind of sprinter is selling for $1000s over bluebook with 250k+ miles on them. Those engines are about to need a serious overhaul at that point. I could not see a sprinter engine conversion running anything less than $10,000. Right now I have the tdi donor car and a toyota w56 5 speed manual transmission for  way less than a quarter of that.

The swap in the video and my swap will not use the VW transmission. It uses a toyota manual transmission. You can not compare RPMs to mph when the transmission gearing and rear differential gearing are different.

This is not like any other interference engine there is no room for anything other than air and diesel a gas engine may bend a valve or two the TDI will smash valves break them off drive them through pistons and into the head bend conrods snap cams it's not a pretty sight. TDI cam followers will be worn enough for replacement at 200K the valve stems will be driven though the follower if left alone. My rpm guess is based on 15 tire size and a 3.56 rear in a Tacoma the toy home has 14" tires and probably the same 3.56 gearing unless it's a 4.10 dully making the RPM even higher, the 5 speed would help those figure if it can remain in 5th on an incline . Don't get me wrong the TDI is a neat engine but it is high maintenance if it is neglected it will neglect you. I hope you have fun with your swap and it goes well. My dream toy home swap would have been a 3.5 liter 60's vintage all aluminum Buick V8, super light plenty of torque and enough hp for most any hill. 

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1 hour ago, gmg said:

A stage 3 is $300.

I looked at that and it has a jump in hp per stage with nothing else that's why I questioned being confusing seem every stage is $299

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1 minute ago, Maineah said:

This is not like any other interference engine there is no room for anything other than air and diesel a gas engine may bend a valve or two the TDI will smash valves break them off drive them through pistons and into the head bend conrods snap cams it's not a pretty sight. TDI cam followers will be worn enough for replacement at 200K the valve stems will be driven though the follower if left alone. My rpm guess is based on 15 tire size and a 3.56 rear in a Tacoma the toy home has 14" tires and probably the same 3.56 gearing unless it's a 4.10 dully making the RPM even higher, the 5 speed would help those figure if it can remain in 5th on an incline . Don't get me wrong the TDI is a neat engine but it is high maintenance if it is neglected it will neglect you. I hope you have fun with your swap and it goes well. My dream toy home swap would have been a 3.5 liter 60's vintage all aluminum Buick V8, super light plenty of torque and enough hp for most any hill. 

Yeah from my reading it is definitely not a pretty sight when the timing belt goes. I always find it funny seeing a tdi on craigslist that says the timing belt went and that the head PROBABLY needs replaced haha. I do know that if the incorrect oil (5w30 instead of 5w40) is used in these engines, they will have all sorts of issues with premature wear on the camshaft and surrounding components. This is definitely something that will get a very close inspection. I really appreciate your input!

If we are talking dream engines that could fit, I would do a cummins 4bt. But that swap would cost some serious $$$$$$$.

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4 minutes ago, Maineah said:

I looked at that and it has a jump in hp per stage with nothing else that's why I questioned being confusing seem every stage is $299

Each stage is pretty much $300 individually but you do not have to purchase the previous stage. They also have a unit (flashzilla) that you can use to upload different tunes purchase several different tunes on the spot. For instance, you could have a tune geared towards fuel economy and one for power. If you are on the flats, you can load up the eco tune and when you are getting to mountain passes, tune it for performance or even high altitude with a few button pushes. But each of these tunes you have to cough up $$ for. I will definitely try some out and record my experiences.

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31 minutes ago, gmg said:

I hope to prove your gut wrong as well! We will all just have to wait and see but here is my reasoning.

70s toyota corolla with the 20r got around 20-22mpg (lets say it is 21). My sunrader with same engine gets around 12-14mpg (lets say 13) at 60mph. Sunrader yields 62% of the efficiency of the corolla (13mpg/20mpg). Lets say the corolla has similar drag characteristics as a jetta (I know this is not exactly correct but the air resistance, which is the biggest factor, would be comparable). If the Jetta gets 45mpg then this engine in the sunrader would yield 27.9 mpg (0.62*45mpg). That is more than a doubling in fuel economy. I can speculate all I want which is why I will no longer talk up the fuel economy until I can prove it to everyone! ?

A diesel will render about 30% increase over a similar displacement gas engine in mileage figures no matter what it's in My Tacoma maybe 20-22 mpg towing my trailer 13-14 that's a big hit for wind drag and it's lower profile than the toy home.

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8 minutes ago, gmg said:

Yeah from my reading it is definitely not a pretty sight when the timing belt goes. I always find it funny seeing a tdi on craigslist that says the timing belt went and that the head PROBABLY needs replaced haha. I do know that if the incorrect oil (5w30 instead of 5w40) is used in these engines, they will have all sorts of issues with premature wear on the camshaft and surrounding components. This is definitely something that will get a very close inspection. I really appreciate your input!

