- Jake's Volkswagen Rabbit Turbo-Diesel -


Here's me awaiting the start of a run through the auto-x course in the 1/16/2000 "slush series" autocross event in Kent, WA.


The GTD is also looking pretty sharp with it's fresh coat of Porsche "sunshine yellow".


An action shot of the GTD at an autocrossing event in Bremerton, WA. BFG Comp T/A R1 competition tires really stick, which when fully utilized on stock GTI springs resulted in the "characteristic front wheel drive" three-wheeled stance.


Click for an autocross action sequence of the GTD (280K .jpg)

The car is a water-cooled 1981 Volkswagen Rabbit. The owner and restorer is myself, Jake Russell.

The reason it's called "GTD" is because in europe there are models of these cars called GTDs. (OK, technically I've really got a homebrew GTD ;-)

The VW GTDs have been sold in Europe and the UK in various chassis. There are A1 Golf, A2 Golf, and A3 Golf GTDs, having powerplants respectively of 1.6l Turbo-Diesel non-intercooled, 1.6l TD non-intercooled or intercooler-equipped (click here for blow-up diagram of intercooler components), and 1.9lTD non-intercooled. During a trip to Germany I spotted an A2 or A3 Golf station wagon badged as a "GTD", as well as a later model A3 Golf GT TDI. The Turbo-Diesel models continue to flourish with VW's continued development of new passenger car diesel engine technology.

In the US there are various turbo-diesel models available, however these rare and desirable models do lack the sport-tuned suspension of the GTD.

THE PHOTO DOCUMENTATION

The following pages cover some pictures I took during my normally-aspirated to turbo-diesel engine swap. Could be handy for anyone doing much work on A1 Volkswagen's.
Preparing the Car for Engine Upgrade
Removing the Old Engine
About The Old Engine
Working on the Transaxle
Swapping in the New Turbo-Diesel Engine

Turbo Diesels like to breathe.
Modifying a German Aftermarket Free-flow A2 GTD Downpipe for A1 use
Fabricating and installing a Custom Stainless Steel Exhaust System

I've recently developed an interest in autocross racing (a safe and fun way to learn the limits of your daily driver!) The competition is fierce and demands that my turbo-diesel bunny have a top-notch suspension.
Installing Ride-height Adjustable Coilover Springs

Here I snapped some pics as I installed those cool european A-pillar failings onto my car.
Installing Euro A-Pillar Fairings

Just some quick photos I scanned in taken from the intercooler installation
Stock Audi 5000 Intercooler Profile
Re-location of the Intercooler's Plastic Manifold
About the Audi 5000 Core
Sequence of changes
Installing the Core in the front end
Boost tube fabrication / install

The Mod List

The Mod List was and will always be hopelessly outdated. Sorry I'm leaving it as is. If you have a question about my car I'd be happy to hear an e-mail about it from you.

Outdated Mod List: * Tore out the camel colored (brown) interior and replaced with '84 burgundy.
* Applied sound deadening material all over the car while the interior was out. I put it behind the dash, on the roof, on the floor, in the doors, in the cargo area, under the hood, etc.
* Tore out all the jute (cotton) padding and replaced with rubber, which provides additional sound deadening and will not absorb water or promote bacteria. The new pad was also cut into different layers up front so the floor's countours are evened out.
* Installed the factory Air Conditioning system, but without the vital components (compressor, evaporator, condensor, etc.) What was gained is the high-power interior fan with the extra fan speed, the vacuum-servo operated ducting as opposed to the manual cable-controlled ducting, and an extra pair of handy warm-air vents located in the middle of the dashboard.
* Installed later model GTI steering wheel of the four button black-leather style.
* Installed later model GTI black leather VW shift knob.
* Installed GTI center console w/ 3 gauges + GTI shift boot.
* Installed 1984-style front bumper mounts of the shorter design, with bumper spoiler.
* Installed cabriolet-style black plastic fender lip trim.
* Installed plastic front-inside wheel-well baffles.
* De-pinstriped the car and removed door & side trim.
* Replaced chrome-stripped door window rubber with plain euro black-rubber style.
* Installed the simplistic fixed-style front wing windows to get rid of the poorly-designed "glue-on" front factory wing-windows.
* Re-finished side rear-view mirrors to match the color of the car (yellow.)
* De-chromed front window rubber and rear hatch window rubber.
* Installed 13" early euro-GTI alloys with new 185 width all-weather radials.
* Installed GTI springs front and rear with KYB gas shocks.
* Installed front and rear GTI sway bars.
* Installed front GTI disc brake vented rotors.
* Installed a killer stereo system (Kenwood 10 disc cd-changer w/ tape deck controller, BBE sonic maximizer signal processor, Alphasonic 50wx2 amplifier, Infinity Kappa front coaxials, Polk MM rear plates, custom-made passive fader, Double 6.5" Bazooka bass tubes in the rear (self amplified, 120w RMS @ 2 ohms - made a rear shelf, to hold tubes & electronics, with rear bumper bolt mounting brackets.)
* Replaced instrument cluster analog clock with GTI Tachometer, circuit board modified to work with alternator signal. More info in the FAQ!
* Installed stock power steering system out of '84 Jetta.
* Installed R&A designs short shift kit while renewing shift linkage bushings.
* Replaced normally-aspirated diesel engine with rebuilt Turbo-Diesel out of '84 Jetta. Injectors are blueprinted and a special order Sach's Turbo-Diesel clutch kit is installed. Engine was professionally rebuilt by Tom Noble Engines - Ballard, WA.
* Installed euro A-pillar fairings.
* Replaced analog clock in center console with VDO "Turbo" gauge.
* Installed VDO Pyrometer gauge with SS White thermocouple to monitor vital engine Exhaust Gas Temp's.
* Painted and installed American style GTI front air dam.
* Replaced 85 MPH speedometer with '84 Diesel speedo (goes to 100 MPH and looks stock)
* Installed Audi 5000 Intercooler + custom 2.0" boost tubes + modified fueling specs
* Installed rear polyurethane trailing arm bushings (also used special silicone grease which is a must with polyurethane.)
* Replaced stock US badges with German ones. Four-button steering wheel gets "turbo DIESEL" insert, rear of car gets real German "Golf GTD" and "Volkswagen" badges.
* Installed raceware "Diesel Guard" cylinder head studs - to prevent the all to common leaking head gasket.
* Fabricated custom 2.0" downpipe to replace the stock 1.75" downpipe

History

The car was manufactured in 1981 in the Westmoreland, PA VW factory. It started life as a normal car with the label "Rabbit Diesel L" on the back, and was equipped with four doors, a sunbrite yellow paint finish, power brakes, the revolutionary VW 1.6L diesel engine, and A five-speed manual transmission. It had the basics, but not much else.

It passed hands across many owners until I finally got it, and I bought it for an amazing $200. When I got it the odometer was broken and stuck 114 thousand miles. (I think it had been broken for a while, since then I replaced it with the odometer from my parts car) It had a lot of deferred-maintenance - so for the first half a year the game was just fixing broken parts and replacing them so they are as good as or better than new. By now there's not a whole lot left on the car that I haven't touched. The car is basically getting to be a "new" earlier-model car. So in addition to renewing my little four door ride, I've made some upgrades as well and have been having lots of fun learning autocrossing technique with it.