jimk

I bought a VW caddy that has a good body and no rust. I have thought I would do a complete restoration on the truck but I have not make a choice on the engine. i.6 turbo or 1.9 or 1.9 turbo or tdi . I just wont plent of power 1.9 turbo is what I had thought, any ideas Thanks Jim

AlpineRAM

Depending on the year of the caddy you can install the VR6 engine (bout 180hp), the VR6 with a mated G60 charger (bout 250hp), turboed VR6 (up to 330hp) or with some major work the WR32 (N/a 330hp, you can charge it and get more )
Tis would be the gasser options, most of them can include a conversion to 4x4 via either "syncro" or "4motion" stuff recovered from the donor vehicle.

On the diesel front there would be the 1.9 or the 2.0 TDI (from 90-135hp nominally, nice bomb potential) or the V6TDI that could also be shoehorned in. (180 or 224hp)

In any case you get over the stock hp of your caddy you'll have to take care of the drivetrain.

HTH

AlpineRAM

dodgeram

Caddy ?? is that one of those rabbit based truck thingy's kinda like a rabbit elcamino

if so cool little car .......... a pre tdi 1.9 litre turbo diesel swap would be fairly simple to since they'res no electonics and it has adequate power to push that little car around you could crank up the boost and the fuel too

Rabbit

It would require so much modification to the A1 chassy to hold the weight of the vr6 it isnt worth it. Even if you spent the money i sure as hell wouldnt drive in it especially fast. That thing would be so front heavy it would be downright dangerous. Your better off just going with the 1.9 and enjoy the truck. Your a lucky person i have been looking for a rabbit truck for 6 years and cannot find any that are not rusted beyond repair. Post some pics that is a rare breed of trucks now a days.

Sidewinder

Yea, What he said?? ^^^

dodgeram

there's a vw tuner shop on vancouver island that might disagree with you on the vr6 swap

they have an A1 rabbit with a syncro drivetrian and a 360hp turbo'd vr6 under the hood, it was in a tuner mag one of the guys had at work here

they said it out handled and outran a c5 vette

if it were me I'd go for the 1.9 diesel though

there was one of those caddy's in the auto trader a while back ......... absolutly mint (no rust) with only 80,000 original km and a 1.6 litre diesel for 3300.00 cdn, it was located in Nipawin sask I believe



here's a couple engine swap pages and a caddy forum

http://home1.gte.net/pdooley/Burnout.html

http://www.volkswagen.org/Caddy/Projects/80PU/

http://www.vwcaddyforum.com/default.asp

AlpineRAM

Rabbit: Over here there are some Golfs and Caddies that sport the VR6, including the syncro drivetrain. I drove one of them (turboed, NOX+water) and really liked it. The conversion is some work because the electrically lockable center visc was included. (from the T4)
Handling was nice and the vehicle wasn't front heavy since a lot of the peripherals like batt, cooler exp. etc were put to the back of the vehicle. Still sporting stock looks it was a hoot to go out and hunt sportscars. Top speed was not too high around 130mph, but man what an acceleration. Basically the weight distribution is the same as with the first Audi Quattro Coupes and they weren't that bad either.
I'd stay away from the smaller TDs because if you boost them up even a little they'll wreak havoc on your driveline. On the TDIs you can work around the high rpm defueling and stay within the limits of the stock gearbox etc and still have fun. (But you'll need 4x4 to get power to the ground)

HTH


AlpineRAM

Rabbit

I didnt notice where you were from. You guys get all the good VW stuff over there. On this side of the pond we just got the 4Motion Golf a year or so ago.

jimk

Thanks guys I dont wont a gass engine but that v6 would be fast.
I would like to use a 1.9 tdi or 1.9 turbo. I like diesel engines. If I could find a truck that is all ready finished that had a 1.9 turbo I would sell the truck I bought. When toyato turdra has a turbo diesel I will sell my wifes Ranger and put her in a Tundra Diesel.
She said that she would settle for a Diesel PT cruser, go figure. Guys if you get any good leads or ideas please post them regards Jim

AlpineRAM

I don't know about hte model or the state it's in, but why not restore the stock engine?
Usually if you treat them well even the VW gassers (especially the carburated ones) can be brought up to very good fuel efficiency and enough power to have ssome fun (not hunting C5s ) for quite cheap.
If you have a model number and a short description or some pics of the engine I could look for the values and settings (but I don't know if I can gain access on the US spec'ed engines)
For some settings I'd also need the octane rating of the fuel you want to use.

AlpineRAM

jimk

The engine is a 1.6 diesel and it is what I have in my jetta. But I wont a little more like always. The 1.9 turbo or indrustral engine 1.9 turbo is what I wont. Over in your part of the world is some great engines. My wife lived in the Germany for a few years, Stuttgart. She said there is a lot of diesel cars that we dont have. O well, I can only wish. regards Jim

AlpineRAM

the 1.6diesel can be bombed a bit- give it some degrees more timing than stock (like 3-4 over stock) and play a bit with the max. amount screw. Good air filter and you are set.

Have fun!

AlpineRAM

jimk

Sir I do believe that you know you way around a vw. That is what I have done in the past. Timing, the fuel screw on the pump , and air filter. I have thought that a good exhaust would help also. thanks again Jim

AlpineRAM

Jim, the n/a VW does react to an exhaust only if you are waaaay up in fuel and rpm. Made some of them for a racing class where turbo was forbidden, but for the same $$$ these engines did run you could have bought 2 turbocharged with more power and more reliable.
Turning up the RPM for the IDI VW engines isn't to be recommended if you don't swap the swirl chamber for one with a bigger channel and lower volume, with different injectors. If you go for the stck chamber you'll need very much timing to be able to run high revs and the chamber will heat up enough to introduce cracks into the head.
If you work on this ngine it's usually adviseable to change the water pump and the t-belt for good measure. (bombed they eat t-belts)

Have fun!
AlpineRAM