If we are talking dream engines that could fit, I would do a cummins 4bt. But that swap would cost some serious $$$$$$$.

Yeah and weight about the same as the MH!

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If you really want some insight on the 1.9 TDI join the tdiclub.com. good bunch of people with unlimited knowledge.

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Okay, one last thing on fuel economy but so many people seem to talk about fuel economy. It has been pointed out a lot by people on this forum that the aerodynamics of these toyhomes are typically terribile. I find it fascinating (mostly cause I am a physicist by training) to dive into the physics of air resistance and start playing with numbers. 

I will not post the entire equation but in essence, the amount of power required to overcome air resistance is proportional to the cube of velocity (v^3). An example, lets look at the power difference between 55mph and 70mph. There are a bunch of constants in the equations but when we are simply comparing numbers for the same vehicle, we get a simple equation as follows:

Percent power increase = (70mph^3 / 55mph^3) *100% = 206%

Another example comparing 55mph to 60mph:

Percent power increase = (60mph^3 / 55mph^3) *100% = 130%

That means it takes more than twice the power to travel down the road at 70 mph than at 55 mph. When you start traveling at these higher speeds, there is no way good fuel economy will be realized. Yes this swap will give better fuel economy due to a much more efficient engine, but nothing beats just slowing down!

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17 minutes ago, Maineah said:

If you really want some insight on the 1.9 TDI join the tdiclub.com. good bunch of people with unlimited knowledge.

Awesome source and have been spending most all of my free time on their gathering info. That forum and the cult like following of these engines is another big reason I chose the tdi.

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Rotella T6 5W40 (it's synthetic) used it in my last one sold it at 331K damn I liked that car but it was not cheap to maintain. They like clean fuel filters too. 

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14 minutes ago, gmg said:

Okay, one last thing on fuel economy but so many people seem to talk about fuel economy. It has been pointed out a lot by people on this forum that the aerodynamics of these toyhomes are typically terribile. I find it fascinating (mostly cause I am a physicist by training) to dive into the physics of air resistance and start playing with numbers. 

I will not post the entire equation but in essence, the amount of power required to overcome air resistance is proportional to the cube of velocity (v^3). An example, lets look at the power difference between 55mph and 70mph. There are a bunch of constants in the equations but when we are simply comparing numbers for the same vehicle, we get a simple equation as follows:

Percent power increase = (70mph^3 / 55mph^3) *100% = 206%

Another example comparing 55mph to 60mph:

Percent power increase = (60mph^3 / 55mph^3) *100% = 130%

That means it takes more than twice the power to travel down the road at 70 mph than at 55 mph. When you start traveling at these higher speeds, there is no way good fuel economy will be realized. Yes this swap will give better fuel economy due to a much more efficient engine, but nothing beats just slowing down!

Yes the drag coefficient the faster you go the worse it gets does not matter how slick it is it's still an issue go fast enough then you have to worry about heat! 

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What it all comes down to is none of us would ever know the efficiency increase or the power unless adventurous guys like GMG didn't try it. You go guy. I can't wait to hear the results. Physicist huh. This group just keeps getting smarter

Linda S

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The bottom line is that to move an 18' Sunrader down the road and through the air requires a certain amount of energy. So it all comes down to how efficient a TDi is at converting diesel fuel compared to the efficiency of a 20R at converting gasoline. 100% more efficient? My gut (trained as a mechanical engineer) still says no. Otherwise we'd all be driving diesels and VW wouldn't have needed to cheat. :)

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Well if the video you posted on the other thread of a TDI in a Toyota truck pulling 10,000lbs is real at least we know it will run. His little Sunrader weighs less than half of that. If it's not a 100% improvement in fuel efficiency well hey who here wouldn't be happy with 50% or even 30 % increase. Great project and we will all learn a lot. Thank you for including us in your journey.

Linda S

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10 hours ago, linda s said:

Well if the video you posted on the other thread of a TDI in a Toyota truck pulling 10,000lbs is real at least we know it will run. His little Sunrader weighs less than half of that. If it's not a 100% improvement in fuel efficiency well hey who here wouldn't be happy with 50% or even 30 % increase. Great project and we will all learn a lot. Thank you for including us in your journey.

Linda S

The rolling resistance of a trailer is low on flat ground low speed the fun starts when you come to a slight incline. I have no doubt I could pull 20,000 with my Tacoma in a nice flat parking lot. I have a 2011 230 HP 6 speed stick Tacoma I pull a 3000# camper and I can tell you there is a lot of shifting going on in the hills of Maine and NH. I'm all for the project the TDI is one tough little engine might be a winner in the smaller toy home. Here is a true story I'll never forget I tuned up an old Chevy V8 pickup back in the late 60's the owner had made a big wooden box for haul something it was close to 6 feet over the cab height. He came back and said it still would not go over 70MPH I drove it and he was right it wouldn't but by gum the thing would do 70 in second gear! The wind resistance was so great it flat would not do 71 MPH. The argument ended when he took the box out. I don't  remember what an old 283 was for power maybe 180-190 HP.

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I say go for it.  Did you consider a Mercedes Inline 6 diesel? Later ones can be budget tuned to around 230hp +/- as well.  Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the 1.9 TDI had some crank pulley wobble issues among other things. Either way, engine swaps are cool, have fun.

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 Old engine is out. Tomorrow will be spent removing the rest of the bits in the engine bay do not need and getting the engine bay cleaned and prepped for paint. Adapter plate and clutch will be ordered tomorrow. The tdi engine will be coming out next weekend once The engine bay is cleaned up and I have made some room.

After pulling old engine and transmission, I realized that the w56 transmission I am putting in is the same length so I will not have to deal with shortening the drive shaft. If anything, I may need to lengthen it an inch for clearance on the vacuum pump on the tdi. I will be sure to upload pictures of this clearance issue when I get to that point.

Some reason I can not upload pictures. Will try again later

Edited by gmg
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13 hours ago, danny dan said:

I say go for it.  Did you consider a Mercedes Inline 6 diesel? Later ones can be budget tuned to around 230hp +/- as well.  Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the 1.9 TDI had some crank pulley wobble issues among other things. Either way, engine swaps are cool, have fun.

I considered a bunch of mercedes diesels but either none of them would fit, or I would be the first one attempting the swap. I wanted something that was tried and true with an adapter plate to mate engine to toyota transmission which limited my options. Again the ALH was the best tdi ever made by VW. Not many major issues with these engines.

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9 hours ago, gmg said:

I considered a bunch of mercedes diesels but either none of them would fit, or I would be the first one attempting the swap. I wanted something that was tried and true with an adapter plate to mate engine to toyota transmission which limited my options. Again the ALH was the best tdi ever made by VW. Not many major issues with these engines.

10-4. There is a local guy here with a later Mercedes (1999 model) diesel in his 94 T100. Others swap the older Mercedes om617 into Toyotas trucks & 4runners. Anyway diesels are sweet. Have fun.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Well seems that I can not upload pictures right now but lots has happened in the last few weeks. I have been working some long hours on it and have not had the time or energy to keep this updated but have taken a lot of pictures and will start sharing the steps I took when I have more time.

Where it stands today is the engine and transmission are mounted. The mounts were hands down the hardest part and took several days and lots of frustration. The tolerances and spacing are insanely tight. There is probably an 1/8" between the front cross member and oil pan, 1/8" on the driver side frame and the oil cooler, and the oil cap on top of the engine needs to have a 1/4" shaved off to clear the hood.

The transmission was moved forward 5 inches using a longer propeller shaft I took from an 85 toyota pickup. This allowed clearance between the engine and firewall for the components on the back of the engine and room to route the exhaust behind the engine. The Toyota w56 transmission was mated to the engine with an adapter and flywheel from ACME adapters. I was incredibly impressed by the quality and fit of the parts and would highly recommend them to anyone doing this swap. I installed a high torque clutch from marlin crawler so it can handle any power increases I chose to do in the future.

I got the wiring harness cut down to where it can be stand alone from the toyota and will be wired only into the factory toyota alternator light, coolant temp and oil pressure light. I used a Haynes manual over the typically suggested Bentley manual as the wiring diagram was much simpler and easier to follow. I sent the ECM off to Kerma TDI to get the immobilizer deleted so I can get the engine running. Once running, I will continue working with them to get the engine tuned to my liking. In addition, I will have their tune loader so I can change tunes on the fly. Probably do an economy tune for interstate driving and a power tune for mountainous driving.

Now that the engine is in, I was able to figure out the rest of the equipment and have ordered the rest of the parts for the install. I will have to run an air to water intercooler to be able to fit everything in and have things continue to look stock. I will hopefully have this thing running and driving in a week or so.

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Finally got the pictures figured out. Here are the before pictures. This sunrader spent a lot of time on the coast so there was plenty of surface rust in the engine bay. All the rust also made removing most bolts a pain in the a**! I do not think this thing has been out since 1978. I will post more pictures that I have throughout the day chronicling the process up to getting the new engine in.

engine_test2.png

engine_before.png

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